The Pure Water Soquel project shuttles treated water from Santa Cruz to mid-county and aims to prevent saltwater intrusion. A contractor welds a screen on a seawater intrusion prevention well. (Soquel Creek Water District)
Last updated: February 2025
Project name: Pure Water Soquel
Project description
Eight miles of underground pipes are being fitted from the Santa Cruz Wastewater Treatment Facility at 110 California St. in Santa Cruz to a new water purification center near Chanticleer Avenue and Soquel Avenue in Live Oak.
The project aims to replenish seawater-intruded aquifers by pumping treated water from the Santa Cruz wastewater facility to the new facility in Live Oak for more treatment, then inject the water into two seawater-intrusion prevention wells in Aptos and a separate well in Capitola.
Status
The project was slated to finish in mid-2024, but is now projected to be online by late spring. The Live Oak water purification center at Chanticleer and Soquel avenues started operations in fall 2024 and systems testing is ongoing.
The Soquel Creek Water District board approved the project in March 2021 and work began in May 2021. Visit the Pure Water Soquel website for construction updates including which streets will be affected by work.
An interactive map shows progress of the Pure Water Soquel Conveyance Project. View the map in a new tab. (Soquel Creek Water District)
Background
State authorities declared the Soquel Creek Water District groundwater basin “critically overdrafted.” That means more water is being taken out than replenished by seasonal rain. The Pure Water Soquel Conveyance Project helps prevent saltwater intrusion from moving inland and contaminating water by recharging the groundwater basin, water authorities said. To recharge the basin, water from Santa Cruz will be transported to three “seawater intrusion prevention” wells. The wells have been built near Monterey Avenue in Capitola, Willowbrook Lane in Aptos and Twin Lakes Church in Aptos.
Read more
- Major water project to finish in Soquel, Aptos, Capitola — Feb. 20, 2025
- Pure Water Soquel construction updates, locations and times.
- Does more housing mean more water demand in Santa Cruz County? — Feb. 15, 2021
- Water projects try to capture more rain in Santa Cruz County — Jan. 20, 2023
- Amid drought, Santa Cruz County water managers describe challenges — July 29, 2022
Soquel Creek Water District, in yellow, spans from 41st Avenue in Capitola and Soquel to La Selva Beach. (Soquel Creek Water District)
An aerial geophysical instrument measures seawater contamination in the Pure Water Soquel project. (Soquel Creek Water District)
Workers install a water pipeline on Broadway from Riverside Avenue to Clay Street in Santa Cruz on Feb. 28, 2022. (Brian Phan — Santa Cruz Local file)
Workers install a water pipeline on Kennedy Drive in Capitola as part of the Pure Water Soquel conveyance project on Feb. 28, 2022. (Brian Phan — Santa Cruz Local file)
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