LAFCO sends draft municipal service review of RCDs to public review

A resource conservation district does not have regulatory power but is classified as a special district and is thus subject to Local Agency Formation Commission governance. San Diego County's LAFCO undertakes periodic municipal service reviews for all special districts, and the draft municipal service review for the three resource conservation districts in San Diego County was discussed at the Dec. 7 LAFCO board meeting.

LAFCO's board did not take a formal vote but instead addressed the content of the draft municipal service review before encouraging LAFCO staff to send the draft MSR to the public review and comment process. If LAFCO staff is able to prepare the updated MSR by the Feb. 1 LAFCO board meeting, the board may take action on approving the final MSR that day.

"Today is about staff presenting a draft report," said LAFCO executive officer Keene Simonds.

A municipal service review evaluates services and anticipated needs. A sphere of influence study determines the boundaries best served by a particular agency.

"This is the first ever MSR completed on the resource conservation districts in San Diego County," said LAFCO analyst Linda Heckenkamp.

"This is really the first substantive check-in that LAFCO has had with any of the three affected resource conservation districts," Simonds said. "There is an active learning curve in place. We're learning about the resource conservation districts and they're learning about us."

The draft municipal service review recommends deferring any evaluation of functional or political consolidation to the next MSR cycle. The draft recommendations are to update all three agencies' spheres of influence with no changes, to incorporate regular reviews of RCDs into subsequent MSR cycles, to collaborate with the County of San Diego and the San Diego Association of Governments to develop buildout estimates for each agency and incorporate that into the next MSR, to develop in coordination with the three RCDs performance measurements, to work with stakeholders and local legislators to undertake a comprehensive revision of the RCD principal act which would include clarifying service function powers, to formalize and regulate RCD functions, to work with the three RCDs on corrective measures to ensure regulatory compliance with regard to aligning services with jurisdictional boundaries, to remind the RCDs to request and receive written LAFCO approval before entering into any agreements to provide municipal services outside of their boundaries, to improve the website communications efforts between the Upper San Luis Rey RCD and the public, to have the County of San Diego consider the inclusion of erosion and sediment control plans by RCDs in the county's permitting process, and to have video recordings of the RCD board meetings.

The Soil Conservation Act was passed on April 27, 1935, in response to the Dust Bowl of that era. The act created the Soil Conservation Service branch of the United States Department of Agriculture. Farmers were skeptical about federal involvement, so the program included the creation of local soil conservation districts with locally-elected boards. Those boards and districts had no regulatory power but worked in conjunction with the Soil Conservation Service. In order for those local districts to be created, states had to pass enabling legislation.

"RCDs have their roots in soil and water conservation," said RCD of Greater San Diego County board president Don Butz.

The Soil Conservation Service is now the National Resources Conservation Service and is still part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The local districts have since taken on additional duties to help educate farmers and non-farm landowners.

The resource conservation districts which were formed to control water runoff and prevent soil erosion now involve themselves in watershed management, recreational area management, urban and agricultural irrigation and water use, water quality, forest land productivity, and public education for children and adults.

In 1971, California's soil conservation districts became resource conservation districts, although some states retain the soil conservation district designation.

"The role of the RCDs has expanded beyond water and soil," Heckenkamp said.

San Diego County has had as many as 15 RCDs, but consolidation reduced that number. The most recent consolidation was in 1995 when two RCDs consolidated into the RCD of Greater San Diego.

Division 9 of the California Public Resource Code is the governing legislation for resource conservation districts. The principal act was last updated in 1971. "The principal act has not aged well," Heckenkamp said.

"An update to Division 9 is probably something that would benefit the state," said Mission RCD board president Scott Murray.

As of 2019, the RCD of Greater San Diego had a population of 1,445,460 and a median household income of $59,041. The Mission RCD population was 123,611 and the RCD had a median household income of $75,375. The population of the Upper San Luis Rey RCD was 11,735 and the median income was $48,882.

"I see them as critical to assisting and helping the farm community," said Alpine Fire Protection District board member Barry Willis, who is one of the two special districts representatives on the LAFCO board.

The Mission Resource Conservation District office is in Fallbrook; the County of San Diego had used the property for a Health and Human Services Agency building before selling the land and structure to the RCD in 2015 (escrow did not close until 2016).

The Resource Conservation District of Greater San Diego moved into its Lakeside office in 2009; that building had been the Riverview Water District headquarters prior to that district's merger with the Lakeside Water District. The Upper San Luis Rey Resource Conservation District does not have its own building; board meetings are held at the Yuima Municipal Water District office in Pauma Valley.

"RCDs are a lot different than other special districts when it comes to revenue sources," Heckenkamp said. "They heavily rely on grant funding."

The Mission Resource Conservation District was the Middle San Luis Rey Soil Conservation District when it was founded in 1944 and was renamed the Mission Resource Conservation District in 1971. It encompasses 185.2 square miles and includes Fallbrook, Bonsall, DeLuz, Rainbow, and a portion of the City of Oceanside. Its 2018-19 budget was $1,750,000 with 5.0 full-time employee equivalent positions. LAFCO established a sphere of influence for the district in June 1986 and last reaffirmed it in March 2013.

The principal act authorizes RCDs to perform soil erosion, water conservation, wildlife enhancement, and agricultural enhancement services. Any additional services would require LAFCO to activate latent powers for those services including the RCDs' current water distribution and erosion stabilization services.

The RCD of Greater San Diego has a 2,889 square mile boundary and includes 13 incorporated cities as well as unincorporated land ranging geographically from Otay to Valley Center and Borrego Springs. The 1995 merger which established the consolidated RCD included a sphere of influence, which was most recently reaffirmed in March 2013.

"Their sphere goes beyond their district boundary," Heckenkamp said.

The Upper San Luis Rey RCD was formed in 1942 and includes a portion of Rainbow along with Pala, Pauma Valley, and Warner Springs. Its 402 square mile boundary includes approximately 88 square miles of sovereign Indian reservation land which are not part of the RCD.

The RCD has no staff and contracts for administrative services, bookkeeping, and field operations. LAFCO established a sphere of influence for the district in June 1986 and last reaffirmed it in March 2013.

LAFCO may need to authorize latent powers for the Upper San Luis Rey RCD to participate in a Groundwater Sustainability Agency. "That's an issue that we'd like to have looked at by LAFCO," said Rainbow Municipal Water District general manager Tom Kennedy.

In 2014, the State of California adopted the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act whose purpose is to strengthen local groundwater. The SGMA required local agencies to form a Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) for high-priority and medium-priority basins by July 2017 and has a January 2022 deadline to develop plans to achieve long-term groundwater sustainability.

The San Luis Rey Valley Groundwater Basin, which the Department of Water Resources defines as beginning at the confluence of the San Luis Rey River and Paradise Creek and ending at the Pacific Ocean within the Oceanside city limits, is designated as a medium-priority basin.

In August 2016, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution for the county to become a Groundwater Sustainability Agency for four basins including the San Luis Rey basin. An agency can provide DWR with a notice of election to become a GSA and then work with other local agencies to develop agreements including governance structure.

In June 2017, the Board of Supervisors approved a Memorandum of Understanding between the county, the Yuima Municipal Water District, the Pauma Valley Community Services District, and the Upper San Luis Rey Resource Conservation District to develop a sustainability plan for the San Luis Rey Valley Groundwater Basin.

A working group was established which also included the Rainbow, San Luis Rey, Mootamai, and Pauma municipal water districts, the San Diego County Farm Bureau, DWR, the San Luis Rey Indian Water Authority, and the Pala, Pauma, La Jolla, Rincon, and San Pasqual tribes.

Tribal involvement and DWR grants made Yuima willing to take the lead on the development of the plan and, in November 2018, the Board of Supervisors withdrew the county from the MOU while maintaining the county's involvement as a stakeholder.

The Mission RCD and the RCD of Greater San Diego have both taken on activities which extend beyond the boundaries of their agencies. "We do fire work, we do pollinator habitat, we do healthy soils. We are very involved in the community," said RCD of Greater San Diego executive director Sheryl Landrum.

The Fire Safe Council of Greater San Diego County is part of the RCD of Greater San Diego activity and works with 41 locally formed community fire safe councils. The fire safety activity thus conflicts with current LAFCO restriction of the RCD activity to within its jurisdictional boundaries. "We didn't know that we needed to do this," Landrum said.

"We do understand that boundaries matter," Butz said. "We're looking forward to working with LAFCO staff to resolve this."

Butz told the LAFCO board that the RCD could be subject to a lawsuit if a liability issue occurs within the district boundaries. "It could create a legal issue for us if it's not done appropriately," he said.

The RCD is seeking to bring those activities into compliance. "We asked permission for the RCDs," Landrum said. "We are continuing to try to do the right thing."

Since 1990 the San Diego County Water Authority has been contracting with the Mission RCD to conduct agricultural water management services. In 1991 the SDCWA expanded its contracted water efficiency services to include residential surveys and full landscape audits. The most recent CWA contract with the Mission RCD was approved in 2019 and is for a three-year period not including a two-year option which can be approved administratively rather than by board action.

During the five-year period preceding the 2019 contract, the Mission RCD provided more than 3,000 field services evaluating more than 53 million square feet of landscaped area.

"A lot of water agencies and especially my district have had a long relationship with these RCDs," said Fallbrook Public Utility District General Manager Jack Bebee. "In some ways they've been a success story."

Bebee noted that the RCD of Greater San Diego has focused on fire safety while the Mission RCD has focused on water. "RCDs are pretty unique," he said. "Each agency sort of developed their own specialization."

The Mission RCD activities have also included eradication of the invasive arundo donax weed from the San Luis Rey and Santa Margarita watersheds. "What they've done has been fantastic in the county," Bebee said. "Their presence in North County is critical."

The provision of services beyond territorial boundaries has not created conflict between the Greater San Diego and Mission RCDs. "We were encouraged by them to go into water," Murray said.

Valley Center Municipal Water District general manager Gary Arant is also a member of LAFCO's Special Districts Advisory Committee. "I thought water was complex until I read the MSR for the RCDs," he said.

Three of the Upper San Luis Rey RCD board members including board president Andy Lyall are multi-generational farmers. "We rely heavily on groundwater to operate our farms," Lyall said.

"Ag is huge in our unincorporated area. Supporting the farmers is very important," said Supervisor Jim Desmond, who is one of two county supervisors on the LAFCO board.

Murray has been a farmer for 47 years. "Farming is actually more challenging than government most days," he said. "We definitely need more help to do the best we can."

The water districts hope that compliance with LAFCO law won't be at the expense of services the RCDs provide. "We fear that if they're centralized to within their service area it may become uneconomical for them to persist," Kennedy said.

"We don't want to see services removed in our service area," Arant said.

"Different RCDs have different areas of expertise. We don't want to wall off that expertise," Desmond said.

The review period will allow RCDs to be brought into compliance. "The commission is going to be working with all of the agencies," said County Supervisor Dianne Jacob. "LAFCO's job is to make sure that everybody is complying with the law."

"They're all speaking collaboratively," Desmond said. "It really seems like everybody wants to work together on this."

The greatest debate during the Dec. 7 hearing was whether to return the item to the LAFCO board for the Feb. 1 meeting or to delay potential action until March 1. Simonds noted that the Feb. 1 date does not preclude deferring the approval of the MSR. "If we bring it back in February the commission could pause and say we want more time," he said.

"The greatest concern for us is just continuing our service to the public," Murray said. "The importance of these resources is way beyond the LAFCO act."

"There are potential issues here that are going to go even deeper," said LAFCO public member Andy Vanderlaan.

"We're looking forward to participating and contributing during the public review comment period," Butz said.

The draft MSR itself was not met with objections. "The MSR I think is really well done," Bebee said.

"I'm very impressed with the detail," Lyall said. "It's been very informative for me."

LAFCO staff will incorporate the input of the RCDs and other agencies as well as any members of the public who comment. "I'm confident that staff will continue to do the great work," Vanderlaan said.

"I look forward to working with LAFCO staff and LAFCO in the future," Lyall said. "I believe this will lead to greater effectiveness from the RCDs in San Diego County."

"I think this is a wonderful and exciting time for the future of resource conservation in San Diego County," Murray said. "We know that it will come out to be something wonderful for the public."