The Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency (PVWMA) is
responsible for the oversight of private wells located in the
PVWMA is a state-chartered local agency established in 1984
by voters of the
The agency is currently revising and updating its plans and general reports. They are also conducting an Environmental Impact Report.
California
Environmental Protection Agency, State Water Resources Control Board, Water
Quality, www.swrcb.ca.gov/funding/prop13.html,
City of
PVWMA personnel.
PVWMA Board meeting minutes, May 2005.
PVWMA Revised
Basin Management Plan,
PVWMA Water Conservation Report, 2000.
PVWMA web site, www.pvwma.dst.ca.us.
Register
Pajaronian, “Coastal commission certifies PVWMA’s plan,” Daniel Lopez,
Register
Pajaronian, “PVWMA receives $23 million grant,” May 2005.
RMC, Inc., 2002 Report.
1. Land use is divided into two categories for water planning purposes: agricultural (irrigation only) and urban (municipal, commercial, and industrial water users). Table 1 illustrates demand projections for agricultural and urban use.
|
|
Current (2001) Conditions |
Future (2040) Conditions |
|
Demand[1] |
afy |
afy |
|
Agricultural Uses |
59,300 |
64,400 |
|
Urban Uses |
12,200 |
16,100 |
|
Total
demand before additional conservation |
71,500 |
80,500 |
|
|
|
|
Conservation |
|
|
|
Increased agricultural conservation (to be achieved by 2010) |
4,500 |
4,500 |
|
Increased urban conservation (to be achieved by 2010) |
500 |
500 |
Total Additional Conservation |
5,000 |
5,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
Projected
Total Demand with Additional Conservation |
66,500 |
75,500 |
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency PARTIALLY
AGREES.
The demand figures reflect data on estimated usage contained in the
2002
2. PVWMA
water use data was gathered from City of
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency PARTIALLY
AGREES.
In the Revised BMP, urban use was estimated
based on City of
3. PVWMA meters all private wells pumping more than 10,000 acre-feet per year. There are approximately 800 water supply connections.
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency PARTIALLY
AGREES.
Agency Ordinance 93-2 actually requires an
agency meter to be installed on any groundwater extraction facility unless the
facility produces less than 10
acre-feet per year or is operated by a major water purveyor that meters its own
water production.
4. Current annual water use is approximately 71,500 afy. PVWMA projects a 9,000 afy increase in water use by 2040. Urban demand represents about 3,900 afy of the projected increase, while agricultural demand represents about 5,100 afy of the increase. According to PVWMA’s conservation summary report, expected demand for water will be reduced by approximately 5,000 afy.[2]
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency PARTIALLY
AGREES.
The finding accurately reproduces estimates
contained in the agency’s 2002 Revised BMP. As discussed above, metered water
usage since 2002 has been less than the Revised BMP estimates.
5. The agency is locally funded. The primary funding sources are management fees and groundwater augmentation charges.
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency PARTIALLY
AGREES.
The agency has also been very successful in
securing federal and state grant and loan funding.
6. The management fee is assessed via the county tax rolls to all parcels within the agency’s boundaries.
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency AGREES.
7. An augmentation charge is assessed to all well owners for water pumped within the agency’s boundaries.
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency AGREES.
8. Water rates in the region have increased 100 percent in the last decade.
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency PARTIALLY AGREES
but is otherwise UNABLE TO RESPOND.
The agency does not maintain records
concerning historic water rates “in the [undefined] region.” On the other hand,
in 1995, the agency adopted Ordinance
95-1 setting groundwater augmentation charges for fiscal year 1995-1996
(beginning July 1995) at $35/acre-foot. In December 2004, the agency adopted
Ordinance 2004-02 increasing the augmentation charge from $120 to
$160/acre-foot (with periodic increases and adjustments prior to 2004). Over
the past decade, this amounts to an increase of well over 100 percent.
9. Several farmers have sued PVWMA challenging the constitutionality of charging farmers for drawing water from their own wells. The augmentation fees and their increases were put in place without an election.
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency PARTIALLY
AGREES.
The agency disagrees with the characterization
of augmentation charge as a charge “upon farmers for drawing water from their
own wells.” In fact, the augmentation charge applies to all groundwater users,
not just farmers, and is used for programs to help reduce groundwater overdraft
and saltwater intrusion, a decades-old problems to which all groundwater users
in the
10. In the
coastal areas and much of the groundwater basin of the
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency AGREES.
11. Seawater intrusion, documented since the 1950s, is increasing. This is degrading groundwater quality and limiting its use for irrigation and domestic purposes.[3]
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency AGREES.
12. PVWMA proposes a water pipeline connection from the Central Valley to the Pajaro Valley to replenish the water table and supply coastal areas with fresh water. The purpose of this project is to provide quality surface water and recycled water for the long-term sustainability of agricultural irrigation and production to replace existing groundwater pumping.
This project will:
· prevent long-term seawater intrusion, groundwater overdraft and water quality degradation;
· manage existing and supplemental water supplies to control overdraft and provide for present and future water needs;
· create a reliable, long-term water supply for the economic vitality of agricultural business in the Pajaro Valley;
· develop water conservation programs; and
· recommend cost-effective and environmentally sound programs for water management in the Pajaro Valley.
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency PARTIALLY
AGREES.
The pipeline connection is a key component
of the overall Revised BMP program, which has objectives as described. Other
capital facilities components of the program include the Harkins Slough
Project, joint PVWMA-Watsonville recycling project, Coastal Distribution System
and inland supplemental wells.
13. The pipeline connecting to the Santa Clara Valley conduit of the Central Valley Project was approved by the Federal Bureau of Reclamation. The pipeline is scheduled for construction in 2005-2006. The bureau is providing federal funds for the design, planning and construction of the Watsonville wastewater treatment plant. Agricultural wells in the south county area have been metered and are charged for water usage.
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency PARTIALLY
AGREES.
The pipeline connection received U.S. Bureau
of Reclamation approval in the sense that federal environmental review (i.e. an
Environmental Impact Statement) was successfully completed in 2004. As a result
of a number of factors, including the pending augmentation charge litigation,
the pipeline construction schedule has been delayed. All water extraction
facilities (except for small residential wells) are required to be metered, not
just agricultural wells in the south county area.
14. PVWMA was awarded federal grant monies of $23.1 million made available to counties in the state under Proposition 13, the state water bond passed in 2000. Portions of the grant will go toward the 22-mile, $100-million pipeline proposed by the agency.
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency PARTIALLY
AGREES.
The $23.1 million grant, plus an additional
$5 million, low-interest loan, was awarded by the State Department of Water
Resources, not the federal government. A separate federal grant in the amount,
of $20 million, has been authorized by Congress to be disbursed through the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to assist in the cost of constructing the joint
PVWMA-Watsonville recycling project. The City of Watsonville is constructing
the recycling project and is the recipient of the federal grant but, by
proposed agreement with the agency, would be reimbursed by the agency for any
construction costs in excess of grant funds received.
15. In the year 2000, PVWMA instituted a requirement for all growers to submit annual plans summarizing their irrigation and conservation practices. If all growers participate in the program, agricultural water conservation could result in water savings averaging approximately 4,500 afy.
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency PARTIALLY
AGREES.
The requirement for annual plans was
intended to help identify problem areas for potential water conservation
savings and to document savings made, but not necessarily to generate savings
of this magnitude as a direct result of plan submittals.
16. The
proposed agricultural conservation program will take approximately seven to 10
years before the potential average annual water conservation savings of
approximately 4,500 afy can be achieved. Implementing the program, facilitating
improvements using computerized irrigation scheduling techniques and using
weather data for further identification and correction of irrigation
deficiencies will take time.
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency PARTIALLY
AGREES.
Recent water meter data indicate that
agricultural water use is already at least 4,500 afy below “Current (2001)
Conditions” as projected in the Revised BMP. Whether this lower figure is
explained fully by conservation savings remains an open question.
17. The proposed agricultural water conservation program is intended to improve irrigation efficiency in the Pajaro Valley. Evaluation by water-monitoring teams, during the periods of 1990-1994 and 1999-2001, indicated irrigation efficiencies vary considerably.
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency AGREES.
18. PVWMA was granted permission by the Coastal Commission to build a 50-foot-deep pipeline under the Pajaro River to deliver water to coastal farmers in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. The pipeline will run from the city’s wastewater treatment plant to Springfield Terrace, a farming area three miles south of Pajaro.
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency PARTIALLY
AGREES.
The “permission” granted by the Coastal
Commission was actually the issuance of a number of Coastal Development Permits
for construction of the Coastal Distribution System component of the Revised
Basin Management Plan programs, which includes a pipeline under the Pajaro
River connecting the Santa Cruz County and Monterey County components of the
system.
19. The State Department of Water Resources is providing PVWMA with $23 million for projects and $5 million in loans to complete its projects. These include recycling city water at the treatment plant and drawing from Harkins Slough.
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency PARTIALLY
AGREES.
The referenced grant and loan are designated for construction of the
Coastal Distribution System and components of the Revised BMP projects other
than the proposed recycling facility and
Harkins Slough local water supply project.
1. Water rates have increased dramatically in the last decade. Implementing rate increases without an election caused farmers to file lawsuits against PVWMA.
2. PVWMA needs to prevent continuing overdraft of the basin and halt seawater intrusion.
3. By tracking water usage in private agricultural wells, PVWMA is able to develop and implement conservation programs and continuously evaluate the condition of the groundwater basin.
4. PVWMA applied for and secured large grants for water projects currently in development.
5. Construction of the pipeline to meet the Santa Clara Valley conduit does not ensure the end of water problems in the Pajaro Valley.
1. PVWMA should implement a reduction in water rates for users who conserve water on a consistent, year-round basis.
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency PARTIALLY
AGREES.
The agency’s practice of basing augmentation
charges on a per-unit-of-consumption basis rewards users who conserve water.
The agency has previously considered additional incentives, including reduced
rates to low water users, and it is not opposed to such concepts in principle.
However, rate tiering in an agricultural setting is complicated and difficult
to implement, given differences in farm sizes, crop rotations, tenancies, well
sharing and other variables. The value of an additional incentive needs to be
weighed against administrative cost and other program burdens.
2. PVWMA should continue to cooperate with other water agencies to prevent seawater intrusion and develop cost-effective and efficient water-conservation methods.
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency AGREES.
PVWMA appreciates the recognition that it
has established a track record for cooperation with other water agencies and
for developing cost-effective and efficient water conservation methods. The
agency agrees that it should continue to expand these efforts.
3. PVWMA should be commended for securing funding for water projects in the Pajaro Basin.
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency AGREES.
PVWMA thanks the Grand Jury for its commendation.
4. PVWMA should engage farmers and agricultural enterprises to develop and efficiently manage conservation efforts. Participation could be assured by having a recognition and reward system in place or by having strict penalties for wasting water.
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency AGREES.
Conservation has been, and continues to be,
an important component of the agency’s overall water management strategy. The
agency adopted a water waste ordinance in 1992 and enforces water waste
violations strictly in accordance with this ordinance. New conservation ideas,
such as a reward and recognition program, are always welcome.
5. PVWMA should encourage water users to visit the web site, www.watersavingtips.org, to learn more about conservation.
Response: Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency AGREES.
The agency
is a co-sponsor of www.watersavingstips.org,
but agrees that it can and should do more to promote this web site as part of
its water conservation outreach efforts. Toward this end, the agency has now
added a link to www.watersavingstips.org on its web site.
Entity |
Findings |
Recommendations |
Respond Within |
|
Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency |
1-19 |
1-5 |
90 Days (September 30, 2005) |