EXHIBIT
13-C
1. Management Objectives
The
Monterey Peninsula Water Management District (District) desires to maximize the
long-term production potential and protect the environmental quality of the
2. Quarterly Water Supply Strategy: October - December 2014
On
September 09, 2014, staff from the District, Cal-Am, the California Department
of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and
State Water Resources Control Board’s – Division of Water Rights (SWRB-DWR) met
and discussed the proposed water supply strategy and related topics for the
remainder of September 2014, and the October through December 2014 period. Currently, flow in the Carmel River is regulated
by releases from storage at Los Padres Reservoir, which are no longer supplemented
by any measurable surface flow coming into the reservoir. The intent under the original 2014 CDFW/Cal-Am/District
Low Flow MOA was to to sustain 3.5 or more cubic feet
per second (cfs) of flow to the Sleepy Hollow Weir at
River Mile (RM) 17.64 through November, 2014and in December 2014, return to
un-supplemented flows, i.e. run-of-the- river conditions, estimated then to potentially
be as much as 5.0 CFS.
Due
major construction field dewatering and river re-route activities at the San
Clemente Dam Reroute Project (SCDRRP), the interagency signatories to the 2014
Low Flow MOA agreed to switch the flow target compliance point from its
historic location at the MPWMD Sleepy Hollow Weir Gage (SHW) to the MPWMD Below Los Padres Gage (BLP) at RM 24.70. Because of the
widely varying rates of supplemental flows being pumped out of the construction
dewatering zone of the SCDRRP, it was not possible for CalAm
to maintain a steady flow target at the SHW Gage. Additionally, the current lack of Los Padres
Reservoir (LPR) inflow, higher than historic levels of flow depletion between
reservoirs, and depleted LPR storage conditions required the District to
recommend a decreased target at BLP to 3.2 cfs for September. Pending ongoing flow and storage trends this
may be followed by reductions to targets of 2.7 CFS/day for October, 2.2
CFS/day for November, and 2.0 CFS/day for December, for the rest of 2014. Each
of these potential successive reductions will be re-reviewed by the interagency
Low Flow MOA Group at the beginning of each month through December 2014. Flow in the Carmel River is continuous from
the headwaters only to the vicinity of the Esquiline Road Bridge, in east Carmel
Valley Village (RM 14.45). Flow goes
subsurface for almost two miles until it reemerges in the vicinity of Boronda Road Bridge (RM 12.69), with approximately 1.4 cfs measured at the MPWMD Don Juan Gage in Garland Park (RM
10.8) on September 7, 2014, after which the wetted river front ends once again above
Robinson Canyon Road Bridge (RM 8.46). The
river is becoming intermittent in the vicinity of Boronda
Road Bridge, and we expect gradual dewatering to continue through at least
September. Rainfall during Water Year
(WY) 2014 to date through the end of August at San Clemente Dam in the upper
watershed has totaled 10.42 inches or 49% of the long-term average at this
site. Further, unimpaired runoff at San
Clemente Dam for WY 2014 to date through the end of August has totaled
approximately 6,970 acre-feet (AF) or about 10% of the long-term average for
this site. WY 2014 represents the third
year in the eighth hydrologic drought since 1902, with two consecutive “Dry” or
“Critically Dry” years, and the second one with three consecutive “Dry” or
“Critically Dry” years. The January to
August 2014 flow conditions categorize well below median for “Critically Dry”
and are similar to conditions seen in 1976, which was the second worst drought
year on record.
Carmel
River Basin: Given these conditions, it was
agreed that it would be appropriate to use worst case historic “Critically Dry”
inflow conditions to assess Cal-Am’s operations
during the October through December 2014 period. Thereafter, the rainfall-to-date through
November 2014 will be used to select a Water Year Type for the following
quarter, so as to more accurately assess Cal-Am’s
operations and set monthly production targets for Cal-Am’s
systems from January through September 2015.
To meet customer demand, Cal-Am would operate its wells in
the Lower Carmel Valley in a downstream-to-upstream sequence, as needed. For the quarterly budget, it was agreed that
Cal-Am would produce approximately 0 AF of groundwater for the months of
October and November and 35 AF for the month of December 2014. These amounts are consistent with the
interagency Low Flow Season MOA and Cal-Am management’s intent to minimize
production in the Upper Carmel Valley at all times. However, production could legally be higher
under Cal-Am’s existing State water rights, and the
interagency Low Flow Season MOA, if the requisite minimum flow triggers are
exceeded for five consecutive days.
In addition, it was
agreed that Cal-Am would produce approximately 667, 593, and 795 AF of
groundwater from its wells in the Lower Carmel Valley during October, November,
and December 2014, respectively.
Lastly, it was assumed that 145 AF of the total of 795 AF water
planned to be diverted from the Carmel River Basin in December would be
injected into the Seaside Groundwater, if flows are sufficient to allow
diversions, since the diversion season for the Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR)
projects ended May 31, and resumes on December 1, 2014. The remainder of the long-term averages of
920 AF and 1050 AF per WY for ASR Phases 1 and 2 respectively, will be addressed
in the Quarterly Water Budget for January to May, 2015. If the minimum bypass flows defined in the
joint MPWMD/Cal-Am Water Right for ASR Phase 1 and 2 are sufficient for any
significant length of time after December 1, diversion to storage may begin.
Table 1 will be provided when updated data becomes available,
and will show actual and projected monthly releases below Los Padres and San
Clemente Reservoirs for the October through December 2014 period.
Seaside
Groundwater Basin: It was also agreed that Cal-Am
would produce 400, 300, and 100 AF of Seaside native groundwater in
October, November, and December 2014, respectively, in order to better avoid
having any unutilized carry-over water at the end of WY 2015. There was no water diverted to storage in WY
2014, so none will be recovered in WY 2015. Any ASR storage recovered in WY 2015
will depend on the ability to divert to storage for ASR in WY 2015. There is also a goal of producing an
additional 25 AF of treated brackish groundwater from the Sand City
Desalination Plant in each of these three months. If the Sand City Desalination Plant cannot
make its monthly production targets, any of that amount of water that is needed
to meet customer demand will be produced from a combination of Cal-Am wells in
Seaside or the Lower Subunits of the Carmel Valley Aquifer.
It
was also agreed that Cal-Am should produce only 5, 3, and 3 AF per month of
groundwater from its wells in the Laguna Seca Subarea of the Seaside Basin for
customers in the Ryan Ranch, Bishop, and Hidden Hills systems during October,
November, and December 2014, respectively.
It is recognized that, based on recent historical use, Cal-Am’s actual production from the Laguna Seca Subarea during
this period will likely exceed the proposed monthly targets, which are based on
Cal-Am’s allocation specified in the Seaside Basin
Adjudication Decision. For example, in
the October, November, and December 2013 period, Cal-Am actually produced 35, 28,
and 27 AF from the Laguna Seca Subarea to meet customer demand in the Ryan Ranch,
Bishop, and Hidden Hills systems. In
this context, the production targets represent the maximum monthly production
that should occur so that Cal-Am remains within its adjudicated allocation for
the Laguna Seca Subarea. Under the
amended Seaside Basin Decision, Cal-Am is allowed to use production savings in
the Coastal Subareas to offset production over the operational yield as defined
by the Seaside Watermaster in the Laguna Seca
Subarea, if any remains after maximizing production in order to minimize
pumping of the Carmel Valley Aquifer, in compliance with SWRCB Order WR 95-10,
and 2009-0060.
U:\staff\Boardpacket\2014\20140915\PublicHrngs\13\item13_exh13c.docx September
15, 2014