New 'California's Water' segment focuses on groundwater banking

• Latest episode in public television series begins airing Feb. 7 on KCET

SACRAMENTO, CA, Feb. 6, 2008 -- Groundwater banking is the focus of the latest segment to air on public television as part of the "California's Water" series, produced by Huell Howser and underwritten by members of the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA). The segment, titled "Groundwater Banking: California's Water Savings Account," is set to air at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 7 on KCET in Los Angeles and at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26 on KVIE in Sacramento.

Huell starts his latest water adventure at Kern Water Bank, the largest known undergroundwater storage and recovery facility in the world. With its massive storage capacity and favorable location and geology, the Kern Water Bank is an ideal place to store surplus water during wet times for use in dry years.

"That's what this bank is all about -- to save up your water for the bad periods, like we're going through now," Huell says in the segment. "The concept makes perfect sense."

The next stop is along the Santa Clara River in Ventura County, where United Water Conservation District diverts water in wet years to recharge the area's groundwater aquifer. The recharge program helps keep seawater from intruding into the basin in dry years and also helps support a $1.2 billion local agricultural economy.

The "California's Water" series began airing in April 2006 and examines various aspects of California's water system. Topics covered in the series were identified and discussed in ACWA's 2005 comprehensive water policy document, "No Time to Waste: A Blueprint for California Water."

ACWA is a statewide association of public agencies whose 450 members are responsible for about 90% of the water delivered in California.

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