www.montereycountynow.com DECEMBER 4-10, 2025 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 15 For all the years of hydrological studies and analysis of water supply, it sometimes feels like we are still in a world of magical thinking as described by John Steinbeck in the 1952 novel East of Eden. “There would be five or six wet and wonderful years,” Steinbeck wrote. “And then the dry years would come…Then the farmers and the ranchers would be filled with disgust for the Salinas Valley…And it never failed that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way.” At long last, maybe it is not going to always be this way. On Tuesday, Dec. 9, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors is set to vote on adopting a monitoring plan for the deep aquifers, still somewhat unknown reservoirs located 500 to 900 feet underground that are tapped with wells to supply water for household, agricultural and industrial use. In tandem, the board is set to consider signing a memorandum of understanding that acknowledges five different agencies are responsible for monitoring the groundwater basin and they should collaborate on data sharing and standardization. (Those agencies are quite the alphabet soup of water bureaucracy: Monterey County Water Resources Agency, Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency, Marina Coast Water District Groundwater Sustainability Agency, Monterey Peninsula Water Management District and Seaside Groundwater Basin Watermaster.) This degree of collaboration—left vague in the MOU, describing that all parties “agree to cooperate”—might seem mundane, but it’s a significant step forward in groundwater management progress. The idea of teamwork instead of territorial water wars is something of a novelty. The premise is that sharing data can help all of the agencies arrive at a shared understanding of groundwater resources, instead of fighting over whose hydrologist produced a more credible report than another. (For a counterpoint, the my-hydrologist-is-better-than-your-hydrologist kind of argument is the subject of a lawsuit now at trial concerning a proposed desalination plant in Marina.) The Monterey County Water Resources Agency’s board of directors voted unanimously to recommend approval of the MOU, and that recommendation now heads to the County Board of Supervisors; the other agencies are working toward formal adoption by January. In describing the intent of the agreement to the MCWRA board on Nov. 17, General Manager Ara Azhderian explained the importance of working together for the deep aquifer monitoring study to succeed. “There are five management entities involved and all depend on each other for that data, so we can properly manage what is a shared resource,” he said. “We intend to work together to stand this program up and make it a success.” The monitoring study lays out a plan for these agencies to collect data on various subbasins. “The political boundaries and the hydrologic boundaries don’t line up in most cases,” Azhderian says. In short, the plan calls for monitoring extraction data on an annual basis; groundwater elevation at least quarterly; and groundwater quality at least annually. The data, to be collected from dozens of wells, is critical to help advance a better understanding of the underground water resources that not only make the region habitable, but irrigate crops that feed the world. And these resources play an increasingly prominent role. “As seawater intrusion has impacted the 180- and 400foot aquifers in the coastal region of the Salinas Valley, landowners and water suppliers have turned to the deep aquifers as an alternative source for groundwater supply,” the monitoring plan reads. Of course, even a friendly MOU can’t forestall whatever action might eventually be taken. Mike Scattini, a grower and member of the MCWRA board of directors, expressed doubts in the discussion on Nov. 17. “My concern is…we are doing this and it could be utilized for—I’ll put it nicely, management—restrictions on pumping, restrictions on well drilling.” What comes down the road to protect water resources may be less friendly terrain, but cooperation is a good starting point. Sara Rubin is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@montereycountynow.com. Well Meaning A multi-agency agreement offers a hopeful moment for groundwater. By Sara Rubin FUNDING FLOW…Squid’s only contract is with the sea: the ocean provideth and the ocean taketh away. So when Squid saw the Monterey County Business Council’s press release announcing that local businesses received $33,636,617 in federal contract dollars for the quarter (July 1-Sept. 30), Squid wondered where all that money was actually going. The Business Council did part of the work, breaking it up by the five County Board of Supervisors districts. District 5 received over three-quarters of that sum, while District 3 reportedly received exactly $0.00. Squid asked for some explanation, and it turns out those numbers are as squishy as Squid. According to Victor Valdez, program manager of the Monterey Bay APEX Accelerator, “There’s not enough resources to police all these buyers, which could be anywhere.” Besides, the numbers were already outdated. The county’s federal contract total has since doubled to about $60 million, Valdez says. (As for why District 3 shows zero, Valdez speculates that the district’s largely agricultural economy may result in more state and local government contracts than federal ones.) He thinks District 5’s high proportion might be tied to the presence of IT service providers. It’s all pretty fuzzy for a pie chart that’s so inequitable. When Squid sliced up leftover pumpkin pie after Thanksgiving, Squid eyeballed it, but still, the difference between the biggest piece and the smallest was barely visible. HALF-BAKED POTATO…If Squid was more omnivorous in Squid’s dietary preferences, Squid might be able to live off of political events, oozing around town to sample a fruit platter here and a tower of cheese sandwiches there. Squid was not in attendance on June 29 at Las Palmas Furniture in Salinas where Protect Salinas Renters held an event to gather petition signatures for a referendum seeking to reinstate rent control, but Squid has it on good authority there were baked potatoes on offer. Squid knows this to be true because the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office investigated it— extensively. According to an announcement on Dec. 1 that the investigation is closed with no charges to be filed, “a lead organizer made statements implying free food could be provided for those who ‘support’ the petition.” To arrive at that conclusion, DA investigators reviewed the list of petition signatories and knocked on 64 doors from Oct. 13-17, speaking to 35 people. They called another 222, reaching 77. A total of six people out of those 112 thought free food might have been connected to signing. This matters (in theory) because if there had been a quid pro quo—a signature in exchange for food—it’s a misdemeanor. But it all sounds to Squid like a lot of time and effort expended over Potato-Gate, just to say: Nothing to see here. THE LOCAL SPIN SQUID FRY THE MISSION OF MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY IS TO INSPIRE INDEPENDENT THINKING AND CONSCIOUS ACTION, ETC. “We intend to work together.” SEND SQUID A TIP: squid@montereycountynow.com
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjAzNjQ1NQ==