The Surface Water Working Group was established as an ad-hoc committee of the GSP Advisory Committee to bring in experts on wildlife and aquatic ecosystems into the discussion around how groundwater management can and should be used to improve the condition for surface waters. The Working Group included staff and representatives from the following agencies:
- NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service
- GSP Advisory Committee
- The Nature Conservancy
- California Department of Fish and Wildlife
- US Fish and Wildlife Service
- City of Santa Cruz
- Resources Conservation District SCC
- PV Water
- Environmental Defense Fund
- Friends of Soquel Creek
- Santa Cruz County
- Regional Water Management Foundation/MGA
The Working Group met four times - in April and May 2018, and January and April 2019.
Members of the Working Group emphasized the importance of preventing depletions of interconnected surface water that would have significant and unreasonable adverse impacts on beneficial uses of the surface water, and the groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) they support.
Below are some useful maps and other resources used by the Working Group.
Resources
Groundwater Dependent Ecosystem Indicator Database mapping tool
TNC Groundwater Resource Hub website
TNC GDE Guidance Document for GSPs
Powerpoint by Melissa Rhode, TNC