1 STAFF REPORT
DAT
E: February 8, 2022
T
O: Justin Hess, City Manager
F
ROM: D awn Roth Lindell, General Manager, Burbank Water and Power BY: Richard Wilson, Assistant General Manager, Water Systems S
UBJECT: Update on Water Supply Reliability Projects and Proposals
RECOMMENDATION
Note and file.
BACKGROUND
The City of Burbank has no ownership rights to naturally occurring groundwater beneath the city . Storm water runoff and other naturally occurring water located underneath Burbank belongs to the City of Los Angeles. Therefore, almost all of Burbank’s water is supplied by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD). This imported water comes in two forms: treated potable water and raw (untreated) water.
T
reated water is delivered directly into Burbank’s drinking water distribution system at five locations throughout the city. Raw water is “spread” across the ground at the Pacoima and Lopez spreading grounds in Sylmar, where it percolates into the ground and becomes part of the San Fernando Basin. Burbank receives credits for such raw water stored in the ground, like a bank account, and can be withdrawn (pumped) out of the ground and treated for potable use.
T
he San Fernando Basin and the Upper Los Angeles River Area ( ULARA) are adjudicated according to the 1979 final judgment in a state court case entitled City of Los Angeles vs. City of San Fernando, et al., Los Angeles County Superior Court Case No. 650079 (Judgment) which established the ULARA Watermaster (Watermaster) to oversee the San Fernando Basin.
T
he Watermaster keeps the official account of how much water each city subject to the Judgment, including Burbank, has stored in the ground water basin and keeps track of the water spread or injected into the ground, and all the water that is withdrawn from the ground through pumping and any transfers of water between such cities through various agreements.
WATER AND
POWER
2 Every year, each city that uses the San Fernando B asin provides a letter to the Watermaster stating how much water was purchased, stored, and treated by such city and the W atermaster reconciles all of the data provided by the basin users. Burbank’s latest statement to the water master is attached for reference (Attachment 1).
DISCUSSION
The City of Burbank is one of 26 member agencies that receives water supplies from MWD. Our water supply is an extension of MWD’s water supply that includes: (1) in-region storage that captures run-off (such as Diamond Valley Lake); (2) raw water from the state water project (SWP); and (3) raw water from the Colorado River aqueduct. All the water from these sources is treated and delivered to Burbank as potable water . Raw water for spreading is only provided from the SWP.
Every five years, all member agencies and MWD must submit t o the State of California an urban water management plan (UWMP) that outlines system demands, which include population estimates, and system supplies, including scenarios for single year and multi- year droughts, water loss and planned uses of recycled water. The UWMP evaluates these factors in five-year increments over the next 20 years.
MWD’s UWMP, with input from all 26 member agencies, shows that there are available water supplies to meet the combined demand of all agencies through 2045. Burbank’s UWMP included the assumption of the new buildings and housing units planned for Burbank. These new units will be built with low flow toilets and other conservation tools that will help Burbank meet its per capita water use goals. Even with the new units our water supply is adequate at least through 2045 (Attachment 2). Note that the water reliability assessments use 96 years (1922- 2017) of historic hydrology. Attachment 3 provides a narrative that responds to community concerns about the impact of new developments on water supplies and, in particular, the drought.
Water Supply Projects
This year, t he Department of Water Resources (DWR) issued a n initial zero percent allocation of the SWP for the first time. Although this water year is off to a great st art, DWR is predicting a third dry year and it is too early to tell how the rest of this year will pan out. Regardless, climate change will require our state and region to adapt to a new normal. Therefore, it is vital that the region focuses on developing greater local supplies in addition to increasing the reliability of the SWP. MWD’s water supply projects that will benefit the region, including Burbank, are summarized below.
Annual Yield (Acre-Feet) Estimated Completion
Date
State Water Project
Sites Reservoir 50,000 2030
Water Banking 83,000 2024
Colorado River
Quechan Fallowing Program 3,000 2022
Regional Recycled Water Program 168,000 2030
3 Local Supplies
Under Construction 125,492 2026
Conservation 10,600 2030
TOTAL 440,092 2030
Projects for Imported Supplies
Sites Reservoir – Located in Northern California, this project would create a new reservoir that would add approximately 50,000 acre- feet each year to MWD’s SWP imports beginning around 2030. MWD has participated in the initial phase of the project concluding with the final Environmental Impact Report that will be completed this summer.
MWD’s board will have to approve funding for MWD’s future participation.
Water Banking Programs – MWD has agreements with San Bernardino Valley Water District and the Antelope Valley/East Kern to store 83,000 acre-feet each year beginning in 2024 that can be added to SWP imports.
Quechan Seasonal Fallowing Program – The Quechan tribe has expressed interest in participating in a fallowing program that could save 3,000 acre- feet of Colorado River supply each year, starting this year.
Regional Recycled Water Program (RRWP)
The RRWP is a partnership between MWD and the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts that will treat wastewater for reuse. The project would produce 168,000 acre-feet of purified water from an advanced treatment plant located at the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant in Carson for ground water replenishment, industrial use, and raw water augmentation (i.e., supplied directly to water treatment plants to produce potable water).
Local Supply Projects
Many of the regional water supply projects are funded by water rates and charges that member agencies pay to MWD to fund its demand management program. Since 1982, MWD invested $680 million to fund 85 recycled water projects and 27 ground water recovery projects. BWP received $2.1 million since 2011 to produce a total of 13,709 acre-feet and since 2002 has capitalized $26.4 million in recycled assets.
Currently, member agencies have dozens of local supply projects in the conceptual or environmental review stages that, when built, will reduce the region’s reliance on imported water. There are 21 recycled water and groundwater recovery projects from eight cities/agencies that are under construction that will yield 125,492 acre-feet of water each year.
Conservation
Conservation will always play a critical role in helping us meet our water needs. The projected water savings (and, therefore, a reduction of water imports) throughout MWD’s service area is 106,000 acre-feet of water by 2030. Most of the water savings will come from code -based savings as new and rehabilitated buildings will use high- efficiency water-saving fixtures and devices. However, aggressive utility -funded conservation programs have made a significant contribution to the conservation effort.
4 Moving Forward
MWD will continue to fund demand management program projects that take the burden off imported water supplies, of which Burbank is solely dependent, and allows Burbank to store more water in the ground. However, Burbank needs to renew previous efforts to increase recycled water use; it is an underused community asset that must be developed to enhance supply, reliability and sustainability and the timing is right to move forward on:
1. Engaging MWD, state, and federal leaders on a new paradigm of supply strategies that include:
a. Pipelines from water-rich areas of the United States to Southern California b. More seawater desalination projects
c. Strengthening the water-energy nexus to ensure greater reliability;
2. Continuing our investigation of indirect potable reuse (IPR) – injects treated recycled water into the ground for later use;
3. Continuing our investigation of direct potable reuse (DPR) – treats recycled water to drinking water standards; and
4. Continuing to pursue opportunities to exchange recycled water for ground water credits.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this report.
CONCLUSION
Water supply projects within MWD’s service area will yield additional supplies of 441,000 acre-feet per year by 2031 that will benefit all 26 member agencies . For reference, the City of Burbank’s total annual water need is approximately 19,000 acre-feet, or 4.3% of the total additional projected supplies.
However, it is imperative that we recognize that climate change will require our state and region to adapt to a new normal and the programs and projects outlined in this staff report illustrate the importance of continuing to develop greater local supplies , as well as increasing the reliability of the SWP. Adapting to a new normal also underscores the need for broader participation outside of California to develop a new paradigm of supply strategies.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – ULARA Watermaster Report, 2020-2021
Attachment 2 – Executive Summary and Simple Lay Description of 2020 UWMP Findings Attachment 3 – Narrative Responding to Community Concerns on Impacts of Development on Water Supply