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Map ViewerFox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency GSA - Arroyo Santa Rosa Valley - 4-008 LAS POSAS VALLEY, 4-006 PLEASANT VALLEY, 4-004.02 SANTA CLARA RIVER VALLEY - OXNARD
Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency GSA - Arroyo Santa Rosa Valley - 4-008 LAS POSAS VALLEY, 4-006 PLEASANT VALLEY, 4-004.02 SANTA CLARA RIVER VALLEY - OXNARD
A. Applicant Information
Requesting Agency Information
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| Agency Name: | Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency GSA - Arroyo Santa Rosa Valley | ||
| Address: | 800 South Victoria Avenue | ||
| City: | Ventura | Zip: | 93009-1610 |
| Work Phone: | (805) 654-2014 | Cell Phone: | |
| Email: | FCGMA@ventura.org | Fax: | (805) 654-3350 |
| Revision Request Manager Information
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| Person Name: | Kathleen Riedel | ||
| Address: | 800 South Victoria Avenue | ||
| City: | Ventura | Zip: | 93009-1610 |
| Work Phone: | (805) 654-2064 | Cell Phone: | |
| Email: | kathleen.riedel@ventura.org | Fax: | |
B. Description of Proposed Boundary Modification
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Las Posas Valley Basin (4-08) western (internal jurisdictional) and portion of southern (scientific)
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- Scientific Internal
- Jurisdiction Internal
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The proposed boundary modifications will further sustainable management of basins within the boundaries of the Fox Canyon GMA. The goal of the proposed jurisdictional modification as the western boundary of the Las Posas Valley Basin is to ensure that Fox Canyon GMA can efficiently and consistently manage both the Las Posas Valley Basin and Oxnard Subbasins. The basins are in hydrologic communication with each other. The hydrogeological boundary between the two basins is transitional, and allows the movement of groundwater between basins. While there is no definitive hydrogeological boundary between the basins, there are private properties and water systems that straddle the DWR Bulletin 118 basin boundary. Ultimately, Fox Canyon GMA will adopt Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) for each basin that recognize the groundwater movement between the two basins and include provisions ensuring that each basin is managed in coordination with the other. However, for the purpose of groundwater management, Fox Canyon GMA desires to avoid, to the extent feasible, any potential severance of properties or water systems by a basin boundary adjustment. The proposed jurisdictional boundary modification of the Las Posas Valley Basin and the Oxnard Subbasin will respect the integrity of property lines and the groundwater source for the property, to prevent inefficient and potentially inconsistent management of groundwater pumping in the area. It is estimated that approximately 1/8 of the irrigated land in the Las Posas Valley Basin relies on water pumped from wells in the transitional groundwater zone between the Las Posas Valley Basin and Oxnard Subbasin. The successful adoption and implementation of the GSPs for both the Las Posas Valley Basin and Oxnard Subbasin will depend on a clearly delineated boundary modifications that respects parcel boundaries and groundwater source. The goal of the proposed geological boundary modification for a portion of the southern boundary of the Las Posas Valley Basin and Oxnard Subbasin is to ensure that groundwater pumping is correctly managed by the appropriate GSP. Fox Canyon GMA has jurisdiction over both the Las Posas Valley and Pleasant Valley basins. As with the Las Posas Valley Basin, Fox Canyon GMA will develop a GSP for the Pleasant Valley Basin. Such GSP will recognize that the Springville fault demarcates the hydrologic boundary between these basins. As with the jurisdictional boundary modification discussed above, it is not anticipated that this scientific modification will impact the ability of the Pleasant Valley Basin to be sustainably managed.
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- 4-008 LAS POSAS VALLEY
- 4-006 PLEASANT VALLEY
- 4-004.02 SANTA CLARA RIVER VALLEY - OXNARD
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No new subbasin or consolidated basin will be created by proposed modifications.
C. Initial Notification and Combination of Requests
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Yes
Local Agency Potential Basin(s)/Subbasin(s) Fox Canyon (GMA) 4-006 PLEASANT VALLEY , 4-008 LAS POSAS VALLEY , 4-004.02 SANTA CLARA RIVER VALLEY - OXNARD Fox Canyon (GMA) 4-004.02 SANTA CLARA RIVER VALLEY - OXNARD , 4-008 LAS POSAS VALLEY , 4-006 PLEASANT VALLEY -
YesThis application combines: (1) an internal jurisdictional modification of the western boundary of the Las Posas Valley Basin (4-08) shared with the Oxnard Subbasin (4-4.02); with (2) an internal scientific modification of a portion of the southern boundary of the Las Posas Valley Basin (4-08) shared with the Pleasant Valley Basin (4-06).
E. General Information
Principal Aquifers and Base of Aquifer System: The Las Posas Valley Basin underlies the east-northeast trending Las Posas Valley, spanning approximately 15 miles between the Oxnard Subbasin to the west and the Simi Valley Basin (DWR Basin No. 4-9) to the east. The vast majority of Las Posas Valley Basin groundwater wells tap the Fox Canyon Aquifer, which is a deep leaky-confined aquifer present at depths of up to 2,000 feet below ground surface. Lesser amounts of water are pumped from the quaternary alluvium and Upper San Pedro Formation, which overlie the Fox Canyon Aquifer, and the Grimes Canyon Aquifer. The Upper San Pedro Formation is largely age-equivalent to the Hueneme Aquifer of the Oxnard Subbasin to the west; however, it is generally not considered an aquifer in the Las Posas Valley Basin due to its lower permeability. The base of the aquifer system in the Las Posas Valley Basin, Oxnard Subbasin, and Pleasant Valley Basin is generally considered to be the bottom of the Fox Canyon Aquifer (base of the San Pedro Formation) or the Grimes Canyon Aquifer, where present (base of the upper portion of the Santa Barbara Formation).
Basin and Aquifer System Boundaries: The Las Posas Valley Basin is formed by folding between the South Mountain and Oak Ridge mountains to the north and the Camarillo and Las Posas Hills to the south. The Springville fault on the south side of the Camarillo Hills forms a hydrologic boundary (Hanson 2003). The aquifers are uplifted and exposed along the northern, southern, and eastern margins of the basin. The contact with tertiary bedrock along these margins generally forms the basin and aquifer boundaries, with the principal exception being the boundary between the Las Posas Valley and Pleasant Valley Basins near the Springville fault.
The boundary between the Las Posas Valley and Pleasant Valley Basins is formed by the Springville fault zone where it forms a groundwater barrier on the south side of the Camarillo Hills anticline. As suggested by its name, the Springville fault zone restricts groundwater flow and is considered the basin boundary in this area (DWR, 1975). DWR (1975) and USGS (2016) map the Springville fault zone as a single curvilinear north dipping fault, which generally serves as the basis for the proposed basin boundary in this area. The current DWR boundary between the Las Posas Valley and Pleasant Valley Basins is mapped along the crest of the Camarillo Hills. Should the DWR boundary remain intact, it would provide an inaccurate portrayal of water levels and water quality within the basins, as wells associated with the Las Posas Valley Basin would be included in the GSP for the Pleasant Valley Basin.
The Las Posas Valley Basin is in hydraulic communication with the Oxnard Subbasin to the west. The upper aquifers gradually thin out moving eastward into the Las Posas Valley Basin and some groundwater flows from the Oxnard Subbasin into the Las Posas Valley Basin. DWR and local experts have historically separated the Las Posas Valley Basin from the Oxnard Subbasin based on the topographic change in slope where the Las Posas Valley transitions into the coast plain. The proposed modification between the Las Posas Valley Basin and the Oxnard Subbasin extends northward from the western end of the Springville fault following the topographic change in slope created by the Wright Road fault while also respecting the integrity of property lines and the groundwater source of the property until it connects with the northern boundary of the Las Posas Valley Basin. The purpose of the proposed boundary modification is to improve groundwater management by ensuring that prevailing groundwater use patterns within this transitional zone are managed holistically by preventing the severing of wells from land which they serve.
F. Notice and Consultation
Public water systems and interested local agencies in the affected basins were identified through the County of Ventura publication, Inventory of Public & Private Water Purveyors in Ventura County (2006), and cross-referenced with Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency database of water purveyors. The list was reviewed by the Director of the Watershed Protection District of Ventura County for accuracy and completeness.
Information was provided to the affected agencies regarding the proposed boundary modifications via Fox Canyon GMA Board meetings, Technical Advisory Group (TAG) meetings (United Water Conservation District and Calleguas Municipal Water District staff hydrogeologists are members of TAG) and Las Posas Users Group (LPUG) meetings (an unincorporated association of groundwater pumpers in the Las Posas Valley (LPV) Basin which are attended by many representatives of mutual water companies, including Del Norte Water Company) and are open to the public.
In addition Crestview Mutual Water Company (CMWC) in 2013 provided the Fox Canyon GMA with hydrogeological data and analysis (Numeric Solutions LLC, 2013) that supports their wells being associated with the LPV Basin.
Representatives of Del Norte Mutual Water Company and a representative of Calleguas Municipal Water District assisted Fox Canyon GMA staff in preparing the DWR Basin Boundary Modification responses.
The proposed modifications of the shared Department of Water Resources (DWR) Bulletin 118 groundwater basin boundaries between Las Posas Valley (LPV) Groundwater Basin, and the Pleasant Valley (PV) Groundwater Basin and the Santa Clara River Valley (SCV) Groundwater Basin Oxnard Subbasin were discussed at the following meetings which were open to the public:
1. The Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency (FCGMA) Technical Advisory Committee (TAG) on August 28, 2015. TAG members reviewed the DWR Bulletin 118 basin boundaries and made recommendations for the any modifications to the boundaries with respect to use in a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP). During this meeting, it was agreed that:
a. The Springville fault was to be used as the defining geologic boundary between the Las Posas Valley Basin and the Pleasant Valley Basin
b. The shared boundary between the Las Posas Valley Basin and the Oxnard Subbasin was to be a jurisdictional boundary.
2. The Las Posas Users Group (LPUG) meeting on January 27, 2016. Kathleen Riedel provided an overview of the proposed modifications. LPUG discussed the Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency (FCGMA) staff recommendation for the basin boundary between the Oxnard Basin and the West Las Posas Basin (DWR Las Posas Valley Groundwater Basin). FCGMA staff indicated that the jurisdictional boundary change, requested by LPUG would require too much labor and for this reason has been ruled it out. The group discussed the need for the jurisdictional change and discussed commenting at the next FCGMA Board of Directors meeting.
3. The FCGMA Board meeting held on January 27, 2016. During the meeting, FCGMA staff was directed to explore modifications of the DWR Bulletin 118 basin boundaries for the LPV and PV basins and the Oxnard Subbasin.
4. The FCGMA TAG meeting on January 29, 2016. Progress for the proposed modification of the basin boundaries was discussed.
5. Initial Notifications were submitted to DWR on February 2, 2016 and February 25, 2016, to notify other local agencies, all interested parties, public, and DWR pursuant to California Code of Regulations Title 23, Division 2, Chapter 1.5, subchapter 1, article 1, §343.9. Basin boundary modification information submitted to DWR can be viewed at the following web address: http://sgma.water.ca.gov/basinmod/initprintview/87.
6. The FCGMA Board meeting held on March 11, 2016. During the meeting, FCGMA staff was directed to return to the next Board meeting with a resolution which includes a scientific modification of the southern LPV Basin boundary and an internal jurisdictional modification of the western LPV Basin boundary.
7. The Las Posas Users Group (LPUG) meeting on March 23, 2016. The proposed boundary modifications were discussed during Item 12.
8. The FCGMA Board meeting held on March 23, 2016. Resolution No. 2016-02 was adopted by the FCGMA Board. The Resolution includes a scientific modification of the southern LPV Basin boundary and an internal jurisdiction modification of the western LPV Basin boundary.
Agendas, Minutes and supporting documentation are attached. Additionally the FCGMA Board meeting agenda, minutes and video, as well as TAG meeting agenda and minutes can be viewed on the FCGMA website, at http://www.fcgma.org
The January 27, 2016, agenda and notice may be located at: http://ventura.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=45&clip_id=4246&meta_id=512502 and http://ventura.granicus.com/GeneratedAgendaViewer.php?view_id=45&clip_id=4246.
The January 29, 2016 TAG agenda may be located at: http://www.fcgma.org/component/phocadownload/category/10-tag-committee?download=139:tag-01-29-2016-agenda-packet
Attached are all written comments submitted to Fox Canyon GMA regarding the proposed boundary modification. Nine comment letters were received. Eight letters expressed support for one or both of the proposed boundary modifications. The letter from the Oxnard - Pleasant Valley Ag Owners, Inc. expressed concerns. Via a response letter, Fox Canyon GMA staff invited the representative of the Oxnard - Pleasant Valley Ag Owners to present their concerns to the Fox Canyon GMA Board of Directors at the next Fox Canyon GMA Board meeting. A follow-up letter dated was received on April 27, 2016 which clarified their position on the proposed jurisdictional boundary modification.
G. General Existing Groundwater Management
All requests for jurisdictional modification pursuant to Section 342.4 MUST include responses to the following questions.
Pursuant to California Water Code Appendix section 121-102 et seq. and section 10723, subd. (c)(1)(D) of the California Water Code (implemented by SGMA), Fox Canyon GMA is tasked with managing the groundwater basins (Las Posas Valley, Oxnard, and Pleasant Valley) that are affected by the proposed boundary modifications. Fox Canyon GMA has adopted its Groundwater Management Plan (and updates thereto) as well as its local ordinances that are designed to manage the basins within Fox Canyon GMA jurisdiction in a manner that avoids adverse impacts. Fox Canyon GMA requires the registration and metering of wells, levies extraction charges to fund its management activities, and imposes penalties on pumpers that do not comply with the ordinance.
Importantly, Fox Canyon GMA has initiated the process under SGMA for the preparation of a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) for each of the above-referenced basins. Fox Canyon GMA has approved a scope of work and contract with a consultant team to assist GMA staff in the development of the GSPs, which scope of work is designed to meet the goals of SGMA and will focus on three primary components: (1) sustainable yield of a basin; (2) allocation of groundwater pumping within a basin and in accordance with safe yield; and (3) the development of alternative water supplies.
In order to develop the GSPs, Fox Canyon GMA chartered a Technical Advisory Group comprised of hydrogeologists that will provide the GMA with technical review capabilities, particularly regarding the characteristics and yields of the basins within the Fox Canyon GMA jurisdiction. Fox Canyon GMA has also chartered stakeholder groups, including the Las Posas Users Group (LPUG), in order to more quickly and cooperatively develop revised groundwater pumping allocation systems. LPUG is developing a groundwater pumping allocation methodology that will be incorporated into the Las Posas Valley Basin GSP.
Also with regard to the Las Posas Valley Basin, Fox Canyon GMA has funded, along with the Calleguas Municipal Water District (CMWD), a Las Posas Valley Basin Replacement Water Study, which study is designed to examine alternative water supplies.
The proposed boundary modifications will further sustainable management of the basins within the Fox Canyon GMAboundaries.
The goal of the proposed jurisdictional modification as the western boundary of the Las Posas Valley Basin is to ensure that Fox Canyon GMA can efficiently and consistently manage both the Las Posas Valley Basin and Oxnard Subbasins. The basins are in hydrologic communication with each other. The boundary zone between the two basins is a transitional area that allows the movement of groundwater between basins. While there is no definitive boundary between the basins, there are private properties and water systems that straddle the basins. Ultimately, Fox Canyon GMA will adopt Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) for each basin that recognize the groundwater movement between the basins and include provisions ensuring that each basin is managed in coordination with the other. However, for the purpose of groundwater management, Fox Canyon GMA desires to avoid, to the extent feasible, any potential severance of properties or water systems by a basin boundary adjustment. The proposed jurisdictional boundary modification of the Las Posas Valley Basin and the Oxnard Subbasin will respect the integrity of property lines and the groundwater source for each property to prevent inefficient and potentially inconsistent management of groundwater pumping in the area. It is estimated that approximately 1/8 of the irrigated land in the Las Posas Valley Basin relies on water pumped from wells in the transitional groundwater zone between the Las Posas Valley Basin and Oxnard Subbasin. The successful adoption and implementation of the GSPs for both the Las Posas Valley Basin and Oxnard Subbasin will depend on a clearly delineated boundary modifications that respects parcel boundaries and groundwater source.
The goal of the proposed scientific boundary modification for a portion of the southern boundary of the Las Posas Valley Basin and Pleasant Valley Basin is to ensure that groundwater pumping is correctly managed by the appropriate GSP. Fox Canyon GMA has jurisdiction over both the Las Posas Valley and Pleasant Valley Basins. As with the Las Posas Valley Basin, Fox Canyon GMA will develop a GSP for the Pleasant Valley Basin. Such GSP will recognize that the Springville fault demarcates the hydrologic boundary between these basins. As with the jurisdictional boundary modification discussed above, it is not anticipated that this geologic modification will impact the ability of the Pleasant Valley Basin to be sustainably managed.
Since its creation in 1982, The Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency (Fox Canyon GMA) was initially created to manage the groundwater in potentially overdrafted basins and those impacted by seawater-intrusion. Fox Canyon adopted its original Groundwater Management Plan in 1985 and provided a comprehensive update to that plan in 2007. Fox Canyon GMA has an adopted ordinance code that regulates groundwater extractions. Throughout the years, Fox Canyon GMA has imposed a series of groundwater pumping restrictions and charged surcharges on groundwater extractions that exceed groundwater extraction allocations.
The initial goals of the Fox Canyon GMA included the balancing of water supply and demand in the basins Upper Aquifer System (UAS) and Lower Aquifer System (LAS), and mitigating seawater intrusion in the southern portion of the Oxnard Subbasin (DWR Subbasin 4-04.02). Fox Canyon GMA policies (including pumping reductions from the UAS and a shift to the LAS) and new water conservation and conjunctive use facilities have combined to significantly contain seawater intrusion. Additional mitigation efforts are underway to further abate seawater intrusion
Fox Canyon GMA, in conjunction with other agencies, annually monitors groundwater levels in the basins within its jurisdiction. In the last fifteen years, groundwater levels in localized areas have remained relatively stable, while levels in much of the basins have decreased, particularly during this historical drought period. In 2014, Fox Canyon GMA adopted Emergency Ordinance E, an ordinance designed to reduce pumping in the basins by 20 percent.
Because the proposed boundary modifications involve basins within the jurisdiction of Fox Canyon GMA, the modification will not impact other State programs. As noted, Fox Canyon GMA is preparing Groundwater Sustainability Plans for each of the basins affected by the boundary modifications.
Additionally, with regard to local land use planning agencies, the City of Camarillo currently extracts groundwater from the Pleasant Valley Basin. The proposed southern basin boundary modification does not encompass the wells operated by the City, thus they will remain in the Pleasant Valley Basin.
H. Local Support
All requests for boundary modification must include the following:
Information was provided to the affected agencies regarding the proposed boundary modifications via Fox Canyon GMA Board meetings, Technical Advisory Group (TAG) meetings (United Water Conservation District and Calleguas Municipal Water District staff hydrogeologists are members of TAG) and Las Posas Users Group (LPUG) meetings (an unincorporated association of groundwater pumpers in the Las Posas Valley (LPV) Basin which are attended by many representatives of mutual water companies, including Del Norte Water Company).
In addition Crestview Mutual Water Company (CMWC) in 2013 provided the Fox Canyon GMA with hydrogeological data and analysis (Numeric Solutions LLC, 2013) that supports their wells being associated with the LPV Basin.
Letters in support of the boundary modifications include letters from: Del Norte Mutual Water Company; Zone Mutual Water Company; Crestview Mutual Water Company; and Calleguas Municipal Water District.
A Table listing the nine comment letters received and the nine letters are attached. Eight letters received are in support of one or both of the boundary modifications. One letter received expressed concerns regarding the western, jurisdictional boundary modification.
No resolutions from affected agencies were received.
One letter of clarification was received from the Oxnard - Pleasant Valley Ag Owners group on April 27, 2016.
Fox Canyon GMA received one letter in opposition to the proposed jurisdictional boundary modification. The letter was from the Oxnard-Pleasant Valley Ag Owners, Inc. A representative of the Oxnard-Pleasant Valley Ag Owners presented the concerns of the group regarding the jurisdictional boundary modification to the Fox Canyon GMA Board of Directors on March 11, 2016. Language was added to the proposed resolution. The Oxnard-Pleasant Valley Ag Owners representative provided the groups preferred language for the Resolution which was not adopted as it referenced draft regulations that have the potential to change. Language from SGMA that expresses the intent of the proposed change was added. The Oxnard-Pleasant Valley Ag Owners do not support or oppose the proposed boundary modifications (Resolution No. 2016-02) as expressed in their letter dated April 27, 2016.
I. Hydrogeologic Conceptual Model
Requests for boundary modification, must include a document or text to a clearly defined hydrogeologic conceptual model demonstrating each of the following:
Fox Canyon GMA requests that the Department of Water Resources waive, at this time, the requirement for a hydrogeologic conceptual model. The proposed boundary modification of the Las Posas Valley Basin affects basins that are all within the jurisdiction of Fox Canyon GMA and that will all be subject to Groundwater Sustainability Plans, which are currently being prepared for each of the basins by the Fox Canyon GMA. Additionally, Fox Canyon GMA is currently developing, in conjunction with other agencies in the region, hydrogeologic conceptual models.
Relevant geologic and groundwater quality information is presented in the report prepared by Numeric Solutions LLC (2013) (attached) for Crestview Mutual Water Company and which was submitted to the Fox Canyon GMA.
Modified Bulletin 118 descriptions are attached.
K. Technical Studies for Internal Scientific Modifications
Requests for an internal scientific modification involving a hydrogeologic barrier must include a document or text that demonstrates the presence or absence of subsurface restrictions on lateral groundwater flow. Provide the following:
In Numeric Solutions, LLC, report (2013) see Figure 2- Geologic Feature Map.
Fall potentiometric surface maps for both the Upper and Lower Aquifer systems are available for viewing and download at http://www.fcgma.org/charts-maps/water-levels
Relevant geologic and groundwater quality information is presented in the report prepared by Numeric Solutions LLC (2013)
L. Technical Studies for All Jurisdictional Modifications
Requests for a jurisdictional boundary must attach or provide a URL or upload a file for the following:
The proposed boundary modification of the Las Posas Valley Basin affects basins that are all within the jurisdiction of Fox Canyon GMA and that will all be subject to Groundwater Sustainability Plans, which are currently being prepared for each of the basins by the Fox Canyon GMA.
