ABSTRACT

Integrating water management activities, from the headwaters to groundwater, can help water managers to
enhance their water supply portfolio and support multiple benefits. The California Department of Water
Resources (DWR) recognizes the need to rehabilitate and modernize water and flood infrastructure in
California and promotes, as part of a comprehensive water management strategy, using flood water for
managed aquifer recharge (Flood-MAR) to support sustainable water resources.

DWR, in partnership with the Merced Irrigation District, is conducting a preliminary study to ascertain the
potential of using Flood-MAR in the Merced River watershed within the San Joaquin Valley. This
reconnaissance study is a proof of concept evaluating the feasibility, effectiveness, and benefits of planning
and implementing a Flood-MAR project. The study is exploring Flood-MAR opportunities under a range of
conditions, identify best practices for analyzing and documenting the planning, modeling, and analysis of
Flood-MAR projects on a watershed scale, and identify the barriers and constraints to implementing a Flood-
MAR projects in the Merced River Basin and make recommendations on how to overcome them.

The objectives of this study are to quantify the flood risk reduction, groundwater recharge, ecosystem
enhancement, and other benefits of potential Flood-MAR projects in the Merced River watershed while also
analyzing the impacts of climate change to the watershed. This study integrates the inputs and outputs of the
following models: SAC-SMA-DS, CalLite, HEC-HMS, HEC-ResSim, HEC-RAS, HEC-FIA, IDC, GRAT, C2VSIM. The
analysis will look at baseline conditions (without Flood-MAR actions) and three progressive “levels” of Flood-
MAR actions based on a range of assumed reservoir and canal operations and conveyance and recharge
capacities.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Francisco Flores-López conducts planning and engineering analysis of multi-benefit infrastructure projects
that provide local, regional and statewide sustainability, water supply, ecosystem enhancement, and flood risk
reduction benefits. His technical, analytical and quantitative expertise combines water resources engineering,
hydrology, and agricultural engineering to better understand and manage water resources.
Dr. Flores-López works at the California Department of Water Resources Division of Planning and previously
worked at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI). He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in Soil and
Water Engineering, his M.S. in Water Resources Engineering from Colegio de Postgraduados and his B.S. in
Agronomics Engineering fromUniversidad Autónoma Chapingo both in Mexico.