West Kern Water District Groundwater Banking Project

West Kern Water District Groundwater Banking Project

West Kern Water District proposes to implement a Groundwater Banking Project to aid in the management of their existing water supplies by increasing the reliability of water supplies to meet water demands within the District. The Project involves acquisition of approximately 480 acres of land located on the Kern River Fan area of western Kern County, and the construction of recharge basins, groundwater monitoring wells, groundwater production wells, and conveyance facilities. The proposed production wells will recover up to 12,700 acre-feet per year from the underlying groundwater basin. The amount recovered would be limited to the amount of water previously banked for WKWD on the subject property, the south end of the Buena Vista Water Storage District (BVWSD), the Tule Elk State Natural Reserve, the Outlet Canal, and the Kern Water Bank (KWB), less calculated losses. A Memorandum of Understanding outlining operations requirements of the project would be prepared and executed by neighboring water districts. Further, a conveyance pipeline would be constructed linking the new facilities with WKWD's existing Pump Station "A". The Project would occur in an unincorporated area of western Kern County.

Kern