EXHIBIT 27-C
Quarterly Water Supply Strategy and
Budget Report
California American Water
Main Water Distribution System: July
- September 2010
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. Similarly, during the
low-flow season, the District desires to recover some or all of the water that
was previously injected into the Seaside
Groundwater Basin,
as well as a seasonally balanced amount of California American Water’s (CAW)
full allocation of Seaside
native groundwater. By meeting customer
demand with as much as feasible of these two groundwater sources, CAW will be
able to maximally reduce its diversion from its Carmel River
sources during the low-flow season. To
accomplish these goals, a water supply strategy and budget for production
within California American Water’s (CAW) Main
and Laguna Seca Subarea water distribution systems is reviewed quarterly to
determine the optimal strategy for operations, given the current hydrologic and
system conditions.
2. Quarterly
Water Supply Strategy: July - September 2010
On
June 3, 2010, staff from the District, CAW, and National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS) met and discussed the proposed water supply strategy and related
topics for the remainder of June 2010 and the July through September 2010
period. Staff from the California
Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) was not available to attend the meeting, but
were notified and given the opportunity to comment. No comments were received as of June 8,
2010. Currently, flow in the Carmel River
is unregulated, with San Clemente Reservoir and Los Padres Reservoir full and
spilling. Flow in the Carmel River
is continuous from the headwaters to the ocean, with approximately 82 cubic
feet per second (cfs) flowing to the ocean on June 6, 2010. Rainfall during Water Year 2010 to date
through the end of May at San Clemente Dam in the upper watershed has totaled
27.50 inches or 131% of the long-term average at this site. Further, unimpaired runoff at San Clemente
Dam for WY 2010 to date through the end of May has totaled approximately 90,940
AF or about 137% of the long-term average for this site.
Carmel River
Basin Given these conditions,
it was agreed that “above-normal year” inflows would be used to conservatively
assess CAW’s operations during the July through September 2010 period. To meet
customer demand, CAW would operate its wells in the Lower Carmel
Valley in a
downstream-to-upstream sequence, as needed.
For the quarterly budget, it was agreed that CAW would produce
approximately 0 AF of groundwater from its wells in the Upper Carmel
Valley during July,
August, and September 2010, respectively.
These amounts are consistent with the interagency Low Flow Season MOA
and CAW management’s intent to minimize production in the Upper Carmel
Valley at all times.
In addition, it was agreed that CAW would
produce approximately 938, 933, and 798 AF of groundwater from its wells in the
Lower Carmel Valley
during July, August, and September 2010, respectively. Table 1 shows actual and projected
monthly releases and diversions from Los Padres and San Clemente Reservoirs for
the October 2009 through December 2010 period.
Lastly,
it was assumed that no water would be diverted from the Carmel
River Basin and injected into the Seaside Groundwater Basin
during this period, since the diversion season for ASR ended May 31, and does
not resume until December 1, during the following Water Year, 2011.
Seaside Groundwater
Basin It was also agreed that CAW would produce 575
AF of water each month from the Coastal Subareas of the Seaside Basin,
respectively, during this period. Each
month’s production from the Coastal Subareas of the Seaside Groundwater
Basin would be comprised of
472 of native groundwater, combined with 78 AF of storage recovered from ASR,
and 25 AF of treated brackish groundwater production from the Sand City
Desalination Plant, which came on line in April 2010. The Sand City Desalination Plant is in the
earliest phases of full production testing, and its monthly yield may vary for
the near term. If it cannot make its
monthly production targets the needed water will be produced from a combination
of ASR wells in Seaside and CAW wells in the Lower Subunits of the Carmel
Valley Aquifer.
It
was also agreed that CAW should produce only 30, 30, and 28 AF per month of
groundwater from its wells in the Laguna Seca Subarea of the Seaside Basin
for customers in the Ryan Ranch, Bishop, and Hidden Hills systems during July,
August, and September 2010, respectively.
It is recognized that, based on recent historical use, CAW’s actual
production from the Laguna Seca Subarea during this period will likely exceed
the proposed monthly targets, which are based on CAW’s allocation specified in
the Seaside Basin Adjudication Decision. For example, in the July to September
2009 period, CAW produced 62, 61, and 55 AF from the Laguna Seca Subarea to
meet customer demand in the Ryan Ranch, Bishop, and Hidden Hills systems. In this context, the production targets
represent the maximum monthly production that should occur so that CAW remains
within its adjudicated allocation for the Laguna Seca Subarea. Under the amended Seaside Basin Decision, CAW
is allowed to use production savings in the Coastal Subareas to offset
over-production in the Laguna Seca Subarea, if any remains after maximizing
production in order to minimize pumping of the Carmel Valley Aquifer, in
compliance with SWRCB WRO No. 95-10.
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