Title
Update on staff's participation in the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency's Advisory Committee (Staff: Shaunna Murray)
Report
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
Background
The Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SVBGSA) has an Advisory Committee which plays a key role in shaping groundwater management in the Salinas Valley by providing input and consensus-based recommendations to the SVBGSA Board of Directors. The Advisory Committee reflects a broad range of perspectives, representing agencies and groundwater users across the region. Members collaborate to support the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act through the integrated execution of six Groundwater Sustainability Plans. The Monterey County Water Resources Agency (Agency) has a seat on the Advisory Committee and will provide periodic updates to the Agency BOD as it affects or is of interest to the Agency.
Summary
Staff participated in the Advisory Committee’s special meeting held on October 28, 2026.
The main item on this meeting agenda was a presentation from Monterey One Water (M1W) staff on their suggested refinements of the approved Integrated Implementation Strategy (IIS) Projects and Management Actions (PMAs), Portfolio 3A. The approved Portfolio 3A is described below.
Portfolio 3A Small BGRP with Direct Delivery and Injection: A smaller Brackish Groundwater Restoration Project (BGRP) with partial direct delivery to Salinas and partial injection, paired with Castroville and Eastside (C&E) recharge basins in the Eastside (100 cfs), CSIP optimization, and 10% agricultural demand management. Yield is approximately 37,700 AF/year. It addresses seawater intrusion nearly - but not fully to - the current minimum threshold and does not address Monterey Subbasin seawater intrusion, so it requires mitigation activities.
M1W proposed refinements to two of the components, BGRP and C&E, with the aim of reducing costs, operations & maintenance while continuing to meet the SGMA goals. Additionally, M1W proposed ways to pilot both projects to help answer some of the modeling assumptions and concerns raised throughout the development process. They worked with some of the SVBGSA’s staff and consultants during development of the refinements but have not submitted any products to be reviewed and analyzed. This is more of a start of a discussion to consider options to modify the portfolio.
The BGRP pilot concept includes utilizing Castroville Community Services District’s wells for source water, a potential portable treatment facility and a new brine line to dispose of the waste to the outfall. This data could then be used to help calibrate the modeling efforts to see how the basin responds to injection. Marina Coast Water District is also in the process of piloting a brackish project on Armstrong Ranch that could help inform how a project may work.
The BGRP refinements that M1W proposed included augmenting the source water with excess water at the Salinas River Diversion Facility (SRDF), using existing wells and easements that other local public agencies hold, and reducing the number of wells and changing their location. They also focused on injection and reduced the ability to provide direct deliveries to the municipal water companies. These changes were geared towards cost savings and no technical analysis has been provided at this time.
M1W proposed a concept to pilot C&E using existing infrastructure and only utilizing surface percolation versus injection to see how effective it could be. They then shared existing data on suitable areas in north Salinas with a focus on Gabilan and Santa Rita Creeks. And discussed other studies on new technologies to increase recharge rates in percolation ponds. The refinement ideas include utilizing other source waters such as wastewater, industrial wastewater, and SRDF flows. They also considered utilizing other pipeline systems such as the existing CSIP and proposed BGRP network, instead of building new infrastructure.
The SVGSA is still working through process issues related to how the SVBGSA staff, Advisory Committee and Board of Directors can consider these new proposals and hope to bring something back in 2027. Additional proposals are forthcoming from other entities and so additional special meetings are anticipated in November and in the future to allow for those proposals to be presented to the Advisory Committee.
Additional information related to the Advisory Committee can be found on the SVBGSA’s website: <https://svbgsa.org/about-us/board-and-committees/advisory-committee/>
The Advisory Committee has the next regular meeting scheduled for December 17, 2026.
Prepared by: Shaunna Murray, Deputy General Manager, (831) 755-4860