WATER RESOURCES & CONSERVATION COMMITTEE MEETING SUMMARY MINUTES Thursday, March 23, 2017 4:15 p.m.

ATTENDANCE ~ Directors: James Gunther (Chair), Paul Sethy . Staff: Robert Shaver, Steven Inn, Doug Chun, omas Niesar, Evan Buckland, Leonard Ash Public: Yulin Xu

DISCUSSION TOPICS

1. Water Supply Outlook: Evan Buckland, Water Supply Supervisor, provided an update on the current status of the District's three sources of supply. The District's State Water Project Table A allocation is currently at 60%, and significant uncertainty remains if the allocation will increase as a result of the ongoing work on the Spillway. The District currently has 25,200 acre-feet of water available from the State Water Project. The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has ceased providing Article 21 water to the contractors as a result of recent erosion at . The current storage level in is at 99% of capacity and the Sierra 8 Station Index is currently registering a total of 79 .2 inches for the current water year.

Regarding the District's local supplies, currently both Reservoir and Calaveras Reservoir are making flood releases, and the Lake remains closed for cleanup efforts as a result of recent park flooding. The District is anticipating a yield from Lake Del Valle of at least 7,000 acre-feet as a result of the wet weather this year. Both of the District's rubber dams are currently deflated due to high flows in ; it is anticipated that staff will be able to raise the dams and resume diversions to the recharge ponds in the coming days. The Below Hayward Fault Groundwater Basin is currently at an elevation of 18.5 feet, allowing room for additional recharge. The watershed has received 25.8 inches of rain to date which is the 13th wettest year on record.

The District is planning on returning to a contractual minimum purchase for San Francisco Public Utilities Commission supplies, which equates to 8,567 acre-feet. Staff responded to questions from Directors Gunther and Sethy regarding rainfall and the District's water supply.

2. Lake Del Valle Project Update: Thomas Niesar, Water Resources Planning Manager, presented an update on study elements of the Lake Del Valle Reservoir Water Supply Storage Expansion concept (see attached table). The flood management studies conducted by David Ford Engineers have been completed; however, a second round of edits to the final report is still underway. Zone 7 Water Agency and Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District staff were interested in additional review time in light of recent 2017 flooding incidents. Finally, State Climatologist and DWR Forecast Informed Reservoir Operation (PIRO) liaison, Dr. Michael Anderson, is also reviewing the draft final report.

1 The committee was also updated on a concurrent study element being conducted by Kjeldsen, Sinnock & Neudeck Engineers (KSN) to look at lowering the nominal operating level of the reservoir. This concept is an alternative to reallocating flood storage and raising the operating level, and instead would attempt to capture additional runoff and access emergency storage available below the conservation pool by modifying East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) facilities so that they can remain in service at lower levels. At present, EBPRD's recreational boating activities and water treatment plant cannot remain in service at levels below the bottom of the conservation pool. KSN found that at the current locations for these facilities, the lake cannot be drawn down any further due to the bathymetry of the lake. Therefore, a new intake and boating facility would be needed at a location with deeper water access, approximately 1 mile toward the dam. Preliminary findings suggest that approximately 10,000 to 12,000 acre-feet of additional drawdown could be gained with the new facilities, for an estimated cost of $10,500,000. Staff responded to questions from Directors Gunther and Sethy regarding the Lake Del Valle studies.

3. Water Storage Investment Program Grant Application: Leonard Ash, Water Resources Planning Engineer, presented an update on the California Water Commission's Proposition 1 Water Storage Investment Program (WSIP) grant application process. The State of California Office of Administrative Law approved the regulations on March 7. The WSIP application period opened on March 14 and closes on August 14. West Yost Associates is current! y providing grant management services to the District and staff requested West Yost Associates to evaluate the level of effort and cost to prepare a WSIP application for a Lake Del Valle Reservoir Water Supply Storage Expansion Project. The major elements of the work required for the District to submit an application by August 14 were discussed. The estimated cost for a WSIP grant application could be on the order of $1,000,000, including at least $800,000 for consultant services and studies and $200,000 for staff involvement. Staff will attend the WSIP workshop on March 30. At the April 11 Board meeting, staff will review the scope of work with the entire Board, and prepare a staff report to authorize a reserve appropriation and to authorize the General Manager to execute necessary agreements should the Board decide to proceed with a WSIP grant application. Staff responded to questions from Directors Gunther and Sethy regarding the California Water Commission and the grant application process. .

4. Public Comments: Directors Gunther and Sethy and staff responded to questions from Yulin Xu regarding water resources.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Topics discussed by the Committee were informational only, and no recommendations are being made. .

2 LDV Storage Expansion Concept Work Draft – for planning, coordination and discussion purposes

Background Alameda County Water District (ACWD), Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD), and Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District (Zone 7), collectively referred to as the South Bay Contractors (SBCs, or “agencies”) of the State Water Project (SWP), rely on water deliveries from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta via the (SBA) to serve over 2,500,000 residents in the San Francisco Bay Area. Lake Del Valle Reservoir is an off-stream storage facility for the SBA that provides regulatory storage for the SBA, flood control for Alameda Creek, and recreation. Recreation facilities including a boat ramp, campgrounds, and beaches, are all operated by East Bay Regional Park District. Lake Del Valle is also invaluable as a source of blending water when Delta water quality is impaired. The SBCs are situated downstream of the Delta but upstream of any major water storage facilities of the SWP, and are therefore uniquely vulnerable to delivery disruptions from the Delta. Lake Del Valle plays an important role in the augmentation of deliveries to the SBCs when disruptions due occur, however because of its limited storage, only short duration disruptions can be accommodated. On January 31, 2014, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced a 0% Table A allocation for the first time in its 54-year history. Although the allocation was subsequently raised to 5%, this water was only available after September 1, after the typically high summer demand season. Worse, the extreme dry conditions resulted in highly impaired water quality in the Delta, requiring supplies in Lake Del Valle to be used for water quality blending to meet regulatory water quality standards. All three agencies declared water shortage emergencies as a result of the disrupted Delta Deliveries.

The SBCs realize that increased storage in Lake Del Valle would reduce the extent of the water shortage emergency experienced due to the extreme dry conditions. Further, increased storage could be a valuable benefit to the 2.5 Million Bay Area residents that depend on the Delta in the event of a catastrophe such as an earthquake or flooding. Accordingly, the SBCs submitted a concept paper to the California Water Commission’s Water Storage Investment Program. The concept outlined a study to increase water supply storage through reoperation of the reservoir while complying with Lake Del Valle’s flood management requirements and minimizing impacts to existing recreational facilities, or to relocate and enhance recreation opportunities at the reservoir. The Stakeholders are currently undertaking the following studies to test the feasibility of the concept:

LDV Storage Expansion Concept Work Draft – for planning, coordination and discussion purposes

Element Description Conducted Estimated Status By Completion Date 1 Flood Critical First Test. David Ford April 30 Draft final under Management Evaluate whether or not Engineers review. Flood Study flood protection and control and DWR public safety currently request (This Study) provided by the Dam can additional review be maintained if water time supply storage were to be increased 2 Valuation Assess value of all VFA, INC April 30 Delayed due to Studies recreational facilities. flooding. Field Used for cost work April 17 assumptions if reoperation were to result in need to relocate and expand recreation facilities 3 Conceptual Preliminary engineering KSN April 15 First Draft Engineer design study to modify or Engineers available to relocate recreation accommodate facilities to become lowering lake unavailable when Lake levels levels are drawn down below current minimums. (Boating facilities and Water Treatment Plant intake)

4 Yield analysis Integrated operational ACWD and April 15 ACWD analysis modeling to see if Arroyo Zone 7 conducted, Valle water supply yield Staff coordination with can be increased under Zone 7 required existing water rights permits held by Zone 7 and ACWD 5 Water Quality SBA model for blending ACWD, April 15 ACWD to Blending in dry years to assess SCVWD, conduct analysis. Analysis benefit of extending and Zone 7 Initial scoping limited Delta Supply Staff meeting has through blending. occurred Prepare ACWD, May 15 Summary SCVWD, Memo and and Zone 7 Develop Staff Concepts