Loading...
sr-062811-9a City Council Report City of SunLa Monica City Council Meeting: June 28, 2011 Agenda Item: To: Mayor and City Council From: Martin Pastucha, Director of Public Works Subject: Public Hearing for the City of Santa Monica's 2010 Urban .Water Management Plan Recommended Action Staff recommends that City Council: 1. Hold a public hearing and receive public comment to be incorporated into the City's 2010 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). 2. Adopt Method 3, pursuant to Water Code Section 10608.22 (b)(3) as the method for establishing the City's water usage target. 3. Consider adoption of the 2010 UWMP by Resolution at Council's July 12, 2011 meeting. Executive Summary The Urban Water Management Planning Act ("Act") codified in California Water Code Sections 10610 through 10657 requires every urban water agency supplying more than 3,000 acre-feet of water annually or serving 3,000 or more connections to prepare and adopt an UWMP every five years. Amendments to the California Water Code require that the UWMP address the agency's plan to comply with a State mandate to reduce water consumption by 20 percent by the year 2020. The draft UWMP prepared for Santa Monica includes the selection of Method 3 (among four options) as the preferred method for establishing the City's water usage target based on achievability, sustainability, and continued eligibility for State funding. Discussion Urban Water Management Plans (UWMP) are prepared by California urban water suppliers to support their long-term resource planning and ensure adequate water supplies are available to meet existing and future water demands. Every urban water supplier that either provides over 3,000 acre-feet of water annually or serves 3,000 or more connections is required to assess the reliability of its water sources over a 20-year planning horizon considering normal, dry, and multiple dry years. This assessment is to be included in the UWMP, which must be prepared every five years and submitted to 1 the Department of Water Resources (DWR). DWR then reviews the submitted plans to ensure completion of the requirements identified in the Urban Water Management Planning (UWMP)-Act ("Act") (Division 6 Part 2.6 of the Water Code §10610 - 10656). The various chapters in the UWMP address Water Sources and Supplies, .Water Quality, Water Demands, Reliability Planning, Conservation Measures, and Water Shortage Contingency Planning. Recent Law Changes In addition to some changes in the Urban Water Management Planning Act since the last UWMPs were submitted in 2005, Governor Schwarzenegger in his 20x2020 Plan determined that for California to continue to have enough water to support its growing population, California needs to reduce the amount of water each person uses per day (Per Capita Daily Consumption, which is measured in gallons per capita per day). This reduction of 20 percent per capita per day use by the year 2020 is supported by legislation passed in November 2009 SBx7-7 (Steinberg). This new legislation amends the California Water Code and calls for year 2015 and 2020 water use targets to be identified in the 2010 UWMP. Failure to comply with interim and final State targets will make the City ineligible for grants and loans from the State that are necessary to achieve the City's goal of water self-sufficiency by the year 2020. The State DWR has provided guidelines for establishing interim and final targets in order to comply with. the provisions of SBx7-7. The options have been established in order to avoid any undue hardship on water agencies which have already been implementing conservation measures for some time, as Santa Monica has. • Method 1: Straight 20-percent reduction from the baseline period (this method is applicable to Santa Monica). • Method 2: Indoor water use targeted at 55 gallons per capita per day (gpcd), plus reduction in commercial, industrial, and institutional water use by 10 percent, plus reduction in landscape irrigation amount allowed in the DWR Model Landscape Ordinance (this method applies to agencies which utilize water- budget based rate structures, with comprehensive information regarding building size and landscape plant evapotranspiration rates; this method is not appropriate for Santa Monica). 2 Method 3: Reduction of gcpd to 95 percent of the South Coast Hydrologic Region's average gcpd (staff is recommending this method). • Method 4: Reduction target calculation based upon estimated savings which would likely result from retrofit of inefficient indoor residential fixtures, plus commercial, industrial, and institutional water use efficiency savings, plus conversions from unmetered to metered connections (indoor water fixture efficiency conversion is near saturation level already in Santa Monica, all connections in the city are metered; this method is not appropriate for Santa Monica). Among the four options provided for compliance, staff has selected Method 3 to include in the UWMP. The 2015 interim target for this method is 148 gallons per capita per day (gpcd) and the 2020 target is 141 gpcd. In 2009, Santa Monica achieved 133 gpcd. Staff believes Method 3 is appropriate for the following reasons: • Santa Monica's ongoing comprehensive conservation programs have yielded a 16-percent increase in water efficiency from 1996 to 2010 and developed a strong community conservation ethic. Accordingly, compliance with SBx7-7 can be readily and sustainably achieved under Method 3 without significant expenditures or additional staff resource allocation. Interim and final target gpcd figures under Method 3 are already being met (as demonstrated by 133 gpcd achieved in 2009). In other words, the "low hanging fruit" of indoor plumbing retrofit and conservation messaging has yielded water usage already lower than the Method 3 targets. Conversely, if the Method 1 target (123 gpcd) was adopted, an element of risk is introduced should the City fall short of this goal, as discussed further below; • Although the availability of State funding is never guaranteed, assuring compliance with SBx7-7 preserves the City's opportunity and eligibility for continued State grants and loans. These funding sources to date have been a critical component in successful community conservation programs. Over the last five years, $470,000 in State funding has been received and utilized for various water conservation programs including rebates for sustainable landscapes and water-saving .irrigation systems, rain barrels, cisterns, plumbing fixture and process equipment retrofit, and educational programs. Continuation of these programs will be an important component of achieving water self- sufficiency by 2020. The significant effort and financial resources expended in recent years toward successful conservation measures necessitate that additional measures be thoughtfully developed. In doing so, the City's conservation goals can be attainable without jeopardizing funding resources which may be available for development and implementation of the Water Master Plan coming to Council in the next fiscal year; and • While achieving compliance with SBx7-7 utilizing Method 3, the City maintains the option of setting more stringent water conservation goals in the Water Master 3 Plan currently under development by staff. As presented to Council in March 2011, the Water Master Plan will address strategies and policy recommendations for achieving water self-sufficiency by the year 2020. For example, to accomplish this goal the per capita consumption rate in 2020 is projected to be 127 gpcd. The calculation of per capita water consumption, at its mosf basic, is a city's water usage divided by the number of permanent residents. For cities like Los Angeles. and. Long Beach, daily usage is not as severely impacted by the influx of workers and visitors as is evidenced in Santa Monica. As a destination resort community, Santa Monica experiences a doubling or tripling of its population for a portion of the year. The resultant increase in water demand due to this daily transient population spike skews the calculation of per capita water consumption upwards. This scenario was considered in the selection of Method 3. As stated previously, adoption of Method 3 is prudent given the removal of risk in losing eligibility for State- funding assistance. It bears repeating, however, that the City's self- ordained goal of water self-sufficiency by 2020, and the pending development of a Water Master Plan to achieve this goal remains the avenue by which a water use target approaching the Method 1 target can be achieved. As allowed by provisions included in SBx7-7, the City may review its water use reduction prior to 2015 and make any necessary changes to the calculation methodologies at that time. This opportunity allows the City to be strategic about setting .stringent. goals and objectives in the. Water Master Plan through a public process without risking future funds. Santa Monica is arr established leader in sustainability and conservation. Additional conservation efforts required to achieve water self-sufficiency and future large scale reductions are anticipated to be increasingly difficult to achieve, following the City's successful and proactive efforts to date. 4 Commission Action On May 16, 2011, the Draft 2010 UWMP was presented to the Task Force on the Environment. The Task Force recommends the UWMP be submitted utilizing DWR Method 1 instead of Method 3 for establishing reduction targets. Method 1 sets a more stringent target (123 gcpd) than Method 3 (141 gcpd). Comments received at the Task Force meeting and responses have been included in Appendix M. Comments and answers from this Public Hearing will be included as Appendix N in the final document. Public Notice On March 23, 2011, a public notice was issued in the Santa Monica Daily Press inviting public participation in the preparation of the 2010 UWMP, including staff name and phone number for the public to contact for questions. Public Hearing In accordance with state law, this public hearing was noticed on May 17, 2011, and May 24, 2011, in the Santa Monica Daily Press, and copies of the. draft UWMP were available online, at libraries, City Hall, and at the offices of the Water Resources Division. Additionally, a notice for the resolution adopting the plan at Council's July 12, 2011, meeting was published on June 27, 2011. 5 Financial Impacts & Budget Actions There are no financial impacts or budget actions resulting from this public hearing. Nevertheless, the adoption of the UWMP, utilizing Method 3 to establish water usage targets, carries with it the following positive economic impacts: • The UWMP indicates a level of reliability in the City's water supply outlook, enabling development and redevelopment plans throughout the city. • Certainty in achieving the regulatory threshold to maintain eligibility for State assistance (for example, $470,000 over the last five years have been applied to water conservation programs). • If State assistance is available, lower revenue may be required from ratepayers. Prepared by: Gilbert M. Borboa, Jr., P.E., Water Resources Manager Approved: ~i Martin Pastucha Director of Public Works Forwarded to Council: ~odGould City Manager Attachments: A - 2010 Urban Water Management Plan 6 Additional attachments available for review in the City Clerk's Office.