Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout08.31.2020 Paul Gosselin - Water Resources Update August 31, 2020 AT0 Water andResource Conservation Paul Gosselin, Director buttecounty.net/waterresourceconservation 308 Nelson Avenue T: 530.552.3595 Oroville, California 95965 F: 530.538.3807 bcwater@buttecounty.net MEMORANDUM DATE: August 31, 2020 TO: Butte County Board of Supervisors FROM: Paul Gosselin, Director RE: Water Resources Update August 31, 2020 I have a couple of follow up items from our discussion last Tuesday and updates on water resource issues. 1. Water Commission There was discussion about the role of the Water Commission and whether not having a Water Commission would allow for better information flow to the Board. Eliminating the Water Commission would be difficult since it was formed through Chapter 33 that was a voter initiative. A change would have to go to a vote of the people. However, I remembered that during the development of the draft 2019-2024 Strategic and Operational Plan, the Water Commission had lengthy discussions about its role. There may be options to repurpose the Water Commission consistent with Chapter 33 in a way that provides more direct communication to the Board on water issues. If directed by the Board, I could bring an item to a future Board meeting to frame some of the options and to seek direction from the Board. Regarding the draft 2019-2024 Strategic and Operational Plan, it is not posted on the departmental webpage nor has it been distributed. It requires additional work including changes to reflect the BOS Water Workshop in December 2019. I do not have a schedule for when the plan will be updated and finalized. 2. Miocene Canal th The Miocene Canal Workgroup met on August 28. PG&E described the change in project approach to attendees. The original plan to deploy a barge to pull PG&E water out of Lake Oroville ran into too many permitting and regulatory issues. A shift has been made to three related actions. The first action involves connecting the existing Del Oro Water Company (DOWC) outtake at Lime Saddle into the Miocene canal. This will deliver some but not all water needed. The second action involves gravity feeding dechlorinated DOWC treated water from their plant into Kunkel Reservoir. It is less than 400 feet from the DOWC tank to Kunkel. These first two actions will occur simultaneously. The DOWC customers will be served by Paradise Irrigation District through an existing intertie. Permitting, agreements and construction will take about 6 months. The third action involves upsizing the DOWC outtake to provide a sufficient amount of water into the Miocene. That project will take about 12 months. The three projects are compatible. While this is a PG&E project, an agreement between Butte County and the Department of Water Resources may be necessary to pump PG&E water out of Lake Oroville. As a State Water Project Contractor Butte County is allowed under our contract to utilize State Water Project facilities for non-State Water Project water subject to an agreement with DWR. A similar agreement was entered into with DWR in 2019 regarding determine if a non-project water agreement is required. Another potential County role may be as lead agency if CEQA is required. The engineering study is expected to be completed in about a week. At that point, the details regarding permits, agreements and schedule will be clearer. Once the requirements for the two actions are more defined and the potential role of the County becomes clearer, I will bring an item to the Board seeking direction. The Miocene Canal Workgroup will meet on September 11, 2020 at 1:30. 3. Rock Creek Reclamation District Proposition 1 Grant The Department, on behalf of the Northern Sacramento Valley Integrated Regional Water Management Plan, is administering a Proposition 1 grant award for about $5.0 million. Christina Buck, Assistant Director is project manager. One of the requirements for executing a grant agreement is for Butte County to adopt the 2020 IRWM Plan. A resolution will be on the Board consent agenda on September 15. In addition, one of the projects is a feasibility study for Rock and Sand Creek Flood Mitigation ($143,885). Rock Creek Reclamation District is the project sponsor. The project will develop a Decision Support Tool (Feasibility Study) to determine future construction scope and feasibility for a multi-benefit flood and recharge management project. It may be a project adopted in the Vina Groundwater Sustainability Plan. Since the grant award was issued, the Department has not received a response from RCRD regarding a number of requirements to execute a grant agreement. Communication has been sent to the RCRD Chair, Vice Chair and legal counsel. The deadline for submitting certain information (e.g., financial statements, finalized th scope, budget, and schedule) to DWR is September 8. All other project sponsors have responded. Christina will contact DWR regarding contingencies if RCRD continues to be non-responsive. 4. Agenda Items I commit to improving the early flow of information to the Board. I will work with Shari st and Andy, beginning October 1,on a schedule to provide water resource briefings before the Board. As a practice, I intend to present items to the Board for discussion and direction prior to requesting adoption unless there is a deadline. It was my intent to follow that process regarding the PID Intertie Feasibility Study last year. On the Board of Supervisors August 13, 2019 agenda, I submitted a regular agenda item (4.07) - Sustainable Groundwater Management Act Implementation Status. That item included a staff report and presentation. I sought direction from the Board on the Butte subbasin governance agreement and the Paradise Irrigation District Intertie Project. The staff memo also described efforts by the Agricultural Groundwater Users of Butte County to form a water district. This was before meetings were held with other agencies (i.e., RCRD September 18, 2019) and the Durham public meeting on September 23, 2019. Due to the time to address other items on the Board agenda at that meeting the agenda item 4.07 was pulled. I had assumed that the documents in the agenda package was sufficient to describe actions that may come before the Board. The PID Intertie Project subsequently th came before the Board on September 10 and the Butte Subbasin Governance came before the Board on September 24, 2019 and November 11, 2019. 5. Department of Water and Resource Conservation Grant Finances As directed by Shari, the Department scheduled a meeting with Supervisor Lucero and Supervisor Ritter to review the grants administered by the Department and the impacts to the County General Fund. Casey Hatcher, Graciela Guttierez, Meegan Jesse, and Christina Buck will attend. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.