BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Title
One Water Plan - Preliminary Draft Countywide Report.
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Receive Information and Provide Policy Direction on the District’s One Water Plan - Preliminary Draft Countywide Report.
Body
SUMMARY:
The District’s integrated water resources master plan titled One Water Plan will provide a 50-year roadmap for improved water resources management for Santa Clara County. While the District effectively manages water resources across Santa Clara County at present, an integrated planning approach on a watershed scale can benefit the District by allowing increased prioritization and collaboration which will lead to more efficient use of public funds.
The Preliminary Draft Countywide Report (Attachment 1) presents a comprehensive picture of the integrated master planning work to date including:
• a look at the past, present and future of water resources management across Santa Clara County;
• the framework (vision, goals, objectives and strategies) for moving forward with watershed-based master planning; and
• an approach to measuring progress and prioritization and implementation of new or improved countywide activities.
Background
The One Water Plan has several key outcomes and improvements. These include the ability to:
A. Identify multi-benefit, integrated District projects that consider water supply, flood protection and stewardship objectives
B. Manage water resources as One Water (i.e., flood water, stormwater, drinking water, groundwater, creek water, surface water, recycled water = One Water) for better efficiency and resilience
C. Prepare for future funding cycles (such as possible future ballot measures)
D. Prepare for external grant funding applications
E. Establish priorities for efficient use of Safe, Clean Water and other funding
F. Provide improved guidance for partnering with community volunteers and other agencies
G. Help facilitate the regulatory permitting process
H. Improve alignment with partner agencies and organizations, including the County, municipalities, resources conservation districts, open space districts and non-profits
I. Improve benefit cost analysis including ecosystem services valuation
J. Improve stakeholder knowledge base by providing easier access to data on water resources management
Countywide Report (Tier 1)
The Countywide Report is the first of two phases in the One Water Plan development process. The first phase is developed at a countywide scale to provide overall guidance and direction for the more specific second phase focused on watershed-specific plans (Tier 2) for each of the five major watershed areas in the following order: Coyote, Guadalupe, West Valley, Lower Peninsula, and Uvas-Llagas.
The Countywide Overview Report includes the following chapters:
Chapter 1: Introduction
Describes the focus of the Plan and provides the overall context for this planning effort including stakeholder engagement. It also describes the geographic setting of Santa Clara County, including the major watersheds throughout the project area.
Chapter 2: Past Conditions
Describes the past cultural and natural history of the Santa Clara County area, its human development, and milestones in the development of the Santa Clara Valley Water District. It also includes a historic conceptual model of the landscape.
Chapter 3: Present Conditions
Describes present conditions in the county for six water resources related planning elements, including District involvement and current challenges.
Chapter 4: Future Conditions
Describes projected future conditions and challenges, including climate change.
Chapter 5: Framework
Discusses the framework of the One Water Plan, describing the Vision, Goals, Objectives, and Strategies.
Chapter 6: Meeting the Objectives
Discusses attributes and metrics as the means to measure progress toward meeting the objectives detailed in Chapter 5. It also outlines how these will be used to prioritize and select projects and activities geared toward meeting the One Water objectives and goals.
Chapter 7: Implementation
Discusses the implementation of the countywide One Water Plan, including existing countywide opportunities, their benefits, relevant One Water objectives, potential partners, potential funding and scheduling (Attachment 3).
Next steps
1. Receive and incorporate policy direction from the Board.
2. Incorporate identified opportunities from the Board.
3. Finalize attributes and metrics for the countywide report.
4. Refine recommendations to the Board from the identified countywide opportunities
5. On a parallel path, the Coyote Watershed-specific report is under development, with present conditions, data collection, and opportunities and constraints all receiving staff support at this time. The stakeholder engagement effort for Coyote Watershed kicked off on April 11, 2016, with additional stakeholder input expected over the next several months.
Schedule
The schedule for developing the One Water Plan is included as Attachment 2. Following development of the countywide plan and five subsequent watershed-specific plans, it is recommended that projects be revisited annually and the comprehensive plan be updated every five years.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The One Water Plan is financed through the Watershed and Stream Stewardship Fund. This item does not constitute approval of additional funds beyond those already budgeted.
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. Any projects that are recommended as a result of the One Water Plan will be expected to address CEQA and secure permits as determined necessary.
Development of a CEQA document (e.g., Programmatic EIR) may be considered for the overall One Water Plan upon completion of the Countywide Overview (Tier 1) and watershed-specific plans (Tier 2); this would aid in formalizing the plan and to have it recognized by partner agencies.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: Preliminary Draft Countywide Report
Attachment 2: Schedule
Attachment 3: Countywide Opportunities
Attachment 4: PowerPoint
UNCLASSIFIED MANAGER:
Manager
Ngoc Nguyen, 408-630-2632