DATE: May 9, 2023
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Steven E. White, Director
Department of Public Works and Planning
SUBJECT: First Amendment to Agreement No. 21-549 - Management Zone Agreement with the Kings Water Alliance for the addition of a second CV Salts ID for CSA 44D (Monte Verdi Estates) and the addition of the Elkhorn Correctional Facility to the Agreement
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve and authorize Chairman to execute the First Amendment to Agreement 21-549, Management Zone Agreement between the County of Fresno and the Kings Water Alliance which would add a second CV Salts ID to County Service Area 44, Zone D (Monte Verdi Estates) and allow the addition of decommissioned Elkhorn Correctional Facility (Elkhorn) into the Management Zone Agreement, effective upon execution with no change in term to June 30, 2023, with an option to extend the term by an additional term of two-years for a potential five-year term ending June 30, 2025.
REPORT
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. Approval of the recommended action would add a second CV Salts ID (CV Salts ID 3589) to the agreement for County Service Area No. 44D (CSA 44D) and the decommissioned Elkhorn Correctional Facility (Elkhorn) (CV Salts ID 1995) to enter the County of Fresno (County)’s, Management Zone Agreement (Agreement) with the Kings Water Alliance (KWA). Adding the additional two wastewater systems (CV Salts IDs 3589 and 1995) will ensure that CSA 44D and Elkhorn comply with the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board’s (RWQCB) Nitrate Control Program, which is the subject of the Agreement, and share the cost of the establishment and continued participation in the KWA Management Zone with other participants. This item pertains to locations in Districts 4 and 5.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
The Board could choose not to approve the amendment; however, doing so the Board determines not to allow CSA 44D to obtain a second CV Salts ID and not to allow Elkhorn to join the KWA Management Zone. If the Board determines not to approve the amendment, CSA 44D and Elkhorn would need to inform the RWQCB that they are choosing new and different individual permitting options (Pathway A), to comply with the Nitrate Control Program. Pathway A allows the RWQCB to set more stringent nitrate requirements to the systems’ permits, which will likely include significant upgrades, extensive monitoring, and a rigorous technical justification that wastewater will not result in any exceedances of the nitrate standard over a 20-year planning horizon.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. Elkhorn is funded through the Department of Internal Services (ISD). All costs associated with participation in the KWA Management Zone for Elkhorn are paid from the County General Fund through ISD. All costs associated with participation in the KWA Management Zone for CSA 44D are paid for by property owners within the respective CSA. Costs of the KWA Management Zone program will be shared with other participants based upon an equitable cost allocation mechanism that is developed and approved by the KWA Board of Directors. It is expected that participation in the KWA Management Zone will lead to an increase in the operation cost of the three systems. This agreement is for a potential five-year term (three-year initial base term and one two-year renewal period).
DISCUSSION:
In May 2018, RWQCB approved new Salt and Nitrate Control Programs. The Nitrate Control Program was developed to address widespread nitrate pollution in the Central Valley.
The Nitrate Control Program Notice to Comply requires that each system choose between two compliance pathways:
Pathway A: New individual permitting options. The RWQCB will set more stringent nitrate requirements in the systems Waste Discharge Requirements (WDR) to ensure that nitrate impacts will not cause a problem for drinking water users. It is expected that Pathway A will require significant upgrades, extensive monitoring, and a rigorous technical justification that wastewater will not result in any exceedances of the nitrate standard over a 20-year planning horizon.
Pathway B: Form or Join a Local Management Zone with other Permittees. A Management Zone is an association of permittees that work together to reduce nitrate loading and to provide replacement water to communities and individuals whose wells are impacted by nitrates. Pathway B is a new permitting approach that allows multiple permittees to form or join a Management Zone in order to comply with the Nitrate Control Program. Pathway B provides a collaborative, locally managed, cost-effective and flexible approach to program compliance.
As required by the State Nitrate Control Program, the KWA initiated the formation of the KWA Management Zone, which includes the Kings and Tulare Lake Subbasins, the northwestern portion of the Kaweah Subbasin and very small portions of the Madera, Delta-Mendota, Westside, Kern County, Tule and Pleasant Valley Subbasins (Exhibit A). The purpose of the Management Zone is to address the growing needs of this large region of California to solve the nitrate problem in groundwater.
In March 2021, the KWA Management Zone submitted its Preliminary Management Zone Proposal. The overarching goals of the Nitrate Control Program are: 1) to ensure safe drinking water supply; 2) to reduce nitrate loading so that ongoing discharges neither threaten to degrade high quality waters absent appropriate findings by the Central Valley Board nor cause or contribute to exceedances of nitrate water quality objectives; 3) to implement long-term, managed restoration of impaired water bodies.
Agreement 21-549, entered into by the County and KWA on December 14, 2021, allows the County of Fresno’s CSA 44D, County Service Area No. 47 (CSA 47) and the Juvenile Justice Campus (JJC) wastewater systems to participate in the KWA Management Zone to comply with Pathway B of the RWQCB Nitrate Control Program.
CV Salts IDs are identifiers assigned by the State for every wastewater system that participates in a nitrate program. CSA 44D has both a wastewater system and a water reclamation system. Adoption of the proposed amendment before your Board would allow the addition of a second CV Salts ID to CSA 44D since an additional wastewater system is located within that service area and is subject to the RWQCB Nitrate Control Program. The recommended amendment to this agreement also allows the addition of the Elkhorn wastewater system to the Management Zone Agreement to be in compliance with the RWQCB Nitrate Control Program.
With your Board’s approval of the recommended action, the Management Zone Agreement will allow both a second CV Salts ID for CSA 44D and allow the Elkhorn facility to participate in the KWA Management Zone to Comply with Pathway 2 of the RWQCB Nitrate Control Program Notice to Comply.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #76, December 14, 2021
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Exhibit A - Map of KWA Management Zone
Attachment D - Participant Contact Form for Elkhorn Correctional Facility
Attachment E - Participant Contact Form for CSA 44D - Second CV Salts ID
On file with Clerk - First Amendment to Management Zone Agreement
CAO ANALYST:
Salvador Espino