Southern California Water Company Crop Water Use

NewFields staff prepared testimony for Santa Clara County Superior Court on behalf of Southern California Water Company for a groundwater adjudication case in the Santa Maria Valley. This work was conducted with attorneys from Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber, Schreck (Formerly Hatch & Parent) and involved expert witness testimony, both in deposition and in trial settings. NewFields undertook a year-long effort to assess crop water use for an historical 58-year period over a 164,000-acre basin. The work focused on pumped water and return flows to groundwater under irrigated and non-irrigated areas. Crop and native vegetation evapotranspiration and soil storage were modeled. Water was assessed to ensure adequate quality for sensitive crops.