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 California American Water’s (Cal-Am) 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, and legal constraints on the sources and amounts of water to be produced.

2. Quarterly Water Supply Strategy: April - June 2012

On March 8, 2012, staff from the District, Cal-Am, the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), NMFS, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) met and discussed the proposed water supply strategy and related topics for the April - June 2012 period. Currently, flow in the Carmel River is regulated and Los Padres Reservoir (LPR) is not spilling. LPR is currently at ~101% of maximum effective storage capacity, i.e., 1,731 AF that occurs with the Los Padres Dam (LPD) spillway’s notch flashboard removed, or 98% of the 1,775 AF of storage capacity achieved when the notch’s flashboard is back in place. Normally the LPD notch would be open to hypothetically enhance steelhead smolt emigration, but since this is such a dry water year, the flashboard has been replaced into the notch. This was done in order to maximize any potential storage that can be gained this year, so that it can be allocated to sustaining minimum flows in the river over the summer and fall. Flow in the Carmel River is continuous to the lagoon, and the lagoon mouth is predominantly closed, but is breaching periodically at the prior low point that resulted from prior mechanical breaches that were conducted by Monterey County in January to prevent the lagoon from inundating nearby homes. Rainfall during Water Year (WY) 2012 to date at San Clemente Dam in the upper watershed has totaled 7.48 inches or 48% of the long-term average to date at this site, and 35% of the long-term annual average of 21.44 inches. Further, unimpaired runoff at San Clemente Dam for WY 2012 through February has totaled approximately 7,394 AF or about 20% of the long-term average to date for this site, and 11% of the long-term annual average of 69,199 AF, making this a “Dry” Water Year Type, to date.

Carmel River Basin Given these conditions, and runoff to date, it was agreed that “Critically Dry” year inflows would be initially assumed to assess Cal-Am’s operations during the April through June 2012 period. To meet customer demand, Cal-Am 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 Cal-Am would attempt to produce no groundwater from its wells in the Upper Carmel Valley during April through June 2012. If sufficient flow in the Carmel River at the District’s Don Juan Bridge gage in Garland Park, i.e., five consecutive days of 20 or more cubic feet per second (cfs), continues to occur to justify operations allowed under the less restrictive high-flow period, Cal-Am could operate these wells if needed. In addition, it is projected that Cal-Am would produce approximately 694, 799, and 868 AF of groundwater from its wells in the Lower Carmel Valley during April, May and June 2012, respectively, for both customer service and ASR. Table 1 shows actual (bold type) and projected (italics) monthly releases and diversions from Los Padres and San Clemente Reservoirs for the October 2011 through December 2012 period. This table will be revised and updated by May 10 for the May, 21, 2012 Board meeting as a formal part of the Annual Low Flow MOA, so values in italics should be considered preliminary at this time.

Lastly, it was assumed that 100 and 50 AF of water would be diverted from the Carmel River Basin and injected into the Seaside Groundwater Basin during April and May, 2012, respectively. Because of the uncertainty in predicting future rainfall and runoff amounts, this assumption is subject to change.

Seaside Groundwater Basin It was also agreed that, subject to rainfall and runoff conditions in the Carmel River, Cal-Am would reinitiate production at 363, 450, and 450 AF per month from their wells in the Coastal Subareas, for April, May, and June 2012, respectively, in addition to the planned 25 AF per month of production from the Sand City Desalination Plant, so as to achieve maximum utilization of the native water available in the basin under the Seaside Basin Adjudication Decision and in compliance with SWRCB Orders 95-10 and 2002-0060. It was also agreed that only 10, 14, and 16 AF of groundwater would be budgeted from Cal-Am’s wells in the Laguna Seca Subarea of the Seaside Basin for customers in the Ryan Ranch, Bishop, and Hidden Hills systems during April, May and June 2012, respectively. It is recognized that, based on recent historical use, Cal-Am’s actual production from the Laguna Seca Subarea during this period will likely exceed the proposed monthly targets, which are based on Cal-Am’s allocation specified in the Seaside Basin Adjudication Decision. For example, in the April through June 2011 period, Cal-Am produced 29, 38, and 36 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 Cal-Am remains within its adjudicated allocation for the Laguna Seca Subarea. Under the amended Seaside Basin Adjudication Decision, Cal-Am is allowed to use production savings in the Coastal Subareas to offset over-production in the Laguna Seca Subarea.

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