EXHIBIT 16-A
DRAFT
ORDINANCE
NO. 123
AN ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF
THE
MONTEREY PENINSULA WATER MANAGEMENT
DISTRICT
INCREASING WATER USE FEES TO FUND AQUIFER
STORAGE RECOVERY AND RELATED WATER SUPPLY
EXPENSES
1. The Water Management District was
created to address water problems in the
2.
The
Water Management District has general and specific power to do any and every
lawful act necessary in order that sufficient water may be available for
present or future beneficial use or uses, and to fix and collect rates and
charges for the providing or availability of any service as set forth in
Sections 308, 325 and 326 of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District
Law.
3.
The
Water Management District, based in part upon the April 14, 2005, “Seaside
Groundwater Basin: Update on Water Resource Conditions” prepared by Gus Yates,
Martin Feeney and Lewis Rosenberg (“Seaside Basin Report”), has determined that
the annual quantity of groundwater that can be produced in the Coastal Subarea
of the Seaside Groundwater Basin without causing adverse effects, such as
seawater intrusion, declining water levels, and land subsidence (characterized
as “Sustainable Yield”) is 2,220 acre feet per year. During water year 2004, production in the
Coastal Subarea of the
4.
The
5.
The
Water Management District holds authority to manage and regulate use, reuse and
reclamation of surface and groundwater within its jurisdiction. It is charged with conservation and
augmentation responsibilities in addition to its responsibility to integrate
management of ground and surface water resources. To this end, the Water Management District owns
and jointly operates with California American Water (Cal-Am) an Aquifer Storage
and Recovery (ASR) project which diverts excess flows from the Carmel River
through the Cal-Am water distribution system for injection into the Groundwater
Basin through the District’s ASR test well, and which enables recovery of that water
by Cal-Am for delivery to its customers.
6.
The
Water Management District has determined that the ASR Phase 1 expansion is
needed to address and mitigate potential adverse effects that may result from
overproduction from the
7.
The Water Management District regularly incurs
expenses to create, maintain and operate ASR,
including but not limited to operations and maintenance costs, and capital
improvement costs. ASR expansion costs
include planning, specifications and engineering, expansion site planning,
completing review of long-term ASR operation pursuant to the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and debt service. Operation and maintenance expenses include
costs of staff, consultants, rent, repair, replacement, rehabilitation, fuel,
power, electrical current, care, and supervision necessary to properly install,
operate and maintain ASR, and includes reserves needed to address reasonable
yet unanticipated contingencies such as emergencies and disasters.
8.
Expenses to maintain, repair, and expand the
Water Management District’s ASR expansion effort cannot be adequately funded
without increasing water use fees pursuant to this ordinance. ASR expansion is necessary to protect
District water resources, satisfy water quantity and water quality
requirements, meet existing commitments for water demand, and provide sufficient water for present or
future beneficial use.
9.
Based on reasonable and fair investigation, the Water
Management District Board of Directors has determined that an increase in the
District’s existing water use fee is needed to fund the Phase 1 expansion
effort, and proposed future ASR expansion costs. The Board has further determined that debt
issuance secured by the increased user fee is the most cost-effective means to
finance ASR expansion costs. The Water
Management District has budgeted
for fiscal year 2005-2006 ASR Phase 1 expansion costs of $345,000, and
anticipates $2,660,000 in ASR Phase 1 expansion costs in fiscal years 2006-7
and 2007-8, for a total estimated expenditure of $3,005,000. An increase to the fee applied by the Water Management
District to the water use from the Cal-Am
Water Distribution System in the amount of 1.2% will generate $3,090,000, which
is the total estimated expenditure for Phase I expansion costs plus $85,000 in
anticipated debt issuance costs. This
increase will result in a total use fee applied to Cal-Am water use of 8.325%.
10.
The
water use fee established by this ordinance is not a user fee or charge for a
“property-related service” and is not a “property-related fee or charge” as those
terms are defined by California Constitution, Article 13D, section 2. The water use fee instead is a fee imposed
upon actual water use, variable by the amount consumed.
11.
The Board of Directors finds that the water use fees
set by this ordinance shall not collect funds beyond those required to maintain
plant, equipment, facilities, supplies and personnel necessary to provide water
service, and that the charge to any specific water user shall not exceed the
proportional cost to provide or reserve water to that water user.
12.
Having made fair investigation into the facts
and circumstances requiring this ordinance, each member of the Board of
Directors of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District finds the rates
and charges proposed herein are reasonable based on his or her exercise of
judgment and discretion.
13.
The need for expanded ASR has been heightened by
the lack of legal Cal-Am water supplies resulting from State Water Resources
Control Board (SWRCB) Order WR 95-10, and the listing of the
14.
This ordinance is exempt from CEQA pursuant to
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines section 15273(a)(1) –
Rates, Tolls, Fares, Charges. The Board
of Directors determines and declares that water use fee set and authorized by
this ordinance are to meet Water Management District operating expenses,
including employee wage rates and fringe benefits, consultant services, legal
services and direct costs, including permit processing, enforcement and
associated litigation expenses. A Notice
of Exemption shall be filed.
NOW THEREFORE be it ordained as follows:
Section One: Short Title
This ordinance shall be known as the ASR Expansion Fee Ordinance of the
Monterey Peninsula Water Management District.
Section Two: Purposes
This ordinance shall implement a water use
fee collected solely from Cal-Am system water users, factored upon actual water
use and variable as to the amount of water consumed. Proceeds of this fee shall fund District
water supply activities, including Phase 1 of its Aquifer Storage &
Recovery (ASR) effort. In addition to
ASR activities, proceeds of this water use fee may also be allocated, by
Resolution at the discretion of the District Board of Directors, provided that
all such expenses shall confer benefit and/or service to existing Cal-Am Water
Distribution System water users. These
services may include, but shall not be limited to conservation, rationing,
irrigation, erosion control, mitigation, water supply planning, and water
augmentation program expenses.
Unexpended fee revenue in any single year may be placed a program
reserve for later use to fund expenses associated with planning for, acquiring
and/or reserving augmented water supply capacity, including but not limited to
engineering, hydrologic, legal, geologic, fishery, appraisal, financial, and
property acquisition endeavors.
Section Three: Fee
Implementation
This Ordinance shall authorize
immediate collection of a water use fee in the aggregate amount of 1.2 percent
of the Monterey District of the California American Water Company (Cal-Am) from
each customer water bill. This increase
will result in a total Monterey Peninsula Water Management District use fee
applied to Cal-Am water use of 8.325%.
Section Four: Publication
and Application
The provisions of this ordinance
shall not cause the amendment or republication of the permanent Rules and
Regulations of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District. This ordinance shall be read in conjunction
with and compliment those provisions of the District's Rules and Regulations. All definitions used in the District Rules
and Regulations shall apply to this ordinance.
This ordinance shall take effect at 12:01
a.m. on the 30th day after it has been enacted on second reading. This ordinance shall not have a sunset date,
provided however, that fees set by this ordinance shall not be collected
to the extent proceeds exceed funds required to maintain plant, equipment,
facilities, supplies, personnel and reasonable reserves necessary to provide
water service.
Section
Six: Severability
If any subdivision, paragraph, sentence,
clause or phrase of this ordinance is, for any reason, held to be invalid or
unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity shall not
affect the validity or enforcement of the remaining portions of this ordinance,
or of any other provisions of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District
Rules and Regulations. It is the
District's express intent that each remaining portion would have been adopted
irrespective of the fact that one or more subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences,
clauses, or phrases be declared invalid or unenforceable.
On motion by Director
__________, and second by Director ____________, the foregoing ordinance is
adopted upon this ______ day of ________________, 2005, by the following vote:
AYES:
NAYS:
ABSENT:
I, David A. Berger, Secretary
to the Board of Directors of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District,
hereby certify the foregoing is a full, true and correct copy of an ordinance
duly adopted on the ________ day of _____________ 2005.
Witness my hand and
seal of the Board of Directors this ________ day of ____________ 2005.
David
A. Berger, Secretary to the Board
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