NOT YET APPROVED
Resolution Approving Tier 2 Drought Response Implementation Plan 1
6056956 21488606.4
RESOLUTION NO. ________
Resolution of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Approving Tier 2 Drought Response Implementation Plan Pursuant to Section 3.11.C of the Amended and Restated Water Supply Agreement
R E C I T A L S
A. The City of Palo Alto is one of twenty-six (26) agencies in San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda Counties (Wholesale Customers) which purchase water from the City and County of San Francisco (San Francisco) pursuant to a Water Supply Agreement entered into in 2009, and recently amended in 2018, 2021 and 2025 (the Agreement or WSA). Collectively these 26 agencies are referred to in the Agreement as Wholesale Customers; and B. Section 3.11 of the Agreement addresses situations when insufficient water is available in the San Francisco Regional Water System (RWS) to meet the full demands of all users. Section 3.11.C provides that during periods of water shortage caused by drought, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) will allocate available water between its retail customers and the Wholesale Customers collectively, in accordance with a schedule contained in the Water Shortage Allocation Plan set forth in Attachment H to the Agreement (Tier 1 Plan); and
C. Section 3.11.C authorizes the Wholesale Customers to adopt a Drought Allocation Plan, including a methodology for allocating the available water among the individual Wholesale Customers (Tier 2 Plan). The WSA also commits the SFPUC to honor allocations of water unanimously agreed to by all Wholesale Customers or, if unanimous agreement cannot be achieved, water allocations that have been adopted by the Board of Directors of the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency (BAWSCA). The Agreement also provides that the SFPUC can allocate water supplies as necessary during a water shortage emergency if no agreed upon plan for water allocation has been adopted by the 26 Wholesale Customers or the BAWSCA Board of Directors; and
D. Commencing in January 2022, representatives appointed by the managers of each of the Wholesale Customers began meeting monthly to develop a set of principles to serve as guidelines for an equitable allocation methodology, and to develop formulas and procedures, in order to implement those principles. These discussions, and supporting technical analyses, have been conducted with the assistance of BAWSCA; and E. The Tier 2 Plan, attached to this resolution as Exhibit A, has been endorsed by all of the Wholesale Customer representatives who participated in the formulation process and they have each recommended that it be formally adopted by the governing body of their respective agencies; and
F. The Tier 2 Plan allocates the collective Wholesale Customer share of RWS supply made available by the SFPUC among each of the 26 Wholesale Customers through December 31, 2034 and is coordinated with the term of the Agreement, and extension and renewal terms.
NOT YET APPROVED
Resolution Approving Tier 2 Drought Response Implementation Plan 2
6056956 21488606.4
The Council of the City of Palo Alto does hereby RESOLVE as follows:
Section 1. The Tier 2 Drought Response Implementation Plan, as attached as Exhibit A (Tier 2 Plan), is approved.
Section 2. This approval is conditioned upon all of the other twenty-five Wholesale Customers approving the Tier 2 Plan, such approvals being evidenced through adoption of similar resolutions or, in the case of private-sector organizations, by other equivalently binding written commitments signed by an executive officer acting within the scope of delegated authority, and all such approvals occurring on or before December 31, 2025.
Section 3. If such resolutions or binding commitments are not adopted by that date, this resolution will automatically expire and be of no further effect after December 31, 2025, unless it has been extended prior thereto by further action of this [Council, Board, etc.].
Section 4. The Council finds that adoption of this resolution is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act as an action taken by a regulatory agency for the protection of natural resources (CEQA Guidelines Section 15307), and an as action taken by a regulatory agency for protection of the environment (CEQA Guidelines Section 15308).
INTRODUCED AND PASSED:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTENTIONS:
ABSENT:
ATTEST:
City Clerk Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM: APPROVED:
Assistant City Attorney City Manager
Director of Utilities
Director of Administrative Services
Attachment: Exhibit A. Tier 2 Drought Response Plan and Example Tier 2 Plan Excel-Based Model