Groundwater Sustainability Workshop Meeting Recording
Understanding Santa Clarita Valley’s Geology and its Impacts to Our Local Water Supply
View the full meeting, explore resources and provide your input using the form below.
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
Resources
Geology
Geology plays an important role in the availability of groundwater as a water source. Underground, water fills and moves between voids and fractures in rocks. Materials such as sand, gravel and some sedimentary rocks are porous and permeable, allowing them to hold and transmit water underground in what is known as an aquifer.
Aquifers
An aquifer is an underground reservoir where water fills and moves between the voids in rocks, silt and other material. Many different types of sediments and rocks can form aquifers, including gravel, sandstone, and fractured limestone. Aquifers are fed by rain and runoff, which percolates downward.
Groundwater Recharge & Discharge
The aquifers that provide about half of SCV Water’s supply are fed by rain and surface water runoff that percolates deep into the ground. This process, known as recharge, can take years depending on how porous the rock material is and the depth of the aquifer.
Surface Water
Some water that supplies the Santa Clarita Valley begins as precipitation high in the San Gabriel Mountains, the Santa Susana Mountains, the Transverse Ranges and the Sierra Pelona Mountains where it can then drain into the Santa Clara River and its tributaries. The watershed area within Los Angeles County is approximately 650 square miles. The watershed continues into Ventura County and in total is approximately 1630 square miles.