Principal aquifers of California

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California aquifers, excerpted from map in Ground Water Atlas of the United States (USGS, 2000): Lavender is "other" for "rocks that generally yield less than 10 gal/min to wells"; dark green-blue (3) are the California coastal basin aquifers, bright-turquoise blue (7) is the Central Valley aquifer system, flat cobalt-blue (1) down south is Basin and Range aquifers

Principal aquifers of California are those principal aquifers of the United States that lie within (or rather, below) the California state boundaries. Per the Oxford Dictionary of Environment and Conservation, an aquifer is a "body of permeable and/or porous rock that is underlain by impermeable rock and through which groundwater is able to flow."[1]

The state of California recognizes 515 groundwater basins and subbasins within these aquifers.[2] The groundwater basin of a given aquifer may be managed by a water district; for example the Coachella Valley Water District manages the underground water in California's Coachella Valley groundwater basin (CA groundwater basin no. 7–021), which lies within the Colorado River hydrologic region, one of the 13 top-level California state hydrologic regions and drainage areas. The California state hydrologic regions and drainage areas are quite similar but not identical to the federal hydrologic unit system's California water resource region surface-water drainage basins. The California Department of Water Resources has detailed descriptions (online in PDF format, etc.) of each of the 515 state-recognized groundwater basins.[2]

The principal aquifers of the United States are organized by national principal aquifer codes and names assigned by the National Water Information System (NWIS) of the United States Geological Survey. Aquifers are identified by a geohydrologic unit code (a three-digit number related to the age of the formation) followed by a four- or five-character abbreviation for the geologic unit or aquifer name.[3][4]

Aquifer name[3] States overlying[3] Category[3] Rock type[3] NWIS Code[3]
Basin and Range basin-fill aquifers Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah Aquifer Sand and gravel aquifer N100BSNRGB
Basin and Range carbonate-rock aquifers Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Utah Aquifer Carbonate-rock aquifer N400BSNRGC
California Coastal Basin aquifers California Aquifer Sand and gravel aquifer N100CACSTL
Central Valley aquifer system California Aquifer system Sand and gravel aquifers S100CNRLVL
Pacific Northwest basin-fill aquifers California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming Aquifer Sand and gravel aquifer N100PCFNWB
Pacific Northwest volcanic-rock aquifers California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming Aquifer Sand and gravel aquifer N100PCFNWV

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Park, Chris C.; Allaby, Michael (2017). A dictionary of environment and conservation (3rd ed.). Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-182632-0. OCLC 970401188.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ a b "California's Groundwater (Bulletin 118)". water.ca.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "National Aquifer Code Reference List". U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
  4. ^ USGS Office of Groundwater (2000), Miller, James A. (ed.), Ground Water Atlas of the United States, Hydrologic Atlas 730, Reston, Virginia: U.S. Geological Survey, doi:10.3133/ha730
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