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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 02111992 - S.5 ;e ATO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS 5E Contra FROM: Sunne Wright McPeak Costa y-•r. Count DATE: February 11, 1992 SUBJECT: Requests to State Officials to Exclude a Peripheral Canal From Its New Water Policy SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION• In order to actively request that the Governor' s Water Policy Task Force not include a Peripheral Canal proposal in their recommendations to Governor Wilson, approve the following: a. Endorse the San Mateo County ( 1-7-92 agenda) resolution opposing the Peripheral Canal and communicate with all other counties in the region encouraging them to also endorse the San Mateo resolution and to adopt a similar resolution and communicate their position to Governor Wilson, Secretary Wheeler, and the other members of the Governor' s Water Policy Task Force. b. Endorse the attached CALIFORNIA WATER 2000 Action Plan proposal as a viable, comprehensive approach to protecting the Bay-Delta Estuary and to meeting the state' s future water needs. Also, request other counties to endorse the CALIFORNIA WATER 2000 Action Plan. C. Request cities throughout Contra Costa and ABAG to take action similar to those above. d. Approve the use of half of the authority previously delegated by the Board of Supervisors to the Water Agency to generate citizen calls and post cards to Governor Wilson and to the Governor ' s Water Policy Task Force urging that our policy position be incorporated into their recommendation. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): y ACTION OF BOARD ON_ FPhnigi:y 11 , 1992 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED —L OTHER The Board approved the above recommendations and added Item e as follows: e. The Water Committee is requested to-continue to monitor the implementation of the above. VOTE OF SUPERVISORS 1 HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE UNANIMOUS(ABSENT IT _) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. cc: all distribution via Water Committee staff ATTESTED Fa ,ary 11 1 A92 PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BY DEPUTY M382 (10/88) BACKGROUND: The Governor' s Water Policy Task Force is completing its recommendations to Governor Wilson. It is critical that there be sufficient input from public agencies and citizens in the region to underscore the amount of our concern regarding water policy and the Peripheral Canal. The San Mateo County resolution eloquently sets forth opposition to a Peripheral Canal, and we should advocate it be adopted by other jurisdictions. We also need to provide widespread support for a comprehensive alternative which meets the state' s water needs. The CALIFORNIA WATER 2000 Action Plan accomplishes that. Further, although Governor Wilson pledged to oppose a Peripheral Canal during his gubernatorial campaign, it is important to let him and his Water Policy Task Force know that it is still a critical issue to this region. Therefore, now is the time to encourage people to call and to write the state officials. • L October 30, 1991 CALIFORNIA WATER 2000 An Action Plan to Meet California's Future Water Needs Supen,isor John K Flynn Supervisor Sun►ae Wright Me.Peak SupcnvisorAl Arambu►u. Supeivisor Ton: Torlakson Sul?emisor Osby Davis Supervisor Waiven Widener Su1mvisor Paul Battisli Supervisor Rod Diridon Supervisor Maty Griffin We must act now to ensure a reliable water supply for all regions of California and to avoid shortages by the year 2000, Also, to ensure California's quality of Iife we must enact aggressive environmental protections, especially for the Bay-Delta Estuary which is the "water switching yard" for both the State Water Project (SWP) and the federal Central Valley Project (CVP). In order to accomplish both of these goals, it is essential that leaders throughout the state reach consensus on an action plan to meet California's future water needs that benefits each region and all sectors of the economy. The consensus plan must be realistically implementable in the near term to meet the demand by the year 2000 and through at least the following decade. An Action Ilan to meet California's future water needs should contain three major components: 1. Conservation and efficient use of the current supply. 2. Construction of water banking facilities to improve Delta transfers and to reduce environmental damage from the existing export system. 3. Environmental protections for the Bay-Delta Estuary, While there are several elements and implementation steps that must be negotiated for each of these components, it is the commination of all three that offers the opportunity for consensus on water policy in the immediate future. Further,it should be agreed that California needs a statewide growth management program that requires (among other things) that a reliable water supply be available before new growth is approved. Also, the state must develop a separate plan for times of drought. It is in this context that the CALIFORNIA WATER 2000 proposal is advanced. California ia Water 2000 Page 2 The following outlines the specific elements of the Action Plan: CALIFORNIA WATER 2000 1. CONSERVATION AN17 EF ICIENT USE a. Implementation of urban conservation programs as encompa4sed in the "Best Management Practices" (BMPs) agreements. b. Construction of water reuse and recycling facilities to generate at least 244,100 acre feet of additional fresh water displaced by the year 2000 and at least 826,300 acre feet by 2010. e. Enactment of water marketing to encourage and facilitate voluntary transfers. d. Implementation of efficient agricultural irrigation practices, including the establishment of goals or targets for system-wide conservation or efficiency. e. Retirement of agricultural lands with a severe drainage and toxic contamination problem and transfer of the water to other uses. f. Renegotiation of expiring federal contracts to shorten the term and revise the pricing structure. g. Implementation of a program to protect groundwater and reduce overdrafting during the next 20 years. h. Reservation of sufficient water for agricultural use to productively cultivate the state's prune agricultural lands. 2. CONSTRU QN QF WATER BANKING EA ILC ITIES a. Construct water banking facilities and improve through-Delta transfer of exports by implementing the South Delta Water Management Program, installing additional pumps, building Los Banos Grandes Reservoir, and developing the underground Kern Water Bank. b. Alter export pumping schedule to reduce reverse flows and minimize environmental damage. Using water banking facilities, capture surplus water during wet months and reduce pumping during spring spawning periods and dry summer months. c. Continue reconstruction and maintenance of Delta levees to ensure seismic safety and security of the water supply. d, Reduce drainage contamination of the San Joaquin River. California Water 2000 Page 3 3. ENVIRONMENTAL PRATE NS FOR THE BAY�DHLTA ESTUARY a. Enact a statute that protects all reasonable and beneficial uses of the Bay-Delta Estuary. b. Incorporate area-of-origin and county-of-origin law into the Constitution. c. Require that the State Water Resources Control Board adopt adequate and complete water quality standards for the Delta and Bay before new water banking facilities are operated to increase exports. New standards should at least include increased spring outflows, reduced pumping in critical months, appropriate temperature controls, and improved salinity objectives. d. Ensure proper implementation of the Coordinated Operation Agreement. e. Preserve existing Bay-Delta wetlands and develop programs to restore or expand wetland habitat. The above water banking approach improves Delta transfer facilities and enhances environmental protections. Also, water banking actually increases the "water pie" in the Delta by both enhancing the environmental protections and meeting the export demands. Water banking increases spring outflows (allows more water to flow in the system when it is needed by die fisheries and the environment), reduces reverse flows, improves water quality, and inereases'the amount of water available for export in normal to wet years. The above CALIFORNIA WATER 2000 proposal has the potential for generating significant amounts of water by the end of the decade. The following are conservative estimates: 1.0 MAF annually - Urban Conservation BMrs .25 MAF annually - Water Reuse/Recycling .25 MAF annually- Water Transfers/Agricultural Conservation .15 MAF annually - Land Retirement .25-.5 MAF Normal to - Water Banking Wet Years 1.9.2.15 MAF by the Year 2000 When consensus is reached among statewide leaders and organizations, the agreements should be implemented and ratified through a variety of mechanisms. Appropriate approaches for institutionalizing the consensus agreements include: enactment of legislation (sponsored by the Governor and authored by a bipartisan cross-section of the Legislature); ratification of the legislation and approval of any required implementation financing by the voters on a ballot treasure;incorporation of the plan by the SWRCB in the Bay-Delta decisions;voluntary agreements (such as the urban conservation BMP agreement); and amendments to the SWP and CVP contracts, The authors of this Action Plan invite others to join as co-authors. We also invite comments and feedback.