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Home My WebLink About06/00/1990, 4 - GROUNDWATER WELLS - (1) CITY ACQUISITION, (2) DEVELOPMENT CREDITS, AND (3) REGULATIONS 1 MEETING DATE. IIr,1�� ki�II��Ifh� �lulll City Of San Luis OBISPO - June 12.TEM NUMBER: 1990 COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT FROM: William T. Hetland, Utilities Director, and Arnold Jonas, Community Development Director 9p PREPARED BY: Glen Matteson, Associate Planner, and Allen Short, Water Division Manager SUBJECT: Groundwater wells - (1) city acquisition, (2) development credits, and (3) regulations CAO RECOMMENDATION: If council concurs with the points below, then by motion approve acceptance of points 1, 2, and 3, as recommended. 1. The city continue to purchase water from private well. owners to temporarily supplement supplies during the drought; terms of the purchase would be negotiated by staff and subject to council or CAO approval; the Utilities Director would recommend use of those sources which can feasibly be connected with, and used by, the city water system. 2 . The city not approve private wells as a basis for development of new projects (exemption from needing a water allocation) , at least until the results of the pending groundwater yield study are available. I 3. After consultation with a water rights attorney, staff draft an interim moratorium on well drilling within the city, pending the results of the groundwater yield study, or if well drilling is to be allowed, restricting it to locations and uses which will not deplete public groundwater supplies. I REPORT IN BRIEF The basic question is how to best use available groundwater supplies for the benefit of the whole community. There is growing interest in use of well water to help the city supply its customers during the drought, to build projects without water allocations, and to reduce water bills. The council has expressed concern about overdrafting groundwater. The city can continue to use groundwater as an emergency source. It would not be prudent to approve additional development based on new wells which tap a limited, shared source. The city does not now regulate well drilling. The city may want to further regulate or restrict well drilling, but needs to know more about the water rights implications of doing so. If private well drilling is to continue, the city may want to set standards higher than those used in the county, which now regulates well drilling. i C 1 ��willllll►li i�lh aty Of San tins OBISPO COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT DISCUSSION 1. Acquiring water situation Water demand exceeds supply, so the city has adopted a rationing program. It has also developed several of its own wells, negotiated water purchases from private well owners, and installed treatment facilities and modified its distribution system to more fully use available well water. Some citizens have suggested that the city obtain all well sources which might be available. Should the city obtain all sources, or set thresholds of quality and quantity? Evaluation The city has investigated 32 potential wells, and has connected or brought to production nine wells: two for non-potable use and seven for domestic consumption (one of these has gone dry) . Staff is not proposing to drill additional city wells, but is actively pursuing more water from other private wells, and providing treatment devices for the wells that do not meet quality requirements. Active wells can produce about 3, 000 acre- feet on an- annual basis, with about 2, 400 acre-feet currently usable. Staff is pursuing further changes to the distribution system to allow more full use of the water that can be pumped. Individual wells ' productions range from 125 to 1, 110 acre-feet. When the city initiated its well program, staff used the following criteria to determine if a specific well should be developed: If the well water met state and federal quality standards, it was cost effective to develop if it produced at least 100 gallons per minute (gpm) . (One-hundred gallons per minute equals about 160 acre-feet per year; city water use without rationing would be about 8, 000 acre-feet per year. ) If the well water did not meet state and federal standards, thus requiring treatment, a minimum production rate of 200 to 300 gpm was required to be cost effective. Conclusions Staff suggests that these criteria continue to be used for its own wells and private wells offered for connection to the city water system, and that staff continue to aggressively seek well supplies which will help during the drought. Rather than giving credit on water bills for water fed into the city system from a MY O� San WIS OBISpO COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT customer's well ("running the meter backwards") , the city should buy the water at a negotiated price and charge the customer for city water used. 2. Development credits I Situation The council has adopted a general plan section which says, "The city does not encourage but may consider wells to provide domestic water for private development within the city. " (Water and Wastewater Management Element, October 1987, Policy 3 . 4 . ) The Water Allocation Regulations say that a project providing its own water supply which is approved by the city is exempt from needing a water allocation (Section 17.89. 030.B[4] ) . No water allocations are available. Two developments, a large motel on calle Joaquin and a commercial building near South Higuera, have proposed private wells as sources of supply and are awaiting city approval. These and other project developers have enquired about (A) using wells to supply a development project, separate from the city's water . system, or (B) dedicating a privately developed well to the city in exchange for "water credits" which could be used to develop the site of the well or another parcel, with the new development being served by the city water system. Staff has. said that such arrangements would require council approval, and that they could be approved at a staff level only after the council endorses specific policies on quality, quantity, and relationship to city distribution. Should the city approve developments which depend on private wells, or which offer wells to the city? Evaluation When the referenced policy and regulations were adopted, the city did not anticipate using groundwater extensively, either as a drought-relief measure or a long-term source of supply, due to concerns about quality and reliability. Groundwater was seen as a potential source for developers willing to make their projects independent from city water supply, which could be to the benefit of the project occupants in the short term, but expose them to greater risks in the long term. Now that the city has committed about 450 acre-feet from groundwater as a permanent source of supply for new development, plus several thousand acre-feet as a drought emergency source, allowing additional private development which relies on wells appears to simply divide the finite, shared groundwater resource among more points of extraction. y- MY Of San tins OBISPO COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT Groundwater in the San Luis Obispo area appears to occur in several partially separate sub-basins. Opinions conflict on whether the basin as a whole is overdrafted. The environmental impact report for the county Land Use Element said it was, but the city's more recent study (John Wallace & Associates) said some additional withdrawals could be made from the Laguna Lake and South Higuera areas. The state and the county are working on another evaluation of the whole basin, and the council has asked for an expedited study of the San Luis Obispo Creek area. Staff expects the results of the city-funded study to be available early September. conclusion Until it is shown that additional groundwater withdrawals can be made without simply using a limited resource faster, the city should not approve developments which rely on groundwater. 3. Regulation of well drilling Situation In October 1987, while adopting the general plan policy that allows but does not encourage private wells, the council asked staff to draft permit requirements and standards for private water wells. In July 1989, several councilmembers expressed concern about overdrafting as a result of unregulated well development, but a motion to suspend further issuance of city permits for wells failed on a two-to-two vote. In September 1989, staff reported on well drilling activity and options for regulation, and the council took no action. On May 1, 1990, the council again discussed a ban on private well drilling, and directed staff to return with an evaluation. No agency monitors or regulates groundwater quantity. Anyone can drill wells and pump as much as they can. Required environmental review can help disclose concerns and anticipated problems, but such review alone is not expected to constrain groundwater use. If groundwater users in an area believe their individual use is being jeopardized by cumulative pumping, they can ask the state Department of Water Resources to adjudicate the groundwater basin --to decide who can pump how much. The County Health Department administers minimum state standards for well development, which are intended primarily to prevent contaminated surface water or shallow groundwater from reaching potable, deeper groundwater. The Health Department also supervises use of well water for "public uses, " such as motels and restaurants, but not for individual houses. The county t111111A1 l$JJJ 11 MY Of san tuts OBI SPO COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT Engineering Department has standards for well water quantity proposed to supply private developments in the county. The city requires plumbing and electrical permits for wells, to prevent hazards of electrical shock and of private well water flowing back into the city water system. All the city and county permits are "ministerial" in the sense that if the well meets adopted standards, the agency is obligated to approve it. In some localities, but not here, applicants for well permits must show that their pumping will provide for the intended use without depleting the groundwater supply. Can and should the city prevent further private well drilling? If not, what standards should be applied to the various uses of private wells? Evaluation There are about 25 privately operated wells within the city or in adjacent county areas, which are known to the city. There may be additional wells which have been hand dug or which are not recorded on well logs. Staff believes there are about a dozen more wells dating from before the 19501s, which may not be used regularly. There are about fifty wells within the airport area, outside the city, and about 200 more wells in the Reservoir Canyon, Stenner Creek, O'Connor Way, Country Club/Rolling Hills, and Edna Valley areas that are within the upper San Luis Obispo Creek watershed and groundwater basin. These wells are within the County's jurisdiction and are not subject to city regulation. For the last several years, about one well per month has been drilled in the San Luis Obispo area. However, in March and April, the city alone issued permits for 13 wells. No one knows how much water is being pumped. Estimates of the amount of water that can be pumped from the immediate area of the city vary, but center between 2, 000 and 3 ,000 acre-feet per year. Many projects in the San Luis Obispo area have been adequately served by wells; others have experienced serious problems. Groundwater conditions vary substantially within the area. Here is a summary of the options which staff last presented to the council: A. Do nothing. Adjudication would probably occur to deal with overdrafting, unless the county or a special district starts to manage groundwater. City administration and enforcement costs would be minimized in the short term, but legal and utility costs could be significant in the long term. ��i�aVV�l11��po�u►(��U city of san Luis osispo MiS COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT B. Require information of well drillers and operators, which would help define reliable yields and quality, and could eventually lead to control of withdrawals. City administration/enforcement costs would not be high initially, but would increase as the city adopted controls. C. Regulate well drilling or pumping, or both, based on current knowledge. The city would allow some additional private well development, but in locations presumed not to interfere with public groundwater supplies. City enforcement costs could be substantial. Staff is not yet prepared to recommend limits on pumping rates or well locations. D. Prohibit additional private well drilling, or at least require that a hearing be held and that "no significant impact" be demonstrated prior to issuing a permit. (The City of Morro Bay's use of this approach has resulted in a virtual moratorium. ) Doing so would prevent new taps into the groundwater, but would not limit the amount of pumping from existing wells. Also, this approach will not limit well drilling outside the city limits. The lack of information on reliable yields, plus the previous conclusions on overdrafting, indicate that this action could be justified as an interim measure, perhaps as a permanent prohibition. City administration/enforcement costs would be minimized, though there would be some costs to this approach. If wells are to be used for private developments, the following points raised by the Utilities Department and the Fire Department should be reflected in the policies and standards: Fire protection is a community-wide goal that requires community-wide resources. All fires have the potential for impacting adjacent structures and the community at large. The City's current fire protection delivery system is based in part on a public water system that is maintained by the City's Utilities Department. The City's Class 2 insurance rating is based on this public water supply and its performance and associated reliability. It is not prudent to rely on private water systems or private wells to provide the fire- protection water requirements of a particular building and/or to protect adjacent properties. All water supplied to fire hydrants should be provided by the City's public water supply, which is designed for 24- hour reliability and community fire flow needs. Private wells, on the other hand, only provide water needs of individual occupancies. Therefore, the Fire Chief recommends that private wells be used for domestic consumption or irrigation supply only. In no case should private wells be used to supply water for city of San tuts OBISPO Al COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT fire protection purposes. The Utilities Department is concerned with the potential for private wells to be inadvertently connected to the private party's building, which is in turn connected to the City's water system without the proper protective devices. With improper cross-connection, lowered pressure in the city system can cause water from the private supply to enter the city's distribution system. If the private well water is contaminated or not properly chlorinated, the city's supply can be contaminated, raising health and liability problems. The City during its groundwater development program has found organic contamination. This type of contamination requires treatment prior to consumption. Most individuals will not spend the money to have the proper water quality testing done. Additionally, the water requires chlorination for disinfection prior to consumption. Most private well developers will not do so. Conclusions If further well drilling is to be prohibited, the council should first consider adopting an interim moratorium pending the results of the groundwater yield study; permanent restrictions could follow, based upon that study and advice from a water-rights attorney. If further well drilling is to be allowed, council should direct staff to return with recommended standards, to supplement existing county requirements. CONCURRENCES The City Attorney helped prepare this report, and concurs with the suggested approach. gmD: wells-cc.wp