ITEM: |
CONSENT CALENDAR |
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6. |
RECEIVE FISCAL YEAR 2013-2014 MITIGATION PROGRAM
ANNUAL REPORT |
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Meeting Date: |
March 16, 2015 |
Budgeted: |
N/A |
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From: |
David J. Stoldt |
Program/
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N/A |
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General Manager |
Line Item No.: |
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Prepared By: |
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Cost
Estimate: |
N/A |
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General Counsel Review: N/A |
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Committee Recommendation: N/A |
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CEQA Compliance:
N/A for report |
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SUMMARY
AND RECOMMENDATION:
The Board should receive the 2013-2014 Mitigation Program Annual Report,
and direct staff to distribute copies (paper or electronic) to resource
agencies, local libraries, and advise the public of its availability. The Executive Summary provides an overview of
the major accomplishments, conclusions and/or recommendations. The Executive Summary for the 2013-2014
Mitigation Program Annual Report is attached as Exhibit 6-A.
The
annual report primarily reviews Monterey Peninsula Water Management District
(MPWMD or District) activities that address the effects of community water use
on the Carmel River environment in Fiscal Year (FY) 2013-2014, defined as the
12-month period from July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014. Please note that hydrologic data and well
production reporting data are described for Water Year 2014 (October 1, 2013
through September 30, 2014). Use of the
Water Year format for these data is consistent with reporting required by the
State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) and Seaside Basin Watermaster.
This
report is the 24th annual report since the Mitigation Program Plan was adopted
by the District Board in November 1990, as part of the certification of the
MPWMD Water Allocation Environmental Impact Report (Water Allocation EIR), in
compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Copies of the full annual report will be
provided to the Board members upon request, and will be provided to the
required resource agencies and other interested parties as needed.
BACKGROUND: On November 5, 1990, the Water Allocation EIR
was certified by the MPWMD Board. The
Board also adopted findings, and passed a resolution that set Option V as the
new water allocation limit. Option V resulted
in a production limit of 16,744 acre-feet per year (AFY) for the California
American Water (Cal-Am) system.
Subsequently, this amount was increased to 17,641 AFY based on new
supply provided by the completion of the Paralta Well in Seaside in 1993, and
other changes since 1993. On October 20,
2009, the SWRCB issued Order 2009-0060, the “Cease and Desist Order” (CDO)
against Cal-Am. The CDO refers to the
1995 SWRCB Order 95-10, noting that compliance with Order 95-10 had not yet been
achieved. The CDO institutes a series of
cutbacks to Cal-Am production from the Carmel River
system
and prohibits new or intensified connections in the Cal-Am main system. The CDO reduced the upper limit of diversion
from the Carmel River previously set by Order 95-10 at 11,285 AFY to 10,429 AFY
beginning in WY 2010, with additional annual reductions thereafter.
The
Water Allocation EIR determined that even though Option V is the least damaging
alternative of the five options analyzed, production at this level still may
result in significant, adverse, environmental impacts that must be
mitigated. Thus, the CEQA Findings
adopted by the Board in 1990 included a "Five-Year Mitigation Program for
Option V" and several general mitigation measures. The Five-Year Mitigation Program formally
began in July 1991 with the new fiscal year and was slated to run until June
30, 1996. Following public hearings in
May 1996 and District Board review of draft reports through September 1996, the
Five-Year Evaluation Report for the 1991-1996 comprehensive program,
as well as an Implementation Plan for FY 1997 through FY 2001, were finalized
in October 1996. In its July 1995 Order
WR 95-10, the SWRCB ordered Cal-Am to carry out any aspect of the “Five-Year
Mitigation Program for Option V” that the District does not continue after June
1996. To date, as part of its annual
budget approval process, the District Board has voted to continue the
program. The Mitigation Program
presently accounts for a significant portion of the District budget in terms of
revenue and expenditures.
For
projects or programs that entail significant adverse impacts, CEQA requires
that an annual report be prepared documenting:
(1) the actual mitigation activities that were carried out by the lead
agency, and (2) the effectiveness of the mitigation activities, as measured via
a monitoring program. The 2013-2014
Water Allocation Mitigation Report responds to these requirements.
The
2013-2014 report reviews District activities relating to water supply and
demand, followed by mitigation measures for specific environmental
impacts. It also provides a summary of
costs for the Mitigation Program as well as references. For each topic, the mitigation measure
adopted as part of the certified Allocation EIR is briefly described, followed
by a summary of activities carried out in FY 2013-2014 that relate to the
topic. Monitoring results, where
applicable, are then presented. Finally,
a summary of conclusions, and/or recommendations are provided, where pertinent. The annual report format has been refined
from earlier years to aid the efficiency of preparing and reviewing the
document.
IMPACT ON STAFF/RESOURCES: Mitigation Program costs for FY 2013-2014
totaled approximately $2.41 million including direct personnel expenses,
operating costs, project expenditures, capital equipment, and fixed asset
purchases. The annual cost of mitigation efforts varies because several
mitigation measures are weather dependent. Expenditures in FY 2013-2014
were $0.19 million more than the prior fiscal year due to increases in
Mitigation Program costs. However, the overall costs have remained fairly
constant (average of $3 million per year) for last five years. In the
past, expenditures had trended upward due to expenditures for the Aquifer
Storage Recovery (ASR) Project. ASR Project costs are no longer captured
under Mitigation Program Costs. FY
2011-2012 expenditures were $4.59 million; and FY 2012-2013 expenditures were
$2.22 million.
During
FY 2013-2014, revenues totaled $2.72 million including mitigation program
revenues, tax revenues, investment income and miscellaneous revenues. The
Mitigation Program Fund Balance as of June 30, 2014 was $331,973.
EXHIBITS
6-A Executive
Summary for 2013-2014 Annual Mitigation Report
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