Difference between revisions of "Pajaro Valley Groundwater Overdraft Concerns"
(→Location) |
(→Laws, policies, & regulations) |
||
| Line 26: | Line 26: | ||
== Laws, policies, & regulations == | == Laws, policies, & regulations == | ||
| − | Currently in California landowners possess the ability to pump ground water as long as it is put to beneficial use. Assembly Bill 3030 enables designated local agencies to form groundwater management plans. The PVWMA is the designated agency that | + | Currently in California landowners possess the ability to pump ground water as long as it is put to beneficial use. Assembly Bill 3030 was passed in 2002 and enables designated local agencies to form groundwater management plans. The PVWMA is the designated agency that voluntarily creates groundwater management plans for the the Pajaro Watershed. Monterey County has an ordinance in place for groundwater management, but does not include plans for North Monterey County. |
== Science == | == Science == | ||
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
