The goal of the District is to provide customers with adequate supplies of safe, high-quality drinking water as economically as possible.
The District
Scotts Valley Water District (SVWD) was originally formed in 1961 under the County Water District Act. Beginning in 1962, SVWD acquired and consolidated several small mutual water supply systems. The District is located six miles north of the City of Santa Cruz, along State Highway 17 and covers approximately six square miles, including most of the incorporated area of the City of Scotts Valley, California (population 11,600) and a portion of the unincorporated area north of the City of Scotts Valley.
The Water System
The District has 55 miles of drinking water (potable) mains, seven (7) drinking water (potable) storage tanks, nine (9) drinking water (potable) booster pump stations, six (6) active production wells and four (4) drinking water treatment plants/facilities. In addition, the District operates a 625,000-gallon recycled water storage tank, a recycled water booster pump station and six (6) miles of recycled water distribution mains to supply irrigation water to its landscaping customers.
The drinking water provided by Scotts Valley Water District is continuously monitored by trained experts. The District has an in-house laboratory and each day water samples from various locations around the District are collected and analyzed either by District staff or by independent State-certified laboratories. Daily testing is conducted for chlorine residual, turbidity (suspended particles), color, odor and acidity. Extensive monthly, quarterly and annual tests are performed for the many remaining substances regulated by state and federal agencies. Water provided by the District meets or exceeds the strict requirements of both the State of California Department of Public Health and the Federal Safe Water Drinking Standards.
The District utilizes groundwater to serve its customers. The groundwater is stored in the Santa Margarita Groundwater Basin which is made up of the Santa Margarita Sandstone, Monterey Shale, Lompico and Butano formations. Rainfall is the source of recharge to the basin.
The District shares the groundwater basin with other users including the neighboring San Lorenzo Valley Water District, Lompico Water District and Mañana Woods Mutual Water Company, as well as local businesses and residents using private wells. While total pumping from the basin has historically been below the reported perennial safe yield each year (e.g., estimated safe yield has been reported as 4200 AFY), the groundwater basin has reportedly lost an average of 125 AFY each year for the past ten years. Total basin demand was estimated at only 2600 AFY in 2002-03, of which the District’s portion was 1400 AFY).
As of December 31, 2004, the District had the following potable water services in place:
• 3,700 active water meter connections consisting of:
• 3,027 single family residential
• 274 multi-family residential
• 267 commercial/industrial
• 281 other services including institutional, fire service and potable landscape.
The District currently has a total of six (6) wells with a combined capacity of 1,664 gallons per minute or 2.4 million gallons per day. The average daily demand for 2003 was 1,259 gallons per minute or 1.8 million gallons per day and the peak demand was 2.9 million gallons per day or 2,014 gallons per minute.
There are four (4) water treatment plants in the District. The largest is the El Pueblo Water Treatment Plant. This plant treats water from two of the District’s six wells (11A and 11B) and has a capacity of 1.44 million gallons per day. The Orchard Run Water Treatment Plant treats water from wells 7A and 3B and has a capacity of 1.37 million gallons per day. The other two wells, 9 and 10, are served by on-site water treatment plants.
The groundwater is pumped from wells that vary from 350 feet to 1,750 feet deep. Water is treated in pressure filters that remove the iron, manganese and hydrogen sulfide. The filters contain sand, gravel and anthracite. Chemicals are introduced before and after filtration to oxidize the iron and disinfect the water. This treatment enables the District water to meet all the drinking water standards set under federal and state laws and regulations.
Organization of the District: A five-member elected Board of Directors governs the District. Current Directors are as follows:
• Chris Perri – President
• Ken Kannegaard - Vice President
• William Kassis – Director
• David Hodgin – Director
• Joe Miller– Director
The District is managed and operated by a total of sixteen (16) highly qualified technical and administrative staff. | 
