Starting Saturday, you could see helicopters carrying large hoops flying around the Central Coast.
“The California Department of Water Resources is flying a helicopter over the southern part of San Luis Obispo County to perform some airborne electromagnet studies,” explained Nick Teague, Water Resources Program Manager for the City of San Luis Obispo. “This helps provide data on the groundwater and the subsurface geology.”
The project supports the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. The helicopters will be flying over the following basins:
- San Luis Obispo Valley
- San Antonio Creek Valley
- Santa Maria
- Arroyo Grande
- Los Osos Area
- Warden Creek
You might wonder, what is an airborne electromagnetic survey?
“AEM surveys are helicopter-based surveys,” said Katherine Dlubac, Senior Engineering Geologist with the California Department of Water Resources. “They consist of a helicopter that flies about 200 feet above the earth, and then below the helicopter, it tows a large loop.”
The system is unique.
“There's a current that's sent in this large loop, and it goes into the ground,” Dlubac explained. “We get information from that current and that allows us to get information about the layers of sand and gravel and clays beneath our feet where groundwater is stored, and that gives us information about the groundwater aquifer structure.”
Helicopters previously scanned the Paso Robles area back in 2021.
“They're not going to be flying over urban areas, including homes or businesses,” Teague said.
“The data they collect really helps us have a better grasp of our groundwater systems and identify optimal areas for groundwater recharge. That helps us work to bolster groundwater supplies and protect communities from potential flooding during major rain events,” said Blaine Reely, San Luis Obispo County Groundwater Sustainability Director.
This time around, the Central Coast is the last stop for the statewide survey.
“The results in the San Luis Obispo area should be ready, I would say, in early to mid-2024, so I would say about six months from now is when we should be able to get that data out,” Dlubac added.
KSBY reached out to the San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau and Deputy Executive Director Catie Field issued the following statement: “The AEM survey should provide a more up-to-date visual of our groundwater basins to help the Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) in informed decision making. This is especially applicable in identifying areas of focus for potential groundwater recharge projects. More information is always better to help make these decisions about the basins.”
“This is really the type of information that helps us in the long term for both drought situations and for wet, wet year situations,” Dlubac said.
The flight schedule could be impacted by weather conditions.
