Item 365/2025
Final
City of Garden Grove
INTER-DEPARTMENT MEMORANDUM
To:
Lisa L. Kim From: William E. Murray
Dept:
City Manager Dept: Public Works
Date: 10/14/2025
Subject: Approval of two Cost Sharing Agreements with the Municipal Water District of Orange County for Water Conservation Framework compliance planning and technical assistance. (Shared Cost: $101,890.55)(Action Item)
OBJECTIVE
To request that City Council approve two (2) cost sharing agreements with the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) to assist the City with compliance planning and technical assistance for the Water Conservation as a California Way of Life water efficiency framework standards.
BACKGROUND
In 2018, the California State Legislature enacted two policy bills, Senate Bill (SB) 606 and Assembly Bill (AB) 1668, to establish a new foundation for long-term improvements in water conservation and drought planning through a water-budget based approach. These bills are commonly referred to as the Conservation Framework. Under this regulation, there are several components that involve the following:
Citywide Aggregate Annual Reporting on Water Use Budget through evaluation of the City’s volum etric indoor residential use, outdoor residential use and water distribution system water losses (commonly referred to as the Urban Water Use Objective).
Identifying and re -classifying Commercial, Industrial and Institutional (CII) accounts into specific c ategories (e.g. restaurants, retail services, lodging offices, etc.).
Identifying CII dedicated irrigation meters and CII mixed use meters to develop a targeted CII best management practices for water conservation.
Each component has a series of specific deadlines. The state will be evaluating overall compliance with the Urban Water Use Objective beginning January 1, 2027.
Item 365/2025
In 2023, MWDOC began discussing the need to retain consultant services on behalf of member agencies to provide guidance and outline the necessary steps to ensure compliance for each performance objective. This roadmap planning effort involves organizing agencies current data, identifying gaps, and creating agency specific strategies to meet program objectives. It also facilitates the ongoing cooperative efforts between water retail agencies to benefit from increased economies of scale.
DISCUSSION
For Fiscal Year (FY) 2 025-2026, MWDOC initiated a request for proposals and retained two (2) consulting firms based on competitive pricing and staffing capacity for these projects in addition to the most substantial, relevant experience. Two (2) agreements have been implemented on behalf of member agencies, of which Garden Grove is a member:
1. The Conservation Framework Technical Assistance Program (Framework TAP), which includes a customized five-year Framework Compliance Plan, annual report compilation, CII account classification, and best management practices implementation; and
2. The Meter Area Measurement Program (MAM) to perform GIS analysis of large landscape water usage calculations associated with mixed-use CII meters.
Other participating Orange County retailers in this project include:
City of Brea
City of Buena Park
City of Fountain Valley
City of Fullerton
City of Huntington Beach
City of Laguna Beach
City of La Habra
City of La Palma
City of Newport Beach
City of Orange
City of San Clemente
City of Santa Ana
City of Seal Beach
City of Tustin
City of Westminster
Laguna Beach County Water District
Moulton Niguel Water District
South Coast Water District
Trabuco Canyon Water District
Yorba Linda Water District
The City’s cost for participating in MAM is $10,466 and the cost for participating in Framework TAP is $91,424.55. This includes a program cost reduction of $17,500 from MWDOC-provided grant funds that are being offered on a first come, first served basis.
Item 365/2025
Due to the consultants’ specialized expertise and the need for reclassification of over 2,100 CII accounts and GIS mapping analysis of outdoor irrigation areas, City staff recommend dispensing of the bidding process pursuant to Garden Grove Municipal Code Section 2.50.060 (D) and participating in the two MWDOC cost sharing agreements to help the City meet compliance deadlines.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no impact to the General Fund. The total cost for both agreements is $101,890.55.
These projects will be funded from the City’s adopted FY 2025-2026 Water Enterprise Fund budget.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that City Council:
Approve dispensing of the bidding process pursuant to Garden Grove Municipal Code Section 2.50.060 (D) , a cooperative agreement with another governmental agency for a particular service;
Approve the two attached MWDOC cost sharing agreements to assist the City in compliance planning and technical assistance for Water Conservation Framework requirements, in the amount of, not to exceed $101,890.55; and
Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute the agreement on behalf of the City and make minor modifications as appropriate thereto.
By: Samuel Kim, P.E.
Deputy Public Works Director/
Water Services Manager
ATTACHMENT(S)
1. MWDOC Addendum 3D - Meter Area Measurements Program Agreement
2. MWDOC Addendum 3E - Conservation Framework Technical Assistance Program Agreement