Executive Summary
The Orange County Water District (OCWD) monitors Santa Ana River flow and quality as well as groundwater levels, quality, and production in the Santa Ana Canyon Management Area (see Section 5). Moreover, OCWD has a wide variety of water resource management programs that cover the OCWD Management Area as well as programs in the upper Santa Ana River watershed to address Santa Ana River flow and quality (see Section 6). These programs are important in protecting the quality of the Santa Ana River, which has a significant influence on the groundwater quality in the Santa Ana Canyon Management Area. The approach to managing the Santa Ana Canyon Management Area is for OCWD, in cooperation with the County of Orange, to continue monitoring groundwater levels and quality to ensure that no significant and unreasonable undesirable results occur in the future, both in the Santa Ana Canyon portion of the Basin and in the other hydrologically connected portions of the Basin. Due to the conditions documented within the Santa Ana Canyon Management Area, it will not be difficult to prevent conditions that could lead to significant and unreasonable undesirable results due to the low risk of increased groundwater production, little available developable land, and continued high flows of the Santa Ana River relative to the amount of groundwater production. A summary of the applicable undesirable results that must be prevented under SGMA is presented below. A more detailed description of these can be found in Sections 8 to 13. 1. Water Levels: Long-term reduction in groundwater levels in the Santa Ana Canyon Management Area are not expected given the high volume of Santa Ana River flow relative to the amount of groundwater production and the ability of the shallow alluvial aquifer to be recharged as a result of continuous and abundant surface flow in the Santa Ana Canyon; however, if an unforeseen long-term reduction in groundwater levels were to occur, water levels could reach a significant and unreasonable level if one or more of the following occurred as a result of reduced groundwater levels: a. Significant loss of riparian habitat along the Santa Ana River. b. Significant loss of well production capacity (in the Santa Ana Canyon Management Area). c. Degradation of water quality that significantly impacts the beneficial uses of groundwater. 2. Storage: As with groundwater levels, long-term reduction in groundwater storage in the Santa Ana Canyon Management Area is not projected to occur; however, an unforeseen decline in groundwater storage could reach a significant and unreasonable level if such a decline caused one or more of the following: a. Loss of significant riparian habitat along the Santa Ana River. b. Significant loss of well production capacity. c. Degradation of water quality that significantly impacts the beneficial uses of groundwater. 3. Water Quality: The significant and unreasonable degradation of water quality is defined as the degradation of groundwater quality in the Santa Ana Canyon Management Area that is attributable to groundwater production or recharge practices within the Santa Ana
BASIN 8-1 ALTERNATIVE 2022 UPDATE
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Appendix F - 246
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