Simulation of Groundwater and Surface-Water Resources of the Santa Rosa Plain Watershed, Sonoma County, California.

摘要

The Santa Rosa Plain (SRP), is in Sonoma County, about 50 miles (mi) north of San Francisco, California (fig. 1). About half the population of 484,000 in Sonoma County (U.S. Census Bureau, 2013) resides in the SRP, and the population centers are the cities of Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Sebastopol, and the town of Windsor (fig. 2). The SRP faces population growth and increasing demand for water. Water managers face the challenge of meeting the water demand with a combination of Russian River water, which has uncertain future availability; local groundwater resources; and ongoing and expanding recycled water and other water conservation programs (Sonoma County Water Agency, 2012). To meet this challenge, water managers are seeking to develop the knowledge and tools needed to understand the likely effects of future groundwater development in the SRP and to identify efficient strategies for surface-water and groundwater management that can ensure the long-term viability of water supply. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA) and other stakeholders in the area, undertook this study to characterize the hydrology of the SRP and to develop tools to better understand and manage the groundwater system.