--> Monterey Formation as a Groundwater Resource

AAPG Pacific Section Convention 2019

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Monterey Formation as a Groundwater Resource

Abstract

Extensive data, publications, and field examples exist regarding the Monterey Formation and its petroleum capacity, fluid flow, fractured porosity and permeability. Recent demands for drought- and regulatory-compliant water resource development has steered significant investment in groundwater exploration in bedrock formations, specifically the Monterey. Given the history of exploration for petroleum, several new projects have relied on detailed, though often antiquated, notes of oil drilling and development in the Monterey Formation to justify the exploration of the groundwater resource. While results of production rates and groundwater quality can vary, deeper fractured sections of Monterey that have correlative exposures to recharge areas, have a history of "lost circulation" in petroleum exploration, and have geophysical log data that suggest a freshwater-bearing target have been most successful. Methods of feasibility assessment include research for the above, and case studies in the South Mountain (Ventura County) area and Lompoc (Santa Barbara County), among others, offer recent prime examples of melding petroleum geology exploration history and modern groundwater exploration and development.