SR 08-28-2018 7B
City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: August 28, 2018
Agenda Item: 7.B
1 of 1
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Lane Dilg, City Attorney, City Attorney’s Office
Subject: Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance Adding Chapter 7.18 to the
Santa Monica Municipal Code Relating to Sustainable Groundwater
Management and Prohibiting New Private Wells and Expansion of Private
Wells Unless and Until Permitted by a Groundwater Sustainability Plan
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that City Council adopt the attached Ordinance.
Executive Summary
At its meeting on August 14, 2018, the City Council introduced for first reading an
ordinance adding Chapter 7.18 to the Santa Monica Municipal Code relating to
sustainable groundwater management and prohibiting new private wells and expansion
of private wells unless and until permitted by a groundwater sustainability plan.
The ordinance is now presented to City Council for adoption.
Prepared By: Elsa Kapsinow, Executive Assistant to the City Attorney
Approved
Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Ordinance - Sustainable Groundwater Management - Second Reading -
08282018
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City Council Meeting: August 28, 2018 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER _________ (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA MONICA ADDING CHAPTER 7.18 TO THE SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL
CODE RELATING TO SUSTAINABLE GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT AND
PROHIBITING NEW PRIVATE WELLS AND EXPANSION OF PRIVATE WELLS
UNLESS AND UNTIL PERMITTED BY A GROUNDWATER SUSTAINABILITY PLAN
WHEREAS, the City Council finds and determines that it is in the best interests of
the City of Santa Monica (“City”) to ensure sustainable groundwater management; and
WHEREAS, the City's findings and determinations are based upon the following:
A. Throughout the State of California unregulated water wells have contributed
to the overdraft of groundwater aquifers, the subsidence of land and the contamination
and pollution of public drinking water supplies.
B. The City receives the majority of its drinking water from groundwater
supplied from potable water production wells drawing from aquifer sub-basins within the
Santa Monica Groundwater Basin, the boundaries of which are described in Bulletin 118
of the California Department of Water Resources ("Department").
C. On several occasions since the 1990s, various City wells have been
contaminated causing the City to curtail potable water production and to construct multi -
million-dollar water treatment facilities to remove the contamination.
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D. These City wells and their aquifers must be protected against overdraf t,
pollution and contamination so that the City may continue to provide potable water to its
citizens and comply with the health and welfare guidelines promulgated by the various
state and federal regulatory agencies.
E. California Constitution, Article X, Section 2, as well as California Water
Code section 100, prohibit the waste, unreasonable use, unreasonable method of use,
and unreasonable method of diversion of water.
F. The City suffers from recurring severe drought conditions. As a result, the
residents and businesses operating within the City live under an almost constant threat
of potable water shortages and mandatory water use reductions.
G. The City has adopted a water conservation plan to minimize the effect of
the shortage of water within the City of Santa Monica by significantly reducing the long-
and short-term consumption of water, thereby preserving available water for the future
requirements of the City, while minimizing the hardship caused to the general public to
the greatest extent possible; and
WHEREAS, on April 9, 2013, the Santa Monica City Council adopted the
Sustainability Rights Ordinance, codified as Chapter 4.75 of the Santa Monica Municipal
Code, which expressly acknowledges that natural communities and ecosystems possess
fundamental and inalienable rights to exist and flourish, and which authorizes residents
of the City to bring actions to protect these natural communities and ecosystems; and
WHEREAS, the State legislature enacted the Sustainable Groundwater
Management Act (Water Code sections 10720 et seq.) ("SGMA"), which became effective
on January 1, 2015; and
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WHEREAS, a portion of the 50-square mile Santa Monica Basin that underlies
Santa Monica has been designated by the Department as a "medium-priority"
groundwater basin; and
WHEREAS, any groundwater basin designated as medium-priority must be
managed under a groundwater sustainability plan ("GSP") adopted by a local
groundwater sustainability agency ("GSA") and approved by the Department, by January
31, 2022; and
WHEREAS, the GSP must be developed and implemented to achieve
sustainability for any medium-priority basin within twenty (20) years after adoption of the
GSP; and
WHEREAS, the City, City of Culver City, City of Beverly Hills, Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power, and the County of Los Angeles have formed a local
GSA in accordance with SGMA; and
WHEREAS, SGMA allows the member agencies of a GSA to enforce the
requirements of SGMA within each member agency's jurisdiction; and
WHEREAS, this Sustainable Groundwater Management Ordinance is adopted to
effectuate the Sustainability Rights Ordinance and SGMA, and to protect the health,
safety, and general welfare of the residents of the City and its natural communities and
ecosystems by ensuring that groundwater extraction will not result in the wasteful,
unreasonable or non-beneficial use of groundwater extracted within the City, and that
water wells located within the City will not cause or contribute to the overdraft of the City's
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underlying aquifers or to their pollution or contamination, or lead to subsidence of land
within the City.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 7.18 is hereby added to read
as follows:
CHAPTER 7.18 –SUSTAINABLE GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT
7.18.010 Title.
This chapter is known as and may be cited as the "Sustainable Groundwater
Management Ordinance" of the City of Santa Monica.
7.18.020 Purpose.
The City Council finds and determines that it is in the best interests of the City to
manage groundwater resources within the City to protect the public health, safety, and
general welfare of City residents, further the goals and purposes of the Sustainability
Rights Ordinance (Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 4.75), and implement the
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (California Water Code Sections 10720, et
seq.).
7.18.030 Definitions.
The terms used in this chapter shall have the following meanings:
A. "City" means City of Santa Monica.
B. “City well” means a well owned or operated by the City to provide water
supply to establishments served by the City’s water supply system.
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C. "Groundwater Sustainability Plan” means a plan adopted by a groundwater
sustainability agency for the Santa Monica Groundwater Basin and approved by the
Department of Water Resources in accordance with the Sustainable Groundwater
Management Act.
D. "Sustainable Groundwater Management Act" means Water Code sections
10720 et seq.
E. "Well” is defined in California Water Code section 13710 and any
subsequent amendments, supplements or revisions thereto, except that this definition
shall not include City wells.
7.18.040 Well Prohibition.
The installation of new wells or the expansion of existing wells is prohibited unless
and until (i) a Groundwater Sustainability Plan is adopted, and (ii) the construction of
new wells or the expansion of existing wells is expressly authorized by the Groundwater
Sustainability Plan .
SECTION 2. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this
Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any
court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining
portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed
this Ordinance and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase not
declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion of the ordinance
would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
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SECTION 3. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall attest to the passage
of this Ordinance. The City Clerk shall cause the same to be published once in the official
newspaper within fifteen (15) days after its adoption. This Ordinance shall become
effective thirty (30) days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_________________________
LANE DILG
City Attorney
REFERENCE:
Ordinance No. 2584
(CCS)