BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Title
Stormwater Resource Planning in Santa Clara County.
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Receive and discuss information on stormwater resource planning in Santa Clara County.
Body
SUMMARY:
The purpose of a stormwater resource plan is to improve local surface water quality through enhanced stormwater management. Such a plan describes local watersheds, identifies water quality issues, and identifies local and regional Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) projects.
The State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) has developed guidance for development of stormwater resource plans and requires a plan be in place to make GSI projects eligible for state funding. Also, the Bay Area’s Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit (MRP) requires municipal co-permittees including the Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program’s [SCVURPPP consisting of 13 cities, County of Santa Clara, and Santa Clara Valley Water District (Valley Water)] municipal co-permittees to develop and implement a long-term GSI plan.
Santa Clara Basin Stormwater Resource Plan
SCVURPPP began considering how to develop a Santa Clara Basin Stormwater Resource Plan (SWRP) in 2016. The goal of this plan was to develop a SWRP that supports co-permittee GSI Plans by identifying and prioritizing multi-benefit GSI projects throughout the Santa Clara Basin.
In December 2016, Valley Water, on behalf of SCVURPPP and its co-permittees, was awarded a California Proposition 1 grant by the Water Board to develop this SWRP for the Santa Clara Basin. Matching funds for this grant were provided by the annually approved SCVURPPP budget (Valley Water funds 30% of SCVURPPP). In addition to managing the grant, Valley Water participated in the Technical Advisory Committee and utilized its One Water stakeholder list to engage others. The process to develop the SWRP included substantial stakeholder engagement and may be summarized by the following major steps:
• Compile existing plans and data
• Select appropriate tools and modeling approach for analysis
• Identify potential projects for multiple water resources benefits
• Analyze potential projects for feasibility and effectiveness
• Develop conceptual project designs for up to 10 selected high priority projects.
• Develop an implementation strategy, including a method for tracking and reporting the implementation of priority projects.
In December 2018, the SWRP was completed and submitted to the Water Board. In August 2019, after addressing requested Water Board revisions, the final version of the SWRP was appended to the Bay Area Integrated Regional Water Management Plan (as required by the Water Board for future grant funding).
On September 6, 2019, Valley Water signed off on the final plan and submitted it to the Water Board. An executive summary for the plan is provided as Attachment 1 while the full report is available at <https://scvurppp.org/swrp/>.
South County Stormwater Resource Plan
While the Santa Clara Basin SWRP covers the area of Santa Clara County flowing to the San Francisco Bay, the south county area (draining to Pajaro River and Monterey Bay) was without a similar plan. Valley Water is now developing a SWRP in collaboration with stormwater permittees in South County (Gilroy, Morgan Hill and County of Santa Clara). The plan will include a map showing areas of opportunity for runoff capture and use and an initial prioritized list of potential multi-benefit GSI projects.
Following stakeholder outreach and identification of opportunity areas, the draft South County SWRP is currently being developed and being reviewed by the South County technical advisory group. The goal is to complete the plan prior to the next round of stormwater funding in early 2020.
Grant Funding for Stormwater
Stormwater grant funding is being made available by the state through the Proposition 1 bond. As noted above, under the first grant cycle, Valley Water on behalf of SCVURPPP was awarded funding for planning. The second grant cycle was recently announced with draft guidelines out for review. Information on the grant submittal date is still pending and the grant award date may be July 2020. Valley Water and other SCVURPPP co-permittees will be using the Santa Clara Basin SWRP to determine which projects to apply for grant funding in northern Santa Clara County. Likewise, South County stormwater permittees and Valley Water will use the South County SWRP.
Next Steps
As Valley Water and its partners continue to explore ways to ensure sustainable water supply, improve water quality conditions, provide flood risk reduction, improve habitat conditions, adapt to climate change, and meet permit obligations, stormwater resource planning and related GSI projects can be an important tool with multiple benefits. Close coordination with Valley Water’s existing plans and programs and open dialogue with partner agencies will help ensure that stormwater is viewed as a resource. Staff plans to continue this work and update the Board accordingly.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no financial impact associated with the recommended action.
CEQA:
The recommended action does not constitute a project under CEQA because it does not have a potential for resulting in direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: Santa Clara Basin SWRP Executive Summary
UNCLASSIFIED MANAGER:
Manager
Vincent Gin, 408-630-2633