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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 07162013 - C.46RECOMMENDATION(S): APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Conservation and Development Director, or her designee, to complete, execute and submit all documentation necessary to secure a grant in the amount of $30,000 for the purpose of conducting an analysis of the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan and its water conveyance impacts on Contra Costa County. FISCAL IMPACT: None to the General Fund. The grant will help defray a portion of the Department's cost for analyzing the impacts from the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan on Contra Costa County (100% Federal funds). BACKGROUND: The Bay-Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) is an effort of the state and federal governments, and state water contractors from the Central Valley, Southern California and Bay Area, to plan and build a pair of large tunnels that will divert fresh water from the Sacramento River before it reaches the Delta. The proposed tunnels will send the water to the export pumps near Tracy for delivery to other parts of the state. In January 2013, the Supervisors of the Delta Counties Coalition, DCC (Contra Costa, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano and Yolo) met with agencies charged with preparing the BDCP, the California APPROVE OTHER RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE Action of Board On: 07/16/2013 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER Clerks Notes: VOTE OF SUPERVISORS AYE:John Gioia, District I Supervisor Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor Mary N. Piepho, District III Supervisor Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor Contact: 674-7879 I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown. ATTESTED: July 16, 2013 David Twa, County Administrator and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors By: June McHuen, Deputy cc: C. 46 To:Board of Supervisors From:Catherine Kutsuris, Conservation and Development Director Date:July 16, 2013 Contra Costa County Subject:A Grant for Impact Analyses of the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan BACKGROUND: (CONT'D) Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). In that meeting, the DCC requested funding for an impact analysis for the counties directly affected by BDCP. A specific dollar amount was not requested. USBR provided a $150,000 grant to the DCC to conduct an impact analysis of the BDCP. The grant money will be split between the five counties, $30,000 each. The money was passed from USBR to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy for distribution to the counties. Since, the Delta Conservancy did not want to enter into five separate agreements with individual counties, we agreed to work through the County of Sacramento who will receive the grant funds on behalf of the DCC. A copy of the agreement between the Delta Conservancy and County of Sacramento is attached. Over the last few months, the state has re-released the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan and the administrative draft environmental impact report/environmental impact statement for review and comment. These documents are preliminary and do not take the place of formal "public review" as pursuant to state and federal requirements. These documents are also very large, totaling over 30,000 pages with appendices. Acceptance of this $30,000 grant will help defray some of the Department's cost to analyze the impact of the BDCP on Contra Costa County. It should be noted that Contra Costa County has requested money from the State in the past with no success, as described in the attached County policy on the BDCP adopted by the Board on July 10, 2012. Staff recommends the Board of Supervisors authorize the Conservation and Development Director, or designee, to complete, execute and submit all documentation necessary to secure the County's $30,000 grant using the attached Memorandum of Understanding with the County of Sacramento. CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION: If the Board does not authorize the execution of the grant, the County will loose the opportunity to use this money to defray a portion of the Department's cost to analyze the impacts of the proposed BDCP on Contra Costa County. CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT: Not Applicable. ATTACHMENTS Agreement and Scope of Work Funding Distribution MOU Board's Policy on BDCP July 2012 MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING REGARDING ADMINISTRATION OF THE DELTA CONSERVANCY – SACRAMENTO COUNTY CONTRACT FOR BAY DELTA CONSERVATION PLAN (BDCP) ANALYSIS This Memorandum of Understanding Regarding Administration of the Delta Conservancy-Sacramento County Contract for Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) Analysis (herein referred to as the “Agreement”) is made by and between the Counties of Yolo, Solano, Contra Costa, and San Joaquin (“County Partners”), and the County of Sacramento (“County”), collectively referred herein as “Parties” and each singularly as “Party”. This Agreement shall be effective upon the date it is signed by the Parties. This Agreement is made with reference to the following facts: A. The County signed a contract (“Contract”), effective March 22, 2013, with the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy (“Delta Conservancy”), a state agency, to be the coordinating county to distribute contract funds to the Contractors for the purpose of conducting an analysis of the Delta Habitat Conservation and Conveyance Program (“DHCCP”) and its water conveyance and conservation measure impacts on the Parties. B. Pursuant to Contract, County will receive and distribute funds totaling $150,000 to the Parties for actual expenditures incurred and invoiced for services rendered in accordance with the scope of work, terms, conditions, and exhibits of the Contract. The Parties must agree to an allocation method of the Contract funds. C. The Contract funds must be used for the purpose of conducting independent analyses of the DHCCP and its water conveyance and conservation measure impacts on the Parties. D. County must submit a Preliminary Status Report by May 21, 2013 to the Delta Conservancy, summarizing how the Parties will use the Contract funding, an estimation of the required number of staff and consultant hours to perform the Contract scope of work, the anticipated areas of focus of the independent analyses, and an approximate schedule. E. County must submit a Final Report to the Delta Conservancy within thirty (30) days of the expiration of the Contract, compiling the results of the independent analyses, recommendations, and an accounting of the use of Contract funds. NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual promises hereinafter set forth, the Parties hereto agree as follows: I. SCOPE OF SERVICES A copy of the Contract is attached hereto as Exhibit “A”, and its terms and conditions are incorporated by this reference [herein referred to as “Contract Requirements”]. Contractors agree to abide by and perform pursuant to the Contract Requirements. A. County Partners authorize County to serve as the Contract Coordinator with the Delta Conservancy and to collect, compile and transmit to the Delta Conservancy all submissions, reports, invoices, etc. on behalf of the Parties per Contract Requirements. B. Any completed submissions, reports, invoices, etc. prepared by the Parties as described in Section I A. shall be provided to the County in electronic format 15 days before the associated deadline specified in the Contract to ensure that the County can complete the transmittal of the documents to the Delta Conservancy per Contract Requirements. C. Parties agree to distribution of any funds pursuant to the Contract based on a 20% share each to Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano, Contra Costa and Yolo Counties, and as further described in Section II of this Agreement. Any funds distributed pursuant to the Contract shall be used by each Party in accordance with Contract Requirements and this Agreement. D. Each County Partner shall prepare complete submissions, reports, invoices, etc. pursuant to the Contract Requirements and submit them the County in electronic format. E. Each Party is solely responsible for ensuring that any work described, proposed and/or conducted by that Party, which is to be funded by their share of the Contract funding, conforms to Contract Requirements and this Agreement. F. Invoices returned unpaid by the Delta Conservancy to the County for unapproved or non-conforming work will be forwarded to the appropriate Party/ies who authorized the work. The Party/ies who authorized the aforementioned work is/are solely responsible for the costs and liabilities of such work and for resubmitting any corrected or amended invoices. II. COST SHARE The Contract identifies $150,000 to be provided to the Parties for the purpose of conducting independent analyses of the DHCCP and its water conveyance and conservation measure impacts on the Parties. The total funding shall be apportioned in equal 20% shares to each Party ($30,000 each). Exhibit A of the Contract identifies a schedule for three funding installments in accordance with work tasks described in the Contract. Funding received by the County pursuant to Task 1-Advance Funding (First Installment-$50,000) and Task 2-Preliminary Report (Second Installment-$50,000) shall be distributed by a 20% share to each Party. Funding received by the County in accordance with Task 3 (Third/Final Installment - $50,000) shall be distributed by a 20% share to each Party only upon the Delta Conservancy’s approval of the Final Report. III. TERM This Agreement shall be effective when signed by all of the Parties and shall end upon completion of Contract Requirements or the termination of the Contract, whichever occurs first. IV. NOTICE Any notice, demand, request, consent, or approval required or provided by the Delta Conservancy to the County shall be forwarded in writing to the affected and responsible County Partner within five (5) business days of receipt. Aforementioned correspondence shall be delivered by first class mail or email to the following contacts for each Party: COUNTY/CONTRACT COORDINATOR Michael Peterson County of Sacramento Department of Water Resources 827 7th Street Room 301 Sacramento, CA 95814 Catherine Kutsuris Contra Costa County Department of Conservation and Development 30 Muir Road Martinez, CA 94553 A party may change the address to which subsequent notice and/or other communications can be sent by giving written notice designating the change, which shall be effective upon receipt. V. INDEMNIFICATION AND CLAIMS Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Agreement, and to the fullest extent permitted by law, Parties shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless all other Parties, their officers, agents, and employees from and against any and all claims, losses, liabilities or damages, including payment of reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, arising out of the indemnifying party’s bad faith, negligence, willful misconduct, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of trust, or other breach of its duties under this Agreement, or by non-compliance with the Contract, or any other act or omission by the indemnifying party/ies, its officers, agents, employees, and/or contractors relating to the Contract or this Agreement. It is the intention of the Parties that the provisions of this paragraph be interpreted to impose on each party the responsibility to the other Parties for the acts and omissions of their respective officers, directors, agents, employees, and/or contractors. It is also the intention of the Parties that, where comparative fault is determined to have been contributory, principles of comparative fault will be followed and each indemnifying party/ies shall bear the proportionate cost of any damage attributable to its fault or that of its officers, directors, agents, employees, and/or contractors. VI. SHARE OF LIABILITIES Subject to the indemnification provisions in Section V. Indemnification and Claims, each of the Parties shall be responsible, to their proportionate extent, for the costs arising from third party lawsuits. VII. AMENDMENT Except as provided herein, no alteration, amendment, variation, or waiver of the terms of this Agreement shall be valid unless made in writing and signed by all Parties. VIII. SURVIVAL OF TERMS All services performed and deliverables provided pursuant to this Agreement are subject to all of the terms and conditions set forth herein, notwithstanding the expiration of the initial term of this Agreement or any extension thereof. Further, the terms and conditions, including but not limited to the indemnification and claims provisions, contained in this Agreement that by their sense and context are intended to survive the completion of the performance, cancellation or termination of this Agreement shall so survive. IX. SIGNATURES AND COUNTERPARTS This Agreement may be executed with signatures via facsimiles or signatures scanned and transmitted in Portable Document Format, and may be executed in counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original, and all of which taken together shall constitute one original Agreement. CONTRA COSTA COUNTY COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO Catherine Kutsuris Michael Peterson Director of Conservation and County of Sacramento Development Department of Water Resources Contra Costa County’s Request for Changes to the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan Approved by the Board of Supervisors on July 10, 2012 The proposed 9,000-cubic-feet-per-second tunnel project Contra Costa County does not support any particular project because not enough information has been developed to support any specific project. Enough information has been developed to reject the proposed tunnel project as described in the current Bay-Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) . The preliminary environmental analysis has shown the tunnel will have significant negative impacts on protected fish species and water quality. Economic analysis also must be performed to determine the negative impacts that a tunnel project will have on Contra Costa County’s Delta economy. Changes needed for the BDCP effort to gain support from Contra Costa County • The BDCP should discard all of the alternatives studied to date, including the new 9,000-cubic- feet-per-second (cfs) tunnel proposal. • The BDCP should analyze a full range of lower-impact alternatives, including smaller tunnel projects of 3,000-cfs tunnel and 6,000-cfs tunnel, and several alternatives that do not divert Sacramento River under or around the Delta at all. These new alternatives would include a western intake alternative that would draw water from the western Delta rather than the Sacramento River, with constraints on the amount of water that can be taken and the timing for when the water can be taken; and other alternatives based on strategies such as water conservation, increased water storage facilities in the Central Valley and Southern California, and desalination. These latter alternatives would address the state policy of reducing reliance on Delta water (something the current BDCP does not address). • The BDCP should adopt both of the state’s “co-equal goals” as objectives to be achieved by the project, with neither goal being accomplished at the expense of the other. • The chosen BDCP conveyance project should be operated by an independent entity not affiliated with the water contractors who will receive water from it. The independent entity should report monthly to the State Water Resources Control Board to ensure transparency in the operations of the new water facility. • The BDCP should provide funds for Contra Costa County to: (1) conduct peer review studies to determine the adequacy of the BDCP environmental impact analysis; and (2) to determine water- quality standards in the western Delta to ensure a healthy water supply for Contra Costa County (approximately $500,000). • BDCP should provide funds for Contra Costa County to conduct an economic analysis to determine the impacts of BDCP alternatives on the County’s Delta economy (approximately $150,000). - 1 - -Contra Costa County BDCP changes- -July 10, 2012- -page 2 of 2 • Contra Costa County must be given a “seat at the table” so we can work collaboratively with the water contractors and state and federal agencies to develop comprehensive solutions that work for everyone. • BDCP must be consistent with locally developed Habitat Conservation Plans/National Communities Conservation Plans (HCP/NCCPs). If conflicts exist between locally developed HCP/NCCPs and the BDCP, the BDCP staff must work collaboratively with local HCP staffs to resolve the conflicts. BDCP must not interfere with local HCP/NCCPs’ ability to attain their habitat target goals. • BDCP must be subject to the full extent of state and federal environmental review. Contra Costa County cannot support any streamlining or exemptions from either the California Environmental Quality Act or the National Environmental Protection Act. • The BDCP must recognize the linkage between the Delta and the Bay, and recognize that any project that emerges from the BDCP could impact the entire Bay-Delta estuary, not just the immediate Delta area in which the project is located. The environmental analysis of the project(s) must examine for potential impacts throughout the entire estuary, including, but not limited to, impacts on flow from the Delta to the Bay, and water quality, species, and habitat impacts throughout the estuary. - 2 -