FOX CANYON GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT AGENCY A s rare Of CALIFORNIA WAUR AGENCY

Transcription

1 FOX CANYON GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT AGENCY A s rare Of CALIFORNIA WAUR AGENCY BOARD OF DIRECTORS Eugene F. West, Chair, Director, Camrosa Water District David Borchard, Vice Chair, Farmer, Agricultural Representative Steve Bennett, Supervisor, County of Ventura Charlotte Craven, Councilperson, City of Camarillo Robert Eranio, Director, United Water Conservation District EXECUTIVE OFFICER Jeff Pratt, P.E. MINUTES Minutes of the Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency's (FCGMA) Board meeting held Wednesday,, in the Board of Supervisors' Hearing Room at the Ventura County Government Center, Hall of Administration, 800 South Victoria Avenue, Ventura, California. A. Call to Order Chair Eugene F. West called the meeting to order at 1 :33 p.m. B. Pledge of Allegiance Chair West led the Pledge of Allegiance. C. Roll Call Chair Eugene F. West Director Steve Bennett -Arrived at 1 :34 p.m. Director Robert Eranio Alternate Director Andrews Director David Borchard Alternate Directors Michael Mobley and Andy Waters were in the audience. Agency Staff Glenn Shephard, Assistant Executive Officer Arne Anselm, Deputy Director Kim Loeb, Groundwater Manager Kathleen Riedel, Groundwater Specialist Keely Rayas, Clerk of the Board Jodi Switzer, Water Resources Compliance Specialist Al Boada, Agency Counsel D. Agenda Review Item 1 - Page 1 of 7 F:\gma\Board\Agendas and Minutes\20'18\ \ltem Minutes - Approved and Signed.DOCX

2 Page 2 of 7 Mr. Shephard announced the agenda addendum adding Item 9 to the regular agenda. He also introduced a request to add a late coming item to the agenda as Item 10. Mr. Shephard requested if items 9 and 10 were added to the agenda that they be heard before Closed Session. Director Eranio made a motion to add Item 10 to the agenda. Director Bennett seconded the motion, and the motion was unanimously approved. Mr. Shephard introduced a new staff member, Jodi Switzer, the new Water Resource Compliance Specialist. E. Public Comments Bryan Bondy thanked the Board for selecting him to receive the 2018 John K. Flynn award. F. Board Member Comments There were no Board member comments. CONSENT AGENDA: 1. Approval of Minutes - March 28, 2018 Director Eranio made a motion to approve the consent agenda. Director Borchard seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously. REGULAR AGENDA: 2. North Pleasant Valley Desalter Project Update Ms. Riedel introduced the item and presented the "North Pleasant Valley Desalter Project Update" PowerPoint to the Board. She gave background information about Resolution , which concerns adjustments to extraction allocation for the City of Camarillo regarding special use of mounded, degraded water in the north eastern portion of the Pleasant Valley Basin. She stated that the resolution contains a Monitoring and Contingency Plan and requires preparation of an annual report. She further commented that the resolution includes a condition that if the Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) are not adopted by September 2018, the condition language reverts to language in the second part of the condition. Director Borchard asked why there was a revision of the 2017 Annual Report. Ms. Riedel stated that there was a few editorial comments and that the City of Camarillo included monitoring data received from others. Mr. Tom Fox, City of Camarillo, presented the "North Pleasant Valley Groundwater Desalter Project Update" PowerPoint to the Board. He provided an update about the project. Mr. Fox stated that the project design is about 60% complete, with a projected operational date of He stated that the project was been awarded a $10,000,000 grant under Proposition 1 in addition to a $5,000,000 grant awarded from Proposition 84. He also said that there is a good chance of receiving up to an $8,000,000 grant from the Federal government which would make the project fully funded. With that, the location has been selected and the City of Camarillo is Item 1 - Page 2 of 7

3 Page 3 of 7 ready to begin the purchasing process of the selected land. He also stated that they are about 90% complete on the design for three monitoring wells, which will hopefully be operational by the end of Director Eranio asked if the order resulting from the negotiations with the Regional Water Control Board between takes into account the salt load that is currently being applied may not be as significant or as extreme as what was proposed and does the order give the City any leeway because of the conservation efforts that are currently being done in the basin to naturally decrease the salt load. Ms. McGovern, City of Camarillo, explained that whatever comes into the Calleguas Creek watershed needs to be extracted to try to achieve a salt balanced watershed. She stated that the project will help with 40% of the overall salt balance load even though the salt load may not be as big as it once was. Director Borchard stated that he does believe that there is a hydraulic connection between the mound and brackish water in the region and the Pleasant Valley Basin, contrary to what Mr. Fox stated. Director Eranio wanted clarification on the point brought up that no allocation is necessary because the project will not impact the main part of the basin. Dr. Steve Bachman, consultant to the City of Camarillo, stated that although a sustainable yield has not been calculated yet for the Pleasant Valley Basin, he is pretty sure that the United Water Conservation District (UWCD) model will be used to test projects against the criteria adopted by the Board. He also stated that because the mound is not affecting the areas by the coast, he doesn't believe it is going to have a significant effect on what happens everywhere else. Director Eranio asked Mr. Schnabel, Dudek, that when the storage calculations were done for the preliminary GSPs, was the mounded, degraded water included in the water as storage. Mr. Schnabel answered that it was included in the groundwater in storage. Director Borchard made a motion to receive and file the update. Director Andrews seconded the motion, and the motion was unanimously approved. 3. Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) Update Mr. Loeb introduced the item and presented the "Groundwater Sustainability Plan Update and Consultant Contract Amendment" PowerPoint to the Board. He provided background information about development of the GSPs. He stated that the County of Ventura hosted a Department of Water Resources (DWR) Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) workshop that morning at the Ventura County Saticoy Operation's Yard. Mr. Loeb gave a brief overview of the number of comments received during the public comment period on the preliminary draft GSPs. He stated that comments with technical issues needing review would be brought the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) and comments concerning policy issue would be brought to the Board at the May 23, 2018 Board meeting. He also went over a tentative plan for completion of the GSPs. Item 1 - Page 3 of 7

4 Page 4 of 7 Director Bennett confirmed that everything would be going out to the public for review before it comes back to the Board for approval. Mr. Loeb went over Dudek's current scope of work and budget. He said they have budget for meetings through June and if additional scope was requested, there may need to be a consideration to increase the budget. Director Eranio stated that according to the letter from Mr. Golden ring, Downey Brand provided comments on the preliminary draft GSPs and he wanted to know why they were not included in the list that Mr. Loeb provided. Mr. Loeb stated that the comments were not provided during the public comment period so they were not included in his presentation. Director Eranio said the Agency should work with UWCD when responding to the comment letter from the National Marine Fisheries Service. He stated that UWCD has previously addressed similar comments. 4. Update on Development of a New Pumping Allocation System for the Oxnard and Pleasant Valley Basins Mr. Loeb introduced the item and presented the "Update on Development of a New Pumping Allocation System for the Oxnard and Pleasant Valley Basin" PowerPoint to the Board. He provided a brief background on development of a new allocation plan to date. He presented a table that showed the differences between the Oxnard and Pleasant Valley Ag Owners, Inc. (OPVAOI) draft "White Paper" and the staff developed interim allocation plan. He stated that Agency staff plans to meet with the OPVAOI factions to explore opportunities for compromise. Mr. Loeb presented a list of draft principles for justifiable allocation system development to test each proposed plan against. He then went through the steps toward a process forward. Chair West stated that he liked the principle list and he thinks that the "White Paper" is a step forward, yet there are a few things that he would like Agency staff to review, and provide a critical analysis. Director Bennett provided comments on the principle list. He stated that threatened litigation should be avoided if at all possible, but that the threat should not deter the Agency from going in a certain direction. He also sa id that he is not opposed to starting off with a small cut. He added that he is not sold on the "White Paper's" using the last three years as a base period. Director Andrews stated that he agrees with Director Bennett. Director Eranio stated that he has no issues with the guiding principles, but he does have an issue with borrowing water from future years. He stated that he also has concerns that there will not be a consensus before the deadline to reach the October 1, implementation. He stated that the thirteen year base period average is too long, but also understands the cha llenges with the proposed three year period. He said that he sees work that still needs to be done on both plans. Public comments were heard from : (1) Jared Bouchard, Pleasant Va lley County Water District (PVCWD). Item 1 - Page 4 of 7

5 Page 5 of 7 5. Update on Development of a New Pumping Allocation System for the Las Posas Valley Basin Mr. Loeb introduced the item and presented the "Update on Development of a New Pumping Allocation System for the Las Posas Valley Basin" PowerPoint to the Board. He provided a brief background on the work that has been done towards the development of a new allocation plan. Mr. Loeb presented a matrix of the proposed Las Posas User's Group (LPUG) plan versus the comments from the Las Posas Valley Water Rights Coalition (LPVWRC). Chair West asked if the LPVWRC has provided data in regards to the volume of groundwater in the allocation pool or how to reallocate the resources. Mr. Loeb stated that the LPVWRC's comments have generally been concepts and principles. Director Borchard asked Mr. Loeb if LPUG had asked staff to continue to develop the plan. Mr. Loeb responded yes. Director Borchard asked where staff was at in that process. Mr. Loeb stated that staff development of the plan was put on hold while working with both groups, and then there were some issues with identifying who the LPVWRC leadership or spokesperson was, and then there was the occurrence of the Thomas Fire which further delayed meeting with the groups. Chair West stated that staff should go back to look at the allocation carryover or some flexibility mechanism and come back to the Board for approval. He stated that he thinks staff should move forward with the ordinance process. He also said that he sees five or six legal questions that need to be answered. Director Eranio thanked Mr. Loeb for the matrix. He asked Mr. Loeb if there are any issues or holes in the submitted LPUG paper that need to be answered in order to move forward with drafting an ordinance. Mr. Loeb stated that the most significant gap is the carryover method development. Director Bennett stated that he thinks staff should take the LPUG proposal, analyze the critiques that have come from the LPVWRC, and use legal advice to come up with staff's recommendation to the Board. Director Andrews made a motion to receive and file the update. Director Eranio seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously. EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S REPORT: 6. Administrative Reports Director Bennett made a motion to receive and file the Executive Officer's Report. Director Eranio seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously. Item 1 - Page 5 of 7

6 Page 6 of 7 9. Delegate Authority to the Executive Officer to Execute Conflict Waivers on Behalf of the Agency Mr. Boada introduced the item and provided a brief background on the need to retain special counsel that primarily focuses on water rights issues. He stated that negotiations have started with potential law firms, however, the Agency is not yet in a position to bring a specific proposal to the Board, but in the interest of acting quickly and not having to wait until the next Board meeting, the request is to grant the authority to the Executive Officer to execute conflict waivers in consultation with Agency counsel.. Director Bennett asked Mr. Boada what his legal opinion is regarding if the Board can provide a limited-in-time authorization to the Executive Officer. Mr. Boada stated that the Board could delegate it on a temporary basis, but in the interest of acting quickly he would recommend not waiting and authorizing it on a temporary basis. Chair West stated that he shares Mr. Boada's concern with acting in c1 timely manner. Director Bennett made a motion to grant authority to the Executive Officer to execute conflict waivers on behalf of the Agency. Director Eranio seconded the motion, and the motion was unanimously approved. 10. Pleasant Valley Mutual Water Company (PVMWC) Request for a Letter of Support for a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Grant Application for its AMI Water Use Efficiency Project Ms. Riedel introduced the item. She explained the timeline of when the request was received, April 23, when a response is needed by, May 10, and the purpose of the request. Ms. Riedel stated that the 70% of the water that PVMWC supplies is groundwater that is extracted from the Pleasant Valley Basin, so that any reduction in groundwater demand would be reflected as water conservation. Public comments were heard from: (1) Susan Mulligan, Calleguas Municipal Water District (CMWD). Director Bennett made a motion to find that there is a need to take immediate action and that the need for action came to the attention of the Agency subsequent to the agenda being posted, and to authorize the Executive Officer to sign a letter in support of PVMWC's grant application to the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation WaterSMART for the AMI Water Use Efficiency Project. Director Andrews seconded the motion, and the motion was unanimously approved. Chair West adjourned the Regular Session meeting to Closed Session at 3:10 p.m. FCGMA BOARD CLOSED SESSION AGENDA Closed Session - The Board of Directors met in Closed Session to consider the following items: Item 1 - Page 6 of 7

7 Page 7 of 7 1. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL - EXISTING LITIGATION (Gov. Code, ) PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION , SUBDIVISION (d), PARAGRAPH (1): NAME OF CASE: Las Posas Valley Water Rights Coalition v. Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency, Ventura County Superior Court Case No CU-EI-VTA Chair West resumed the Regular meeting at 3:26 p.m. and stated that no reportable action was taken. 8. Adjourn Board Meeting Chair West adjourned the Board meeting at 3:27 p.m. Submitted by: Kff:#J;~ FCGMA Clerk of the Board Item 1 - Page 7 of 7

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