Agenda Item #10

Consider report on collaborative planning in San Francisco-to-Stockton Ship Channel.

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT 30 Muir Road Martinez, CA 94553 Telephone: (925) 674-7824

TO: Transportation, Water and Infrastructure Committee (Supervisor Federal Glover, Chair; Supervisor Mary N. Piepho, Vice Chair)

FROM: John Greitzer, Water Agency staff

DATE: June 27, 2012

SUBJECT: Report on ship channel navigation issues

RECOMMENDATIONS: 1) Consider the attached report;

2) move the report to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation to authorize staff to proceed with the next steps outlined in the report.

ATTACHMENTS: Report from the County’s ship channel consultant on the status of County efforts on ship channel/navigation issues.

DISCUSSION The Board of Supervisors in October 2011 authorized staff to conduct a series of stakeholder discussions on potential opportunities for collaborative efforts on navigation issues. The effort particularly looked at the potential for broadening the County’s joint powers agreement (JPA) with the of Stockton and for creating a successor to the assessment district that was in effect on shoreline industrial properties from 1999 to 2004.

Staff and our navigation consultant, Lawrence G. Mallon, have completed several rounds of interviews with local ; cities and counties with navigation interests; regional, state and federal regulatory agencies; and advocacy organizations involved in navigation issues. Those interviews, along with research and analysis by staff and Mr. Mallon, culminated in the attached status report on our navigation efforts. The report specifically recommends the County proceed to expand its current JPA, and conduct further discussions with local shoreline industries on the potential for a new assessment district or other financing mechanism in which industry, as beneficiaries of navigation improvements along the shipping channel, would pay a fair-share assessment to help finance such improvements.

Staff asks the Committee to consider this report and pass it along to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation to authorize staff to proceed with the next steps outlined in chapter 7 of the report.

10-1

Report to the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors via the Transportation, Water and Infrastructure Committee

on

San Francisco-to-Stockton Ship Channel Navigation Issues

Prepared by Lawrence G. Mallon for the Contra Costa County Department of Conservation and Development (Water Agency)

June 2012

1 10-2 Executive Summary

Contra Costa County staff and consultant conducted 20 interviews with stakeholders in the navigation community including private sector, local, regional and state officials to determine existing and future navigation needs and gaps in current coverage. Here are our key findings based on these interviews and our research and analysis.

• A common need was expressed for identifying sites to dispose of dredged material, for beneficial reuse of the material for purposes such as restoring levees or habitat. Some disposal sites are nearing their capacity, and environmental policies are limiting future use of in-Bay or ocean sites for disposal, putting even more emphasis on the need for upland disposal sites (meaning sites that are on land instead of under water).

• The Army Corps’ effort to develop a long-term management strategy for disposal of dredged material has stalled for years due to a lack of funding. The County’s annual congressional requests for federal funding for this effort have not been granted.

• No regional entity exists to coordinate these needs and work with the Army Corps of Engineers on a plan to deal with dredged material.

• No regional entity exists to work with the Army Corps of Engineers on their ship- channel deepening projects (the County is one of the local sponsors of these projects).

• The stakeholders, such as local jurisdictions and ports, indicated they are interested in a collaborative effort to deal with these issues, along with joint advocacy for funding for navigation improvements.

• The County’s existing joint powers agreement (JPA) with the could be broadened to include all the stakeholders and establish a regional collaborative entity to deal with these specific needs in the navigation community. Other institutional options could also be considered.

• Several stakeholders encouraged joint regional advocacy for federal funding for ship channel improvements, rather than each entity lobbying on its own.

• An initial discussion was held with the Western States Petroleum Association on a potential new assessment district that would levy annual assessments on shipping- dependent industries to help finance creation of disposal sites for dredged material. As beneficiaries of the dredging, these businesses would pay a “fair share” assessment. However, no commitment has been made. Further discussions will be sought by the County in the months ahead on this issue.

• Available revenues from a now-expired assessment district could help defray costs of dealing with dredged material disposal issues which are outlined in this report.

2 10-3 I Purpose of this report

The purpose of this report is to summarize the recent review by County staff and consultant of existing institutional arrangements that deal with navigation issues along the San Francisco-to-Stockton Ship Channels, and particularly the issue of where to dispose of dredged material.

The San Francisco-to-Stockton Ship Channels consist

of two adjacent channels: The San Francisco or “John

F. Baldwin” Ship Channel which extends from the

Golden Gate, through the Carquinez Straits, to

approximately the Pittsburg/Antioch border; and the

Stockton Ship Channel, from Pittsburg/Antioch to the

Port of Stockton (see Map 1).

The report specifically looks at:

(1) the 1999 Joint Powers Authority formed by the County and the Port of Stockton to deal with planning for the deepening of the San Francisco to Stockton Ship Channels. The JPA was formed for the purpose of providing Local Sponsorship for project planning purposes, including supporting operation and maintenance of the critical and New York channel segments; and

(2) necessary re-programming of existing planning funds and the potential need for the establishment of a successor to an assessment district that was administered by the County from 1999 to 2004 for shoreline industrial property owners roughly from Martinez to Antioch (along the portions of the channel known as Suisun Bay Channel and New York Slough).. The annual assessments were levied to help finance the creation of a new site for disposal of dredged material.

II Background and synopsis (How we got here)

2.1 San Francisco-to-Stockton Ship Channels Federal Navigation Project, Local Cooperation Agreement, and the Joint Powers Authority (JPA)

2.1.1 The modern designation of the San Francisco Bay to Stockton (John F Baldwin and Stockton Ship Channels Project) (the unified “Project”) owes its Congressional authorization to local initiative including support from then US Representative John Finley Baldwin Jr of Martinez (the project’s namesake) for its inclusion in the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1965.

The Project and its natural and manmade navigable tributaries throughout the San Francisco Bay region represent a post gold rush marine gateway to the State Capitol of Sacramento and the New Deal era public works agricultural link to the Central

3 10-4 10-5 Valley. The Project is no less iconic to the State than the Golden Gate or the Bay Bridge as a ongoing manmade engineering achievement.

The Project and other interdependent navigation projects authorized by Congress at various times constitute a single regional navigation system linking the Central Valley, Delta and San Francisco Bay to the global economy in which 95% of the world’s goods by volume still travel by waterborne transportation

The Project includes two principal segments: (1) the San Francisco Bay (John F Baldwin) ship channel with an authorized depth of 45 feet, and (2) the Stockton Deepwater Ship Channel (from Avon to the Port of Stockton) with an authorized depth of 35 feet.

“Authorized depth” is the maximum depth that a shipping channel is permitted to be, per an act of Congress that specifies it. The authorized depth in a Congressional act is based on recommendations from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Some shipping channels have not yet been deepened to their authorized depth, including portions of the San Francisco-to-Stockton Shipping Channels.

The San Francisco Bay has been improved in consecutive phases from:

(1) the 55-foot authorized depth of the San Francisco Bar and Main Deepwater Ship Channel and a width of 2000 foot across San Francisco Bay authorized in 1950 and completed in 1958; (2) Phase I 45-foot John F Baldwin segment and Richmond Harbor Long Wharf Maneuvering Area and Southampton Shoal Channel completed to the authorized depth in 1974; (3) Phase II Central Richmond Harbor West (Southampton Channel Shoal) approach authorized depth of 45-feet completed to 35 feet in depth in 1984-85; and (4) Phase III John F Baldwin 45-feet General Reevaluation Review (GRR) initiated in 1997 to include deepening of Pinole Shoal Channel (San Pablo Bay), Carquinez Strait, Suisun Bay to Point Edith and Avon Turning Basin for larger tankers at five regional refineries (four located in Contra Costa and one in Solano County).

The Suisun Bay Channel (from Martinez to ) lies between Contra Costa County and Solano County with an authorized depth of 45 feet is 300 feet wide and maintained at 35 feet in depth from Carquinez Strait at Martinez to Pittsburg. The New York Slough Channel from Pittsburg to Antioch is 300 feet wide and likewise maintained at 35 feet in depth.

4 10-6 U.S . A RMY

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Fairfield E RS PROJECT AREA

R SUISUN BAY CHANNEL - E WEST OF CHIPPS ISLAND SUISUN BAY CHANNEL - EAST OF CHIPPS ISLAND IV R PINOLE SHOAL CURRENT DEPTH -35 FT CHANNEL AUTHORIZED DEPTH -45 FT COMPLETED TO AUTHORIZED O T Vallejo DEPTH OF 35 FT VICINITY MAP CURRENT DEPTH -35 FT N Y E R AUTHORIZED DEPTH -45 FT A IVE B M R Y A UIN ZL S R Q LEGEND B IZ A C UA ABLO AY R SUISUN J P G BAY N AN A S S WEST RICHMOND CHANNEL Antioch CURRENT DEPTH -35 FT Concord AUTHORIZED DEPTH -45 FT Stockton

RICHMOND LONG WHARF STOCKTON DEEP Richmond MANEUVERING AREA AND WATER SHIP CHANNEL SOUTHAMPTON SHOAL CHANNEL GRR/EIS IN PROGRESS TO DETERMINE COMPLETED TO AUTHORIZED Walnut Creek COMPLETED TO AUTHORIZED THE FEASIBILITY OF DEEPENING DEPTH OF -45 FT. DEPTH OF -35 FT. THESE CHANNELS. SAN FRANCISCO BAR CHANNEL Berkeley NAVIGATION ROUTE COMPLETED TO AUTHORIZED OUTSIDE OF GRR/EIS STUDY AREA DEPTH OF -55 FT. P A NAVIGATION ROUTE C Oakland WITHIN GRR/EIS STUDY AREA. IF IC SAN FRANCISCO BAY TO STOCKTON San Francisco

O NAVIGATION S C Alameda A E CALIFORNIA N A

N F R WORK COMPLETED AND PROPOSED A San Leandro Daly City N Livermore C SAN FRANCISCO DISTRICT IS C O SOUTH PACIFIC DIVISION B AY 1 JANUARY 2010 10-7 2.1.2 Description of the Stockton and Sacramento Deepwater Ship Channels

In the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1930 Congress authorized construction of the Stockton Deep Water Ship Channel through the and Delta islands to the Port of Stockton to 30 feet in depth which was completed in 1933.

Under the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1965 the Army Corps of Engeineers dredged Stockton Ship Channel to 35 feet, as part of the larger San Francisco to Stockton Ship channel project. The Stockton Ship Channel deepening was completed in 1985.

In 1963 Congress had authorized construction of the manmade Sacramento Deepwater Ship Channel paralleling the as a separate but interdependent project branching off from the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers upstream to the Port of West Sacramento to 30 feet in depth. In 1986 Congress authorized a new project depth of 35 feet comparable to the Stockton channel. The Sacramento deepening project has now restarted with State Proposition 1 B bond proceeds.

Indicative of the interdependency of these projects, both ports as Local sponsors already coordinate annual periodic maintenance dredging by sharing mobilization and demobilization costs but each must still independently locate adequate suitable “upland disposal” capacity for dredged material both from channel deepening work (adding as much as 30 million cubic yards of additional material to the region) and ongoing operation and maintenance to the regional sediment budget.

“Upland disposal” means the disposal of dredged

material at a site that is on land, as opposed to dumping

the material in the ocean or in the Bay or other

waterways. “Operation and maintenance” or

“maintenance dredging” means periodic dredging to

maintain proper depths.

2.1.3 Proposition California Transportation Commission Proposition 1B trade corridors financing support

Both the Stockton and Sacramento Deepwater Ship Channel deepening projects are being conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers’ San Francisco District, by agreement with the Corps of Engineers’ Sacramento District which conducts periodic maintenance of both channels and dredged material disposal.

Both projects expect to benefit from $17.5 million in State matching funds administered through the California Transportation Commission (CTC) from the proceeds of bonds issued by the State under the voter enacted Proposition 1B Trade Corridor program.

Those funds remain available if each port can initiate construction (meaning begin the deepening work) prior to December 2013. The Sacramento channel deepening project has

5 10-8 already met this requirement. The Port of Stockton recently downscoped its project scope and should satisfy the December 2013 deadline if its environmental impact report/statement (EIR/EIS) is approved and certified in early 2013.

2.2 Role of Local Cooperation Agreement as requirement for construction and maintenance of San Francisco Bay (John F Baldwin) and Stockton Ship Channels Project

Both the Joint Powers Authority (which still exists) and the Maintenance Assessment District (which expired in 2004) trace their origin to the County and Port of Stockton’s roles as joint Local Sponsors of the deepening project. Both are required by agreement as a condition of construction and continued Federal maintenance of the channel at its authorized depth, and ongoing planning of potential channel improvements to deepen project segments to authorized depths or beyond under certain conditions.

In addition to the JPA and the now-defunct assessment district, the County is a party to a Local Cooperation Agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Port of Stockton, assigning the County and the Port their roles as local sponsors of the ship channel deepening project.

Joint execution of the original Local Cooperation Agreement was the pre-requisite for construction of the Project (and other related projects under separate acts of Congress) in usable increments by the Army Corps of Engineers San Francisco District as authorized by Congress in the River and Harbor Act of 1965.

Without n Local Cooperative Agreement to designate local sponsors, the Army Corpshas no legal authority to construct necessary improvements or maintain the Federal channels and expend Federal appropriations, differentiating navigation from other water resources programs (water supply, flood control, reclamation etc) and underscoring the regional and national importance of maintaining Federal channels as avenues of commerce.

2.2.1 Elements of Local Cooperation

The Local Cooperation Agreemeent obligates the Local Sponsors to provide certain elements of local cooperation. These elements include: “riparian elements of lands, easements and rights of way over State tidelands and submerged lands, later expanded to encompass required relocations of utility crossings under State law, maintenance of berths and access channels to authorized channel depths, and upland disposal sites for dredged material disposal (emphasis added).”

In the County’s Local Cooperation Agreement for the Suisun Bay and New York Slough segments of the channel, the required elements of local cooperation (for the County and the Port of Stockton) relating to operation and maintenance are to:

(1) provide suitable areas determined by the Army Corps of Engineers’ Chief of Engineers to be required in the general public interest for disposal of dredged material

6 10-9 ("upland disposal sites"), including , among other things, all necessary dredged material retention dikes, bulkheads, and embankments, or the cost of such retaining works;

(2) hold and save the Government free from damages to wharves, bridge piers, and other marine and submarine structures, and agricultural lands due to initial dredging work and subsequent maintenance dredging, and due to deposition of dredged material, except damages due to the fault or negligence of the Government or its contractors (note that the County does not own or operate any wharves or bridge piers in the shipping channel); and

(3) provide and maintain without cost to the Government all necessary berthing areas, at depths commensurate with project depths, at all terminals and wharves to be served by the deepened channels (local service facilities),

2.2.2 Impetus for establishment of JPA and Maintenance Assessment District

The County’s action in establishing the JPA with the Port of Stockton, and the Maintenance Assessment District for shoreline industries, were necessary in order to satisfy the primary legal obligation of the County and Port, as joint non-Federal Project sponsors to provide adequate upland disposal site capacity to meet both current and anticipated future maintenance dredging requirements (including increased volumes of dredged material from deepening projects and increased post-project maintenance dredging volume requirements).

These obligations currently apply to a single project, or segment of the project. This report recommends that these functions may be better discharged from a regional planning perspective. There is a need to deal with sediment management in the context of a regional dredged material management plan involving multiple material placement sites under collaborative planning, engaging multiple stakeholders in the process, and unified management implemented by appropriate agreements at multiple levels of government.

2.3 San Francisco Bay Long Term Management Strategy and impetus for upland disposal element of regional sediment management strategy and Delta LTMS

A necessary and critical element of this report is an independent evaluation of changed regulatory conditions and trends affecting the disposal, and potential beneficial reuse of dredged material throughout the project and region.

Beginning in 1965 (the same year the ship channel deepening project was authorized) a first-of-its-kind San Francisco Bay regional dredged material management policy was initiated, due to the perceived need to limit unconfined aquatic disposal of dredged material in favor of upland disposal.

The Bay Area Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) was established by the 1965 McAteer-Petris Act, the nation’s first coastal management act. Before its

7 10-10 creation one third of the historic San Francisco Bay had been lost to landfill. Without it, it hasbeen estimated that 70% of the Bay would already be filled. It was also the first regional regulatory agency imposed upon a major metropolitan area by popular vote and legislative fiat, paving the way for the California Coastal Act in 1976.

The BCDC’s landmark San Francisco Bay Plan set the precedent for multiple use of the Bay and a balance between sustainable development and preservation while emphasizing the paramount need for maintaining valuable waterfront land for water dependent uses including navigation as a highest and best use.

BCDC was the catalyst for the 1990 Army Corps of Engineers’ Long Term Management Strategy (LTMS) for the placement of dredged material. The project area is the entire San Francisco Bay. The policy objectives were to (1) identify an acceptable array of dredged material disposal sites, (2) develop management, economic and environmental plans for these sites, (3) implement a decision making framework for site usage, streamline permit procedures, and (4) establish long-term site monitoring.

The LTMS in turn revised the BCDC’s Bay Plan to minimize manmade dredged material disposal to one million tons per year, augmenting natural deposit of eight million and 30 million tons of existing recirculated material already in the Bay.

Its most relevant output is the “40-40-20” plan limiting future deposit to no more than 40% open ocean disposal (at a site by the Farallone Islands), no more than 20% in-Bay aquatic disposal, and at least 20% upland disposal at approved upland sites. The LTMS brought to the national forefront the potential use of dredged material for wetland, levee, and habitat restoration, promoting the beneficial reuse of dredged material as a resource rather than a byproduct.

This milestone reflects a clear continuing need for the JPA and possibly a future Maintenance Assessment District or other financing mechanism, to meet the requirements of the LTMS 40-40-20 policy beyond 2012.

2.3.1 Restrictions upon open aquatic disposal of dredged material

Current unconfined open aquatic disposal in San Francisco Bay is limited under the Bay Long Term Management Strategy (LTMS) to four sites: Carquinez Strait, San Pablo Bay,Suisun Bay, and a site near Alcatraz. These sites are available for disposing of the material from maintenance dredging.

The LTMS plan entered into full force and effect in 2012 affecting the Pinole Shoal, Carquinez Strait, Suisun Bay, New York Slough, and downstream Stockton segments of the ship channel – and ultimately the Stockton and Sacramento Deepwater Ship Channel deepening projects.

8 10-11 2.3.2 Memorandum of Agreement for advancement of Local Sponsor funds for maintenance dredging costs of Suisun Bay Channel

The Bay Long-Term Management Strategy severely limits the annual volumes of future dredged material that can be discharged into the Bay and tributaries, in favor of beneficial reuse of the material for levee or wetland restoration.

An additional factor complicating future Army Corps project construction, operation and maintenance –and dredged material disposal site planning -- is the present Federal fiscal uncertainty when it comes to funding for the deepening projects and maintenance dredging.

2.3.3 Future dredged material disposal limitations

The scheduling of dredging events is governed by restrictions during salmon and Delta smelt spawning seasons. This affects the availability, scheduling and mobilization of dredging equipment . In addition to the required provision of upland disposal sites (requiring advance acquisition and preparation), additional operational costs are charged to the Local Sponsor regardless of the availability of the Suisun Bay disposal site but measured by the distance to that facility from the dredge site.

In more riverine sites, pumping distance with or without booster pumps or extensions for hydraulic or suction dredges is limited to one mile and additional costs are charged to the Local Sponsor.

Twenty years after creation of the BCDC, again at the instigation of the Bay Area congressional delegation, upland disposal site planning and execution would be recognized by Congress as the law of the land.

Henceforth Federal cost-sharing of upland disposal sites as independent projects in their own right for dredged material was formally enacted under Section 201 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1996( "WRDA 1996")

More recently, the Delta Long Term Management Strategy (Delta LTMS) emerged as a virtual clone of the Bay LTMS cooperative effort to coordinate, plan, and implement beneficial reuse of sediments in the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Delta. Five agencies (the Army Corps, Environmental Protection Agency, California Department of Water Resources, the now-defunct California Bay-Delta Authority, and Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board) were meeting to examine dredging, reuse and disposal needs in the Delta.

Funding limitations have hampered the formal stature of the project so it has been stalled for several years (the County’s annual requests for federal funding have not been granted

9 10-12 by Congress). However, upland disposal and beneficial reuse of dredged material remain a hallmark of this collective effort.

The goals of the Delta LTMS in whatever informal form it takes are to collectively manage dredging activities to support and maintain Delta channel functions for navigation, flood control, water conveyance, and terrestrial ecosystems, and protect and enhance water quality for Delta water supply and ecosystem functions.

2.3.4. Major upland disposal sites availability

Ten-plus years of operating under the County-and-Port of Stockton JPA, and the five- year Maintenance Assessment District, yielded several near –term and long-term options for disposal sites for dredged material. These are:

(1) Winter Island, privately owned and operated at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and Suisun Bay in Contra Costa County. It has five miles of perimeter levee restoration, has 200,000 cubic yards capacity per year by barges; silt and sand material is most desirable for levee restoration.

(2) Montezuma wetlands, privately owned and operated, located on Montezuma Slough in Solano County. It may accept both cover and non-cover material not normally acceptable for unconfined aquatic disposal barges.

(3) , a 2362-acre island on the western edge of the Delta within Suisun Marsh in Solano County. It is privately owned and operated, authorized to accept 6,000 to 8,000 cubic yard per year for levee restoration. There is a request in to accept 500,000 to one million cubic yards over a ten-year period

2.3.5 Opportunity to partner with the California Department of Water Resources in long-term regional sediment management plan for flood control and level restoration and beneficial reuse

Under the Water Resources Development Act, the JPA may enter into operating partnership with the California Department of Water Resources to develop Delta islands for level restoration using 65/35 Federal/Local cost sharing for disposal site operating costs and 100% local acquisition costs and fees for usage by multiple parties both public and private.

2.4 Background and need for recurring operation and maintenance projects and use of beneficial assessment district financing for construction and operation and maintenance

The Pinole Shoals, Suisun Bay, and New York Slough reaches of the John F Baldwin segment (as shown on Map 1) are maintained (dredged) by the Army Corps of Engineers at annual intervals or in response to reports received from the San Francisco Bar Pilots about shoaling conditions, meaning the buildup of sediment on the bottom of the channel.

10 10-13 The volume of material annually dredged depends upon the seasonal amount of upstream runoff from rain and weather patterns and cycles (e.g. El Nino), natural depth and flushing at Carquinez Straits, and local conditions such as suspected eddy conditions re- circulating material at Bulls Head Reach requiring emergency dredging from time to time to sustain safe navigation.

Currently annual maintenance of the Carquinez Strait occurs using an in-Bay aquatic site (subject to phase out). Pinole Shoals Channel in San Pablo Bay is dredged annually with disposal for maintenance purposes at the Suisun Bay disposal site for now. The Suisun Bay Channel maintenance dredging likewise occurs annually with open aquatic disposal at the Suisun Bay site with precedent for upland disposal in 1998 at Winter Island and more recently in 2008 at Sherman Island

Periodic (quadrennial) maintenance of the New York Slough Channel segment occurs with upland deposit of material on Sherman Island at one of its two disposal sites. New York Slough disposal was conducted at Winter Island in the year 2000 in partnership with Reclamation District 2122 as beneficial reuse for levee repairs (MAD precedent).

Minimum under-the-keel bottom clearance for vessels is required for safe ship handling in a constricted channel environment, typical of most reaches (segments) of the San Francisco to Stockton Ship Channels. No one wants a collision or grounding resulting in a large oil spill or similar high consequence event in the San Francisco Bay or Delta estuary system.

2.5 Establishment of the Suisun Bay/New York Slough Maintenance Assessment District.

The triggering event for the formation of the Suisun Bay/New York Slough Maintenance Assessment District (jointly by the County and Port of Stockton) was a request by the Army Corps for an upland disposal site to receive dredged material from an annual maintenance dredging event in the Suisun Bay Channel. The County administered the assessment district.

The event triggered an initial crisis and eventual joint powers agreement that has survived for a decade but now must meet new challenges amid an uncertain future. There is a continuing need to maintain safe navigation throughout the region while complying with applicable dredged material regulatory requirements at the Federal, State and local level.

The new challenge presents a generational opportunity to balance future needs for dredging with Delta needs for material for beneficial reuse such as levee restoration to avoid potential regional flooding and a statewide water supply disruption in the event of major levee failures. The impacts would be felt statewide both to sustainability and the world’s sixth largest economy.

11 10-14 2.5.1 Collective experience with beneficial reuse and multi-user dredged material management sites: Sonoma Baylands, Hamilton Air Force Base, Collinsville Montezuma Slough, Salt Ponds

Over the last decade the pace of dredged material management accelerated, while a new paradigm of potential beneficial reuse of dredged material emerged whose viability was proven in a series of Army Corps projects to restore wetlands. Following is a summary of experience to date with beneficial reuse of dredged material.

2.5.2 Sonoma Baylands Wetland Demonstration Project

Imposition of the Bay LTMS “40-40-20” rule spawned a series of beneficial reuse projects for dredged material under the direction of the Arm Corps of Engineers, beginning with the Sonoma Baylands Wetland Demonstration Project.

Starting in 1994 the project involved 348 (eventually reducd to 289) acres of formerly diked and drained farmland including seasonal wetlands in Southwestern Sonoma County near the mouth of the Petaluma River subject to subsidence on the order of five feet below sea level. When completed in 1996 the project represented the largest planned tidal wetlands restoration project in the . The California Coastal Conservancy is the Local Sponsor for the demonstration project. No additional dredged material will be deposited at the site.

A comprehensive interagency review completed in 2005 highlighted deficiencies in planning, design (continuing sill erosion), site monitoring, and slow development of a salt march biological community despite the selection of only two species for monitoring and management purposes.

2.5.3 Hamilton Army Airfield Wetland Restoration Project

The former Hamilton Army Airfield Wetland Restoration Project located 25 miles north of San Francisco in the City of Novato involved the military facility decommissioned under the 1988 Base Realignment and Closing (BRAC) by the Department of Defense. The project represents a partnership of the Army Corps of Engineers and the California Coastal Conservancy with assistance from BCDC. The design process reflects a level of maturity and resources far exceeding the aforementioned Sonoma Baylands project.

It was designed to restore approximately 829 acres of tidal and seasonal wetland of the former 1600 acre Hamilton Army Air Base adjacent to San Pablo Bay in Marin County that had been diked with levees and drained in the 1800’s and likewise subsided to a depth of eight feet. The site was evaluated for deposit of dredged material from the John F Baldwin Deepwater Ship Channel and Oakland Harbor 50-foot deepening projects.

The plan was to deposit dredged material to raise subsided elevations of diked former baylands, breaching the levee, and creating a system of tidal and seasonal wetlands of varying elevations. The Plan is ongoing, scheduled for completion in 2014 following

12 10-15 deposition of dredged material at the site under a site operations plan with levee breaching expected to occur in 2015. Dredged material from the Oakland Harbor is driving both the Hamilton Army Airfield and Montezuma Slough wetland restoration projects (the latter is discussed below).

2.5.4 Montezuma Wetlands Restoration Project (Collinsville Solano County)

The Montezuma Wetlands Restoration Project is a combined industrial-scale 2,400-acre wetland restoration project and sediment re-handling facility located in Collinsville, Solano County on the Sacramento River upstream of the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers.

The phased project combines a high velocity 5,000-cubic-yard hydraulic pumping capacity per hour with 24 miles of piping system to accept up to 17 million cubic yards of dredged material including de-watering of the material to raise subsided land to elevations suitable for restoration of tidal marsh. The first phases of the project are designed to receive dredged material from the .

These projects have proven the basic hypothesis and concept of beneficial reuse of dredged material for wetland habitat restoration.. They have evolved from small pilot projects to commercially sustainable industrial-scale projects with sufficient technology to match rates of hydraulic river suction dredging, dewatering and deposition across large wetland restoration projects.

2.5.5 South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project

The earlier wetland restoration projects have laid the foundation for the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, the largest tidal wetland restoration project on the West Coast. Dredged material from maintenance dredging of the is deposited directly into ponds in a form of salt marsh restoration. Three ponds comprising 630 acres have already had levees breached restoring tidal flow. Additional material will be needed for levee restoration as flood protection. The project is yielding invaluable data and insight into the synergistic effect of wetland habitat and levee restoration.

It is leading to an emerging recognition that there is an overall sediment budget for the San Francisco Bay and watershed notwithstanding 150 years of human intervention. The growing body of knowledge suggests that regional sediment management strategies adopt amore holistic methodology that takes into account a broader definition of beneficial reuse of dredged material.

These evolutionary steps in our overall understanding of regional sediment management bode well for large-scale navigation projects but not necessarily for periodic maintenance dredging.

The Port of Richmond, for example, with the imposition of federal restrictions on continued in-Bay disposal near Alcatraz, will in all likelihood have to utilize either deep-

13 10-16 ocean or upland disposal sites, which will be more expensive for them as these sites are farther from the Port of Richmond and thus will involve higher transportation costs. Associated Local Sponsor-required berth dredging by the Port of Richmond’s commercial tenants, or by the refineries, will also face this same fate when traditional Suisun Bay disposal sites reach capacity and are phased out.

2.5.6 Institutional planning gap and focus in shift to beneficial reuse of dredged material

In hindsight what is absent from this incremental approach to beneficial reuse is:

(1) A general public agency and public recognition that dredged material comprise mostly of sand and silt is resource and not a waste item;

(2) a broader recognized definition of beneficial reuse and a prime cause for linking both project construction and maintenance dredging to a regional sediment management strategy.

(3) a lead agency capable of developing such a comprehensive strategy from the dual perspective of maintaining continuity of commerce and navigation and the planning capability to promote regional sediment management. This will require the ability to synchronize beneficial reuse with demand in the form of recurring and one-time volumes of dredged material . This will lead to a long term multi- project collaborative regional Dredged Material Management Plan, with Army Corps of Engineers approval.

2.5.7. John F Baldwin Phase III Project Local Sponsorship

Contra Costa County, through the Water Agency, has acted since 1998 the Stockton Port District’s partner in local sponsorship of the ship channel deepening project.

This Phase III John F Baldwin project would deepen the John F Baldwin channel (affording the opportunity to deepen the Richmond Harbor and Santa Fe channels to their authorized 41-foot depth) through the Pinole Shoals and Suisun Bay Channels to Point Edith to a depth of 45 feet, incorporating o a ship turning basin at Avon, near Martinez at the entrance to New York Slough.

Other planning options –specifically, deepening the channel to less than its authorized depth in some places – are being evaluated as well.

The deepening project was on hold for the past several years due to a lack of funding for the Army Corps to work on the project. In February 2012 the Army Corps announced it had received $800,000 in funds to resume the planning and environmental analysis on the deepening project.The County is an active participant on the project team, along with Army Corps staff, staff fro the Port of Stockton, and the Western States Petroleum Association, whose member refineries will benefit from the deepening project.

14 10-17

Contra Costa County has also served as Project partner with the Stockton Port District under the JPA for a proposed Stockton Deepwater Ship channel deepening project to 40 feet.

2.5.8 The Avon Ship-Turning Basin Project

Prior studies by the Army Corps had concluded that the absence of a turning basin for ships in the vicinity of Avon, just east of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge, created a navigation safety hazard with the attendant risk of vessel collisions, oil spills and groundings. These incidents would potentially result in significant adverse environmental consequences

In October 2001 the County entered into an indemnity agreement with Valero Corporation for the Water Agency to serve as Local Sponsor for the proposed ship- turning basin project. Valero was the owner of a private terminal facility at which vessels using the Channel regularly called, and would derive significant economic benefit in terms of transportation cost savings and reduced risk of incident from the construction of the project.

The Water Agency indicated its willingness to serve as the Local Sponsor for the Project, and gave assurances to the Assistant Secretary of the Army of its ability, intention, and willingness to perform as Local Sponsor for Project design, construction, operation and maintenance of the Project, contingent upon Valero providing the Water Agency the proper assurances that it would indemnify the County in the performance of its obligations. In the final agreement, Ultramar was substituted as the successor owner of interest.

However, the ship-turning basin project never proceeded, as the refinery company withdrew its interest in the project. This meant that over $1 million in Army Corps funds could not be used for the project and were reprogrammed to other users. The turning basin remains an unfilled need in the Ship Channel.

III Approach methodology

The report methodology comprised three phases. This process involved:

(a) Conduct of historical baseline research and chronology of events, and compilation of reference materials as the foundation for stakeholder interviews concerning:

(1) the historical evolution of: regional navigation policy, investment, and oversight including the San Francisco Bay to Stockton Federal navigation project and related navigation projects; and

(2) the emergence of a comprehensive regulatory regime over dredged material disposal under the Bay Area Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) and the Army Corps’ Long Term Management Strategy

15 10-18 (LTMS) to be fully implemented in 2012 limiting open aquatic disposal of dredged material and now promoting beneficial reuse of dredged material;

(b) Documentation of the history surrounding formation of the San Francisco Bay to Stockton Joint Powers Authority (JPA) involving the County and the Port of Stockton, and the Maintenance Assessment District that existed from 1999 to 2004, and subsequent relevant experience and lessons learned over the ensuing decade of practice under those institutional arrangements; and

(c) Preliminary staff review and analysis of that history and relevant institutional experience augmented by extensive public and private stakeholder interviews of additional issues raised and additional insight and experience of practitioners as the basis for the development of a strategic plan summarized in this report

The specific purposes of fact-finding stakeholder interviews and listening sessions included:

(1) A review of current geographic structure, geographic scope, focus and composition of the San Francisco Bay to Stockton Joint Powers Authority (JPA) in order to report back to Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors by the end of June 2012, for the maintenance of the Suisun Bay and New York Slough reaches of the Project, and the subsequent Preconstruction Engineering and Design (PED) agreement entered into between the Army Corps and the County for the John F Baldwin segment of the Project

(2) A review of the original JPA structure, geographic scope, focus and composition to look at potentially adding new members beyond just the County and Port of Stockton, who are the current parties in the JPA. A broadened JPA could potentially serve as a regional planning forum,. mechanism and advocate for navigation and dredged material management issues associated with channel improvements and maintenance dredging

(3) A review of the need for long term collaborative planning for upland disposal site/capacity acquisition and potential common sites among multiple users, and emergency funding mechanisms to ensure continuity of channel maintenance and navigation amid fiscal uncertainty

(4) A review of the need for, and planning options for evaluating additional channel improvements for the John F Baldwin segment and related navigation safety (such as the proposed Avon Ship Turning Basin)

(5) A review of current maintenance and additional post-construction maintenance volumes, frequency, site capacity shortfalls, and adequacy of existing institutional arrangements (public and private) and planning to meet projected long term needs for regional navigation and commerce; and

16 10-19 (6) A review of the potential for Proposition 1B funding for other project segments by the California Transportation Commission, including the Stockton and Sacramento Deepwater Ship Channels

In all staff and consultant conducted 20 public-sector and private-sector stakeholder interviews and three dredged material disposal site visits in three consecutive rounds between November, 2011 and June 2012. A full list of interviewees and interview dates is included in the Appendix to this report.

The broad range and comprehensive array of representative interviews included:

(1) Governmental entities including Solano County, and Cities and Port authorities including Stockton Port District, City and Port of West Sacramento, and Port of Richmond; (2) Federal and State Executive agencies including the Army Corps San Francisco and Sacramento Districts, US Environmental Protection Agency Region IX , and California Department of Water Resources; (3) Subject matter experts including: San Francisco Bar Pilots; Bay Planning Coalition (BPC), California Marine Affairs and Navigation Council (CMANC) (4) Consultants on flood control and levee restoration (5) Owners of disposal sites for dredged material; and (6) The Western States Petroleum Association which represents the five major petroleum refineries in Contra Costa and Solano Counties

The results obtained from interviews and site visits taken as a whole yielded invaluable insight and clarity into the central issues surrounding:

(1) the origins and shifting focus in regulatory authority, and fiscal and operational issues surrounding the twin themes of meeting the requirements of safe commercial navigation and dredged material management over the last forty years in San Francisco Bay region (in other words how we got to this pivotal turning point in dredged material management policy);

(2) the potential value of a reconstituted JPA and possibly an assessment district, and widely perceived institutional gaps in the exercise of regional leadership in terms of a collective public authority to ensure the sustainability of the region’s investment in maritime infrastructure by:

(a) ensuring the timely maintenance of the navigation system as a whole; and (b) by advancing the recognition in the general public and regulatory community of dredged material as a valuable resource that can materially contribute to public safety and to regional flood control and statewide water supply system resiliency; and

(3) the appropriate direction to focus on near and long term regional dredged material management planning and execution, and opportunities presented by

17 10-20 large volumes of new material from new channel deepening projects as well as balancing and synchronizing the capacity and beneficial placement and use of that material for the maximum public benefit.

Successive rounds of interviews and site visits from such a broad cross-section of knowledgeable individuals speaking frankly from both a personal and institutional perspective yielded unanticipated benefits,further reinforcing the staff’s conclusions about a way to move forward.

In turn, the process afforded the opportunity for secondary vetting of preliminary findings with subject matter experts and stakeholders and follow up on stakeholder recommendations as the process progressed.

IV Planning and operational issues raised from investigations and stakeholder discussions

4.0 The investigations, interviews, site visits and independent analysis yielded several planning and operational issues to be addressed as part of the process of refocusing the JPA and potentially an assessment district in the years ahead.

The persistent theme and most significant advice given by stakeholders was to focus on planning and operational issues that transcend the capability of any one port or agency to address and require a broad regional perspective.For one reason or another, existing entities either have not recognized these issues or do not have the resources or authority to address them. The corollary is that in order to achieve early success, the JPA should focus on one or two issues – in this case interrelated issues - that are winnable in the near term while representing initial steps toward resolving long-term issues.

4.1 Issues identified by stakeholders

4.1.1 Need for coordinated local participation in channel deepening projects.

There is a need for coordinated Local Sponsorship of the San Francisco Bay to Stockton Federal navigation project involving both public and private stakeholders in the planning process for new construction and dredged material management

From the interviews with stakeholders it is apparent that the Stockton Port District, Army Corps of Engineers,, oil refineries and other stakeholders would clearly benefit from the collective input and representation of a collaborative entity such as a JPA for the entire length of the ship channels. This would include analysis of planning scenarios and options for constructing necessary channel improvements and management of additional dredged material from project construction and increased operations and maintenance dredging volumes.

Another key piece of advice provided to staff by several port authority representatives was to identify the gaps in planning and advocacy that are not currently being provided,

18 10-21 and to develop an effective collective strategy and steps required to fill those gaps. Unlike in 1999, no group of constituents has actively banded together to request the County’s active intervention in navigation matters.

This time the request is more subtle, beginning with recognition from Stockton Port District staff that they would welcome assistance in identifying and securing long-term adequate disposal capacity. The same informal message emanates from Army Corps staff and became more pronounced in consecutive meetings as staff invitations for discussions have increased. The need for regional collaboration was echoed and encouraged time and again in further meetings with past and current representatives of the Bay Planning Coalition, California Marine Affairs and Navigation Council, EPA, and California Department of Water Resources (DWR).

Currently no one public agency can speak from a truly regional perspective on the importance of navigation and commerce –and the paramount need to maintain and improve that priceless public asset reflecting substantial public investment - embodied in the deepening projects from San Francisco to Stockton and Sacramento. As a Water Agency with a broader perspective than merely navigation, the County’s voice through the JPA is an indispensable element in that equation.

Contra Costa County is located at the geographic apex of regional navigation and the ship channel deepening projects. From that perspective, we recommend the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisorsconsider at least a limited use of the full powers and prestige of the JPA to support the planning process that links prospective improvements to the two interdependent segments of the deepening project and to ensure that all new and future maintenance material is responsibly used for the optimal beneficial reuse across the entire region. The key potential uses for the dredged material are in flood control and water supply protection through strategic placement and stockpiling and eventual levee restoration.

With the County’s participation, the JPA can determine the commercial need for Baldwin Channel deepening (such as the optimal depth, potential for realignment, and the need for the Avon Turning Basin), and work with all parties to fashion a fair and equitable solution to planning and financing those improvements.

The JPA can also determine if the Avon Turning Basin is still needed in the interests of safe navigation and should be pursued in it own right as a separable element of the overall deepening project..

The non-profit Bay Planning Coalition for more than thirty years has proven an effective advocate for both navigation and beneficial reuse of dredged material but it is limited in its charter and geographic scope to San Francisco Bay. Its mission does not include promoting specific improvements to ensure adequate upland site capacity with the necessary financial tools to ensure their provision over time. As a non-profit, the Bay Planning Coalition cannot speak with the authority of a public agency in the halls of

19 10-22 regional or statewide government. Only a JPA with active representation from both special and general-purpose units of government can effectively fill this role.

The California Marine Affairs and Navigation Council (CMANC), another non-profit, for all of its yeoman work on behalf of the whole spectrum of California navigation projects cannot focus on one single project above others. A JPA, on the other hand, can focus on specific navigation projects of importance to its member agencies, for the collective benefit of all

4.1.2 Increasing importance of single project congressional authorization in regional planning focus and funding in an era of increasing budgetary and fiscal uncertainty

As continuing political uncertainty surrounds the Army Corps of Engineers’ dredging budget, the importance of the single project authorization and linkage to related projects such as deepenings at Richmond and Sacramento cannot be underestimated in effective proponency before State and Federal authorities.

With its inherent powers a regional navigation-oriented JPA may represent both the collective voice and the avenue of last resort to ensure that vital maintenance dredging of critical segments of the ship channel is conducted in a timely manner without disrupting the flow of commerce throughout the region.

4.1.3 Need for additional upland sites for the Ports of Richmond, Stockton, and Sacramento, Contra Costa refineries and cities, and planning and financing mechanisms for providing that capacity.

This issue has several dimensions. One is the tthe need to identify anticipated volumes of dredged material from maintaining existing authorized channel depths, additional volumes associated with future channel improvements (as much as 30 million cubic yards of material), and increased volumes of post-construction maintenance material in the future.

There is a manifest need for 10-to-20- year plan to match demand volume with disposal site capacity. The focus should beupon beneficial reuse of the dredged material (encompassing both one time construction and ongoing maintenance) and placement for levee restoration. One option is to create a new maintenance assessment district, broader in scope than the 1999-2004 assessment district, to finance additional transportation, placement, testing and reuse of dredged material for levee restoration

With the Montezuma Slough site currently permitted for17 million cubic yards of material, much of it coming from the Oakland Harbor, other upland disposal sites are needed.

There is, therefore, a recognized need for a regional strategy and funding mechanism for defining, conducting, and financing additional site capacity without having to wait for the

20 10-23 last minute, as happened in 1999 with the Sherman Island advance agreement entered into between the County and theArmy Corps of Engineers.

That said, another dimension is the need for just such a maintenance dredging contractual arrangement between a JPA (in lieu of the County) and the Army Corps including standby authority to advance the remaining funds from the assessment district (or a successor assessment district) to conduct emergency dredging such as with Bulls Head Reach in the Suisun Bay channel and to create or identify an upland site for that deposit.

Bulls Head Reach is an area near the mouth of Suisun

Bay (see Map 1) where sediment on the bottom

frequently builds up to a height that is unsafe for ships,

requiring emergency “knockdown” dredging to be

performed on short notice. This means the sediment is

knocked flat and left on the bottom of the ship channel,

rather than excavated and taken to a disposal site. The

Army Corps is looking at options for dealing with this

recurring problem.

The third dimension of this issue is the need for either one or more multi-user sites to serve the entire ship-channel deepening projectand future maintenance dredging material. This could be accomplished with the help of a collaborative entity such as aJPA .

Fortunately there is recent Federal statutory authority for multi-user dredged material disposal facility planning and execution. Such a multi-user facility is contemplated under of the Water Resources Development Act. It would most likely require further expansion of the scope of the current JPA.

4.1.4 Need for long term regional sediment strategy and Dredged Material Management Plan including beneficial reuse and safety stockpiling of new material

The Army Corps of Engineers’ Dredged Material Management Plan is a blueprint for where and how to dispose of dredged material from specific dredging and deepening projects. It is more specific than the Long Term Management Strategy, which is more of a policy document than a plan.

We have broken this issue out separately to underscore its long term importance and the concomitant need for a champion that can fashion a broader coalition beyond the navigation and environmental community of interest to include the California Department

21 10-24 of Water Resources, Army Corps of Engineers, perhaps the reclamation districts, and others in addressing this critical problem for which we have a potential solution.

There is clearly an emerging perspective from various stakeholders that there is a need for an agency like the JPA to provide the necessary planning leadership to assist the Army Corps of Engineers in the development of a regional management plan for dredged material. This work by a JPA would be performed in collaboration with the ports, state and federal agencies, and potentially the reclamation districts

This need emerges from our many discussions with stakeholders and is based jupon the collective experience of more than a decade of experience under the Bay Long Term Management Strategy and lessons learned with various wetland restoration demonstration projects. This need for regional sediment management of critical importance to the region and the State, as it offers material for use in levee emergency response.

There is a unique opportunity to solve multiple problems with a corresponding need for long-term material placement in a cost-effective manner. The JPA role would be principally in coordinated interagency planning and in orchestrating a strategic effort to synchronize multiple dredging episodes over time with strategic placement and stockpiling where it is needed in time of emergency.

V Preliminary Findings

Staff and consultant analyzed and synthesized the major themes from the 20 stakeholder interviews spanning almost six months.

On the basis of the interviews, there is a recurring question about vision. The visionary question is whether the JPA should articulate a clear vision and mission, and associated planning guidance and leadership that is noticeably absent from the overall perspective of the San Francisco Bay to Stockton Federal navigation project.

There are many compelling reasons to address a manifest leadership vacuum in regional navigation policy, planning and execution.

One is the clear need from many interviews for collaboration on navigation projects across the entire length of the ship channel, embracing a regional perspective.

The ideal candidate to fill this vacuum must be a multi-purpose rather than a single purpose unit of State government. The entity should ideally possess an overall water resources perspective. It should encompass the geographic span and sphere of influence (including key beneficiaries such as oil refineries) over the critical marine transportation choke points at the confluence of the Delta, the two major rivers flowing into the San Francisco Bay and potentially involve all of the navigation interests along the entire length of the channel.

22 10-25 5.1 Need for a regional entity across the entire ship channel

There is a void in regional planning corresponding to the regional importance and dimension of the entire project that is manifest in both the planning for channel-wide improvements and the need for additional upland site capacity to accommodate anticipated volumes of material for both new construction and ongoing operation and maintenance dredging.

No existing non-profit private organization or public agency has the requisite focus, mandate, authority, capability, and resources – particularly a financing mechanism such as an assessment district--to address regional sediment management.

5.2 JPA could serve as the regional entity

There is an opportunity of immense regional importance in the potential to use the JPA, and potentially a financing mechanism such as an assessment district, as they were originally intended when first created in the 1990s. This will carry the vision and regional planning capability beyond a single purpose agency to address dredged material management again from an overall regional perspective and the best uses and placement of that material for the benefit of the entire region.

Once the vision and the course and direction are set, the questions of geographic scope, focus and composition become more sharply defined, providing a unified focus. The geographic scope of the JPAand/or a potential financing entity must be regional, encompassing the entire ship channel. It must encompass the John F Baldwin Channel and each of its critical reaches which are subject to phase-out of open aquatic disposal of dredged material.

In terms of geographic scope and common nexus, a joint entity must include the entire San Francisco Bay to Stockton Federal navigation Project including those reaches (meaning segments of the ship channel) subject to potential deepening to authorized depths

(1) Pinole Shoal Channel; (2) Suisun Bay Channel; (3) New York Slough Channel; (4) Stockton Ship Channel

The joint entity, whether a JPA or other, should also include interdependent projects that are connected and rely upon the main deepening project for direct access to San Francisco Bay such as the Sacramento Deepwater Ship Channel.

The principal focus should remain on channel-wide Local Sponsor planning for new construction, and expansion of the dredged material management reach from the original two segments (Suisun Bay and New York Slough) to the entire ship channel..

23 10-26 The ideal composition of a revamped JPA would potentially include:

(1) Contra Costa County (2) Stockton Port District (3) Solano County (4) City and Port of West Sacramento (5) City and Port of Richmond

Navigation is too important to regional economy and emerging gaps and seams between planning and regulatory authority to continue fragmented project-by-project planning and execution, especially maintenance dredging and dredged material management

A refocused JPA would have the bargaining power enter into a comprehensive long term memorandum of agreement with the state Department of Water Resources and other arrangements with the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (requiring a general order change for dredged material from waste to resource). A JPA could also have agreements with other entities if necessary, such aslocal reclamation districts and landowners for easement access to multiple levee restoration sites at various locations within the Project area.

We are on the cusp of a paradigm shift in the regulatory and public perception of dredged material as a valuable resource and no longer a waste commodity. There is clearly movement on several fronts focusing on beneficial reuse and more specifically tidal marsh restoration and levee restoration with accompanying creation of wildlife habitat. The progressive march from the Sonoma Baylands project through the Hamilton Army Airfield project, and now Montezuma Slough, attests to this unmistakable trend and to its feasibility on a larger regional scale. All that is lacking is the political will and exercise of appropriate planning capability and leadership through a regional collaborative entity such as a JPA.

5.3 The need to better manage disposal of material matches with need for material for levee and habitat restoration

There is a regional and statewide imperative to strive for optimal use of dredged material through proper testing, placement, and strategic stockpiling, synchronized with availability of material from dredging construction and maintenance cycle projects. The required actions and competence have been demonstrated in both beneficial reuse projects to date and by the JPA over the course of the last decade.

VI Milestones and Tasks

Staff and consultant have identified a number of major internal and external milestones to be accomplished in the first year of a new joint entity, under any revised JPA agreement

6.0 The first task would be to redefine the geographic scope and charter of the JPA to encompass the entire San Francisco Bay to Stockton Ship Channel and associated

24 10-27 navigation projects. The JPA would take a systemic regional geographic and planning approach to the conduct of navigation dredging, and sediment and dredged material management, and extend the opportunity for membership to Solano County, the Ports of Richmond and West Sacramento, the shoreline cities with navigation operations, and potentially other members.

6.1 Define limited organizational objectives for the first year witha minimal organizational structure and mission primarily to build institutional credibility and fill regional perspective (gaps and seams) in dredged material management

6.2 Define the parameters and initiate collaborative development of a long term (10-20 year) regional dredged material management plan (DMMP) with the Army Corps of Engineers and other interested parties.

Staff should also commence using available assessment district funds to prepare a long overdue five-year engineer’s report to ensure adequate upland site capacity, and synchronize quantities and availability of dredged material.

This should include the feasibility and optimal placement (including levee restoration for seismic event or other levee failure mitigation, water supply and flood control protection) by synchronizing need, volumes, location, timing, placement, and beneficial reuse of dredged material where most needed ( e.g. stockpile dredged material from two channel-deepening projects for levee restoration). It could also study the advisability of planning to use backup and emergency disposal capacity at the Collinsville Montezuma Slough disposal site in addition to other stockpiling sites for dredged material

It would likely require further expansion of the scope of the current JPA and express authority in the absence of a necessary and proper clause not contained in the current joint powers agreement.

6.3 Monitor regional initiatives to redefine beneficial use to include regional watershed sediment including controlled deposit in water columns (e.g. in South Bay salt ponds with dredged material from Port of Redwood City maintenance dredging)

6.4 With the concurrence of the new JPA governing Board, it may be advisable to purse a Memorandum of Agreement with DWR, and supplemental agreements with reclamation districts, and flood control agencies (unable on a case by case basis to plan for beneficial reuse but are eligible for DRW collaborative planning grants) and to explore the opportunity to provide suitable dredged material at predictable intervals for levee repair as a beneficial reuse.

6.5 Participate in an Army Corps of Engineers planning conference expected in March 2013 for the channel deepening project, and other regular meetings leading up to that conference, in the evaluation of alternative feasible and preferable scenarios for future improvement of the channels from an environmental, engineering and economic perspective.

25 10-28

This would also include exploration with stakeholders of a potential North Channel improvement, the Avon Turning basin, Bulls Head Reach solutions and other recurring dredging issues.

6.6 Mention the need for a regional dredged material management plan when commenting on the forthcoming environmental impact report/statement for the Port of Stockton deepening project, expected to be published later in 2012.

6.7 Draft standby authority agreements, similar to the Winter and Sherman Island dredging agreements, under the JPA to advance funds to the Army Corps of Engineers to perform emergency dredging when needed at Bulls Head Reach in Suisun Bay (this is a concrete example of the continuing need for collective versus piecemeal planning to maintain the viability of the overall navigation system)

6.8 Lay the framework for a future financing mechanism, possibly an assessment district, in which the beneficiaries would bear the cost of site analysis, transportation, placement, and other disposal-related costs which will benefit their operations.

VII Next steps

7.0 Authorize staff to draft a revised Joint Powers Agreement to reflect proposed changes in geographic scope, charter, focus, and composition.

Under its current provisions the existing JPA remains in full force and effect unless dissolved by the current parties, Contra Costa County and the Stockton Port District. The process of amending and adopting the new JPA generally follows the same procedure followed in 1999 under the applicable provision of the Government Code Sections 6500 et seq.

The instrument needs to be redrafted preferably in the form of an amendment in the nature of a substitute to provide it the requisite authority to perform the functions described in this report, such as collaborative planning for the construction, operation and management of the entire project including the John Baldwin and Stockton Ship channel segments.

The primary focus should be to focus on the entire length of the channel deepening project, and in particular the John F Baldwin and each of its reaches, in any future development under the Army Corps planning process.

On the recommendation of favorably disposed staff members of the stakeholder agencies, limited non-burdensome governance provisions should be incorporated into the Agreement (not too many meetings, as little impact on staff resources as possible, etc.).

26 10-29 7.1 Circulate revised JPA charter and consult with current and prospective institutional members and other public and private stakeholders and conduct follow up meetings to flesh out procedural issues raised

County Counsel will participate in an initial review of the draft revised instrument. The Stockton Port District should be initially consulted to ascertain their position and recommendations surrounding the revised charter. Following this staff should be directed to circulate the revised JPA charter with current and prospective institutional members and other public and private stakeholders and conduct follow up meetings to flesh out procedural issues raised informally before the draft instrument is finalized. Staff should be directed to make appropriate appearances before the Board of Commissioners of the Stockton Port District to respond to any questions prior to their adoption of the revised charter. Note that we recommend the existing JPA be revised even if additional agencies choose not to join the JPA.

7.2 Extend membership invitation to new members and coordinate formal adoption and approval of the new JPA agreement and appointment of designated representative by each prospective member

Following adoption of the revised JPA by the Board of Supervisors, and the Stockton Port District, appropriate joint forma invitations should be issued to other prospective members and staff authorized to make appropriate appearances as requested at scheduled meetings and further proceedings again for the purpose of providing relevant information and responding to any questions prior to adoption of the revised charter by those entities.

7.3 Conduct organizational meeting of JPA and adoption of minimal bylaws and operating procedures, and approval of budget (seed funding from available funds from the 1999-2004 assessment district) and minimal staffing.

The final organizational step would include the issuance of appropriate public notice of the organizational meeting and the filing of the adopted charter within thirty days of the effective date with the Secretary of State with a courtesy copy forwarded to the State Controller.

27 10-30 APPENDIX

Interviews and site visits conducted for this report

(1) September 20, 2011Dave Patterson USACESFD

(2) November 14, 2011 Dave Patterson USACESFD

(3) November 14, 2011 Captain Bruce Horton San Francisco Bar Pilots

(4) November 15, 2011 Jeff Wingfield and Steve Escobar Stockton Port District

(5) November 15, 2011 Gary Mattei USACE Sacramento District Operations and Maintenance

(6) March 5, 2012 Dave Patterson and Jessica Burton Evans USACESFD

(7) March 5, 2012 Ellen Johnck (former Executive Director Bay Planning Commission)

(8) March 6, 2012 Jeff Wingfield and Steve Escobar Stockton Port District

(9) May 8, 2012 Jim Matzorkis Executive Director and Mike Williams Consultant of the Port of Richmond

(10) May 9, 2012 Site visits to Sonoma Baylands (Petaluma) and Hamilton Army Airfield (Novato) Marin County Wetland Restoration Demonstration Projects

(11) May 9, 2012 Mike Luken Executive Director and Bill Panos Director of Public Works City and Port of West Sacramento

(12) May 10, 2012 Dennis Clark Project Manager for two levee restoration projects for the Sacramento District USACE

(13) May 10, 2012 Site visit to Montezuma Slough-Collinsville Solano County Wetland Restoratio0n and Dredged Material Re-handling site hosted by Jim Levine President of Levine Fricke facility owner-operator

(14) May 10, 2012 Guy Bjerke of Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA)

(15)May 10, 2012 Bill Emlin, Stephen Pierce and Roberta Goulart of Solano County Resources Management

(16) June 13, 2012 Dave Patterson Jessica Burton-Evans and Glen Mitchell USACESFD

(17) June 13, 2012 Bill Croyle Flood Control Department of Water Resources

28 10-31

(18) June 14, 2012 Brian Ross and Melissa Scianni EPA Region IX Dredged Material Management Team

(19) Jim Haussener Executive Director California Marine Affairs and Navigation Council (CMANC)

(20) John Coleman Executive Director Bay Planning Coalition (Scheduled) Telephonic June 18, 2012

29 10-32