MPWMD BOARD MEETING--MAY 19, 2014--ITEM 17--RECEIVE REPORT AND TAKE PUBLIC COMMENT ON DRAFT UPDATE TO MONTEREY PENINSULA, CARMEL BAY, AND SOUTH MONTEREY BAY INTEGRATED REGIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN

ITEM:		PUBLIC HEARING

16.	Receive Report and Take Public Comment on Draft Update to Monterey Peninsula, Carmel Bay, and South Monterey Bay Integrated Regional Water Management Plan

Meeting Date:			May 19, 2014	Budgeted:	N/A

From:			David J. Stoldt,	Program/	N/A
			General Manager	Line Item No.:

Prepared By:			Larry Hampson	Cost Estimate:	N/A

General Counsel Review: No
Committee Recommendation: N/A
CEQA Compliance: Statutory Exemption for Feasibility and Planning Studies ( Guideline § 15262)

SUMMARY: The State, through the Department of Water Resources (DWR), is encouraging the development and implementation of Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) Plans and projects through grant programs authorized by Proposition 50 (Prop 50), Proposition 84 (Prop 84), and Proposition 1E (Prop 1E), which are bond acts passed by California voters in 2002 and 2006. The Monterey Peninsula Water Management District (MPWMD) is the lead agency for IRWM planning for the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel Bay, and South Monterey Bay. In 2011, MPWMD entered into a grant agreement for $995,000 with DWR to update the 2007 IRWM Plan to meet guidelines established after the passage of Prop 84. MPWMD has completed an updated plan and provided it under separate cover to the Board of Directors. A copy of the IRWM Plan may be viewed at the District office, and an electronic version is available on the web at:

http://www.mpwmd.dst.ca.us/mbay_irwm/mbay_irwm.htm

Stakeholders were encouraged to provide input on the updated plan throughout the process, which included holding public meetings to set goals, objectives, and regional priorities and to develop a process to prioritize proposed projects; however, Prop 84 guidelines require that a public hearing be conducted to receive input on the Draft Plan prior to adoption.

RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the Board:

1. Receive a presentation and take public comment on the Draft Update of the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel Bay and South Monterey Bay Integrated Regional Water Management Plan.

2. Direct the General Manager to address and consider the comments of the MPWMD Board and public in the Final Update to the IRWM Plan (note: it is intended that the Final IRWM Plan will be submitted to the Board for adoption at a later date).

DISCUSSION: Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) is a collaborative effort to manage all aspects of water resources in a region. IRWM crosses jurisdictional, watershed, and political boundaries; involves multiple agencies, stakeholders, individuals, and groups; and attempts to address the issues and differing perspectives of all the entities involved through mutually beneficial solutions. Since 2002, the IRWM grant program has been allocated more than $2 billion from state bonds for planning, implementation, and stormwater flood management throughout California.

The Central Coast funding region is comprised of coastal watersheds in the counties of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Benito, Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara. Within this area, there are six IRWM Plans covering the funding region. The Monterey Peninsula, Carmel Bay, and South Monterey Bay planning area was initially established after receiving a Prop 50 planning grant of $500,000 in 2005 to develop an IRWM Plan. Subsequently, the MPWMD Board adopted the IRWM Plan in November 2007. In 2009, DWR formally designated the planning area through its Regional Acceptance Program. The formation of the area was based on watershed and groundwater basin limits, portions of the near-shore environment areas affected by inland area activities, and takes into consideration jurisdictional limits, powers and responsibilities for water resource management. The planning region is approximately 347 square miles and consists of coastal watershed areas in Carmel Bay and south Monterey Bay between Pt. Lobos on the south and Sand City on the north – a 38.3-mile stretch of the coast that includes three Areas of Special Biological Significance (Pt. Lobos, Carmel Bay, and Pacific Grove), several Marine Protected Areas, and a portion of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The area encompasses the six Monterey Peninsula Cities of Carmel-by-the Sea, Del Rey Oaks, Pacific Grove, Monterey, Sand City, Seaside, and extends into portions of the unincorporated area of Monterey County at the former Fort Ord, in the Carmel Highlands, Pebble Beach, the inland areas of Carmel Valley and the Laguna Seca area.

In 2011, MPWMD entered into an agreement with DWR for $995,000 in IRWM planning grant funds to carry out nine planning projects and an update of the IRWM Plan to Prop 84 standards. The IRWM Plan update is led by the Regional Water Management Group (RWMG), which represents the diverse interests of the IRWM Plan region (Region) and meets the definition of CWC section 10539. For the IRWM Plan first adopted in 2007, the RWMG was comprised of representatives from the Big Sur Land Trust (BSLT), the City of Monterey, the Monterey County Water Resources Agency (MCWRA), the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency (MRWPCA), and the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District (MPWMD). For this IRWM Plan Update, Marina Coast Water District (MCWD) and the Resource Conservation District of Monterey County (RCDMC) are proposed to be added to the RWMG, which represents the diverse interests of the Region. A revised Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) concerning the make-up of the group and implementation of the IRWM Plan has been circulated and signed by MPWMD, the RCDMC, and the City of Monterey. The other entities have not yet signed the revised MOU.

As described in the draft IRWM Plan, several stakeholder meetings were held to receive input and guide MPWMD staff and consultants in preparing the update. The IRWM Plan is a comprehensive guide for developing, prioritizing, and implementing coordinated water resource plans and projects. As such, it is a “living document” that is intended to be amended from time to time to meet the planning Region’s continually-evolving water resource management needs and related project priorities. The IRWM Plan update contains planning objectives and identifies potential projects that address the Region’s identified needs in the areas of water supply, water quality, flood protection, water-related environmental enhancement, and other state-mandated and optional planning categories. In order to be eligible for State IRWM grant funds under the California voter-approved Proposition 84, the IRWM Plan must be adopted by the agencies comprising the RWMG and by agencies that apply for grant funds. Presently, the Central Coast region is eligible to receive about $19 million in future grant awards. To date, the Monterey Peninsula region has received about 1.5% of the IRWM funds awarded to the region since 2002.

The list below shows a partial list of stakeholders in addition to the members of the RWMG.

Other Stakeholders
California American Water	Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (NOAA)
California Coastal Commission	Monterey Coastkeeper
California Coastal Conservancy	Monterey County Hospitality Association
California Department of Fish and Game	Monterey County Public Works
California Department of Water Resources	Monterey County Service Area 50
California Native Plant Society, Monterey County	Monterey County Resource Conservation District
California Department of Parks and Recreation	Monterey County Resource Management Agency
California State Water Resources Control Board	Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce
California State University Monterey Bay: Watershed Institute	Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District
Carmel Area Wastewater District	Monterey Regional Waste Management District
Carmel River Steelhead Association	National Marine Fisheries Service
Carmel River Watershed Conservancy	Pebble Beach Community Service District
Carmel Unified School District	Pebble Beach Company
Carmel Valley Association	Planning and Conservation League
Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board	Seaside Basin Watermaster
City of Carmel-by-the-Sea	Surfrider Foundation
City of Del Rey Oaks	The Nature Conservancy
City of Pacific Grove	U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
City of Sand City	U.S. Forest Service
City of Seaside	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Seaside County Sanitation District	Ventana Wilderness Society
Coastal Watershed Council
Fort Ord Reuse Authority
Note: These agencies were identified as stakeholders during the 2007 IRWM Plan process or sent email confirmation in May 2012 that they would like to be included in the 2013 Update process. [UPDATE LIST]

It should be noted that MPWMD is the lead agency for development of the IRWMP and ensuring its execution. However, the institutional structure of the RWMG allows for agencies to rotate as members of the RWMG and any agency in the RWMG can be a lead agency for a grant application if a specific funding source is identified and the RWMG designates another lead agency.

CEQA COMPLIANCE: California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines for Section 15262 “Feasibility and Planning Studies” state as follows:

“A project involving only feasibility or planning studies for possible future actions which the agency, board, or commission has not approved, adopted, or funded does not require the preparation of an EIR or negative declaration but does require consideration of environmental factors.”

The IRWMP is not a detailed plan for solving water management issues and implementing projects. Rather, the IRWMP provides a framework for agencies, non-profit groups, for-profit corporations and other stakeholders with missions and responsibilities to work together on common water management strategies, objectives, goals and projects. As such, the IRWM Plan takes into consideration the many plans and policies currently being implemented for water resource management, analyzes how these are interrelated and shows how projects and programs can have multiple benefits when grouped together.

REGIONAL PRIORITIES: Improving communications and dealing with water supply issues and environmental factors, such as impacts to surface and groundwater water quality and habitat degradation, were identified as the Region’s top priorities. The specific priorities are as follows:

· WS-1. Meet existing water supply replacement needs of the Carmel River system and Seaside Groundwater Basin.

· WS-2. Maximize use of recycled water and other reuse, including gray water systems, and stormwater capture and use.

· WQ-1. Improve ocean water quality, including Areas of Special Biological Significance (ASBS), by minimizing pollutants in stormwater discharges.

· WQ-2. Improve inland surface water quality for environmental resources (e.g. steelhead) and potable water supplies.

· WQ-3. Protect and improve water quality in groundwater basins.

· FP-1. Develop regional projects and plans necessary to protect existing infrastructure and sensitive habitats from flood damage, erosion, and sea level rise, in particular, along the southern Monterey Bay shoreline and Carmel Valley.

· RC-1. Identify cooperative, integrated strategies for protecting both infrastructure and environmental resources.

· RC-2. Foster collaboration among regional entities as an alternative to litigation.

PROJECT PRIORITIZATION: The focus of the IRWMP is to improve management of local water resources by proposing to implement and monitor a suite of projects that taken as a whole:

· incorporate water management strategies required under State IRWM guidelines;

· meet objectives and goals set by stakeholders;

· accomplish regional priorities;

· are technically and financially feasible; and

· assist in meeting Statewide priorities.

These criteria are described in detail in Chapters 4 through 6 in the IRWMP. While most of these criteria were established by the State to foster IRWM planning statewide, regional priorities are specific to each planning Region and IRWM Plan.

During the project solicitation phase, seven detailed project proposals were received and 10 concept proposals were received. Of these, detailed project proposals are eligible to apply for implementation grants while concept proposals must be developed further. Another project solicitation is planned in response to the recently released proposal by DWR for a drought funding IRWM grant round. Details of the project solicitation process are contained in IRWM Plan Chapter 6.

MPWMD-Sponsored Projects

There are currently no MPWMD-sponsored projects ready to apply for an implementation grant.

EXHIBITS

None

May 19, 2014

Budgeted:

N/A