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ITEM: |
PUBLIC HEARING |
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17. |
CONSIDER
ADOPTION OF JANUARY THROUGH MARCH 2018
QUARTERLY WATER SUPPLY STRATEGY AND BUDGET |
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Meeting Date: |
January 24, 2018 |
Budgeted: |
N/A |
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From: |
Dave Stoldt, |
Program/ |
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General Manager |
Line Item No.: |
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Prepared By: |
Kevan Urquhart & |
Cost Estimate: |
N/A |
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Jonathan Lear |
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General Counsel Review: N/A |
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Committee
Recommendation: N/A |
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CEQA Compliance: Notice
of Exemption, CEQA, Article 19, Section 15301 (Class 1) |
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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 2016-0016. |
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SUMMARY: The Board will accept public comment and take
action on the January through March 2018 Quarterly Water Supply Strategy and
Budget for California American Water’s (Cal-Am’s) Main and Laguna Seca Subarea Water
Distribution Systems (WDS), which are within the Monterey Peninsula Water
Resources System (MPWRS). The proposed
budget, which is included as Exhibits 17-A
and 17-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 January through March 2018
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
17-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 November 2017. Please note that
the anticipated production values assume that Cal-Am’s annual Main system
production for Water Year (WY) 2018 will not exceed 10,130 acre-feet (AF),
including a maximum of 1,820 AF from the Coastal Subareas of the Seaside
Groundwater Basin, an estimated 0 AF from ASR Phase 1 and 2 recovery, an estimated
300 AF from the Sand City Desalination Plant, and approximately 8,010 AF from
the Carmel River Basin. 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 2016-0016, 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. Cal-Am
is allowed to produce water for in-basin use under its “Table 13 Water Rights”,
when bypass flows are adequate to do so.
These production amounts may be up to 38, 52, and 56 AF, respectively in
each of the three consecutive months of this quarter. In compliance with WRO 2016-0016, any water
diverted under these rights must be used to reduce unlawful diversion from the
Carmel River Basin.
Exhibit
17-B
shows the anticipated production by Cal-Am’s Laguna Seca Subarea systems for
each production source, and the actual production values for WY 2018 to date
through the end of
November 2017. Please note that the
anticipated production values assume that Cal-Am’s annual Laguna Seca Subarea
systems’ production will not exceed 0 AF.
This total is consistent with the
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 17-C,
Quarterly Water Supply Strategy Report: January – March 2018.
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 January, February, and March 2018. Staff
from the District, Cal-Am, the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS), and
the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) cooperatively developed
this strategy on December 17, 2017. The State
Water Resources Control Board’s Division of Water Rights (SWRCB-DWR) monitored
the meeting by conference line. The United
States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) were unable to attend, but received
the briefing materials for the meeting.
To
meet customer demand in its main system, Cal-Am intends for now to target production
of approximately 0 AF per month of groundwater from its wells in the Upper
Carmel Valley during January, February, and March 2018. If flows consistently exceed 20 cfs at the
District’s Don Juan Gage, Cal-Am could legally begin production from its Upper
Carmel Valley Wells, so these values could change. Similarly, Cal-Am will target production of approximately
673, 559, and 716 AF of groundwater from its wells in the Lower Carmel Valley
during January, February, and March 2018, respectively. The permitted diversion season for ASR began
again on December 1, which is during this first quarter of WY 2018. Diversions to storage for ASR Phase 1 and 2 have
not yet begun, but will be initiated whenever flows in the river are legally adequate
to do so. For planning purposes, staff have
scheduled diversions to ASR storage based on the long-term average diversion
rate predicted by the Carmel Valley Simulation Model (CVSIM) for each month,
and so have scheduled 230, 320, and 345 AF for the three months of the second
quarter, respectively. Cal-Am may also
produce 38, 52, and 56 AF in each of the consecutive three months of this
quarter, respectively, under Table 13 Water Rights for in-basin use within
Carmel Valley.
It
was also agreed that, subject to rainfall and runoff conditions in the Carmel
River Basin, Cal-Am may continue to produce water from the Coastal Subareas of
the Seaside Basin during this period, if necessary to meet system demand and
facilitate ASR diversions to storage. Cal-Am projected production of native
groundwater from the Seaside Basin of 100 AF in each of the months of January,
February, and March 2018, respectively. There was also a projected 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’s projected legal production of
groundwater from its wells in the Laguna Seca Subarea for its customers in the
Ryan Ranch, Bishop, and Hidden Hills systems would be 0 AF per month during January,
February, and March 2016, respectively. Lastly,
it was agreed that Cal-Am will operate its wells in the Lower Carmel Valley in
a downstream-to-upstream order.
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. 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
17-A Quarterly Water Supply Strategy and
Budget for Cal-Am Main System: January – March 2018
17-B Quarterly Water Supply Strategy and
Budget for Cal-Am Subsystems: January – March 2018
17-C Quarterly Water Supply Strategy and Budget
Report: January – March 2018
U:\staff\Boardpacket\2018\20180124\PublicHrng\17\Item-17.docx