STATE OF CALIFORNIA Budget Change Proposal - Cover Sheet DF-46 (REV 09/19) Budget Change Proposal - Cover Sheet Fiscal Year: 2020-21 Business Unit: 3860 Department: Department of Water Resources Priority Number: Click or tap here to enter text. Budget Request Name: 3860-049-BCP-2020-GB Program: 3230 Subprogram: Click or tap here to enter text. Budget Request Description: Tijuana River Project Budget Request Summary: The Department of Water Resources (DWR) requests a $35 million one-time General Fund investment for the construction, operation, and maintenance of a series of pollution capture devices and infrastructure projects on the U.S. side of the Tijuana River Valley that supports health and environmental benefits and address pollution issues affecting the Tijuana River. Requires Legislation: ☐ Yes ☒ No Code Section(s) to be Added/Amended/Repealed: Click or tap here to enter text. Does this BCP contain information technology (IT) components? ☐ Yes ☒ No If yes, departmental Chief Information Officer must sign. Department CIO Name: Click or tap here to enter text. Department CIO Signature: Signed On Date: Click or tap here to enter text. For IT requests, specify the project number, the most recent project approval document (FSR, SPR, S1BA, S2AA, S3SD, S4PRA), and the approval date. Project Number: Click or tap here to enter text. Project Approval Document: Click or tap here to enter text. Approval Date: Click or tap here to enter text. If proposal affects another department, does other department concur with proposal? ☐ Yes ☐ No Attach comments of affected department, signed and dated by the department director or designee. Prepared By: Vivien Maisonneuve Date: January 8, 2020 Reviewed By: Duard MacFarland Date: January 8, 2020 Department Director: Kathie Kishaba Date: January 8, 2020 Agency Secretary: Amanda Martin Date: January 8, 2020 Department of Finance Use Only Additional Reviews: Capital Outlay:☐ ITCU:☐ FSCU:☐ OSAE:☐ Department of Technology:☐ PPBA: Sergio Aguilar Date submitted to the Legislature: January 10, 2020 A. Budget Request Summary DWR, in coordination with the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) request a $35 million General Fund one-time investment for the construction, operation, and maintenance of a series of pollution capture devices and infrastructure projects on the U.S. side of the Tijuana River that supports health and environmental benefits and address pollution issues affecting the Tijuana River. B. Background/History The Tijuana River has been used as a wastewater conduit since the early 20th century. As such, the issue of sewage in the Tijuana River has been a long-standing health concern for several decades. Raw-sewage overflows on the Mexican side, from canyons along the river, are a recurring problem despite cross-border cleanup efforts, and are a main source of pollution in the area. In addition to sewage, trash is carried downstream causing damage to vegetation and contributing to flooding. CalEPA, and the state and San Diego’s Regional Water Quality Control Board, together with local, regional, and state agencies and non-profit, non-governmental organizations, are working to address long-standing pollution issues affecting the Tijuana River, the Tijuana River Valley, and its residents. C. State Level Considerations Chapter 542, Statutes of 2017 (SB 507) dedicating funding to the County of San Diego to study and identify solutions designed to remedy Tijuana River pollution. This study, known as the County of San Diego’s SB 507 “Needs and Opportunities Assessment” (SB 507 Study), is currently underway and identifies twenty-six potential solutions in the San Diego area and along the U.S. side of the Tijuana River Valley. The study is expected to be fully completed by Spring of 2020. The 2019 Budget Act provided $15 million to the Coastal Conservancy for Tijuana River Border Pollution Control Projects. Chapter 381, Statutes of 2019, (SB 690) requires the Conservancy to prioritize those projects identified in the County of San Diego’s SB 507 Study when expending any funds to address transboundary flows and pollution in the Tijuana River Valley. This proposal will fund certain projects identified in the study conducted pursuant to SB 507 and complement the $15M appropriated to the State Coastal Conservancy, and other resource investments on the Mexican side of the border, in Tijuana. Investment on the part of the Newsom Administration will also continue the State’s productive relationship and partnership with Baja California and Baja California Sur, consistent with the recent signing of the Commission of the Californias on December 4, 2019, and leverages recent federal investments in waste water treatment along the U.S. – Mexico border. D. Justification Excessive amounts of sewage and waste accumulated in the City of Tijuana and its surrounding areas flow into California along the Tijuana River, through the main channel and canyons along the border, particularly during rain events. This pollution threatens public and ecosystem health in the Tijuana River Valley. The River’s waste discharges generally consist of waste tires, residential and industrial waste, as well as some hazardous waste, building materials, and sediment, all of which contribute to contaminated storm water runoff that flows into the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve among other ecological, recreational, and economic resources. Waste discharges into the Tijuana River also often result in beach closures along the City of San Diego’s coastline, extending as far North as the City of Coronado and many of the specific contaminants found in the Tijuana River pose potentially grave threats to human health. The tributaries where these proposed projects will be located feed directly into the Tijuana River’s main channel and out to San Diego’s National Marine Estuary and coastline. If funded, these projects would deliver immediate health and ecological benefits to the Tijuana River Valley; the projects will also alleviate the need for consistent beach closures in and around the San Diego area while demonstrating California’s commitment to an effective cross-border partnership with municipal, state, and federal government partners south of the border. These investments show good will and strength in holding federal and international agencies accountable for fulfilling their part in addressing these challenges and complement federal and other investments in main-channel solutions for the Tijuana River. E. Outcomes and Accountability Utilizing the $35M for one-time capital investments to the following canyon and tributary based solutions, with 2 years of operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, will result in better management of sediment and trash runoff affecting the Tijuana River’s main channel. The Natural Resources Agency, CalEPA and the San Diego Regional and State Water Boards are committed to coordinating with local and regional representatives and to continuing their efforts to remedying challenges at the federal level. The specific projects defined below will complement those ongoing efforts and will assist in attaining measureable results on the ground, and ecosystem and health benefits for San Diego area residents. Proposed Gulch and Canyon Projects: 1. Smuggler’s Gulch sediment and trash detention basins - $17M one time capital investment for the following components: a. sediment basins ($3M to build; approximately $1M/year to operate/maintain); b. automated trash screens ($2M to build; approximately $250k/year to operate/maintain); c. in-stream water quality detention basin to capture flows bypassed from the proposed sedimentation basin upstream ($8M to build; approximately $100k/year to operate/maintain); d. retrofit low flow diversion to increase the low flow diversion and conveyance capacity, including reconstructing the outlet ponding basin to prevent dry-weather flows from flowing downstream ($4M to build; approximately $100k/year to operate/maintain). This project has public health, recreational usage and ecosystem benefits. By reducing the amount of trash and sediment that flows into a vulnerable and protected estuary, this protects public health from exposure to contaminated trash, allows the public to use trails recreationally for horseback riding and hiking, and allows the natural ecosystem to thrive, as sediment and trash impede its natural health. 2. Yogurt Canyon feasibility studies and pilot channel construction - $1M one-time capital investment for the components: a. feasibility study to assess the feasibility of installing low-flow diversions to divert flows back to existing treatment facilities ($500k to conduct study); b. creation of a Pilot Channel to convey Yogurt Canyon flows and sediments up to a 5-year flood frequency. This would help protect Monument Road, a main road through the estuary that is often closed due to flooding ($500k to build; approximately $50k/year to operate/maintain). This project would protect Monument Road from hazardous and often toxic winter flooding. Monument Road is the only public-use road available to access Friendship Park (a park designed to facilitate cross-border family visitation) and the southernmost beaches of California, along the border. This road is flooded and closed every year in the winter, prohibiting recreational usage of the public trails and beaches. 3. Goat Canyon low-flow diversions, sediment and trash capture device maintenance – $4M one-time capital investment for the following components: a. retrofit low-flow diversion