SR 05-08-2018 3B
City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: May 8, 2018
Agenda Item: 3.B
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Susan Cline, Director, Public Works, Office of Sustainability & the
Environment
Subject: Cost-Sharing Memorandum of Agreements with the City of Los Angeles for
Two Coordinated Integrated Monitoring Plans for Santa Monica Bay and
Ballona Creek
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and
execute two Memorandum of Agreements (MOA) with the City of Los Angeles to
implement cost-sharing Coordinated Integrated Monitoring Plans (CIMPs) to comply
with the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board's National Pollution
Discharge Elimination Systems (NPDES) permit requirements. One MOA is for the
Santa Monica Bay and one MOA is for Ballona Creek.
Executive Summary
The City is obligated to comply with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
Systems (NPDES) permit requirements to reduce pollution from runoff into the Santa
Monica Bay and Ballona Creek. NPDES requirements include coordinated integrated
monitoring plans to collect data and demonstrate compliance with water quality
objectives specified in the permit. As a jurisdiction that drains into the Santa Monica
Bay and Ballona Creek watersheds, the City is obligated to share the costs associated
with implementing the coordinated integrated monitoring plans. The costs for the five-
year monitoring period (FY 18/19 through FY 22/23) of the Santa Monica Bay and
Ballona Creek MOAs would not exceed $572,027 and $16,946, respectively.
Background
The Federal Clean Water Act (CWA) requires the California Regional Water Quality
Control Board, Los Angeles Region (Board), to develop water quality standards that
protect beneficial uses for each water body found within its region. Beneficial uses
include swimming, fishing, drinking water, navigability, and wildlife habitats and
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reproduction. Section 303(d) of the CWA requires states to prepare a list of water
bodies that do not meet water quality standards and establish Total Maximum Daily
Loads (TMDLs) for each of these water bodies. A TMDL represents an amount of
pollution that can be released by human activity and natural sources into a specific
water body without causing a decline in water quality and beneficial uses.
The Santa Monica Bay and Ballona Creek watersheds have been included on
California’s Section 303(d) list since 1998 due to impairments by bacteria, trash, organic
chemicals and metals. The Board has adopted multiple TMDLs for these pollutants
since 2003 in order to address these impairments.
The City Council approved an initial Santa Monica Bay MOA for cost-sharing bacterial
monitoring on July 8, 2003. The City Council approved the Ballona Creek MOAs for
cost-sharing monitoring for bacteria, metals and toxics on July 14, 2009.
In accordance with these TMDLs, the City of Los Angeles submitted a Coordinated
Integrated Monitoring Plan (CIMP) for compliance with the TMDLs on behalf of the
agencies within these watersheds. The City of Los Angeles is responsible for
performing all required monitoring and reporting to the Board. The City of Los Angeles
invoices the City of Santa Monica annually for its share of monitoring costs for Santa
Monica Bay and Ballona Creek. The City Council approved the most recent three-year
renewal of both MOAs on February 23, 2016, which end on June 30, 2018 (Attachment
A).
Discussion
On November 28, 2012, the Board approved a new NDPES permit with more extensive
monitoring requirements. The expanded CIMPs require the City to enter into new
MOAs with the City of Los Angeles to reflect the additional monitoring protocols and
requirements. Under the terms of the MOAs, the City of Los Angeles would continue to
be responsible for all monitoring and reporting activities to the Board.
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The new MOAs include additional costs associated with tasks that the City of Los
Angeles performed at its own expense, in previous years, on behalf of other cities to
meet the NPDES permit requirements. However, these costs have increased and the
City of Los Angeles is proposing to include these additional costs in the updated MOAs.
Costs reflect the following responsibilities:
Annual Reporting: As the principal reporting agency, the City of Los Angeles
performs a number of tasks related to the annual report, such as water quality
monitoring, annual rainfall tracking, and hydrology reporting.
Report of Waste Discharge: Prepare application reporting on discharge
locations that could affect urban runoff. Reapplication of the permit every five
years.
Adaptive Management: Biannual reporting stating how cities have modified
their stormwater program to better meet the permit requirements.
Reasonable Assurance Analysis: Per the permit, this analysis was performed
during the 2012 permit period to complete Enhanced Watershed Management
Plans (EWMPs). It must be performed again for the renewed permit. This
analysis is a computer model simulation that predicts if the stormwater harvesting
projects to be built within each watershed by cities will achieve EWMP
requirements. The analysis demonstrates to the Board that cities will meet
EWMP requirements and water quality standards.
Enhanced Watershed Management Plan (EWMP) Time Extension: There is
an interim EWMP Implementation milestone set for April 11, 2018. Under the
terms of the EWMP, the City of Los Angeles plans to submit a time extension on
behalf of the cities in these watersheds to give cities more time to comply with
the EWMP. This will allow for additional work to meet some of the water quality
standards that will not likely be met before the 2018 compliance milestone.
Time Schedule Orders (Santa Monica Bay Bacterial TMDL): The final
compliance milestone for the wet-weather bacterial TMDL is July 15, 2021.
Under the terms of the EWMP, the City of Los Angeles plans to submit a Time
Schedule Order, on behalf of the cities in these watersheds to give cities more
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time to comply with the TMDL. This will allow for additional work to meet some of
the water quality standards that will not likely be met before the 2021 compliance
milestone.
The additional cost to the City of Santa Monica associated with the above administrative
(non-CIMP) tasks totals $181,780 for Santa Monica Bay and $2,543 for Ballona Creek
watersheds.
The MOA five-year budgets for the CIMP and additional permit costs are listed below by
fiscal year for each watershed.
Santa Monica Bay
Fiscal Year Budget
18/19 $93,821
19/20 $116,324
20/21 $128,205
21/22 $85,396
22/23 $96,279
Contingency $52,002
Total $572,027
Ballona Creek
Fiscal Year Budget
18/19 $6,096
19/20 $2,394
20/21 $2,920
21/22 $2,075
22/23 $2,284
Contingency $1,177
Total $16,946
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The budgetary difference between the two watersheds is due to the difference in
drainage area of the City: Santa Monica Bay – 19.76%; Ballona Creek – 0.28%.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
Santa Monica Bay
The MOA cost share for the Santa Monica Bay is for an amount not to exceed $572,027
over a five-year period through FY 2022-23. Funds of $93,821 are available in the
Proposed FY 2018-19 budget in the Public Works Department. The MOA will be
charged to account 06402.555170.
Ballona Creek
The MOA cost share for the Ballona Creek is for an amount not to exceed $16,946 over
a five-year period through FY 2022-23. Funds of $6,096 are available in the Proposed
FY 2018-19 budget in the Public Works Department. The MOA will be charged to
account 06402.555170.
Future year funding for both agreements is contingent on Council budget approval.
Prepared By: Neal Shapiro, Senior Sustainability Analyst
Approved
Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. February 23, 2016 Staff Report
REFERENCE:
MOA No. 10670
(CCS)
&
MOA No. 10671
(CCS)