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Groundwater is water that flows beneath the surface through small pores and cracks in rock and soil. Throughout the world, the great majority of fresh water available is in the form of groundwater. In our area, on average about 40% of the total water supplied comes from the Niles Cone Groundwater Basin, so the Alameda County Water District manages and protects our groundwater resources.
In fiscal year 2006-2007, about 31,400 acre-feet of groundwater was pumped from the groundwater basin (an acre-foot is the amount of water it would take to cover one acre with water one foot deep). The groundwater basin transmits and stores groundwater while naturally filtering the water that percolates down from the surface, making it a suitable source for drinking water and for municipal, industrial, and agricultural uses.
ACWD has many programs in place to manage this important resource. These programs are designed to protect groundwater from contamination and the threat of contamination and to ensure high quality and a reliable supply of groundwater.
ACWD's Groundwater Management Policy contains a summary of programs that ACWD has implemented to manage and protect groundwater resources. In the “Groundwater Links” on the left, ACWD’s programs are described in greater detail in various documents prepared by ACWD. Also, additional links are provided for other groundwater related information prepared by other agencies.
| Groundwater Management Policy |
| The Groundwater Management Policy is based on the statutory authority granted to ACWD under the County Water District Law (commencing with Section 30000 of the Water Code); the Replenishment Assessment Act of the Alameda County Water District (Section 4, Chapter 1942 of the Statutes of 1961, as amended in 1970 and 1973), which grants additional powers to ACWD to prevent pollution, contamination, or diminution in quality of the groundwater supply; local well ordinances (Fremont No. 950, as amended; Newark No. 136; and Union City No. 109-73); agreements with other agencies; and local hazardous materials ordinances.
The purpose of this policy is to protect and improve ACWD’s groundwater resources for the benefit of both ACWD’s customers and private well owners by taking actions designed to meet the following objectives:
- Increase groundwater replenishment capability.
- Increase the usable storage of the groundwater basin.
- Operate the basin to provide: (1) a reliable water supply to meet baseload and peak distribution system demands, (2) an emergency source of supply, and (3) reserve storage to augment dry year supplies.
- Protect groundwater quality from degradation from any and all sources including: saline water intrusion, wastewater discharges, recycled water use, urban and agricultural runoff, or chemical contamination.
- Improve groundwater quality by (1) removing salts and other contaminants from affected areas of the basin, and (2) improving the water quality of source water used for groundwater recharge.
Specific groundwater management programs have been developed and implemented by ACWD to achieve these policy objectives. For an overview of these programs, please download a copy of ACWD’s groundwater management policy.
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| Replenishment Assessment Act |
| Under the authority of the Replenishment Assessment Act of the Alameda County Water District, ACWD charges operators of water production facilities an assessment based on the quantity of groundwater produced. Replenishment Assessment rates are reviewed annually (for current rates, click here). Water wells, dewatering wells, and chemical investigation extraction wells are considered water production facilities. A copy of the Replenishment Assessment Act can be downloaded here.
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| Annual Survey Report for Groundwater Conditions |
| The purpose of the annual survey report is to provide information on the District's groundwater basin in accordance with the Replenishment Assessment Act. Survey reports are prepared annually as ordered by the Board of Directors. A copy of the most recent Annual Survey Report can be downloaded here.
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| Niles Cone Groundwater Basin Monitoring Reports |
| The Spring/Fall Groundwater Monitoring Program, initiated in 1961, is a semiannual field effort to document the status of wells, obtain water level measurements, and collect water samples. The Spring Program is conducted primarily in March and the Fall Program is conducted primarily in September. The Fall Program’s purpose is to update information on groundwater flow and quality and to provide some insight into subsurface conditions throughout the service area when water levels tend to be at their lowest levels. The Spring Program is conducted to provide insight into subsurface conditions throughout the service area when water levels tend to be at their highest levels. To verify the consistency of data and to further define the isocontour lines based on water quality conditions, a larger set of wells is sampled during the Fall Program. Monitoring wells are selected based on overall coverage, accessibility, and available historic data. A copy of the most recent Groundwater Monitoring Report can be downloaded here.
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| DWR Bulletins |
| The Department of Water Resources has published reports that present the results of groundwater basin evaluations in California. Bulletins applicable to the Niles Cone Groundwater Basin are:
- DWR Bulletin No. 81, Intrusion of Salt Water Into Ground Water Basins of Southern Alameda County, December 1960
- DWR Bulletin No. 118-1, Evaluation of Ground Water Resources South Bay Volume I: Fremont Study Area, August 1968
- DWR Bulletin No. 118-1, Evaluation of Ground Water Resources: South San Francisco Bay Volume II: Additional Fremont Study Area, August 1973
- DWR Bulletin No. 118-1, Evaluation of Ground Water Resources South Bay Appendix A: Geology, August 1967
- DWR Bulletin No. 147-2, Groundwater Basin Protection Projects: Fremont Salinity Barrier, June 1975
For further details on Bulletin No. 118, click here.
To obtain a recent copy of California 's Groundwater - Bulletin 118, updated in 2003, please click here
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| AWWA Research Foundation Project |
| Characterizing Groundwater Recharge: A Comprehensive Isotopic Approach
The purpose of the project was to demonstrate the value of age-dating and isotopic tracers in characterizing the flow dynamics and water quality changes in a complex groundwater domain that includes high capacity municipal pumping wells, a geologic fault, and artificial recharge facilities with deep lake-like recharge ponds. For additional details on the project and details on how to obtain a copy of the report, click here
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| DWR Groundwater Grant Projects |
| ACWD has been awarded two Local Groundwater Management Assistance Program grants from the California Department of Water Resources (DWR). The first grant, for fiscal year 2003-2004, was in the amount of $249,900 to install eight monitoring wells in four locations south of Highway 92 in the northwest region of the Niles Cone groundwater Basin. This project has been completed and a final report was issued on April 12, 2006; a copy of the report can be downloaded here (PDF - 50MB).
The second grant, for fiscal year 2004-2005, was in the amount of $249,943 to install eight monitoring wells in two locations within the Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge in the southwest region of the Niles Cone Groundwater Basin. This project has been completed and a final report was issued on May 7, 2007; a copy of the report can be downloaded here (PDF - 35MB).
Additional information on DWR's grant program can be found by clicking here.
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| Groundwater Guardian Affiliate |
| Groundwater Guardian Affiliates are entities at the state, regional, or other level that work to promote shared responsibility for groundwater protection by providing services and assisting communities with their local groundwater protection activities.
As a groundwater guardian affiliate, ACWD's Result Oriented Services have included:
- Continued outreach efforts to area schools. Over 1,500 students participated in programs that stress the importance of groundwater during the 2006-2007 school year. Another 257 classes received materials about groundwater. Pamphlets and brochures explaining the importance and benefits of groundwater protection, pollution prevention, and water conservation methods were distributed at public events as well as in water bill inserts.
- Updated two components of the district's groundwater management plan, including groundwater monitoring and reporting on groundwater conditions.
For more details regarding the Groundwater Guardian Affiliate Program, please click here.
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| Groundwater Protection Program Guidelines |
| These guidelines outline the general requirements for Leaking Underground Fuel Tank and Spills, Leaks, Investigation and Cleanup cases. A copy of the guidelines can be downloaded here. Please be advised that the guidelines are being revised and an uploaded version will be posted on the website as soon as it is available.
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| Cooperative Agreements |
| Since 1988, ACWD informally provided assistance to the California Regional Water Quality Control Board - San Francisco Bay Region (Regional Board) in overseeing the investigation and remediation at Leaking Underground Fuel Tank and Spills, Leaks, Investigation and Cleanup sites. In order to memorialize the terms of this participation and to further strengthen the coordination between the Regional Board and ACWD, the agencies entered into a Cooperative Agreement on June 27, 1996. ACWD entered into similar Cooperative Agreements with the Cities of Fremont, Newark, and Union City on March 25, 1997, June 26, 1997, and August 12, 1997 to further strengthen the interagency coordination and cost-effective implementation of groundwater protection within the cities. ACWD also entered into an agreement with the City of Hayward on July 27, 2000 to work cooperatively on sites which threaten or affect water quality in the portion of the City of Hayward that are within the Niles Cone Groundwater Basin (Hayward Detachment areas). Click on the following links to download a copy of agreement with:
The Regional Water Quality Control Board
City of Fremont
City of Newark
City of Union City
City of Hayward
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| GeoTracker |
| GeoTracker is the interface to the Geographic Environmental Information Management System (GEIMS), a data warehouse which tracks regulatory data about Leaking Underground Fuel Tank and Spills, Leaks, Investigation and Cleanup cases and public drinking water supplies. For more details about Geotracker, visit the web site at: click here
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| Environmental Screening Levels |
| The document, "Screening For Environmental Concerns at Sites With Contaminated Soil and Groundwater", (4th edition, February 2005) is a technical report prepared by staff of the California Regional Water Quality Board, San Francisco Bay Region. Information provided in the document is not intended to establish policy or regulation. Volume 1 of the document presents lookup tables of conservative Environmental Screening Levels ("ESLs") for over 100 chemicals commonly found at sites with contaminated soil and groundwater. Volume 2 describes how the ESLs were developed and provides detailed tables and appendices in support of the summary lookup tables. For more details and to download copies of the ESL documents, please visit the web site: click here
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| South Bay Groundwater Protection Evaluation Report |
| The S.F. Bay Regional Board Groundwater Committee, in coordination with the Alameda County Water District, Santa Clara Valley Water District and San Mateo County Environmental Health Services Division, prepared a May 2003 report titled "A Comprehensive Groundwater Protection Evaluation for South San Francisco Bay Basins" which included an evaluation of the Niles Cone Groundwater Basin. A copy of the report can be downloaded from the Regional Board Web Site by visiting the following link: click here
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| DWR Water Well Standards |
| The following documents related to water well standards in the State of California are available here.
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| City Well Ordinances |
| Since groundwater is utilized for a major portion of Alameda County Water District's (ACWD) drinking water supply, Fremont, Newark, and Union City Well Ordinances are administered by ACWD to protect the groundwater basin. These City Ordinances regulate all work on wells and boreholes associated with the following three categories of drilling activities: (I) water wells, cathodic protection wells, or dewatering wells, (II) geotechnical investigations, and (III) chemical investigations.
Click on the following links to download a copy of the Well Ordinance:
For information on obtaining a drilling permit, click here.
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| USEPA Underground Injection Control Project |
| On July 22, 2005, ACWD was awarded a $75,000 grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Local Government Groundwater Protection Funds. The grant will fund a project to investigate, identify, and locate injection wells within the Niles Cone Groundwater Basin due to the threat that these types of wells are to groundwater quality. A final report on this project is expected to be completed in 2007.
Click here for more information on the US EPA's Underground Injection Control Project.
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