Abstract:

Stormwater is an under-appreciated resource in California, and will be increasingly important as demand for freshwater increases, land use and vegetation shifts, and precipitation becomes more intense in coming years. The recent drought has exacerbated water management challenges in California, but also provides once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, especially through development and implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. Fisher, students, and colleagues are collaborating with land owners, agencies, and regional stakeholders to identify locations where stormwater could contribute to enhanced groundwater recharge, conduct site investigations to assess local conditions, create implementation projects and quantify their performance, improve water quality, and develop a program of incentives that will encourage broad participation and engagement. These projects show that water quality and water supply can be improved simultaneously during managed recharge.

About the Presenter:

Andrew Fisher is a Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at UCSC, where he is also affiliated with departments of Environmental Studies, Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology, and Applied Mathematics and Statistics. He is the UC Santa Cruz Director for UC Water, and founder of The Recharge Initiative, a focused effort to protect, enhance, and improve the availability and reliability of groundwater resources. Fisher teaches classes in hydrology, groundwater, and groundwater modeling, and conducts research with students and colleagues on: surface water – groundwater interactions, managed recharge, geothermics, coupled flows (fluid-heat-solutes), water quality, and development of new hydrologic tools and techniques. He has served on numerous technical advisory committees for agencies, municipalities, and NGOs. Fisher earned a B.S. in Geology from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in Marine Geology and Geophysics from the University of Miami. He is recipient of the O. E. Meinzer Award in Hydrogeology from the Geological Society of America (2016), and an two Excellence in Teaching Awards from UC Santa Cruz (2012, 2017).

Host: Peter Nico