You might see a low-flying helicopter in rural Stanislaus County. Here’s what it’s doing
A helicopter soon will fly low over much of the San Joaquin Valley in a high-tech effort to map groundwater.
The flights will happen between Tuesday, March 15, and April 15, said a news release from the California Department of Water Resources. The specific dates for Stanislaus County will be announced on the project website.
The helicopter will be about 200 feet off the ground as it covers an area from Stanislaus to Kings counties. It will avoid cities and other concentrations of buildings, including farms where cattle or poultry are confined in large numbers.
The helicopter will suspend a hexagon-shaped device, about 100 feet up, that sends electromagnetic waves to the ground. The technology can detect water up to about 1,000 feet deep, along with rocks and other components of the aquifer.
The aircraft will fly during daylight hours and could make several passes at each location. DWR said it is no louder than a lawn mower.
The mapping will help the state carry out a law mandating sustainable use of groundwater by about 2040. It aims to reduce pumping by farms and cities and to recharge aquifers with storm runoff and other methods.
“The data collected during these surveys will provide a better understanding of California’s groundwater systems and in turn support more informed and sustainable groundwater management and drought preparedness and response approaches,” said Steven Springhorn, technical assistance manager for DWR.
The $8 million project will run several years, funded by a state bond measure approved by voters in 2018. The DWR expects to release data roughly nine months after each set of flights.
The mapping will be done in various “sub-basins” that are adopting groundwater plans under the state law. Those in Stanislaus include the adjoining Modesto and Turlock sub-basins and the Delta-Mendota zone on the West Side.
Flights already have been done in Tulare and Kern counties, in smaller valleys near the coast, and in far Northern California. They will take place in San Joaquin County from April 15 to May 5. The Sacramento Valley will be covered in two phases from April 15 through May 31.
