Quarterly
Water Supply Strategy Report: October-December 2004
September
20, 2004
1. Management Objectives
The
District desires to maximize the long-term production potential, protect the
environmental quality of the Seaside and Carmel Valley basins, and meet the
regulations in the Section 4(d) Rule adopted by the National Marine Fisheries
Service (NOAA Fisheries), which prohibits, “removing water or otherwise
altering streamflow when it significantly impairs spawning, migration, feeding,
or other essential behavioral patterns [of steelhead].” To accomplish these goals, a water supply
strategy and budget for production within the California American Water
(Cal-Am) water distribution system is reviewed quarterly to determine the
optimal strategy for operations, given the current hydrologic and system
conditions.
2. Quarterly
Water Supply Strategy: October - December 2004
On
September 7, 2004, staff from the District, Cal-Am, and NOAA Fisheries met to
discuss the proposed water supply strategy for the October-December 2004
period. As noted previously,
representatives from the District, Cal-Am, CDFG and NOAA Fisheries met on May
3, 2004, to negotiate the 2004 Memorandum of Agreement (2004 MOA) that governs
the releases and diversions from Los Padres and San Clemente Reservoirs during
the May-December 2004 period.
Accordingly, the diversion and release rates specified for the
October-December 2004 Water Supply Strategy and Budget are consistent with the
terms and assumed inflow conditions in the 2004 MOA. Actual inflows may be significantly more or
less than projected. If so, the group will reconvene and adjust the release
rates accordingly.
Based
on the runoff that has occurred since the beginning of WY 2004, the group
agreed to set the projected unimpaired monthly flows at San Clemente Dam for
October, November and December equal to 66% of the median historical
(1958-2002) levels. Subsequently, staff
reviewed the likely inflow to date through September 2004, and decided that
slightly lower inflow levels are justified.
Accordingly, Table 1 shows a
monthly breakdown of the diversion and release schedule based on the assumption
that unimpaired inflows at San Clemente Dam will equal 101 Acre-Feet (AF) in
October, 414 AF in November and 1,325 AF in December. Table 1 shows expected inflows, outflows,
and storage volumes at Los Padres and San Clemente Reservoirs for the
October-December 2004 period. For this
analysis, it was assumed that Cal-Am would not directly divert water from San
Clemente Reservoir to the Carmel Valley Filter Plant, consistent with the 4d
rules adopted by the NOAA Fisheries to protect steelhead, State Water Resources
Control Board Water Order WRO 2002-0002 and the Conservation Agreement between
NOAA Fisheries and Cal-Am, which governs diversions during the low-flow period.[1]
U:\staff\word\boardpacket\2004\2004boardpacket\20040920\PublicHrg\09\item9_exh9b.doc
[1]
The
low-flow period is defined as times when streamflow in the