Our modeling analysis determined that recharge capacity was sufficient to make the Bank a financially viable business venture.

Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency

Location: Los Angeles and Kern Counties, California
M&A provides support for a California agency that supplies imported water to over 20 municipal providers in the Mojave Desert.

OVERVIEW

M&A has been integral in the development of the High Desert Groundwater Bank for AVEK, which aims to improve water supply reliability for its customers. An additional goal is to establish a business venture that will generate revenues and offset costs to AVEK’s customers.

SERVICES

M&A provided a range of services for this project during conceptual design including conducting a recharge feasibility assessment, evaluating funding options, and evaluating the effects of a pilot recharge project. In 2019, we teamed with an engineering design firm and were selected to design the full-scale water bank. We are currently leading the hydrogeologic elements of the project. Our services have included:

  • Evaluating the efficacy of obtaining funding under California’s Water Storage Investment Program (WSIP)
  • Preparing a proposal to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for a WaterSMART grant to support additional hydrogeologic investigations to improve confidence in Bank performance
  • Developing a field exploration program to address data gaps
  • Charactering vadose zone lithologic and hydraulic conditions in coordination with the geotechnical investigation
  • Developing a groundwater model to estimate the recharge and recovery capacity of the Bank
  • Developing technical specifications for the construction of a deep monitor well, vadose zone piezometer, and four pilot recovery wells