COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
4.	PRESENTATION ON REGIONAL URBAN WATER AUGMENTATION PROJECT BY MARINA COAST WATER DISTRICT AND MONTEREY REGIONAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL AGENCY
Meeting Date:		March 26, 2007	Budgeted:	N/A
From:		David A. Berger,	Program/	N/A
		General Manager	Line Item No.:
Prepared By:		Andrew Bell,	Cost Estimate:	N/A
		District Engineer
General Counsel Approval: N/A
Committee Recommendation: N/A
CEQA Compliance: N/A

SUMMARY: Representatives from the Marina Coast Water District (MCWD) and the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency (MRWPCA) will give a presentation on the Regional Water Augmentation Project. Basic information on the project is included in the MPWMD Comparative Matrix of water supply alternatives dated October 16, 2006. This matrix was distributed to Community Advisory Committee (Committee) members at the February 6, 2006 Committee meeting. The presenters will address questions orally following Mr. Oliver’s presentation.

RECOMMENDATION: This item is a presentation only. The Community Advisory Committee members should express their initial opinions on the merits and drawbacks of this project as part of Item 6, “Committee Comments on the Regional Urban Water Augmentation Project and the Groundwater Replenishment Project.”

BACKGROUND: Summary information regarding the Regional Urban Water Augmentation Project is located in column C of Part II of the Matrix, pages 185 through 191 of the packet for the October 16, 2006 MPWMD Board meeting. Item 13 from that packet, pages 159 through 205, was distributed at the February 6, 2006 Committee meeting.

Following is the summary description of the project from the October 16, 2006 staff report:

Regional Urban Water Augmentation Project (Sponsors: MCWD and MRWPCA – Exhibit 13-C, Column C)

The Regional Urban Water Augmentation Project (RUWAP) involves two major water augmentation supply projects: seawater desalination and recycled water. In the 2004 matrix, a previous variation was referred to as the Regional Urban Recycled Water Project, and focused solely on the use of reclaimed water. Only 300 AFY is designated for use by Cal-Am customers for non-potable uses such as golf courses, cemeteries, parks and other landscape open space. The RUWAP could be combined with ASR or the other desalination projects described in the matrix.

New and Changed Information in 2006: The RUWAP project goal is to provide 2,400 AFY of water to the former Fort Ord area to meet redevelopment requirements described in the Fort Ord Reuse Plan. In addition, 300 AFY is being considered to replace potable uses on the Monterey Peninsula (defined as Cal-Am’s Monterey District service area). The EIR for the project was certified in October 2004; the “Hybrid Alternative” was endorsed by the MCWD and FORA boards of directors in 2005. The EIR identified evaluated several alternatives, including:

Ø “Seawater Desalination Alternative” -- a new 3,000 AFY desalination facility in the area currently occupied by the MCWD’s existing desalination plant. The proposed replacement desalination project meets the project objective of 2,400 AFY, replaces the District’s existing 300 AFY desalination plant, and also provides 300 AFY for use within or outside of the District service areas, e.g., on the Monterey Peninsula.

Ø “Recycled Water Alternative” -- provides 3,000 AFY of recycled water, which meets the project objective of 2,400 AFY, but would also provide 300 AFY of recycled water to the Monterey Peninsula and an additional 300 AFY for use within or outside District service areas.

Ø “Hybrid Alternative” -- includes a water supply of up to 1,500 AFY from an expansion of MCWD’s seawater desalination plant (including replacement of the existing 300 AFY capacity plant) and the production and distribution of up to 1,500 AFY of recycled water for landscape irrigation. The EIR concluded that depending upon the recycled water needs at the former Fort Ord, the remainder would be used for MCWD’s other service areas and potentially, the Monterey Peninsula, via a new recycled water distribution system.

In the 2005 matrix, the project yield for the desalination component was listed as “amount to be determined.” In information provided by MCWD in 2006, the yield of the desalination component is stated to be 1,500 AFY, with 1,200 AFY of this amount to be available for the Ord Community and 300 AFY to replace MCWD’s existing desalination plant. The reclaimed water project yields in 2005 were stated to be 1,700 AFY in Phase 1 and 3,100 AFY in Phase 2. The 2006 information provided by MCWD states the yields to be 1,500 AFY in Phase 1 and 3,300 in Phase 2.

New cost information provided by MCWD’s consultant RMC Water and Environment indicates that the capital cost of the Phase 1 reclaimed water project is estimated to be $54 million, up from $19 million in the 2005 matrix. No new capital cost information was provided for the Phase 2 reclaimed water project or the desalination project, and no updated annual operation and maintenance cost estimates for either project were provided.

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