SQUIDFRY 06.04.20: Drill, Baby, Drill

DRILL, BABY, DRILL… Along with jet propulsion and curiosity about the deep ocean, God gave Squid eyes that can see in the darkness hundreds of feet below the surface. So when Squid was little, momma always said to watch out for perils in the deep and go no further than Squid’s sight allows. If only humans had a momma like Squid’s.

Failing to heed the warning of their own experts, the Monterey County Board of Supervisorsallowed a moratorium on new wells to expire on May 21. The moratorium had been put in place in 2018 to protect the groundwater supply that sustains farming in the lower Salinas Valley from turning brackish – pumping invites seawater in. The moratorium was also designed to slow the pumping from what’s known as the deep aquifer. At a depth of more than 400-feet deep, this aquifer has never been fully studied. As far as we know, it doesn’t get replenished, so dipping a bunch of straws into it might be a very bad idea.

That 2018 moratorium allowed for replacement wells, but blocked new wells for two years. As its expiration date of May 21, 2020, drew near, the Monterey County Water Resources Agencytook a look at it to see if it still made sense. Their take: It does. MCWRA not only recommended an extension but adding a moratorium on replacement wells. On May 19, the county supes took up the issue. They were presented with two options: extend the moratorium plus the ban on replacement wells, as recommended, or extend the existing ban. Both options were intended to protect precious water resources.

Backed by Salinas Valley growers, three supervisors – Chris Lopez, John Phillips and Luis Alejo– formed a bloc in support of the second option. Mary Adams and Jane Parker advocated for the first option, the moratorium-plus. But this was no ordinary majority vote, and either option required four-fifths. With the board split 3-2, no action was taken – that means even though all five supervisors wanted something, they ended up with nothing. The moratorium expired, and now anyone can apply for a permit to drill.

The result seemed to surprise everyone: the county supervisors, county staff, and Norm Groot, the Executive Director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau.

Groot acknowledges the potential damage to the deep aquifer by overpumping. But he says the risk is low because drilling that deep would cost more than $1 million – “and most people won’t do it, especially now, facing Covid-19 losses.” To him, allowing replacement wells is a worthwhile risk to protect the ag industry: “There is no water source that is available to growers aside from groundwater,” Groot says. “If a well fails and they can’t deepen it or put a new one in, they can’t produce crops.”

True. But if the groundwater is contaminated with seawater, then no one can drill. And Squid’s lair becomes a weird brackish mess.