Santa Cruz Mid-County

Source: CA DWR

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Santa Cruz Mid-County

Statistics

At-A-Glance

Located in California’s Central Coast hydrologic region, the Santa Cruz Mid-County is 36,290 acres in size. This High priority basin is home to an estimated 84,933 people (2010 value), which have been at a rate of 0. Santa Cruz Mid-County is a(n) basin with approximately 1144 wells, of which approximately 43 are water supply wells. Groundwater accounts for approximately 82.98 percent of the basin’s water supply.

Source: CA DWR
Source: CA DWR

Basin Notes

2003: Bulletin 118 basin description for former Soquel Valley

2015: Identified as a critically overdrafted basin.

2016: Consolidated through a basin boundary modification with portions of Soquel Valley 3-001, West Santa Cruz Terrace 3-026, Santa Cruz Purisima Formation 3-021, Pajaro Valley 3-002 to become Santa Cruz Mid-County 3-001.

2016: Basin boundary description

2018: Draft basin prioritization comments –

  • Declining groundwater levels: 1) CASGEM/WDL/GWIDS: Pajaro Valley and Soquel Valley: Santa Cruz Mid-County combines Soquel and Pajaro Valleys, which are classified being in critical overdraft.
  • Salt intrusion: For many years, groundwater levels in our area have been dropping and remain too low to protect against seawater intrusion. Despite extensive conservation efforts by customers, the Soquel-Aptos Area groundwater basin is in a state of overdraft because more water is being pumped out annually than is naturally recharged through rainfall. The groundwater basin is the SqCWDs only source of water. Overdraft of the groundwater basin is not sustainable and seawater intrusion at the coastline is present in the Aptos, Seascape, and La Selva Beach area. Source: Soquel Creek Water District_Primary Problem_ Seawater Intrusion.pdf 2) In July 2015 the Soquel-Valley Groundwater Basin was identified by the Department of Water Resources as one of 21 water basins to be reclassified as critically overdrafted. This was done on the basis of seawater intrusion detected at the coastline, and the declaration of a Groundwater Emergency by Soquel Creek Water District in 2014. Source: Santa CruzCityof-Groundwater.pdf 3) Proposed (2015) sea water barriers in Soquel area, see SoquelArea- Recycled to Seawater Barrier 20 July Final Draft.pdf Source: SoquelArea- Recycled to Seawater Barrier 20 July Final Draft.pdf 4) Proposed (2017): Pure Water Soquel is a groundwater replenishment project using advanced water purification methods to purify recycled water for replenishing the groundwater basin and protecting against seawater intrusion. The purified water would mix with existing groundwater and eventually become part of the groundwater supply that is delivered to customers. Source: Soquel Pure Water

2018 Final Basin Prioritization: Basin status remains unchanged at high priority.

2019: November 21 – Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Agency (MGA) adopts a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP)

2020: January 30 – MGA submits its GSP to California Department of Water Resources (DWR)

GSA Information


Models