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(1) Approval of the Santa Monica Basin Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP); and (2) Appointment of the City Manager or their Designee to be the City’s Representative to the Santa Monica Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency Board of Directors.
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Meeting Date: December 10, 2021
Contact Person/Dept: Sean Singletary/Public Works - EPO
Phone Number: 310-253-6457
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [x General Fund: Yes [] No [x]
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [] Attachments: []
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [] Date:
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (12/07/2021)
Department Approval: Yanni Demitri, Public Works Director/City Engineer (11/09/2021)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council (1) approve the Santa Monica Basin Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP); and (2) appoint the City Manager or their designee to be the City’s representative to the Santa Monica Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency Board of Directors.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
In September 2014 Governor Brown signed three bills (AB 1793, SB 1319, and SB 1168) designed to advance groundwater management in California. The legislation, together known as the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), provides for improved management of groundwater in unadjudicated basins by local authorities. SGMA is one component of an integrated state policy that includes conservation, recycling, safe drinking water, storage, and watershed restoration. Sustainable management addresses management and use of groundwater in a way that can be maintained without chronic lowering of groundwater levels, and significant and unreasonable reduction in groundwater storage, seawater intrusion, degradation of groundwater quality, land subsidence, and surface water depletion. Good groundwater management will provide a buffer against drought and climate change, and contribute to reliable water supplies regardless of weather patterns.
Department of Water Resources (DWR) Bulletin 118 has identified 515 alluvial groundwater basins in California and ranked these basins from high to very low priority. Basin prioritization is a statewide ranking of groundwater basin importance that incorporates groundwater reliance throughout the State and a scoring system for each basin using eight specific criteria: overlaying population, projected growth of overlying population, public supply wells, total number of wells, irrigated acreage overlying the basin, reliance on groundwater as the primary source of water, impacts on the groundwater, and other information deemed relevant by DWR.
Santa Monica Groundwater Subbasin
In 2014, the DWR established an initial priority for each basin through the California Statewide Groundwater Elevation Monitoring Program, established in response to the 2009 Comprehensive Water Package. The Santa Monica Groundwater Subbasin was designated a medium priority basin and thus required to develop a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP). The subbasin covers approximately 50 square miles under the cities of Santa Monica, portions of Los Angeles and Beverly Hills and most of the City of Culver City. Basins are required to have Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSA) covering the entire basin, either under a single GSA or multiple GSAs. If part of a basin is not covered, the County will be the presumed GSA for the unmanaged area.
Santa Monica, as the principal groundwater pumper for the basin, was designated as the lead agency for formation of the GSA. Development of a groundwater management plan for the entire Santa Monica Groundwater Subbasin provides opportunities for local agencies to work together collaboratively to develop plans to protect this asset and to achieve water self-sufficiency.
On May 30, 2017, the City Council approved the adoption of a resolution authorizing Culver City to join the Santa Monica Basin GSA (SMBGSA). As such, Culver City has been able to participate as a member of the agency that governs the entire Santa Monica Subbasin and advise on behalf of its residents and other stakeholders. The agencies within the SMBGSA will have authority to conduct investigations, determine the sustainable yield of a groundwater basin, measure and limit extractions, impose fees for groundwater management, and enforce the terms of a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP). SGMA states that nothing in a GSP supersedes the land use authority of cities.
Since the approval of the MOU in May 2017, the agencies in the SMBGSA have taken steps to prepare a GSP, which must be completed by January 31, 2022. Led by Santa Monica, the SMBGSA has hired a SGMA consultant, drafted the GSP and held public workshops to share the plan.
A draft GSP was completed in July 2021 and can be viewed at <https://www.santamonica.gov/gsp>. The GSP is broken into four parts:
1. Plan Area and Basin Setting describes the water agencies and the jurisdictional boundaries of the basin and the geological, land use, and other characteristics of the area;
2. Sustainability Criteria breaks down the six sustainability indicators that may experience undesirable results as a result of groundwater production, none of which are projected to be exceeded over the horizon of the plan;
3. Projects and Management Actions document potential actions that SMBGSA could undertake to respond to changing conditions in the Basin; and
4. Plan Implementation describes adaptive management techniques that can be undertaken after the adoption of the GSP to fill data gaps and the production of annual reports and five-year evaluation.
At this time, projects and management actions are not necessary to achieve sustainability in the Subbasin, which has been managed sustainably for the past 30 years. Projects and management actions in this GSP will be evaluated every five years, at a minimum.
The GSP was available for public comment from July 15, 2021 to September 28, 2021, and posted on the City of Santa Monica’s website. A Public Hearing for Adoption of the GSP for the Santa Monica Basin is being held at 5:30 pm on Thursday, January 13, 2022. Once adopted by the GSA, the GSP for the Santa Monica Subbasin will be submitted to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and open for additional public comment for 75 days.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
There are no fiscal impacts to the City of Culver City to approve the GSP. Costs to prepare the GSP were approximately $1.3 million, which was shared equally between Santa Monica and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power as outlined in the MOU. At this time, it is anticipated that staff time will be required to coordinate with the other member agencies in review and approval of GSP reports.
ATTACHMENTS
None.
MOTIONS
That the City Council:
1. Approve the Santa Monica Basin Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP); and
2. Appoint the City Manager or their Designee to be the City’s representative to the Santa Monica Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency Board of Directors.