Final report on the Groundwater Isotope Project in the Brentwood Region of East Contra Costa County, California
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
- Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States). Dept. of Geology
Groundwater in the Brentwood region has been characterized using isotope hydrology techniques and have addressed resource issues regarding the future sustainability of groundwater, maintenance of existing supplies, and exploration of new supplies. The stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen indicate that groundwater is derived from two sources: ancient rain recharge, and recharge of agricultural irrigation water. Rain derived groundwater ages range from <1000 to {approximately}12,000 years old. Agricultural recharge groundwater is <80 years and has recharged much of the basin on average to {approximately}125 fbs. The agricultural water recharges >10 times faster than natural rain water and hence, represents the principal recharge component. The agricultural recharge at the present time provides groundwater quantities to the basin that exceed the yearly water supply demand. With increasing urban development and retiring agricultural land, the availability of groundwater will decrease. Safe yield projections for the groundwater have been modeled to show that safe groundwater yields range between 30 to 120 acre-ft/mi{sup 2} per year for a population of 70,000 people. This will only account for {approximately}3 to 11 % of the total water demand. Furthermore, much of this groundwater may need well head treatment for water quality problems.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 95361
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-ID--120326; ON: DE95015111
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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