City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: October 10, 2023
Agenda Item: 10.D
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Rick Valte, Public Works Director, Public Works, Water Resources Subject: Introduction and First Reading of Water and Wastewater Capacity Study Ordinances
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of Categorical Exemption pursuant to Section 15061 (b)(3) and Section 15308 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines.
2. Introduce for first reading the attached ordinance to amend Santa Monica Municipal Code 7.12.180 to require water capacity studies for new developments.
3. Introduce for first reading the attached ordinance to amend Santa Monica Municipal Code 7.04 to require wastewater capacity studies for new developments.
Summary
The City of Santa Monica’s Water Resources Division within the Public Works Department operates and maintains an expansive domestic water and sanitary sewer network that consists of over 200 miles of water mains and over 150 miles of wastewater collection pipes that collectively serve over 93,000 residents and 2,700 businesses in the city. In its current configuration, the city’s water and wastewater infrastructure may not be able to accommodate future high-density developments that replace existing lower density land uses. To ensure reliable water and wastewater services are maintained, water and wastewater capacity studies have been required by the City for new developments to analyze the development’s impact and verify if those impacts can be accommodated by the City’s water and wastewater infrastructure.
However, the City’s utility ordinances have not been updated since the 1990s and do 2 of 6
not reflect the need for clarity as to the City’s utility review process for new development, so that (i) developers can take into account adequate water and sewer capacity to service their developments and impacts to all other properties that share local infrastructure, and (ii) developers can have an opportunity early in the planning and design process to understand the City’s level of service requirements and verify available capacity to serve the development. Early input is critical due to the anticipated increase in by-right Planning approvals for housing development, in accordance with state housing laws and the City’s 6th Cycle Housing Element and implementing ordinances. Staff therefore seeks to modify Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 7.12 and 7.04 to clarify requirements for conducting a water capacity study and wastewater capacity study, respectively, for new developments.
Discussion
The City’s Water Resources Division is a retail water agency that provides potable and recycled water throughout the city for single and multi-family residential, commercial, and industrial uses, as well as landscape irrigation and fire protection. The Water Resources Division is also responsible for all facilities that support the collection and conveyance of wastewater for safe collection and final treatment at the City of Los Angeles’s Hyperion Treatment Plant. The City’s water and wastewater infrastructure is largely built-out, therefore, the domestic water supply and wastewater collection infrastructure is already in place and generally fixed in nature. The City, to the extent practical, will provide water and wastewater service when: 1) sufficient water supply and distribution capacity and/or wastewater collection capacity is available to accommodate the new development’s water and wastewater demand and 2) the proposed development can be provided water and its wastewater can be safely collected in a manner that meets the City’s requirements. Per state law, water and sewer service is prioritized for new housing development over new commercial and industrial development.
Water and wastewater capacity studies (Capacity Studies) are required for new developments to analyze the development’s impact on the City’s water and wastewater infrastructure and verify if the existing infrastructure can accommodate the proposed 3 of 6
development. Development projects have the potential to overtax the City’s wastewater and water systems, which could lead to sanitary sewer overflows and loss of pressure, or even loss of supply, in the water distribution system. Capacity Studies are vital to safeguard public health and maintain reliable service. The location and/or size of new development determines if the new development is required to implement off-site improvements (e.g., increasing the size of the wastewater collection pipe) to accommodate the increased water and/or wastewater service from the new development. This determination is based upon engineering hydraulic models and do not involve subjective determination by the City (e.g., any contribution from new development that would cause a sewer line to exceed 85% capacity during wet weather flow or water pressure to be outside of the range of 40 to 100 psi). Because the capacity determination is based upon locality and/or size of new development, it is possible that even a small development could impact local infrastructure. The only way to confirm available water/wastewater capacity to serve the development is to conduct a Capacity Study.
Currently, the requirement to conduct Capacity Studies and consequential off-site improvements is determined at the time of the Building Permit Plan Check when 100% plans of the proposed development are submitted for review. This may potentially delay the approval process as well as require additional design effort to incorporate off-site improvements.
The proposed ordinance would support the new streamlined entitlement and Building Permit Plan Check process by 1) determining if Capacity Studies are required before the planning application is deemed complete by the City and 2) if deemed required, the Capacity Studies and design of consequent off-site improvements to be completed before building plans are submitted for Building Permit Plan Check. This process will provide early determination, at the planning stage, if Capacity Studies are required for the new development. The developer would have sufficient time to conduct the Capacity Studies, confirm capacity and off-site improvements needed, and incorporate off-site improvements in the development’s overall plans as it is being designed. 4 of 6
Any local off-site improvements identified through the Capacity Studies are the responsibility of the developer and are not covered by capital facility fees. Capital facility fees (or capacity fees) are to ensure future customers, or existing customers requesting additional service, would enter as equal participants as existing customers.
The capital facility fee is calculated based on existing assets and planned capital improvements projects to maintain current level of service since the city’s water/wastewater infrastructure is built-out. In other words, planned capital improvements (e.g., replacing a 70 year old 8-inch water main with a new 8-inch water main) are to maintain current level of service, or existing capacity, and not to increase service capacity that is triggered by new developments. In the past five years, there have only been two to three developments where off-site improvements have been required (e.g., 710 Broadway development).
The City’s water neutrality fees are intended to ensure no net new water use by any new development at the time a building permit is issued, but do not limit actual water use and/or wastewater discharged after a new development has obtained a certificate of occupancy. Furthermore, any water neutrality in-lieu fees are used to install water efficiency fixtures throughout the City to offset the increase in water demand of the development and do not correlate to impacts of new development on localized infrastructure. Consequently, the City’s water neutrality ordinance, while serving to limit increased water demand caused by new development, cannot be relied upon when making a technical determination as to sufficient water or sewer capacity for new development.
As a practical matter, a Capacity Study consists of data collected by monitoring water pressure and wastewater flows in the existing infrastructure in the vicinity of new proposed development as determined by Water Resources staff before new development is constructed to understand the baseline capacity of that infrastructure being used already.
Guidelines for the Capacity Studies will be published by the Water Resources Division and posted on the City’s website.
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A proposed draft of SMMC 7.12.180 to require water capacity studies for new developments is included in Attachment A.
A proposed draft of SMMC 7.04.880 to require wastewater capacity studies for new developments is included in Attachment B.
Environmental Review
The ordinances to require water and wastewater capacity studies for new developments are categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061 (b)(3) and Section 15308 of the CEQA Guidelines. The ordinances are covered by the common sense exemption which states that CEQA does not apply, “where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have significant effect on the environment.” Section 15308 of the CEQA Guidelines exempts actions taken by regulatory agencies, as authorized by state or local ordinance, to assure the maintenance, restoration, enhancement, or protection of the environment where the regulatory process involves procedures for protection of the environment. The ordinance changes would establish requirements to conduct water and wastewater capacity studies to ensure that existing water and wastewater infrastructure would not be adversely impacted by new developments. Therefore, the ordinances are exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) and Section 15308 of the CEQA guidelines.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the recommended action. Staff will return to Council if specific budget actions are required in the future.
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Prepared By: Dinaz Kureishy, Civil Engineering Assistant Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Draft Ordinance - SMMC 7.12.180 Water Capacity Study B. Draft Ordinance - SMMC 7.04.880 Wastewater Capacity Study C. Written Comments