From the State Water Resources Control Board:
A new report is now available from the Oil and Gas Regional Groundwater Monitoring Program https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/groundwater/sb4/regional_monitoring/:
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Regional Monitoring Program study results “Occurrence of water and thermogenic gas from oil-bearing formations in groundwater near the Orcutt Oil Field, California, USA” are now available. Please see the article summary for key findings from the study.
The data associated with this report are also now available:
- Water chemistry data for samples collected at groundwater sites near the Orcutt Oil Field, September 2017–March 2018, Santa Barbara County, California
- Historical produced water chemistry data compiled for the Orcutt and Oxnard oil fields, Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, southern California
- Produced water chemistry data collected from the Orcutt oil field, 2018, Santa Barbara County, California
Background
California Water Code section 10783 (Senate Bill 4, Pavley, statutes of 2013) requires the State Water Board to implement a regional groundwater monitoring program. The program goal is to evaluate potential impacts from oilfield operations and characterize the risk to groundwater resources, while prioritizing areas to be monitored. The U.S. Geological Survey is technical lead.
