The North Fork Kings GSA is expanding its groundwater monitoring network with the installation of seven new dedicated monitoring locations over the next two to three years.
These nested groundwater monitor wells will help fill important data gaps in areas where groundwater information is currently limited. By collecting more accurate groundwater level data in different aquifer zones across the GSA, the expanded network will improve our understanding of local aquifer conditions and support better groundwater management decisions.
This project is being funded over several years with local GSA resources, demonstrating the agency’s ongoing investment in improving groundwater management for the region.
Construction Begins This Summer
Construction of the first three monitoring wells located near Helm, Burrel, and Laton is expected to begin in late August and continue over approximately six weeks.
Bradley & Sons, in coordination with Provost & Pritchard, will complete the drilling, installation, and maintenance for the first three monitoring locations. After construction is complete, each location will be equipped with data loggers that automatically collect groundwater level information from each aquifer zone.
Understanding Our Complex Geology
Groundwater conditions beneath the North Fork Kings GSA are more complex than they may appear from the surface. Multiple layers of clay and other soil types separate the aquifer into distinct water-bearing zones, causing groundwater levels to vary with depth.
Rather than measuring groundwater at only one depth interval, nested monitor wells will monitor water levels in multiple aquifer zones.
For example, one borehole may contain a shallow monitoring well at approximately 35 feet below ground surface to track the upper aquifer zone, while another monitoring well at the same location may extend more than 500 feet below the Corcoran Clay to monitor deeper groundwater conditions. This approach allows the GSA to observe how groundwater levels change throughout the four major aquifer zones within the North Fork Kings GSA.
Collecting information from multiple depths provides a much clearer picture of how groundwater moves through the aquifer and how different layers respond to pumping, recharge, and seasonal changes.
Supporting Sustainable Groundwater Management
High-quality groundwater data is essential to making informed management decisions. The expanded monitoring network will strengthen the GSA’s ability to track groundwater conditions, identify long-term trends, measure progress toward groundwater sustainability, and help provide accurate data needed for annual reporting to the California Department of Water Resources.
As the network grows over the next several years, these new monitoring locations will become an important part of the GSA’s long-term investment in managing groundwater resources for agriculture, rural communities, and future generations.