ITEM:

PUBLIC HEARING

 

12.

CONSIDER SECOND READING AND ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE NO. 197 - ESTABLISHING ALLOCATIONS OF WATER FROM THE PURE WATER MONTEREY EXPANSION PROJECT

 

Meeting Date:
January 27, 2025

Budgeted: 

N/A

 

From:

David Stoldt

Program/

N/A

 

General Manager

Line Item No.:

 

 

 

Prepared By:

Stephanie Locke

Cost Estimate:

N/A

 

General Counsel Review:  Yes.

Committee Recommendation: The draft ordinance was reviewed by the Water Demand Committee on December 5, 2024, and moved to the Board of Directors.

CEQA Compliance:  See CEQA section of staff report. 

 

SUMMARY: The Pure Water Monterey (PWM) Expansion project is expected to be completed in fourth quarter 2025. The PWM Expansion will provide a permanent replacement water supply that could enable the lifting of State Water Resources Control Board Cease-and-Desist Order (CDO) and the California Public Utilities Commission’s moratorium on the setting of new Cal-Am meters. Ordinance No. 197 (Exhibit 12-A) sets forth the process and the Jurisdictional Allocations from this new water supply.

 

Since the first reading of the ordinance in December 2024, staff identified that the ordinance was improperly numbered and should be Ordinance No. 197, not 196. This change has been made for the second reading and consideration of adoption. Legal counsel reviewed this oversight and determined that it did not constitute a significant revision, and that second reading could proceed.

 

The District received a comment letter this month regarding the ordinance from the Monterey County Water Resources Agency that is attached as Exhibit 12-B.

 

Ordinance No. 197 allocates a portion of the new PWM supply and retains flexibility to be able to allocate additional supply when needed to meet future water demands of the Jurisdictions. The ordinance allocates 371 Acre-Feet (AF) (the first allocation) of water from the PWM Expansion to the District’s Jurisdictions as follows:

 

Jurisdiction

Proposed

PWM

Expansion

Allocation

Existing

Allocation

11/ 30/2024*

Total

Allocation*

Carmel

14 AF

2.479 AF

16.479 AF

Del Rey Oaks

6 AF

0 AF

6.000 AF

Monterey

141 AF

0.469 AF

141.469 AF

Pacific Grove

32 AF

0.024 AF

32.024 AF

Sand City

14 AF

0 AF

14.00 AF

Seaside

21 AF

29.292 AF

50.292 AF

Unincorporated County

72 AF

12.940 AF

84.940 AF

Monterey Peninsula Airport District

44 AF

5.197 AF

49.197 AF

Department of Defense Sites

27 AF

0 AF

27.000 AF

District Reserve

2,097 AF

8.607

2,105.607 AF

*These columns will be updated upon the effective date of the ordinance to reflect Paralta and pre-Paralta Allocations remaining in each Jurisdiction.

 

RECOMMENDATION: Following a public hearing, the Board should approve the second reading and adoption of Ordinance No. 197.

 

The draft ordinance was reviewed by the Water Demand Committee on December 5, 2024. The committee provided feedback to staff and unanimously recommended the ordinance move to the Board for consideration.

 

CEQA REVIEW: In August 2023, the Board received a technical memorandum from Rincon Consultants on the appropriate environmental action for the Allocation Process. The Technical Memorandum concluded (a) that the proposed water allocation qualifies as a project under CEQA because it is being undertaken by a public agency and has the potential for reasonably foreseeable indirect physical changes in the environment, such as facilitating land development through the provision of increased water supplies. In other words, the additional water that would be available to Jurisdictions in the District’s service area could facilitate development that would have otherwise been impossible due to lack of water availability; and (b) the document review determined that the Pure Water Monterey Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (EIR), SCH No. 2013051094 (2021 SEIR) certified April 2021, had already analyzed the growth-inducing and secondary environmental effects associated with the proposed water allocation, which is, in practice, a continuation of the District’s existing water allocation program. Based on those findings, Rincon recommended preparation of Addendum No. 2 to the 2021 SEIR.

 

The District’s consultant prepared the EIR Addendum pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15162 and 15164 to evaluate whether the project’s environmental impacts are covered by and within the scope of the 2021 SEIR for the Expanded PWM/GWR Project. This Addendum details any changes in the project, changes in circumstances under which the project is undertaken, and/or "new information of substantial importance" that may cause one or more effects to environmental resources.

 

The responses therein substantiate and support the District Board’s March 2024 determination that the additional water allocation is within the scope of the 2021 SEIR, does not require subsequent action under CEQA Guidelines Section 15162 and, in conjunction with the 2021 SEIR, adequately analyzes potential environmental impacts. The District Board of Directors considered and approved the Addendum in conjunction with the 2021 SEIR and found that there is substantial evidence that there will be no new significant impacts and none of the conditions described in Section 15162 of the CEQA Guidelines calling for preparation of a subsequent EIR have occurred.

 

EXHIBIT

12-A       Draft Ordinance No. 197

12-B       MCWRA Comments on Draft Ordinance

 

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