1 STAFF REPORT
DAT
E: August 22, 2023
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: Water Supply and Conservation Update and C onsideration of Categorical Exemption (14 CCR § 15308) and the Discussion on the Adoption of a Resolution Authorizing the Move to Stage II from Stage III of the Sustainable Water Use Ordinance Effective September 1, 2023
RE
COMMENDATION
The City Council could:
1) A
dopt A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BURBANK
AUTHORIZING THE MOVE TO STAGE II FROM STAGE III OF TH E SUSTAINABLE WATER USE ORDINANCE (Attachment 1); or
2)
Note and file the report.
BACKG
ROUND
Burbank’s Sustainable Water Use O rdinance outlines six stage s of progressively restrictive water use to reduce citywide water consumption as appropriate for the prevailing conditions. These actions align with the city’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan.
O
riginally enacted by Council in 2008, the comprehensive provisions within the Sustainable Water Use Ordinance, coupled with enforcement, have demonstrated to be effective in reducing water use. Burbank has done a great job at conserving and lowering water use. Since 2013, Burbank has reduced its per capita water usage from 162 gallons per day to 123 gallons per day.
R
ecent Events
California endured a record drought during the last three years. Governor Newsom issued a drought proclamation on July 8, 2021, that declared a drought state of emergency in 50
WATER AND
POWER
Richard Wilson
2 of California’s 58 counties and a statewide executive order that called for a voluntary 15% cutback in water use from 2020 levels to preserve available supplies and protect water reserves. Not long afterward, the state emergency was extended to all 58 counties.
On August 16, 2021, the historic Colorado River Shortage Declaration was made by the Bureau of Reclamation, declaring an official shortage condition due to the lowering of Lake Mead’s water level behind Hoover Dam to below 1,075 feet. The next day, on August 17, 2021, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) declared a Water Supply Alert signaling an urgent need throughout the region to do more to reduce water use and asked water agencies to look within their respective water shortage contingency plans to implement appropriate local actions to achieve conservation through the drought conditions.
Burbank’s Response
The city’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan is contained within the Urban Water Management Plan that was passed by Council on June 22, 2021. It outlines actions and restrictions that must be taken commensurate with the declared water shortage amount.
The Governor’s call for a 15% reduction in water use moved the city from stage I into stage II of the Sustainable Water Use Ordinance. It is important to note that the ordinance does not apply to the uses of water necessary to protect public health and safety, nor the use of recycled water.
Stage I
Stage I of the Sustainable Water Use Ordinance had been in effect since the last drought and became the new normal in Burbank. Stage I allows landscape watering for no more than 15 minutes per station three days each week (Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays) year-round. Attended hand-watering is allowed any day of the week. See Attachment 2 for a complete description of the restrictions for each stage . By activating stage II, all existing stage I restrictions remained in place, plus the additional restrictions summarized below:
• Watering of outdoor landscaped areas during the months of November through March is limited to fifteen (15) minutes per station, one (1) day per week (Saturday).
• The filling or refilling of an artificial or ornamental body of water that does not use recycled water is prohibited.
Stage II and Stage III
On September 14, 2021, Council approved a resolution to move from stage I to stage II in response to the conditions noted above. In addition, Council also granted authorization to Burbank Water and Power (BWP) to move from stage II to stage III if we were unable to meet the Governor’s water reduction goal for three consecutive months. That did occur, and on June 27, 2022, Burbank moved to stage III. All conservation measures applicable to stages I and II remained in effect , along with the following additional measures summarized below:
• During the months of April through October , do not water outdoor landscaped areas more than fifteen (15) minutes per station and no more than two (2) days 3 per week. Areas watered with low-volume irrigation systems that require additional spray time are exempt from the 15- minute time restriction of this requirement but must comply with the limit of two days per week watering requirement. The two allowable irrigation days are Tuesdays and Saturdays. Irrigation will not be allowed any day outside of Tuesday or Saturday.
• Do not use outdoor evaporative cooling devices (for example, misters). • The prohibition on watering outdoor landscaped areas between the hours of 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. or during daylight hours from November through March, extends to include attended hand-watering.
• Cover all swimming pools, wading pools, or spas when not in use with acceptable protection designed to decrease water evaporation.
BWP’s Strategy, Marketing and Sustainability team coordinated our messages with MWD’s media campaign to ensure that we provided impactful communication on the drought that delivered results. We continued to provide water saving tips, education and outreach through social media and BWP’s Currents magazine, and developed an enforcement plan that included water waste notifications and fines.
The Burbank Municipal Code allows for the enforcement of and citations for the violation of the Sustainable Water Use Ordinance. Consistent with past practices, BWP responded to reports of water waste, first through multiple water waste notices and then with fines that progressively increase with repeated violations.
DISCUSSION
Current Conditions
We are experiencing what many in the water industry call “weather whiplash.” In the last five years, we have had three very dry years bracketed by two very wet years , and this year, the State Water Project (SWP) allocation by the Department of Water Resources (DWR) has undergone frequent and rapid increases.
Initial allocation – December 1, 2022 5%
Second allocation – February 22, 2023 35%
Third Allocation – March 24, 2023 75%
Fourth Allocation – April 20, 2023 100%
The string of atmospheric rivers filled the state’s reservoirs faster than expected and in such a way that water had to be released from these reservoirs to make room for more rain to avoid catastrophic flooding of their surrounding areas. In fact, the amount of water that flowed out of Lake Oroville’s spillway in just one month was more than the combined SWP allocation delivered to MWD over the last two years. What’s more, the northern and southern snowpack depths are two to three times the average, and with the recent rains, the ground is saturated, meaning that there will be more runoff (i.e., snowmelt) that will make it to reservoirs and not seep into the dry ground as has happened in years past.
Over the past nine decades , our climate has produced an ebb and flow of r ain and snowmelt that water managers and operators could predict with some measure of certainty that provided the state’s residents with a reliable and resilient water delivery system. Yet, the western region’s water system and MWD’s regional distribution system 4 is not designed for the increased variability and uncertainty of the “weather whiplash” phenomenon and, coupled with a 20- year dry cycle on the Colorado River system has produced:
1. Political and economic stress that the seven Colorado River basin st ates must navigate to agree on a cooperative plan to manage less water; and
2. Inequitable reliability and resilience of water delivery among member agencies as evidenced by the water shortage emergency and allocation for SWP -dependent areas.
Considerations in Moving Back to Stage II
Burbank is 100% dependent on imported water. We have no water rights. We cannot collect water that falls from the sky to treat and drink. In 1979, the California Superior Court decreed that all native waters in the San Fernando V alley, including stormwater , belong to the City of Los Angeles , and these Pueblo Rights date back to its founding.
Burbank does store water in the ground, but only SWP water that we purchase from MWD. The city can only take out of the ground what it purchases.
We store water in the ground at two locations that are operated by the County of Los Angeles. One of the locations is closed until December 2024 as the county is making it bigger. The other location is smaller, limiting how much we can store, and hampering our ability to take the excess water from the SWP.
The decision to move from stage III back to stage II of our sustainable water use should consider the following:
1. SWP allocation is now 100%;
2. Even with the reduced availability of the county’s facilities, we can still store enough water to account for the additional day of watering;
3. We have sufficient groundwater balance to account for the additional day of watering;
4. We do not know what the precipitation and snowpack levels will be in the next few years as aridification becomes more prevalent;
5. The desire to make lasting changes in our relationship with water and encourage the sustainable use of our resources;
6. The erosion of confidence in our messaging due to the “ weather whiplash” effect of changing conservation levels with more frequent changes in climate;
7. The Lower Division States (which includes California) of the Colorado River Basin have committed to conserve an additional 3 million acre- feet of Colorado River water by the end of calendar year 2026 to address ongoing severe drought conditions and a changing climate in the Colorado River Basin;
8. Attended hand-watering of turf is allowed without restrictions for stages I and II.
Only stage III has a restriction – it must occur between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. Water waste predominantly occurs through automated irrigation – either too long, wrong days, or overspray.
5 Managing Uncertainty
While the rain produced by the string of atmospheric rivers is welcomed news and great relief, we must remember that our recent weather has been more variable and less predictable than what we have historically seen and that Burbank’s situation is unique, i.e., we are 100% dependent on imported water, and we have no water rights. We must be mindful of our water use and continue to hold conservation front and center in the public’s eye in lockstep with MWD’s major initiatives that include:
• Replacing our advanced metering infrastructure with the latest technology to better manage water use and enforce violations of the Sustainable Water Use Ordinance. • Reducing the use of non-functional turf by 30% by replacing it with native plantings. • Providing rebates and conservation programs and resources. • Increasing our use of recycled water.
• Continuing to enforce the Sustainable Water Use Ordinance.
Other Local Jurisdiction Actions
On May 8, 2023, staff from the City of Pasadena recommended moving to three days per week of watering based on the recent rains. The recommendation was rejected by their Council. City of Pasadena Council Members’ concerns or comments included:
1. The more fr equent and volatile changes in precipitation produced by climate change demand that we continue present conservation levels;
2. One great year of rain does not mean we can relax our conservation efforts, so we need to conserve what we have;
3. We live in an arid environment (referred to by one Pasadena Council Member as a desert);
4. The changes in messaging are confusing to the community;
5. There have not been calls to add another day of watering, in fact, there have been many calls to continue the level of conservation.
On May 1, 2023, the City of Glendale Water and Power Commission recommended staying at two days per week watering based on the consideration of the factors noted above.
BWP Board Action
On June 1, 2023, staff presented this report to the BWP Board for a full discussion. The board was split 2- 2 (three members were absent) on whether to move to stage II of the Sustainable Water Use Ordinance or remain at stage III. The board was divided on the same issues that the Cities of Pasadena and Glendale discussed. The main disagreement centered on the following considerations:
1. Substantial rains were received this year ; therefore, residents should be able to irrigate more;
2. One bountiful year does not mean that we should relax conservation efforts – we do not know what the future brings and should maintain current conservation efforts;
6 3. Residents are smart enough to know the difference between reasonable water use and water waste. Therefore, forcing residents to comply with stage III restrictions is burdensome and intrusive, and denies them the ability to choose how they want to irrigate their property;
4. Residents can water by hand any day of the week and can choose to do so.
After a lengthy discussion, the BWP Board was split on the decision of whether to recommend Council stay at stage III, watering 2 days a week, or move back to stage II , watering 3 days a week; therefore, the board recommends that Council discuss and decide to stay at stage III or move back to stage II. Council may consider the points brought up earlier in this report as well as actions of neighboring cities, to assist with the decision of adopting the resolution to move back to stage II of the Sustainable Water Use Ordinance or to stay at stage III and note and file this report.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The city’s Sustainable Water Use O rdinance establishes a regulatory process and procedures for the protection of the environment related to water conservation, and actions in accordance with those procedures are categorically exempt from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under 14 CCR section 15308. Staff recommends that Council find the adoption of this resolution exempt from CEQA under the exemption above and has included language reflecting such a finding if Council decides to move forward with adopting the resolution.
FISCAL IMPACT
The additional day of watering could result in an estimated increase in gross revenue of approximately $1,600,000 due to additional water consumption.
CONCLUSION
The Sustainable Water Use Ordinance was crafted in 2008. Since then, climate change has produced more variable and intense weather patterns described by water managers as “weather whiplash”. Recent regional, state, and local actions taken in response to the long-term trend of aridification impact water supply and conservation . Council needs to determine whether the city should remain at stage III of the S ustainable Water Use Ordinance or move to stage II.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – Resolution
Attachment 2 – Sustainable Water Use Ordinance