Publications related to the GRACE Missions (no abstracts)

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Net Groundwater Recharge in California Occurs Primarily During Above–Average Snowpack Years

Reager, John T., Molotch, Noah P., and Famiglietti, James S., 2026. Net Groundwater Recharge in California Occurs Primarily During Above–Average Snowpack Years. Geophysical Research Letters, 53(18):e2026GL122396, doi:10.1029/2026GL122396.

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@ARTICLE{2026GeoRL..5322396R,
       author = {{Reager}, John T. and {Molotch}, Noah P. and {Famiglietti}, James S.},
        title = "{Net Groundwater Recharge in California Occurs Primarily During Above-Average Snowpack Years}",
      journal = {\grl},
     keywords = {groundwater recharge, GRACE/GRACE--FO, snow water equivalent, California Central Valley, hydroclimate variability, climate warming impacts},
         year = 2026,
        month = sep,
       volume = {53},
       number = {18},
          eid = {e2026GL122396},
        pages = {e2026GL122396},
     abstract = "{In a new application of GRACE and GRACE--FO satellite observations, we
        estimate basin--scale net groundwater recharge rates for the
        combined Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Tulare basins encompassing
        California's Central Valley aquifer. Net recharge is calculated
        as the temporal derivative of groundwater storage anomalies and
        compared with precipitation and snow water equivalent over a
        fixed study area. Net positive recharge is rare, occurring in
        only six water years since 2004, and is consistently associated
        with years of above--average Sierra Nevada snowpack. Across the
        observational record, net positive recharge is observed only in
        years when snow water equivalent exceeds approximately 21
        km$^{3}$ (17 MAF; \raisebox{-0.5ex}\textasciitilde121\% of the
        20--year mean value), with the largest recharge event coinciding
        with the exceptionally wet winter of water year 2023. These
        results suggest that above--average snowpack conditions, rather
        than rainfall alone, are an important enabling condition for
        basin--scale groundwater recharge under a warming climate.}",
          doi = {10.1029/2026GL122396},
       adsurl = {https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2026GeoRL..5322396R},
      adsnote = {Provided by the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System}
}

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