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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-01-13 - AGENDA REPORTS - NEWHALL COUNTY WATER DIST (2)NEW BUSINESS DATE: SUBJECT: DEPARTMENT: Agenda Item: CITY OF SANTA CLARITA AGENDA REPORT City Manager Approval: Item to be presented by: January 13, 2004 Mayor Kellar OPPOSITION TO NEWHALL COUNTY WATER DISTRICT PROPOSED RESOLUTION 2004-3 City Manager RECOMMENDED ACTION Adopt resolution opposing proposed Newhall County Water District Resolution 2004-3 and transmit a certified copy of the City Council's Resolution to the Board of Directors of the Newhall County Water District. BACKGROUND This is a subsequent need item which arose after the posting of the January 13, 2004 City Council agenda. The City Council must take action immediately to enable the City's position to be known and adequately considered by the Board of Directors of the Newhall County Water District (NCWD) prior to their further consideration of proposed NCWD Resolution 2004-3. On January 8, 2004 the NCWD Board of Directors considered adoption of proposed Resolution 2004-3, which expresses the Board of Directors' lack of confidence in Urban Water Management Plan 2000. The NCWD Board of Directors, upon receiving public comment, continued the item for two weeks. The City of Santa Clarita became aware on January 8, 2004 of the proposed resolution, but staff did not have adequate time to review the resolution and potential implications prior to the NCWD Board of Directors' meeting. Upon review of NCWD proposed Resolution 2004-3, City staff is concerned that adoption of the resolution will significantly impact proposed development projects and some projects which have been previously approved by the Planning Commission and City Council. In addition, City staff believes that adoption of NCWD proposed Resolution 2004-3 may damage the City's redevelopment efforts and limit the ability of the City to move forward with its own projects, il.,*W. a -r D most notably the Santa Clarita Community Center in Newhall. The William S. Hart Union High School District has expressed concern that future construction of some new schools in the area may be compromised. The NCWD proposed resolution has the practical impact of modifying Urban Water Management Plan 2000, which provides the foundation for water supply planning throughout the Santa Clarita Valley. The Urban Water Management Plan serves as a resource to the City of Santa Clarita in assessing water availability for development projects which come before the City for consideration. While there are acknowledged changes in the water supply dynamics for the Santa Clarita Valley between adoption of the current plan in 2000 and the next plan update in 2005, the Urban Water Management Planning Act provides a prescribed mechanism for modification of an existing plan. Furthermore, compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act and an extensive public participation process are critical components, from the City's perspective, of any plan modification. In a January 8, 2004 letter to the NCWD Board of Directors from Castaic Lake Water Agency (CLWA) General Manager Dan Masnada, CLWA significantly disagrees with a number of assertions and data interpretations advanced in proposed NCWD Resolution 2004-3. As the State Water Project contractor serving the Santa Clarita Valley, CLWA's disagreement with NCWD creates concern over the accuracy of NCWD assertions. The City has not received any documentation from the NCWD regarding the practical implications of the proposed adoption of NCWD Resolution 2004-3 as it relates to development projects already approved or under current consideration by the City of Santa Clarita. The City Council is requested to adopt the attached City resolution expressing opposition to NCWD Resolution 2004-3. ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS 1. Adopt no position regarding proposed NCWD Resolution 2004-3. 2. Request specific modifications to proposed NCWD Resolution 2004-3. 3. Other action as determined by the City Council. FISCAL IMPACT Adoption of the recommended action requires no further resources and all actions to implement the recommended action are contained within the adopted FY 2003/04 City budget. The impact to the City of Santa Clarita, should proposed NCWD Resolution 2004-3 be adopted, is unknown at this time. ATTACHMENTS Resolution Newhall County Water District Proposed Resolution 2004-3 available in the City Clerk's Reading File RESOLUTION NO. 2004-3 RESOLUTION OF THE 130ARD OF DIRECTORS OF NEWHALL COUNTY WATER DISTRICT REGARDING WATER SUPPLY AND DEMAND WHEREAS, Newhall County Water District ("District") is interested in ensuring a safe, reliable supply of water for its customeri on an ongoing basis; and WHEREAS, the State Water Project (S WP) water constitutes the majority of water served to NC WD customers, and in some areas is the exclusive water available, and S WP water could be interrupted in an emergency; and WHEREAS, the Urban Water Management Plan 2000 (UWMP) Table 14 "Total Existing and Planned Supplies" of water (see Exhibit A) is used by planners to ensure that adequate water supply exists to meet demand; and Alluvial Aau & WHEREAS, according to the December 10, 2003 CHUM HUI presentation titled "Groundwater Modeling Analysis, Upper Santa Clara River Basin" stated that 700-1000 acre- ft/year acre-feet of water in the alluvial aquifer are currently not available due to perchlorate Pollution; and WHEREAS, one Santa Clarita Water Company (SC WC) well in the alluvial aquifer has been taken out of service due to perchlorate contamination that exceeded the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) maximum reference dose of 6 ppb; and WHEREAS, the area impacted by the perchlorate pollution in the alluvial aquifer has not been characterized as of the date of this resolution; and WHEREAS, a Remedial Action Plan for local groundwater affected by perchlorate pollution is not projected to be complete until August 2005 and certification of final cleanup is not expected until August 2010, according to the November 2003 schedule from the Department of Toxic Substances Control: and WHEREAS, the December 1986 "Hydrogeologic Investigation: Perennial Yield and Artificial Recharge Potential of the Alluvial Sediments in the Santa Clarity River Valley of Los Angeles County, California" by Richard C. Slade studied 30 wells over a 28 -year base period and found a practical perennial yield of 31,600 to 32,600 acre-feet per year from the alluvial aquifer before the perchlorate contamination was found; and WHEREAS, the 1990 Kennedy/Jenks/Chilton report "Conjunctive Use of the Saugus Aquifer. Castaic Lake Water Agency" stated "from the alluvial aquifer the safe yield is anticipated to be 32,500 acre-feet/year," and - - Resolution 2004.3 Page I WHEREAS, many additional public agency reports during the period of 1993-1999 incorporated and referenced the 31,600-32,600 acre-feet per year safe perennial yield figure; and WHEREAS, the 2002 report "Hydrogeologic Conditions in the Alluvial and Saugus Formation Aquifer Systems" by Slade introduced the maximum operational yield figure of.' 45,000 acre-feet per year from the alluvial aquifer based on maximum historical pumping and planning documents including the UWMP 2000; and WHEREAS, the 2002 Slade report reiterated that perennial yield "represents a long-term average value for annual yield" and introduced the concept of "operational yield" which was defined as "a fluctuating value of pumpage that may be above or below the perennial yield in any given year, and that varies as a function of the availability of other water supplies. The basic intent of the operational yield value is that it should not exceed the perennial yield of the groundwater basin over multi=year rvetand dry cycles;" and WHEREAS, the 2002 Slade report did not quantify in detail a safe yield or a perennial yield, which is defined as in the 1986 report as "the quantity of groundwater what can be pumped annually without any change in groundwater levels or net change in groundwater in storage over the Base Period (ed. note: 28 years)," and WHEREAS, the 2002 Slade report did state that the alluvial aquifer "on a long-term average basis can be operated at an average pumping volume on the order of 10 percent higher than was reported as a 'practical or perennial yield' in 1986," but the report based that conclusion on "the combination of historical observations and current planning;" and WHEREAS, the "current planning" referred to in the 2002 Slade report included the UWMP 2000 and the future commitment via a MOU between "Santa Clarita Valley Water Purveyors and the downstream United Water Conservation District to develop a numerical groundwater flow model in order to analyze in greater detail how this aquifer system can be operated;" and and WHEREAS, the numerical flow model is not complete as of the date of this resolution; WHEREAS, the 2062 Slade report cited increased recharge from Water Reclamation Plants as a reason for higher potential yields, but the Water Reclamation Plants are not located in areas that would recharge the eastern part of the alluvial aquifer system; and WHEREAS, the 2002 Slade report did not address other factors such as loss of recharge areas due to development and increased flood control channeling; and WHEREAS, the December 1986 Slade report (referenced above) stated "... urbanization has had a rather startling impact on the availability of areas for recharge.... All recharge to the aquifer system does not occur in the low -flow channels of the river and its tributaries, but infiltrates over much of the alluviated areas which are not within the flood channels of the Santa Clara River system. Paving of these areas has, and will continue to reduce the net effective area for natural recharge to the underlying groundwater system;" and WHEREAS, the alluvial aquifer has been pumped above the safe perennial yield since 1994; and Resolution 2004-3 Paget WHEREAS, the depth to alluvial groundwater in the eastern basin (Pinetree) wells has been decreasing, which may be caused by weather patterns, increased development, increased pumping, or a combination of the foregoing and possibly other factors; and Saueus Formation WHEREAS, the December 2003 CH2M Hill presentation (referenced above) stated that that 4,000 acre-111year acre-feet of water in the Saugus Formation are currently not available due to perchlorate pollution; and WHEREAS, NCWD Well #11, two SCWC wells, and one Valencia Water Company well in the Saugus Formation have beenlaken out of service due to perchlorate pollution exceeding the OEHHA maximum reference dose of 6 ppb; and WHEREAS, the Winter 2003 "Water Currents" newsletter published by Castaic Lake Water Agency states that the four closed Saugus Formation wells have a combined maximum production of 14,500 acre-feet per year; and WHEREAS, the area impacted by the perchlorate pollution in the Saugus Formation has not been characterized as of the date of this resolution; and WHEREAS a Remedial Action Plan for cleanup of perchlorate in local groundwater is not projected to be complete until August 2005 and certification of final cleanup is not expected until August 2010, according to the November 2003 schedule from the Department of Toxic Substances Control; and Recycled Water WHEREAS, Table 1-4 (Exhibit A attached) references recycled water supply amounts up to 17,000 acre-feet per year, but existing facilities only supply 1700 acre-feet per year and now facilities are not planned or budgeted in the NCWD area; and WHEREAS, the UWW 2000 states that the Saugus Water Reclamation Plant (WRP) cannot be expanded and both the Valencia WRP and the proposed Newhall Ranch WRP exist on the western edge of the CLWA service area, limiting the areas to which recycled water could be practically provided; and WHEREAS, to serve the eastern portion of the Valley with reclaimed water, a new WRP would be required; and WHEREAS, the technical and economic feasibility determination for the potential recycled water use in the CLWA service area has not yet been finalized; and SWP Water WHEREAS, the current maximum CLWA "Table A" entitlement to State Water Project (SWP) water is 95,200 acre-feet per year, and WHEREAS, according to the 2002 State Water Delivery Reliability Report, only 30% of the full Table A amount is probable 90% of the time, and only 50% of the full Table A amount is probable 80% of the time; and Resolution 2004-3 Page 3 WHEREAS, the reliability criteria established in Chapter 4.0 of UWMP 2000 states that "this criterion requires water supply to be sufficient to meet projected demands 90 percent of the time;" and WHEREAS S WP water constitutes the majority of water supplied to our basin, and in some cases is the exclusive water available in some areas; and Non -Finalized Water Sources WHEREAS, Table 14 (Exhibit A attached) includes supply numbers for new wells in the Saugus Formation, water banking/conjunctive-use, water transfers, and desalination, yet no finalized, approved plans or budgets for these items exist in the CLWA or NCWD area; and WHEREAS, many of these supplemental supply projects would require extensive infrastructure improvements; and WHEREAS, California Water Code Division 6 Part 2.6 Chapter i (the Urban Water Management Planning Act) Section 10631(c) states that the preparer of a UWMP shall "for any water source that may not be available at a consistent level of use, given specific legal, environmental, water quality, or climactic factors, describe plans to supplement or replace that source with alternative sources or water demand management measures, to the extent practicable" and the UWMP 2000 does not contain detailed information to that end for the projected, but not implemented, new Saugus wells, water banking/conjunctive-use, water transfers, desalination, and recycled water sources; and WHEREAS, without specific perennial yield figures for the Saugus aquifer, new wells in the Saugus aquifer can not be assumed to provide additional water, but rather only additional pumping points for the same total bank of water from which the current Saugus wells draw. NOW, THEREFORE, BE TT RESOLVED that, the NCWD Board of Directors hereby declares as follows: For planning purposes, NCWD no longer has confidence in the water supply and availability numbers in Table 1-4 (and identical tables) in the UWMP 2000; FURTHER RESOLVED, that NCWD will use the water supply and availability numbers as presented in Exhibit B attached to this resolution. FURTHER RESOLVED, that the supply from the alluvial aquifer will be based on the perennial yield of 31,600-32,600 acre-ft/yr as established in the 1986 Slade report. The supply will be reduced by the amount of perchlorate -contaminated water (700-1000 acre -f lyr at current estimate) until the contamination is fully characterized, contained and/or remediated. Because the perennial yield is a long tern average based on wet and dry years, no differentiation will be made between wet and dry years. FURTHER RESOLVED, that NCWD will support pumping the alluvial aquifer over the perennial yield up to the maximum operational yield (45,000 acre-ft/yr) only during infrequent periods of emergency such as S WP failures. FURTHER RESOLVED, that any increase in pumping will be supported only for short terms, not to exceed one year, unless future comprehensive groundwater studies clarify that longer term pumping that pushes averages above the perennial yield will not harm the aquifer. Resolution 2004-3 Page 4 FURTHER RESOLVED, that the numbers over the perennial yield values for the Alluvial Aquifer will not be used for any planning purposes other than emergency planning. FURTHER RESOLVED, that the existing supply (7,500-15,000) from the Saugus Formation will be reduced by the amount of perchlorate -contaminated water, which is currently estimated at 4,000-14,500 acre -ft. This reduction will be used until the contamination is fully characterized, contained, and/or remediated. FURTHER RESOLVED, that new columns for "unfinalized additional supply" will be added to the planning table to differentiate between water that is available and water that is only in the conceptual planning stages. Unfinalized additional supply means that conceptual plans have been made, but no budget, approved capital project, or contractual construction or purchase deadline exists. These supplies maybe constrained, limited, or voided by economic or legal issues. Water from the UWMP 2000 categories of "Saugus formation new wells," "recycled water," "water banking/conjunctive use," "water transfers" and "desalinization" will be moved to the unfinalized supply columns until they are finalized; FURTHER RESOLVED, that water known to be impacted by perchlorate contamination will be characterized as "unfinalized supply" until the contamination is fully characterized, contained and/or remediated FURTHER RESOLVED, that potential water from new Saugus Formation wells will not be considered new `finalized supply" until it can be shown that the formation has a perennial yield above the total supply specified in Exhibit B for the existing Saugus wells (7,500-15,000 acre -f lyear.) FURTHER RESOLVED, that until final contracts exist, water in the "unfinalized additional supply" column will not be used as part of determinations on whether or not adequate water supply is available. PASSED AND ADOPTED this 8'h day of January, 2004, by the Board of Directors of the Newhall County Water District. ATTEST: Kenneth J. Petersen, General Manager NEWHALL COUNTY WATER DISTRICT Lynne Plambeck, President of the Board of Directors of the NEWHALL COUNTY WATER DISTRICT Resolution 2004-3 Page 5 STATE OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ) as. I, KARIN J. RUSSELL, Secretary of the Newhall County Water District, DO HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Is a full. true and correct copy of Resolution No. 2004-3 of the Board of Directors of Newhall County Water District adopted at a Regular Meeting held on January 8, 2004 and that the same has not been amended or repealed. Karin J. Russell, Secretary, NEWHALL COUNTY WATER DISTRICT DATED: January 8, 2004 ae+.»eann.otw�ue�aw� zawacw.,.ao� Resolution 2004-3 Page 6 EXHIBIT "A" Table 1-4 Total Existing and Planned Supplies (acre-feet per ear) Source Average/Normal Dry -year Local Supplies Year Groundwater Alluvial Aquifer 30,000-40,000 30,000-35,000 Saugus Formation 7,500-15,000 11,000-15,000 Saugus Formation (new wells)* -- 10,000-20,000 Stormwater* Recycled Water* 1,700-17,000 1,700-17,000 Imported Supplies SWP Supplies 56,800-95,200 37,900-75,800 Water Banking/conjunctive-use* -- 105,000 Water Transfers* 5,200-8,700 3,500-6,900 Desalination* 2,000-5,000 2,000-5,000 Total Supplies 103,200-180,900 201,100-279,700 *Planned programs for future implementation 6 Ii 8 v ri F