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ITEM: |
PUBLIC HEARING |
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20. |
CONSIDER
ADOPTION OF JANUARY THROUGH MARCH 2016 QUARTERLY WATER SUPPLY STRATEGY AND
BUDGET |
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Meeting Date: |
December 14, 2015 |
Budgeted: |
N/A |
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From: |
Dave Stoldt, |
Program/ |
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General Manager |
Line Item No.: |
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Prepared By: |
Kevan Urquhart & |
Cost Estimate: |
N/A |
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Jonathan Lear |
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General Counsel Review: N/A |
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Committee
Recommendation: N/A |
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CEQA Compliance: Notice
of Exemption, CEQA, Article 19, Section 15301 (Class 1) |
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ESA Compliance: Consistent with the September 2001 and February
2009 Conservation Agreements between the National Marine Fisheries Service
and California American Water to minimize take of listed steelhead in the
Carmel River and Consistent with SWRCB WR Order Nos. 95-10, 98-04, 2002-0002, and
2009-0060. |
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SUMMARY: The Board will accept public comment and take
action on the January through March 2016 Quarterly Water Supply Strategy and
Budget for California American Water’s (Cal-Am’s) Main
and Laguna Seca Subarea Water Distribution Systems (WDS), which are within the
Monterey Peninsula Water Resources System (MPWRS). The proposed budget, which is included as Exhibits
20-A and 20-B,
shows monthly production by source of supply that is required to meet projected
customer demand in Cal-Am’s Main and Laguna Seca
Subarea systems, i.e., Ryan Ranch,
Bishop, and Hidden Hills, during the January through March 2016 period. The proposed strategy and budget is designed
to maximize the long-term production potential and protect the environmental
quality of the Seaside Groundwater and
Exhibit
20-A shows the anticipated production by Cal-Am’s Main system for each production source and the actual
production values for the water year to date through the end of November 2015. Please note that the anticipated production
values assume that Cal-Am’s annual Main system
production for Water Year (WY) 2016 will not exceed 11,954 acre-feet (AF),
including 2,251 AF from the Coastal Subareas of the Seaside Groundwater Basin, 0
AF from ASR Phase 1 and 2 recovery, 300 AF from the Sand City Desalination
Plant, and 9,403 AF from the Carmel River Basin. The total from the Carmel
River Basin is consistent with State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB)
Order Nos. 95-10, 98-04, 2002-0002, and
2009-0060, and the total from the
Exhibit
20-B shows the anticipated production by Cal-Am’s Laguna Seca Subarea systems
for each production source, and the actual production values for WY 2016 to date
through the end of
November 2015. Please note that the
anticipated production values assume that Cal-Am’s
annual Laguna Seca Subarea systems’ production will
not exceed 48 AF. This total is
consistent with the
RECOMMENDATION: The Board should receive public input, close
the Public Hearing, and discuss the proposed quarterly water supply
budget. District staff recommends
adoption of the proposed budget. The
budget is described in greater detail in Exhibit 20-C, Quarterly Water Supply Strategy
Report: January – March 2016.
BACKGROUND:
The Quarterly Water Supply Strategy and Budget pertains to production
within Cal-Am’s Main and Laguna Seca
Subarea systems for the three-month period of January, February, and March 2016.
Staff from the District, Cal-Am, the
National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS), and the State Water Resources
Control Board’s Division of Water Rights (SWRCB-DWR) cooperatively developed
this strategy on December 8, 2015. The
California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) was unable to attend, but was
consulted afterwards.
To
meet customer demand in its main system, Cal-Am will target production of
approximately 0 AF of groundwater from its wells in the Upper Carmel Valley
during January, February, and March 2016.
Similarly, Cal-Am will target production of approximately 938, 992, and 1,123
AF of groundwater from its wells in the Lower Carmel Valley during January,
February, and March 2016, respectively. The
permitted diversion season for ASR began again on December 1, which is during this
first quarter of WY 2016. Diversions to
storage for ASR Phase 1 and 2 have not yet begun, but will be initiated whenever
flows in the river are legally adequate to do so. For planning purposes, staff
have scheduled diversions to ASR storage based on the long-term average
diversion rate predicted by the Carmel Valley Simulation Model (CVSIM) for each
month, and so have scheduled 230, 320, and 345 AF for the three months of the second
quarter, respectively.
It
was also agreed that, subject to rainfall and runoff conditions in the Carmel
River Basin, Cal-Am would continue to produce water from the Coastal Subareas of
the Seaside Basin during this period, if necessary to meet system demand and
facilitate ASR diversions to storage.
Cal-Am projected production of native groundwater from the Seaside Basin
was 100 AF in each of the months of January, February, and March 2016,
respectively. There was also a projected
goal of producing an additional 25 AF of treated brackish groundwater from the
Sand City Desalination Plant in each of these three months. Cal-Am may also produce 38, 52, and 56 AF in
each of the consecutive three months of this quarter, respectively, under Table
13 Water Rights for in-basin use within Carmel Valley. In addition, it was also agreed that Cal-Am’s projected production of groundwater from its wells in
the Laguna Seca Subarea for its customers in the Ryan Ranch, Bishop, and Hidden
Hills systems would be 3, 2, and 3 AF during January, February, and March 2016,
respectively. Lastly, it was agreed that
Cal-Am will operate its wells in the Lower Carmel Valley in a
downstream-to-upstream order. If actual natural
river inflows are less than projected for the budget period, the group will
reconvene and adjust the LPD release rates accordingly.
Rule
101, Section B of the District Rules and Regulations requires that a Public
Hearing be held at the time of determination of the District water supply
management strategy. Adoption of the
quarterly water supply strategy and budget is categorically exempt from the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements as per Article 19,
Section 15301 (Class 1). A Notice of
Exemption will be filed with the Monterey County Clerk's office, pending Board
action on this item.
EXHIBITS
20-A Quarterly Water Supply Strategy and
Budget for Cal-Am Main System: January – March 2016
20-B Quarterly Water Supply Strategy
and Budget for Cal-Am Subsystems: January – March 2016
20-C Quarterly Water Supply Strategy and Budget
Report: January – March 2016
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