Draft June 2018 Tule River Basin 2018 Integrated Regional Water Management Plan Table of Contents Section A – Introduction A-1 A.1 Purpose of the IRWM Plan A-1 A.2 IRWM Plan Benefits A-1 A.3 2016 IRWM Grant Program Guidelines A-2 A.3.1 Meeting the 2016 IRWM Plan Guideline Requirements A-3 A.3.2 Addressing Comments from 2015 IRWMP Submission A-7 A.4 Point of Contact A-9 Section B – Governance, Stakeholder Involvement, and Outreach B-1 B.1 Introduction B-1 B.1.1 State IRWM Guidelines: Governance and Stakeholder Involvement Standards B-1 B.1.2 IRWM Program Participants B-1 B.2. IRWM Organizational Structure B-2 B.2.1 Governance Structure B-2 B.2.2 Stakeholders Advisory Group B-4 B.2.3 Memorandum of Understanding B-4 B.2.4 Notice of Intent to Prepare the IRWM Plan B-4 B.2.5 Notice of Intent to Adopt the IRWM Plan B-5 B.3 Long Term Implementation of the IRWM Plan B-5 B.3.1 Governance B-5 B.3.2 Stakeholder Advisory Group B-5 B.3.3 Actions of the RWM Group Governing Board B-6 B.3.4 Meetings B-6 B.3.5 Updating or Amending the IRWM Plan B-6 B.3.6 Outreach to DACs and Tribal Communities B-8 C - Region Description C-1 C.1 Introduction C-1 C.2 Tule River Basin Relevance as an IRWM Planning Area C-1 C.3 Water Resources C-3 C.3.1 Tule Subbasin C-3 C.3.2 Tule River Watershed C-4 C.3.3 Ancillary Watersheds C-4 C.4 Biological Resources C-4 C.4.1 Aquatic Sensitive Species C-4 C.4.2 Freshwater Habitats C-5 C.4.3 Areas of Special Biological Significance C-5 C.5 Geologic Resources C-5 C.5.1 Basement Complex C-6 C.5.2 Marine Rocks C-6 C.5.3 Unconsolidated Deposits C-6 C.5.4 Lacustrine and Marsh Deposits C-7 C.5.5 Reduced Older Alluvium C-8 C.5.6 Oxidized Older Alluvium C-8 C.5.7 Younger Alluvium C-9 C.5.8 Geohydrology C-9 C.6 Existing Water Management Systems C-10 C.6.1 Major Infrastructure C-12 C.6.2 Wastewater Service Providers C-15 C.6.3 Flood Control Districts C-16 C.7 Land Use Agencies C-18 C.8 Water Quality C-19 C.8.1 Groundwater Quality C-19 C.8.2 Surface Water Quality C-20 C.8.3 Arsenic C-22 C.8.4 Nitrate C-23 C.8.5 Perchlorate C-24 C.8.6 Hexavalent Chromium C-25 C.8.7 Potential Sources of Contamination C-26 C.9 Cultural, Social, and Economic Profile C-29 C.9.1 Local Organizations and Associations C-30 C.9.2 Local Traditions and Community Events C-31 C.9.3 Demographic Information C-31 C.9.4 Projected Population Growth C-34 C.9.5 Economic Conditions and Trends C-35 C.10 Key Region Wide and Watershed Specific Issues C-36 C.10.1 Tribal Community Water Challenges C-36 Section D – Water Supply, Demand, and Water Budget D-1 D.1 Introduction D-1 D.1.1 Use of IRWM Plan for Determining Adequacy of Water Supplies Under Senate Bill 610 and 221 D-1 D.2 Water Management Districts D-1 D.2.1 Lower Tule River Irrigation District D-1 D.2.2 Pixley Irrigation District D-3 D.2.3 Porterville Irrigation District D-4 D.2.4 Saucelito Irrigation District D-5 D.2.5 Tea Pot Dome Water District D-6 D.2.6 Terra Bella Irrigation District D-7 D.2.7 Porterville (2015 Urban Water Management Plan) D-9 D.2.8 Unincorporated Urban Community Service Districts D-10 D.3 Groundwater Supply: The Tule Sub Basin D-11 D.4 Regional Supply and Demand Balance D-12 D.5 Water Supplies and Demand Through 2040 D-13 D.5.1 Projected Urban Water Demand D-13 D.5.2 Projected Agricultural Water Demand D-15 D.5.3 Predicted Changes to Regional Water Supply D-15 D.5.4 Plan to Reduce Dependence on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Supply D-16 Section E – Goals and Objectives E-1 E.1 Introduction E-1 E.2 Process and Determination of IRWM Plan Goals and Objectives E-1 E.2.1 Stakeholder Input: Identifying Critical Water Issues E-2 E.2.2 Consistency with Applicable Resource Documents and Management Plans E-2 E.2.3 Regional Priorities E-6 E.3 Adopting the IRWM Goals and Objectives E-7 E.4 IRWM Goals and Objectives E-8 E.4.1 Maintain or Improve the Health of Ecosystems within the Region E-9 E.4.2 Protection of Life, Structure, Equipment and Property from Flooding E-9 E.4.3 Reduction of Contamination of Surface and Groundwater Resources E-10 E.4.4 Expand Regional Response to Climate Change through Mitigation and Adaption Strategies E-12 E.4.5 Work toward Achievement of Sustainable Balanced Surface and Groundwater Supplies E-13 E.4.6 Goals and Objectives Metrics E-15 E.5 Prioritization of IRWM Goals and Objectives E-17 Section F – Resource Management Strategies F-1 F.1 Introduction F-1 F.2 Resource Management Strategies F-1 F.2.1 Agricultural Water Use Efficiency F-2 F.2.2 Urban Water Use Efficiency F-4 F.2.3 Crop Idling for Water Transfers F-5 F.2.4 Irrigated Land Retirement F-5 F.2.5 Conveyance – Delta F-6 F.2.6 Conveyance – Regional/Local F-6 F.2.7 System Reoperation F-7 F.2.8 Water Transfers F-7 F.2.9 Flood Risk Management F-8 F.2.10 Agricultural Lands Stewardship F-8 F.2.11 Economic Incentives (Loans, Grants and Water Pricing) F-9 F.2.12 Ecosystem Restoration F-9 F.2.13 Forest Management F-10 F.2.14 Recharge Area Protection F-11 F.2.15 Sediment Management F-11 F.2.16 Outreach and Engagement F-12 F.2.17 Conjunctive Management and Groundwater Storage F-13 F.2.18 Desalination F-15 F.2.19 Precipitation Enhancement F-15 F.2.20 Recycled Municipal Water F-16 F.2.21 Surface Storage – CALFED F-17 F.2.22 Surface Storage – Regional/Local F-17 F.2.23 Drinking Water Treatment and Distribution F-17 F.2.24 Groundwater Remediation/Aquifer Remediation F-18 F.2.25 Land Use Planning and Management F-18 F.2.26 Matching Quality to Use F-19 F.2.27 Pollution Prevention F-19 F.2.28 Salt and Salinity Management F-19 F.2.29 Urban Runoff Management F-20 F.2.30 Water-Dependent Recreation F-20 F.2.31 Watershed Management F-20 F.2.32 Water and Culture F-21 F.3 Resource Management Strategy Review F-22 Section G – Project Solicitation, Selection, and Prioritization G-1 G.1 Introduction G-1 G.2 Phase 1: Project Solicitation and Acceptance of Abstract Forms G-2 G.3 Phase 2: Project/Program Evaluation and Scoring G-2 G.3.1 Objectives Worksheet G-3 G.3.2 Readiness to Proceed (RTP) Questionnaire G-4 G.3.3 Supplemental Scoring G-5 G.4 Phase 3: Final Evaluation, Notification, and Selection of IRWM Projects G-5 G.5 Updating the Project List G-5 G.6 Procedures for Displaying List of Approved Projects G-6 G.7 2018 Tule River Basin IRWM Project List G-6 Section H – Plan Benefits and Impacts H-1 H.1 Introduction H-1 H.2 Consideration of Goals and Objectives H-1 H.3 Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Project Benefits/Impacts Analysis H-5 H.4 Consideration of Climate Change in Benefits/Impact Analysis H-5 H.5 Consideration of DACs and Tribal Communities in Benefits/Impacts Analysis H-5 H.6 Consideration of Other Resources in Benefit/Impacts Analysis H-6 Section I – Plan Performance and Monitoring I-1 I.1 Introduction I-1 I.2 Performance Measures and Monitoring Methods I-2 I.2.1 Evaluation of Capacity to Evaluate and Implement Projects I-5 I.2.2 Project-Level Performance and Monitoring Plan I-5 Section J – Data Management J-1 J.1 Introduction J-1 J.2 Data Needs within the IRWM Region J-2 J.3 Current Data Programs and Data Collection Techniques J-2 J.3.1 Groundwater Elevations J-2 J.3.2 Stream Flow J-3 J.3.3 Precipitation, Weather, and Climate Change J-3 J.3.4 Reservoir Storage and Release Flows J-3 J.3.5 Point and Non-Point Pollution Discharge J-4 J.3.6 Groundwater Quality J-4 J.3.7 Surface Water Quality J-5 J.3.8 Land Use and Population J-5 J.3.9 Agricultural Water Demand J-5 J.3.10 Urban Water Demand J-5 J.4 Regional Data Management System J-6 J.4.1 Data Collection J-7 J.4.2 Database Maintenance J-7 J.4.3 Data Sharing J-7 J.4.4 Interface with State Database Systems J-7 J.4.5 Quality Assurance/Quality Control Measures J-7 Section K – Financing Strategies K-1 K.1 Introduction K-1 K.2 Program Level Funding Sources K-1 K.2.1 In-Kind Support K-1 K.2.2 Connect Stakeholder Grant Funding Opportunities to Tule River Basin IRWM K-2 K.2.3 Fee-for-Service K-2 K.2.4 State and Federal Grants K-2 K.3 Project Level Funding Sources K-2 K.3.1 Funding of Project Applications K-3 K.3.2 Projects Funding K-3 K.3.3 Grants and Loans (State and Federal) K-3 Section L – Technical Analysis L-1 L.1 Introduction L-1 L.2 Technical Information Sources and Data Used L-1 L.2.1 The Water Resources Investigation (WRI) l-1 L.2.2 USGS Water Quality Portal l-2 L.2.3 The Crop Water Use Model l-2 L.2.4 Community Climate System Model 3.0 (CCSM3) l-3 L.2.5 Groundwater Management Plan I-3 L.2.6 Water Management Plans l-3 L.2.7 Population and Demographic Information I-4 Section M – Relation to Local Water and Land Use Planning M-1 M.1 Applicable Land Use Plans M-1 M.1.1 Tulare County General Plan M-1 M.1.2 City of Porterville General Plan M-1 M.1.3 Unincorporated Community Plans M-2 M.1.4 National Forest Land Management Plan M-2 M.2 Applicable Water Management Plans M-3 M.2.1 Urban Water Management Plan M-3 M.2.2 DCTRA Groundwater Management Plan M-3 M.2.3 Local Water Shortage Contingency Plans M-3 M.2.4 Capital Improvement Plans/Master Plans M-4 M.2.5 Water Management and Monitoring Programs M-4 M.3 Local Climate Change Planning M-6 M.3.1 Tulare County Climate Action Plan M-6 M.3.2 Climate Change Adaption and Mitigation Strategies in Local Land Use Plans M-6 Section N – Planning Coordination N-1 N.1 Introduction N-1 N.2 Coordinate Water Management Activities to Avoid Conflict N-1 N.3 Pre-Project Coordination Efforts N-2 N.3.1 Outreach to Neighboring Regions N-2 N.3.2 Outreach to Disadvantaged Communities N-2 N.3.3 Outreach to Native American Tribal Communities N-2 N.4 Activity Coordination with Adjacent Regions N-3 N.4.1 Coordination with Tulare Basin JPA Development N-3