TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Erick Lee, Public Works Director
Lourdes Vargas, Utilities Manager
SUBJECT:Title
Public Hearing for the Draft 2020 Urban Water Management Plan/Water Shortage Contingency Plan and Consideration of Adoption of a Resolution for the 2020 Urban Water Management Plan and Adoption of a Resolution for the Water Shortage Contingency Plan (Public Works Director Lee).
A) CONDUCT PUBLIC HEARING
B) ADOPT RESOLUTION NOS. 21-0099 AND 21-0100
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council hold a public hearing and adopt Resolution No. 21-0099 and Resolution No. 21-0100, which adopt the 2020 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) and Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP), respectively, and authorize the Public Works Director or designee to file the 2020 Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan with the California State Water Resources Board.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this item.
BACKGROUND:
The Urban Water Management Planning Act requires every public and private urban water supplier that directly or indirectly provides water for municipal purposes to prepare and adopt an urban water management plan and to update its plan once every five years. The City adopted its last plan in 2017.
The requirements for UWMPs are found in two sections of California Water Code, § 10610-10656 and § 10608. Every urban water supplier that either provides over 3,000 acre-feet of water annually, or serves more than 3,000 urban connections is required to submit an UWMP.
The City had approximately 13,346 active water connections and supplied 4,856 acre-feet of water to its customers in calendar year 2020; therefore, the City is subject to the Urban Water Management Planning Act. The City’s 2020 UWMP includes the following sections:
• UWMP Introduction and Overview
• Plan Preparation
• System Description
• Water Use Characterization
• SBX 7-7 Baseline and Targets, and 2020 Compliance
• Water Supply Characterization
• Water Service Reliability and Drought Risk Assessment
• Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP)
• Demand Management Measures
• Plan Adoption, Submittal, and Implementation
The purpose of the UWMP is to evaluate long-term resource planning and establish management measures to ensure adequate water supplies are available to meet existing and future demand. The UWMP provides a framework to help water suppliers maintain efficient use of urban water supplies, promote conservation programs and policies, ensure that sufficient water supplies are available for future beneficial use, and provide a response mechanism during drought conditions or other water shortages.
The WSCP is included as a chapter of the UWMP but is a stand-alone document that can be adopted and amended separately from the UWMP. The WSCP incorporates six standard water shortage levels corresponding to progressive ranges from up to a 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 percent shortage, and greater than a 50 percent shortage.
DISCUSSION:
The City’s 2020 UWMP contains historical water usage information dating back to 2010 and projects water usage out to the year 2045. It also provides a breakdown of water use by customer type that includes residential, industrial, commercial, recycled customers throughout the City. The 2020 UWMP covers the present efforts of the Public Works Department to conserve water with items such as public outreach and rate structuring. The 2020 UWMP is designed to serve as a flexible, long term planning document that will be periodically updated at least once every five years to help the City in its efforts as well as support state-wide efforts in a well-organized approach to water use management.
Resolution No. 21-0099 is a resolution to formally adopt the 2020 UWMP for compliance with California’s Urban Water Management Planning Act. This State-required, long-term plan details the City’s water demand forecast as well as local and imported water supplies.
Without an approved UWMP, the City would not be eligible to receive grant or loan funding through the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), the State Water Resources Control Board, or Delta Stewardship Council.
Resolution No. 21-0100 is a resolution to formally adopt the WSCP, which is a condition for 2020 UWMP approval by DWR. The WSCP provides a detailed approach presenting how the City intends to act, or respond to, water shortages and associated adverse impacts.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
The Draft 2020 UWMP report was posted on the City’s website on October 18, 2021. In accordance with state law, a public hearing notification was published in The Beach Reporter on October 18, 2021, and October 25, 2021, inviting public oral and written comments at least two weeks prior to the Public Hearing, and emailed to local government agencies and other water suppliers in the area that the draft documents were available for public review.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the activity is not a “Project” as defined under Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines; therefore, pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines the activity is not subject to CEQA. Thus, no environmental review is necessary.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution No. 21-0099
2. Resolution No. 21-0100
3. 2020 Draft UWMP
4. PowerPoint Presentation (Stetson Engineers, Inc.)