Roseville benefits from flood control releases at Folsom

In a welcome turn of events, Roseville has begun recharging the local groundwater basin with surplus water from Folsom Reservoir.

The recent series of storms has caused the reservoir to fill and releases are needed for flood control.

Roseville, through their contract with the Bureau of Reclamation will be able to capture nearly 60 million gallons from these releases to store within the aquifers.

“Because of our investments in groundwater management more than two decades ago, we are reaping the benefits to start this New Year by accessing water that would be lost otherwise and banking it locally for later,” said Sean Bigley, assistant director for Roseville’s Environmental Utilities. “Over the past two years, we banked more than 325 million gallons of water and used it to manage drought conditions.”

According to the city, multiple benefits come from using Folsom Reservoir water to replenish the groundwater basin including:

• Capturing water that would have been unnecessarily spilled into the ocean
• Banking water in “underground reservoirs”— like a savings account— to use in a coordinated fashion depending on water conditions and alleviating surface water supplies when surface water is scarce
• Actively replenishing to ensure a healthy groundwater basin as required by state law and as a good steward of our water resources

“Now is the time to be banking this water as this storm series rolls through,” said Jim Peifer, Executive Director of the Regional Water Authority, which represents nearly two dozen water providers serving 2 million people in the Sacramento region and is leading efforts to develop the Water Bank. “Roseville is doing its part to build a reliable water system for customers and the Sacramento region.”