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ITEM: |
PUBLIC
HEARING |
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16. |
CONSIDER APPEALS OF GENERAL
MANAGER’S MARCH 20, 2009 DECISION REGARDING HIDDEN HILLS UNIT OF CALIFORNIA AMERICAN WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM –
NOTICE OF VIOLATION OF DISTRICT RULE 40-D AND
SUSPENSION OF RECEIPT OF APPLICATIONS FOR NEW OR INTENSIFIED WATER USE 1.
2.
JAMES DOUGLAS MEADOR AND LUANN
MEADOR 3.
GARY E. WIEGAND |
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Meeting
Date: |
July 20, 2009 |
Budgeted: |
N/A |
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From: |
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Program/ |
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General
Manager |
Line Item
No.: |
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Prepared
By: |
Stephanie
Pintar |
Cost
Estimate: |
N/A |
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General Counsel Approval: N/A |
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Committee Recommendation: N/A |
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CEQA
Compliance: N/A |
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SUMMARY: This item is a continued Public Hearing from May 21, 2009, on three appeals of the General Managers March 20, 2009 Notice of Violation of Rule 40-D to California American Water (CAW) for exceeding its Pro Rata Expansion Capacity (PREC) in the Hidden Hills Water Distribution System. The General Manager’s March 20 action implemented an immediate moratorium on Water Permits in the Hidden Hills system. The staff report and attachments from the May hearing are attached as Exhibit 16-A. The public hearing has been closed.
The Board is considering three separate appeals under this item. The appellants are:
In considering an appeal, the Board must consider the provision(s) of the Rules and Regulations that have been misapplied, as identified by the appellant. The Board may deny, approve or continue any appeal. The Board also has the discretion to reduce and rebate in full or in part the fee for appeal otherwise set by Rule 60 if the Board finds that an appeal has provided a significant benefit to the public and/or the environment or in unusual matters. (Rule 70)
DISCUSSION: On
May 21, the Board directed staff
to work with CAW to develop a remedy for the violation, such as increasing the
expansion capacity limit in the Hidden Hills system. Staff developed a “Solutions Matrix” that was
provided to CAW on July 7, 2009 (Exhibit
16-B).
The matrix provides a list of both physical and regulatory actions to
address the PREC overage cited in the March 20, 2009 decision.
CAW Action
Craig Anthony, General Manager for CAW, submitted an action plan to
address the Hidden Hills PREC on July 14, 2009 (Exhibit 16-C). The plan includes a list of actions that CAW
has implemented or will be implementing to bring the PREC back into
compliance. Mr. Anthony stated that CAW
is working on physical solutions to the problem and that any administrative
adjustments to the Water Distribution System Permit would not be
acceptable. Mr. Anthony indicated to staff that he will
speak further to the matter at the Board meeting.
CAW has taken the following actions since the May 21, 2009 Board
meeting:
·
CAW is
in the process of replacing every water meter in the Hidden Hills system.
·
The
Public Utilities Commission approved the General Rate Case (GRC) on July 9,
2009. The decision allows CAW to spend
$546,000 on main replacements in Hidden Hills.
·
CAW
continues to actively search for and repair leaks in the Hidden Hills system
and has installed MLOG acoustic sensors on every tenth meter in Hidden
Hills. Use of the system is being phased
in.
·
CAW has
analyzed customer usage over the past 24 months. CAW staff has personally contacted high water
users to search for leaks on the customer’s side of the meter. Mr. Anthony provided District staff with two
examples of leaks that had been identified and repaired in the past month.
·
The
recently approved rate structure will encourage conservation, particularly
those with large landscaped areas. Water
rates in the Hidden Hills system are scheduled to more than double in the next
three years.
·
CAW audited
the number of connections it reports to the District by reviewing records back
to 2000. Mr. Anthony has concluded that
the accurate number of connections in the Hidden Hills system is 424. Previous reports to the District had wide
fluctuations in the number of connections.
According to Mr. Anthony, these fluctuations occur from billing
reports: When a meter changes hands
(e.g. when a property transfers ownership), a bill is generated for both the
prior and the current owner. This would
result in a report of two “connections” on the monthly consumption report.
MPWMD Action
District staff reviewed the number of pending applications at the
County and the number of uncompleted new homes in the Hidden Hills system. Based on a list of pending County approvals,
there are up to 15 new connections and several remodels/additions/rebuilds
pending at the County. The amount of
demand associated with these pending projects was not available. In addition, MPWMD identified eight new
connections (i.e. properties that have received a Water Permit but that haven’t
been occupied) that are estimated to add approximately 6 acre-feet of annual
demand to the Hidden Hills system when they come on line.
RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends the Board uphold the General Manager’s decision and deny the appeals by California American Water, James Douglas Meador and LuAnn Meador, and Gary E. Wiegand. The PREC in the Hidden Hills Water Distribution System has been exceeded and District Rule 40-D was correctly implemented. Suspension of receipt of Water Permit applications for new connections and projects that increase water use should continue until the system has returned to compliance and until the General Manager has reviewed and concurs with credible expert analysis that the system can and will remain in compliance.
Upon Board direction, staff will
prepare findings for adoption at the next Board meeting.
EXHIBITS
16-A Public Hearing Staff Report from May 21, 2009
16-B July 7, 2009 Letter from
16-C July 14, 2009 Letter from Craig Anthony
to
U:\staff\word\boardpacket\2009\20090720\PubHrgs\16\item16.doc