ITEM:		CONSENT CALENDAR
20.	CONSIDER FUNDING UPGRADE TO SIX CARMEL RIVER MONITORING STATIONS AND CURRENT METERS
Meeting Date:			June 20, 2022	Budgeted:	Yes
From:			David J. Stoldt,	Program/	Projects
			General Manager	Line Item:	Hydrologic Monitoring 2-5-3
Prepared By:			Jonathan Lear	Cost Estimate:	$62,000
General Counsel Review: N/A
Committee Recommendation: The Administrative Committee reviewed this item on June 13, 2022 and recommended approval.
CEQA Compliance: This action does not constitute a project as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines section 15378.

SUMMARY: Staff proposes to complete an equipment upgrade to the Pine Creek, San Clemente Creek, Turlacitos Creek, Hitchcock Creek, Robinson Creek, Protero Creek, Arroyo Del Rey, and San Jose Creek water level and gaging stations. These set of stations represent the last group of gaging stations without telemetry. This effort is the final step in the effort of upgrading the District’s stream gage and water level monitoring network to be completely remote telemetered. Over the past 2 years District Staff have upgraded 12 stations at the rate of 6 per year. Equipment upgrades include replacement of pressure transducers, data loggers, modems, solar panels and enclosures at the six sites. District staff will be upgrading to the Campbell Scientific CR-300 a combined data logger and 4G modem at most of the remaining non-telemetered stations, and satellite modems where cellular signal is unavailable. The surface water network was established over 30 years ago with Campbell Scientific equipment because it was and still is the industry standard equipment used for surface water monitoring. Their client list includes the California Department of Water Resources and the US Geological Survey (USGS).

District staff proposes to upgrade the high flow measurement methodology by purchasing an acoustic Doppler flow profiler to collect high flow measurements. Presently a bridge crane is used to collect high flow current measurements. Over the last decade, the USGS has moved to the Acoustic Profile equipment and the District’s high flow measurements have not matched high flow measurements taken at nearby USGS Gages. District staff believes that by using the same methodology as the USGS, we can produce data sets closer to the measurements at the USGS sites.

District also is continuing to upgrade the hand held current meters to the Hach F950, which are rugged, rechargeable, and reduces staff hours.

Exhibit 20-A outlines the equipment to be upgraded and a cost estimate of the upgrade. This work is included in the FY 2022 – 2023 budget as item 2-5-3 and will take place this summer.

RECOMMENDATION: The Administrative Committee recommends that the Board authorize the purchase of equipment to upgrade the Carmel River Basin water level and stream gage network equipment in the amount not-to-exceed $62,000.

BACKGROUND: Since its inception, the District has historically collected streamflow measurements at approximately 15 mainstem sites on the Carmel River and on 16 tributaries to the Carmel River. The District's current principal streamflow measuring sites within the Carmel River Basin (CRB) are shown in Exhibit 20-B. Prior to 1991, the streamflow measurements were instantaneous measurements made by the current-meter method. In 1991, a concerted effort was made to upgrade the streamflow monitoring network as staff installed continuous recorders at six selected tributary sites. Since that time, the District has continued to expand its streamflow monitoring network, which currently consists of 18 continuous-recording gaging stations.

Data collected at the District streamflow monitoring sites are analyzed for use in water-supply planning, fishery, riparian and erosion control programs. More specific uses of streamflow data include, but are not limited, to the items listed below:

Ø Defining the general hydrologic conditions in the basin

Ø Setting flow requirements for meeting aquatic life goals

Ø Monitoring compliance with minimum-flow requirements

Ø Forecasting water-supply availability

Ø Assessing and scheduling fish rescue activities

Ø Assessing effectiveness of riparian mitigations

Ø Evaluating surface and groundwater interaction

Ø Developing and calibrating hydrologic models

Ø Delineating and managing flood plains

Ø Evaluating and designing water-supply projects

Ø Providing data for forecasting floods and defining flood-recurrence intervals

Ø Assessing hydrologic impacts from water-development projects

Ø Supporting Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) operations

Streamflow gaging station O&M at each of the above sites involves obtaining monthly discharge measurements, maintaining recording equipment, obtaining staff gage readings and occasional surveying. Subsequently, river/creek stage and discharge data are processed in-house utilizing Hydstra Time-Series Software (Kisters North America, Inc.), to produce continuous streamflow records for the sites.

EXHIBITS

20-A Gage Upgrades from Campbell Scientific

20-B Measuring Sites within the Carmel River Basin

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