Groundwater Assessment and Protection (GAP)

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Announcements/Public Notices

Water Board contracts with U.S. Geological Survey to test domestic wells in Salinas and Pajaro Valleys

Six Month CCAMP-GAP update to the Water Board – Excerpted from Item 22: Executive Officer’s Report to the Board for Regular Meeting of January 31/February 1, 2013

Program Description and Background

The Groundwater Assessment and Protection program (GAP or CCAMP-GAP) is a new and integral component of the Central Coast Ambient Monitoring Program (CCAMP), the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board’s regionally scaled water quality monitoring and assessment program. The purpose of the program is to provide scientific information to Regional Board staff, local water agencies and water purveyors, and the public, to protect, restore, and enhance the quality of the waters of central California.

Reliance on Groundwater - Basis of Need

Over eighty percent of the people living on the Central Coast rely on groundwater for their drinking water and other uses. A regional groundwater monitoring program is essential to identify areas of potentially unsafe drinking water supply, measure individual groundwater basin health, and determine the effectiveness of our efforts to protect and improve groundwater quality.

Regional Monitoring – It’s a Collaborative Process

Many local agencies monitor groundwater quality to some degree, or have the potential to do so, and there is a great opportunity for the Water Board to coordinate and leverage these local efforts into a state-of-the-art groundwater protection program. We realize that our success in protecting groundwater for future generations depends on coordinating and leveraging the efforts of local agencies and other state agencies in a mutually beneficial way, and this is a primary purpose of CCAMP-GAP.

Water Board staff will facilitate capture of existing and future data from other agencies and its management via the State Board’s GAMA GeoTracker database, making the CCAMP-GAP data readily available to the public and other regulatory agencies. We will use the data from CCAMP-GAP to determine groundwater health and trends throughout the basins in the Central Coast region. The data will also help define our highest priorities, identify and support appropriate Water Board actions, and measure our performance in achieving our Vision and Measurable Goal for Clean Groundwater.

This strategic collaborative approach is intended to eliminate potential redundancy and duplication of local, regional and statewide efforts.

Healthy Watersheds Assessment – The Bigger Picture

In an effort to measure our performance in achieving our Vision of Healthy Watersheds, one of our primary goals is to integrate regional groundwater data with available surface water quality/supply data and physical landscape data from CCAMP and other sources to conduct an ongoing assessment of overall watershed function and health.   In doing so, we will be able to better understand and protect the various interrelated watershed processes that are necessary to sustain the economic, environmental and social diversity of the Central Coast Region.

Special Projects – Beyond Just Data Collection and Assessment

CCAMP-GAP will also implement or support special projects to evaluate, restore, or protect the beneficial uses of groundwater and protect public health, such as providing information and free groundwater sampling to domestic well owners so they can assess their groundwater quality and take appropriate actions to protect their own health and welfare.

Funding – A Sustainable Approach

CCAMP-GAP is primarily funded by a private endowment held with the Bay Foundation of Morro Bay. Water Board staff will also be pursuing available grant and matching funds from other sources to supplement the program. Our goal is to build a comprehensive and transparent program that measures the physical condition of our groundwater basins over the long term, and reaching this goal will require significant increases in funding over time.

For additional information please click on the CCAMP-GAP Document links below.

CCAMP-GAP Documents

• May 3, 2012 Staff Report: Proposed Funding for Regional Groundwater Assessment and Protection Program and Special Projects
• CCAMP-GAP Conceptual Project Proposal and Fiscal Year 2012-2013 Work Plan
• Resolution No. R3-2012-0024

Special Projects

Domestic Well Project

Salinas and Pajaro Valley Project 2012/2013 – The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will be sampling domestic wells in the Salinas and Pajaro Valleys on behalf of the Water Board during December 2012 through February/March 2013. The USGS will be conducting focused door-to-door outreach to solicit participation in the voluntary program. The USGS will be testing water samples for a suite of parameters/constituents with an emphasis on nitrate and arsenic so well owners can make informed decisions about the safety of their drinking water. This is the first of a number of anticipated CCAMP-GAP sponsored domestic well projects within the Region.

Go to the following for additional information:

• Project Description
• Local Agency Notice

Related/Useful Links

The following list is a compilation of website links to various programs, entities and information related to groundwater and/or drinking water issues. This is not an exhaustive or complete list. For a list of Central Coast Water Board program links go to Central Coast Vision, Water Issues, and Programs.

This is not an exhaustive list and many of the provided links are cross-referenced within other links.

State Agencies/Programs

• State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB)
  • Programs – Quick Links Page
  • Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program
    • GeoTracker GAMA database
    • Water Quality in Private Domestic Wells
  • Division of Water Quality – Underground Storage Tank Program
  • General Waste Discharge Requirements for Aquifer Storage and Recovery Projects that Inject Drinking Water into Groundwater
  • Recycled Water Policy
  • Onsite Wastewater Treatment System (Septic System) Policy
  • Resource Alignment
• California Department of Water Resources (DWR)
  • Groundwater Information Center
  • Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM)
  • California Water Plan
  • California Statewide Groundwater Elevation Monitoring (CASGEM)
  • California Irrigation Management Information System (CIMIS)
• California Department of Public Health (CDPH)
  • Division of Drinking Water and Environmental Management
    • Drinking Water Program
      • Drinking Water Source Assessment and Protection (DWSAP) Program
      • Chemicals and Contaminants in Drinking Water
      • Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SDWSRF)
  • Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (ELAP)
• California Dept. of Pesticide Regulation – Pesticide Use Reporting (PUR)
• California Water Quality Monitoring Council

Local Agencies/Programs within the Central Coast Region

• Monterey County Water Resources Agency (MCWRA)
• Monterey Peninsula Water Management District (MPWMD)
• Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD)
• San Benito County Water District (SBCWD)
• Santa Barbara County Water Agency
• San Luis Obispo County Water Resources
  • San Luis Obispo County Water Resources Advisory Committee (WRAC)
• Santa Cruz County – Water Resources
• San Mateo County – Water Programs

Drinking Water Programs within the Central Coast Region (County level)

• Santa Cruz County Drinking Water Regulatory Program
• San Luis Obispo County - Water
• Santa Barbara County - Water Quality
• San Benito County - Groundwater Protection
• Santa Clara County - Small Water System Drinking Water Program
• San Mateo County – Small Drinking Water Systems Program
• Ventura County – Drinking Water
• Kern County – Water Wells and Small Water Systems
• Monterey County – Drinking Water Protection

Federal Agencies/Programs

• U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
• National Water Information System (NWIS)
• USGS Groundwater Data for California
• National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program
• California Water Science Center (CAWSC)
• GAMA/USGS
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA Home Page)
• EPA Water Quality Exchange (WQX) and STORET Data Warehouse
• EPA Water – Groundwater and Drinking Water
• Private Drinking Water Wells
• Groundwater and Ecosystem Restoration Research
• California Well Information - Groundwater Basics

Funding Information/Opportunities

• Central Coast Water Board Grants Program
• California Department of Water Resources “Funding Topics”
• State Water Board Division of Financial Assistance
• Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SDWSRF)
• EPA – Water: Grants & Funding
• USDA – Rural Development Programs & Opportunities

Private Entities, Associations and Non-Profits

• California Groundwater Resources Association (GRA)
• National Ground Water Association (NGWA)
• Water Education Foundation
• The Groundwater Foundation
• Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA)
• Environmental Justice Coalition for Water (EJCW)
• Clean Water Action (CWA)
• Community Water Center

Email Distribution List

To receive electronic updates and notices via email regarding CCAMP-GAP, please visit our Email List Subscription Website and select “Groundwater Assessment and Protection (GAP).”

Help us do more to protect our shared groundwater resources with your charitable donation.

To donate, please make your check payable to the Central Coast Ambient Monitoring Program –Groundwater Assessment and Protection (CCAMP-GAP) Funds, care of The Bay Foundation at 601 Embarcadero, Suite 11, Morro Bay, CA 93442.

Contact Information

If you have any questions or suggestions regarding this website or the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board’s Groundwater Assessment and Protection Program please contact Matthew Keeling via email or phone at 805-549-3685.