City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: April 26, 2022
Agenda Item: 9.B
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Rick Valte, Public Works Director, Public Works, Water Resources Subject: Public Hearing and Adoption of Resolution for the 2022 Annual Water Shortage Assessment Report
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Hold a public hearing and receive public comment for the proposed 2022 Annual Water Shortage Assessment Report; and
2. Approve the attached resolution adopting the 2022 Annual Water Shortage Assessment Report.
Executive Summary
The California Water Code requires the City, as an urban water supplier, to conduct an annual water supply and demand assessment, and that assessment is summarized in the 2022 Annual Water Shortage Assessment Report. The annual assessment analyzes current water supply and demand conditions for the utility to project water supply reliability over the next year, identify potential shortages and, if necessary, implement water shortage response actions to mitigate potential water supply shortage conditions.
Based on the findings from the annual assessment, staff recommends remaining in a Stage 2 Water Shortage Stage (20% reduction in water use compared to each customer’s 2013 baseline), per the City’s 2020 Water Shortage Contingency Plan that outlines water conservation measures to be implemented to align with regional and statewide water conservation targets and to maintain a reliable water supply for the community. The City has remained in the Stage 2 Water Shortage Stage since the 2014 drought and continues to maintain 20% water demand reduction from the baseline year.
In addition, the City continues to invest in water conservation measures to permanently 2 of 8
reduce water demand and will be developing a water conservation master plan to enhance water use efficiency efforts across the City.
Background
New regulations in the California Water Code require urban water suppliers to conduct an annual water supply and demand assessment and submit an Annual Water Shortage Assessment Report to the Department of Water Resources on or before July 1 of each year. The annual assessment must be conducted according to a written decision-making process determined by individual water suppliers. The City’s written decision-making process is found in the City’s 2020 Water Shortage Contingency Plan, which was adopted by City Council on June 8, 2021.
Past Council Actions
Meeting Date
6/8/2021 (Attachment A) Public Hearing and Adoption of the City of Santa Monica's 2020 Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage
Contingency Plan
Discussion
The Water Shortage Contingency Plan serves as an action plan for the City during an actual or predicted drought or a catastrophic water supply shortage. As required by the California Water Code, the Water Shortage Contingency Plan includes: 1) key data inputs and the assessment methodology used to evaluate the urban water supplier’s water supply reliability, and 2) the City’s written decision-making process for performing annual water supply and demand assessments.
Water Demand
One of the key data inputs for the annual water supply and demand assessment is water billing data used to quantify annual water demand (or water use). Table 1 provides a summary of water use in acre-feet (AF) over the past five calendar years.
Table 1: Five-year Summary of the City’s Water Usage
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2017
(AF)
2018
(AF)
2019
(AF)
2020
(AF)
2021
(AF)
Single Family
Residential 2,641 2,773 2,556 2,756 2,845
Multi-Family
Residential 4,987 4,917 4,752 4,944 4,752
Industrial/
Commercial 3,030 3,028 2,914 2,100 2,131
Institutional 399 474 356 273 267
Landscape
Irrigation 440 456 450 438 576
Fire Service 5 3 3 2 3
Water Loss - - - 66 661
Demand 11,502 11,651 11,030 10,580 10,641
1Water Loss Audit has yet to be completed for 2021, 2020 water loss figure is assumed for 2021. 2Demand summarized in this table are actual water demand (or constrained water demand as defined by DWR), which includes water demand reduction from water conservation efforts.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, overall water use in the City in 2020 and 2021 declined approximately eight percent compared to average water use from 2017 to 2019. The City experienced a substantial decrease in water use by commercial/industrial and institutional users during the COVID-19 pandemic by approximately 30 and 40 percent, respectively, while single-family residential use increased five percent and multi-family residential use remained about the same.
Water Conservation and Unconstrained Demand
On August 12, 2014, City Council adopted a resolution declaring a Stage 2 Water Supply Shortage thereby requiring mandatory water conservation to achieve a 20% reduction in water use compared to 2013. Subsequently, on October 28, 2014, Council also authorized additional staffing and funding to augment the City’s water conservation efforts to address the state-wide drought and help the City meet its water self-sufficiency goal. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted staffing and funding levels for water conservation and staff is consequently working on a Water Conservation Master Plan to realign water conservation efforts with current staffing levels. The City has remained in a Stage 2 Water Shortage since 2014, which has 4 of 8
contributed to a water demand reduction of about 20 percent or approximately 2,500 AF per year.
The California Water Code requires water suppliers to estimate the current year’s unconstrained demand as part of the annual water supply and demand assessment.
Unconstrained demand is water demand absent of any water supply or demand restrictions such as mandatory water conservation efforts while factoring in weather and population growth, to project demand for the period of July 1 to June 30.
Table 2 summarizes the current year and projected year unconstrained demands as well as constrained demands, derived by subtracting an estimated 20 percent conservation savings. Constrained demands are included for ease of comparison with the five-year summary of the City’s water usage presented in Table 1. As previously noted, overall water use after COVID-19 decreased by approximately 8 percent when comparing the average annual water use between 2017 and 2019 (pre-COVID-19 pandemic) to the average water use between 2020 and 2021 (during the COVID-19 pandemic). However, as a conservative approach for the annual water supply and demand assessment, the estimated water use for the next year (July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023) was increased by 10 percent as it assumes a full economic recovery from COVID-19 (e.g., industrial/commercial and institutional water use returning to pre-pandemic levels), an increase in population (higher single- and multi-family residential use), and continued dry weather over the next year (higher irrigation use). Additionally, the projected constrained demand of 11,779 AF is higher than any of the three years preceding the COVID-19 pandemic.
Table 2: Current and Projected Year Demand
Current Year
July 2021 – June 2022
(AF)
Projected Year
July 2022 – June 2023
(AF)
Single Family Residential 3,557 3,939
Multi-Family Residential 5,941 6,580
Industrial/Commercial 2,664 2,951
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Institutional 333 369
Landscape Irrigation 720 798
Fire Service 3 4
Water Loss 66 66
Unconstrained Demand 13,284 14,707
Estimated 20% Conservation
Savings 2,643 2,928
Constrained Demand 10,641 11,779
Water Supply
The City currently obtains its potable water supply from a combination of local groundwater and imported water from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD). Local groundwater is supplied through the Santa Monica Groundwater Basin, primarily from the Charnock Well Field, Olympic Well Field, and Arcadia Well Field. Imported water from MWD is purchased to supplement the City’s local groundwater supplies to meet the community’s water demand.
The California Water Code requires annual water supply and demand assessments to evaluate water supply reliability for the current year and one single dry year. Relative to previous years, the local groundwater supply in 2021 was lower than average due to: 1) extended outage of three groundwater wells where replacement parts were delayed due to supply chain issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and 2) the Arcadia Water Treatment Plant was taken offline for three to four weeks in November/December 2021 during construction of the Arcadia Water Treatment Plant Expansion Project.
To assess available water supplies under a single dry year, staff used the water supply analysis included in a drought risk assessment performed as part of the 2020 Urban Water Management Plan that was adopted by City Council on June 8, 2021. For that assessment, the local groundwater supply available for a single, worst-case drought year (or dry year) was 6,755 AF.
In addition to evaluating water supply reliability for the current year and single dry year, 6 of 8
the California Water Code also requires urban water suppliers to consider existing infrastructure capabilities and plausible constraints. As previously mentioned, construction will be occurring at the City’s Arcadia Water Treatment Plant through 2023 and it is estimated that this could result in a decrease in the local groundwater supply of approximately 1,454 AF due to various plant shutdowns needed during construction to add new facilities for the expansion.
Table 3 presents the current year and projected year supplies assuming the next year is dry. As a conservative approach, the annual water supply and demand assessment assumes that only MWD’s Tier 1 supply is available.
Table 3: Current Year and Projected Year Supply
Current Year (AF) Projected Year (AF)
Local Groundwater 5,236 5,301*
MWD Tier 1 7,406 7,406
Total Supply 12,642 12,707
*Derived from subtracting the 1,454 AF decrease in groundwater supply during Arcadia WTP construction from the 6,755 AF water supply used in the drought risk assessment.
Assessment Results
The results of the annual water supply and demand assessment show that without water shortage response actions (e.g., 20% water conservation target), a 13% water supply shortage is projected for the next year. A 13% water supply shortage equates to the State’s Standard Shortage Level 2 (10-20% shortage).
Table 4: Assessment Results without Water Shortage Response Actions Total (AF)
Anticipated Unconstrained Demand 14,707
Anticipated Total Water Supply 12,707
Surplus/Shortage w/out Water Shortage Response Actions -2,000 % Surplus/Shortage w/out Water Shortage Response Actions -14% State Standard Shortage Level 2
The City’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan utilizes the same shortage levels as the State and includes water shortage response actions for a Stage 2 Shortage. The goal of 7 of 8
these actions (e.g., water use allowance on bills, restriction/enforcement on irrigation runoff or water waste, water use efficiency public outreach through social media and other media outlets, water conservation rebates such as turf replacement, and water use efficiency consultations) is to reduce water demand by 20 percent. Additional details could be found in Section 5 of the 2020 Water Shortage Contingency Plan in Attachment A. As previously mentioned, the City has been in a Stage 2 water shortage stage since 2014 and has consistently achieved and maintained 20 percent reductions in water demand from 2013 water usage levels. Incorporating these benefits yields a positive water supply for the projected year. Based on these results, staff recommends remaining in a Stage 2 Water Shortage Stage.
Table 5: Assessment Results with Stage 2 Water Shortage Response Actions Total (AF)
Anticipated Constrained Demand 11,779
Anticipated Total Water Supply 12,707
Revised Surplus/Shortage w/ Water Shortage Response Actions 928 Revised % Surplus/Shortage w/ Water Shortage Response Actions 7% Commission Action and Public Outreach
The annual water supply and demand assessment written decision-making procedures include a presentation of the annual assessment to the Commission on Sustainability, Environmental Justice, and the Environment. On February 28, 2022, staff presented the annual water supply and demand assessment findings to the Commission on Sustainability, Environmental Justice, and the Environment and the Commission approved a motion in support of adopting the annual water supply and demand assessment findings and for the City to remain in a Stage 2 Water Shortage.
Public participation is required as part of the annual water supply and demand assessment procedures which include a public hearing and comment period. Public notification regarding a public hearing for the 2022 Annual Water Shortage Assessment Report was made through an advertisement in the Santa Monica Daily Press on April 5, 2022 and April 13, 2022. A copy of the draft 2022 Annual Water Shortage Assessment Report was made available on the Water Resources Division website on April 7, 2022. 8 of 8
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the recommended action.
Prepared By: Sunny Wang, Water Resources Manager
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. June 8, 2021 Staff Report (Web Link)
B. Draft 2022 Annual Water Shortage Assessment Report
C. Draft Resolution
D. PowerPoint Presentation