HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/17/1995, 4 - REGIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE PARTICIPATION �IIN^I I�Inlln�l n„III MEETING DATE:
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cityof san lugs oBIspo October 17, 1995
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT ITEM NUMB R:
FROM: John E. Moss, Utilities DirectoCrl,-\
SUBJECT: Regional Water Management Committee Participation
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
By motion; (1) receive report regarding regional water management and
proposed strategies, (2) conceptually approve the recommended strategy outlined
in the staff report, (3) appoint Council and staff representatives and alternates to
the Regional Water Management Committee.
DISCUSSION:
On September 19, 1995 County Supervisor Ovitt presented Water Management Strategies
for North San Luis Obispo County to the City Council. The two page document outlined
proposed strategies for development of a regional water management approach for north
San Luis Obispo County. Supervisor Ovitt was requesting that the City Council accept
an invitation to join the recently formed regional water management committee, made
up of municipal, district and agricultural representatives, to discuss possible solutions to
our disputes over water. This approach had been previously presented to, and adopted
by, the North County Council for presentation to the City of San Luis Obispo. The
premise of the invitation is to work towards regional water management which could be
of benefit to all parties. Supervisor Ovitt also requested the City delay proceeding with
the Salinas Dam property transfer until this committee had a chance to develop solutions.
Council unanimously accepted the invitation to meet, and directed staff to return with an
analysis of the proposed "strategies". Council also approved a staff recommendation to
defer further action on the Salinas Dam property transfer agreements until completion of
the EIR.
Before delving into the analysis of the "strategies" document, the City Utilities Director
met with Supervisor Ovitt to clarify the document's intent and meaning. Supervisor Ovitt
expressed a concern that City staff would overly analyze the document and get too
technical and detailed. He further stated that the document presented to Council was
intended to be an invitation and not intended to fully define the parameters of a regional
water management program. With this in mind, the remainder of this report will not
attempt to analyze the document presented, but instead will attempt to further define
regional water management and provide Council a basic strategy for development of
regional water management for discussion with the committee.
Regional Water Management
Regional water management should be defined as a cooperative management of all water
resources of a given region in order to maximize the beneficial use of the resources to
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COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
Regional Water Management
October 17, 1995
Page 2
the benefit of all parties while ensuring the long term viability of the resource and
protection of the public trust. The premise of this definition is essentially contained in
section A. of the proposed "strategies" document presented by Supervisor Ovitt.
Recommended Strategy
With the above definition, or something similar agreed to by the committee, staff would
recommend the development process include two distinct phases, political and technical.
With the political process occurring first, committee representatives should establish and
reach concurrence on the principles upon which regional water management will be
developed. These should include; development of a Mission Statement, identifying the
objectives of the committee; develop parameters or guiding principles for regional water
management; and define the scope of this committee's regional water management effort
to be pursued.
With the above principles established and agreed to at the political level, technical staff
can then proceed with the development and implementation of a regional water
management program. The technical development should include the following:
develop the structure of the Regional Water Management Organization (RWMO),
develop the process the RWMO will follow,
develop incentives for regional water management participation,
develop commitment and early involvement of related agencies (e.g. State Water
Resources Control Board, Fish and Game, Monterey County, etc.),
evaluate and assure commitment of all. stakeholders,
identify and develop support services for education, public relations and technical
assistance,
- describe the relationship of the regional water management program to existing
water management programs, water use practices, and policies,
- develop Memorandums of Understanding (MOUS),
- develop monitoring, control and evaluation instruments to ensure regional
programs are successful and consistent with the objectives and guiding principals,
- initiate specific projects and programs.
Completion of the above process, or one similar, will not be easy and will require a
significant amount of time. However, early identification and agreement to a process to
be followed and completion of the political process will greatly aid the technical
development.
Proceeding with development of any technical options or solutions in the absence of
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mmis COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
Regional Water Management
October 17, 1995
Page 3
political concurrence on a mission statement, clearly defined objectives and guiding
principles, is not recommended and would likely continue the disputes based on perceived
competing interests. It is for this reason that staff feels the sections relating to Water
Rights (section B.) and Suggested Action Elements (section C.) of the proposed
"Strategies" document should be revised or deleted by the political committee and not
include specific projects, water rights, and results. The "strategies" document was
prepared in a very short time frame and without San Luis Obispo City representation.
The document has served the purpose of stimulating discussion of regional water
management, but staff feels it should not serve as a guidance document. The guidance
document should be developed with concurrence of all parties, following a process
similar to that previously discussed.
Summary
Regional water management can be successful in meeting the growing demands being
placed on our limited water resources. In fact, if competing interests are unable to
resolve their water problems, the state may mandate regional water management, such
as it has in Monterey County. Regional water management does not and should not
require anyone to end up less than whole to be successful. This is especially true when
sufficient resources exist, as staff believes is the case in San Luis Obispo County.
Staff does caution, as stated earlier, that regional water management will require a
significant amount of time to develop even an initial program/project. Two years would
probably be a very optimistic estimate for the development of a JPA or MOU.
Additionally, if participation and/or scope should be overly limited, the opportunities for
win-win success will be more limited and less likely. Staff would therefore.recommend
that at least initially, the concept of regional water management be kept as broad as
possible.
Finally, staff recommends that the City continue its current efforts in our adopted water
supply projects. The projects will require additional time to complete the current
preliminary work, EIR's etc. This additional time will allow for initial discussion,
investigation and development of regional water management opportunities before any
final design or commitment to the projects is required. Additionally, the water supplies
must be first developed before they can be managed, regionally or otherwise. Regional
management could redistribute existing resources as well as new, so staff sees little
advantage in bringing our development efforts to a halt while we discuss our regional
options. Regional management can and should be a consideration as we proceed.
Based on the results of the October 3, 1995 Council study session on the City's water
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i COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
Regional Water Management
October 17, 1995
Page 4
supply projects and action relative to this item, staff will return with a revised strategy
for proceeding with the development of our water supply projects.
Council and Staff Appointment
Council should appoint a representative and alternate to serve on the regional water
management committee. Currently the committee representation is as follows:
Tina Salter - Representative for Supervisor David Blakely
Steve Martin - Paso Robles
George Highland - City of Atascadero
Clifford "Scotty" Beere - Templeton Community Services District
Pete Cagliero - Agricultural Representative
Tom Mora - Agricultural Representative
Bob Roos - Citizen Representative
Harry Ovitt - Facilitator/Chair
? ? ? ? - Atascadero Mutual Water Company
Staff support to the Council representative will be provided by the Utilities Director, John Moss,
and/or the Water Division Manager, Gary Henderson. Council should also appoint the Utilities
Director and Water Division Manager to serve as technical representatives for that phase of
regional water management development.
FISCAL EMPACT
There is no immediately identifiable fiscal impact associated with the recommended
action. Fiscal impacts of projects associated with regional water management will be
identified with those projects. Participation at the level currently recommended will
require additional staff and Council representative time. The full extent of this impact
on existing workloads and other work activities can not currently be evaluated.
ALTERNATIVES
Council could not endorse participation in the investigation of regional water management
and direct staff to proceed with our water supply projects as currently envisioned. If this
alternative is selected, the City may miss an opportunity to foster improved relations with
other water users in the County and an opportunity to expand and enhance our overall
water supply picture. Staff is recommending that we continue to proceed with the water
supply projects currently being pursued, and that we consider the potential of regional
water management as we proceed.
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COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
Regional Water Management
October 17, 1995
Page 5
Attachment:
Water Management Strategies for North San Luis Obispo County.
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WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR NORTH SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY
It is of utmost importance that the limited water resources in
North San Luis Obispo County be carefully managed for the benefit
of all citizens to maximize the available water. The time has past
where factions of the water users in the City of San Luis Obispo
and North SLO County can afford to separately pursue use of our
precious water resources.
It is now time for all water users to unite for the future welfare
of all of the County. We realize that only joint cooperative
efforts in the area of water storage, transmission and usage, will
be successful in maximizing our resources for future generations.
We are now at a crossroads. Water resources can continue to be
managed in a shortsighted, fractious way, or we can agree to
journey together for the benefit of all. A regional water agency
representing both the North County and San Luis Obispo
representatives is believed to be the effective tool for
undertaking such management.
To that end, the following proposals are being recommended for
consideration for the North County Council.
A. WATER MANAGEMENT - A NEW REGIONAL APPROACH
*Consider the creation of a regional water management group.
*Group would represent municipal agencies, districts,
agricultural reps and other down stream users.
*Group's primary focus is to look at all water resources on a
regional basis.
*All water resources including but not limited to, Nacimiento
Water and Salinas Basin Water resources may be considered as
combined, coordinated resources for San Luis Obispo and the
North County.
*A coordinated approach to maximizing the use of these water
sources would enhance the available water to all, and
result in reduced costs to all.
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B. WATER RIGHTS - COOPERATE FOR BETTER SOLUTIONS
*Salinas Dam water stored above the existing spillway
elevation will be re-evaluated and an allocation strategy
defined for the benefit of all.
*The "Live Stream" agreement may be enhanced by considering
additional waters from other sources, similar to Nacimiento.
*Riparian rights will be protected.
*Present water allocations and/or appropriations may be
revised to reflect water sharing on a regional basis.
C. SUGGESTED ACTION ELEMENTS
Now is the time to combine the Salinas Dam Project, and
the Nacimiento Project, along with Salinas River
considerations. San Luis Obispo and the North County must be
willing to work together on a compromise water allocation
strategy regarding the Salinas Dam. North County and San Luis
Obispo City must be willing to assume costs and liabilities
for a shared water use approach. Combining the projects
creates multiple opportunities for current and future water
strategies and significantly multiplies our options.
1. Immediately obtain political concurrence of this strategy
to join together for mutual regional water solutions,
rather than fighting over precious water resources.
2 . After political concurrence, at a committee level, have
the North County Council and SLO City begin meeting to
jointly outline a strategy for joining the Salinas Dam
Project and Nacimiento Project.
3 . Direct technical and elected representatives to meet and
develop a listing of combined projects for consideration
of the NCC and SLO.
4 . NCC and SLO jointly will prioritize the potential
projects and set a course for immediate action on the
alternatives while concurrently the formation of the
regional agency will be pursued.
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MUM AGENDA '1/ RECEIVE®
DATE /D-i�-affEM #
Urr i 1 .: 17>J
TO: San Luis Obispo City Council
CITY CONC
UIL
FROM: Pat Veesart �,ru ,
DATE: 13 October, 1995
SUBJECT: Regional Water Management Participation
Having read the staff report on Regional Water Management, I find that I agree
with the staff recommendation, ..."that we continue to proceed with the water
supply projects currently being pursued, and that we consider the potential of
regional water management as we proceed.". I do , however, have some
caveats and suggestions.
I urge extreme caution in binding the City of San Luis Obispo in any agreements,
MOU's, JPA's, etc. with the North County that would place control of city
water supplies in the hands of a regional body where SLO would be a voting
minority and city interests would be secondary to North County interests.
I think that it is vital that there be environmental representation on the Regional
Water Management Committee and I would ask your council to make that
suggestion. I have asked Eric Greening if he would be willing, but he said that he
would likely have transportation problems and he suggested Gidi Pullen from
the Upper Salinas/Las Tablas Resource Conservation District. I am also willing
to serve and would be another voice from "south of the grade", a constituency
that is under-represented on that committee.
What if the cityjoins this Regional Water Management Committee and that
committee then decides that the State Water Project is one of the water
management strategies that they are going to pursue? Could this end up being
a "back door" route for city particiption in the State Water Project?
I do believe that regional water management could be a good idea if the
participating parties were truly working for the best interests of the region,
including environmental protection, and not just their parochial or personal self-
interests. At this point, I have my doubts.
Pat Veesart
1446 Morro street
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
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