Data
Well Information
Water use information for sites sampled by the California Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program Priority Basin Project (GAMA-PBP), 2004-2021 (ver. 3.0, October 2023)
Stork, S.V., and Fram, M.S., 2021, U.S. Geological Survey data release
Related Study Unit(s): Antelope Valley Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Bear Valley and Lake Arrowhead Watershed Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Borrego Valley, Central Desert, and Low-Use Basins of the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, California Desert Region Resources Used for Public Supply, Cascade Range and Modoc Plateau Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Central Eastside San Joaquin Basin Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Central Sierra Nevada Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Coachella Valley Groundwater Resources Used for Domestic Supply, Coachella Valley Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Coastal Los Angeles Basin Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Colorado River Basins Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Eastern Sacramento Valley and Foothills Groundwater Resources Used for Domestic Supply, Kern County Sub-Basin Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Klamath Mountains Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Madera-Chowchilla and Kings Sub-basins Groundwater Resources Used for Domestic Supply, Madera-Chowchilla Basin Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Modesto, Turlock, and Merced Subbasins of the San Joaquin Valley Groundwater Resources Used for Domestic Supply, Mojave Area Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Monterey Bay and Salinas Valley Basins Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Monterey Bay, Salinas Valley, and Adjacent Highlands Groundwater Resources Used for Domestic Supply, North Coast Ranges Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, North San Francisco Bay Basins Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, North San Francisco Bay Groundwater Resources Used for Domestic Supply, Northern San Joaquin Valley Groundwater Resources Used for Domestic Supply, Northern San Joaquin Valley Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Northern Sierra Nevada Foothills Groundwater Resources Used for Domestic Supply, Owens Valley and Indian Wells Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Sacramento Metro Groundwater Resources Used for Domestic Supply, Sacramento Valley Groundwater Resources Used for Domestic Supply, Sacramento Valley Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, San Diego Drainages Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, San Francisco Bay Basins Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, San Gabriel-San Fernando Basins Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Santa Barbara Coastal Plain Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Santa Clara River Valley Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Santa Cruz, San Gabriel, and Peninsular Ranges Hard Rock Aquifer Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Sierra Nevada Region Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, South Coast Interior Basins Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, South Coast Range Coastal Basins Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Southeast San Joaquin Valley Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Tahoe-Martis, Central Sierra, and Southern Sierra Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Tule-Tulare-Kaweah and Associated Highlands Groundwater Resources Used for Domestic Supply, Upper Santa Ana Watershed Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply, Western Mojave Desert Groundwater Resources Used for Domestic Supply, Western San Joaquin Valley Groundwater Resources Used for Public Supply
ABSTRACT
The U.S. Geological Survey collected water-quality samples from 3,199 sites between May 2004 and April 2022 for the California Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program Priority Basin Project (GAMA-PBP). The GAMA-PBP is a cooperative project with the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). The primary objectives of the GAMA-PBP are: (1) to assess the quality of groundwater resources used for public and domestic drinking water supplies, (2) to develop understanding of the natural and anthropogenic processes controlling groundwater quality and changes in groundwater quality, and (3) to improve the availability and usefulness of groundwater quality information to public. This data release publishes site type information and a generalized use category for the sites. The dataset comprises 3,053 wells, 81 springs, and 65 other types of sites. The generalized use category is partially derived from, but is not equivalent to, the use of site and use of water fields from the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS) data archive. Of the 2,903 wells and springs from which water is withdrawn for use, 1,651 are classified as production (includes sites used for public, commercial, industrial, institutional, and desalination water supplies), 973 as domestic, 264 as irrigation, and 15 as other water supply uses. Of the remaining sites, 225 are classified as observation wells, 6 are wells and springs from which water is withdrawn and not used, 63 are distribution system taps, and 2 are other types of sites. GAMA-PBP data are also served to the public through the SWRCB's GAMA Groundwater Information System (GAMAGIS), along with data from other federal, state, and local agency sources, and the generalized use categories in this data release are compatible with the use categories in SWRCB GAMAGIS. Prior to publication of this data release, SWRCB GAMAGIS classified all GAMA-PBP sites as "municipal", which resulted in erroneous characterization of approximately half of the sites. The generalized classification provided in this data release greatly improves the accuracy of site characterization, while still complying with Federal policies concerning release of location information for some types of sites.
Version 1.0 posted September 29, 2021
Version 2.0 posted August 31, 2022
Version 3.0 posted October 25, 2023
Changes in Version 3.0
1) Eighty-seven (87) sites were added to the Data Release. These sites were sampled for the first time by the GAMA-PBP between May 2022 and August 2023.
2) Corrections were made to 5 sites published in Version 2.0:
ANT-12: use_category changed from irrigation to production
SF-01: use_category changed from irrigation to production
S-NSF-VP15: use_category changed from production to observation
NOCO-IN05: site_number changed from 394117123291001 to 394118123291701 and use_category from production to domestic
COLOR-14: site_number changed from 324452114443101 to 324457114452601
3) The counts of site types in the text of the Abstract and Purpose were updated.
4) The dataset point of contact was changed.
Versions 1.0 and 2.0 can be obtained by request from M.S. Fram (mfram@usgs.gov)