Rain, Rain, Don’t Go Away!

By Kim Adamson, General Manager, Soquel Creek Water District

As I write this, I’m listening to the welcome sound of rain on the roof and thinking about the New Year to come. I think I speak for everyone in the Soquel Creek Water District and the mid-county area in saying that never has rain been so eagerly anticipated and so gratefully accepted! One can just feel the parched earth soaking up that rain.

The drought had the most immediate impact on areas that are dependent on water from rivers and streams, such as the City of Santa Cruz. No one yet is saying the drought is over –we would need a few years of rainy winters to make up for the past three exceptionally dry years. But the recent rains have taken the edge off their immediate water needs.

Source of the District’s Water

Of course, as we’ve been saying here in the mid-county area, the true test of how well we conserve water will be while it’s raining. While the drought raised awareness of how precious water is, it was not the cause of our water shortage. Our name may be Soquel Creek Water District, but we receive no water from the creek. All of our water is from underground, over-drafted basins that are now experiencing seawater intrusion. So even when the drought ends, our water shortage does not. As a community, we need to continue conserving water—even while it’s raining—to protect our water supply. So while it may seem counter-intuitive at a time when we are wearing raincoats and stepping over puddles, water is still in short supply. Our new favorite saying: “It’s Raining! Keep Saving.”

Finding New Sources

Looking forward to the New Year, we’ll be focusing on finding a new, supplemental water supply—and we’ll be asking for input from our customers and neighbors. A promising area is recycled water. Specifically, we are looking at the feasibility of injecting recycled water into our underground basin to replenish it, and then extract the water later for drinking. This process is known as groundwater replenishment using purified recycled water. Our mid-county region currently sends wastewater to Santa Cruz to be treated and released into the Bay. Instead, the wastewater could be purified to drinking water standards and so it could be injected into the aquifers.

We aren’t the only ones thinking about this. Groundwater replenishment projects using recycled water are occurring all over the world. Just in California, the Orange County Water District, the Water Replenishment District of Southern California, the City of Los Angeles, the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District, the Inland Empire / Chino Basin and Oxnard are all beginning or expanding their groundwater replenishment projects. Our possible recharge project, like theirs, would be regulated by the California Department of Public Health and the Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Newly Elected Board

Here at the District, we have also welcomed a new Board member, Carla Christensen, who replaces outgoing Board member Don Hoernschemeyer. A resident of Capitola, she is a retired environmental scientist who’s been an active community member in the mid-county area for over 25 years and has served on the Board of the Capitola Junior Guard program for more than a decade. Directors Bruce Jaffe and Rick Meyer were also re-elected in November. The community is lucky to have such a dedicated and hard-working Board.

Partnerships to Preserve Water

Recognizing that water issues extend beyond the borders of our District, we’ll be continuing to work with our regional partners to identify solutions to our collective groundwater challenges. Our Groundwater Stakeholder Group led an excellent community conversation in 2014 and in early 2015, we’ll focus on how that discussion can evolve into a set of recommendations and strategies for the local water agencies within the mid-county area. We’ll also be working with partners, such as the County of Santa Cruz, Central Water District, City of Santa Cruz, and Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency to prepare for meeting the requirements of the new Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which will include developing a Groundwater Sustainability Agency and drafting a local groundwater sustainability plan over the next few years.

Plenty to keep us busy! As always, I welcome your thoughts, ideas and participation in our work. Meanwhile, my holiday wish for the District, mid-County and the entire State is: Let it pour, let it pour, let it pour!