1. Management Objectives

The Monterey Peninsula Water Management District (District) desires to maximize the long-term production potential and protect the environmental quality of the Carmel River and Seaside Groundwater Basins. In addition, the District desires to maximize the amount of water that can be diverted from the Carmel River Basin and injected into the Seaside Groundwater Basin while complying with the instream flow requirements recommended by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to protect the Carmel River steelhead population. To accomplish these goals, a water supply strategy and budget for production within the California American Water (CAW) main 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: July - September 2008

On June 2, 2008, staff from the District, CAW, the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), and NMFS met and discussed the proposed water supply strategy and related topics for the remainder of June 2008 and the July-September 2008 period. Currently, flow in the Carmel River is regulated, with CAW’s San Clemente Reservoir being drawn down to comply with the Division of Safety of Dams’ requirements and Los Padres Reservoir is below its spillway elevation. Rainfall during Water Year 2008 to date at San Clemente Dam in the upper watershed has totaled 19.6 inches or 93% of the long-term average at this site. At this time, inflow conditions in the Carmel River Basin are projected to be “dry” for the remainder of the water year.

Carmel River Basin Given these conditions, it was agreed that CAW would:

1. divert no surface water from its San Clemente Reservoir during the July through September period,

2. divert approximately 30 AF of groundwater from its wells in the Upper Carmel Valley per month during the July through September period, when low-flow conditions are in effect, and

3. divert in a downstream-to-upstream sequence, as needed, approximately 1,069, 1,069, and 932 AF of groundwater from its wells in the Lower Carmel Valley during July, August, and September 2008, respectively.

Seaside Groundwater Basin It was also agreed that CAW would:

1. pump 466, 466, and 450 AF of naturally-occurring water from the Coastal Subareas of the Seaside Basin in July, August, and September, respectively.

Phase 1 Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) Project Lastly, it was agreed that:

1. CAW would divert no water from the Carmel River Basin during the July through September period for injection and storage in the Seaside Groundwater Basin, and

2. CAW would recover 20 AF per month of artificially-recharged water from the Seaside Basin for CAW customer use during the July through September period.

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