City Council Agenda Report
TO: Mayor Clauzel and Members of the City Council
FROM: Fernando Ulloa, Interim City Manager
BY: Mike Willett, Public Works Director
MEETING DATE: November 19, 2024
ITEM NO: 6.5
SUBJECT: Approve Resolution No. 2024-60 A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Patterson, Authorizing the Third Amendment to the Northern Delta-Mendota Region Sustainable Groundwater Management Act Services Activity Agreement and Consent of SS-MOA Participants.
RECOMMENDATION
Motion to Approve Resolution No. 2024-60 A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Patterson, Authorizing the Third Amendment to the Northern Delta-Mendota Region Sustainable Groundwater Management Act Services Activity Agreement and Consent of SS-MOA Participants.
BACKGROUND
There are (23) twenty-three Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSA) in the Delta Mendota Subbasin. Coordination is required for the management of the basin and the development and implementation of its Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSP). The Coordination Agreement (Agreement), defined as a legal agreement between two or more GSAs was executed on February 24, 2017, and later amended on October 16, 2018. The amendment was needed to address Management and Coordination Committee appointments, voting criteria within those committees and establish a cost share agreement between all agencies. A third amendment is now needed to support services and mitigation measures included in the region’s single GSP.
ANALYSIS
GSAs in the Delta-Mendota Subbasin have historically worked with disadvantaged communities to improve drinking water access. At the request of the State Water Resources Control Board, the Coordination Committee for the Subbasin developed a Domestic Well Mitigation Policy (Policy), which was approved by all the GSAs in the Subbasin as part of the single GSP. The purpose of the Policy is to mitigate the effects that may be felt by domestic well users whose wells have gone dry or are in imminent threat of going dry due to groundwater levels dropping because of groundwater management in the Subbasin. It is intended to serve as a last line of defense to protect domestic groundwater users in the unlikely event that the Subbasin GSAs’ efforts fail to maintain the minimum groundwater level thresholds established in the single GSP. To fund the effort, an amendment to the current cost sharing agreement is needed. This agreement establishes the authority to create a Joint Cost Sharing Account to fund the Policy.
FISCAL IMPACT
To fund the Policy, all GSA groups within the Delta Mendota Subbasin agree to fund, according to their Participation Share, a total of $300,000 into an interest-bearing Joint Cost Sharing Account. This account shall be funded with $100,000 per year, for the first three years. The fiscal impact to the city is $4,347 a year for the next three years. This cost was anticipated and therefore included in the current FY 24/25 budget.