CONTRA
COSTA WATER DISTRICT
ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING
BOARD STUDY SESSION
June 19, 2009
MINUTES
CALL TO ORDER
An adjourned regular meeting of the Board of Directors
was called to order at 8:30 a.m., at the District Administration
Building, located at 2411 Bisso Lane, Concord.
ROLL CALL
Directors
Present: Joseph L.
Campbell, President
Elizabeth
R. Anello
Bette Boatmun
John
Burgh
Directors Absent: Karl L. Wandry, Vice President
General
Manager: Walter J. Bishop
Legal Counsel: Douglas E. Coty
District
Secretary: Sharon
L. Burris
President Campbell reported that Director Wandry was
absent and had previously notified the Board.
President Campbell advised that public comments would be
taken out of order on the agenda due to the presence of a member of the public
who wished to speak.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Mr. Ted Vomacka, an Antioch
resident, stated that he was present to address a portion of the Delta-DeAnza
Trail, which was unavailable for public use.
He advised that he had been in contact with the other agencies involved
with the trail and also had been in contact with the District’s Public Affairs
Department. He was not satisfied with
the information he had received and was present to get clarification on the
reason for the trail closure and the party responsible.
Mr. Bishop responded that a meeting would be arranged for Mr. Vomacka with
Public Affairs Director Jeff Weir to provide clarification. Documentation would also be provided to help
Mr. Vomacka address his concerns with the appropriate agencies.
President Campbell then turned the meeting over to Facilitator Lee
Shuff.
ADOPTION OF
AGENDA (Organization of Meeting)
Mr. Shuff reviewed the agenda
and asked if there were any changes.
There were no changes. He then
reviewed the purpose,
desired outcome of the study session and the ground rules.
DISCUSSION AND INFORMATION
1. State Legislative Representative
Mr. Bishop
welcomed the District’s
State Lobbyist Julee Malinowski-Ball. He
reported that she last updated the Board on state legislation at the study session
held on November 20, 2008.
Ms.
Malinowski-Ball began her presentation by reporting that the state was
experiencing a $24 billion deficit and was projected to be out of money by July
1. A vote on the budget was scheduled
for June 22. Discussions were taking
place at the state level about borrowing money from local governments. Many city mayors were in Sacramento opposing this idea. A legislative conference committee had previously
voted down borrowing money from local governments. Legislators were spending time in their
districts discussing issues with their constituents.
Ms.
Malinowski-Ball reported that approximately 800,000 acres of agricultural land in
California was
not planted due to a lack of water. Protesters
in the Fresno
area were blaming Governor Schwarzenegger for not having a water package.
Ms.
Malinowski-Ball reported that a water working group in the Senate and Assembly
announced they would try to get a water package done within 90 days of the
legislative session. Discussion took
place on the goal and group
members. She advised that the
Republicans favored storage and the Democrats were in favor of conservation. The two parties had not reached an
agreement.
Mr. Bishop referenced
the California Urban Water Association (CUWA) principles for financing Delta
improvements and a supporting spreadsheet detailing a proposed “user pays” program. He added that the Delta was used by many
people and the only ones currently targeted were the water importers and
exporters. The spreadsheet identified
the benefits and impacts related to each user class.
Mr. Malinowski-Ball advised that the Association of
California Water Agencies (ACWA) had requested a copy of the spreadsheet. Director Boatmun suggested that a
presentation be made at an ACWA Board of Directors meeting. She advised that the next meeting would be
held on July 31 in Sacramento. Ms. Malinowski-Ball added that the “beneficiary pays”
principle for Delta improvements
would determine how benefits would be funded.
Referencing
Assembly Bill 49 (Feuer) Water Conservation:
Urban Water Use, she noted that the bill was providing the pathway for
compliance with conservation goals. The
District had commented on the bill and many of the comments had been taken into
consideration. She commented that a
water bond bill would not be addressed until the budget was adopted.
Mr. Bishop commented
on the District’s Immediate Actions, as well as the Two Gates and the Fish Screen
Projects.
President
Campbell commented that the decision to move forward with the Los Vaqueros Reservoir Expansion (LVE)
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and the Alternative Intake Project (AIP) were
in the District’s best
interest.
The Board
thanked Ms. Malinowski-Ball for her presentation.
2. Federal Legislative Representative
Mr. Faust reported that there were many changes in Washington, DC
as a result of the new administration. There
appeared to be a new attitude and sense of unity.
Mr. Faust addressed the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act. He noted that the water portion of
the economic stimulus bill was written with many conditions, which made it difficult
for local districts to receive funding.
Many agencies had applied, but few could meet the criteria needed for
funding.
Mr. Faust reported that the District had two “shovel ready”
projects: the Rock Slough Fish Screen
Project and the Canal Replacement Project.
He noted that Congressman George Miller had been very supportive of these
District projects. He also acknowledged
Congressman Jerry McNerney for his support. He commented that the District had helped Central
Contra Costa Sanitary District receive $2.5 million in the stimulus bill,
through Title 16 funding from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), for
a recycled water project.
Discussion took place on the process for receiving funding
from Reclamation.
Discussions took place on the deadlines for disbursing the
funds to agencies for construction of projects.
He commented that the District continues to work with Senator Diane
Feinstein’s office on solutions for the Delta and water quality.
President Campbell commented he has been very pleased with
Congressman Miller’s efforts on the District’s behalf.
The Board thanked Mr. Faust for the presentation.
3. Major Policy Calendar
Executive Management Analyst Desiree Castello presented the
draft Major Policy Calendar (MPC) for FY10.
She reported that this MPC
covered July 2009 through June 2010 and the prior version had been reviewed by
the Board on January 9. She reviewed the
highlights of the MPC and noted that the Environmental Impact
Statement/Environmental Impact Report for the LVE was scheduled for a Board
meeting in November 2009. The Water Rights
Modification Application for the LVE was scheduled for Board review in January
2010.
Ms. Castello identified the significant new activities in
the FY10 MPC. These included the Rock
Slough Fish Screen Project, re-rating of the Randall-Bold Water Treatment
Plant, a Water Supply Assessment for the Concord Naval Weapons Station Reuse
Plan, the FY11-FY12 Budget, a communication plan for the District’s 75th
Anniversary, and quarterly updates on the Drought Program.
Ms. Castello reported that the dates of the next two ACWA
Conferences conflicted with the Board’s regular meeting schedule. It was proposed that the meetings be
rescheduled to accommodate the conferences dates.
President Campbell asked for clarification on the dates for
the December 2009 and May 2010 Board meetings. Ms. Castello advised that it was proposed to
move the December 2, 2009 meeting to December 19. This change would accommodate the ACWA 2009
Fall Conference. The Board meeting
scheduled for May 5 was being proposed for May 12 to accommodate the ACWA 2010
Spring Conference.
Mr. Shuff asked if there were any other questions. There were no other questions.
4. Delta Water Quality Update
Assistant General Manager of Water Resources Greg Gartrell
began his presentation by stating that immediate actions were needed now more
than ever due to the new biological opinions, multiple lawsuits and continued
decline in certain species.
Dr. Gartrell reviewed four immediate action projects. Using a map he identified the location of the
proposed projects and the benefits they would produce if they were presently
online. Stockpiling emergency materials
was progressing. He added that this
immediate action would limit Delta outage to months rather than years in the
event of an earthquake or island flooding. The Two-Gates Project would improve water
quality, fisheries, water supplies and reduce water costs. The fish screens would improve fisheries,
water supplies and take limits for fish would not be exceeded. The ecosystem projects would improve water
quality from tidal marsh on the Sacramento River
and would also improve fisheries.
Dr. Gartrell reviewed the schedules for the Bay Delta
Conservation Plan (BDCP) and the Delta Habitat Conservation and Conveyance Plan
(DHCCP). He reported that both plans were
scheduled for completion in 2010. The biological
assessment would be completed in 2011. The
Department of Water Resources (DWR) schedule was longer and the models for the
BDCP would not be completed in time for the draft BDCP. He opined that the Bay-Delta Conservation
Plan, Delta Habitat Conservation and Conveyance Plan were overly complex. He reviewed a timeline showing the biological
opinion restrictions from January through December.
Discussion took place on District projects including the AIP,
the Rock Slough Fish Screen Project, Los Vaqueros Expansion, Freeport wheeling, and the potential impacts
on the District and the Delta.
Principal Planner Fran Garland gave a brief presentation
focusing on the LVE. She reported that
comments had been received on the EIS/EIR.
Ms. Garland reported that the responses fell into two
categories: those that required modeling
and those that did not require modeling.
The target date for preliminary, internal draft responses not requiring modeling was
July. The schedule for responses
requiring modeling was less certain.
Ms. Garland reported that the National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS) and the Operations, Criteria and Plan (OCAP) biological opinion
was released on June 4. Model
development with NMFS and United States Fish and Wildlife Service biological
opinions were currently underway. The
comment period had closed on April 21, and five public hearings were held in
late March and early April. Ms. Garland
identified the groups from which comments were received at the federal, state, local
and organization levels. She also noted
that 20 individuals had commented including affected property owners, multi-use
trail advocates and other interested parties.
She noted that the major environmental groups did not comment. She reviewed and commented on the key
comments including alternatives, Delta hydrology and aquatic resources,
terrestrial biology, and recreation.
Ms. Garland reviewed the schedule for the Final LV EIS/EIR. It was proposed to be ready for Board consideration
of approval in the fall of 2009.
President Campbell commented positively on the improvements
in the handling of the LVE EIS/EIR process as compared to when the reservoir
was originally built.
5. General Comments
General Manager
Mr. Bishop
commented that the AIP was an important project for the District.
Legal Counsel
Mr. Coty did not
have any comments.
Board Members
President
Campbell commented that he has a good understanding of the issues.
Director Boatmun concurred with President Campbell’s comment. She also indicated that the public appeared
to have better understanding through the years.
Director Burgh commented positively on the quality of information received. He also advised that he would be applying for
nomination to the Board of Directors for ACWA Region 5.
Director Anello commented positively on the study session.
ADJOURNMENT
At 11:17 a.m., President Campbell adjourned the
meeting to the next regular meeting of the Board of Directors scheduled for July
1, 2009, at 6:30 p.m.
Joseph
L. Campbell, President
ATTEST:
Sharon L. Burris
District Secretary
