PISMO BEACH COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
Agenda Item #12.A
SUBJECT/TITLE:
WATER SUPPLY UPDATE
RECOMMENDATION:
1.Receive an update on the City’s water supply; and
2.Discuss water conservation rebates and provide staff with direction on how to proceed.
BACKGROUND:
On November 16, 2021 staff provided an update to the City Council on the City’s water supply and committed to return to the Council at the second meeting every other month to provide an update on the City’s water supply.
The staff report for that meeting can be found in the Access Pismo online public records portal1 or by scanning the QR Code at right.
In response to the worsening drought, the City Council has taken actions to protect the City’s water supply and to encourage conservation. On June 1, 2021, the City Council declared a Moderately Restricted Water Supply Condition via Resolution R-2021-049, on January 18, 2022 the City Council declared a Severely Restricted Water Supply Condition via Resolution R-2022-004, and most recently, the City Council declared a Critical Water Supply Condition via Resolution R-2022-043 and adopted an urgency ordinance enacting a prohibition on the installation of natural turf.
Water Use Restrictions
Section 13.24.060 of the City’s municipal code, which defines a Critical Water Supply Condition, states “In addition to the conditions specified in Section 13.24.050, the city council may impose any water rationing requirement as it deems appropriate to protect public health, safety, welfare, comfort and convenience.” The water use restrictions in section 13.24.050 are:
A.Use of water which causes runoff onto adjacent properties, non-irrigated areas, private and public walkways, roadways, gutters, parking lots, or structures is prohibited.
B.Outdoor water use for washing vehicles, boats, paved surfaces, buildings, and other similar uses shall be attended and have hand-controlled water devices, which shut off the water immediately when not in use.
C.No water shall be used for cleaning driveways, patios, parking lots, sidewalks, streets, or other such uses except as found necessary by the city to protect the public health or safety.
D.Outdoor irrigation
1)Outdoor irrigation is prohibited between the hours of ten a.m. and four p.m. 1 Full URL:
https://accesspismo.pismobeach.org/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=362819&dbid=0&repo=Laserfiche Council Agenda 9-20-2022 12.A-1
2) Applying water to outdoor landscapes during and within 48 hours after measurable rainfall is prohibited.
3) Irrigation of private and public landscaping, turf areas and gardens is permitted at even-numbered addresses only on Mondays and Thursdays, and at odd-numbered addresses only on Tuesdays and Fridays. All customers are directed to use no more water than necessary to maintain landscaping.
E. Restaurants shall serve drinking water only in response to a specific request by a customer.
F. Using water in a fountain or other decorative water feature, except where the water is part of a recirculating system, is prohibited.
G. Use of potable water for compaction or dust control purposes in construction activities is prohibited.
H. Emptying and refilling swimming pools and commercial spas is prohibited except to prevent structural damage and/or to provide for the public health and safety.
In addition to the above water use restrictions the Council directed the following water use restrictions be imposed:
Water leaks be repaired within 72 hours of notification by the City Extending the prohibited hours for outdoor irrigation from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
No new lawns to be allowed in the City
Update on Water Supply
The City’s water supply portfolio is made up of three sources, State Water, Lopez Lake Water, and groundwater from the Santa Maria Groundwater Basin (SMGB).
Santa Maria Groundwater Basin
The SMGB is an adjudicated basin, and the City of Pismo Beach has the right to extract 700 acre-fee per year (AFY) from the basin.
The NCMA TG has established a “Deep Well Index Threshold” level of 7.5 feet as a level that can induce seawater intrusion into the basin if the basin remains below that level for an extended period of time.
Previous Index Level
Data Collection Date: April 5, 2022
Deep Well Index Level (DWIL): 7.98 feet
0.48 feet above than the Deep Well Index Threshold
Most Current Index Level
Data Collection Date: July 11, 2022
DWIL: 5.34 feet
2.64 feet lower than the Deep Well Index Threshold
Council Agenda 9-20-2022 12.A-2
The current DWIL is 2.64 feet lower than the previous level and 1.91 feet lower than one year ago (January 2021).
Lopez Lake
Lopez Lake is still operating under the Low Reservoir Response Plan (LRRP), and because the level in Lake Lopez is below 15,000 acre-feet (AF) and expected to drop below 10,000 AF, Zone 3 agencies have reduced their entitlements by 20%. The full list of recommend reductions in municipal diversions under the LRRP are shown in Table 1.
Table 1: LLRP Recommended Municipal Diversion Reduction Targets
Amount of Water In
Storage (AF)
Recommended Municipal
Diversion Reduction
Targets
Recommended
Municipal Diversion
(AFY) Targets for Pismo
20,000 0% 892.0
15,000 10% 802.8
10,000 20% 713.6
5,000 35% 579.8
1,700 100% 0
Previous Lopez Lake Level
Measurement Date: April 5, 2022
Lake Level: 14,331.6 AF
Most Current Lopez Lake Level
Measurement Date: September 9, 2022
Lake Level: 11,942.1 AF
The current lake level is 2,389.5 AF lower than it was on April 5, 2022.
Current projections show that if the area receives “average rainfall” between now and January of 2023, that storage in the lake will be approximately 10,000 AF in the beginning of December 2022, as shown in Figure 1 below.
Council Agenda 9-20-2022 12.A-3
Figure 1: Lopez Reservoir Storage Projections
State Water
On December 1, 2021 the Department of Water Resources (DWR) set initial 2022 State Water Project (SWP) available supplies on a basis that ensures the SWP long-term water supply contractors can meet their outstanding minimum human health and safety demands for water (health and safety allocation). This allocation is based on minimum unmet water demands to meet domestic supply, fire protection, and sanitation needs during the year. These health and safety needs are determined to be not more than 55 gallons per capita per day (gpcd), consistent with the recent State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) emergency curtailment regulations. Agencies with stored water, or other sources of water will not receive a SWP delivery at this time.
On January 20, 2022 the DWR increased SWP deliveries to 15%, however on March 18, 2022 the deliveries were reduced to 5% This means that the City of Pismo Beach can expect to receive 57 AF of “Table A” allocation and 62 AF of Drought Buffer for a total of 117 AF of State Water. However, the County of San Luis Obispo has agreed to make its subcontractors whole, meaning the City can take delivery of 1,240 AF of State Water from the County.
Council Agenda 9-20-2022 12.A-4
The City’s current water supplies without additional State Water from the County are shown in Table 2, below.
Table 2: Current Pismo Beach Water Supplies
Source
Full
Allocation
(AF)
Percent of
Allocation Allocation (AF)
SMGWB* 700 30% 210
State Water 1,140 5% 57
Drought Buffer** 1,240 5% 62
Stored State Water 0
Lopez Water# 892 80% 713.6
Lopez Surplus 300.8
Total 2,692 1343.4
*Santa Maria Groundwater Basin
**Drought buffer is an additional allocation of water that can only be delivered when State Water Deliveries are less than 100%. The total amount of State Water delivered including drought buffer cannot exceed 1,240 AF in a given year.
#Lopez Lake is projected to drop below 10,000 AF in December of 2022. At that time allocations from the lake would drop to 80% retroactively, therefore for planning purposes an 80% allocation is assumed.
Taking into account the State Water the County has agreed to deliver to the City of Pismo Beach, the City’s total available water supply is 2,464.4 AF for 2022.
Precipitation
The City’s two local water supplies, Lopez Lake and the Santa Maria Groundwater Basin, are highly dependent on rainfall. Calendar year 2020 saw a significant short fall in precipitation, while 2021 did see a small surplus of rain. So far 2022 has proven to be drier than both of the previous years. Rainfall data for these years is shown in Table 3, on the next page.
Council Agenda 9-20-2022 12.A-5
Table 3: Average and Actual Rainfall from January 2020 to December 2021
Month
*Average
Rainfall
(in)
2020
Rainfall
(in)
Delta
(in)
2021
Rainfall
(in)
Delta
(in)
2022
Rainfall
(in)
Delta
(in)
Jan 3.59 0.61 -2.98 6.46 2.87 0 -3.59
Feb 3.87 0 -3.87 0.03 -3.84 0.08 -3.79
Mar 3.46 8.02 4.56 2.53 -0.93 1.08 -2.38
Apr 1.13 1.72 0.59 0 -1.13 0.49 -0.64
May 0.41 0 -0.41 0.1 -0.31 0 -0.41
Jun 0.07 0 -0.07 0 -.07 0 -0.07
Jul 0.03 0 -0.03 0.03 0 0 -0.03
Aug 0.02 0 -0.02 0 -0.02 0 -0.02
Sep 0.32 0 -0.32 0 -0.32
Oct 0.62 0.04 -0.58 1.95 1.33
Nov 1.7 0.49 -1.21 0.46 -1.24
Dec 2.57 1.21 -1.36 7.69 5.12
Total 17.79 12.09 -5.7 19.25 1.46 0.08 -10.93**
*Average rainfall from http://longrangeweather.com/
** total difference for only the months shown
Water Conservation
Rebate Programs
Currently the City offers two water conservation rebate programs, “Cash4Grass” and High-Efficiency Toilet Rebates. Currently the Cash4Grass program offers up to $0.50 per square foot of grass that is replaced with drought-tolerant landscaping or artificial turf and the toilet rebate offers up to $100 for each 3.5-gallon-per-flush or higher toilet that is replaced with a 1.28-gallon-per-flush toilet.
Since the water conservation budget was reestablished on March 16, 2021, there have been a total of 36 rebates issued at a cost of $15,289.75, which will save an estimated
6.37 AFY, for a cost of $2,400.27/AF.
At its August 16, 2022 meeting, the City Council directed staff to bring back options for increasing the amount of the Cash4Grass rebate. Currently the Cash4Grass rebate program offers $0.50 per square foot of lawn removed. Other comparable municipal programs offer between $1.00 and $3.00 per square foot of lawn removed. Locally, Arroyo Grande and Grover beach both offer $1.00, while the Metropolitan Water District in Southern California offers $3.00 per square foot. Current prices for replacing lawn with artificial turf are between $14 per square foot and $25 per square foot for a premium product.
Staff has found that in very few cases the program has been an incentive for homeowners to convert their lawn to turf, and that most of the applicants have found out about the program from their contractor who has been already hired to replace their lawn.
Council Agenda 9-20-2022 12.A-6
The water conservation program currently has a remaining budget of $14,503.50. Of the 36 rebates issued, 21 of them have been for Cash4Grass with an average rebate of $656.65, and an average water savings of 0.22 AF/rebate.
Assuming future Cash4Grass projects are similar in size to previous projects Table 4, below, shows the fiscal impacts increased rebates.
Table 4. Impacts of Proposed Rebates
Proposed
Rebate
Amount
Average
Cost $/AF
$1.00 $1313.30 $5,931
$1.50 $1,969.95 $8,993
$2.00 $2,626.60 $11,862
$2.50 $3,283.25 $14,827
$3.00 $3,939.90 $17,793
$3.50 $4,596.55 $20,758
$4.00 $5,253.20 $23,724
Hotel Conservation
The Tourism and Events Department has been working with the Pismo Beach Hospitality Association to identify what the hotels have done to conserve water and other steps they can take to further reduce their water use. Some of the steps taken so far include:
Installation of low-flow toilets
Installation of low-flow sink aerators (required by Municipal Code Section
15.50.050)
Installation of drought-tolerant landscaping
Removal of hot tubs
Installation of high-efficiency laundry facilities
Installation of hot water recirculation systems
Installation of instant hot water heaters
Replacing glassware in guest rooms with biodegradable cups Removal of natural turf lawns
Displayed signage to encourage water savings
Offering fresh towels on request only
One hotel has abandoned its swimming pool
Other potential steps hotels can take could include:
Removal of additional natural turf lawns
These measures have shown a positive impact to reducing the water use from local hotels. The 20 hotels with the most water consumption have reduced their water use on average by 12% from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022 and all hotels have reduced their water consumption by 11% during that same time period.
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Staff will continue to communicate on an ongoing basis with the Pismo Beach Hospitality Association and the lodging community to evaluate additional ways conserve water.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council discuss the current water conservation rebates and provide staff with direction on how to proceed.
FISCAL IMPACT:
An increase to the water conservation rebates will exhaust the current budget at a faster rate, and a reduction in water use will result in less revenue to the Water Enterprise Fund, the extent of which is unknown at this time.
ALTERNATIVES:
None
ATTACHMENTS:
None
Submitted by: Meeting Date: September 20, 2022
Benjamin A. Fine, P.E., Director of Public Works/City Engineer City Manager Approval:
Council Agenda 9-20-2022 12.A-8