SALINAS VALLEY — Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SVBGSA) is accepting applications for its six subbasin implementation committees through Aug. 20.
These positions are ideal for people who have an interest in groundwater and local governance. The subbasin implementation committees for SVBGSA discuss, debate and deliberate on matters that focus on the implementation of the groundwater sustainability plans of the subbasins that the SVBGSA manages. Committee members must live or work in one of the subbasins, and collaboration and leadership skills are valued.
The committees monitor subbasin sustainability criteria, prioritize subbasin-specific projects and management actions, seek community input and identify preferred funding mechanisms. The committees advise and recommend actions to the SVBGSA Board of Directors and to provide feedback to staff. The committees do not make final determinations, but rather make recommendations for Board consideration and action.
Up to 72 people can be appointed, comprising 12 on each of the six committees. The members must be individuals, not organizations. To serve on a subbasin committee, applicants must live or work in the subbasin that that committee represents.
A core responsibility of SVBGSA is to carry out the implementation of groundwater sustainability plans that were developed for the Salinas Valley subbasins, with a goal to achieve groundwater sustainability by 2040 and 2042. The SVBGSA is committed to work with landowners, business and agricultural managers, community representatives, water leaders, technical specialists and other stakeholders to disseminate information, gather input and implement long-range plans for how to address water scarcity.
The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act was signed into law in 2014 in response to a scientific understanding that groundwater in California is being used faster than it’s being replenished. The act requires designated groundwater basins to form a public agency to develop a groundwater management plan and implement actions that will help local subbasins reach or maintain groundwater sustainability. Learn more at svbgsa.org.
