ITEM:

PUBLIC HEARING

 

19.

CONSIDER ADOPTION OF OCTOBER THROUGH DECEMBER 2011 QUARTERLY WATER SUPPLY STRATEGY AND BUDGET

 

Meeting Date:

September 19, 2011

Budgeted: 

N/A

 

From:

Dave J. Stoldt,

Program/

N/A

 

General Manager

Line Item No.:

 

Prepared By:

Kevan Urquhart

Cost Estimate:

N/A

 

General Counsel Review:  N/A

Committee Recommendation:  N/A

CEQA Compliance:  Notice of Exemption, CEQA, Article 19, Section 15301 (Class 1)

ESA Compliance:  Consistent with the September 2001 and February 2009 Conservation Agreements between the National Marine Fisheries Service and California American Water to minimize take of listed steelhead in the Carmel River and Consistent with SWRCB WR Order Nos. 95-10, 98-04, 2002-0002, and 2009-0060.

 

SUMMARY:  The Board will accept public comment and take action on the October through December 2011 Quarterly Water Supply Strategy and Budget for California American Water’s (Cal-Am’s) Main and Laguna Seca Subarea Water Distribution Systems (WDS).  The proposed budget, which is included as Exhibits 19-A and 19-B, shows monthly production by source of supply that is required to meet projected customer demand in Cal-Am’s Main and Laguna Seca Subarea systems, i.e.,  Ryan Ranch, Bishop, and Hidden Hills, during the October through December 2011 period.   The proposed strategy and budget is designed to maximize the long-term production potential and protect the environmental quality of the Seaside Groundwater and Carmel River Basins.

 

Exhibit 19-A shows the anticipated production by Cal-Am’s Main system for each production source and the actual production values for the water year to date through the end of August 2011.  Please note that the anticipated production values assume that Cal-Am’s annual Main system production for Water Year (WY) 2012 will not exceed 12,977 acre-feet (AF), including 2,669 AF from the Coastal Subareas of the Seaside Groundwater Basin, 1,117 AF from ASR Phase 1 recovery, 300 AF from the Sand City Desalination Plant, and 8,891 AF from the Carmel River Basin.  The total from the Carmel River Basin is consistent with State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Order Nos. 95-10, 98-04, 2002-0002, and 2009-0060, and the total from the Seaside Groundwater Basin is consistent with the Seaside Basin adjudication decision. Both of these limits are subject to change, pending future regulatory actions.  For the purpose of this budget, it is assumed that a range of above normal to normal inflow conditions will occur, with above normal conditions through November and normal in December 2011.  This approach was taken to best match the current pattern of the river’s flow recession, which is very similar to WY 2010, so staff could select the recession pattern from a single year to represent the likely future recession in river flows.

 

 

Exhibit 19-B shows the anticipated production by Cal-Am’s Laguna Seca Subarea systems for each production source and the actual production values for WY 2011 to date through the end of August 2011.  Please note that the anticipated production values assume that Cal-Am’s annual Laguna Seca Subarea systems’ production will not exceed 147 AF from the Laguna Seca Subarea of the Seaside Groundwater Basin.  This total is consistent with the Seaside Basin adjudication decision.

 

RECOMMENDATION:  The Board should receive public input, close the Public Hearing, and discuss the proposed quarterly water supply budget.  District staff recommends adoption of the proposed budget.  The budget is described in greater detail in Exhibit 19-C, Quarterly Water Supply Strategy Report: October –December 2011.

 

BACKGROUND:  The Quarterly Water Supply Strategy and Budget pertains to production within Cal-Am’s Main and Laguna Seca Subarea systems for the three-month period of October, November, and December 2011.  Staff from the District and Cal-Am cooperatively developed this strategy on September 8, 2011.  Staff from the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) and the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) were unable to attend, but were consulted by phone for their approval.  Based on current reservoir and Carmel Valley Alluvial Aquifer storage conditions, and the significant rainfall that has occurred to date, it was agreed that a range of “above normal" to “normal” inflow conditions will occur, with above normal conditions through November and normal in December 2011. Thereafter, “normal” year inflows would be used to assess Cal-Am’s operations and set monthly production targets for Cal-Am’s systems from January through September 2012. 

 

To meet customer demand in its main system, Cal-Am will produce approximately 0 AF of groundwater from its wells in the Upper Carmel Valley during October, November, and December 2011.  Similarly, Cal-Am will produce approximately 588, 367, and 408 AF of groundwater from its wells in the Lower Carmel Valley during October, November, and December 2011, respectively.  The permitted diversion season for ASR does not begin again until December 1, which is during WY 2012.  Diversions to storage for ASR Phase 1 will begin after December 1st, whenever flows in the river are legally adequate to do so.  For planning purposes staff scheduled 140 AF of diversions to ASR storage, based on the long-term average diversion rate predicted by the Carmel Valley Simulation Model (CVSIM) for that month.   

 

It was also agreed that, subject to rainfall and runoff conditions in the Carmel River Basin, Cal-Am would continue to produce water from the Coastal Subareas of the Seaside Basin during this period.  Cal-Am is projected to produce 177, 178, and 178 AF of native groundwater from the Seaside Basin in the months of October, November, and December 2011, respectively.  A concurrent production goal is to complete the recovery of the 1,117 AF of water stored by Water Project 1 (ASR Phase 1) in WY 2011, with 373, 372, and 372 AF to be recovered in the months of October, November, and December 2011, respectively.  There is also a goal of producing an additional 25 AF of treated brackish groundwater from the Sand City Desalination Plant in each of these three months.  In addition, it was also agreed that Cal-Am should produce only 14, 10, and 8 AF of groundwater from its wells in the Laguna Seca Subarea for its customers in the Ryan Ranch, Bishop, and Hidden Hills systems during October, November, and December 2011, respectively.  Lastly, it was agreed that Cal-Am would not divert any water from San Clemente Reservoir through the Carmel Valley Filter Plant during this quarter.  Cal-Am will operate its wells in the Lower Carmel Valley in a downstream-to-upstream order.  If actual natural river inflows are less than projected for the budget period, the group will reconvene and adjust the LPD release rates accordingly.

 

Rule 101, Section B of the District Rules and Regulations requires that a Public Hearing be held at the time of determination of the District water supply management strategy.  Notice of this Public Hearing has been published in The Herald.  Adoption of the quarterly water supply strategy and budget is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements as per Article 19, Section 15301 (Class 1).  A Notice of Exemption will be filed with the Monterey County Clerk's office, pending Board action on this item.

 

EXHIBITS

19-A    Quarterly Water Supply Strategy and Budget for Cal-Am Main System: October –December 2011

19-B    Quarterly Water Supply Strategy and Budget for Cal-Am Subsystems: October –December 2011

19-C    Quarterly Water Supply Strategy and Budget Report: October –December 2011

 

 

 

U:\staff\word\boardpacket\2011\20110919\PubHrng\19\item19.doc                                                                      September 13, 2011