FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 15, 2021
Contact:
Donna Meyers, General Manager
Phone: (831) 471-7512 x203
Email: meyersd@svbgsa.org
State Approves First of 6 Salinas Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plans
180/400 Foot Aquifer Subbasin plan among first in the state to receive approval by the California Department of Water Resources
SALINAS, Calif. — The Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SVBGSA) today announced its 180/400 Foot Aquifer Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) has been approved by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR). Originally submitted to DWR in January 2020 by the SVBGSA, the GSP, approved June 3, 2021, is among the first in the state to receive approval.
Groundwater is essential in the Salinas Valley, including the various subbasins that serve residents, businesses, farms, industries and the environment. It also plays a critical role in the health of our lakes and rivers, including the ecosystems they support. As California continues to be impacted by serious drought conditions, this work has never been more important.
The 180/400 Foot Aquifer Subbasin is one of six that is managed by the SVBGSA. The agency’s work is driven by mandates related to California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. The subbasin has been determined to be critically overdrafted, meaning that water is being pumped out of the subbasin at an unsustainable rate. SVBGSA’s state-approved plan charts a course to sustainability over the next 20 years.
California State Legislature passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in 2014 in response to a scientific understanding that groundwater in California is being used faster than it’s being replenished. The act requires designated groundwater basins to form a public agency to develop a groundwater management plan and implement actions that will help local subbasins reach groundwater sustainability. In response to SGMA, the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency was created in 2017.
The 180/400 Foot Aquifer Subbasin is one of six subbasins beneath the Salinas Valley managed by SVBGSA. Sustainability plans for the other five subbasins are currently being drafted and will be presented to the public for feedback later this year. The approved 180/400 Foot Aquifer Subbasin GSP will be used as a baseline to support development of GSPs for the Eastside, Forebay, Langley, Monterey and Upper Valley subbasins.
About the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency
The SVBGSA was created in 2017 to develop a comprehensive groundwater sustainability plan by 2020 and implement the plan to achieve groundwater sustainability by 2040. The Agency’s eleven-member Board is comprised of diverse interests from across the Salinas Valley.
The Salinas Valley groundwater basin is comprised of six subbasins: 180/400 Foot Aquifer, Eastside, Forebay, Langley, Monterey and Upper Valley. Each subbasin faces its own unique challenges, and each requires its own sustainability plan. The SVBGSA is on a mission to complete the development of its Groundwater Sustainability Plans by 2022. Learn more at www.svbgsa.org and on Facebook.
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