TO: Chair Pendergrass, Vice Chair Edwards and General Manager Berger

FROM: David C. Laredo, General Counsel

RE: Sand City Water Entitlement Ordinance

__________________

This memo provides a summary of modifications made to the previous Concept Draft Ordinance (October 1, 2007 version) that proposed establishment of a Sand City Water Entitlement based upon the City’s Desalination Water Supply Project. Provided for your use are both a redlined and clean draft of Ordinance No. 132 that is proposed for first reading based upon the recommendation of the Rules and Regulations Review Committee.

Many of the policy issues presented in the context of this draft ordinance are similar to those previously addressed in Ordinance No. 109 that enabled expansion of the CAWD/PBCSD reclamation project and creation of the water entitlement for that circumstance.

The draft ordinance incorporates several modifications from that previously provided to the Board in the concept version. The draft includes updated references to the Water Distribution System Permits issued at the October meeting for both the Sand City Desalination Facility (WDS Permit No. M07-02-L4) and the CAW Water System (WDS Permit No. M07-03-L4). Several references to the Desalination Water Supply Project have been made in the draft ordinance to recognize that the Board has now acted to issue these permits (e.g. Statement of Purpose at Section Two, and Finding 18).

Finding 18 now also clarifies that the Project shall address both problems associated with the Seaside Groundwater Basin overdraft and Carmel River extraction issues. Finally, Finding 18 is amended to provide a further accounting for the 94 acre-feet of water that is not dedicated to entitlement use from a system perspective, indicating how water currently used by the City shall be affected.

The draft ordinance allows the Board to affirm, by Finding 11, that the Water Entitlement is separate and distinct from Sand City’s Allocation, and that the Water Entitlement will not “affect any future Allocation to Sand City.”

Both the concept and draft versions of the ordinance required recipients of the Sand City Water Entitlement to comply with water conservation rules set forth in MPWMD Regulation XIV and water rationing rules set forth in MPWMD Regulation XV. The draft version, however, has been amended to clarify that MPWMD shall not impose a moratorium on issuance of Water Use Permits authorized pursuant to this ordinance. This provision is consonant with the manner in which recipients of the Pebble Beach Entitlement shall be treated under Ordinance No. 109 in the event a connection moratorium was to be enacted.

It should be noted that the strike out text in Sections Four and Five of the ordinance do not indicate a change from the concept version. That text shows changes that shall be made to the existing District Rules and Regulations, and are consistent with the proposals set forth in the original concept version.

Section Six adds definitions that were not included in the earlier concept draft.

Sections Seven and following incorporate general implementation language, a severability clause, and clarify the effective date for the ordinance.

David C. Laredo
General Counsel

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