August 26, 2014 

On Tuesday, August 26, 2014, the Rotary Club of Freedom California toured the Watsonville Area Water Recycling Facility.  The meeting was hosted by the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency (PV Water).  On hand were Mary Bannister, General Manager, Jesus “Chuy” Martinez, Senior Water System Operator, and Brian Lockwood, Senior Hydrologist and Freedom Rotarian.

Recycled water is being used in the Pajaro Valley as a key supply in efforts to eliminate groundwater overdraft and halt seawater intrusion.  PV Water, in partnership with the City of Watsonville, constructed a water recycling facility that became operational in 2009.  The plant can produce up to 4,000 acre-feet per year (AFY) of tertiary treated, disinfected water, which is blended with other water sources to reduce the concentration of salts, and then delivered to coastal farmland where seawater intrusion is a serious problem affecting water supply wells. Water delivered via the Coastal Distribution System (CDS), is used for irrigation supply in lieu of pumped groundwater and therefore serves as “in-lieu recharge.”  Hydrologic modeling has shown that by reducing the volume of groundwater extracted at the coast, seawater intrusion occurring in the upper aquifers can be stopped.  Since the facility began producing recycled water for delivery in April 2009, over 7,000 AF of recycled water has been used to irrigate crops such as strawberries, artichokes and other vegetable row crops.

www.pvwater.org

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