Blog
Surprising information in the Water Supply update
Despite the lack of recent rainfall, there is still plenty of water to supply Soquel Creek water district. 2018 was a very dry year, and even so, Santa Cruz ended with a 500 million gallon surplus in Loch Lomond above its plan. The surplus in 2019 was 1.5 billion...
A dry January comes to a close
Rainfall in Santa Cruz is rarely normal. It either rains a lot, or we have prolonged dry spells. Annual rainfall to date is slightly above average, 16.36" compared to YTD historical average of 15.39." Rainfall at Loch Lomond is behind average, with only 20.25"...
Rainfall since December has increased storage in Loch Lomond
As of January 8, Loch Lomond is 94 % full. Since the rains began the last week in November, the Loch has risen from 89% to 94%. That is an addition of 150 million gallons to our water storage. Rainfall at Loch Lomond has been 17.92" thus far this season. If we get...
After a stormy week, how is our water supply?
Those of us living in Santa Cruz know what the rain was like. It was intense and frequent. At my house in Live Oak, there were three days out of four, starting on Sunday December 1, which produced almost 2" of rain in a 24-hour period. By the end of the week, we were...
Santa Cruz Regional Water Supply Update
November has seen several significant developments in regional water supply solutions: 1. SqCWD received a $50 million grant and approval for $38 million in low interest loans, providing a big boost for its “Pure Water Soquel”project. 2. Santa Cruz city council...
Water for Santa Cruz County will present a draft letter at the November 5 SqCWD board meeting
It is time for SqCWD to write a new letter to Santa Cruz requesting additional water transfers when water is available. Water For Santa Cruz County will present a draft letter to the district that reflects the changes and opportunities since the district last wrote to...
Santa Cruz should transfer water to SqCWD now
It is time for Santa Cruz to transfer water to Soquel Creek Water DistrictSanta Cruz again has more water than it needs. 600 million gallons more than it needs. Loch Lomond is 95% full on September 27Toby Goddard, Administrative and Conservation director for the...
Comments on Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Basin Groundwater Sustainability Plan
Comments on MGA draft report and graphic - click to read
Water in Santa Cruz County, “Pure Water Soquel” Freedom Forum
Water Transfers, Saving our Aquifers, and "Pure Water Soquel" - Water Policy in Santa Cruz County, California. Speakers Jerry Paul, Scott McGilvray and Becky Steinbruner delve into the questions around why ruinously expensive technical solutions are needed for water...
How much water can transfer through existing infrastructure?
Loch Lomond has spilled over, two months ahead of last year. Santa Cruz Water supply for the year is now secure. How much water can be transferred to SqCWD through the existing intertie which was opened December 3, 2018? Water for Santa Cruz County estimates over 500...
How much water can transfer?
How much water can transfer between Santa Cruz and Soquel Creek Water Districts?WFSCC has finally figured out how much water can transfer between the water districts. For years, both Santa Cruz and Soquel Creek water districts have struggled with this question. It...
Water Transfers Should Not Be Abandoned
December 3, 2018, the Santa Cruz Water District and SqCWD opened the gate valve which started water transfers from Santa Cruz to Soquel Creek Water District customers. The next day SqCWD released the final EIR for Pure Water Soquel and on December 18, voted...
December 3rd: The day the water transfers began
At 11:30 a.m., the Red gate valve connecting Santa Cruz Water Department and the Soquel Creek Water District was opened and water began to flow to Soquel Creek from Santa Cruz for the first time since the installation of the intertie was completed three...
October 23, 2018 – Water for Santa Cruz Meeting Notes
Discussion of Gary’s candidacy, which has gotten our issue of water transfers into the public view – whether he wins or not. About 25–30 people attended Aptos Library presentation that Becky arranged, including Bruce Jaffe and Gary; Bruce Daniels also attended, as...
Water Transfers Possible in Nine Weeks
At the Santa Cruz Water Commission meeting on Monday, August 27, the Water Commission heard the results of the pipe loop study of water to be transferred to SqCWD from Santa Cruz. Once again, the consultants reported that the test had resulted in a very favorable...
Water for Santa Cruz Display at Aptos Library
If you haven't seen it yet, there is still time to see the Water for Santa Cruz display currently on view at the Aptos Library through September 1, 2018.
Stranded Steelhead Rescued by Santa Cruz County and Fishermen
Three times in the past month, members of the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project have supported Santa Cruz County Environmental Department led efforts to rescue steelhead fry from portions of local creeks whose water flow levels were rapidly declining. As water...
Midyear Water Report
Laguna Creek The water chemistry testing of Santa Cruz and Soquel Creek water has been completed. The results indicate that there are no problems mixing surface water from Santa Cruz with groundwater from Soquel Creek’s wells. So, Water Transfers are on!...
Using Water Transfers to Achieve Regional Water Security
Click here to view the entire July 19, 2018, Presentation to MGA
Letter to John Laird
Click here to read the June 6, 2018 Letter to John Laird from Scott McGilvray
Fact Consideration Table
Letter to Rosemary Menard
Click here to read the May 30, 2018 Letter to Rosemary Menard from Scott McGilvray
Brochure on Water Transfers changed at Request of Water Districts
Water for Santa Cruz published a brochure in February that highlighted the water to be obtained by Water Transfers and comparing Water Transfers to “Pure Water Soquel.” The brochure received a lot of interest, and both water districts felt that the brochure overstated...
A Water for Santa Cruz Brochure
Below is a brochure published by Water for Santa Cruz. We have been handing it out at various events to help educate people who want to know more. The panels have been marked in order of appearance since we cannot fold an email. Please feel free to share it with your...
Pasatiempo Golf Course has Recycled Water!
View of Pasatiempo from water tank roof. Pasatiempo Golf Course turned on the recycled water supply from Scotts Valley for the first time on Friday, October 13. Water flowed through the gate valve for the first time in 30 years, at the rate of 350 gallons per...
Exhibit at Aptos Library in September
Learn more about Water for Santa Cruz next month at the Aptos Library. We will have a display set up in the library Friday, September 1 through Saturday, September 23, 2017. Aptos Library Info: 7695 Soquel Drive Aptos, CA 95003-3899 831-427-7702 Click here for more...
Santa Cruz and Soquel Creek Water Use, Entering August
The San Lorenzo River is still flowing freely out into the sea. And even with 200% the average rainfall for Santa Cruz this past winter, water use remains steady in both Santa Cruz and Soquel Creek Water districts. Water usage by the citizens is still at reduced...
Sharing a Concise and Reliable Water News Website for all of California
I am happy to pass on a dynamite water news website. It is called Maven's Notebook. Becky Steinbruner found this site a month or so ago and I have been watching its daily emails for the past 30 days. They are proving to be comprehensive and well organized. I am...
Jerry Paul, Finally His Ideas are Recognized
"Lochquifer," "drought security in three years," "misinformation," "The Hundred million dollar letter." All of these sound bites have bounced off the walls of council and water board meetings for more than three years. On Wednesday, June 7, 2017, Santa Cruz Water...
Santa Cruz Water Director Illuminates Water Transfer Possibilities
On Tuesday, May 2, 2017, Rosemary Menard, Santa Cruz Water Director, appeared before the Soquel Creek Water District board and discussed information about water transfers between districts. Ms. Menard spoke and responded to questions for almost a full hour. Several...
A Trip to Oroville Dam, Sierra Snow Pack
The last week in April, I met my good friend John, who lives near Bend, Oregon. We met halfway, at Susanville, and visited the heart of the northern Sierra Nevada by driving down the Feather River Canyon. We wanted to see the damage to the Oroville Dam spillway....
Raising Coho Salmon, Releasing them to the Ocean
On Wednesday, April 19, 2017, volunteers from the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project worked together to release Salmon smolts. First they carried nets of fish from the Kingfisher Hatchery to the tank truck, then to the banks of Scott Creek where they planted 5”...
County Water Agency Co-operation on the Rise
Two multi-agency water supply projects were announced in the second half of March. One is a water sharing in the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains and the other is a pipeline project near Watsonville to harvest water that currently flows out to sea. Both projects are...
Water for Santa Cruz Website Upgrade
Water for Santa Cruz has added pages that focus on: Santa Cruz Water District Soquel Creek Water District Lochquifer News Links Interviews Check out our Soquel Creek Water District page for a report on a meeting with Ron Duncan. The water transfers were discussed in...
Pasatiempo Golf Course will Soon use Recycled Water
Pasatiempo Golf Club has committed to using recycled water to irrigate the golf course. To convert to recycled water, the club has had to build a 500,000 gallon storage tank. Here is a photo of the tank, which has been constructed and tested. Backfilling the tank has...
Welcome to 2017
Finding a source of drinkable water is hard work for the Water Department. Our water supply cannot come from the San Lorenzo river. Notice the mud in the main stream of the river, compared to the water coming in at the right...from Branciforte creek. San Lorenzo...
To Soquel Creek Water District “Pure Water” EIR scope meeting. December 7, 2016
I am here to urge you to pick up the pace of your water transfer efforts. Your district is in a stage 3 drought emergency this year. So was it last year and so will it be next year because you have no supply of water and your customers are overdrafting your...
To Soquel Neighborhood – December 18, 2016
A post from a local resident has been forwarded to me. The resident asked some questions about SqCWD using water transferred from Santa Cruz. I think I can clarify some of your questions, here goes: (answers in red) 1. don’t know the specific concerns about water...
Getting Ready for Water Transfers!
Getting Ready for Water Transfers! Santa Cruz and Soquel Creek Water District have signed a 5 year contract for Santa Cruz to transfer water to Soquel Creek at the rate of up to 200 million gallons during Winter and Spring. The Soquel Creek Water District is...
Santa Cruz, Soquel Creek continue water conservation
As summer winds down, we can look at the water consumption in Santa Cruz and Soquel Creek for 2016. There is officially "no drought" in Santa Cruz while Soquel Creek is in a stage 3 drought emergency caused by years of overdraft to the groundwater basin. Both Santa...
San Lorenzo River water for SqCWD
This is the Water flowing into the San Lorenzo river from the spillway at Loch Lomond Dam. Last winter, 488 Million Gallons flowed out to sea that could have been harvested and sent to SqCWD, This winter, over 700 Million gallons have already flowed out to sea....
The Rainy Season Arrives
Monday, November 2nd, 2:00 pm. The San Lorenzo River breaches the sandbar under its own power. A little more than an inch of rain fell Sunday night – Monday morning, and the water running off into the watershed and down into the San Lorenzo peaked at 40 cubic ft. per...
The best combination: A 2nd pipe to Loch Lomond & Hansen Quarry
View of the Hansen Quarry from Mt. Herman On June 22nd, Santa Cruz city published a document on the WSAC website called “Portfolio Update, June 22, 2015”. This document contained detailed tables for the various portfolios being considered by WSAC in its modeling....
Billions Of Gallons of Water
Billions of Gallons of Water California is in the midst of one of the worst droughts in history. Yet, Santa Cruz’s reservoir, Loch Lomond, has more water in it than last year, 720 million gallons morewater than last year. Here is the exciting part. The San Lorenzo...
The Water Supply Advisory Committee (WSAC) is at a critical crossroad
This winter the City of Santa Cruz pumped water to Loch Lomond from the Felton Diversion on 78 days, harvesting 250 million gallons. Had the city a 2nd pipeline installed, as we have proposed, the city could have captured the full permitted amount of 975 million...
The San Lorenzo river has enough water
The April Water Supply Advisory Committee (WSAC) meetings have concluded. Encouraging news came from Gray Fiske, manager of the City’s water supply model. He has found the water in the San Lorenzo river winter flows, his conclusion: Conclusion The key outcome of...
The San Lorenzo River winter water capacity now EXCEEDS 1 Desal plant.
Last Week, a packed Santa Cruz City Hall Chambers learned that the winter San Lorenzo River flows that are unharvested can supply almost 1.5 Billion gallons per year and that 6.9 Billion gallons of available storage capacity exists in 2 Aquifers in North Santa Cruz...
The San Lorenzo river has more water supply potential than we thought.
In January, the WSAC announced that the available winter supply for San Lorenzo permitted by the State and Fisheries could yield up to 500 Million gallons. Further analysis of the permit and the water harvest records in this 21st Century reveals that the city’s...
Steelhead and Spring return to the San Lorenzo River
March 21 signals the beginning of Spring Santa Cruz enters this water demand season in much better shape than a year ago. Rainfall to date is 20.42”. That twice as much as we had last year at the same time. The Loch Lomond dam is at 82.3% full. As a result, we have...
Diversion Dam at Felton
Can bring us 500 million gallons of water in the summer months I gave 4 seminars on the subject this week. Attendance was excellent and several WSAC members and water department staff attended. A result of these 4 seminars is that more information has been added to...
New Water For Santa Cruz
Come to a Seminar this week. Learn about 500+ Million gallons of new Water. During this week there are several opportunities to hear a detail explanation of the water that is available for Santa Cruz use. Seminar Schedule: March 9, 1:00 to 3:00 pm March 9, 7:00 to...
500 Million Gallons
We have the water to be sustainable in this drought. Water for Santa Cruz County is offering a 1 hour seminar to display the details of 500 million gallons of new water that is available to Santa Cruz City Water department. The Seminar will be offered 4 times over a...
San Lorenzo River produces more Water… WSAC resumes work
It rained 10 days ago, almost 3 “ over three days. This rainfall broke a 44 day dry spell. Despite the long interval, Santa Cruz is at normal for rainfall for this time in the year….over 18.5 “. The San Lorenzo river flow is healthy, plenty for fish and plenty for...
Water for harvest, a pipeline to build
Santa Cruz County experienced 3 weeks of steady rain, beginning at Thanksgiving and ending just before Christmas. No appreciable rain has fallen since then. A friend and I have spent considerable time on the San Lorenzo River, as Steelhead fishermen, (not...
San Lorenzo River flowing strongly
The San Lorenzo River is again flowing nicely The steady and regular precipitation we have enjoyed since the Thanksgiving weekend is now showing up in the San Lorenzo water shed. This is a picture of the San Lorenzo river flow. Anything over 30 cfs is healthy flow....
Rainstorms, Tree rings and ridges of High pressure
This past week has seen a major storm come through Central Coastal California. It has deposited over 4” in town and over 10” in the higher regions of the Santa Cruz Watersheds. This has been very welcome to us all. Two interesting studies were released in the last...
Steady Rain, Habitat Conservation, and Aquifer Recharge.
Solutions are being presented! Water Supply Study Group hears about the Habitat Conservation plan. Wednesday, December 3rd, 2 Environmental consultants who have worked with the city for several years, presented on their models for predicting Santa Cruz Water...
Desal Cost Creep in SB
It costs a lot of money to make salt water in to fresh water... The following is an excerpt from the Santa Barbara Independent Newspaper. "Santa Barbara's acting water czar Josh Haggmark warned the City Council it might cost as much as $40 million to restart the...
Correction regarding the Felton Diversion
Good morning. Yesterday’s letter oversimplified and mislead the reader about the amount of additional water available at the Felton Diversion. I received a note from Rosemary Menard, Santa Cruz Water Director. Here is her note which is very clear: Hi Scott, Re the...
Hope you enjoyed the rain this weekend!
It has been a good week for Water in Santa Cruz... It has been a good week for Water in Santa Cruz. 3 days of rain. And it was a slow steady rain, just the right type to soak into the watershed. Two exciting ideas were presented during the November meetings: one a...
Civinomics gives you the chance to have a voice.
There is still a water shortage in Santa Cruz, Civinomics posted the alternatives on their website. The rain on Thursday, about a half inch was refreshing. The storm passed through slowly, meaning more precipitation could soak in, less run-off. This is the...
Didn’t make it to the premier?
Now available to the public The film “Water for Santa Cruz County” is now posted on YouTube! Please take another look and pass it on to your friends, help us spread the word! Water for Santa Cruz County is a short film that examines short- and long-range water...
Thank you!
We had a great time and hope you did to A lovely weekend rain storm. 1.08” of rain in Santa Cruz, and 1.56” high in the watershed above Loch Lomond. I would like to thank all of you for coming to the Rio Theater on Tuesday night. I was very pleased with the...
Water For Santa Cruz County Premiers Tomorrow!
Water For Santa Cruz County Premiers Tomorrow 7:30 at the Rio Theater! It has been an exciting 6 months, and all the hard work of Scott and Chris McGilvrayis finally coming to fruition. The doors open at 7 and shortly after the film will begin at 7:30. We are really...
Santa Cruz’s First Ever Water Supply Convention
Last Thursday October 16th at the Civic Auditorium We attended the Water Supply Convention as booth participant number 15. This convention consisted of 25 booths each with their own proposal on how to fix the water shortage in Santa Cruz County. The proposals ranged...
Water Convention This Thursday At the Civic Auditorium
This is Santa Cruz’ first look at alternatives to a desalination plant. http://www.santacruzwatersupply.com/event/santa-cruz-water-supply- convention-our-water-our-future The desalination plant proposed for Santa Cruz could produce 900 million gallons a year, at a...
Coming Events
Two valuable events will take place this month. On October 16th, the Water Supply Advisory Committee of Santa Cruz will present a Water Convention at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, from 11 am to 6 pm. At this convention will be the proponents and knowledgable...
How is Santa Cruz doing in Water Conservation this year?
As of Mid September, Santa Cruz City has managed to exceed conservation goals set by the Water Department. August’s average daily water use was 7.7 million gallons per day, lower than the target average usage of 8.6 million gallons per day. September, through the...
Water For Santa Cruz 2
We held a water facts seminar on two successive nights. People attending the seminar came from a wide range of awareness about water. At one end of the spectrum were 3 employees of the Santa Cruz water department and a member of the Water Supply Advisory committee. ...
Why is Water Getting More Expensive?
Water For Santa Cruz County tackles the question The water department has requested a 61% rate increase to be phased in over 5 years at 10% per year. But why? Water for Santa Cruz is conducting 2 seminars from 7 to 9 pm, on both Tuesday and Wednesday nights (9th and...
Water For Santa Cruz County
Hello Santa Cruz! We have expanded our reach to be Water For Santa Cruz County. Our reach has expanded because the need has expanded. We have partnered with Surf Rider Santa Cruz and are very excited about the opportunities for us with them at our sides. We will be...