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VISALIA WATER MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
2023 Annual Plan
Background
On December 31, 2001, the City of Visalia (“City”) and the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District (“District”) entered into an Agreement (“Agreement”), a copy of which can be found attached to the Minutes of the October 2, 2001 meeting of the Board of Director’s for Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District. The Agreement provides that a Management Committee be formed. The Management Committee is to be comprised of representatives of the City and District. Specifically, the Management Committee is to be “comprised of one member from each of the governing boards and other staff and technical representatives of the City and the District.” The Management Committee is required to meet “as necessary.” Further, the Agreement directs that the Management Committee “shall each year develop an annual plan to achieve the purpose as specified in paragraph 1 which plan shall be mutually agreeable to the parties hereto.” This document is intended to fulfill the requirement for the Management Committee, which has become known as the Visalia Water Management Committee, to develop an annual plan.
Objectives
According to the Agreement, the primary purpose of the Agreement and the Management Committee “is to maintain existing water rights and acquire additional water supplies for the primary benefit of the residents of the City of Visalia.” Another purpose of the Agreement “is to provide funding mechanisms for the maintenance and acquisition of such water supplies and for the construction of facilities necessary to apply such water to the benefit of the residents of the City.” In the Agreement, the City and the District expressed their intent “that the activities undertaken pursuant to this program will result in maintenance and enhancement of groundwater levels in and around the City.” Finally, the document provides that “each year an annual plan will be developed to identify specific activities to meet these purposes.
Short Range Goals
In the near term, the Management Committee intends to continue to accumulate money in its funds as a result of the annual contributions by the City as required by the Agreement. Of the monies collected in the fund, it intends to spend approximately 70% toward water project design, construction and land rights, 20% toward water purchases and 10% toward the purchase of water rights.
Long Range Goals
The Water Management Committee’s long term objectives are to replenish and enhance the groundwater used by the City to provide water to the residents of the City.
By doing so it hopes to eventually achieve an ongoing and long-term balance between groundwater extractions and groundwater replenishment in the groundwater basin utilized to provide water to the residents of the City. -2-
Action Items
The City and the District, by their adoption of this 2023 Annual Plan, hereby authorize certain actions to be taken during 2023 as follows:
1) For both the District and the City to carry out the purposes as established by Section 1 of the Agreement to the benefit of groundwater utilized to provide water to the residents of the City.
2) For both the District and the City to participate in Management Committee meetings upon reasonable call and notice by either party. Regularly scheduled meetings shall occur semi-annually and be set for the third Tuesday of the months of May and November at 3:00 pm at the District’s office. 3) For the City to make the annual payment as required by Section 3 of the Agreement; and
4) For the District to administer program funds as directed by the Management Committee. The following funding objectives have been established so as to provide for a means to carry out the purposes of the Agreement. Funding objectives are presently set at 70 percent for groundwater improvement projects, 20 percent for surface water purchases for groundwater recharge and 10 percent for acquisition of available surface water rights; and
5) For the City and District to continue to investigate and pursue groundwater recharge improvement projects including studies for delivery system improvements and optimization. The program herein allocates $15,000 for preliminary investigation toward the research and development of possible future projects.
6) Upon mutual agreement by the District General Manager and the City Manager, without further approval from the Management Committee, to use the agreement’s program funds on deposit with the District to purchase up to $300,000 worth of water, at a rate of no more than $150 per acre foot, and import such water into the Kaweah Basin for recharge in basins, natural channels and artificial channels located either within the City or within close enough proximity to the City, on an annual basis; and
7) For the City and District to continue to survey, identify and acquire property rights for parcels of real property that might be available in or about the City for purchase and development as groundwater recharge basins; and 8) For the City and District to continue to survey, identify and acquire water rights that might be available for purchase in order to supply an ongoing source of water for groundwater recharge; and
9) For the District to complete and provide the City with an annual report detailing the accomplishment of the aforementioned action items.
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Approval
This 2023 Annual Plan shall be deemed approved and in effect once it has been reviewed and approved by a majority vote of the City Council of the City and by a majority vote of the Board of Directors of the District. 1) The Board of Directors of the District approved this 2023 Annual Plan during their regular meeting on ______________________.
2) The City Council of the City approved this 2023 Annual Plan as herein presented at a regular meeting on ______________________.