Value of InSAR for Monitoring Land Subsidence to Support Water Management in the San Joaquin Valley, California

Land subsidence caused by groundwater extraction in California’s San Joaquin Valley has been occurring for many decades. In situ monitoring of subsidence in this large geographic area has historically been limited. The California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) sought the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s assistance for satellite‐ and aircraft‐based synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) monitoring of subsidence during the 2012–2016 drought. InSAR was successful in cost‐effectively providing first‐ever synoptic measurement of land subsidence over the entire San Joaquin Valley. The purpose of the monitoring was screening or hotspot detection of impact areas affecting critical water infrastructure. Long‐term cumulative land subsidence has substantially reduced the conveyance capacity of sections of major valley canals and the monitoring revealed that subsidence rates observed during the drought ranked with maximum historically observed rates, highlighting risks to water infrastructure. InSAR also identified new and rapidly emerging hotspots adjacent to critical water infrastructure. The success of the InSAR monitoring for drought response resulted in CDWR’s decision to subsequently provide InSAR data as technical assistance to local agencies required to comply with recent state groundwater management legislation.

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