ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE
6.	CONSIDER FUNDING UPGRADE TO SIX CARMEL RIVER MONITORING STATIONS
Meeting Date:		July 8, 2019	Budgeted:	No
From:		David J. Stoldt	Program/	Projects
		General Manager	Line Item:	Hydrologic Monitoring
Prepared By:		Jonathan Lear	Cost Estimate:	$20,000
General Counsel Review: N/A
Committee Recommendation: The Administrative Committee reviewed this item on July 8, 2019 and recommended _______________.
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 the equipment upgrade to the Los Padres Reservoir, Below Los Padres, Sleepy Hollow Weir, Don Juan Bridge, Highway 1, and Lagoon water level and gaging stations. These set of stations are the Carmel River main stem stations and are equipped with remote access via cellular modem. This effort is the final step in a 3 year process of upgrading the District’s stream gage and water level monitoring network. 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. Current equipment at the gaging stations are Campbell Scientific CR-510 data loggers which will no longer be supported after 2019. Also, the modems at the stations are 3G modems and will not function on the cellular network past 2020. District staff will be upgrading to the Campbell Scientific CR-300 a combined data logger and 4G modem. The surface water network was built 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 and the US Geological Survey. Exhibit 6-A outlines the stations and equipment to be upgraded and a cost estimate of the upgrade. This work is included in the FY 2019 – 2020 budget as item 2-5-3.

RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends the Board authorize the purchase of equipment to upgrade the Carmel River main stem water level and stream gage network in the amount not to exceed $20,000.

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 6-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

6-A Stations and equipment to be upgraded

6-B Current principal streamflow measuring sites within the Carmel River Basin (CRB)

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