By Jon Chown
SOQUEL — More than 250 million gallons of purified water have helped replenish the Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Basin since Pure Water Soquel began operating in December, according to a draft of the 2026 Water Plan Progress Report by the Soquel Creek Water District.
SCWD directors reviewed the draft and recommended changes at their Aug. 18 meeting.
“Since our last Community Water Plan update in 2021, we’ve reached some of the most significant milestones in our District’s history,” General Manager Melanie Mow Schumacher wrote in the draft report.
Pure Water Soquel was developed to help restore the groundwater basin, which the state has classified as critically overdrafted. The district relies primarily on groundwater to serve its customers.
The system sends purified water into the basin through three seawater intrusion prevention wells. According to the district, the water creates a freshwater barrier intended to slow the movement of seawater into underground drinking water supplies.
The project includes an advanced water purification center, eight miles of pipeline, three injection wells and an operations and tour center.
Planning for a new water supply began with the district’s 2015 Community Water Plan. The district board selected Pure Water Soquel in 2017. Construction began in 2021. The district said it has secured nearly $200 million in grants and low-interest loans for Pure Water Soquel, along with additional outside funding for other projects.
Although the purification system is operating, Schumacher said more work remains.
“We remain focused on aiding the restoration of our groundwater basin, adapting to changing conditions and regulations, continuing regional collaboration, and providing safe, reliable water for generations to come,” she wrote.
The district said conservation also remains an important part of its long-term water strategy. Customers use an average of 55 gallons per person per day, about 60% less than customers used in the 1990s, according to the report.
Water-efficient fixtures, smart meters and online water-management tools have contributed to the decline, the district said.
More than 80 monitoring wells are used to track groundwater levels, water quality and seawater intrusion. The district also has been shifting groundwater pumping away from the coast to help slow seawater intrusion.
The district is working with the Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Agency to meet a state requirement to make the basin sustainable by 2040.
The report also details the district’s water-quality testing and infrastructure work. The district collects more than 4,000 water samples annually, monitors more than 140 potential contaminants and operates 10 treatment facilities.
Recent projects include replacing water mains in Aptos and Capitola, upgrading an aging well, constructing wellhead treatment facilities and building a chromium-6 treatment plant to comply with new California regulations.
Those improvements support a system serving about 16,000 customer connections, according to the district. The system includes 181 miles of pipeline, 1,290 fire hydrants, 15 active groundwater wells and three standby wells. The district also operates 18 water storage tanks with a combined capacity of 7.63 million gallons.
The city of Santa Cruz provides the source water used by Pure Water Soquel. The district said it is exploring additional partnership opportunities with the city.
Future priorities identified in the report include optimizing Pure Water Soquel, restoring the groundwater basin, addressing emerging contaminants, improving infrastructure and expanding regional cooperation.
The district also said it intends to preserve public and environmental resources through responsible and transparent management.
“Our work isn’t finished,” Schumacher wrote.
And it isn’t. Director Bruce Jaffe said the draft seemed a little too “rah rah” and wanted some changes. Some suggestions were made by staff.
“Anything that balances the message,” he said. “It (the draft) shows that we’ve done good work, the balance is that we’ve still got a long ways to go, at least in my opinion, on the sustainability.”
“We are on the right track, but it’s true, it’s a long effort,” said director Carla Christensen.
TOP IMAGE: The Pure Water Soquel Butterfly Wall adorns the education center. The mural an enlarged version of the project’s butterfly logo, designed by District Public Outreach Coordinator Rebecca Rubin.