HomeMy WebLinkAboutConfirmed action by the City Administrator and Director of P 1� s
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Council/Agency Meeting Held: 6
Deferred/Continued to:
)iAppr vedv ® Conditionally Approved ® Denied ° Ci i lerk's ignatur
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Council Meeting Date: 4/6/2009 Department ID Number: PW 09-14
CITY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
SUBMITTED TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COU IL MEMBERS
SUBMITTED BY: FRED A. WILSON, CITY ADMINISTR
PREPARED BY: TRAVIS K. HOPKINS, PE, DIRECTOR O P&LIC WORKS
SUBJECT: Confirm Implementation of Stage 1 of the Water Management Program
F
atement of Issue,Funding Source,Recommended Action,Alternative Action(s),Analysis,Environmental Status,Attachment(s)
Statement of Issue: Chapter 14.18 of the Municipal Code (HBMC) establishes a Water
Management Program for the City based upon the need to conserve water supplies and to
avoid or minimize the effects of future water shortages. The City Administrator and Director
of Public Works have implemented Stage 1 of the Water Management Program. Per the
Municipal Code, this action must be confirmed by the City Council.
Funding Source: Any funds needed to implement the Water Management Program will be
provided by the Water Fund (506) operating budget.
Recommended Action: (Motion to:
1. Confirm the implementation of Stage 1 of the Water Management Program.
Alternative Action(s):
2. Do not confirm the implementation and direct staff to return to normal operations.
3. Direct staff to implement a greater stage of the Water Management Program.
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
MEETING DATE: 4/6/2009 DEPARTMENT ID NUMBER: PW 09-14
Analysis:
Water Supply in Huntington Beach
The City provides water service to over 52,000 connections in the City and in unincorporated
Sunset Beach. Water supply is a mixture of groundwater, provided by 10 wells located
throughout the City, and "imported" water, provided by the Metropolitan Water District of
Southern California (MWD). Imported water is a mixture of Colorado River and State Water
Project deliveries. The groundwater basin is managed by the Orange County Water District
(OCWD). The City is a member agency of the Municipal Water District of Orange County
(MWDOC), which in turn is a member agency of MWD. MWDOC manages the imported
water supply for the majority of Orange County.
Each year OCWD sets the allowable basin pumping percentage (BPP) and the
replenishment assessment (RA). The BPP has fluctuated over the course of the last several
years; 66%, 64%, 69% and 82% respectively in the last four water years (July through June).
The BPP set for the current water year (July 2008 through June 2009) is 69%. It is estimated
that the BPP will be reduced to somewhere between 60% and 64% for the upcoming water
year. The RA is the amount that groundwater producers pay per acre-foot of water pumped
from the basin. The RA has increased substantially over this same period; $172, $205,
$223, $237 over the last four water years. The RA for the current water year is set at
$249/acre-foot and OCWD currently anticipates no increase for water year 2009-2010. The
balance of the City's water demand must be met with imported water or an equity
assessment is added to the RA, essentially making pumped water equal to the cost of
imported water.
Imported water cost is far greater than that of groundwater. Therefore, the higher the BPP,
the lower overall water cost to the City. As of January 1, 2008, the cost of imported water is
$603.50/acre-foot. MWD is predicting further substantial increases through 2009 and into
2010, with some estimates placing the cost in the $800/acre-foot range.
Water Supply Situation in Southern California, Orange County and Huntington Beach
Water year 2007 was a dry year statewide, and especially in Central and Southern California.
Much of Southern California had one of the driest precipitation years on record, surpassing
the prior records set in 2001-2002. In Northern and Central California, unimpaired runoff from
Sierra Nevada watersheds was below average. The Colorado River Basin, an important
source of water supply for Southern California, continued in drought conditions, having
experienced below average runoff in seven of the last eight years. In addition, water supplies
for customers of the State Water Project and Federal Central Valley Project, which includes
Huntington Beach and most of Southern California, have been affected by court-imposed
restrictions on diversions from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to protect the Delta
smelt. Impacts of the record dry spring months of 2008, combined with the water projects'
export restrictions from the Delta, led the Governor to issue Executive Order S-06-08,
proclaiming a statewide drought and directing state actions to be taken to address drought
-2- 3/24/2009 11:56 AIM
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
MEETING DATE: 4/6/2009 DEPARTMENT ID NUMBER: PW 09-14
conditions and water delivery restrictions. More recently, on February 27, 2009, the
Governor declared a state of emergency due to the drought and ordered immediate action to
deal with the crisis.
MWD has prepared a drought allocation plan, which will essentially limit the amount of water
available to its customers. Substantial penalties are charged to any agencies going over
their allocation. MWDOC in turn has created a plan, modeled after the MWD plan, to
manage its allocation among its member agencies. Under this plan, a base year demand
was determined using the average water use over calendar years 2004, 2005 and 2006
adjusted to reflect population growth and other factors. Based on the most recent version of
the allocation plan, Huntington Beach has a base year water demand of 33,339 acre-feet
(acre-foot = 325,851 gallons). The table below shows Huntington Beach's calendar year
water demand for the last ten years.
Calendar Year Water Demand (af)
1999 34,427
2000 35,738
2001 33,893
2002 35,083
2003 33,256
2004 34,061
2005 32,561
2006 31,960
2007 32,645
2008 31,691
As the table shows, Huntington Beach water demand has decreased over the last several
years, with last year's use at nearly 5% less than the base year demand. While MWD has
not implemented the drought allocation plan to date, it is currently estimated that, at a
minimum, a 15% import water delivery curtailment will be declared as early as this summer.
The model developed by MWDOC allocates import water deliveries based on the percentage
of MWD delivery curtailment, the base year demand, allowable BPP and other adjustment
factors. Fortunately, because Huntington Beach meets the majority of its water demand with
groundwater, a 15% import water curtailment does not equate to a 15% total water delivery
decrease. The table below shows the resultant import water delivery curtailment compared to
the base year and last calendar year and assuming a 64% BPP (36% import).
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REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
MEETING DATE: 4/6/2009 DEPARTMENT ID NUMBER: PW 09-14
Import Allocation % of Base Allocation % of
Allocations at Allocation less Base Year less 2008 2008
shortage of: (a Year (af) Demand (a Demand
5% 11,228 774 -2.32% 181 -0.57%
10% 10,429 1,573 -4.72% 980 -3.09%
15% 9,852 (2,150) -6.45% 1,557 -4.91%
20% 9,127 (2,875) -8.62% 2,282 -7.20%
25% 8,402 3,600 -10.80% 3,007 -9.49%
30% 7,677 (4,325) -12.97% 3,732 -11.78%
35% 6,952 (5,050) -15.15% 4,457 -14.06%
40% 6,227 (5,775) -17.32% 5,182 -16.35%
45% 5,502 (6,500) -19.50% (5,907) -18.64%
50% 4,777 7,225 -21.67% 6,632 -20.93%
Based on a drought allocation at a 15% shortage, the City would need to conserve 6.45% of
the base year demand or 4.91% of calendar year 2008 demand to avoid penalties.
Water Management Program
On November 5, 2007, the City Council adopted resolution 2007-72 recognizing the State's
drought condition and establishing policies and procedure is support of water conservation.
Huntington Beach was the first Orange County City to adopt such a resolution. On August 4,
2008, City Council adopted the current Water Management Program. The program is
presented in stages; however, the nature of the water supply shortage determines the
appropriate stage to be implemented. If the severity of the water emergency increases,
stages which reduce demand more than the previous stage will be implemented.
Unanticipated emergency water shortages may require immediate restrictive actions, without
progressive stages.
Based on the current water supply situation, the City Administrator and Director of Public
Works implemented Stage 1 of the program effective March 23, 2009. This stage is for
shortages of up to 10% and involves implementing voluntary conservation measures;
specific water use restrictions; regulated irrigation times; review of City facilities water use;
and a coordinated public information program. In all stages, water waste is prohibited.
Penalties may be assessed for noncompliance.
Stage 1 — up to 10% shortage
Reduce interior and exterior uses of water whenever possible to prevent water
waste.
-4- 3/24/2009 11:56 AM
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
MEETING DATE: 4/6/2009 DEPARTMENT ID NUMBER: PW 09-14
Prohibit the washing of concrete and other hard surfaces, including driveways,
walkways and parking areas, except as required to maintain health or safety, unless
a cleaning machine equipped to recycle water is used.
Require automatic cut-off valves on hoses or use of a bucket when washing vehicles
or other items outside.
Turn off decorative fountains, ponds, lakes and pools unless a water recycling
system is used. Eliminate draining and refilling of decorative ponds and fountains
unless necessary for health and safety reasons.
Encourage installation of pool and spa covers to minimize water loss due to
evaporation. Discourage draining and refilling of pools and spas unless necessary
for health and safety reasons.
Regulate irrigation of residences, golf courses, cemeteries, government, public and
commercial facilities landscape areas.
Schedule irrigation times between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. Reduce irrigation times
or frequency by 50% where possible.
Adjust sprinklers and irrigation systems to avoid over-spray, run-off and waste. Do
not allow water to run off landscaped areas into adjoining streets, sidewalks, parking
lots or alleys.
Encourage the installation of low-water-using plants combined with hardscape
materials and energy-efficient irrigation systems when installing or replacing
landscapes; discourage replanting, if possible.
Restaurants shall serve drinking water only upon request;
Evaluate necessity or frequency of high-water-using activities, such as window
washing, exterior walls or other nonessential cleaning.
Retrofit indoor plumbing fixtures with low-flow devices if appropriate; encourage low-
water-using fixtures when replacing existing fixtures.
Check faucets, toilets, pipes, irrigation systems and meters for leaks and repair
immediately.
Staff contacted MWDOC requesting a polling of local water agencies to determine whether
others have taken formal action to implement their respective water management programs.
To date the following agencies have implemented a similar voluntary Stage 1: Cities of
Buena Park, Anaheim, Tustin, Brea, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, La Palma, and Newport
Beach; water districts: Santa Margarita, Irvine Ranch, Mesa Consolidated, and Yorba Linda.
-5- 3/24/2009 11:56 AM
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
MEETING ®ATE: 4/6/2009 DEPARTMENT I® NUMBER: PW 09-14
The Water Management Program includes ongoing monitoring of the effectiveness of the
imposed conservation measures and restrictions. The estimated water savings at each stage
will be determined. If the demand is significantly disproportional to the anticipated supply,
then the stage of conservation will be adjusted accordingly.
Public Works Commission Action: Not applicable.
Strategic Plan Goal: E-1 - Increase community involvement, dialogue, and outreach by
educating residents about opportunities for involvement such as how to donate to projects,
volunteer, access information, and offer opinions through the website and other means.
Environmental Status: Actions taken pursuant to the Water Management Program are
exempt from CEQA and are considered necessary to prevent or mitigate an emergency
pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 21080 (b)(4) and the CEQA Guidelines Section
15269(c).
Attachment(s):
City r,,Ierk's
o - . .
1. none
-6- 3/24/2009 11:56 AM
RCA ROUTING SHEET
INITIATING DEPARTMENT: Public Works
SUBJECT: Confirm Implementation of Stage 1 of the Water
Management Plan
COUNCIL MEETING DATE: April 6, 2009
RCA i41'TAC ,MENTS � STATU
�3 .-
Ordinance (w/exhibits & legislative draft if applicable) Attached= ❑
Not Applicable
Resolution (w/exhibits & legislative draft if applicable) Attached ❑
Not Applicable
Tract Map, Location Map and/or other Exhibits Attached ❑
Not Appiicable
Contract/Agreement (w/exhibits if applicable) Attached ❑
(Signed in full by the City Attome ) Not Applicable
Subleases, Third Party Agreements, etc. Attached ❑
(Approved as to form by City Attome ) Not Applicable
Certificates of Insurance (Approved by the City Attorney) Attached ❑
Not Applicable
Fiscal Impact Statement (Unbudgeted, over $5,000) Attached ❑
Not Applicable
Bonds (If applicable) Attached ❑
Not Applicable
Staff Report (If applicable) Attached ❑
Not Applicable
Commission, Board or Committee Report (If applicable) Attached ❑
Not Applicable
Findings/Conditions for Approval and/or Denial Attached ❑
Not Applicable
r, `EXPATGON FOR_IIAISSBNC`ATTAC LAN ti T$;.
"
r-.
r is REVhEVlE® " RETURNS® FORWAR ED=
Administrative Staff ) __
Deputy City Administrator (Initial)
City Administrator Initial ) Ar
City Clerk ( )
:EXPLANATION F.OR 12EURN OF..ITEM:
(Below;Spac.01 ® OnW
RCA Author: Ken Dills
City ®f Huntington Beach
Water Management Program
April 6, 2009
Authority
® Municipal Code 14.18 Water
Management Program
® Stages determined by the City Administrator
and the Director of Public Works and
® City Council confirms the implementation
z
— ' -- 00 9
- 7 01J
City Actions in Progress
• Stage 1 of the program effective
March 23, 2009.
• Combines voluntary and specific water
use restrictions
• Specific restrictions (except as required
for public health and safety):
• Prohibits washing of concrete and other
hard surfaces
• Requires automatic cut-off valves on hoses
3
Stage 1
• Specific restrictions continued:
• Prohibit the draining and refilling of ponds
and fountains, turn off fountains unless a
recirculation/recycling system is used
• Regulate irrigation of residences, golf
courses, cemeteries, government, public
and commercial facilities landscape areas.
• Restaurants to serve drinking water only on
request
4
2
Stage 1 -D,
• Specific restrictions continued:
• Schedule irrigation times between 7:00 p.m.
and 9:00 a.m. Reduce frequency by 50%
where possible.
• Adjust sprinklers and irrigation systems to
avoid over-spray, run-off and waste.
• Check faucets, toilets, pipes, irrigation
systems and meters for leaks.
5
Stage 1
• Voluntary restrictions:
• Reduce interior and exterior uses of water
whenever possible to prevent water waste.
• Installation of pool and spa covers.
• Use low-water-using plants combined or
hardscaping.
• Evaluate frequency of nonessential cleaning
like window washing.
B
3
Stage 1
• Voluntary restrictions continued:
• Retrofit indoor plumbing fixtures with low-
flow devices if appropriate;
City Actions
• Stage 1
• Implement public information program
. Letters to restaurants asking that they comply with the
program by only serving drinking water on request.
. Advise customers of the drought situation and
implementation of current Stage 1 status providing them
with means to conserve and requesting their voluntary
support via the following medias:
e Bill Inserts
. HBTV
. City Websites
. Post Cards offering free water conservation surveys
. Direct all questions or concerns to Utilities Department
(714)536-5921
a
4
Rebate Programs Available
• High Efficiency Clothes Washer
• High Efficiency Toilet
• Weather-Based Irrigation Controller (Smart Timer)
• Rotating Nozzles
• Synthetic Turf
• California Friendly Landscape Training
*Reservations required prior to purchase.*
For more information Contact: 888-376-3314 or
www.socalwatersmart.com
s
City ®f Huntington Beach
Water Management Program
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April 6, 2009
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