Abstract

Development of Groundwater Recharge Potential Map for Sonoma Valley, California
Track: Water Resources
Authors: Bryan Sesser

As part developing a Groundwater Management Plan, in collaboration with the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) and the Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA), the Sonoma Ecology Center has developed a groundwater recharge potential map for the Sonoma Creek Watershed.

The recharge potential map is derived from 4 components: vegetation, soil, slope and geology. Each component is ranked according to the degree that it promotes or inhibits groundwater recharge. Geology ranking was done by geologists from USGS, CGS, CDWR, SCWA and the City of Sonoma.

In ArcMap, all components were converted to 10 meter rasters with the scores as grid cell values. The recharge potential layer is derived by summing the component scores.

This recharge potential map is being used by stakeholders in the Sonoma Valley for projects such as identification of locations for enhanced recharge areas and public awareness campaigns such as the "Slow It, Spread It, Sink It".