The Board of the Santa Clarita Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SCV-GSA) unanimously approved a long-term plan for protecting the local basin, culminating nearly five years of scientific study and extensive public input.
The Board of Directors supported the Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) for the Santa Clara River Valley East Subbasin following a virtual public hearing on Jan. 3, 2022, according to officials.
The basin provides water for the residents and farms of the Santa Clarita Valley, as well as the environment, according to officials.
“Passage of the GSP represents a monumental accomplishment for our region’s water future and is testament to what can be accomplished through the public process,” said Gina Natoli, president of the SCV-GSA Board of Directors. “This document will guide management of the basin and protect it from overuse, ensuring access to the water our communities need to thrive.”
The GSP identifies ways to balance pumping and recharge in the basin within 20 years, taking into consideration population growth and climate change, according to officials.
The plan is required under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), passed in 2014 to protect groundwater resources statewide, according to officials.
The GSP is set to now go to the state Department of Water Resources for review.
A key component of the GSP and its development was more than two years of public outreach, which involved six workshops, a public comment period, feedback forms, ads, newsletters and website updates, according to SCV Water officials.
The SCV-GSA also established a Stakeholder Advisory Committee, which included the perspectives of pumpers, environmental and business interests, and the community at large.
Work on the GSP began in 2017 with a groundwater flow model, analysis and input from all user groups who depend on water from the basin.
The Santa Clarita Valley gets about half of its drinking and agricultural irrigation water from the basin, according to officials.
Without it, water providers would have to purchase more expensive water imported from hundreds of miles away.
The GSP can be accessed online at scvgsa.org, along with videos, fact sheets and other information on groundwater conditions, sustainable management criteria and groundwater dependent ecosystems, according to officials.
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