ITEM:		ACTION ITEM
11.	CONSIDER ENTERING INTO A REIMBURSEMENT AGREEMENT WITH CALIFORNIA AMERICAN WATER AND ACT AS LEAD CEQA AGENCY FOR CONSTRUCTION OF A BYPASS PIPELINE TO ALLOW SIMULTANEOUS PURE WATER MONTEREY RECOVERY AND ASR INJECTION
Meeting Date:			April 20, 2020	Budgeted:	No
From:			David J. Stoldt	Program/	Water Supply Projects
			General Manager	Line Item:	N/A
Prepared By:			Jonathan Lear	Cost Estimate:	$28,567
General Counsel Review: N/A
Committee Recommendation: On April 6, 2020 the Water Supply Planning Committee voted unanimously to recommend approval of the staff recommendation. The Administrative Committee reviewed this item on April 14, 2020 and recommended approval.
CEQA Compliance: This action does not constitute a project as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines section 15378.

SUMMARY: The Pure Water Monterey (PWM) Project began injecting water into the Seaside Groundwater Basin in March 2020 and building up the 1,000 Acre Foot Operational Reserve. After the operational reserve has been injected, PWM water is available as a source to the water supply portfolio and will become a component of the Quarterly Water Budget and used to shift production away from the Carmel River and comply with the Cease and Desist Order (CDO). In meetings between District Staff and CalAm for planning the recovery schedule for PWM, it was identified that in order to recover all PWM and Native Seaside Groundwater, the Seaside well field would need to operate for more months of the year than previous operational protocols. Additionally, only the ASR wells are connected to the pipeline in General Jim Moore Blvd. that is attached to the transfer (Monterey) pipeline that can move water to the Forest Lakes Tank. The Forest Lake Tank supplies water to meet water demand in Monterey, Pacific Grove, and the Del Monte Forest. The rest of the wells in Seaside provide water to meet demand in Seaside and old Monterey as far as the Naval Post Graduate School and are isolated from the demands met by the Forest Lake Tank. The demand on the Seaside system is between 10 to 12 Acre Feet per day and is not enough to consume all of the recovered PWM water, so water must be recovered by the ASR wells and moved through the transfer pipeline to the Forest Lakes Tanks to ensure all of the PWM water can be consumed.

Another complicating matter is PWM is counted against the effective diversion limit of the CDO as it is injected into the groundwater basin. If PWM water is not recovered it writes down the production limit on the River and water is still produced from the River to meet customer demand, so it is critical all PWM injected is recovered in the same water year in order to assure compliance with the CDO. In these planning meetings it was identified that there would be times during the year where the desire would be to recover PWM water and move it to the Forest Lakes Tanks at the same time ASR would be within permit conditions to allow operation. With the current piping, these two operations cannot happen at the same time. An additional pipeline parallel to the existing pipeline between Hilby Ave. and the Santa Margarita ASR facility in General Jim Moore Blvd. is necessary to allow recovery of PWM water and injection of Carmel River water at the same time. Exhibit 11-A and 11-B show the sources that would be needed to meet demand with and without the proposed bypass pipeline and the months that ASR could not occur. If the bypass pipeline is not constructed, even if flows in the Carmel River are above permit conditions allowing injection, in order to recover all PWM water, ASR injection would need to be stopped to allow the singular pipeline to be used for PWM recovery in order to comply with the CDO. This proposed bypass pipeline will allow both PWM and ASR water resources projects to function simultaneously. It should also be noted that this pipeline is compatible with all of the proposed water supply projects for the Monterey Peninsula and this bypass pipeline adds operational flexibility and redundancy into the Peninsula’s water supply.

The proposed pipeline is above the length and diameter to be exempt from the CEQA process. In order to facilitate this solution in an expedited manner, CalAm has asked the District to act at the Lead CEQA agency for the project. If approved, District staff would work with CalAm to prepare an addendum to the District’s ASR EIR to include the bypass pipeline that will allow the project to operate at the same time as PWM extraction. The General Manager would enter into a reimbursement agreement with CalAm for the cost of the CEQA work and CalAm would cover the cost of pipeline construction. If approved, the work is envisioned to begin this summer.

Project Description

California American Water (CAW) proposes to construct a new 36-inch-diameter, 7,000 LF, potable water transmission pipeline (Bypass Pipeline) in located General Jim Moore Blvd (GJM) between Hilby Avenue and approximately 750 feet south of Coe Avenue in Seaside, CA. The proposed Bypass Pipeline would connect to an existing 36-inch pipeline at each end.

The Bypass Pipeline would be located in the Former Fort Ord within the Seaside Munitions Response Area (MRA).

The project would also include a new de-chlorination facility and a new 16-inch diameter connection to the CAW Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) well sites 3 and 4 located at the Seaside Middle School.

Purpose

The proposed Bypass Pipeline would improve the existing ASR system and allow CAW to perform simultaneous ASR injection and extraction operations in order to meet customer demand as a result of reduced Carmel River diversions. The Bypass Pipeline would be used to convey water from Crest Tank to ASR Wells 3 and 4 for injection. Extraction operations would be performed at ASR Wells 1 and 2 and would be conveyed through existing infrastructure to Forest Lake Reservoir in Pacific Grove.

Under current CAW permit requirements, a 30-day retention period is required between ASR injection and extraction operations. Due to reduced Carmel River diversions, CAW would not be able to meet customer demand during the 30-day retention period when extraction operations are not allowed. The proposed dechlorination facility would dechlorinate water prior to injection into ASR Wells 3 and 4 which would remove the 30-day retention period requirement and allowing CAW to meet customer demand.

Construction

The Bypass Pipeline would be constructed by open trench within the paved roadway of the northbound lanes of GJM. The typical trench width would be approximately 6-feet wide and 6.5-feet deep. Excess soil would be handled and disposed of per requirements of the Fort Ord Reuse Authority (FORA) and City of Seaside Programmatic On-Call Construction Support Plan – Roadways and Utilities – Seaside Munitions Response Area. Pavement and striping would be restored per City of Seaside requirements. Traffic control plans would be developed and submitted to the City of Seaside for review and approval.

The pipeline would include blow off and air vent appurtenances installed in either the sidewalk or median of GJM. Blow offs would be pump out style, located within utility boxes that are flush with the surrounding ground. Air vents would be installed above grade in locked cages. The locations of the appurtenances would be per approval of the City of Seaside.

RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the Board of Directors authorize the General Manager to enter into a reimbursement agreement with CalAm for the CEQA work to construct to bypass pipeline necessary to allow simultaneous PWM recovery and ASR injection and move this item to the Board of Directors for consideration.

EXHIBITS

11-A Sources needed to meet demand without the parallel pipeline

11-B Sources needed to meet demand with the parallel pipeline

11-C Denise Duffy and Associates Scope of Work

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