The Santa Clarita Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SCV-GSA) Board is expected to adopt the long-term water resource management strategy at their next meeting in January.

A virtual public hearing is scheduled for Monday, January 3, 2022, on the final Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) to protect the Santa Clara River Valley East Subbasin, a vital resource for Santa Clarita Valley’s residents, farms and the environment.

The remote Zoom meeting begins at 2:30 p.m., at which the SCV-GSA Board of Directors is expected to consider the GSP and vote on its adoption. Log-in details are available online, along with videos, fact sheets and other information on groundwater conditions, sustainable management criteria and groundwater-dependent ecosystems.

The GSP reflects approximately 3 years of work with stakeholders. The plan is tailored to the resources and needs of the community and draws on the perspectives of pumpers, environmental and business interests and the community at large, which were represented on a Stakeholder Advisory Committee. Work has involved a groundwater flow model, analysis and input from all user groups who depend on water from the Santa Clara River Valley East Subbasin.

The GSP lays out a path for achieving a balance of inflow and pumping in the basin within 20 years, based on sources and uses of water and anticipated changes such as population growth and climate change. With GSP adoption, ongoing monitoring is planned to take place to maintain sustainability and address potential concerns to sustainability.

Santa Clarita Valley gets about half of its drinking and agricultural irrigation water from the basin.

Without this local resource, water providers would have to purchase more expensive water imported from hundreds of miles away. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), passed in 2014, developed a statewide framework to protect groundwater resources over the long-term.

“Adoption of the GSP is the culmination of years of research and public feedback on how best to protect our basin,” said Gina Natoli, president of the SCV-GSA Board of Directors. “We look forward to carrying out the plan as required under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.”

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