AD HOC LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY COMMITTEE
ITEM:		ACTION ITEMS
3.	Develop Plan for Coordination with Interested Parties Regarding Construction of Facilities for the Proposed MPWMD 95-10 Desalination Project
Meeting Date:			January 15, 2009
From:			Darby Fuerst,
			General Manager
Prepared By:			Andrew M. Bell,
			District Engineer

SUMMARY: In August and October 2008, the Board received reports from District consultants Camp Dresser & McKee Inc. (CDM) and ICF Jones & Stokes Associates (JSA) regarding the feasibility of the MPWMD 95-10 Desalination Project (95-10 Project). These Phase 1 studies for this project were a constraints analysis and additional policy review regarding the potential for the project. No “fatal flaws” in the potential for development of the project were identified in the Phase 1 studies.

During Board discussions of the Phase 1 studies, Director Potter suggested that support for the project could be gained by meeting with high-level representatives of agencies with major permitting authority or other interest in the MPWMD 95-10 Project, including the Director of the California Department of Parks and Recreation, management staff of the California Coastal Commission, and the Monterey County Water Resources Agency.

RECOMMENDATION: The Ad Hoc Legislative Advocacy Committee should consider methods of soliciting support for the MPWMD 95-10 Desalination Project.

BACKGROUND: At the January 24, 2008 Board meeting, the Board endorsed Director Brower’s request to direct staff to prepare a report on requirements to update the MPWMD 95-10 Project, a seawater desalination project proposed to be located in Sand City that was most recently studied by MPWMD in 2004. At the April 21, 2008 Board meeting, the Board authorized Phase 1 studies of the project, termed a “constraints analysis,” to be conducted by JSA and CDM. Representatives of these two firms presented their report at the August 18, 2008 Board meeting. At that meeting, the Board directed that the consultants be authorized to address additional policy issues related to the feasibility of the project. The report on the consultants’ findings and conclusions regarding these issues was received by the Board at the October 20, 2008 meeting. At the October 20 meeting, the Board directed staff to bring a scope of work, costs, and schedule for the next phase of studies for the project.

JSA and CDM prepared a proposed scope of work for Phase 2 studies with input by District staff and with information obtained at a meeting with Mat Fuzie and Ken Gray of the California Department of Parks and Recreation in Monterey. JSA and CDM’s proposed scope for Phase 2 studies included field hydrogeologic investigations of seawater extraction sites in the coastal area of the Fort Ord Dunes State Park west of Highway 1, to include installation and testing of a production well, groundwater modeling, and a study of the use of the regional treatment plant outfall for disposal of brine from the desalination plant. Phase 2 would also include development of a detailed project description suitable for analysis in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act, as well as planning-level capital and annual operation and maintenance costs of the project.

At the November 24, 2008 Administrative Committee meeting, members of the committee did not make a formal recommendation to the Board, but rather directed that the item be presented to the full Board for consideration. The committee members requested that staff describe alternative approaches to investigation of the project, including proceeding with the hydrogeologic investigation but not the engineering portion of the project (detailed project description and cost estimates) until more is known regarding the potential for obtaining a supply of seawater from coastal wells without adversely affecting the Salinas Valley or Seaside Groundwater Basins. Committee members also suggested that the hydrogeologic investigation could be contracted to a firm or individual other than CDM and that environmental review and permitting could be conducted by JSA, another firm, or MPWMD staff. Depending on the outcome of those investigations, engineering and environmental review could follow.

At the December 8, 2008 Board meeting, the full Board supported this approach. The Board is scheduled to consider approval of a professional services agreement with Martin Feeney, Consulting Hydrogeologist, at the January 29, 2009 Board meeting for a field program to determine the feasibility of obtaining water from the shallow dune sands along the coast in the Fort Ord Dunes State Park.

IMPACT TO DISTRICT STAFF/RESOURCES: Anticipated costs for soliciting support for the project could include travel costs for meetings in Sacramento, San Francisco, Salinas and the Monterey Peninsula. Although no funds for expenditures related to the MPWMD 95-10 Project beyond the Phase 1 studies are included in the FY 2008-09 budget, such costs would be minimal.

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