In a normal year, groundwater accounts for 40 percent of California’s water supply. That number jumps to 60 percent during a drought. It’s also critically important for sustaining certain types of aquatic, terrestrial and coastal ecosystems.

Yet decades of unregulated groundwater withdrawal has compromised that ability to provide for people and nature. Wells dry up, water quality declines, and rivers, wetlands, and springs disappear.

To address this problem, California passed legislation requiring that groundwater basins be managed sustainably. We still face gaps, however, in our understanding of how to manage these basins to ensure the health of the ecosystems they support. Conservancy scientists are working with water managers and state agencies to close those gaps.

Science in Action

Freshwater | Science

Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems

How can we manage groundwater to benefit both people and nature?

Freshwater | Technology | Science

Groundwater for Ecosystem Health

How much groundwater do ecosystems need to survive?

2015 | Freshwater | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports

Patterns of Freshwater Species Richness, Endemism, and Vulnerability in California

Jeanette K. Howard, Kirk R. Klausmeyer, Kurt A. Fesenmyer, Joseph Furnish, Thomas Gardali, Ted Grantham, Jacob V. E. Katz, Sarah Kupferberg, Patrick McIntyre, Peter B. Moyle, Peter R. Ode, Ryan Peek, Rebecca M. Quiñones, Andrew C. Rehn, Nick Santos, Steve Schoenig, Larry Serpa, Jackson D. Shedd, Joe Slusark, Joshua H. Viers, Amber Wright, Scott A. Morrison

The California Freshwater Species Database is the first comprehensive geospatial database of California’s freshwater species compiled and standardized into single format from nearly 500 sources.…

2015 | Freshwater | Data

Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems in California data

Jeanette Howard, Matt Merrifield

The California Freshwater Species Database is the first comprehensive geospatial database of California’s freshwater species compiled and standardized into single format from nearly 500 sources.…

2013 | Freshwater | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports

Below the Surface: California’s Freshwater Diversity

Jeanette Howard, Kirk Klausmeyer, Kurt Fesenmyer

Californians face profound decisions regarding the management of their state’s increasingly limited water supply. Critical for decision-making is information about the plants and animals that…

2010 | Freshwater | Publications & Reports

Mapping Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems in California

Jeanette Howard, Matt Merrifield

In 2014 the California legislature passed a three-bill package (SB 1168, AB 1739, and SB 1319) of groundwater reform legislation that was the most significant update of California water policy in…