Quick Take
A $68 million Pajaro Valley Water project will help protect our groundwater supply from the threat of seawater intrusion, preserve bird habitat and protect the endangered South-Central California Coast steelhead. It’s been causing some neighborhood disruption, writes PV Water board chair Amy Newell, but she insists it will be worth it.
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On an overcast day last spring, I stood with my fellow Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency (PV Water) board members, staff, elected leaders and state water officials to mark the groundbreaking of the College Lake Water Supply Project in a muddy field north of Watsonville. Today I can report that we are almost done constructing the 6-mile water pipeline, the most disruptive aspect of this once-in-a-generation water supply project.
I wanted to pause and thank all of you for your patience and explain its significance.
The College Lake Water Supply Project will significantly increase our ability to combat seawater intrusion while also supporting the Pajaro Valley’s job-creating agricultural sector, helping it to remain strong to help feed the people of this region and beyond.
How will all this happen?
Following winter rains, PV Water will store water in College Lake while ensuring that ample in-stream flows continue beyond the new facilities to preserve bird habitat and protect endangered steelhead. PV Water operators will disinfect diverted water at a water treatment plant along Holohan Road and then pump it to PV Water’s existing coastal distribution system, which serves over 6,000 acres of farmland most affected or most threatened by seawater intrusion. The area is primarily from Moss Landing north to La Selva Beach and east to Highway 1. Using this coastal distribution system, PV Water sells water to farmers to use for irrigation of crops, allowing them to reduce pumping from the critically overdrafted aquifer of the Pajaro Valley.
The project will improve water quality in the valley by supplying approximately 700 million gallons of fresh water annually (2,200 acre-feet) to growers along the coast, to supplement our already existing recycled water and recovered water from Harkins Slough.
PV Water’s partners at research institutions like the United States Geological Survey and Stanford University have demonstrated that our existing water supply facilities have slowed seawater’s migration in the areas where we have been delivering water the longest. This research has validated the hard work of PV Water. By prioritizing raising groundwater levels along the coast, we aim to stop both further migration of seawater intrusion and stop groundwater overdraft to protect all who use water in our lovely valley.
We know our approach to halting further seawater intrusion works based on the analysis of our hydrologic modeling work in our 2022 groundwater sustainability update. We also know that PV Water supplemental water supplies approximately 50% of the irrigation demand in our coastal distribution system. Farmers have requested more and this is needed to offset additional groundwater pumping. New water supplies, like the water that will be produced by the College Lake project, are essential to avoid pumping salty groundwater for irrigation and threatening the viability of our coastal farmland.
The College Lake Water Supply Project will help us prepare for a water future that could be challenging due to climate change. PV Water is working to overcome the hurdles ahead to make the Pajaro Valley a sustainable place to live, work and grow the crops we depend upon.
The College Lake project has caused short-term inconveniences. Who hasn’t been stuck in the queue on Riverside Drive this spring? I know I have.
But we are so close to being done with the traffic-snarling roadwork and, long term, there will be long-lasting environmental, social and economic benefits to our community as a result of the College Lake project.
I support this project as a positive step toward creating a healthier, more sustainable future for our community and our planet.
Amy Newell is chair of the board of directors of PV Water. A 1965 graduate of Watsonville High School, she earned a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a master’s degree from the London School of Economics. Amy served for many years as a labor union organizer and negotiator, including six years as director of the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council. She got to know PV Water by serving for 18 months on the Committee to Update the Basin Management Plan in 2011-12. In 2013 she became a director representing Division C (downtown Watsonville) and was first elected chair in December 2018.