Water district launches campaign to promote groundwater awareness

Date: March 9, 2007

SANTA CLARA COUNTY— As part of National Ground Water Awareness Week, the Santa Clara Valley Water District is encouraging all residents to take a moment to ponder the importance of our largest water reservoir—which is right beneath our feet.

 “Groundwater is our most critical local asset for ensuring adequate water supplies now and in the future. Keep in mind that we live on top of our drinking water – if you don’t want to drink it, don’t put it on or in the ground,”  said Tony Estremera, chairman of the Santa Clara Valley Water District board of directors.

To emphasize the significance of groundwater, the water district board of directors are commemorating March 11 – 17 as National Ground Water Awareness Week.

Groundwater is a hidden supply of water that flows beneath the surface through small pores and cracks in rock and soil.

About half of Santa Clara County’s annual drinking water supply comes from groundwater basins, and yet many people do not realize the impact their actions have on this precious resource. In South County, groundwater is the sole source of drinking water.

However, natural groundwater recharge is insufficient to meet groundwater pumping and, therefore, the water district has an artificial recharge program.  In fact, the primary function of most above-ground reservoirs in the county is to capture and store water, which is later released for groundwater recharge. Local groundwater basins can store more than three times the amount of water that can be stored in all 10 of our local reservoirs combined.

The water district helps manage local groundwater basins as a “reservoir,” a massive water filtration plant and a water distribution system. More than 150 million gallons of water a day is percolated into local groundwater basins. By comparison, the water district’s largest water treatment plant processes as much as 100 million gallons per day.

Besides locally captured water, the district also uses much of the water imported from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to recharge the underground aquifer. Without imported water, local groundwater basins could be depleted, resulting in higher costs to secure other water supplies and to pump water from deeper wells.

Groundwater is not only an essential part of our local water supply, it is considered our best protection against drought.
While the groundwater is traditionally of high quality, it faces numerous threats, including urban runoff, industrial spills, leaking underground storage tanks, improperly maintained septic systems, and inefficient agricultural operations. 

Water district staff samples wells for contamination and works with local retailers and the Regional Water Quality Control Board to ensure a safe and healthy supply of groundwater.  The water district has managed groundwater basins since the 1930s and it is nationally recognized as a leader in groundwater management.

However, there is no local, regional or state agency responsible for maintaining and testing the 5,000 privately owned wells in the county; it's up to owners to watch over their water systems.
The water district will send about 4,000 postcards to private well owners in Santa Clara County urging them to test their water systems and to take measures to prevent contamination of the groundwater basins every resident relies on. In addition, the water district is also placing newspaper advertisements promoting groundwater awareness (see attached).

The Santa Clara Valley Water District manages the county’s major watersheds, including 10 reservoirs, more than 800 miles of streams and large groundwater basins. The water district also provides flood protection throughout Santa ClaraCounty.