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Water is a vital resource to Santa Barbara County. The availability, quality and cost of water in this area have greatly influenced the economy and the community. Like other areas with limited water supplies, county residents must manage resources carefully and supplement local supplies with water from other regions. County water sources are diverse and the facilities and programs established to manage those supplies are complex. County residents obtain their water from several sources: storm runoff collected in reservoir systems, groundwater withdrawal, and the State Water Project. The county's potable water supply is delivered to the public through a variety of water purveyors: incorporated cities, community service districts, water districts, public utility companies, conservation districts and others. For more information on water supply issues in the county, click on the links below. Groundwater GroundwaterGroundwater supplies about 75% of Santa Barbara County's domestic, commercial, industrial and agricultural water. It is also one of the last lines of defense against the periodic droughts that occur in the county. To better understand the supply and limitations of each groundwater basin and aquifer, local, state and federal agencies regularly monitor water quantity and quality. This information about our groundwater resources is critical to preventing overuse of aquifers, which can lead to depletion, seawater intrusion, diminished storage capacity, lower water quality or land subsidence within a basin. The result of overuse depends on the characteristics of the aquifer. In areas with low recharge rates, excessive pumping might render portions of an aquifer unusable indefinitely. The lowering of water tables might increase pumping "lifts," rendering groundwater economically infeasible for some uses. Thus, the consequences of long-term groundwater over-use can include permanent impairment of aquifers. Significant changes in groundwater basins generally occur over a period of decades. In larger basins, trends in groundwater level and groundwater quality are recognizable only by examining data the length of one or more hydrologic (rainfall) cycles. However, some factors likely to affect the condition of the basins, such as the importation of supplemental water supplies, the implementation of basin management plans, and short-term climatic influences, may change from year to year. For more information on county groundwater basins, please see "Water Resources of Santa Barbara County." Surface WaterSurface water refers to water resources that flow or are stored in surface channels (streams and rivers, or lakes and reservoirs). Surface water can be naturally occurring, or can be created or altered through human design. A surface reservoir is formed when a dam is built to trap natural flows along a river and to temporarily store water behind the dam in a reservoir. Water can then be released in a controlled fashion for flood control, recreational purposes, or as needed for water supply. The land area that collects water which feeds into surface flows, such as creeks and rivers, is called a watershed. A watershed includes the areas up to the mountain ridges that collect rainwater, the valleys with streams within these areas, and the lakes where the water flows are stored. Rivers & Reservoirs There are several rivers in Santa Barbara County which flow from back-country watersheds into the ocean. The flow of rivers in the county is highly variable with more years of low and intermediate flow than years with high flow. River flow within the county is dependent on rainfall, as there is little base flow and no significant snowmelt. The years within the top 25% for rainfall create most of the volume in county rivers, resulting in many dry streams in the summer and fall of normal years. Four
reservoirs have been built to capture these surface flows for a variety
of uses. For more information, click on the reservoir links below. Juncal
Dam & Jameson Lake The State Water Project (SWP), managed by the Department of Water Resources (DWR), is the largest state-built, multipurpose water project in the country. The SWP system collects, stores and distributes water from northern California, where most of the state's rainfall occurs, to southern California, where most of the state's population lives. Approximately 20 million of California's 32 million residents receives at least part of their water from the SWP, and SWP water is used to irrigate approximately 600,000 acres of farmland. The Central Coast Water Authority (CCWA) was formed in 1991 to finance, construct, manage and operate Santa Barbara County's 42 mile extension of the SWP water pipeline and a regional treatment plant to treat SWP water for both San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties. However, only some communities within Santa Barbara County chose to receive SWP water (including Buellton, Carpinteria, Goleta, Guadalupe, Hope Ranch, Montecito, Orcutt, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Summerland and Vandenberg Air Force Base). The communities of Lompoc, Vandenberg Village, and Mission Hills voted not to participate in the SWP. Economics The cost per acre foot (AF) for SWP water varies depending on the location of each project participant along the pipeline. All participants pay their share of the costs for the water treatment plant located at Polonio Pass based on (1) SWP entitlement for capital and fixed operating costs and (2) entitlement deliveries for variable costs. The unit cost of SWP water ranges from about $900 per AF in Santa Maria to about $1,500 per AF in the Santa Ynez Valley and South Coast of Santa Barbara County. The unit cost differs for each project participant for a number of reasons including, but not limited to:
DesalinationDesalination is the process of removing salt from seawater. Desalination is used in many arid countries around the world to provide a reliable source of drinking water. Desalination separates saline water into two products: fresh water and water containing the concentrated salts, or brine. Such separation can be accomplished by a number of processes. The three most common processes are distillation, electrodialysis and reverse osmosis.
The City of Santa Barbara Charles Meyer Desalination Facility
Next, the cartridge filters act as a check to catch any material that gets through the primary and secondary stages. At this point, all particulate matter has been removed from the water; only dissolved salt remains. Pumps then drive the water at 800 pounds per square inch (p.s.i) through reverse osmosis membranes that separate the dissolved salt from the water. Approximately 45% of the pressurized seawater goes through membranes and becomes drinking water. The drinking water is pumped into the existing Yanonali Street water main for distribution to water customers. The remaining seawater and concentrated salts (brine) are combined with treated wastewater from the adjacent wastewater treatment plant, and discharged to the ocean at the end of the 1.5 mile long outfall line. This facility is currently in "long-term storage mode" and can be brought back online in case of a water shortage. Central
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