The Board of the Santa Clarita Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency unanimously approved a long-term plan for protecting the local basin, culminating nearly five years of scientific study and extensive public input.

The Board of Directors supported the Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) for the Santa Clara River Valley East Subbasin following a virtual public hearing on Jan. 3, 2022. The basin provides water for the residents and farms of the Santa Clarita Valley, as well as the environment.

“Passage of the GSP represents a monumental accomplishment for our region’s water future and is testament to what can be accomplished through the public process,” said Gina Natoli, president of the SCV-GSA Board of Directors. “This document will guide management of the basin and protect it from overuse, ensuring access to the water our communities need to thrive.”

The GSP identifies ways to balance pumping and recharge in the basin within 20 years, taking into consideration population growth and climate change. The plan is required under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), passed in 2014 to protect groundwater resources statewide. The GSP will now go to the state Department of Water Resources for review.

A key component of the GSP and its development was more than two years of public outreach, which involved six workshops, a public comment period, feedback forms, ads, newsletters and website updates.

The SCV-GSA also established a Stakeholder Advisory Committee, which included the perspectives of pumpers, environmental and business interests, and the community at large.

Work on the GSP began in 2017 with a groundwater flow model, analysis and input from all user groups who depend on water from the basin. Santa Clarita Valley gets about half of its drinking and agricultural irrigation water from the basin. Without it, water providers would have to purchase more expensive water imported from hundreds of miles away.

The GSP can be accessed online at scvgsa.org, along with videos, fact sheets and other information on groundwater conditions, sustainable management criteria and groundwater dependent ecosystems.

About the Santa Clarita Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency

The Santa Clarita Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SCV-GSA) is a joint powers authority responsible for sustainably managing groundwater in the Santa Clara River Valley East Subbasin. The agency is governed by a seven-member board that includes four people appointed by SCV Water, and one member each appointed by the city of Santa Clarita, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and Los Angeles County Waterworks Division 36. The SCV-GSA’s overall goal is to achieve sustainable groundwater management of our subbasin within 20 years.

For more information, contact Kathie Martin, SCV Water’s communications manager, at kmartin@scvwa.org.