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Issues and Actions
December 2020 

Protection of Santa Maria Valley Groundwater Basin: Over the last five years, SBCAN has been the lead organizer raising concerns about the potential for petroleum products to contaminate this basin, which is the primary water source for 200,000 people and more than 50,000 acres of agricultural lands. In 2017, we finally gained official acknowledgment of contamination emanating from some 60 current and abandoned oil wells or other facilities. SBCAN worked with a broad-based coalition in opposing the three major oil development proposals in Cat Canyon, and in 2020 applicants withdrew their proposals for more than 750 new oil wells from consideration by the County.

Issues and Actions
December 2019 

Protection of Santa Maria Valley Groundwater Basin: Over the last five years, SBCAN has been the lead organizer raising concerns about the potential for petroleum products to contaminate this basin, which is the primary water source for 200,000 people and more than 50,000 acres of agricultural lands. In 2017, we finally gained official acknowledgment of contamination emanating from some 60 current and abandoned oil wells or other facilities. As SBCAN works with a broad-based coalition in opposing the three major oil development proposals in Cat Canyon, we are especially focused on the impacts to this groundwater basin. Food & Water Watch, Los Padres Chapter of the Sierra Club, and Environmental Defense Center have become major allies on this.

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The production of this series of six maps was prompted by proposals by three oil companies to drill 760+ new oil wells that will all penetrate the Santa Maria Valley Groundwater Basin, which provides drinking water for 200,000 people and irrigation water for the highly productive agricultural industry in the Santa Maria Valley. The wells are all proposed to use enhanced extraction techniques, which involve boiling water in steam generators and pumping the steam under high pressure in pipes through the groundwater and into the oil reservoir below. They are located in Cat Canyon near Garey and Sisquoc at the eastern end of the groundwater basin.

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