DWR Groundwater Grant Programs

ACWD Grant Projects

ACWD has been awarded five State Groundwater Grants over several years.

• Northwest Region - The first grant, for fiscal year 2003-2004, was awarded by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) in the amount of $249,900 to install eight monitoring wells in four locations south of Highway 92 in the northwest region of the Niles Cone groundwater Basin. This project has been completed and a final report was issued on April 12, 2006. View the northwest region grant information (PDF).
• Southwest Region - The second grant, for fiscal year 2004-2005, was awarded by DWR in the amount of $249,943 to install eight monitoring wells in two locations within the Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge in the southwest region of the Niles Cone Groundwater Basin. This project has been completed and a final report was issued on May 7, 2007. View the southwest region grant information (PDF).
• Central Region - The third grant, for fiscal year 2007-2008, was awarded by DWR in the amount of $250,000 to install eleven monitoring wells at seven locations in the central portion of the City of Fremont. The wells were installed to evaluate saltwater intrusion within two major drinking water aquifers, the Centerville and Fremont Aquifers, of the Niles Cone Groundwater Basin. This project has been completed and a final report was issued on April 28, 2010. View the central region grant information (PDF).
• Western Region - The fourth grant, for fiscal year 2011-2012, was awarded by DWR in the amount of $225,000 to install six monitoring wells at four locations within property owned/operated by the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge in the western region of the Niles Cone Groundwater Basin. The wells were installed to evaluate the western extent of saltwater intrusion within two major drinking water aquifers, the Centerville and Fremont Aquifers. The project has been completed and a final report was issued on March 30, 2016. View the western region grant information (PDF).
• Western Region - The fifth grant, for fiscal year 2020-2021, was awarded by the California State Water Resources Control Board in the amount of $206,965 to destroy two abandoned legacy irrigation wells located within property owned/operated by the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge (in the western section of the Niles Cone Groundwater Basin) that were acting as potential preferential pathways for saltwater to enter into active water production aquifers. Destruction of the wells will assist in limiting the amount of saltwater intrusion impacting drinking water sources and threatening ACWD’s Mowry Wellfield. The project has been completed and a Final Project Report (PDF) was issued on March 30, 2022, and a Final Project Summary (PDF) was issued on April 7, 2022.
• Central Region - The sixth grant, for fiscal year 2022-2023, was awarded by the California State Water Resources Control Board in the amount of $613,048 to conduct a remedial investigation and feasibility study (RI/FS) to identify and evaluate alternatives to prevent migration of brackish water to ACWD's drinking water supply wells. Investigations were conducted at three locations to evaluate each alternative's potential to achieve the desired benefits of a future Implementation Project to prevent saltwater migration to the Mowry Wellfield, accelerate brackish water removal from the Centerville-Fremont Aquifer, and reclaim aquifer storage. Based on the results of the RI/FS, one of the locations was selected as a feasible site to conduct the future Implementation Project. The project has been completed and a RI/FS Report (PDF) and Final Project Summary (PDF) were issued on September 28, 2022, and a Final Project Report (PDF) was issued on September 29, 2022.

View additional information on DWR's grant program.