DWR approves grants to FPUD, Mission RCD

The state Department of Water Resources approved a grant package for the San Diego Integrated Regional Water Management Plan which includes awards to the Fallbrook Public Utility District and the Mission Resource Conservation District.

FPUD will receive $2,642,337 for the Santa Margarita Conjunctive Use Project while the Mission Resource Conservation District will receive $1,056,285 for the Northern San Diego County Invasive Non-Native Species Control Program.

The San Diego County Water Authority, which serves as the lead agency for the San Diego Integrated Regional Water Management Plan, was awarded $20.675 million of Fiscal Year 2007-08 funding, and when the 2008-09 state budget is approved the SDCWA is expected to obtain the remainder of its $25 million grant.

“The state has identified integrated regional water management as the way we should go,” said CWA principal imported water specialist Mark Stadler.

In October 2007 the CWA board adopted the 2007 San Diego Integrated Regional Water Management Plan and authorized the CWA’s general manager to submit a grant application for $25 million to the State of California.

The Integrated Regional Water Management Plan was the first such plan for the San Diego region. “It really sets the foundation for future work in this area,” Stadler said.

“What it really represents is a whole new way of how we manage our water resources,” Stadler said. “We have all these people working together sitting at the same table and trying to get some synergy together.”

In November 2002 the state’s voters approved Proposition 50, which authorized the spending of $3.4 billion for projects involving fresh water and coastal resources. Chapter 8 of Proposition 50 authorizes up to $500 million for integrated regional water management (IRWM) planning and implementation grants.

Following the passage of Proposition 50, the CWA board authorized the agency’s general manager to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the City of San Diego and the County of San Diego to form a regional water management group (RWMG) which would lead the IRWM effort in the San Diego region.

The CWA was designated as the lead agency of the RWMG, which also organized a Regional Advisory Committee with 27 representatives from water management, business, academia, and other sectors.

In July 2007 the CWA board authorized the submittal of the San Diego region’s application for the second round of funding. That funding cycle allocated $51.8 million in projects grants with a cap of $25 million per region.

The Department of Water Resources and the State Water Resources Control Board accepted 17 grant applications for review, and nine applicants were invited to submit a Step 2 application.

The CWA submitted the Step 2 application in January, and after a public comment period on the draft Step 2 funding recommendations the grant awards were announced in June 2008.

A nine-member workgroup reviewed 51 projects, along with Regional Advisory Committee input, in detail before proposing a package of 25 projects and a $25 million funding request.

The consolidation of agencies’ related projects into a single grant project and the withdrawal by entities which didn’t feel they could meet the grant requirements reduced the package to 19 projects which received $25 million.

The CWA itself has two projects on the list: an integrated landscape conservation effort and an agricultural water use efficiency program (which had been two separate projects before being consolidated), and recycled water retrofit assistance. The CWA projects account for $2.9 million in grants.

The Santa Margarita Conjunctive Use Project has a total estimated cost of $177 million. The project would provide for enhanced recharge and recovery from the groundwater basin on Camp Pendleton which would provide a water supply for both Camp Pendleton and FPUD. The project would also include a seawater intrusion barrier which would use recycled water and a distribution system to deliver water both to FPUD and to the CWA aqueduct system.

The management of the groundwater basins would provide approximately 6,500 acre feet per year of new supply from the Santa Margarita River, and 1,380 acres of sensitive habitat along the river would be preserved as part of the project.

“It’s going to obviously help us build this project and make it more cost-effective for the residents of Fallbrook,” said FPUD general manager Keith Lewinger. “We’re very excited about that because any money that we can get through grants is going to reduce the cost to the ratepayers.”

The $2.6 million grant is in addition to an $850,000 grant FPUD received last year from the CWA for development of local supply.

“Given the water supply situation in Southern California, any project that can be developed and take advantage of local supplies is a project that helps all of San Diego County and in fact all of Southern California. That’s water that doesn’t have to be imported,” Lewinger said.

Federal legislation to provide a low-interest loan to FPUD is also under consideration by Congress.

FPUD can use the $2.6 million grant for any phase of the project. “We’ll use it to continue to pay for ongoing environmental and design work,” said Lewinger, who added that any balance after the environmental and design expenses would be applied to FPUD’s share of the construction costs.

The invasive species control program has a total estimated cost of $3.1 million and is designed to eradicate invasive non-native plant species. The program would protect and enhance habitat in the San Luis Rey, San Dieguito and San Elijo watersheds, and the elimination of invasive species with high water consumption would conserve water resources by increasing available groundwater.

The reduction of flood risk and flood damage would also protect water delivery and storage systems and would improve water quality by reducing erosion, fire risk, and non-point source pollution.

“We were excited again to be able to bring the funding to the area, and we’re excited about cooperating with other watersheds in northern San Diego County,” said Mission Resource Conservation District executive director Judy Mitchell.

“We can take more of a regional watershed approach to invasive weed management,” Mitchell said. “We’re taking an organized approach to the weed management.”

The program will eradicate primarily arundo but also tamarisk and pampas grass where appropriate. “In each watershed they’re going to make the decision on what is the most problematic,” Mitchell said.

The program can also target the Santa Margarita watershed if priorities permit. In the past the Mission RCD has relied upon an Army Corps of Engineers program to address most of the problems in the Santa Margarita watershed.

Mitchell noted the need to manage tributaries as well as the San Luis Rey River itself. “As long as they are there and drawing into the San Luis Rey, they will continue to re-affect,” she said. “It’s quite a large project.”

The remaining $2 million will be derived from other grants. “We hope that this kind of effort will really make the difference in keeping our streams clear,” Mitchell said.

The grant for the CWA’s integrated landscape conservation effort and an agricultural water use efficiency program will cover $2.083 million of the $5.504 million estimated cost.

The integrated landscape conservation effort will include a Web-driven water budget program and landscape measurement tool which will enable the CWA to measure all landscaped areas throughout the county and set a measurable conservation target for the region.

The program will also include communication of water use targets, demonstrations of financial viability, incentives for change, and promotion of low water use landscapes.

The agricultural efficiency program is expected to save between 1,500 and 3,000 acre feet per year.

The CWA and its contractors work with farmers to provide agricultural audits, although the demand for audits has exceeded the CWA’s available funding. The audits have improved efficiency by an average of 13 percent without compromising crops or production.

The CWA’s recycled water retrofit assistance program has a total estimated cost of $1.643 million, and the grant provided the CWA with $824,742.

That program will offer direct financial assistance to homeowners’ associations, public agencies, and other customer types to facilitate the retrofitting of suitable water sites from potable to recycled water.

The CWA has a goal of recycled water producing five percent of the region’s water demand by 2011.

In November 2006 the state’s voters passed Proposition 84, which authorized additional funding for water projects including integrated regional water management. “We’re going to get a significant amount of money,” Stadler said.

The regional water management group, including the Regional Advisory Committee, has begun work on bringing Proposition 84 funding to the San Diego region. “It’s something that’s going to continue into the future,” Stadler said.

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