The Regional Water Management Foundation, a subsidiary of the Community Foundation, announces the hire of Darcy Pruitt as senior planner to support the Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Agency, created earlier this year.
Pruitt will be the lead planner to the groundwater agency in developing its groundwater sustainability plan for the mid-county basin.
Pruitt, an attorney, specializes in planning and land use law. She has a law degree from UC Davis School of Law and is a member of the California Bar Association. She served as a planning consultant and land use attorney for a number of agencies and projects throughout California.
The mid-county groundwater basin is shared by the Soquel Creek Water District, Central Water District, the City of Santa Cruz, the County of Santa Cruz, and thousands of private wells and small water systems in Santa Cruz County.
In 2014, Governor Jerry Brown, in response to the historic drought in California, signed into law the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which led to the formation of the local groundwater agency.
The state legislation empowers local agencies to adopt management plans that are tailored to the resources and needs of the community.
Prior to the formation of the current agency, groundwater management decisions were handled by a mix of local water agencies and municipalities. In order to comply with the state legislation, the new groundwater agency was established in March 2016.
The groundwater agency is staffed under a collaborative arrangement, with staff from the four member agencies that share the basin, as well as administrative and planning staff support from the Regional Water Management Foundation.
Pruitt will be employed by the Community Foundation through its water management foundation.
“Darcy has the right blend of planning expertise and knowledge of environmental and land use law that makes her a great fit for the job,” said Tim Carson, program director of the Community Foundation’s Regional Water Management Foundation.
“We all look forward to having her on board to help us develop a groundwater plan for the future,” Carson said.