Well Registration and Groundwater Extraction Reporting
The Monterey County Water Resources Agency (MCWRA) and the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SVBGSA) are partnering to improve the collection and storage of regional groundwater data through the creation of the Groundwater Monitoring Program (GMP). The GMP will include well registration, the Groundwater Extraction Monitoring System (GEMS), and groundwater elevation and quality monitoring.
The partnership will establish one cohesive program to comply with the regulatory-driven monitoring requirements under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), while ensuring efficiency and transparency. The key goal is to improve the availability of accurate and timely groundwater information, which aids in effectively managing water resources. The SVBGSA is charged with achieving sustainability in the Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin, which extends from the southern boundary of Monterey County to northwestern Monterey County and requires sound data to achieve its planning objectives.
Pending approval of the MCWRA’s Ordinance, expansion of well registration and the Groundwater Extraction Monitoring System will require all wells in the Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin to be registered with the MCWRA. Those wells extracting more than 2 acre-feet per year (i.e. non-de minimis) will also need to report extraction data to MCWRA through GEMS.
Well registration with MCWRA will involve well owners submitting or verifying well information through a registration portal (under development). The data submission requirements include general information about well ownership, well construction specifications, and the status of the well (for a complete list see MCWRA GMP Program Manual). Data on well location and depth helps to understand the relationship between the wells and groundwater conditions. The well owner’s name and address information obtained through the GMP is confidential.
Nearly 500 well operators currently submit groundwater extraction information to MCWRA through GEMS, a program established in 1993. But data gaps exist, specifically in the Langley Subbasin, on the northern coastal side of the 180/400 Subbasin and across a significant portion of the Upper Valley Subbasin in southern Monterey County. The GEMS expansion will comprise all non-de minimis users, including agricultural users, domestic users with 15 or more connections, and in subsequent years (tentatively October 2025) domestic users with 5-14 connections.
Groundwater extraction data can be tracked with the well operator’s choice of an approved method. Approved methods currently include water flowmeter, electrical meter, or hour meter (timer). Pending approval of the MCWRA’s Ordinance, data must be recorded by the well operator monthly for each water year, from October 1 to September 30, and reported to MCWRA by November 1 of each year. For the 2023 reporting year, 96% of the 1,940 wells that were required to report submitted their data. As the Groundwater Monitoring Program is further developed and enhanced, SVBGSA and MCWRA are striving for efficient data collection to support effective water resources management in the region.
Frequently Asked Questions
(pending approval of MCWRA’s ordinance)