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Pure Water Soquel Discussed on Local Podcast

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Melanie Mow Schumacher and Ron Duncan of the Soquel Creek Water District (SCWD) were guests on the local BayToBayPodcast this week, to discuss the Pure Water Soquel Project. Melanie is the SCWD Special Projects Communication Manager, and Ron is the general manager. Pure Water Soquel is a project that aims to recycle water for Soquel Creek Water District customers, to both increase supply and also to stop or reverse saltwater intrusion into our aquifers.

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This past December, the board of directors of the Soquel Creek Water District voted to approve the EIR (Environmental Impact Report) for the project and it is now officially moving forward.  The aquifers that SCWD draws on are critically overdrafted – in fact, we have one of only 20-ish groundwater basins out of 500 in California that are designated as such by the State government.

Being in a state of overdraft is a big problem hereabouts, because it means that salt water is intruding into our fresh water supply.  This threatens to make our groundwater undrinkable, and that would be an unmitigated disaster for the Aptos community.

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The Pure Water Soquel project aims to address this overdraft by adding about 30% of the daily consumption of the aquifer back through recycling water. The plan calls for recycled water from the city of Santa Cruz Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility to be purified and pumped back down into the aquifer and thus back into the supply. This should push out the seawater and help to make the aquifer sustainable again – which it hasn’t been, for 50 years or more.

It’s a fascinating discussion about our water basin and how this new project an help sustain it for the long term.  Please listen to and share the podcast with your fellow Soquel Creek Water District customers!

Click here to listen to Episode 34 of the Bay to Bay Podcast.

Pure Water Soquel Project Meeting December 18th!

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Soquel Creek Water District

Mark your calendar for the next meeting about Groundwater replenishment and seawater intrusion prevention project (aka the Pure Water Sequel Project). Please plan to attend the public Soquel Creek Water District board meeting on December 18th at 6:00 pm at the Capitola City Chambers – 420 Capitola Ave. Capitola, CA.

Pure Water Soquel is a project of  groundwater replenishment and seawater intrusion prevention. This project will help recycle water for replenishing the groundwater basin and protecting against seawater intrusion using advance water purification methods.

Methods can vary, but many systems use water purification that includes three processes: micro-filtration, reverse osmosis, and ultraviolet light/advanced oxidation.

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Where this Project will be sited

The Project includes facilities in portions of the cities of Santa Cruz and Capitola, and in the Live Oak, Soquel, and Aptos communities of unincorporated Santa Cruz County, California.

There are tree sites identified by the Soquel District for the Project water treatment facilities, and five potential sites (among four properties) for recharge wells, and several options for conveyance pipeline alignments.

The Project treatment system could include components at:

(1) the Santa Cruz Wastewater Treatment Facility,

(2) District-owned property near the Capitola Avenue-Soquel Drive intersection, and/or at property on the southwest corner of the Soquel Avenue-Chanticleer Avenue intersection.

Potential recharge well locations include:

(1) two sites at Cabrillo College

(2) one site at Twin Lakes Church

(3) one site on District property near Willowbrook Lane, and

(4) one site on District property near the Monterey Avenue-Kennedy Drive intersection.

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The objective of this Project is to help increase the sustainability of the groundwater supply while also stopping and reversing saltwater intrusion, which would be absolutely deadly to our precious aquifer.

This project will cost approximately $90 million. Soquel District has been awarded over $2 million in grants and exploring federal grants programs for construction.

It is currently in Year 4 of it’s evaluation with technical feasibility and environmental review underway. Once approved, construction could begin on late  2019 with the goal of being on-line by 2022.

If you want to learn more about this important project that is coming to our community don’t miss this meeting!  It is critically important that those in favor of replenishing and revitalizing our aquifer show up to this meeting and let the Soquel Creek Water District know you support their efforts.

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Aptos Village Meeting on April 22

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Community Meeting at the Rio Sands
The Rio Sands Hotel played host to the meeting

The Aptos Village Meeting on April 22 was held at the Rio Sands Hotel by the Rio del Mar Beach.  It was standing room only, with the room full to its limit, an estimated 150 people. The meeting was headed by 2nd District Supervisor Zach Friend and Mary Gourlay with Barry Swenson Builder. Extensive information was provided by Ron Duncan and Bruce Jaffe from the Soquel Creek Water District, and also Jack Sohriakoff, a senior traffic engineer with the county Public Works department.

At the beginning of the meeting, attendees were asked to write their questions down on cards, so they could be asked in an orderly and efficient fashion. Nevertheless, remarks by Friend, Gourlay and the other speakers would be peppered with spicy questions from the crowd throughout the evening.

Audio Recording of the Aptos Village Meeting on April 22


Download audio file…

The meeting opened with remarks from Supervisor Friend, who was quick to point out that the purpose of the meeting was not to discuss approval of the Aptos Village project, as it’s an “entitled project.” It has already gone through the entire approval process and was approved in 2012.

This meeting was intended as a way to receive public input on some modifications to the initially approved design, which the builder has submitted to the county for approval. Also, the meeting was designed to be a way to publicly discuss what will happen during construction, what will those impacts be, and how the county can communicate to make people’s lives in the area “less miserable” during construction. Also open for discussion were the water, traffic, and public safety impacts of the project.

Video from Aptos Village Meeting

Supervisor Friend explained that when the county initially approved the project, it allowed the builder some room to change a few things around within approved parameters. The county supervisors will be meeting to consider approval of the builder’s proposed “design modifications” at its meeting on May 5th, 2015, and members of the public are certainly welcome to attend.

After opening remarks from Supervisor Friend, Mary Gourlay went over a project map and explained what each building is. Considerable time was spent discussing the “design modifications” made to the project since it was initially approved.

Slides from the Presentation – Barry Swenson Builder

Slides from Barry Swenson Builder
Barry Swenson Builder has made a copy of the slides from their presentation available in a PDF document. You can download the developer’s slides from their web site here.

After the opening remarks by Friend and Gourlay, Supervisor Friend read through the questions that had been collected from the crowd. Many of the questions reflected the community’s concerns around the drought and the project’s water usage, as well as the impacts on traffic – both during construction and forever more. Other questions involved parking, affordable housing, site drainage and runoff, and more.

Supervisor Friend brought the meeting to an end a few minutes before 8:00 PM, but he and the other speakers remained after the meeting to answer questions from those who stayed late. More meetings are expected to be held in the future as the project progresses.

See also:

Photo Gallery of Aptos Village Meeting

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Community Meeting at the Rio Sands
The Rio Sands Hotel played host to the meeting
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Community Meeting
Aptos Village Community Meeting on April 22, 2015
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Aquifer Overdraft Not So Bad

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According to a new article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, the Soquel Creek aquifer overdraft is apparently not as bad as has been previously reported. As a result of the district’s declaration of a groundwater emergency, a peer reviewed study was prepared by Todd Groundwater in Alameda, a consulting firm specializing in the planning, development, management, and protection of groundwater.

Previously, the District believed that the groundwater deficit was 21,000 acre feet. This new study indicates that the deficit is more on the order of 5,000 acre feet. There is no dispute that there is a shortage of groundwater, but the scope of the crisis is now very much in question.

Aptos residents draw all their water from the basin, either via private wells or from the Soquel Creek Water District, so the health of the aquifer is of great concern to everyone. The stakes are high, and it’s expected there will be intense focus on the six candidates (including two incumbents) running for the three available seats on board this November.

See also: Santa Cruz Sentinel article

Groundwater
The Hydrologic Cycle, Salt Water Intrusion

Water Rationing, Rate Increases Coming Soon

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The Santa Cruz Sentinel is reporting that the Soquel Creek Water District board of directors “came to a consensus” as to how much rationing customers will be faced with this summer. According to the article, single-family homes will be limited to 70-80 gallons per day; multi-family homes (which presumably includes condominiums) will see a lower limit.

A lower daily limit of 65 gallons per day was debated, but this would have resulted in an average of a $320 bill increase for “the summer” but it is not clear how much bills will increase with a 70-80 gallon/day limit, or when exactly these extraordinary “summer” rates will sunset – if they ever will.

The increase in water bills will be used to four full-and-part time employees and staff to, in part, monitor “wasted water.”

None of this is yet set in stone, and there is still time for public comments. The district will vote on the new “conversation” plan at its 7 PM meeting April 1st. The meeting will be held at the Capitola City Council Chamber. Concerned customers – which, given the stakes, that should be everyone – should plan on attending the meeting to make their voices heard.

Aptos Residents face water rate hikes

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The Soquel Creek Water District has been over-pumping water from the Soquel-Aptos groundwater basin, and as a consequence, the water supply is threatened by salt water intrusion.  Pumping needs to be cut back immediately by at least 35%, and that is going to have a significant impact on customers.  This shortfall will have to be remedied by a combination of methods, including:

  • Improved efficiency
  • Rationing
  • Waste Water Recycling
  • Desalination
  • New groundwater and surface water sources

Most of these options incur cost – waste water recycling and desalination, could, for example, cost between $100,000,000 and $200,000,000 to the Soquel Creek Water District.  There are only 15,000 or so water hookups in the district, so the cost per hookup (household) could be between about $6,700 and $13,400.  Some of this money may be paid for by a bond issue, but a lot of it is likely to be passed on to consumers in the form of higher water rates.

The Soquel Creek Water District needs your input!  They are planning a series of meetings to discuss the options.  The next meeting is to be held on January 7 at 7 PM at the Capitola City Council Chamber and the topic will be Mandatory Water Rationing/Demand Reduction Options.  Concerned citizens are encouraged to get involved.  For more information, visit our Aptos Water Supply project page, which has a list of dates of upcoming meetings and a link to the relevant page on the Soquel Creek Water District web site.