This digital dataset contains the land use data used for the Salinas Valley Hydrologic Models (SVHM): the Salinas Valley Watershed Model (SVWM), the Salinas Valley Integrated Hydrologic Model (SVIHM), and Salinas Valley Operational Model (SVOM). Land use data were compiled from available state, local, and federal datasets. Available multi-year composite land use data were integrated with national scale land use and land cover data and supplemented and refined with information from the California Pesticide Use Reporting (CalPUR) database (California Department of Pesticide Regulation, 2024) to provide a comprehensive edge-to-edge land use map for each year. Native vegetation was defined using the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) (U.S. Geological Survey, 2000; U.S. Geological Survey, 2003; U.S. Geological Survey, 2011; U.S. Geological Survey, 2014; Dewitz, 2021) and intersected in a GIS with other available land use data. If available land use data for an irrigated crop was present where NLCD data showed a native land use cover class, the irrigated land area was preserved. There were 56 land use types developed to represent native vegetation, urban areas, and crops in the Salinas Valley. The land use types can be grouped into the four land use analysis categories based on the frequency with which crops may change (high frequency rotational, annually stable, multi-year) or as native or urban classes (native/urban). There is a climate gradient across the valley that could lead to differences in crop management and demands in the coastal and inland areas, for example, gradients in precipitation and PET. Additionally, coastal areas can have differences in fog occurrence and cloud cover relative to inland areas. Inland and coastal climate zones were used to support the delineation of different growth rates for the land use types. Of the 56 land use types, 40 were defined as irrigated land use with an inland and coastal sub-type. Discriminating crops between these regions and climate zones allows for the simulation of potential differences in climate, water demands, and crop management.