DATE: APRIL 22, 2025
DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC WORKS
FROM: DAVID JACOBS, DIRECTOR
TITLE: SALINAS PROJECT TO ENHANCE REGIONAL STORMWATER SUPPLY AND AWARD THE TREATMENT PLANT 1 AND INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITIES IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT, CIP 9317 RECOMMENDED MOTION:
A motion to approve a Resolution to:
Approve the plans and specifications for the Treatment Plant 1 and Industrial Wastewater Facilities Improvements Project (CIP 9317); and Approve the CEQA addendum and Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP) for the Salinas Project to Enhance Regional Stormwater Supply; and Award a contract to Mountain Cascade Inc. to construct the Treatment Plant 1 and Industrial Wastewater Facilities Improvements (CIP 9317) in the amount of $7,050,000, plus a 5% contingency in the amount of $352,500, for a total not to exceed amount of $7,402,500.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
On March 30, 2021, the City Council authorized entering into a funding agreement with the State Water Resources Control Board for the Salinas Project to Enhance Regional Stormwater Supply (SPERSS).
LSA, the City’s consultant on this project, has prepared a CEQA addendum and Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP) for the SPERSS. The State Water Resources Control Board requires the City Council approve these documents in order for the project to proceed.
The project was bid on January 29, 2025, and opened on February 27, 2025, with one bidder responding to the bid. Negotiations took place with the lone bidder to ensure a contract could be awarded within the available grant funds.
BACKGROUND:
The City owns and operates an Industrial Wastewater Collection and Conveyance System (IWCCS) that processes industrial wastewater from agricultural-related businesses operating in the City. The main trunk line for the IWCCS, which collects discharges from these industries, passes through the Treatment Plant No 1 (TP1) site before disposal at the Industrial Wastewater Treatment Facility (IWTF). Also, all flows for the City Sanitary Sewer System are conveyed to the TP1 site where the Monterey One Water (M1W) Salinas Area Pump Station is located. Similarly, a portion of the City’s Storm Water Collection System which drains into the Salinas River Outfall, also traverses the TP1 site.
The City and M1W recognized the opportunities presented by the proximity of these independent infrastructure systems and have collaborated to install permanent facilities to divert industrial wastewater to the M1W Regional Treatment Plant via the Salinas Area Pump Station. In 2015, M1W in coordination with the City, received $10 million under Round 1 of the State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) Proposition 1 Storm Water Grant Program (SWGP) to enable diversion, storage, and reuse of storm water and dry weather urban flows by utilizing infrastructure at the TP1 and IWTF locations. Implementation work for the Round 1 Grant work was completed in December 2020 and a final report has been submitted.
In 2020, the City, with assistance from M1W staff, applied for an additional storm water implementation grant through Round 2 of the same program for the Salinas Project to Enhance Regional Stormwater Supply (SPERSS). The City was notified in February 2021 that it will receive a second Proposition 1 Grant of $6.3M to further enhance the City’s stormwater capture, storage, and conveyance infrastructure at the same TP1 and IWTF sites. City staff in collaboration with M1W, requested that the State reassess the award amount based on changes to the local cost share proposal in the grant application. The State later agreed to increase the grant award amount from $6,263,327 to $8,799,154 based on the availability of qualifying local cost match funds spent by M1W on the construction of the Pure Water Monterey Advanced Water Purification Facility (AWPF). As requested by the State Board, City and M1W staff provided information to demonstrate that storm water will be used to meet influent needs of the AWPF. The State again increased the funding for the project by $660,381 for a total of $9,459,535 at the request of City Staff to cover the increase cost that the City was seeing during the bidding process.
Components of the grant include:
Stormwater Pump Station at TP-1
Pipelines A and B (required to connect)
Rehabilitation of 33-Inch IWW Pipeline
Electrical/Instrumentation Work at TP-1
Structural/Electrical/Instrumentation work at IWTF
The grant originally included a new influent pump station at the IWTF and the use of the old influent pump station to transfer stormwater to pond 1 at the IWTF. The bids for that project came in too high and the bids were rejected.
A second bid for TP1 and IWTF Facilities Improvements was issued on January 29, 2025, with a reduced scope to fit within the available funding. Bids were opened on February 27, 2025, with one bidder responding. The bid was again higher than the available funds, but since it was a competitive bid with only one responder, the City was able to negotiate with the bidder to come up with a project that would fit within the available funds.
CEQA CONSIDERATION:
An Addendum was prepared pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of the proposed Salinas Project to Enhance Regional Stormwater Supply (SPERSS) Project (SPERSS Project) and the Salinas Storm Water Management Project (SSWMP), which is part of the Pure Water Monterey/Groundwater Replenishment Project (PWM/GWR Project) evaluated in the following documents, collectively referred to as the “prior CEQA documents”:
Final Environmental Impact Report for the Pure Water Monterey Groundwater Replenishment Project (2015 EIR) Addendum to the Aquifer Storage and Recovery Project Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Assessment and the Pure Water Monterey/Groundwater Replenishment Project Environmental Impact Report for the Hilby Avenue Pump Station (Addendum No. 1) Addendum No. 3 to the Aquifer Storage and Recovery Project Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Assessment and Addendum No. 2 to the Pure Water Monterey/Groundwater Replenishment Project Environmental Impact Report for the Monterey Pipeline (Addendum No. 2) Addendum No. 3 to the Pure Water Monterey/Groundwater Replenishment Project Environmental Impact Report for the Advanced Water Treatment Facility Expanded Capacity Project Modifications (Addendum No. 3) Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Report for the Proposed Modifications to the Public Water Monterey Groundwater Replenishment Project (2021 SEIR) Addendum to the Expanded Pure Water Monterey/Groundwater Replenishment Project Supplemental Environmental Impact Report for the Deep Injection Well #6 Changes (Addendum to the 2021 SEIR) Pursuant to CEQA, when taking subsequent discretionary actions in furtherance of a project for which an EIR has been certified, the lead agency is required to review any changed circumstances or new information to determine whether any of the circumstances under Public Resources Code Section 21166 and CEQA Guidelines section 15162 require additional environmental review. City staff concluded that the prior CEQA documents fully analyzed and mitigated, where feasible, all potentially significant environmental impacts, if any, that would result from the SPERSS and SSWMP Projects, and therefore, no subsequent EIR or mitigated negative declaration was required. On that basis, and as the City is a responsible agency, City staff evaluated the SPERSS and SSWMP Projects, and all aspects of the changes, in light of the standards for subsequent environmental review outlined in Public Resources Code Section 21166 and CEQA Guidelines Section 15162, and prepared an Addendum for the changes, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15164.
The SPERSS and SSWMP Projects would improve stormwater capture, storage, and conveyance infrastructure, which will enhance the effectiveness of the PWM/GWR Project while providing water quality benefits in the Salinas area. Improvements proposed as part of the SPERSS Project include the following:
A new trash capture facility;
A diversion structure;
Rehabilitation of an existing 33-inch-diameter pipeline to convey stormwater from the diversion structure to the Salinas Industrial Wastewater Treatment Facility (IWTF); Construction of a new pump station and upgrades to the existing pump station at the IWTF.
A wetland rehabilitation pilot study.
Elements of the SPERSS and SSWMP Projects, including the proposed diversion facility and pump station at the IWTF, were described and evaluated as part of the prior CEQA documents. Other elements of the SPERSS and SSWMP Project are new (e.g., trash capture device) or slightly different from the project elements described in the prior CEQA documents. Therefore, an Addendum was prepared to evaluate whether implementation of the PWM/GWR Project, as modified to include the new and modified elements of the SPERSS and SSWMP Project, would result in new or substantially more severe significant effects or require new mitigation measures not identified in the prior CEQA documents.
Based on the analysis provided in the Addendum, City staff concluded that the prior CEQA documents may be used to fulfill the environmental review requirements of the SPERSS and SSWMP Project. The Addendum is appropriate pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15164 because the City is a responsible agency and no circumstances exist calling for the preparation of a subsequent or supplemental EIR pursuant to CEQA Guidelines sections 15162 and 15163. The proposed Addendum concluded that there are no substantial changes to the circumstances under which the SPERSS and SSWMP Projects are undertaken that would require major revisions to the prior CEQA documents. There is no new information of substantial importance which was not known or could not have been known at the time the prior CEQA documents were certified that shows the SPERSS and SSWMP Projects would have significant effects not discussed previously; a substantial increase in severity of a previously identified significant impact; mitigation measures or alternatives previously found infeasible that would now be feasible and would substantially reduce one or more significant effects; or mitigation measures or alternatives which are considerably different from those analyzed in the prior CEQA document which would substantially reduce one or more significant effects on the environment. The SPERSS and SSWMP Project would not result in new or more severe impacts beyond those addressed in the prior CEQA documents and would not meet any other standards requiring further environmental review under State CEQA Guidelines Sections 15162 and 15163.
A Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP) has been prepared based upon the findings of the Addendum. The MMRP lists the mitigation measures from the prior CEQA documents that are applicable to the proposed project and provides mitigation monitoring requirements only for those measures that still apply.
CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLIES:
Yes
STRATEGIC PLAN INITIATIVE:
This project relates to the Council’s Goals of Infrastructure and Environmental Sustainability and Public Safety by maintaining the City’s existing roadways DEPARTMENTAL COORDINATION:
Public Works staff and Finance staff have worked together on the funding of the TP1 and IWTF Facilities Improvements Project No. 9317.
FISCAL AND SUSTAINABILITY IMPACT:
There is no impact to the General Fund with this project.
PROJECT COSTS
Construction Cost
$7,050,000
Contingency (5%)
$352,500
TOTAL ESTIMATED PROJECT COSTS
$7,402,500
AVAILABLE FUNDS
$7,785,000
Fund
Appropriation
Appropriation
Name
Total Appropriation
Amount for recommendation
FY 24-25 Operating Budget Page
Last Budget Action (Date, Resolution)
5201
9317
Salinas Project – Enhance Stormwater
$6,522,433
$6,522,433
N/A
N/A
6200
9317
Salinas Project – Enhance Stormwater
$1,664,599
$1,262,567
N/A
N/A
ATTACHMENTS:
Resolution
CEQA Addendum
Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP)
Mountain Cascade Proposal
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Denise Duffy and Associates Inc., Environmental Consultants Resource Planners. 2015. Pure Water Monterey Groundwater Replenishment Project, Final Environmental Impact Report, State Clearinghouse No. 2013051094. October.
Denise Duffy and Associates. 2016. Addendum to the Aquifer Storage and Recovery Project Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Assessment and the Pure Water Monterey/Groundwater Replenishment Project Environmental Impact Report for the Hilby Avenue Pump Station. June 14.
Denise Duffy and Associates. 2017. Addendum No. 3 to the Aquifer Storage and Recovery Project Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Assessment and Addendum No. 2 to the Pure Water Monterey/Groundwater Replenishment Project Environmental Impact Report for the Monterey Pipeline. February 13.
Denise Duffy and Associates. 2017. Addendum No. 3 to the Pure Water Monterey/Groundwater Replenishment Project Environmental Impact Report for the Advanced Water Treatment Facility Expanded Capacity Project Modifications. October 24.
Denise Duffy and Associates Inc. 2020. Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Report for the Proposed Modifications to the Pure Water Monterey Groundwater Replenishment Project (SCH# 2013051094). April.
Denise Duffy and Associates Inc. 2021. Addendum to the Expanded Pure Water Monterey/Groundwater Replenishment Project Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SCH# 2013051094) for the Deep Injection Well #6 Changes. November.
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