Colusa County residents this week should be able to observe the deployment of new innovative helicopter-based technology that will gather information about the state’s groundwater aquifer structure.
California Department of Water Resources officials launched the $12 million program to support drought response and the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, said Supervisor Denise Carter, Colusa Groundwater Authority chair.
The DWR will use airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey data to provide water officials a better understanding of California’s groundwater systems, and in turn support more informed and sustainable groundwater management and drought preparedness.
Carter watched the helicopter in action at the Yolo County Airport on Sunday. Data collection in Colusa County is expected to begin today or Friday, she said.
Carter described the low-flying helicopter as a smaller aircraft that tows a 100-foot round hoop with scientific electronic equipment under its belly, and will fly about 65 mph around 100 feet off the ground.
“They will be going back and forth across the county, so if you see them you will probably say ‘What is that?” Carter said. “They are supposed to be staying away from livestock because it does kind of scare the livestock.”
According to DWR officials, the AEM surveys will be conducted over the next several years in high-and medium-priority groundwater basins around the state, where data collection is feasible.
The survey information creates an image of the subsurface down to a depth of about 1,000 feet below ground surface and provides information about large-scale aquifer structures and geology.
The electronic surveys are funded by voter-approved Proposition 68, Senate Bill 5, and from the state’s general fund, officials said.
The information obtained will provide local groundwater agencies with basin-specific and cross-basin geophysical data, tools, and analyses that will support the implementation of local groundwater sustainability plans to help manage groundwater during drought.
For more information about the AEM surveys, visit DWR’s AEM project website. For questions, email AEM@water.ca.gov. ■