Difference between revisions of "Pajaro Valley Groundwater Overdraft Concerns"

From CCoWS Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
(Location)
(Location)
Line 7: Line 7:
 
== Location ==
 
== Location ==
  
The Pajaro Valley lies in Central California and includes parts of Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Santa Clara counties.  The Pajoro Valley aquifer extends west into Monterey Bay and north to the Soquel-Aptos basin.  It is bound to the South by Elkhorn Slough and to the East by the San Andreas fault.
+
The Pajaro Valley lies in Central California and includes parts of Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Santa Clara counties.  The Pajoro Valley aquifer extends west into Monterey Bay and north to the Soquel-Aptos basin.  It is bound to the South by Elkhorn Slough and to the East by the San Andreas fault.<ref 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 ref>
 +
 
 
[[Image:Screen shot 2011-02-01 at 6.19.17 PM.png|thumb|PVWMA Boundries]]
 
[[Image:Screen shot 2011-02-01 at 6.19.17 PM.png|thumb|PVWMA Boundries]]
  

Revision as of 19:25, 1 February 2011

Pajaro Valley Groundwater Overdraft Concerns examined by the ENVS 560/L Watershed Systems class at CSUMB.

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 includes parts of Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Santa Clara counties. The Pajoro Valley aquifer extends west into Monterey Bay and north to the Soquel-Aptos basin. It is bound to the South by Elkhorn Slough and to the East by the San Andreas fault.[1]
Cite error: <ref> tags exist, but no <references/> tag was found