News

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: [...]

New program aims to protect Monterey County groundwater SALINAS, Calif. — The Monterey County Water Resources Agency (MCWRA) and the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SVBGSA) today announced they have extended the deadline of a new well registration program that was established to better understand and protect groundwater resources in the Salinas Valley. All [...]

Deadline for free well registration is March 31The Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency partnered with Monterey County Water Resources Agency to launch a new well registration program, aiming to increase knowledge about smaller wells in the Salinas Valley. All wells in the Salinas Valley must be registered.The State of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act [...]

For the first time, thanks to mandates from the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), a local effort to collect reliable data on small, private wells in the Salinas Valley groundwater basin is underway. The effort, run by the Monterey County Water Resources Agency (MCWRA) in partnership with the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency [...]

Applications for the Water Leadership Institute are due Thursday, Jan. 15. The 2026 Water Leadership Institute (WLI) in the Salinas Valley was recently highlighted in the County of Monterey’s news briefing, where organizers discussed the program’s goal to build leadership skills and knowledge about local groundwater decision-making in underrepresented communities. The Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater [...]

The Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency has created an online information library to share the agency’s resources and documents. The library brings reference materials together in a single location, including: Organization Structure Charts Agency Policies Audited Financials Groundwater Sustainability Plans Click here to access the library and read about other updates in the full [...]

The Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Rural Community Assistance Corporation will co-host the 2026 Water Leadership Institute in the Salinas Valley. The Water Leadership Institute builds leadership skills and knowledge so people from underserved and underrepresented communities can take an active role in local water and groundwater decision-making. Through a [...]