Report Prepared by: Leah Brown, Water Conservation Specialist, Public Works - Water
Title
SUBJECT: First Amendment to Agreement with Carollo Engineers, Inc., for Urban Water Management Plan
REPORT IN BRIEF
Approves a contract amendment for professional services with Carollo Engineers to prepare an amendment to the Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) as required by the Department of Water Resources (DWR).
RECOMMENDATION
City Council - Adopt a motion approving the First Amendment to Professional Services with Carollo Engineers, Inc., in the amount of $3,500 to prepare an amendment to the 2015 Urban Water Management Plan; and, authorizing the City Manager or Assistant City Manager to sign the necessary documents.
Body
ALTERNATIVES
1. Approve the agreement, as recommended by staff; or,
2. Deny; or,
3. Refer to staff for reconsideration of specific items.
AUTHORITY
Charter of the City of Merced, Section 200, et seq.
Services with an estimated value greater than $30,000.00 are made by written contract in accordance with Merced Municipal Code, Title 3 - Revenue and Finance, Chapter 3.04.
CITY COUNCIL PRIORITIES
As provided for in the 2017-18 Adopted Budget.
DISCUSSION
At the City Council meeting of October 3, 2016, Carollo Engineers, Inc. was authorized to prepare the 2015 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) for $40,500. In addition to being a State requirement for grant funding, the UWMP provides important long-term planning opportunities to optimize the water supply for growth, development, and redevelopment. A dependable water supply is imperative to the economic and social vitality of the City. A draft final report has been completed and sent to Merced County, Merced Irrigation District, Merced County Association of Governments and the County Library.
A Public Hearing was held on May 15, 2017, to consider the plan. It was approved by Council with some minor modifications and clarifications. The plan and errata sheet of modifications was submitted to the Department of Water Resources (DWR). In their review, DWR requested that minor revisions be made and that certain elements be included in advance of full implementation in accordance with the California Water Code (CWC), specifically:
“The Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP)
The WSCP and the City Ordinance do not include adequate prohibitions to address a 50% reduction in water use nor do they present a staged response to increasing levels of water shortage.
Additionally, there are minor corrections which should be addressed in the amendment for the item noted above.
Population
SBX7-7 table 2, in Appendix C of the UWMP and within DWR’s database, the method selected should be Method 4 “Other” , rather than “Method 1 DOF” to reflect that the service area population is a combination of DOF data and UC Merced population.
The language on page 6-9 should be modified to reflect that UC Merced is a separate part of the distribution system, rather than not being a part of the distribution system. Please modify this language to improve clarity.
Wastewater and Recycled Water Reporting
Treated wastewater is either recycled or discharged, not both. Yet DWR Table 6-3 (UWMP Table 6.6) reports wastewater as both.
Water discharged to Hartley Slough should not be considered recycled water use, but should be reported as discharged water. See DWR Table 6-3 (UWMP Table 6.6), DWR Table 6-4. Numbers in UWMP Table 6.7/ WUEdata Table 6-4 and UWMP Table 6.6/WUEdata 6-3 should agree.
Agricultural Irrigation
There is a discrepancy in the volume reported for agricultural irrigation for 2015 - DWR Tables 6-4 and 6-5 report 5,323 AF, but UWMP Tables 6.7 and 6-8 report 2,670AF with an additional category of Agricultural Irrigation/Environmental (Hartley Slough) 2,653 AF.
Note that any changes made to the recycled water reporting in the tables mentioned above may also affect recycled water reporting in DWR Tables 4-3 and 6-8 (UWMP Tables 4.4 and 6.11).”
In conclusion, the DWR recommends the City amend the 2015 UWMP to include these modifications and to proactively prepare for future regulatory compliance. The recent ordinance changes to the Water Conservation Ordinance set the foundation for a staged response to increasing levels of water shortage. Carollo can use the updated ordinance to build a more robust Water Shortage Contingency Plan into the Urban Water Management Plan. DWR reviewed the proposed ordinance change and finds it sufficient to meet the requirements.
Carollo reviewed the needed adjustments and determined that it will take a couple more days of work to adjust the tables and create the amended UWMP. They are asking for a contract amendment totaling $3,500 for the changes.
Staff recommends approval of the contract amendment. The next step will be to set a public hearing and post notice for the review and approval of the UWMP amendment.
IMPACT ON CITY RESOURCES
Sufficient funds are available in the Water System-Enterprise Fund Professional -Services, 557-1106-532.17-00, to cover this amendment.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Advisory Letter from DWR
2. Amendment to Agreement with Carollo
3. Carollo’s Cost Proposal