Water issues in Monterey County are complex because public water agencies and their mandates often overlap. Here is an overview of county agencies and their specific roles.
- The Monterey County Water Resources Agency – The water resources agency (MCWRA) was founded in 1947 as a flood mitigation agency but now oversees all water-related issues in Monterey County. The WRA operates and owns water infrastructure in Monterey County, including the Castroville Seawater Intrusion Project (CSIP) and the reservoirs at Lake Nacimiento and San Antonio. The Agency’s responsibilities continue to include flood and other emergency preparedness, water conservation, and groundwater basin management, among other issues. It also gathers and publishes the majority of water-related data in Monterey County, from groundwater extractions to seawater intrusion contour maps, and more.
- Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency – The Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) oversees the implementation of the 2014 state legislation, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) which sought to ensure sustainability in groundwater basins around the state. The GSA brings stakeholders together to establish thresholds for sustainability, analyze groundwater levels, and create consensus around viable projects and management actions to bring the groundwater basin into balance.
- Monterey One Water – Monterey One Water is a Joint Powers Authority (M1W) created in 1972 in response to new water pollution regulations. M1W operates the water purification plant (Pure Water Monterey) that can recycle around 18.5 million gallons of sewage a day and delivers the recycled water to CSIP and municipalities on the Monterey Peninsula. M1W owns several pump stations around the Peninsula and its Board oversees the operation and quality of the water recycling plant.
In addition, there are local water agencies that oversee drinking water delivery to municipalities. These include the Marina Coast Water Management District, the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, Castroville Services District and private water utility companies including California Water and California American Water.
