Title
Consider receiving the draft 2020 Groundwater Level Contour Maps.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Monterey County Water Resources Agency Basin Management Advisory Committee:
Receive the draft 2020 Groundwater Level Contour Maps.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
August Trough Groundwater Level Survey
On a single day in August, Agency staff conducts an intensive groundwater level survey of the northern Salinas Valley. Groundwater levels (GWLs) are sampled at 197 wells from Chualar to the coast, to obtain a “snapshot” survey of conditions within and beyond the Seawater Intrusion Front. This is done during a time of the year when aquifers are most stressed by pumping. One of the key purposes of the survey is to monitor and assess the forces driving seawater intrusion, in particular groundwater level gradients sloping inland from the coast, which are most pronounced when pumping is at its seasonal peak.
Fall Groundwater Level Survey
In the latter part of each fall, from mid-November to mid-December, the Agency samples GWLs in approximately 490 wells throughout the Salinas Valley, from the San Ardo Oilfields to Moss Landing. The timing of this sampling survey allows us to capture conditions in the groundwater basin at a time when a relative lull 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 Fall survey of groundwater level data is an assessment of the relative, year-to-year change in groundwater storage throughout the valley.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
None
FINANCING:
There is no financial impact in receiving this report.
Prepared by: Howard Franklin, Senior Hydrologist, (831) 755-4860
Tamara Voss, Associate Hydrologist, (831) 755-4860
Nicole Koerth, Hydrologist, (831) 755-4860
Guillermo Diaz-Moreno, Water Resources Technician, (831) 755-4860
April Woods, Water Resources Technician, (831) 755-4860