Difference between revisions of "Pajaro Valley Groundwater Overdraft Concerns"
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* The Pajaro River Watershed Flood Prevention Authority was established in 2000 to develop and implement flood prevention strategies for the Pajaro River. Any plans for groundwater recharge will have to be coordinated through the Flood Prevention Authority. | * The Pajaro River Watershed Flood Prevention Authority was established in 2000 to develop and implement flood prevention strategies for the Pajaro River. Any plans for groundwater recharge will have to be coordinated through the Flood Prevention Authority. | ||
* The counties of Monterey, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and San Benito all have some portion of Pajaro Valley within their borders. | * The counties of Monterey, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and San Benito all have some portion of Pajaro Valley within their borders. | ||
| + | * The City of Watsonville is in the center of the Pajaro Valley and will require groundwater resources for future development. | ||
== Laws, policies, & regulations == | == Laws, policies, & regulations == | ||
Revision as of 18:48, 1 February 2011
Pajaro Valley Groundwater Overdraft Concerns examined by the ENVS 560/L Watershed Systems class at CSUMB.
Contents
Summary
The Pajaro Valley is an agriculturally import part of the California Central Coast area and provides jobs and homes for many in the area. Over the past several decades, groundwater pumping for agriculture and an increasing population has led to an overdraft of the aquifer that threatens the agricultural and municipal freshwater supplies in the area. Groundwater overdraft occurs when pumping rate exceeds the recharge rate over an extended period of time. As a result of groundwater overdraft, seawater intrusion into the aquifer could impair future freshwater use in the valley. To further complicate the matter, aquifer recharge is a very lengthy process that takes tens or even hundreds of years even after mitigating steps have been taken.
Location
The Pajaro Valley lies in Central California and straddles the County Line between Northern Monterey County and Southern Santa Cruz County.
Resources at stake
Groundwater overdraft in a coastal region increases the risk of seawater intrusion. As the groundwater level diminishes, saline water will fill the void left by the overdraft, rendering the ground useless for agriculture and contaminating the freshwater aquifer. If the groundwater overdraft in the Pajaro Valley is not mitigated, parts of Monterey and Santa Cruz counties within the Pajaro Valley could experience an agricultural collapse and a freshwater shortage that would require complicated and costly drinking water delivery schemes.
Stakeholders
The Pajaro Valley includes agricultural, developmental, municipal, and conservation activities into a water district that extends into three separate counties. Some of the major stakeholders include:
- The Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency [PVWMA] was established in 1984 in order to manage groundwater issues in the Pajaro Valley in the region.
- The Pajaro River Watershed Flood Prevention Authority was established in 2000 to develop and implement flood prevention strategies for the Pajaro River. Any plans for groundwater recharge will have to be coordinated through the Flood Prevention Authority.
- The counties of Monterey, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and San Benito all have some portion of Pajaro Valley within their borders.
- The City of Watsonville is in the center of the Pajaro Valley and will require groundwater resources for future development.
Laws, policies, & regulations
...What laws, policies, and/or regulations are involved?...
- Groundwater management is centered around local issues.
- Monterey County has ordinance in place for groundwater management, Santa Cruz County has no such ordinance in place.
- Currently in California, landowners possess the ability to pump as much groundwater as they can beneficially use.
- Assembly Bill 3030 enables designated local agencies to form groundwater management plans.
Systems
... What elements of the biophysical system are/were involved?...
Science
...What scientific studies are or would be relevant / already completed?...
Tools
...What analytical (e.g. modeling) tools were or could be used?...
Future research
...What knowledge gaps remain?...
...Suggest a CWSP MS thesis topic that could contribute to the issue...
...Suggest a topic for a hypothetical study that had unlimited resources...
References
- [PVWMA] Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency. 2006. Basin management plan documents. [30 January 2011]. Available from: http://www.pvwma.dst.ca.us/basin_management_plan/bmp_documents.shtml#bmpdocuments
- California Department of Water Resources. 2010. Groundwater Information Center [30 January 2011] Available from: http://www.water.ca.gov/groundwater/index.cfm
- Stephens T. November 18, 2007. UCSC hydrologist provides expert advice on Pajaro Valley's water supply. UCSC News [Internet]. [cited 2011 January 31]. Available from: http://news.ucsc.edu/2007/11/1759.html
Links
Disclaimer
This page may contain student work completed as part of assigned coursework. It may not be accurate. It does not necessary reflect the opinion or policy of CSUMB, its staff, or students.
