News

Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency’s pilot program aims to serve rural residents SALINAS, Calif. — The Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SVBGSA) today announced the expansion of its Water Efficiency Pilot Program for Rural Residents (WEPP) to residents in all six of the subbasins under the agency’s purview, offering free home water efficiency [...]

At its Aug. 13 meeting, the SVBGSA Board of Directors selected Portfolio 3A as the preferred suite of projects and management actions in the Integrated Implementation Strategy (IIS), following information from the Advisory Committee and staff. The SVBGSA’s IIS serves as a roadmap that integrates technical work into policy aimed at achieving and maintaining sustainable [...]

Dive into the Salinas Valley’s groundwater story with a new series of narrated videos. The video series walks viewers through the StoryMap feature to explore how and why water moves in the Salinas Valley Basin. The three-part series — based on a StoryMap created by SVBGSA — is a resource that explains the complexities of [...]

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 [...]

To meet mandates of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, three options have emerged to achieve groundwater sustainability. In August, the board of the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency will select one of these portfolios to recommend to the state’s Department of Water Resources for review. A hurdle is the cost. “We’ve had some real [...]

As part of its Integrated Implementation Strategy (IIS) the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SVBGSA) is evaluating scenarios that address the undesirable groundwater conditions of the subbasins reflecting the hydraulic connectivity and the need for coordinated solutions. In the spring, the SVBGSA completed a major round of feasibility studies for project and management action [...]

The Castroville & Eastside Canals and Alternatives Feasibility Study is now available for review. This study shows opportunities to divert excess surface water from the Salinas River to raise groundwater levels and help address seawater intrusion. The study builds on the concept of using pipelines, instead of canals, to move high flows from the river [...]

Over 95% of the water used to support families, businesses, and agriculture in the Salinas Valley is sourced from managed groundwater resources. In the 180/400-Foot Aquifer and the Eastside Aquifer subbasins, groundwater is threatened by the gradual inland progression of seawater intrusion driven by declining groundwater levels. The Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SVBGSA) [...]

SALINAS – A bold plan is being developed that would convey tens of thousands of acre-feet of brackish water — a mix of freshwater and seawater — from near the coast to where it would be treated and then injected in front of an encroaching underground plume of seawater licking at the heels of the [...]

A deeper dive into the complexities of stopping seawater intrusion Seawater is slowly pushing inland, threatening the northern Salinas Valley’s groundwater — and protecting it is more complicated than simply pumping less water. Derrik Williams of Montgomery & Associates explained at a recent Board meeting why coastal aquifers require more than just stabilizing groundwater levels: [...]