09-05-2014 BPU RPT 08 - Laserfiche WebLink

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W A T E R E N E R G Y k 1 r E RIVERSIDE PUBLIC UTILITIES Board Memorandum PUBLIC UTILITIES BOARD OF PUBLIC UTILITIES DATE: September 5, 2014 ITEM NO: 8 SUBJECT: SANTA ANA RIVER HABITAT CONSERVATION PLAN ISSUE: The item for Board of Public Utilities consideration is to recommend that the City Council approve the expenditure in amounts collectively not to exceed $325,000 to San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, Western Municipal Water District and San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District to fund Riverside Public Utilities' (RPU) participation in the development of the Santa Ana River Habitat Conservation Plan. RECOMMENDATION: That the Board of Public Utilities recommend that the City Council approve the expenditures in an amount collectively not to exceed $325,000 to San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District; Western Municipal Water District and San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District to reimburse for direct and indirect costs associated with Riverside Public Utilities' participation in the development of the Santa Ana River Habitat Conservation Plan. BACKGROUND: A Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) is a planning document that ensures that the anticipated take of a listed species by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services will be minimized or mitigated by conserving the habitat upon which the species depend, thereby contributing to the recovery of the species as a whole. Developing a HCP is one approach to gain regulatory approval for construction and /or maintenance activities that will require an Incidental Take Permit, a permit issued under the United States Endangered Species Act (ESA) to non - federal agencies undertaking projects that might result in the destruction of an endangered or threatened species or its habitat. San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District (Valley District) staff has been evaluating the benefits of a HCP for water projects along the Santa Ana River and its tributaries over the past two years. Based on numerous endangered and threatened species issues associated with water supply projects in the upper Santa Ana River watershed, including those at Seven Oaks Dam, a collaboratively developed HCP is being recommended by staffs from Valley District, Western Municipal Water District (WMWD), and the large water purveyors in our region with projects that need endangered and threatened species permit coverage. To date, Valley District, with support from RPU and seven other agencies, had a scoping study prepared to help define the breadth of the proposed plan, including a list of covered activities and covered species. Through the scoping effort, RPU identified 12 projects and /or maintenance activities that could be covered by the HCP, which in return would provide environmental coverage for the proposed activities. RPU's potential covered activities or projects include: the Riverside North Aquifer Storage and Recovery Project, Enhanced Recharge Project (or Seven Oaks Dam Phase 2), Active Recharge Project, operations and maintenance for several RPU transmission mains that cross the Santa Ana River, Riverside and Gage Canal maintenance, and several potential new water supply projects identified in the draft Integrated Water Management Plan, such as stormwater capture, recycled water reuse, and new well projects.