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ITEM: |
PUBLIC HEARINGS |
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15. |
INTEGRATED
REGIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT |
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A. |
RECEIVE REPORT AND TAKE PUBLIC COMMENT ON |
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B. |
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING TO
FORM A WATER MANAGEMENT GROUP TO IMPLEMENT INTEGRATED REGIONAL WATER
MANAGEMENT FOR THE MONTEREY PENINSULA, CARMEL BAY AND SOUTH MONTEREY BAY PLAN |
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Meeting Date: |
July 16, 2007 |
Budgeted: |
N/A |
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From: |
David A. Berger, |
Program/ |
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General Manager |
Line Item No.: |
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Prepared By: |
Larry Hampson |
Cost Estimate: |
N/A |
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General Counsel Review: N/A |
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Committee
Recommendation: N/A |
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CEQA Compliance: Exempt under CEQA Section 15262 |
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SUMMARY: The State is encouraging the development and implementation of Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) Plans and projects through grant programs authorized by Proposition 50 (Prop 50), Proposition 84 (Prop 84), and Proposition 1E (Prop 1E), which are bond acts passed by California voters in 2002 and 2006. Prop 84 and 1E, which were passed in 2006, will provide more than $2 billion Statewide through a performance-based grant program (i.e., applicants qualify for funds by meeting standards set by the State) and through competitive grants (applications for funds are judged against each other and State standards).
Funding regions were established Statewide and, based on
population, a minimum of $52 million is available from Prop 84 to the
A formally adopted IRWM Plan (IRWMP) is required by the State in order to be eligible to apply for funds to implement projects. An IRWMP must address, at a minimum, water supply, groundwater management, ecosystem restoration, and water quality. The State IRWM guidelines require efforts to maximize affected entities participation in drafting the plan and input from the community is also a part of the consideration process.
In 2005, MPWMD defined a geographic planning area, or
Region, and began developing an IRWMP that encompasses the groundwater basins and
watersheds of the
The IRWMP is not a detailed plan for solving water management issues and implementing projects. Rather, the IRWMP provides a framework for agencies, non-profit groups, for-profit corporations and other stakeholders with missions and responsibilities to work together on common water management strategies, objectives, goals and projects. As such, the IRWMP takes into consideration the many plans and policies currently being implemented for water resource management, analyzes how these are interrelated and shows how projects and programs can have multiple benefits when grouped together. However, the IRWMP does not bind any agency or group to carry out particular actions, policies, or projects.
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Stakeholders |
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Audubon Society |
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Barnyard and Crossroads
Business Centers |
Historical Land Conservancy |
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Monterey County Resources
Conservation District |
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California Department of
Fish and Game |
Monterey Peninsula Regional
Park District |
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NOAA Fisheries |
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Pebble Beach Community Service
District |
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Carmel Area Wastewater
District |
Pebble Beach Company |
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Regional Water Quality
Control Board |
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Rising Leaf Watershed Arts |
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Salmonid Restoration
Federation |
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Santa Lucia Conservancy |
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City of |
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City of |
State Department of Parks
& Recreation |
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City of |
The Nature Conservancy |
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City of |
The Watershed Institute at
CSUMB |
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City of |
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During development of the plan, MPWMD staff and others identified a number of stakeholders (see table above that could participate in or be affected by the planning process. Many of these entities were actively involved in preparing the Draft IRWMP.
As required under State IRWM guidelines, a Water Management Group was formed (see table below) to guide the development and implementation of the IRWMP. At least two agencies with statutory authority over water resources are required to be in the Water Management Group. Of the four public agencies in the table below, all have statutory management authority over at least one water resource, e.g., potable water, storm water, or wastewater. Management staff at each agency in the Water Management Group has tentatively agreed to assist with development and implementation of the IRWMP; however, a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) (see attached Exhibit 15-D) must be finalized and executed and the IRWMP must be adopted by each participating agency according to State IRWM guidelines.
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Water
Management Group Participating Agency |
Acronym |
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BSLT |
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City of |
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Monterey County Water Resources Agency[1] |
MCWRA |
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MPWMD |
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MRWPCA |
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In addition to adoption by each participating agency within the Water Management Group, project sponsors will be required to adopt the Final IRWMP in order to apply for and qualify for funds under the IRWM grant program. It should be noted that MPWMD is the lead agency for development of the IRWMP and ensuring its execution. However, the institutional structure of the Water Management Group allows for any agency to be a lead agency for a grant application if a specific funding source is identified and the Water Management Group designates another lead agency.
The focus of the IRWMP is to improve management of local water resources by proposing to implement and monitor a suite of projects that taken as a whole:
· incorporate water management strategies required under State IRWM guidelines;
· meet objectives and goals set by stakeholders;
· accomplish regional priorities;
· are technically and financially feasible; and
· assist in meeting Statewide priorities.
These criteria are described in detail in Chapters 4 through 6 in the IRWMP. While most of these criteria were established by the State to foster IRWM planning statewide, regional priorities are specific to each planning Region and IRWMP (see Chapter 6). For this planning Region, stakeholders determined the following actions were priorities:
· meet current replacement supply and future demand targets for water supply and support the Seaside Groundwater Basin Watermaster to implement the physical solution in the Basin
·
reduce the potential for flooding in
·
address storm water discharges into Areas of Special
Biological Significance
·
promote the steelhead run
·
mitigate storm water runoff throughout the
region
MPWMD facilitated and approved
MPWMD staff requested that stakeholders interested in participating in the IRWM grant program submit project descriptions for consideration and inclusion in the IRWMP. A requirement for an IRWMP is to develop a method for prioritizing such projects and to rank projects. MPWMD staff organized a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) from among IRWM stakeholder participants comprised of representatives from the Water Management Group and technical staff with expertise in water resource management. Over several meetings between December 2006 and July 2007, the TAC refined a system that was initially developed during a series of similar meetings in 2005 to compare and prioritize projects with the resulting projects shown in the table below in order of priority in the Region. It should be noted that this is a preliminary ordering, which will be subject to change as the scope and financial feasibility of each project is further developed.
Projects were evaluated in four separate categories and individually scored. These categories and associated weights were: Strategies (17%), Objectives (25%), Regional Priorities (33%), and Feasibility (25%). It should be noted that regional priorities described above are strongly reflected in the scoring process, with nearly one-third of the score devoted to that category. Projects that employ several State-mandated strategies and meet many objectives score higher than more narrowly focused projects. For example, MPWMD’s Aquifer Storage and Recovery Project in the Seaside Groundwater Basin employs several strategies including ecosystem restoration (for relieving stress on the Carmel River), conjunctive use (using water beneficially more than once), water supply reliability, groundwater management, and water quality protection and improvement. The expansion of MPWMD’s Water Conservation Retrofit program scores lower due to the limited number of strategies involved in such a program.
The suite of projects was scored on a 100-point basis, with 100 being a score associated with a suite of projects that meets all of the goals and objectives in the IRWMP, satisfies all regional priorities and is technically and financially feasible. The current suite of projects was preliminarily scored at 76.2 out of 100 points. However, most projects are still at a preliminary planning stage and a means to determine financial feasibility (10% of the evaluation) has not yet been developed as project costs and potential funding sources have not been determined. Draft project descriptions are contained in Chapter 7 of the IRWMP.
In many cases, projects were evaluated based on their potential for satisfying the requirements of the IRWM Plan rather than on detailed information demonstrating strong fulfillment of Plan strategies, objectives, priorities, and feasibility requirements. To be included in the Final IRWMP and future grant applications, each sponsor of a proposed project will need to provide additional information including a detailed scope of work, schedule, cost estimate, monitoring program, and financial commitment.
MPWMD-sponsored Projects
MPWMD staff is proposing to sponsor or co-sponsor three of the projects contained in the IRWM Plan (see Chapter 7):
·
·
à
a second dual-well site (four ASR wells total);
à
a new 400 horsepower (hp) pump at the existing
CAW Del Rey Oaks regulating station; and
à
a new dedicated transmission pipeline (18- to
24-inch diameter) constructed along
This phase would maximize
utilization of “excess” capacity in existing
The expansion of the ASR Project was ranked in the top one-third of projects. This project focuses on one of the most significant regional priorities – to find a replacement water supply – and it has several benefits to the environment, but its readiness to proceed was ranked low because the project is still in the early planning stage. In addition, a method to evaluate the financial feasibility of proposed projects (i.e., criteria for the local match and commitment of funds) has not yet been developed. When a method is established and agreed upon and the final ranking of projects is completed later this year, there will be more known about the scope, cost, and timing of the ASR Project expansion, which may result in a higher ranking.
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Water
Conservation Retrofit Program – MPWMD staff propose to expand the existing
Water Saving Appliance Rebate Program by implementing a Weather-Based “Smart”
Irrigation Controller Program and a High Efficiency Commercial Clothes Washer
Program. These programs would include a
public awareness and education campaign, site evaluations, inspections and
reporting. There are potential significant net reductions in water use
from implementing these retrofit programs. The approximate cumulative water
savings from installing weather-based irrigation controllers is estimated at
12,975 acre-feet over 20 years. The
approximate cumulative water savings of a High Efficiency Commercial Clothes
Washer Program is estimated at 806 acre-feet over 20 years.
Similar to the ASR Project expansion, this project is at
the preliminary planning stage and will benefit in the ranking system from a
more detailed scope of work, cost estimate, and demonstrated financial
commitment.
During the IRWMP development process, MPWMD provided progress reports to DWR and discussed strategies for outreach to stakeholders within the Region. DWR requested that MPWMD conduct public workshops around the Region to present the Draft IRWMP and seek input from as yet unidentified stakeholders and the community. MPWMD staff believe that most areas and groups with a stake in water resource management are represented in the IRWMP development process except the following: Canyon Del Rey watershed; Cachagua Creek watershed; Tularcitos Creek watershed; Santa Lucia Preserve. Staff believes that an outreach program in these areas would satisfy DWR concerns and provide stakeholders and the community an additional opportunity to participate in the development of the IRWMP.
RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff recommends that the Board:
1. Receive
a presentation and take initial public comment on the
2. Direct the General Manager to: identify areas within the planning Region that may be affected by the Draft IRWMP and that have not been involved in the planning process; and conduct outreach in those areas that would consist of public notices, advertising, meetings, and public workshops.
3. Direct the General
Manager to address and consider in the proposed Final IRWMP the comments of the
MPWMD Board, the public, other adopting agencies, and stakeholder input that
may result from an outreach program
(note: it is intended that the Final IRWMP be submitted to the Board for
adoption at a later date).
4. Direct the General Manager to request that the entities participating
in the Water Management Group consisting of the Big Sur Land Trust, the City of
Monterey, the Monterey County Water Resources Agency, the Monterey Regional
Water Pollution Control Agency, and the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District
consider a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that would formally establish
these entities as the Water Management Group (WMG) for overseeing
implementation of the Integrated Regional Water Management Plan in the Monterey
Peninsula, Carmel Bay, and South Monterey Bay Region.
5. Authorize the
General Manager to make any minor or non-substantive modifications to the MOU
presented to the Board (Exhibit 15-D,
attached), in order to accommodate requests made by the Water Management Group
entities prior to signing the MOU or to delete references to entities that may decline to participate in overseeing
the implementation of the IRWMP.
