A public draft for the 2022 annual report of the Paso Robles groundwater basin shows an excess of pumping amidst the severe drought.
The report said about 87 thousand acre-feet of water was extracted from the basin in 2022, compared to 2021’s 82 thousand acre-feet. The report estimates 92% of this consumption came from agriculture users, a majority of which were grape vineyards.
About 61 thousand acre-feet of water can be pumped per year to be sustainable, according to the report. Pumping in 2022 far exceeded the amounts of sustainable yield, which when combined with the severe drought, resulted in a total storage loss of over 117 thousand acre-feet in the basin.
The report does not include the rains of this winter, as the water year ends in September of 2022. The full report can be seen at: slocounty.ca.gov.
