From some parts of Highway 101, the Salinas Valley can look like one long, uniform stretch of agricultural fields. But the groundwater basins that lie beneath the surface tell a different story, one of interconnectivity, fragmentation and different interests depending what end of the valley you’re on.
Groundwater is the source for roughly 96% of all water used in the Salinas Valley. For more than a century, it has been the foundation for Monterey County’s agricultural industry.
But as generation after generation has sipped from thousands of straws up and down the valley, groundwater levels have dropped and the salty waters of Monterey Bay have seeped in to fill its place. The saltwater has moved steadily inland, compromising agricultural wells and nearly reaching Salinas city limits.
In 2015, California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act mandated officials across the Salinas Valley to get a handle on seawater intrusion and now a critical deadline approaches.