DAVIS - (INT) - As farmers pump groundwater to keep their crops alive during the California drought, many of the state's aquifers are being drained rapidly.

Researchers are working on a new approach to replenish these critical underground supplies once the rains return using farm fields as recharge basins during winter months.

Already, a number of water agencies around the state deliberately recharge groundwater supplies by spreading water on open land and allowing it to percolate into aquifers. But dedicated sites for this type of recharge are scarce. So, a team from UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) decided to figure out if some of the California's millions of acres of farms and ranches could be brought into service.

As much as 3.6 million acres of agricultural land statewide has good potential for groundwater recharge.

Just how much extra water might be recharged, and on what kinds of fields, are two questions the UC ANR researchers are pursuing.

Story Date: July 28, 2015