Since we were founded, MCWD has been committed to research and innovation to manage our precious groundwater, to prevent saltwater intrusion and work collaboratively with others to study and identify alternative and sustainable long-term water supplies.
MCWD is dedicated to providing safe and affordable drinking water to the 33,000 residents in our service area now and well into the future. Currently, our sole source of water comes from the Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin (Monterey and 180’/400’ subbasins), which supplies many other communities beyond our service area.
Recently, MCWD entered into formal agreements with the Fort Ord Reuse Authority (FORA) and Monterey One Water (formerly Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency) to develop a recommended list of the most cost-effective water-supply programs that we can realistically move forward on.
MCWD just concluded a significant groundwater study with Stanford University, which included an airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey to map out the distribution of salt and freshwater in the northern Salinas Valley. The results of the survey confirmed the presence of freshwater in and around the Marina and Ord service areas of the District in both the Dunes and 180 shallow aquifers and further inland in the 400-foot aquifer. The results also provided key information on how the Dunes, 180, and 400 aquifers are interconnected in this area to benefit and guide regional decision-making.
As we work to balance future needs with supply, conservation, and new sources, we must be ever vigilant to guard against environmental impacts such as saltwater intrusion into fragile groundwater basins.