4. RECEIVE 2001-2002 ANNUAL MITIGATION
PROGRAM REPORT
Meeting
Date: January 30, 2003 Budgeted: N/A
Program/Line Item No.:
N/A
Staff
Contact: Henrietta
Stern Cost Estimate:
N/A
General
Counsel Approval: N/A
Committee
Recommendation: N/A
CEQA
Compliance: N/A for report
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION:
The Board should receive the 2001-2002 Mitigation Program Annual Report,
and direct staff to distribute copies to resource agencies, local libraries,
and advise the public of its availability.
Copies may be purchased for the cost of reproduction. Staff recommends that the Executive Summary,
shown as Exhibit 4-A, be placed on
the District website. The Executive
Summary provides an overview of the major accomplishments, observed trends, conclusions and/or recommendations.
The annual report reviews District
activities that address the effects of community water use on the Carmel River
environment in Fiscal Year 2001-2002 (FY 2002), defined as the 12-month period
from July 1, 2001 through June 30, 2002.
Please note that hydrologic data, and for the first time, all well
reporting data are portrayed using a Water Year (October 1 through September
30) in order to be consistent with reporting required by the State Water
Resources Control Board (SWRCB).
This report is the eleventh annual report
since the Mitigation Program Plan was adopted by the District Board when it
certified the MPWMD Water Allocation EIR in November 1990. The report has been provided to the Board
under separate cover, and is also available for inspection at the District
office.
BACKGROUND:
On November 5, 1990, the MPWMD Water Allocation Program Final EIR was
certified by the MPWMD Board. The Board
also adopted findings, and passed a resolution that set Option V as the new
water allocation limit. Option V
resulted in an annual production limit of 16,744 acre-feet (AF) for the
California-American Water Company (Cal-Am) system. Presently, the Allocation Program sets a
Cal-Am production limit of 17,641 AF/year based on new supply provided by the
Paralta Well in Seaside and other changes since 1993. It is notable that restrictions on Carmel
River diversions imposed by SWRCB Order WR 95-10 and by the District in
relation to pumping from the Seaside Basin have limited actual Cal-Am
production to 15,285 AF/year.
The Water Allocation EIR determined that
even though Option V is the least damaging alternative of the five options
analyzed, production at this level still may result in significant, adverse,
environmental impacts that must be mitigated.
Thus, the CEQA Findings adopted by the Board in 1990 included a
"Five-Year Mitigation Program for Option V" and several general
mitigation measures. The Five-Year
Mitigation Program formally began in July 1991 with the new fiscal year and was
slated to run until June 30, 1996.
Following public hearings in May 1996 and District Board review of draft
reports through September 1996, the Five-Year Evaluation Report for the
1991-1996 comprehensive program as well as an Implementation Plan for FY 1997
through FY 2001 were finalized in October 1996.
In its July 1995 Order WR 95-10, the SWRCB ordered Cal-Am to carry out
any aspect of the Five-Year Mitigation Program that the District does not continue
after June 1996. To date, as part of the
annual budget approval process, the District Board has voted to continue the
program. The mitigation program
presently accounts for a significant portion of the District budget in terms of
revenue (derived primarily from the MPWMD fee on the Cal-Am bill) and
expenditures.
For projects or programs that entail
significant adverse impacts, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
requires that an annual report be prepared documenting (1) the actual
mitigation activities that were carried out by the lead agency, and (2) the
effectiveness of the mitigation activities as measured via a monitoring
program. The 2001-2002 Water Allocation
Mitigation Report responds to these requirements.
The first three annual reports (1991,
1992, and 1993) covered the calendar year January 1 through December 31. Because this time period conflicted with the
District’s budget cycle (July 1-June 30), the fourth annual report covered the
18-month period from January 1994 through June 1995 to bridge the transition
from a calendar year to a fiscal year.
The fifth (and subsequent) annual reports cover the fiscal year, defined
as July 1 through June 30 of the following year. A notable exception is that hydrologic data
are always reported in a water year (October 1-September 30) in order to be
consistent with the accounting period used by the SWRCB.
The 2001-2002 report reviews District
activities relating to water supply and demand, followed by mitigation measures
for specific environmental impacts. It
also provides a summary of costs for the Mitigation Program as well as
references. For each topic, the
mitigation measure adopted as part of the certified Allocation EIR is briefly
described, followed by a summary of activities carried out in FY 2002 that
relate to the topic. Monitoring results,
where applicable, are then presented.
Finally, a summary of observed trends, conclusions, and/or
recommendations are provided, where pertinent.
IMPACT ON STAFF/RESOURCES: Distribution of the Mitigation Program
Annual Report involves the District staff time and cost for copying and mailing
of about 40 reports to agency staff, members of the Carmel River Advisory
Committee, and local libraries. It is
notable that program implementation entails a significant portion of the
District budget. In FY 2002, total
expenses for the July 2001-June 2002 period were about $1.3 million, including
direct personnel expenses of $849,747,
operating costs totaling $201,721, project expenses in the amount of $148,131,
and $63,374 in capital equipment and fixed asset purchases. Eight full-time positions (plus seasonal
aides) are devoted primarily to implementation of the Mitigation Program.
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DRAFT 01/13/03 2 pp