YOUR
BALLOT IS ENCLOSED
A Project
to Better Manage Water Supply, with a Goal of Stopping Seawater Intrusion
You Are Being Asked to Vote on the Salinas Valley Water Project
| The Monterey County Board of Supervisors has authorized a Prop. 218 mail-in election to fund the Salinas Valley Water Project. In this newsletter is a description of the project and what the Monterey County Water Resources Agency is proposing to do to protect your water supply. Look for your ballot in the mail. |
The Monterey County Water Resources Agency (MCWRA) has a solution to protect your local fresh water supply, stop seawater intrusion and improve flood control. Seawater is slowly destroying our fresh groundwater by intruding in the groundwater basin of the Salinas Valley. The tainting of wells threatens our farms, our drinking water and the local economy. About 9,000 acre feet of groundwater a year is being contaminated by seawater, creating a problem for the farming community and threatening drinking water supplies of Salinas, Marina, Fort Ord and Castroville. Additional water management facilities are needed to better manage our ground and surface water supplies. The Salinas Valley Water Project (SVWP) provides those facilities and will deliver more water in a balanced manner to recharge the valley’s groundwater supply.
Components of the SVWP:
Modify the spillway
of Nacimiento Dam to meet state and federal flood control mandates and improve
operational flexibility to store more water. The dam height and storage
volume will be unchanged, but prolonged releases of water will be able to
recharge the Salinas River aquifers with additional percolation.
Construct
a diversion facility (rubber dam) on the Salinas River near Marina that
can be lowered in wet times and raised in drier times when water will be
released from the Nacimiento Reservoir. Seasonally stored water from the
temporary diversion will be delivered for irrigation through existing Castroville
Seawater Intrusion Project pipelines, reducing the need for pumping groundwater.
Provide infrastructure
to help solve the Salinas Valley water challenges. Balance
the Salinas Valley groundwater basin. Preserve
fish passage on the Salinas River. Stop
seawater intrusion and secure local water supplies for future generations.