The Santa Clarita Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SCV-GSA) Board of Directors is scheduled to discuss a draft plan for long-term management of the local groundwater basin in November.
The public is encouraged to bring their questions and concerns forward to the SCV-GSA Board of Directors at their meeting in November as they piece together their Draft Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) for the Santa Clara River Valley East Subbasin.
The Draft Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) was presented to the SCV-GSA Board in October, where a follow-up discussion was scheduled on Nov. 23 in which additional details would be provided, according to SCV Water.
“A great deal of hard work and time have gone into this plan, but it is very necessary to protect this vital resource that sustains the Santa Clarita Valley,” said Gina Natoli, president of the SCV-GSA Board of Directors.
Work on the GSP began in 2017 and has involved a number of special studies, a groundwater flow model, and analysis and input from all user groups who depend on water from the Santa Clara River Valley East Subbasin, according to officials.
Santa Clarita Valley gets about half of its drinking and agricultural irrigation water from the basin. Without the local resource, water providers would have to purchase more expensive water imported from hundreds of miles away, according to SCV-GSA officials.
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The GSP lays out a path for maintaining a balance of inflow and pumping in the basin over the next 20 years, based on sources and uses of water and anticipated changes such as population growth and climate change, according to officials.
The plan has been tailored to the resources and needs of the community and drew on the perspectives of pumpers, environmental and business interests and the community at large, which were represented on a Stakeholder Advisory Committee.
The Board meeting is expected to be held remotely via Zoom from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 23 to discuss monitoring, evaluating, and responding to potential changes to groundwater dependent ecosystems that could result from groundwater pumping, according to SCV-GSA officials.
Log-in details are available online, along with videos and fact sheets from previous workshops, which focused on topics such as groundwater conditions, sustainable management criteria and groundwater dependent ecosystems.
Public comment provided to date will be reviewed and new public comment be considered.
A finalized GSP for the Santa Clara River Valley East Subbasin is expected to be adopted by January 2022.
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