Memorandum of Understanding
Maintenance and Operations of
John Anson Ford Park Infiltration Cistern Project
This Agreement is made and dated this ____ day of _________, 2025, by and between the Cities of Bell, Bell Gardens, Commerce, Cudahy, Huntington Park, Maywood, and Vernon (collectively the “Cities”) for the maintenance and operations of the John Anson Ford Park Infiltration Cistern Project.
WHEREAS, the State of California Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (LARWQCB) adopted Board Order No. R4-2012-0175, Waste Discharge Requirements for Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Discharges Within the LA Coastal Watersheds of Los Angeles County (LA County MS4 Permit) effective December 28, 2012; and, WHEREAS, the LA County MS4 Permit regulates all surface water discharges from all municipal jurisdictions in the LA Coastal Watersheds of Los Angeles County; and, WHEREAS, the LA County MS4 Permit allows Permittees the option to develop either a Watershed Management Plan or an Enhanced Watershed Management Plan for implementation of the permit requirements on a watershed schedule through customized strategies, control measures, and Best Management Practices (BMPs) to comply with Part V.A (Receiving Water Limitations), Part VI.E and Attachments L through R (Total Maximum Daily Load Provisions), by customizing the control measures in Parts III.A (Prohibitions – Non-Storm Water Discharges) and VI.D (Minimum Control Measures), except the Planning and Land Development Program of the LA County MS4 Permit; and,
WHEREAS, the Cities lie exclusively within the Los Angeles River Watershed and each Permittee discharges to Reach 2 of the Los Angeles River, a concrete-lined river channel and the Cities of Bell Gardens and Commerce also drain southeast to the Rio Hondo, a concrete-lined tributary channel to Reach 2 of the Los Angeles River; and, WHEREAS, the Cities agreed to collectively form the Los Angeles River Upper Reach 2 Watershed Management Area (LAR UR2 WMA) defined as the drainage area made up of the Cities collective boundaries; and,
WHEREAS, the Cities entered into an Agreement on April 29, 2013 to develop a WMP and a Coordinated Integrated Monitoring Plan (CIMP) for the LAR UR2 WMA to comply with the LA County MS4 Permit; and,
WHEREAS, the Cities on June 27, 2013 submitted a Notice of Intent (NOI) letter, to the LARWCB Executive Officer, announcing the formation of the LAR UR2 WMA Group, and their intent to prepare a Reasonable Assurance Analysis (RAA), to guide development of the WMP Plan, and a Coordinated Integrated Monitoring Program (CIMP) Plan to track progress in attaining the LA County MS4 Permit objectives, through the Adoptive Management Process (AMP) identified within LA County MS4 Permit Part VI.C.8.a; and, WHEREAS, the Cities submitted a RAA and WMP to the LARWQCB on June 26, 2014; and,
WHEREAS, the LARWCB gave final approval of the LAR UR2 WMA RRA and WMP on August 13, 2015; and,
WHEREAS, the LAR UR2 RAA and WMP identified six regional BMP projects, estimated to cost a total of $210 million, and an additional $90 million in residential and commercial LID street renovations that may need to be implemented to achieve Permit numeric limits; and, WHEREAS, the LAR UR2 RAA and WMP identified the John Anson Ford Park Infiltration Cistern (JAF Park) Project as the highest priority BMP; and, WHEREAS, the cost of the JAF Park Project is beyond the Cities’ budget, the Cities sought outside funding support for its construction.
WHEREAS, in May 2013 the Cities entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Los Angeles Gateway Regional Water Management Joint Powers Authority (GWMA) for GWMA to act as lead agency for applying to the State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) for a Grant to fund the planning, design, and construction of the Project; and, WHEREAS, on January 15, 2018 the Cities entered into a Sub-recipient Agreement with GWMA to provide for funding the administrative support for the design, construction, maintenance and operation costs of the Project in compliance with the Grant Agreement and for payment of the local match. Section 1.9 of the Sub-Recipient Agreement provides for the Cities to share the costs of the maintenance and operation of the Project based upon a predetermined percentage share; and, WHEREAS, on January 2018 the State Board executed an Agreement with GWMA for the JAF Park Infiltration Cistern: Phase I in the amount of $9,904,842 requiring the Cities to provide matching funds in the amount of $1,100,538; and,
WHEREAS, the Sub-recipient Agreement requires Bell Gardens to maintain and operate the Project throughout its useful life as required in the Grant Agreement and WMP; and, WHEREAS, the Sub-recipient Agreement requires the costs associated with operating and maintaining the Project shall be paid by each Sub-recipient in accordance with each Subrecipients’ individual Percentage Share for the useful life of the Project as defined in the Grant Agreement; and,
NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual terms and conditions in this Agreement the parties agree as follows:
1. The City of Bell Gardens shall maintain and operate the JAF Park Infiltration Cistern Project throughout its useful life.
2. The City of Bell Gardens shall prepare and submit an annual budget for the purposes of funding the maintenance and operations of the JAF Park Infiltration Cistern Project.
3. The City of Bell Gardens shall submit invoices annually to each of the Sub-recipient Cities for the annual maintenance and operations costs of the JAF Park Infiltration Cistern Project in the individual Sub-recipient City’s Percentage Share of the annual costs as further defined in the Attachment to this Agreement.
4. Each Sub-recipient City shall pay the invoice submitted by the City of Bell Gardens within 60 days of the invoice date.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Parties have caused this document to be fully executed with all formalities required by the laws of the State of California. The parties are signing this Agreement as of the date stated in the introductory clause. [Signatures for Bell, Bell Gardens, Commerce, Cudahy, Huntington Park, Maywood, and Vernon begin on next page]
City of _________________________
a California charter City and California municipal
corporation
By: _____________________________
Name: ________________________
Title: _________________________
ATTEST:
By: ______________________________
Name: _________________________
Title:___________________________
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
By: ______________________________
Name: _________________________
Title: ___________________________
Vernon
Brian Saeki
City Administrator
Genoveva Rocha
City Clerk
Zaynah Moussa-Milward
City Attorney
Attachment
The Watershed Permittees of each UR2 Watershed City shall pay an equal one seventh (1/7th) share of fifty percent (50%) of the annual cost and each Watershed Permittee shall pay its prorate share, based on its percentage of land area of the total UR2 Watershed Area of fifty percent (50%) of the annual cost provided in Table 1.
Watershed City Land Area in
square miles
Percentage of
Total Land Area
Bell 2.64 11.90%
Bell Gardens 2.49 11.22%
Commerce 6.57 29.61%
Cudahy 1.12 5.05%
Huntington Park 3.03 13.65%
Maywood 1.18 5.32%
Vernon 5.16 23.25%
TOTAL 22.19 100%