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 (Cal-Am) full allocation of Seaside native groundwater. By meeting customer demand with as much as feasible of these two groundwater sources, Cal-Am 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 the 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.

2. Quarterly Water Supply Strategy: October - December 2012

On September 11, 2012, staff from the District, Cal-Am, the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) met and discussed the proposed water supply strategy and related topics for the remainder of September 2012, and the October through December 2012 period. Currently, flow in the Carmel River is regulated by releases from storage at Los Padres Reservoir that are supplementing minimal natural base flow. The intent under the original 2012 CDFG/NMFS/Cal-Am/District Low Flow MOA was to attempt to sustain 7.0 or more cubic feet per second (cfs) of flow to the Sleepy Hollow Weir at River Mile (RM) 17.64 through December 2012. However, current Los Padres Reservoir inflow and storage conditions required the District to recommend a decreased target of 6 cfs for September, which will be reviewed at the end of the month for a further possible 0.5 cfs reduction through November. Flow in the Carmel River is continuous from the headwaters to the vicinity of Cal-Am’s Schulte Well (RM 6.5) , with approximately 4.6 cfs measured at the MPWMD Don Juan Gage in Garland Park (RM 10.8). Since Cal-Am’s Canada Well is off-line for repairs, minimal flows are resurfacing near the River Meadows Condominiums off Rio Road, and an estimated 0.06 cfs was measured at the MPWMD Highway 1 Gage (RM 1.00) on September 5, 2012. Rainfall during Water Year (WY) 2012 to date through the end of August at San Clemente Dam in the upper watershed has totaled 13.94 inches or 65% of the long-term average at this site. Further, unimpaired runoff at San Clemente Dam for WY 2012 to date through the end of August has totaled approximately 19,989 acre-feet (AF) or about 29% of the long-term average for this site.

Carmel River Basin: Given these conditions, it was agreed that it would be appropriate to use “dry” inflow conditions to assess Cal-Am’s operations during the October through December 2012 period. Thereafter, the rainfall-to-date through November 2012 will be used to select a Water Year Type for the following quarter, so as to more accurately assess Cal-Am’s operations and set monthly production targets for Cal-Am’s systems from January through September 2013.

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 produce approximately 0 AF of groundwater each month from its wells in the Upper Carmel Valley during October, November, and December 2012. These amounts are consistent with the interagency Low Flow Season MOA and Cal-Am management’s intent to minimize production in the Upper Carmel Valley at all times. However, production could legally be higher under Cal-Am’s existing State water rights, and the interagency Low Flow Season MOA, if the requisite minimum flow triggers are exceeded for five consecutive days.

In addition, it was agreed that Cal-Am would produce approximately 628, 558, and 705 AF of groundwater from its wells in the Lower Carmel Valley during October, November, and December 2012, respectively. Table 1 shows actual and projected monthly releases and diversions from Los Padres and San Clemente Reservoirs for the October 2012 through December 2012 period.

Lastly, it was assumed that 145 AF of the total of 705 AF water planned to be diverted from the Carmel River Basin in December would be injected into the Seaside Groundwater Basin, if flows are sufficient to allow diversions, since the diversion season for the Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) project ended May 31, and resumes on December 1, 2012. The remainder of the long-term average of 920 AFY of ASR Phase 1 (Water Project 1) and 525 AFY of ASR Phase 2 (Water Project 2) diversions to storage are planned for January to May, 2013. If the minimum bypass flows defined in the joint MPWMD/Cal-Am Water Right for ASR Phase 1 are sufficient for any significant length of time after December 1, diversion to storage may begin sometime that month.

Seaside Groundwater Basin: It was also agreed that Cal-Am would produce 369, 350, and 250 AF of Seaside native groundwater in October, November, and December 2012, respectively, in order to better avoid having any unutilized carry-over water at the end of WY 2013, as has occurred in some prior WYs. A concurrent production goal is to complete the recovery of the 131 AF water stored in WY 2012 by ASR, by recovering all of it in the month of October 2012. 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. If the Sand City Desalination Plant cannot make its monthly production targets, the needed water will be produced from a combination of ASR wells in Seaside and Cal-Am wells in the Lower Subunits of the Carmel Valley Aquifer.

It was also agreed that Cal-Am should produce only 14, 10, and 8 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 October, November, and December 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 October, November, and December 2011 period, Cal-Am produced 34, 25, and 27 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 Decision, Cal-Am 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 Order WR 95-10, and 2009-0060.

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