Montecito groundwater sustainability plan up for adoption at Friday meeting

MONTECITO, Calif. – The final draft of the Montecito Groundwater Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency's (MGSA) Groundwater Sustainability Plan will be up for adoption on May 19 during a Special Board Meeting.

That meeting can viewed online here or in-person at 583 San Ysidro Road in Montecito starting at 11 a.m.

If adopted on Friday, the Groundwater Sustainability Plan will then be submitted to the California Department of Water Resources for evaluation and approval which may take up to two years.

Meanwhile, current projects will continue and those identified in the Plan will begin. An example of one of those such projects are monitoring wells that provide reliable data at regular intervals and are used to track local groundwater levels and quality.

Montecito GSA’s Board President Brian Goebel said, “We’re working to fill critical data gaps and
focusing on comprehensive, consistent monitoring, modeling, and knowledge acquisition to keep
groundwater supplies secure for all stakeholders without taking any unnecessary actions

The MGSA was founded in 2018 to comply with California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act which took effect in 2015.

“We know a lot more about the basin than we did just a few years ago and we are doing our best to stay
ahead of the curve,” says General Manager Nick Turner. “Groundwater is an essential resource, and this
Plan provides a framework to protect it for all stakeholders for the foreseeable future using a methodical
process and manageable projects.”

Completed monitoring and observation wells at Manning Park are shown below. They appear at those flat white circles in the parking lot.