During California’s five-year drought, the row of ponds in the desert north of the Palm Springs often lay empty and dry. But this year, the ponds have been filled to the brim with a record amount of water from the Colorado River.  The Coachella Valley’s water utilities are using the influx of imported water to chip away at the long-term problem of groundwater overdraft. For months, water has been flowing into the ponds at the Whitewater River Groundwater Replenishment Facility and seeping into the sandy soil to replenish the desert aquifer.