ITEM:		CONSENT CALENDAR
3.	AUTHORIZE EXPENDITURE OF BUDGETED FUNDS FOR WATER YEAR 2005 SEASIDE BASIN AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY TESTING PROGRAM
Meeting Date:			November 15, 2004	Budgeted:	Yes
From:			David A. Berger,	Program/	1.2 Water Supply
			General Manager	Line Item No.: 1-2-1 A. 1.
Prepared By:			Joe Oliver	Cost Estimate:	$74,950
General Counsel Approval: N/A
Committee Recommendation: The Administrative Committee reviewed this item at its November 3, 2004 meeting and recommended approval.
CEQA Compliance: N/A

SUMMARY: The Board will consider whether or not to amend an existing contract with Padre Associates, Inc. to assist staff with implementation of the planned Water Year (WY) 2005 Seaside Basin ground water injection testing program (also know as aquifer storage and recovery, or ASR). Specifically, this authorization will allow for a continuation of the injection testing at the District’s Santa Margarita Test Injection Well (SMTIW), located on former Fort Ord adjacent to General Jim Moore Boulevard. The focus of injection testing during the first two seasons at the SMTIW has been on evaluation of injection well hydraulics and the basin’s response to injection. While these remain important issues, the focus of the WY 2005 testing will be primarily on issues of water quality. A detailed description of the planned WY 2005 testing and monitoring activities is provided in Exhibit 3-A. It should be noted that the total cost estimate for work that could be undertaken during WY 2005 is approximately $137,700, which exceeds the $75,000 budget line item for this work that was approved with the Fiscal Year (FY) 2004-2005 District Budget. To remain within the budgeted amount, several work tasks have been removed and are shown as Optional Tasks 6 through 8. These tasks would only be undertaken if alternate funding sources are identified and become available, subject to separate future authorization from the Board. Accordingly, Tasks 1 through 5 are the recommended minimum work tasks for WY 2005, and total $74,952 (including a 10% budget contingency), which is within the budgeted amount.

RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the Board authorize the General Manager to amend the Padre contract for assistance in conducting WY 2005 ASR testing in an amount not-to-exceed $74,952. This includes a “baseline” amount of $68,138 as described in Exhibit 3-A and a $6,814 (10%) contingency that would only be used if authorized in writing by the MPWMD General Manager, based on written justification. In addition, it is recommended that the Board direct staff to solicit participation from Cal-Am to participate in completion of some or all of the optional tasks described in Exhibit 3-A. At its November 3, 2004 meeting, the Administrative Committee voted 2 to 0 recommend approval.

BACKGROUND: The SMTIW was installed in 2001 and improvements to the Cal-Am system to deliver injection water to the well were completed in 2002. The amount of water injected during testing through WY 2004 totaled 505 acre-feet (AF) at this facility. In August 2003, the California Department of Health Services (CDHS) first issued approval to recover the injected water back into the Cal-Am distribution system for delivery to users on the Monterey Peninsula. Recovery testing in WY 2003 was conducted between September 3, 2003 and November 4, 2003, and totaled 440 AF. In WY 2004, the SMTIW was utilized by Cal-Am request as a back-up emergency supply for Cal-Am’s Paralta well from July 13 to October 26, 2004, during which approximately 700 AF was recovered and delivered to Cal-Am customers. Extensive water quality sampling was conducted during both injection and recovery phases during WY 2004, as a means to better evaluate chemical and biological interactions with the native ground water and aquifer materials, and to respond to concerns regarding the stability and fate of disinfection by-products (DBPs) in the injected and recovered waters. Preliminary results indicate that DBPs are present in the Carmel River system “injectate” water and DBP levels can change during aquifer storage due to the availability of DBP “precursors”, aquifer mixing/dilution and/or biodegradation. DBP levels exhibited a general decline during recovery operations and were well below established limits. However, as described in Exhibit 3-A, a major focus of the planned WY 2005 work will entail the conduct of pilot-scale dechlorination testing to further evaluate reactions between the chlorine residual in the injection source water (i.e., “injectate) and organic materials in the injectate and/or the aquifer.

In addition, previous testing has found that the recovered water has been a blend of the Carmel River system injectate and native ground water, and that the recovered water retained some chemical imprints of the Carmel River system water even after 100% of each seasons’s injected volume was removed. This suggests that injection in the Seaside Basin is capable of “conditioning” the aquifer even after a greater volume is removed than was injected, and that injection reduces the occurrence of hydrogen sulfide present in the native ground water, which is an ancillary benefit of the ASR program. All water quality results from the WY 2004 recovery testing have not yet been received and reviewed. Once received, they will be included in the summary report of the WY 2004 ASR testing results, which should be available for Board review in January 2005.

IMPACT ON STAFF/RESOURCES: A significant staff effort has been expended planning, coordinating, and overseeing work on the District’s ASR project in the Seaside Basin. It is planned to continue this level of effort during the WY 2005 season. The Fiscal Year 2004-2005 Budget includes a total of $75,000 to conduct injection testing (Summary of Project Expenditures, 2004-2005 Budget, Goal No. 1, Objective 1-2-1 A. 1, Page 43). The requested project cost for assistance from Padre for WY 2005 injection testing (with 10% contingency) is $74,952. This cost is within the budgeted amount. Note that during FY 2004-2005 budget development, additional funds for Tracer Testing ($35,000), Flow Valve ($7,000), and Pilot Dechorination Test ($25,000) were incorporated into the budget and marked as expenses that would be reimbursable from Cal-Am, as part of Cal-Am’s participation in the ASR project. With Board direction, staff will continue to pursue possible Cal-Am financial participation on optional tasks such as described in Exhibit 3-A.

EXHIBITS

3-A October 26, 2004 Proposal for Hydrogeologic and Engineering Services, Santa Margarita Test Injection Well, Water Year 2005 Program

U:\staff\word\boardpacket\2004\2004boardpacket20041115\ConsentClndr\03\item3.doc

J. Oliver, 10/26/04, 3 pages