Members of the community are invited to provide their input on a draft plan for long-term management of local groundwater resources by Oct. 15.

The online comment form is available through Oct. 15 at https://scvgsa.org/developing-a-groundwater-sustainability-plan-workshop/, along with the entire draft Groundwater Sustainability Plan.

The Santa Clarita Valley gets about half of its drinking water from the groundwater 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 or achieving a balance of inflow and pumping in the basin within 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 draws on the perspectives of pumpers, environmental and business interests and the community at large, which were represented on a Stakeholder Advisory Committee.

The Santa Clarita Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SCV-GSA) began GSP development in 2017 and has held eight public forums and solicited input from all user groups who depend on water from the Santa Clara River Valley East Subbasin. A public workshop was held Aug. 25.

Next, a GSA board meeting will be held on Oct. 20 to consider comments received to date. A public hearing to consider adoption of the final plan by the GSA Board of Directors is scheduled for Dec. 15.

Both meetings are open to the public.

Information on upcoming meetings, as well as videos and fact sheets from all previous workshops can be found online at https://scvgsa.org/gsp/. Topics include groundwater conditions, sustainable management criteria and groundwater dependent ecosystems.

The plan is required under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).