AGENDA REPORT
Meeting Date: September 12, 2022
Item Number:
To: Honorable Mayor & City Council
From: Shana Epstein, Director of Public Works
Robert Welch, P.E., Utilities General Manager
Melissa Gomez, Senior Management Analyst
Subject: RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BEVERLY
HILLS TO SUPPORT THE DELTA CONVEYANCE PROJECT
Attachments: 1. Proposed Resolution
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that City Council adopt a resolution in support of the Delta Conveyance Project.
INTRODUCTION
Beverly Hills Metropolitan Water District Director, Barry D. Pressman, requested that City Council discuss and adopt a resolution in support of the Delta Conveyance Project. This item presents a resolution to the City Council for formal adoption.
DISCUSSION
The State of California released a Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Delta Conveyance (tunnel) project to evaluate impacts of the project as required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and is accepting public comments through October 27, 2022. The proposed project would construct and operate new conveyance facilities in the Delta that would add to the existing State Water Project (SWP) infrastructure. The objectives of the project are:
• To address anticipated rising sea levels and other reasonably foreseeable consequences of climate change and extreme weather events. • To minimize the potential for public health and safety impacts from reduced quantity and quality of SWP water deliveries, and potentially Central Valley Project (CVP) water deliveries, south of the Delta resulting from a major earthquake that D-4
Meeting Date: September 12, 2022
causes breaching of Delta levees and the inundation of brackish water into the areas in which the existing SWP and CVP pumping plants operate in the southern Delta.
• To protect the ability of the SWP, and potentially the CVP, to deliver water when hydrologic conditions result in the availability of sufficient amounts, consistent with the requirements of state and federal law, including the California and Federal Endangered Species Acts and Delta Reform Act, as well as the terms and conditions of water delivery contracts and other existing applicable agreements. • To provide operational flexibility to improve aquatic conditions in the Delta and better manage risks of further regulatory constraints on SWP operations.
The Delta is at the center of California’s water distribution system. The Department of Water Resources notes “two-thirds of California’s water originates in the Sierra Nevada Mountains as snowpack, eventually flowing through the Delta, where, consistent with water rights, including applicable water quality requirements, it is delivered to more than 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland. The infrastructure that enables conveyance for California’s primary water supply is critical to the health of local communities and the success of our state’s economy.”
Because the SWP relies on the Delta’s natural channels to convey water, it is vulnerable to earthquakes and sea level rise. The purpose of the proposed Delta Conveyance Project is to modernize the aging SWP infrastructure in the Delta and to restore and protect the reliability of SWP water deliveries in a cost-effective manner, consistent with the State’s Water Resilience Portfolio. On July 27, 2022, Governor Newsom’s Administration released draft environmental documents for modernizing Delta conveyance for the SWP.
History has shown that modifying Delta conveyance is no easy task. Delta residents who oppose this project gave feedback on initial design ideas, making the current proposed project better. There is still opposition, but there is dialog and opportunities to collaborate.
From a physical and engineering perspective, this proposal is different. It has the smallest footprint compared to any proposal that has preceded it. It avoids the central Delta with the proposed version of the eastern alignment, resulting in a significantly smaller footprint and less impacts to Delta communities. It connects directly into Bethany Reservoir, from which the California Aqueduct flows, providing added resiliency and avoids sensitive environmental habitat areas near the SWP pumping plant.
More than half of Southern California’s water has come from two imported outside sources for decades – the SWP and Colorado River Aqueduct. Now, due to climate change, California saw the three driest consecutive years on the SWP in history and faces historic shortage conditions on the Colorado with a call by the Bureau of Reclamation to dramatically cut Colorado River water use even more next year.
During these historic circumstances, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Metropolitan), which supplies about half of the water to the region, has embraced a “One Water” approach to accelerate a shift in reliance away from imported outside water sources towards new local supplies and conservation, while recognizing supplies from the SWP remain an important component of Southern California water resiliency. The SWP needs the capability to capture water during large storm flows and store it for drier periods, which the proposed project is intended to provide.
Meeting Date: September 12, 2022
This One Water approach is putting all the pieces of the puzzle together in a comprehensive and collaborative way. It includes ongoing conservation efforts and many new local supplies such as the Pure Water Southern California project, a partnership with Metropolitan and the Los Angeles County Sanitation District. Pure Water will be one of the largest recycling projects in the nation.
FISCAL IMPACT
The environmental review process is focused on the environmental impacts rather than economic issues. At the moment we do not know what the specific economic impact will be for Metropolitan and its member agencies. However, cost impacts will be incorporated into future Metropolitan rates.
Shana Epstein,
Director of Public Works
Approved by
Attachment 1
-1-
B0785-0001\2702028v1.doc
RESOLUTION NO. 22-R-_______
RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BEVERLY
HILLS TO SUPPORT THE DELTA CONVEYANCE PROJECT
WHEREAS, California faces a water policy decision regarding the Delta Conveyance Project that could help ensure a reliable supply of water for Californians for the coming decades; and,
WHEREAS, 27 million people—1 in 12 Americans—depend on the State Water Project, California’s primary water distribution system, which conveys water through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to provide a cost effective source of high-quality, clean water for Californians from the Bay Area to San Diego; and,
WHEREAS, The State Water Project infrastructure was built about 60 years ago and is at increasing risk from earthquakes and declining supplies due to climate change and sea level rise; and,
WHEREAS, The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which supplies about half of the water in its service area covering much of Southern California, has embraced a “One Water” approach to shift reliance away from imported water towards new local supplies and conservation, while recognizing supplies from Northern California remain an important component of the region’s water resiliency; and,
WHEREAS, The City of Beverly Hills supports water conservation and the development of local supplies, along with supplies imported through the State Water Project as a part of the City’s current and future water supply strategy; and, DocuSign Envelope ID: 619A6D1E-9DE4-4538-924F-90A22040F641 -2-
B0785-0001\2702028v1.doc
WHEREAS, California faces a new climate reality with increasingly extreme weather events and climate trends producing unpredictable storms, extreme fire events, extended droughts, rising sea levels, increasing temperatures and an earlier spring runoff with less snowpack; and,
WHEREAS, These climate change impacts threaten water supplies throughout the State creating greater pressures on water demands, making water management more challenging; and,
WHEREAS, It is essential to adapt to climate change impacts by capturing and storing wet period and wet year runoff to sustain communities and the environment, and beneficially use stored water for when conditions are dry; and,
WHEREAS, The State of California has initiated an environmental review process, as part of the Water Resilience Portfolio, for the construction of a one-tunnel water delivery system that would transport water from the north Delta underground to the existing aqueduct systems south of the Delta; and,
WHEREAS, The purpose of this Delta Conveyance Project is to modernize the State water system and provide benefits for California by addressing water reliability issues in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as part of a holistic response to climate change, sea level rise, and seismic risks; and,
WHEREAS, While Southern Californians continue to call for increased water conservation and accelerated development of local water supplies, the Delta Conveyance Project would provide operational capability to safely capture Sierra stormwater when available DocuSign Envelope ID: 619A6D1E-9DE4-4538-924F-90A22040F641 -3-
B0785-0001\2702028v1.doc
and mitigate seismic and flood risks that could interrupt State Water Project operations in the south Delta; and,
WHEREAS, The proposed project is very different from previous proposals incorporating an extensive amount of design refinements to help avoid or lessen local community impacts and includes a Community Benefits Program to ensure the communities most affected by construction of the project are provided the means and resources to achieve local benefits; and,
WHEREAS, The Department of Water Resources has released the Draft Environmental Impact Report for this project and announced it will be receiving public comment regarding the project for 90 days until October 27, 2022; and,
WHEREAS, Southern Californian ratepayers have previously invested billions of dollars since the early 1960’s to build, maintain and operate the State Water Project along with groundwater banks along the State Water Project and regional facilities to treat, store and distribute those supplies; and,
WHEREAS, As Southern Californians continue to invest in conservation and new regional and local supplies, it is prudent and responsible to modernize the State Water Project in anticipation of the growing threats of climate change, steadily increasing sea-level rise, and earthquake risks in the Delta to help protect California communities, help protect this investment and protect this critical water supply for years to come.
DocuSign Envelope ID: 619A6D1E-9DE4-4538-924F-90A22040F641 -4-
B0785-0001\2702028v1.doc
NOW, THEREFORE, the Council of the City of Beverly Hills does hereby resolve as follows:
Section 1. To support the State’s environmental review and permitting process for the proposed Delta Conveyance Project; and to support the advancement of the State’s proposed project.
Section 2. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Resolution and shall cause this Resolution and her certification to be entered in the Book of Resolutions of the Council of this City.
Adopted:
LILI BOSSE
Mayor of the City of Beverly Hills,
California
ATTEST:
(SEAL)
HUMA AHMED
City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM: APPROVED AS TO FORM:
LAURENCE S. WIENER GEORGE CHAVEZ
City Attorney City Manager
DocuSign Envelope ID: 619A6D1E-9DE4-4538-924F-90A22040F641 Certificate Of Completion
Envelope Id: 619A6D1E9DE44538924F90A22040F641 Status: Sent Subject: Please DocuSign: 9/12 Meeting- Resolution - SUPPORT FOR DELTA CONVEYANCE PROJECT.DOC Source Envelope:
Document Pages: 4 Signatures: 1 Envelope Originator:
Certificate Pages: 2 Initials: 0 Melissa Gomez
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Time Zone: (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)
455 N. Rexford Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
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IP Address: 198.245.189.169
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Logan Phillippo
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Senior Management Analyst
City of Beverly Hills
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City of Beverly Hills
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