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SWEETWATER AUTHORITY Strategic Plan 2012

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SWEETWATER AUTHORITY Strategic Plan 2012 Sweetwater Authority STRATEGIC PLAN Reverse osmosis trains at the Richard A. Reynolds Groundwater Desalination Facility SWEETWATER AUTHORITY strategic plan 2012 Governing Board Ron Morrison, Chair Margaret Cook Welsh, Vice Chair W.D. “Bud” Pocklington Jose Preciado Maria Rubalcaba Teresa “Terry” Thomas Jess Van Deventer Management James L. Smyth, General Manager Jennifer H. Sabine, Assistant General Manager Department Heads Scott McClelland, Director of Water Quality Ron Mosher, Director of Engineering Bill Olson, Director of Distribution George Silva, Director of Information Systems Rich Stevenson, Director of Finance Dina Yorba, Director of Administrative Services PREPARED BY Moore Iacofano Goltsman, Inc. “Among the Stones” Photo by Frances Aquino Hilltop High School Second Place Winner 2012 High School Photo Contest SWEETWATER AUTHORITY STRATEGIC PLAN 2012 table of contents I INTRODUCTION 1 II STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS 9 III STRATEGIC ISSUES 11 IV STRATEGIC PLAN FRAMEWORK 15 V GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 21 GOAL #1 Water Quality 22 GOAL #2 System Reliability 25 GOAL #3 Financial Viability 28 GOAL #4 Customer Service 30 GOAL #5 Staff Development 31 GOAL #6 Administrative Effectiveness 33 VI PLAN IMPLEMENTATION, MONITORING AND REPORTING 37 APPENDICES AVAILABLE UNDER SEPARATE COVER THE SWEETWATER RIVER DELIVERS WATER VIA THE 230-SQUARE MILE WATERSHED STRETCHING FROM THE CLEVELAND NATIONAL FOREST IN THE EAST TO THE SAN DIEGO BAY. Release of water from Loveland into Sweetwater Reservoir I. introduction OVERVIEW OF SWEETWATER history. In May 1869, the Kimball Brothers AUTHORITY Water Company began service to 35 local Sweetwater Authority (Authority) provides residents with water drawn from wells and the safe, reliable water service to approximately Sweetwater River, followed by construction 184,000 people across a 32-square mile area of the Sweetwater Dam and Reservoir in in the South Bay region of San Diego County, 1888. Signifi cant population growth and California. The Authority’s customers are urban development over the decades led to located in the unincorporated community expansion of the system. Yet, as a privately- of Bonita, the City of National City, and held entity, infrastructure maintenance and the western portions of the City of Chula replacement favored maximizing profi ts rather Vista. This includes residential, business, than supporting the long-term integrity of the government, industrial and agricultural water system. users, in an area covering more than 20,480 acres. Formed as a public agency in 1972, the Authority operated as a fi nancing vehicle to The Authority is a special district, joint powers water agency, with policies and procedures established by a seven-member Governing Board of Directors. Five directors are elected by the citizens of the South Bay Irrigation District (SBID) and two directors are appointed by the Mayor of National City, subject to City Council confi rmation. A Brief History The elements of the Authority’s water sources The Authority’s service area includes the community of Bonita, and delivery system are rooted in a long the City of National City, and portions of the City of Chula Vista. SWEETWATER AUTHORITY STRATEGIC PLAN 2012 | 1 I. introduction Construction of Sweetwater Dam occured from 1886-1888. enable public acquisition of the water system water pressure, and developed new and from the California American Water Company. unique local water supplies and supporting In 1977, the Authority began operating the facilities. The Authority and its customers water utility with 56 employees and a new reap the benefi ts of local supply, with local focus on maintaining and strengthening water sources contributing 24 to 100 percent the integrity of the water treatment and of the Authority’s annual water demands. distribution system, including hundreds of Local surface water supply is highly variable miles of original (1888) pipe. At that time, a depending on the amount of runoff from public vote approved authorization of bonds, precipitation. Today, with a contingent of 135 the SBID purchased the system, and the employees, the Authority is empowered to Authority began operating the water utility acquire, own, operate, manage, maintain and with a commitment to retire the SBID debt improve its pioneering water system. and assume ownership. In 1990, the Authority Service Area Profi le fi nanced and assumed ownership of the SBID The Authority’s service area enjoys water system by issuing revenue bonds. mild temperatures year-round with a Since taking over operations in 1977, the characteristically semi-arid Mediterranean Authority reduced water main leaks from over climate along the coast. The majority of the 200 per year to less than 10 per year, improved service area is within two miles of the San 2 | SWEETWATER AUTHORITY STRATEGIC PLAN 2012 I. introduction Illustration of the 230-square mile Sweetwater River Watershed SWEETWATER AUTHORITY STRATEGIC PLAN 2012 | 3 I. introduction Diego Bay, including the City of National City newly developed. Overall, while this growth and the western and central portions of the will increase water demands, higher effi ciency City of Chula Vista. The Bonita area and the buildings and water-delivery elements Authority’s two reservoirs are located farther (e.g., low-fl ow fi xtures and landscaping) are inland, and experience slightly hotter summers projected to reduce per capita water usage, and colder winters. More than 80 percent of in an effort to minimize the impact of future the region’s rainfall occurs from December demands. through March, with an average annual rainfall Water Supply Sources of 11.3 inches at the Sweetwater Reservoir. The Authority’s diversity of water supply The Authority’s customer base of sources and proportion of local resources approximately 184,000 residents include provides it with a greater degree of local residential, business, government, industrial, control for an agency of its size in Southern and agricultural water users across urban, California. A range of sources contribute to suburban, and rural areas. While conservation the local supply of water. efforts in recent decades have reduced Sweetwater River water demand, the service area population The Sweetwater River delivers the majority of is projected to grow by 25 percent by 2035. the Authority’s water, when local supplies are Much of this growth is planned to occur in available, via the 230-square mile watershed redeveloped urban core areas of Chula Vista stretching from the Cleveland National Forest and National City, converting predominantly in the east to the San Diego Bay. commercial and retail uses to mixed-use and residential uses. Additionally, the vacant Sweetwater Reservoir Chula Vista Bayfront is planned to become Located in Spring Valley, Sweetwater Reservoir has a capacity of 28,079 acre feet. At the time of its completion in 1888, Sweetwater Dam was the country’s largest masonry arch dam. In recent decades, frequent safety inspections and modern upgrades have strengthened the dam’s integrity and lifespan well into the near future, contributing to its designation as a historical monument in 2006 by the American Society of Civil Engineers. While the reservoir Loveland Reservoir and Dam area offers riding and hiking trails, and 4 | SWEETWATER AUTHORITY STRATEGIC PLAN 2012 I. introduction Robert A. Perdue Treatment Plant at the Sweetwater Reservoir shoreline fi shing to the public, critical animal is the National City Wells consisting of and plant species are also preserved through a three wells that have produced an annual habitat management program. average of 1,810 acre-feet since 1954. The second location is the Richard A. Reynolds Loveland Reservoir Groundwater Desalination Facility (Reynolds Loveland Reservoir, near Alpine, has a capacity Facility) consisting of six wells that have of 25,400 acre feet. Its dam, completed in produced an annual average of nearly 2,900 1945, is 203 feet high and 765 feet wide. acre-feet since 1999, with the most recent Loveland Reservoir serves as a holding area for fi scal year production being nearly 3,500 water which is released into the Sweetwater acre-feet. The Authority can pump and treat a Reservoir. Additionally, public fi shing access combined total of nearly six million gallons of is provided at the reservoir through a unique drinking water per day from this groundwater partnership and land swap with the U.S. aquifer. Forest Service. Combined, the Authority’s two reservoirs (when full) can store 17 billion Imported Water gallons of water, enough to supply the Thirty-four percent of the Authority’s water has Authority’s customers for about 24 months. been purchased from the San Diego County Water Authority (CWA) via the Metropolitan Groundwater Water District of Southern California (MWD) Groundwater is pumped from the San for the 2011 fi scal year. Imported water is Diego Formation at two locations. One transported by massive aqueduct systems SWEETWATER AUTHORITY STRATEGIC PLAN 2012 | 5 I. introduction Sweetwater Dam from the Colorado River, 242 miles away, or Valley, the Robert A. Perdue Treatment Plant the State Water Project, which carries water (Perdue Plant) can process 30 million gallons about 700 miles from the Sierra-Nevada of water each day. The four-step cleaning Mountains through the Sacramento-San process purifi es water from the reservoir or Joaquin Bay Delta. The amount of imported from the untreated CWA aqueduct to meet water varies due to local rainfall, with higher state and federal requirements for potable than
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