TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Erick Lee, Director of Public Works
Lou Vargas, Utilities Director
SUBJECT:Title
Conduct Public Hearing and Consideration of a Resolution Amending the Water Shortage Contingency Plan (Public Works Director Lee).
(Estimated Time: 5 Min.)
A) CONDUCT PUBLIC HEARING
B) ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 22-0087
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council conduct a public hearing and adopt Resolution No. 22-0087, which amends the Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) and authorizes the City Manager to file the amended Water Shortage Contingency Plan with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR).
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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, adopt, and update the Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) every five years.
The UWMP provides a framework to help water suppliers maintain efficient use of urban water supplies, promote conservation programs and policies, ensure sufficient water supplies are available for future beneficial use, and provide a response mechanism during drought conditions or other water shortages.
The WSCP is a stand-alone document included as a chapter in the UWMP; therefore, it can be adopted and amended separately from the UWMP. The WSCP incorporates six standard water shortage levels corresponding to progressive ranges from 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 percent shortage, and greater than a 50 percent shortage.
The last update to the UWMP/WSCP was adopted by the City Council on November 2, 2021.
DISCUSSION:
Staff has identified discrepancies between the WSCP chapter of the adopted 2020 UWMP and the City’s established water conservation ordinance. In order to resolve this inconsistency and clarify how the City will respond to current and future water shortage conditions, it is necessary to incorporate the exact language from the current ordinance (Municipal Code Section 7.44 Water Conservation) into the WSCP.
Resolution 22-0087 is a resolution to formally adopt the amendments to the WSCP, which is required by the DWR for the 2020 UWMP approval. With this amendment, the WSCP will correctly detail the City’s established policies on how it intends to act, or respond to, water shortages and associated adverse impacts related to water supplies.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
The amendment to the WSCP in the 2020 UWMP report was posted on the City’s website on May 24, 2022. Pursuant to Water Code Section 10642, a Public Notice was published in the June 9 and June 16, 2022 editions of The Beach Reporter, inviting public oral and written comments at least two (2) weeks prior to the Public Hearing.
Additionally, staff emailed letters and a copy of the amendment to the following local government agencies/other water suppliers in the area:
1. California Water Service Company
2. City of El Segundo
3. County of Los Angeles - Registrar Recorder/County Clerk
4. West Basin Water District
5. Water Replenishment District
6. City of Manhattan Beach - City Clerk’s Office
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. 22-0087
2. Amended Water Shortage Contingency Plan