By Rachél Lather, President, Soquel Creek Water District Board of Directors
It’s my honor and privilege to once again serve the community as President of the Soquel Creek Board of Directors. I’m happy to share with you my perspective on the upcoming year – and indeed, 2025 will be a pivotal time for the District, for our customers, and for our water partners throughout the region.
This year, we’re on the cusp of starting operation of the Pure Water Soquel Groundwater Replenishment and Seawater Intrusion Prevention Project, fulfilling our promise of a new, safe, reliable water source. This truly marks the start of a bright, new era for our water supply.
Readers of this column know that the District has been working toward this goal for about 10 years, since 2014 when the Board selected advanced purified water for groundwater replenishment as the preferred water supply option to pursue. Fast-forward to 2024 when we’ve been going full steam with construction of the Pure Water Soquel Water Purification Center, which was ceremonially celebrated last summer with start-up and commissioning fully underway.
Now, as we near full-operations of the project, our customers will be able to count on Pure Water Soquel to greatly reduce our local “water anxiety.” Everyone in the community should be proud of this accomplishment! On behalf of the District’s Board of Directors, I thank you for your patience as we have worked to arrive at this historic point.
We have learned a great deal during the process of analyzing, planning, financing, and building Pure Water Soquel, not the least of which is the value of local and regional partnerships. To accomplish this project, a high level of inter-agency cooperation and coordination was required – more so than the District had experienced in its history. We had the opportunity to build strong partnerships with federal and state entities, and local water agencies (and even the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission for the pedestrian overcrossing at Chanticleer!). Creating these partnerships came about through identifying mutual priorities toward the common vision of a reliable local water supply.
Our relationships with other local water agencies offer potential future benefits: the Pure Water Soquel facility is designed for a future expansion which would enable us to supply pure water to other agencies which may need it. And, they have the benefit of seeing how the project operates in advance of participating in use of the water.
With many lessons learned last year, and in the years prior, we are moving into 2025 with a great deal of confidence. Today, Soquel Creek Water District is no longer only a water purveyor – we are a water purification/groundwater replenishment, and water supply agency. So, in 2025 and beyond we will ensure our collaborations and partnerships are maintained and enhanced, as we continue planning and building for the future. We will remain nimble and able to quickly analyze, understand, and respond to changing circumstances and unexpected conditions or incidents.
As always, we will sustain a key focus on our core services of efficiently delivering clean water to the community, effectively managing our groundwater, and enhancing water supply reliability through proactive maintenance of our infrastructure. It is also a goal to continue providing the people who live and work within the District with the tools they need to maintain their ongoing, truly remarkable job of conserving water. Whether it’s a time of drought or a time of water abundance, it is so critical to use water wisely, to maintain best practices of water conservation, and to remember that when it comes to our water use, we must think about the generations to come.
In that light, I firmly support the District’s public outreach efforts toward ensuring the community is fully and transparently informed, and engaged in our programs, projects, and activities. In the coming year, you’ll be hearing from us frequently. In the meantime, if you haven’t already done so please visit soquelcreekwater.org and sign up for our WaterSmart Customer Portal for easy access to water bills, leak alerts, water-saving tips, and more. You can also subscribe to receive periodic emails with a variety of information – from Board agendas and minutes, news items, and emergency alerts, to meeting and event notices, QuickSips monthly newsletters, and more.
The Soquel Creek Water District is your community partner for a reliable water supply. We’ve come so far together, through major water shortages all the way to completion of Pure Water Soquel. Through it all, this community collaboration continues to be vitally important. Finding solutions, seeking opportunities, and facing challenges together makes this a strong community, and is key to the District’s success. It’s also what makes me so proud to be part of this community, and part of our ongoing mutual efforts toward a sustainable water supply.
Happy New Year! I thank you for continuing to do your part, and for your support of the District as we do ours.
Ms. Lather has been on the Board of Directors since 2016, became President of the Board in 2020, and is serving again as President through 2025. She is a resident of Aptos and a retired civil engineer with more than 40 years of experience. Ms. Lather also serves on the Santa Cruz County Local Agency Formation Commission.