ITEM:		DISCUSSION ITEM
17.	UPDATE ON SUSTAINABLE GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT ACT (SGMA): (a) SEASIDE GROUNDWATER BASIN, AND (B) CARMEL VALLEY ALLUVIAL AQUIFER
Meeting Date:			April 18, 2016	Budgeted:	N/A
From:			David J. Stoldt	Program/
			General Manager	Line Item No.:	N/A
Prepared By:			David J. Stoldt	Cost Estimate:	N/A
General Counsel Approval: N/A
Committee Recommendation:
CEQA Compliance: N/A

SUMMARY – Seaside Groundwater Basin: The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) established a process for local agencies to request that the Department of Water Resources (DWR) revise the boundaries of existing groundwater basins or subbasins, including the establishment of a new subbasin. The Basin Boundary Emergency Regulation was developed through an extensive stakeholder outreach process and was adopted on October 21, 2015. The provisions of the emergency regulation go into effect on November 16, 2015.

On November 19, 2015 District staff met with representatives of the Seaside Basin Watermaster, California American Water Company, Marina Coast Water District, and Monterey County Water Resources Agency to discuss a proposal for boundary modification. Then on December 14, 2015 the District’s Water Resources Division Manager sent out the proposal for comment from the same agencies.

The District submitted a formal Initial Notification to DWR on February 12, 2016 – notification intended to be preliminary to signal that a modification request may occur.  It served to notify other local agencies, public, and the department.

The proposal can be summarized as follows: The Bulletin 118 boundary is shown in the first attachment (Exhibit 17-A) and is labeled “Salinas Valley Seaside Area”.  The modification that the group achieved consensus on is shown in the second attachment (Exhibit 17-B).  This modification inserts the adjudicated Seaside Basin boundary and removes the remainder area in the southwest portion of the DWR boundary, as this area is not hydrogeologically linked to the aquifer system in the Seaside Basin.  The remainder area to the north of the Seaside Basin has been renamed “Salinas Valley Marina Area”, consistent with our discussion.  The DWR’s basin modification application requests that a map be provided to show the proposed basin boundary modification, which is depicted in Figure 1 (Exhibit 17-B).  Note that the subbasin names are abbreviated on this map, but will be described with their full names per Bulletin 118 as part of the application.  In addition, the DWR’s application requests that a map showing all local agency boundaries in the affected area of the boundary modification also be provided.  Accordingly, we have prepared the map as depicted in Figure 2 (Exhibit 17-C).  Figure 1 and Figure 2 were again distributed to the group of interested stakeholders for comment on March 15, 2016.

The District submitted the Basin Boundary Modification Request March 31, 2016. It will be deemed “SUBMITTED” signifying the submission is believed to be complete and the requesting agency is officially submitting the package to DWR for a completeness review. It will be deemed “COMPLETE” once DWR has reviewed the submission package for substantial compliance with the requirements and the 30-day Public Input Period begins. Public input must be made in compliance with the requirements of §343.12 of the regulation and submitted to the Basin Boundary Modification System as a "Comment" to the "Complete" modification request submission. All submitted information will be public accessible through DWR web site.

The District was notified on April 5^th that there are two issues DWR wants corrected in order to deem the application “complete”:

1. Support letters from ¾ of the affected local agencies and water systems, and

2. Discussion regarding removal of the southwest area of the Bulletin 118 Seaside boundary.

The second item will be satisfied because the discussion is included in the application materials and staff just needs to point out to the reviewer where that is located.  The first item, however, is more problematic in that it could be a challenge to get support letters drafted through the various local entities.  Staff has contacted the DWR reviewer to see if it might be possible to just get support letters from the MPWMD and Watermaster boards as a means to satisfy this requirement. 

SUMMARY – Carmel Valley Alluvial Aquifer: On February 29^th, the General Manager sent an inquiry jointly to California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) staff, describing an inherent conflict in how DWR and SWRCB view the Carmel River Alluvial Aquifer and how it will be affected by the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).  We had mentioned it briefly to DWR staff on a few occasions, but at this time summarized the issue in a single page, attached as Exhibit 17-D.

The Water Management District’s conclusion is that what DWR refers to as the Carmel Valley Groundwater Basin in Bulletin 118 has been determined to be surface water by the SWRCB.   This led to several questions:

· Should the Carmel River aquifer be exempt from SGMA?

· What is the best way to exempt it – by letter from DWR or by removal from Bulletin 118?

· If by removal from Bulletin 118, should it be done through the DWR Basin Boundary Modification Request System by formal request by March 31^st, or some other method?

· Would a meeting between DWR, SWRCB, and the District (the GSA) be necessary to discuss this matter? 

On March 16, 2016 DWR staff stated “I don't think Monterey would have to take any action.  Although I doubt we will deal with this through a basin adjustment, DWR would have the ability to make any adjustments without having Monterey submit since this is a special technical issue.” We also learned that there was one other basin in the State with a similar issue, and 4-5 others with similar problems for a portion of the basin.

We also informed DWR that their Bulletin 118 boundary for the Carmel River Basin were outdated and inconsistent with current knowledge. DWR indicated that it is currently updating the Department defined modifications to basin boundaries (Administrative Adjustments) and will include the District’s changes as part of that set. On March 29^th, the District forwarded GIS shapefiles and SWRCB Order 95-10 describing the geologic setting as surface water flowing in a known and definite channel underground.

We have been told to expect a letter or notification from DWR that the Carmel River Basin is exempt from SGMA and will not require a Groundwater Sustainability Plan.

EXHIBIT

17-A Bulletin 118 Seaside Groundwater Basin Boundary

17-B Consensus Proposed Seaside Groundwater Basin Modification

17-C Local Agency Seaside Basin Boundaries

17-D Summary of The Carmel Valley Alluvial Aquifer issues with SGMA

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