ITEM:		CONSENT CALENDAR
6.	CONSIDER AMENDED QUARTERLY WATER BUDGET FOR SEPTEMBER TO ACCOMODATE THE AVAILABILITY OF PURE WATER MONTEREY AS A NEW SOURCE
Meeting Date:			September 21, 2020	Budgeted:	N/A
From:			David J. Stoldt,	Program/	N/A
			General Manager	Line Item No.:
Prepared By:			Jonathan Lear	Cost Estimate:	N/A
General Counsel Review: N/A
Committee Recommendation: N/A
CEQA Compliance: Exempt from environmental review per SWRCB Order Nos. 95-10 and 2016-0016, and the Seaside Basin Groundwater Basin adjudication decision, as amended and Section 15268 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, as a ministerial project; Exempt from Section 15307, Actions by Regulatory Agencies for Protection of Natural Resources.

SUMMARY: The Board adopted the Quarterly Water Budget for July through September 2020 at the June 15, 2020 Regular Board Meeting. At the time of adoption, Pure Water Monterey (PWM) was still building up a 1,000 acre foot Operational Reserve. In August 2020, the Operational Reserve was achieved and Cal-Am was notified that PWM water was available as a source.

A special meeting of the Quarterly Water Budget Group (Group) was convened on August 17, 2020 to discuss the implications of the availability of the new source of water on the last month of the fourth quarter of WY 2020. In previous meetings when discussing the arrival of PWM as a new source, the Group had agreed upon the approach of prioritizing the recovery of PWM over banked Carmel River ASR water. The reasons for the prioritization of PWM over ASR recovery are that;

1. PWM water is an annual source with a known volume of water and can be planned to be recovered in the summer months to provide reduction of pumping on the River in the summer.

2. ASR could be stored and used to begin building up a drought reserve that would provide relief to the river in dry and critically dry water years when pumping on the river has larger environmental effects.

According to this philosophy, the Group decided to change the volume of ASR water set to be extracted in September to PWM extraction. Therefore, then new Water Budget numbers for September are as follows;

1. 670 AF available for production out of the Lower Valley wells

2. 303 AF ASR recovery

3. 160 AF PWM recovery

4. 25 AF production from Sand City Desalination plant

The total AF available for production in September 2020 is 1,158 AF, however average production for September in the main system has averaged around 925 AF. The difference between water available to be pumped and the September average will be left in the Carmel River Watershed and claimed as Carry Over Credits according to the Cease and Desist Order.

RECOMMENDATION: Approve with the Consent Calendar. District staff submits this report as an informational item on the changes made to September 2020 Quarterly Water Budget to recover the newly available PWM water instead of ASR water.

EXHIBITS

None

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