Title
Update on the 2024 Annual Groundwater Elevation Program - Groundwater Elevation Contour Maps and Cumulative Groundwater Change Chart. (Staff Presenting: Guillermo Diaz-Moreno)
Report
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
The Monterey County Water Resources Agency (Agency) is responsible for data collection and analysis of groundwater data throughout the Salinas Valley to support the ongoing groundwater elevation contouring, seawater intrusion mapping, and other programs related to current groundwater conditions. Conditions are assessed throughout the year to better understand how aquifers are responding during different hydrologic conditions as well as the relative groundwater storage fluctuations that occur on an annual basis.
These activities align with Strategic Plan Goals B7, Use of data and analysis to make informed decisions based on science and E1, improve public outreach to increase transparency, communication, education and information about Agency projects and programs. Activities associated with this program are included in Funds 111 & 116 of the FY 24-25 budget.
Annual Groundwater Elevation Survey
In the latter part of each fall, from mid-November through December, the Agency measures groundwater levels in approximately 450 wells throughout the Salinas Valley, from the San Ardo oilfields to the coast. The timing of this sampling survey allows the Agency to capture conditions in the groundwater basin at a time when a relative decrease in agricultural pumping causes groundwater level troughs to relax, prior to the influence of seasonal recharge in response to winter/spring precipitation. In this way, the Annual survey of groundwater level data is an assessment of the relative, year-to-year change in groundwater storage throughout the valley.
The 2024 Annual groundwater elevation contours for the 180-Foot, East Side Shallow, Forebay and Upper Valley Aquifers are included as Attachment A. Compared to the 2023 survey, there was an overall increase in groundw...
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