ITEM:

PUBLIC HEARING

 

24.

CONSIDER ADOPTION OF OCTOBER THROUGH DECEMBER 2013 QUARTERLY WATER SUPPLY STRATEGY AND BUDGET

 

Meeting Date:

September 16, 2013

Budgeted: 

N/A

 

From:

David J. Stoldt,

Program/

N/A

 

General Manager

Line Item No.:

 

Prepared By:

Kevan Urquhart &

Cost Estimate:

N/A

 

Jonathan Lear

 

 

 

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 2013 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 24-A and 24-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 2013 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 24-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 2013.  Please note that the anticipated production values assume that Cal-Am’s annual Main system production for Water Year (WY) 2014 will not exceed 12,735 acre-feet (AF), including 2,669 AF from the Coastal Subareas of the Seaside Groundwater Basin, 0 AF from ASR Phase 1 and 2 recovery, 300 AF from the Sand City Desalination Plant, and 9,766 AF from the Carmel River Basin. ASR recovery numbers will be updated in the second and third Quarterly Water Budgets, once any water has actually been diverted to storage in Water Year 2014.  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 “Critically Dry” inflow conditions will occur through December 2013.  This approach was taken to best match the current pattern of the river’s flow recession, which is very similar to WY 1994 and 2007, so staff could select the recession pattern from a single year to represent the likely future recession in river flows.

Exhibit 24-B shows the anticipated production by Cal-Am’s Laguna Seca Subarea systems for each production source and the actual production values for WY 2013 to date through the end of August 2013.  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 24-C, Quarterly Water Supply Strategy Report: October –December 2013.

 

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 2013.  Staff from the District, Cal-Am, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) cooperatively developed this strategy on September 10, 2013.  Based on current reservoir and Carmel Valley Alluvial Aquifer storage conditions, and the low rainfall that has occurred to date, it was agreed that “Critically Dry” inflow conditions will be assumed through December 2013.  Thereafter, the rainfall-to-date through November 2013 will be used to select a Water Year Type for the following quarter of WY 2014, so as to more accurately assess Cal-Am’s operations and set monthly production targets for Cal-Am’s systems from January through September 2014. 

 

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 2013.  Similarly, Cal-Am will produce approximately 605, 626, and 794 AF of groundwater from its wells in the Lower Carmel Valley during October, November, and December 2013, respectively.  The permitted diversion season for ASR begins again on December 1, which is during this first quarter of WY 2014.  Diversions to storage for ASR Phase 1 and 2 will begin after December 1st, whenever flows in the river are legally adequate to do so.  For planning purposes staff scheduled 145 AF of diversions to ASR storage, based on the anticipated average diversion rate 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 500, 300, and 169 AF of native groundwater from the Seaside Basin in the months of October, November, and December 2013, respectively.  All water previously stored by Water Project 1 and 2 (ASR Phase 1 and 2) is anticipated to be recovered by the close of WY 2013.  It is expected that this pattern of storage and recovery within the same Water Year will be the default operational pattern for the foreseeable future, for any operational targets below 1,500 AF/year.  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, 11, 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 2013, 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

24-A    Quarterly Water Supply Strategy and Budget for Cal-Am Main System: October –December 2013

24-B    Quarterly Water Supply Strategy and Budget for Cal-Am Subsystems: October –December 2013

24-C    Quarterly Water Supply Strategy and Budget Report: October –December 2013

 

 

 

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