Soquel-Aptos Groundwater Management Committee - 3-021 SANTA CRUZ PURISIMA FORMATION, 3-026 WEST SANTA CRUZ TERRACE, 3-001 SOQUEL VALLEY, 3-002 PAJARO VALLEY
Soquel-Aptos Groundwater Management Committee - 3-021 SANTA CRUZ PURISIMA FORMATION, 3-026 WEST SANTA CRUZ TERRACE, 3-001 SOQUEL VALLEY, 3-002 PAJARO VALLEY
A. Applicant Information
Requesting Agency Information | |||
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Agency Name: | Soquel-Aptos Groundwater Management Committee | ||
Address: | 5180 Soquel Drive | ||
City: | Soquel | Zip: | 95073 |
Work Phone: | (831) 475-8500 | Cell Phone: | |
Email: | matto@soquelcreekwater.org | Fax: | (831) 475-4291 |
Revision Request Manager Information | |||
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Person Name: | Melanie Mow Schumacher | ||
Address: | 5180 Soquel Drive | ||
City: | Soquel | Zip: | 95073 |
Work Phone: | (831) 475-8501 | Cell Phone: | (831) 239-7960 |
Email: | melanies@soquelcreekwater.org | Fax: |
B. Description of Proposed Boundary Modification
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This request is for the basin boundary modifications for the proposed Santa Cruz Mid-County Basin.
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- Scientific External
- Scientific Internal
- Jurisdiction Internal
- Jurisdiction Consolidation
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See attached. Many attachments in this submission are excerpted from a report prepared for Soquel-Aptos Groundwater Management Committee titled Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Basin Boundary Modification that can be accessed at http://www.midcountygroundwater.org/sites/default/files/uploads/FINAL_boundarymodification.pdf
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- 3-021 SANTA CRUZ PURISIMA FORMATION
- 3-026 WEST SANTA CRUZ TERRACE
- 3-001 SOQUEL VALLEY
- 3-002 PAJARO VALLEY
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The proposed name for the consolidated basin is the Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Basin and the proposed number for the consolidated basin is 3-1 based on the Bulletin 118 number currently used for the Soquel Valley Basin.
C. Initial Notification and Combination of Requests
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Yes
Local Agency Potential Basin(s)/Subbasin(s) Soquel-Aptos Groundwater Management Committee 3-026 WEST SANTA CRUZ TERRACE Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency -
YesThe proposed Santa Cruz Mid-County Basin and the proposed Santa Margarita Basin that will be a basin modification request by Scotts Valley Water District (HydroMetrics WRI, 2016) will share a common boundary. However, it is not practical for the two requesting agencies to submit a combined request as separate reports for each of the basins have been prepared because there are a number of aspects to the modification requests for each basin beyond the common boundary. Separate reports were necessary to present the relevant information for the modification to the requesting agencies as well as to solicit local input in each basin. However, the requesting agencies coordinated on the common boundary via use of the same consulting firm to prepare the modification requests, the common boundary is consistent between the two requests, and the supporting information for the common boundary is the same in the two requests. This prevents duplicative and conflicting requests as needed for DWRs consideration.
D. Required Documents for All Modifications
The basin boundary modification is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it is not a project under CEQA. Even if the basin boundary modification constitutes a project, it would be exempt because there it is no possibility that it will have a significant effect on the environment. On behalf of SAGMC, County staff filed a notice of exemption on February 5, 2016. The notice of exemption is provided in the attached sheets.
F. Notice and Consultation
See attached
We used Geographic Information System (GIS) tools to visualize the extent and overlap of the above agencies and systems with the Bulletin 118 basins affected by these proposed modifications.
See attached
See attached
Besides letters of support or opposition from affected agencies and systems, a number of comments were received. These comments and response to comments are provided in the attached.
G. General Existing Groundwater Management
All requests for jurisdictional modification pursuant to Section 342.4 MUST include responses to the following questions.
See attached
See attached
See attached
Santa Cruz County is the CASGEM reporting agency for all basins in the County and will continue to serve that role after basin modification. The County reports data for CASGEM from a number of wells in the proposed Santa Cruz Mid-County, Santa Margarita, and Pajaro Valley Basins. The County does not include wells from the proposed West Santa Cruz Terrace Basin and proposed Santa Cruz Purisima Basin, as it considers those areas unimportant as a groundwater resource. This is in line with the expected reprioritization of these two basins as low or very low priority in the 2017 update of Bulletin, discussed in G-2.
The Groundwater Sustainability Plan for the proposed Santa Cruz Mid-County Basin will replace the AB 3030 Groundwater Management Plan for the area (see G-3).
H. Local Support
All requests for boundary modification must include the following:
Santa Cruz County emailed letters on behalf of SAGMC to affected water agencies and public water systems on December 14, 2015. The letters included a map of the proposed modifications, a link to a website with the resolution initiating the boundary modification request, the available draft of this modification request report, and the GIS files defining the proposed basin boundaries, and information on providing comments and resolutions or letters of support or opposition. A copy of the letter, cover letter, and sample letter of support is provided in the attached sheets.
The following affected agencies and systems provided resolutions or letters of support:
Central Water District Resolution No, 11-15
City of Santa Cruz Resolution No. NS-29,035
County of Santa Cruz Resolution No. 12-2016
Soquel Creek Water District Resolution No. 15-25
Scotts Valley Water District Resolution No. 16-15
Pure Source Water Inc. January 18, 2016
Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency will consider approving a resolution of support at its Board of Directors meeting March 16, 2016. A copy of this resolution will be provided when available assuming resolutions of support can be submitted during the public comment period as indicated by DWR. (UPDATE 3/18/16: Signed resolution of support 2016-03 from Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency is uploaded.)
The attached sheets below contain responses to comments that include rebuttals to opposition to this boundary modification. Please note that the comments in the Purisima Mutual Water Company letter of opposition were addressed with the final basin boundary modification being submitted.
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:
See attached
J. Technical Studies for External Scientific Modifications
Requests for a scientific modification must include a document containing information that demonstrates the extent of the aquifer. Provide the following:
Attached is a USGS (Brabb) map of the Mid-County area. Also attached is a Figure 6 of a modeled outcrop extent from a recent conceptual model update presented in Soquel-Aptos Groundwater Flow Model: Subsurface Model Construction (HydroMetrics WRI, 2015b).
Referenced documents can be found at URL at links beginning with "Appendix H." The reference list associated with the full report is also repeated here in the attachments.
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:
See attached
See attached.
Referenced documents can be found at http://www.midcountygroundwater.org/resource-library at links beginning with "Appendix H"
A list of references used in the complete report is also repeated in the attachments to this section.
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:
SAGMC is currently undertaking the formation of a Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) to manage the consolidated basin. As the Soquel Valley and Pajaro Valley basins have been classified as critically overdrafted basin, SAGMC expects that the consolidated Santa Cruz Mid-County basin would also be a critically overdrafted basin. The GSA would be formed with the expectation that it would develop a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) by 2020 as required by SGMA for critically overdrafted basins. Based on its ongoing relationships with groundwater management agencies in the Santa Margarita Basin and Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency, SAGMC is committed to developing the inter-basin coordination agreements required for the GSP.