746159v1
CITY OF FRESNO
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
CONTACT: Debbie Khounsavath
City of Fresno
Department of Public Utilities – Utilities Planning and Engineering Division
747 R. Street
Fresno, CA 93721
(559) 621-1624
[email protected]
SUBJECT: Authorizing Director of Public Utilities to Execute All Recycled Water User Agreements
PROJECT LOCATIONS: Fresno, CA (Citywide)
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The project involves authorizing the Director of Public Utilities to execute all recycled water user agreements within the City of Fresno.
The City of Fresno regulates the delivery and use of recycled water through Chapter 6, Article 9 of the Fresno Municipal Code, originally adopted in 2014 and updated to support long‑term water resource planning and ensure compliance with all applicable federal and state regulations. Recycled water service is only allowed on properties with an executed user agreement, which outlines required adherence to the City’s Recycled Water Rules and Regulations and applicable regulatory standards. The Department of Public Utilities reviews all applications for conformance with the Recycled Water Master Plan (Master Plan), establishes site‑specific operational requirements, and ensures that each property designates a Recycled Water Site Supervisor responsible for on‑site compliance.
Eligibility for recycled water service follows the geographic use areas defined in the Master Plan (see attached Exhibit A - Maps). Administrative authority to administer, implement, and enforce the provisions of the recycled water ordinance, and develop and enforce the rules and regulations for the administration of the recycled water ordinance, is vested in the Director of Public Utilities. The proposed resolution would delegate authority to the Director, or designee, to execute user agreements, thereby streamlining administration and supporting continued implementation of the City’s Recycled Water Program.
On April 11, 2013, the City Council approved and adopted Resolution 2013-45 certifying the Program Environmental Impact Report for the City of Fresno Recycled Water Master Plan (State Clearinghouse No. 2010051015) (RWMP PEIR) and the Master Plan. The Master Plan identified recycled water use opportunities within the City and its Sphere of Influence (SOI), including Fresno County lands located in or adjacent to the SOI. It also 746159v1
outlined the phased installation and operation of treatment, storage and distribution infrastructure to serve the Master Plan area.
The RWMP PEIR evaluated two alternatives for supplying recycled water and assessed urban reuse opportunities across four quadrants: Southwest (SW), Northwest (NW), Northeast (NE), and Southeast (SE) (see Exhibit A – Maps). The RWMP PEIR analyzed the environmental effects associated with constructing and operating the facilities proposed in the Master Plan, identified mitigation measures to avoid or reduce potential impacts, and evaluated feasible alternatives. Subsequent projects must be evaluated against the RWMP PEIR to determine whether additional environmental review is required.
The proposed action—authorizing the Director of Public Utilities to execute all Recycled Water User Agreements—is consistent with recycled water uses anticipated and analyzed in the Master Plan and RWMP PEIR. All prospective users would connect to existing recycled water pipelines constructed as part of the Master Plan and evaluated in the RWMP PEIR. Execution of individual user agreements is an implementation-level activity within the broader Recycled Water Program, and individual uses may be tiered from the analysis contained in the RWMP PEIR since they fall within the scope of the original project.
RWMP PEIR Alternatives Analyzed:
• Alternative 1: Provide recycled water primarily from the Regional Water Reclamation Facility (RWRF).
• Alternative 2: Supply recycled water from the RWRF in combination with up to five Satellite Recycled Water Facilities (SRWFs).
To analyze urban reuse potential, the Master Plan divided the project area into four quadrants (SW, NW, NE, and SE). Potential users were identified based on location and volume of demand. Large users with demands over 100 acre-feet per year, including golf courses, cemeteries, and major parks, determined the backbone pipeline alignments.
These large users are typically located on the urban periphery, creating a ring of service around the city and providing opportunities to extend service inward to smaller users.
The distribution system was sized to accommodate smaller existing and future users in addition to large users. Existing residential and commercial areas within one mile of the backbone pipeline were included, with the assumption that only front yards would be irrigated with recycled water. To avoid oversizing treatment and distribution facilities, it was conservatively assumed that only half of existing residential and commercial parcels with densities up to five lots per acre would ultimately connect.
Future residential and commercial development areas identified in the General Plan were also incorporated, but at a reduced estimate, only one quarter are anticipated to connect, due to expected future densification and evolving land use patterns. 746159v1
The demand analysis concluded that service to existing and future residential and commercial users can only be supported under Alternative 1. These areas exceed the wastewater flows available at any Satellite Recycled Water Facility proposed under Alternative 2, making Alternative 1 the only feasible supply scenario for citywide urban reuse.
The uses that would be authorized through Recycled Water User Agreements are fully consistent with the service areas, user types, pipeline alignments, and demand assumptions evaluated in the RWMP PEIR. The City has not undertaken any actions inconsistent with the adopted Master Plan, and any recycled water uses to be proposed remain within the previously analyzed categories of municipal, commercial, industrial, and landscape irrigation.
Consistent with CEQA Guidelines Section 15168, the 2013 RWMP PEIR was intended to support a series of actions constituting the City’s ongoing Recycled Water Program.
Execution of user agreements is a subsequent activity within the Recycled Water Program and relies on the infrastructure, operational assumptions, and environmental analysis disclosed and evaluated in the RWMP PEIR.
Projects within the Master Plan have been implemented in phases and reviewed as required under CEQA. The following tiered and supplemental evaluations have been completed:
• December 18, 2014: Approval of the City of Fresno Recycled Water Distribution System, Southwest Quadrant Tiered Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) and project (State Clearinghouse No. 2014081078).
• August 31, 2017: Approval of Addendum 1 to the Recycled Water Distribution System IS/MND for changes to pipeline routes and pump station location. • June 13, 2019: Approval of Addendum 2 for pipeline route refinements. • March 4, 2021: Approval of Addendum 3 for additional pipeline route refinements.
For all addenda, staff conducted CEQA analysis and determined that applicable mitigation measures remained sufficient and that the projects would not cause significant adverse cumulative impacts, growth-inducing impacts, or irreversible effects beyond those previously identified. Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15162, staff further determined that no substantial changes in circumstances have occurred and no new information of substantial importance has become available that would trigger the need for further environmental review.
CEQA Determination for the Proposed Action:
The proposed action of authorizing the Director of Public Utilities to execute Recycled Water User Agreements does not trigger the need for a subsequent or supplemental EIR under CEQA Guidelines Section 15162 because:
1. No substantial changes are proposed to the Recycled Water Program or proposed uses that would require major revisions to the RWMP PEIR due to the involvement 746159v1
of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant impacts.
The proposed action is administrative in nature and would authorize the Director of Public Utilities to execute Recycled Water User Agreements. It does not modify the Master Plan, expand the recycled water service area, authorize new treatment or distribution infrastructure, or change the types of recycled water uses evaluated in the RWMP PEIR. Prospective users would connect to an existing recycled water pipeline constructed as part of the Master Plan, and the uses authorized through the agreements would remain consistent with the service areas, user types, pipeline alignments, and demand assumptions previously evaluated in the RWMP PEIR. Accordingly, the proposed action would not result in new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects.
2. No substantial changes have occurred with respect to the circumstances under which the Recycled Water Program was undertaken that would require major revisions to the RWMP. The environmental setting and program infrastructure remain consistent with PEIR assumptions.
The Recycled Water Program continues to be implemented consistent with the Master Plan and the infrastructure and operational framework evaluated in the RWMP PEIR. Projects within the Master Plan have been implemented in phases and have undergone subsequent CEQA review, including the Southwest Quadrant Tiered IS/MND and three subsequent addenda addressing pipeline and pump station refinements. The subsequent evaluations determined that applicable mitigation measures remained sufficient and that the changes did not result in significant environmental effects beyond those previously identified. The proposed authorization to execute Recycled Water User agreements does not alter those circumstances or the previously evaluated Recycled Water Program framework.
3. No new information of substantial importance, which was not known and could not have been known with the exercise of reasonable diligence at the time the RWMP PEIR was certified, has been identified that would require additional environmental review under CEQA Guidelines Section 15162. The proposed action does not present new information showing that:
A. The proposed action would result in one or more significant effects not previously analyzed in the RWMP PEIR or subsequent CEQA documents.
The user agreements would implement recycled water uses within the service areas and categories of use previously assessed; B. Previously analyzed significant effects would be substantially more severe.
The proposed action does not expand the Recycled Water Program, authorize new infrastructure, or change the operational assumptions upon which the prior environmental analysis was based;
C. Mitigation measures or alternatives previously found infeasible are now feasible and would substantially reduce one or more significant effects of 746159v1
the Recycled Water Program. No information associated with the proposed authorization has been identified demonstrating such change; D. Mitigation measures or alternatives which are considerably different from those analyzed in the RWMP PEIR would substantially reduce one or more significant effects of the Recycled Water Program. The proposed action is an implementation-level administrative action and does not introduce new environmental effects requiring different mitigation measures or alternatives.
Based on the facts described above and the environmental analysis contained in the 2013 RWMP PEIR and subsequent CEQA documents, the proposed action remains within the scope of the previously approved Recycled Water Program. None of the conditions identified in CEQA Guidelines Section 15162 requiring preparation of a subsequent or supplemental EIR have occurred, and no further environmental review is required.
Date: 07/20/2026
Prepared &
Submitted by:
Debbie Khounsavath
Project Manager
Department of Public Utilities
(559) 621-1624