State of the Salinas River Groundwater Basin

From 6.3 Steps Appropriate to Address Water Supply under Continued Drought Conditions: 

Based on the continued large storage declines in the East Side and Pressure Subareas (and resulting groundwater head declines and seawater intrusion), the current distribution of groundwater extractions is not sustainable. Seawater intrusion can account for up to 18,000 afy of the total storage loss of up to 24,000 afy. Sustainable use of groundwater can only be achieved by aggressive and cooperative water resources management.

The consequences of no-action under continued drought conditions will be the imminent advancement of seawater intrusion within the next few years and the continued decline of groundwater head. Both of these conditions would necessitate the drilling of deeper groundwater wells, which may not be feasible in some areas because of lower groundwater yield and water quality in the Pressure Deep Aquifer. A more sustainable long-term management practice would encourage the Basin-wide redistribution and reduction of groundwater pumping, which would require cooperative and aggressive resource management. The unsustainability of the current distribution of groundwater extractions has long been recognized by various investigators, and a Basin-wide redistribution and reduction in pumping has been recommended previously (e.g. DWR, 1946).

6.3.1 Technical Option 1:  The large storage declines that have occurred in the Basin in the past, especially in the East Side Subarea, have created a significant landward groundwater head gradient that must be reversed before seawater intrusion can be halted.

Reduction of pumping in the Pressure and East Side Subareas could help mitigate some of the anticipated effects of extended drought on groundwater storage and water quality in the study area. Shifting of pumping to areas further away from the coast would also be helpful, as long as it is shifted south of the current head trough (Figure ES3) that exists in the East Side Subarea.

One of the main reasons that substantial steps must be taken to curtail seawater intrusion is that the large storage declines that have occurred in the Basin in the past (especially in the East Side Subarea) have created a significant landward groundwater head gradient that must be reversed before seawater intrusion can be halted.

6.3.2 Technical Option 2: The shifting of some pumping from the P-180 and P-400 Aquifers to the Pressure Deep Aquifer would reduce the storage deficit in the shallower aquifers; however, this would necessarily lead to head declines in the Pressure Deep Aquifer. Unlike the P-180 and P-400 Aquifers, it is not known whether or not the Pressure Deep Aquifer is hydraulically connected to the ocean in Monterey Bay, so it is not known whether this pumping shift would lead to the onset of regional seawater intrusion. Also unknown is the likelihood of localized interaquifer seawater mixing between the Pressure 400- Foot Aquifer and the Pressure Deep Aquifer. Hence, this Management Option requires more investigation to determine its feasibility.

6.3.3 Evaluation of Potential Solutions: The numerical modeling analysis to be performed as a second part of this Basin Investigation will consider the effects of various management decisions on the water supply and water quality in the study area. The primary questions to be assessed for each scenario are: 1) what will be the rate of groundwater head decline; and, 2) what will be the rate of increase in acreage with impaired water quality due to the advancement of the seawater intrusion front. We can then assess the economic effects of 1) and 2) due to water supply wells becoming inoperable (i.e. dry), and the further loss of aquifer storage capacity due to the advancement of seawater intrusion.

The numerical model should be used to predict groundwater head declines under different management scenarios, including implementing targeted pumping rates and optimizing the distribution of pumping. Future declines in groundwater head must be evaluated by simulated groundwater conditions so that “trigger (groundwater) head levels” can be used as a measure of safe yield and an early alert system as part of Basin Management Objectives. That analysis will extend the discussions and conclusions presented in this report.