California captures El Niño rain for drought storage — SkimNews
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- California has shifted its water management strategy to capture excess rainfall from El Niño events, redirecting it to recharge depleted groundwater basins instead of letting it flow to the sea
- Los Angeles Department of Water and Power captured around 37 billion gallons of stormwater in the 2025-2026 water year, using spreading grounds and green infrastructure to boost local supply
- California Department of Water Resources emphasizes managed aquifer recharge, especially during storm sequences that saturate soils and create flood risks, to store water for dry periods
- Michael Kiparsky notes California’s underground aquifers could hold up to a billion acre feet of water—vastly exceeding the 21 million acre feet capacity of surface reservoirs
- Nature Conservancy runs the BirdReturns project, paying Central Valley farmers to flood fields, which supports migrating birds and doubles as groundwater recharge
- Los Angeles County voters approved a 2.5-cent-per-square-foot tax on impermeable surfaces in 2018, generating nearly $300 million annually for stormwater capture and watershed projects
Why it matters: California’s shift to underground water storage leverages wet years to offset drought-driven shortages, reducing reliance on imported water and aging infrastructure. With aquifers capable of holding 50 times more water than reservoirs, this approach changes the economics of water security for cities and farms alike.
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