Sustainability Plan

One of the key responsibilities of the MGA is to develop, adopt, and submit a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP or Plan).  Because the Mid-County Groundwater Basin (Basin) is in critical overdraft, the GSP is due to the Department of Water Resources (DWR) no later than January 31, 2020.

The draft GSP for the Basin was presented to the MGA Board of Directors on July 18, 2019.  An open public comment period ran from July 18, 2019 to September 19, 2019.The public comment period on the draft GSP is now closed. Comments received during the public comment period will be read and considered in the development of the final GSP.  A comparison document shows the July 2019 Draft GSP and November 2019 GSP compared with edits/strikeouts.

Following a public hearing on November 21, 2019, the MGA unanimously adopted the GSP.  The GSP will be submitted to DWR for approval prior to January 31, 2020. DWR will then open a 60-day period during which the public can provide comments to DWR on the final GSP.

Groundwater Sustainability Plan: November 2019

• Groundwater Sustainability Plan (individual sections below) (36MB, .pdf) 
• Compiled Appendices (individual sections below) (61MB, .pdf)

Individual Sections and Appendices

• Report Cover, Acknowledgments, Signature, Acronyms
• Table of Contents
• Executive Summary
• Section 1 Introduction
• Section 2 Plan and Basin Setting
• Section 3 Sustainable Management Criteria
• Section 4 Projects and Management Actions to Achieve Sustainability Goal
• Section 5 Plan Implementation
• Section 6 References and Technical Studies
• Appendix A – Basin Point of Contact and Mailing Address
• Appendix B – Summary of Public Comments on the Draft GSP
• Appendix C – Summary List of Public Meetings and Outreach
• Appendix 1-A Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Agency Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement
• Appendix 2-A. Communication and Engagement Plan
• Appendix 2-B. Santa Cruz Mid-County Basin Groundwater Flow Model: Water Use Estimates and Return Flow Implementation (Task 2) Memorandum
• Appendix 2-C. Municipal Return Flow Memorandum
• Appendix 2-D. Soquel-Aptos Groundwater Flow Model: Subsurface Model (Task 3) Memorandum
• Appendix 2-E. Santa Cruz Mid-County Basin Conceptual Model Update Memorandum
• Appendix 2-F. Santa Cruz Mid-County Basin Model Integration and Calibration
• Appendix 2-G. Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Flow Model: Future Climate for Model Simulations (Task 5) Memorandum
• Appendix 2-H. Comparison of Climate Change Scenarios Memorandum
• Appendix 2-I. Implementation and Analysis of Projects and Management Actions in Model Scenarios as Part of Groundwater Sustainability Plan Development
• Appendix 3-A. Technical Approach for Determining Groundwater Elevation Minimum Threshold for Chronic Lowering of Groundwater Levels in Representative Monitoring Wells
• Appendix 3-B. Hydrographs of Representative Monitoring Points for Chronic Lowering of Groundwater Levels
• Appendix 3-C. Summary of Federal, State, and Local Water Quality Regulations
• Appendix 3-D. Hydrographs of Representative Monitoring Points for Depletion of Interconnected Surface Water
• Appendix 5-A. Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Agency Evaluation of Private Pumper Funding Mechanisms and Fee Criteria, Raftelis, May 2019

DRAFT Groundwater Sustainability Plan: July 2019

• DRAFT Plan (compiled single document) (42MB, .pdf) 
• Draft Plan - Library hardcopy version (compiled single document) 
• Report Cover, Acknowledgments, Acronyms
• Table of Contents
• Executive Summary
• Section 1 Introduction
• Section 2 Plan and Basin Setting
• Section 3 Sustainable Management Criteria
• Section 4 Projects and Management Actions to Achieve Sustainability Goal
• Section 5 Plan Implementation
• Appendix - Groundwater Flow Model: Water Use Estimates and Return Flow Implementation (March 2017)
• Appendix - Groundwater Flow Model: Subsurface Model Construction (November 2015)
• Appendix - Groundwater Model Integration and Calibration (September 2019)
• Appendix - Groundwater Flow Model: Future Climate for Model Simulations (August 2017)
• Appendix - Comparison of Climate Change Scenarios (July 2018)
• Appendix -  Summary of Federal, State, and Local Water Quality Regulations

Comments Received on Draft GSP

• Comments Received (compiled single pdf with bookmarks)

Comparsion Document 

• July 2019 Draft GSP and November 2019 GSP compared with edits/strikeouts