Monterey Peninsula Regional Water Authority

MINUTES MONTEREY PENINSULA REGIONAL WATER AUTHORITY (MPRWA) Director's Meeting 7:00 PM, Thursday, February 9, 2017 COUNCIL CHAMBERS 580 PACIFIC STREET, MONTEREY MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA Directors Present: Director Dallas, Director Edelen, Director Pendergrass, Director Roberson, Director Rubio, President Kampe Directors Absent: None Staff Present: Legal Counsel Damon, Legal Counsel Freeman (by telephone), Executive Director Cullem, Clerk Romero CALL TO ORDER President Kampe called the meeting to order at 7:02pm. ROLL CALL Clerk Romero called the roll, all Directors were present. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE REPORTS FROM BOARD DIRECTORS AND STAFF Executive Director Cullem stated that a corrected letter to State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) as an attachment to Item #3 was given to the Directors. He thanked Sheri Damon for filling in for Don Freeman, and noted that Mr. Freeman is available on speakerphone. PUBLIC COMMENTS  George Riley said he thinks the Authority should consider its meeting schedule because the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the water supply project will delay everything. He also said that the Authority should think about a transition plan for the future.  Tom Rowley, Monterey Peninsula Taxpayers Association (MPTA), voiced concern regarding Cemex stockpiling sand. He said that the Coastal Commission is pulling the permit for stockpiling sand and this should be looked into since it affects coastal erosion and the Peninsula water supply project. CONSENT AGENDA Director Roberson pulled item #3 from consent. On a motion by Director Pendergrass, seconded by Director Edelen, and carried by the following vote, the Monterey Peninsula Regional Water Authority Approved the Consent Agenda item 1&2: AYES: 6 DIRECTORS: Rubio, Edelen, Pendergrass, Kampe, Dallas, Roberson NOES: 0 DIRECTORS: None ABSENT: 0 DIRECTORS: None ABSTAIN: 0 DIRECTORS: None RECUSED: 0 DIRECTORS: None  MPRWA Minutes Thursday, February 9, 2017 1. Approve Minutes of January 12, 2017 - Romero Action: Approved 2. Approve and File Authority Checks through January 31, 2017 – Romero Action: Approved 3. Receive Copy of Water Authority Executive Director Letter to the State Water Resources Control Board Executive Director Concerning Local Control of Water Allocation Under Amended CDO 2016-0060 - Cullem Action: Received Report; discussed Director Roberson asked if the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) is expected to make a decision regarding water allocation. Executive Director Cullem responded that he expects that the SWRCB will either respond by agreeing with the Authority’s recommendation to keep water allocation at the local level or the issue will go before the SWRCB for additional review. No action taken on this item, received report and discussed. The Authority skipped to item #5 regarding an update from the People’s Moss Landing Desal Project. ***End of Consent Agenda*** AGENDA ITEMS 4. Receive Report, Discuss, and Provide Staff Direction on the Re-circulated DEIR/EIS for the MPWSP and Authorize the Board President to Sign the Comment Letter on Behalf of the Authority - Cullem Action: Received report; discussed; authorized the President to sign a comment letter on the EIR President Kampe acknowledged Russ McGlothlin, Legal Counsel for the Authority, as well as Gordon Thrupp, PhD, PG, CHG, and Al Preston, PhD, PE, from Geosyntec who called in on a conference call to discuss Item #4. Executive Director Cullem introduced the item saying that in 2015 the Authority sent a focused review letter to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in response to the original MPWSP EIR regarding greenhouse gas emissions, brine disposal, intake structures, and potential growth with respect to land use. He stated that in 2015 the experts from Geosyntec provided an analysis of the technical issues in the original EIR which were included in the 2015 response letter and were subsequently deliberated on by the CPUC. He added that the Authority requested that the experts from Geosyntec do another review of the revised EIR, and Al Preston and Gordon Thrupp are on the line to give a report on their findings. He said that the Authority must then decide if they want to write another response letter to the CPUC with any new findings, as well as approve the funding to cover the expense of composing the letter. Russ McGlothin said that the new draft EIR has addressed many of the issues brought up by the Authority in the letter sent by previous President Burnett in 2015. He said that re-circulated EIR has addressed many of the issues that were brought up to the CPUC from Geosyntec’s Monterey Peninsula Regional Water Authority Director's Meeting Minutes - Thursday, February 9, 2017 2 MPRWA Minutes Thursday, February 9, 2017 analysis from 2015. He introduced Mr. Preston and Mr. Thrupp who gave a summary of their findings and recommendations. Gordon Thrupp, Geosyntec, gave an outline and summary of the scope of work that was reviewed:  Proposed subsurface seawater intakes (slant wells)  Overview of hydrogeologic setting and updated groundwater model of slant wells  Conclusions regarding intakes  Proposed brine discharge  Updated evaluation of brine discharge  Recommendations regarding brine discharge Mr. Thrupp summarized that in the revised EIR the updated model provides improved simulations of the pumping from the subsurface intakes. He added that the potential impact to inland wells is not significant and the project pumping would decrease sea water intrusion to inland aquifers. Further, he said that the contribution of inland fresh groundwater to the proposed pumping beneath the coastal margin will be returned to the Salinas basin. He stated that in conclusion there are no recommendations for additional model runs or revisions. President Kampe said that Marina Coast is going to be using technology to image subsurface structures, and Mr. Thrupp said this is called electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and it is also mentioned in the draft EIR. President Kampe said that since there is progress being made in the water supply project this is not the time for the Authority to take a break. Al Preston, Geosyntec, gave an outline and summary of the updated evaluation of the brine discharge:  Near field dilution analysis of brine discharge has been strengthened and improved by Philip Roberts  Updated results are in agreement with previous results by Flow Science, however the temperature of the brine discharge was not updated  Estimate of regions with BMZ where 2.0 ppt salinity difference is exceeded  Mitigation strategies for insufficient dilution have been evaluated  Coanda attachment (that limits dilution) has been adequately analyzed  Plume merging (that limits dilution) has been adequately analyzed  Shear and turbulence effects have been adequately analyzed  Dilution/salinity at edge of BMZ has been estimated by Philip Roberts Monterey Peninsula Regional Water Authority Director's Meeting Minutes - Thursday, February 9, 2017 3  MPRWA Minutes Thursday, February 9, 2017  Analysis by Geosyntec (2015) to assess potential hypoxia has been referenced Mr. Gordon summarized his recommendations regarding brine discharge saying that the estimated temperatures of the brine discharge should be updated, because temperature affects density, which effects mixing/dilution. He added that the EIR should also revise the analysis of potential for hypoxia, as well as a few minor typos. No questions from the board. PUBLIC COMMENT  George Riley asked if Geosyntec has an expectation of what the impact their analysis will have on the EIR once their comments are submitted. President Kampe said that the expectation is that the comments from Geosyntec will prompt the EIR to be further updated. Russ McGlothlin said that his recommendation is for Mr. Thrupp, Mr. Preston, and himself to draft EIR comments with recommendations from Geosyntec into a letter and submit it to the CPUC. He recommended that the greenhouse gases and land use issue not be commented on in the new letter. Executive Director Cullem requested that the Authority approve an additional $3000 for the cost of preparing a comment by Mr. McGlothlin, Mr. Thrupp, and Mr. Gordon. Mr. McGlothlin suggested that President Kampe approve and sign the comment letter and submit to the CPUC on behalf of the Authority. Mr. McGlothlin said that the comment period for the EIR ends February 27, and the letter should be approved and submitted before that date as any extension to the comment period is unknown. On a motion by Director Rubio, seconded by Director Dallas, and carried by the following vote, the Monterey Peninsula Regional Water Authority approved a budget adjustement of $3,000 for Russ McGlothlin and Geosyntec to prepare a comment letter on the Re-circulated DEIR/EIS for the MPWSP and authorized the Board President to sign the comment letter on behalf of the Authority and submit to the CPUC: AYES: 6 DIRECTORS: Rubio, Edelen, Pendergrass, Kampe, Dallas, Roberson NOES: 0 DIRECTORS: None ABSENT: 0 DIRECTORS: None ABSTAIN: 0 DIRECTORS: None RECUSED: 0 DIRECTORS: None 5. Receive Update, Discuss, and Provide Staff Direction on the People's Moss Landing Desal Project - Project Representatives Action: Received update; discussed David Balch, People's Moss Landing Project (“People’s Project”), gave a brief update on the current status of the project. He stated they are meeting with the Sanctuary to come up with schedule for completing the project EIR. He added that after the meetings take place there will be a revised reimbursement agreement with the Moss Landing Harbor District and afterwards Monterey Peninsula Regional Water Authority Director's Meeting Minutes - Thursday, February 9, 2017 4  MPRWA Minutes Thursday, February 9, 2017 he will be able to give another update and answer the six questions that the Authority had asked the People’s Project to address. President Kampe asked who the public owners of the People’s Project will be. Mr. Balch responded that public ownership is still up for discussion but said there would probably be owned through a Joint Power Authority (JPA). PUBLIC COMMENT: None No action taken, received report. 6. Receive an Update on the Summary Project Schedule for the Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project (MPWSP) and Status of Test Well Operation and Pipeline Construction - Crooks Action: Received update Chris Cook, California American Water (Cal Am), gave a brief summary of the Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project (MPWSP) timeline. He said that construction on the desal is estimated to being in 2018 and water delivery is expected in delivery in 2020. He added that Cal Am is currently installing the 36" pipeline and is on track to finish the pipeline and ASR before the end of 2017 and prior to when Ground Water Replenishment (GWR) comes online. He stated that the permits are being coordinated with the finalization of the EIR. He announced that the test wells are running well at 92-93%. PUBLIC COMMENT None No action was taken, received report. 7. Receive Mid-year Budget Status Report, and Provide Staff Direction on the Preliminary Projection on the FY 2017-2018 Budget - Cullem Action: Received report; approved preliminary budget and will re-evaluate semiannually PUBLIC COMMENT None Director Roberson voiced concern that the City of Monterey pays most of the Authority budget and would like to have the County represented on the board and pay their fair share. He asked that the Authority consider a formal invitation to the 5th District County Supervisor to join the board. President Kampe said that all Cities involved share the same financial concern and added that Supervisor Adams has been formally invited to the join the JPA. He suggested that perhaps the Cities and County be invoiced for their contribution on a semi-annual basis. Director Rubio said that he realizes the Authority is winding down, but there is no water project yet and they need to be ready when it is. Monterey Peninsula Regional Water Authority Director's Meeting Minutes - Thursday, February 9, 2017 5 MPRWA Minutes Thursday, February 9, 2017 Director Edelen said that a lot of the Authority’s clout comes from political influence and retaining credibility is a must. He suggested that it may help to cut back on the costs to lower the contributions needed from the larger Cities such as Monterey and could go a long way to earn the trust of the City Councils. Due to a scheduled conference call, the Authority put the budget item on hold and continued after Item #4. The Authority continued the budget item at 8:50pm. Director Rubio said in regard to the budget estimate that the conference call with Mr. McGlothlin proves that his knowledge on water subjects is very valuable. He proposed that the Authority approve the preliminary budget estimate but to re-evaluate it in 6 months to see if it’s still appropriate. Director Edelen voiced agreement with Rubio and added that in interest in keeping the costs lower for the Cities that Mr. McGlothlin be involved only when legal issues are presented and leave the engineering topics to the engineers such as Mr. Cullem. Director Roberson agreed that Mr. McGlothlin’s expertise is needed only when it's a legal issue. President Kampe said that it is likely that Mr. McGlothlin’s legal expertise will be needed throughout the process of getting the water supply project approved. He added that his preference would be to bill the Cities every 6 months instead of annually to reduce financial impact and allow for the budget to be adjusted as necessary. Don Freeman commented that the City of Seaside went through a very expensive EIR, and legal counsel was important. He added that if the Authority can help tighten up the MPWSP EIR to prevent legal challenges down the road it can save money, especially during this critical time. President Kampe noted that Mr. McGlothlin’s expertise has heightened the credibility of the Authority and brought people together. On a motion by Director Edelen, seconded by Director Roberson, and carried by the following vote, the Monterey Peninsula Regional Water Authority approved the proposed budget and will revisit the budget on a semiannual basis and adjust semiannual billings accordingly: AYES: 6 DIRECTORS: Rubio, Edelen, Pendergrass, Kampe, Dallas, Roberson NOES: 0 DIRECTORS: None ABSENT: 0 DIRECTORS: None ABSTAIN: 0 DIRECTORS: None RECUSED: 0 DIRECTORS: None ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 9:04pm. Monterey Peninsula Regional Water Authority Director's Meeting Minutes - Thursday, February 9, 2017 6 MPRWA Minutes Thursday, February 9, 2017 ATTEST: Nova Romero, Clerk of the Authority MPRWA President Monterey Peninsula Regional Water Authority Director's Meeting Minutes - Thursday, February 9, 2017 7