1 TO: City Council
FROM: Ryan Smoot, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Carla Dillon, P.E., Director of Public Works/City Engineer MEETING DATE: May 16, 2023
SUBJECT: Lease Agreement with the Hillside Memorial Park for 25 Acre-Feet of Unused FY 2022-2023 Groundwater Pumping Rights
RECOMMENDATION
Approve a lease agreement with the Hillside Memorial Park for 25 acre-feet of unused FY 2022-2023 groundwater pumping rights at a price of $110.00 per acre-foot for a total of $2,750; and authorize the City Manager and City Clerk to execute the agreement.
BACKGROUND
As in previous years, staff sought entities to lease groundwater pumping rights from the City of Lomita. The City had previously executed an agreement with Hillside Memorial Park in June 2022, granting them 50 acre-feet of groundwater pumping rights.
The City’s annual adjudicated groundwater pumping rights are 1,352 acre-feet.
Additionally, the City currently has 1,102 acre-feet of unused water pumping rights that were carried over from FY 2021-22.
There has been 0.00 acre-feet of groundwater pumped to date this fiscal year. Although the Cypress Water Production Facility (CWPF) and Well #5 are currently off-line, construction of the upgraded treatment system is nearing completion. Pumping from Well #5 may begin in the next month for development and testing of the upgraded treatment system at the CWPF, with up to 7 acre-feet of water pumped. Therefore, an estimated 2,447 acre-feet of water rights for lease in FY 2023-2024.
As such, there are sufficient unused pumping rights available to lease the requested 25 acre-feet to the Hillside Memorial Park. The table below shows a summary of the City’s available and used water pumping rights.
Item No. 7o
CITY OF LOMITA
CITY COUNCIL REPORT
2 Annual Water Rights 1,352 Acre-Feet
Carryover from FY 2021-22 1,102 Acre-Feet
Total Water Rights (FY 2022-2023) 2,454 Acre-Feet
Total Pumped (July-April) 0.00
Estimated Pumping (May-June) 7.00
Previously leased 0.00
Balance Available for Lease 2,447 Acre-Feet
Staff recommends that the proposal be accepted, and a lease agreement be executed for the lease of 25 acre-feet at the price of $110 per acre-foot. The agreement is contingent on receipt of payment from the Hillside Memorial Park and approval of the lease agreement by the West Coast Basin Water Rights Panel.
FISCAL IMPACT
The City will receive $2,750.00 by executing the attached lease agreement with the Hillside Memorial Park. This revenue was not budgeted.
OPTIONS:
1. Approve staff’s recommendation
2. Provide alternative direction
ATTACHMENT:
1. Lease Agreement
Reviewed by: Approved by:
___________________________ ___________________________ Gary Sugano Ryan Smoot
Assistant City Manager City Manager
Prepared by:
_________________________
Carla Dillon, P.E.
Director of Public Works
1 WATER RIGHT LICENSE AND AGREEMENT
(West Coast Basin)
For a valuable consideration, CITY OF LOMITA (Licensor) hereby grants to HILLSIDE MEMORIAL PARK (Licensee): a license to extract 25 acre-feet of Licensor’s Adjudicated Right allocated to Licensor (or predecessors in interest) under and pursuant to Judgment dated August 18, 1961, and entered in Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. 506806 entitled “California Water Service Company, et al. vs. City of Compton, et al. ” during the period commencing July 1, 2022, and continuing to and including June 30, 2023.
Said License is granted subject to the following conditions:
1. Licensee shall exercise said right and extract the same on behalf of Licensor during the period above specified and put the same to beneficial use and Licensee shall not by the exercise hereunder of said right acquire any right to extract water independent of the rights of Licensor.
2. Licensee shall pay to the Licensor a fee in the sum of $110.00/acre foot pumped. Further, Licensee shall pay assessments levied on the pumping of said ground waters by the Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD).
3. Licensee shall notify the WRD that said pumping was done pursuant to this license and provide the WRD with a copy of this signed document.
4. Licensee shall note, in any recording of water production for the period of agreement, that said pumping was done pursuant to this license.
5. Licensee’s Adjudicated Right shall, with flex (shall, with flex) (shall not, without flex) be increased by the amount hereby leased when computing carryover or allowable overextraction as provided by Part V in said Judgment.
CITY OF LOMITA warrants that it has 25 acre-feet of Adjudicated Right and that it has not pumped and will not pump or permit or license any other person to pump any part of said 25 acre-feet during the period of July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023. [Signatures on following page]
Attachment No. 1
2 This lease may be signed by the parties by facsimile, electronic or digital signature, and such signature shall be deemed valid and binding on the party signing this lease in that manner.
Dated: ______________ Dated: ____________________________ City of Lomita Hillside Memorial Park
Signed By: ________________________ Signed By: __________________________ Title: City Manager Title: General Manager
ATTEST:
Kathleen Horn Gregory, City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Trevor Rusin, City Attorney