WATER SUPPLY PLANNING COMMITTEE
ITEM:		DISCUSSION ITEM
2.	POTENTIAL FOR CAL-AM TABLE 13 WATER RIGHT (PERMIT 21330) TO RESOLVE NEED FOR ASR PARALLEL PIPELINE
Meeting Date:			September 2, 2020	Budgeted:	N/A
From:			David J. Stoldt	Program/
			General Manager	Line Item No.:	N/A
Prepared By:			David J. Stoldt	Cost Estimate:	N/A
General Counsel Approval: N/A
Committee Recommendation: N/A
CEQA Compliance: This action does not constitute a project as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines Section 15378.

SUMMARY:  At its July 31, 2020 Special Meeting the District Board considered “Adoption of Addendum to the District's Prior ASR Environmental Impact Report for Construction of a Bypass Pipeline to Allow Simultaneous Pure Water Monterey Recovery and ASR Injection”

On July 30, 2020 the Board received a letter from Marina Coast Water District (MCWD) that was included in the August 17, 2020 Board meeting agenda packet included, under “Supplemental Letter Packet”, which beginning on page 2, suggested that instead of the pipeline, the following strategy should be examined:

“In contrast to moving ahead on the costly Project, there is a simple cost-effective solution that should be explored prior to approving Addendum No. 6 and the Project. Cal Am owns Water Right Permit 21330 that allows Cal Am to divert 1,488 AFY of Carmel River water during the same December through May ASR period and with the same protective steelhead bypass flow conditions as the ASR permits. Unlike water under the ASR permits that first must be injected into the Seaside Basin and then extracted for direct use, Permit 21330 water may be used directly to serve Cal Am customers. However, the authorized place of use is limited to the Carmel River watershed, i.e., the Carmel Valley and about 50% of the City of Carmel. Permit water may not be delivered to the Forest Lake Tanks. Cal Am should petition the SWRCB to amend Permit 21330 to have the same authorized place of use as the ASR permits, i.e., within the boundaries of the entire MPWMD. The existing steelhead protective measures would remain unchanged, continuing to protect Carmel River resources.

Unlike the proposed Project that would deliver ASR water only via the limited capacity of the Segunda/Crest Pipeline, this alternative would deliver Carmel River water via Cal Am’s existing Carmel Valley pipeline system directly to the Forest Lake Tanks during the same December through May period. Besides saving the cost of building a new bypass pipeline and dechlorination facility, Cal Am would also save the additional costs of (1) pumping the water over the hill via the Segunda/Crest Pipeline, (2) dechlorinating and injecting the water into the Seaside Basin, and (3) extracting and re-chlorinating the same quantity of PWM water from the Seaside Basin. If the Seaside Basin water is still needed then PWM, ASR or native groundwater could still be extracted and delivered to the Seaside-Old Monterey area and/or the Forest Lake Tanks.

Also, amending the Use of Permit 21330 provides greater flexibility in managing Carmel River water. For example, if sufficient water reserves are already stored in the Seaside Basin, Carmel River water could directly serve the south of Old Monterey service area during December through May, as is being done now. Any excess water not needed for direct use could continue to flow via the New Monterey Pipeline to the Seaside Basin for ASR injection. Amending and using Permit 21330 to serve all of the MPWMD area achieves the Bypass Project objectives without the need to construct new capital facilities.

Compared to this cost-effective solution, the proposed Project is subject to significant limitations on ASR Water Availability. Carmel River flows may only be diverted for ASR injection during December through May and only if river flows are in excess of the steelhead bypass flow requirements. There is no guarantee that any water will be available for ASR injection. For example, from CY 2010 through 2019 (10 years), ASR flows were only diverted 5 times during December and only 4 times during May. The Project proposes to use the Segunda/Crest Pipeline, which only has a capacity of 700 gpm (1.56 cfs or 3.09 AF per day). For the months of December and May, that means a maximum of 96 AF per month that ASR water could be delivered for injection under the Project, assuming that water will be diverted all 31 days of each month.”

District staff have examined this proposal and have made the following findings:

MCWD suggests changing the rate of diversion and place of use of the Table 13 Water Right would allow for higher annual consumption. Operationally to use Table 13 to serve a larger area of the Cal-Am distribution system in the winter months, Forest Lake and Segunda Tanks would be filled from the Carmel Valley sources and moved through the Segunda and Monterey Pipelines to serve demand in the Main System. In order to complete this operation, water needs to move from south to north in the General Jim Moore Pipeline. In the summer months, when PWM is being extracted, water will flow from north to south and fill the Forest Lake Tanks. This suggestion is a feasible way to operate the system if diversion rate and place of use were modified for the Table 13 Water Right. However, operating in that manner is not consistent with the testimony Cal-Am provided to the Public Utilities Commission in the 2017 General Rate Case.

Cal-Am testified that once the Cease and Desist Order was lifted, to best benefit the Carmel River, the production out of the valley in the months of June through November would be 1 MGD, which is the lowest flow required to maintain the Begonia Iron Removal Treatment Plant operating, and the remainder of the legal Water Rights would be pumped in the months of December through May. Additionally, operating with a changed Table 13 Water Right would cause a loss of flexibility utilizing the Peninsula’s water portfolio and would cause intensification of pumping on the Carmel River in the summer months. Below are some items to consider related to modifying the Table 13 Water Right:

· Table 13 is consumed in the winter when Carmel River flows are above instream flow in the months of December through May. This is the same time period when Cal-Am is planning to produce their remaining legal Water Rights so that pumping can be reduced in the summer months;

· If Table 13 is produced instead of the legal rights in the winter it will shift the recovery of the legal rights into the summer months, which is counter to provided testimony and would intensify pumping during the summer months when the critical habitat is most sensitive to pumping;

· In order to produce 3,500 AF of PWM in WY 2021, production will need to begin April of 2021. Production of PWM requires flows in the General Jim Moore Pipeline be north to south in order to fill the Forest Lake Tanks from the ASR wells. ASR injection requires flows from south to north. Without the ability to move water in both directions in General Jim Moore, the ASR season would be cut short by two to two and a half months even if flow conditions are being met for the ASR permits;

· Table 13 Water Rights are used to produce water that will meet demand the same day as the water is produced, whereas ASR water can be stored and used when needed to meet demand in summer months and droughts. Therefore, changing the Table 13 Water Rights in lieu of constructing an additional pipeline will limit operational flexibility to protect the river by reducing the ability to build up a drought reserve and to store water from the winter to be used in the summer;

· Changes to the Table 13 Water Right would not be available in this upcoming water year because they require Cal-Am to file a Petition for Change to a Water Right and this is a 3 to 4-year process with the State Board;

· Filing a Petition for Change to Table 13 would open a protest period which would likely draw protests from environmental groups because the operational changes associated with the Water Right changes would limit ASR yields, thus reducing drought reserve and intensify pumping on the River in the summer months.

District staff will be prepared to discuss this at the meeting.

EXHIBIT

None

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