Final Construction of the College Lake Water Supply Project Pipeline Starts in Early 2024 by Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency Nov 28, 2023 Member Submitted News WATSONVILLE — The Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency (PV Water) is celebrating the completion of 4.5 miles of the 6-mile College Lake Water Supply Project pipeline. The Project will develop College Lake as new water supply to help achieve sustainable water resources within the Pajaro Valley. Construction on the pipeline began in June and 23,000 of 31,400 feet has been completed. Work on the final 8,000 feet of pipeline, which will be constructed under Highway 129 through Watsonville, begins in early 2024. Construction is expected to last six months and will cause traffic impacts that will affect Watsonville residents, as well as those traveling through the Pajaro Valley. The pipeline will transport treated water from a new water treatment plant near College Lake to over 5,500 acres of farmland via PV Water’s Coastal Distribution System. Construction updates are being posted at www.pvwater.org/construction and on social media (Facebook and Instagram). Groundwater accounts for more than 90 percent of water use in the Pajaro Valley Basin. Throughout the Pajaro Valley Groundwater Basin, groundwater levels are overdrafted, meaning they are below sea level because of long-term, unsustainable pumping of the groundwater aquifer. Overdraft conditions result in seawater intrusion, groundwater quality degradation and groundwater storage depletion. The $68 million contract to construct the College Lake Project includes the Pipeline, as well as a Water Treatment Plant, and Intake Facilities with fish passage. The Project will use the water to reduce groundwater pumping, helping to reduce groundwater overdraft and seawater intrusion, while improving habitat for the endangered South-central California coast steelhead. It will provide the largest new source of water in the Pajaro Valley since the completion of the Watsonville Area Water Recycling Facility in 2009, a facility that is jointly operated by PV Water and the City of Watsonville. ABOUT PV WATER The Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency (PV Water) is a state-chartered water management district, and a Groundwater Sustainability Agency, formed to manage existing and supplemental water supplies efficiently and economically in order to prevent further increase in, and to accomplish continuing reduction of, long-term overdraft. PV Water works to provide and ensure sufficient water supplies for present and future anticipated needs within its boundaries, generally the greater coastal Pajaro Valley. For more information, visit www.pvwater.org or www.facebook.com/PajaroValleyWater. # # #
