Scotts Valley >> The Lakeport City Council agreed to form a Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) for a portion of the basin in Scotts Valley.
“It is not the city’s intention to increase the amount of groundwater it (the basin) pumps beyond which is currently permitted to do through the Yolo County flood and irrigation district, nor is it the city’s intention to meter and regulate private well use,” said Kevin Ingram, Lakeport’s Community Development Director.
The move came because of a deadline imposed by the state. Lakeport has until June 30 to file the GSA. If the deadline passes, the city could lose the right to provide input on how groundwater in the basin could be used.
The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) would in that case designate an interim Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP), giving the state control over the basin and leaving those in the community in only an advisory role.
The city held a public hearing on June 6 as part of the GSA process. The basin in Scotts Valley is only a medium-priority basin, so a GSA filed by June 30 of this year will need to be adopted by Jan. 30, 2022.
Ingram said he has received a number of questions from those who use the groundwater from the basin. The primary concern was the possibility of an increase in water pumped or new restrictions on wells.
Rhonda Armstrong, Chair of the Scotts Valley Advisory Council, said she has also received questions about the basin and what the plan is for it if a GSA is put in place.
City officials have made it clear they have no plans to increase pumping from the basin. But they did indicate an intention to create a joint power authority with Lake County to manage the approximately 350 acres under GSA consideration. The county took a different route and is working on moving Scotts Valley into a low-priority category. In that case no GSA would be necessary.
“We wanted to make a recommendation that it (the GSA) include the District 4 Supervisor and a resident from Scotts Valley,” Armstrong said, commenting on the city’s plan.
Ingram said how the members are selected has not been decided and that process will be finalized when a GSA is adopted. For now, the city is just looking to complete the first step of the process.
City Council member Kenneth Parlet said the city needs to make sure they go through the specific steps needed to cover their bases because they were elected to represent the people in the city.
“The good thing is that the state of California finally, after 100 years, decided that we needed to actually manage groundwater,” Parlet said. “With the subsidence and infusion, this definitely needed to be done in some way, shape or form. At least by the time 2022 comes around we will have something in place that is going to preserve our most precious resource.”
