City drills down into water supply facts
City of Paso Robles’ plan for water supply over the next 30 years. Notice the decrease in draws from the groundwater basin.
City presents its water vision and strategy
A map of the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin. About 60-percent of the basin is in San Luis Obispo County and 40-percent in Monterey County. It is all east of the Salinas River.
At the first ever State of the City event hosted by the Paso Robles Chamber of Commerce at the Paso Robles Inn Ballroom on Tuesday, Paso Robles City Manager Jim App and water consultant Christine Halley used the presentation to reassure the community that the city has a steady and reliable supply of water. The city presented maps and graphics, some of which are included in this report, that show the city’s water strategy.
The city has a current annual demand for 6,700 acre-feet of water and is projected to supply 13,000 acre-feet of water in the future as the city’s population slowly grows to 44,000.
While some rural residents outside of the city limits who live atop the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin are reporting wells 200-300 ft. deep going dry, the city’s strategy for multiple sources of water, including recycling, recharging and conservation, will allow the city to continue to grow.
The demand will be met by wells in the Salinas River underflow and the Nacimiento Water Project as it comes online. Even at just 23-percent full, Lake Nacimiento holds 86,000 acre-feet of water. The change to Nacimiento water will lead to a dramatic drop in the city’s usage from the groundwater basin.
A chart presented by the city showing its historic groundwater pumping over the last 30 years.
A cross section of the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin shows the complexity and variety of aquifers at different depths.
Cross-section of the groundwater basin with the location and depth of city wells. Rural residential wells are typically in the blue areas.
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