BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:Title
Denial of Request to Modify Groundwater Benefit Zone W-2 to Exclude Well 08S02E31E014.
End
RECOMMENDATION:Recommendation
Deny the request to modify Groundwater Benefit Zone W-2 to exclude well 08S02E31E014.
Body
SUMMARY:
Well 08S02E31E014 is a domestic well located at 21392 Tierra Grande Court in the Almaden Valley in San Jose, adjacent to Calero Creek. The well is located within the Santa Clara Subbasin and Groundwater Benefit Zone W-2 (Zone W-2). The well owners have requested that Santa Clara Valley Water District (Valley Water) exclude well 08S02E31E014 from Zone W-2 (Attachment 1), claiming the well:
* is located 250 feet from a neighbor's well that was removed from the zone in 2020, and
* is 500 feet deep, is completed in bedrock, and does not pull groundwater from Valley Water sources.
Any changes to groundwater benefit zones must be approved by the Board of Directors. Attachment 2 contains all information submitted by the well owners along with Valley Water staff's detailed technical evaluation of the request. As described below and in Attachment 2, staff concludes that well 08S02E31E014 is properly located within Zone W-2 and recommends denying the request to exclude the well from the zone.
Background
The current groundwater benefit zones approved by the Board of Directors became effective in July 2020 following completion of a multi-year, science-based study of the groundwater benefit zones and their boundaries. A groundwater benefit zone includes any area within Valley Water's jurisdiction where any of the following criteria are met:
* A Valley Water activity provides water supply
* Valley Water activities improve groundwater supply reliability
* Valley Water activities prevent or limit land subsidence
* Valley Water activities reverse or control salt water intrusion
* Valley Water activities improve or maintain groundwater quality
* Valley Water activities improve groundwater levels
The study was b...
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