The public is encouraged to attend a Tuesday, Nov. 23 meeting where the Santa Clarita Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency Board of Directors will discuss a draft plan for long-term management of the local groundwater basin and address public comment.

The Draft Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) was presented to the Board in October, with a follow up discussion scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 23, where additional details will be provided for monitoring, evaluating, and responding to potential changes to groundwater dependent ecosystems that could result from groundwater pumping. Public comment provided to date will be reviewed and new public comment be considered.

Work on the GSP began in 2017 and has involved a number of special studies, a groundwater flow model, and analysis and input from all user groups who depend on water from the Santa Clara River Valley East Subbasin.

Santa Clarita Valley gets about half of its drinking and agricultural irrigation water from the basin.
Without the local resource, water providers would have to purchase more expensive water imported from hundreds of miles away.

The GSP lays out a path for maintaining a balance of inflow and pumping in the basin over the next 20 years, based on sources and uses of water and anticipated changes such as population growth and climate change. The plan is tailored to the resources and needs of the community and drew on the perspectives of pumpers, environmental and business interests and the community at large, which were represented on a Stakeholder Advisory Committee.

The Nov. 23 Board meeting will be held remotely via Zoom from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Log-in details are available online at scvgsa.org, along with videos and fact sheets from previous workshops, which focused on topics such as groundwater conditions, sustainable management criteria and
groundwater dependent ecosystems.

“A great deal of hard work and time have gone into this plan, but it is very necessary to protect this vital resource that sustains the Santa Clarita Valley,” said Gina Natoli, president of the SCVGSA Board of Directors. The plan is required under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). A finalized GSP for the Santa Clara River Valley East Subbasin to be adopted in January 2022.

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