BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Title
Memorandum of Understanding Between the Santa Clara Valley Water District and the City of Palo Alto Assessing the Feasibility of Developing Water Reuse Alternatives.
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Authorize the Interim Chief Executive Officer to execute the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Santa Clara Valley Water District and the City of Palo Alto Assessing the Feasibility of Developing Water Reuse Alternatives.
Body
SUMMARY:
A proposed memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been developed with the City of Palo Alto (Palo Alto) to assess the feasibility of developing potable water reuse options in Santa Clara County. On May 30, 2017, the Board of Directors Recycled Water Committee recommended that the Board of Directors authorize the Chief Executive Officer to execute the MOU.
Background
The proposed MOU between the District and Palo Alto describes both agencies’ commitments to identify the requirements, issues, activities, resources, costs, and funding necessary to implement potable and non-potable water reuse alternatives. The terms of this MOU cover important assumptions and considerations such as source water availability, permitting, reverse osmosis concentrate management, land requirements, and governance.
This MOU is intended to broadly describe our mutual commitments to study the feasibility of: (i) the District’s plan to construct and operate an Advanced Water Purification Facility; (ii) water recharge and reuse alternatives identified in the Northwest County Recycled Water Strategic Plan; and (iii) future development of Palo Alto’s Non-Potable Recycled Water System.
Depending on the outcomes of the feasibility assessment, these assumptions and considerations will be negotiated by the District and Palo Alto in the future under a comprehensive agreement. Palo Alto is not currently discussing or planning to discuss effluent transfers with other agencies outside of the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant (RWQCP) partner agencies during the term of this MOU. Terms of the proposed MOU were presented at the December 13, 2016 District-Palo Alto Joint Recycled Water Committee meeting and reviewed again in summary at the June 6, 2017 meeting of this Joint Recycled Water Committee. The proposed MOU was brought to the District’s Board Recycled Water Committee on May 30, 2017, and the Committee recommended the full Board of Directors approve execution of the MOU by the District’s CEO.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Funds to conduct the feasibility assessment are included in the Water Utility Enterprise FY2017 budget, Recycled and Purified Water project 91101004. The estimated District cost for the feasibility assessment is $200,000.
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: PowerPoint
Attachment 2: MOU
UNCLASSIFIED MANAGER:
Manager
Garth Hall, 408-630-2750