BEVERLY HILLS AGENDA REPORT. Meeting Date: March 5, 2019 Item Number: C 2 To: From:

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1 BEVERLY HILLS AGENDA REPORT Meeting Date: March 5, 2019 Item Number: C 2 To: From: Honorable Mayor & City Council Shana Epstein, Director of Public Works Josette Descalzo, Environmental Compliance and Sustainability Programs Manager Subject: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF BEVERLY HILLS AMENDING THE BEVERLY HILLS MUNICIPAL CODE TO APPLY THE WATER SUPPLY ORDINANCE TO THE SANTA MONICA AND UNADJUDICATED PORTIONS OF THE CENTRAL GROUND WATER BASINS AND TO CLARIFY THE DEFINITION OF GROUND WATER RECOMMENDATION 1. Ordinance 2. Ground Water Basins within the Beverly Hills City Limits Staff recommends that City Council move to waive the full reading of the Ordinance and that the Ordinance entitled AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF BEVERLY HILLS AMENDING THE BEVERLY HILLS MUNICIPAL CODE TO APPLY THE WATER SUPPLY ORDINANCE TO THE SANTA MONICA AND UNADJUDICATED PORTIONS OF THE CENTRAL GROUND WATER BASINS AND TO CLARIFY THE DEFINITION OF GROUND WATER be introduced and read by title only. INTRODUCTION The Water Supply Ordinance in the Beverly Hills Municipal Code (BHMC ) authorizes the city to regulate, manage, conserve, protect and preserve the City s water supply. The Water Supply Ordinance s scope is based on the basin, which defines the City s ground water resources subject to the Ordinance. Currently, the Hollywood ground water basin is the only basin identified in the Water Supply Ordinance. However, both Santa Monica and the unadjudicated portions of the Central ground water basins also lie underneath the City s jurisdiction and are not currently covered in the Water Supply Ordinance. As the City Council is aware, the City is exploring opportunities to produce water resources within the Santa Monica and the unadjudicated Page 1 of4

2 Meeting Date: March 5, 2019 portion of the Central ground water basins. These opportunities were included in the Water Enterprise Plan (WEP) that was approved by City Council in August By amending the definition of basin to include the Santa Monica and the unadjudicated portion of the Central ground water basins, the Water Supply Ordinance will include all ground water basins that lie beneath the City s jurisdiction, hence furthering the City s ground water management provisions beyond the Hollywood Basin as currently defined. These ground water management provisions include ground water permitting, volume monitoring, beneficial use requirements and/or a ground water replenishment fee to support the City s ground water management costs. The definition of each ground water basin is based upon Bulletin 118 of the Department of Water Resources, which is a recognized mapping tool for defining the boundaries of ground water basins. In addition, the ordinance will amend the definition of ground water to ensure the definition properly covers all ground water resources. The definition currently refers to soil that is completely saturated with water, which is not technically accurate as soil is generally never completely saturated. The definition now refers to water produced from beneath the ground surface, except water, which flows in known and definite channels. BACKGROUND The Water Supply Ordinance in the Beverly Hills Municipal Code (BHMC section ) authorizes the City to regulate, manage, conserve, protect and preserve the City s water supply in such a manner that it remains a viable resource and be put to the most efficient and beneficial use by the City and its residents. As such, Chapter 4, Article 610 fbhmc section ) of Title 9 of the BHMC, provides the requirements relating to the removal of ground water (dewatering) and furthering the management of the Hollywood Basin. BHMC section establishes a permitting process and options for dewatering properties. This section currently provides management options to existing and future dewaterers within the Hollywood Basin. These options include: Replenish the ground water basin. The dewaterer will have to adhere to all state and federal laws to implement ground water replenishment. Put the water to reasonable and beneficial use on the property. A permit and an annual consumption and usage report will be required for any dewaterer that uses its ground water for beneficial use. Deliver the ground water to the City. An agreement will be established between the dewaterer and the City under this option. If the first three options ate impracticable, obtain a permit and pay a replenishment fee. The fee is based upon the cost of replacing the dewatered ground water. The fee may be set based upon the either the direct or in lieu replenishment of the basin by the City, and may account for the treatment of water or stranded capital facilities of the City. The intent of the fee is to recover these costs, not provide added revenue to the City. Replenishment fee funds are deposited in the Water Enterprise Fund, which is used solely to provide a reliable water supply of high quality water in Beverly Hills and portions of West Hollywood. Page 2 of 4 2/26/2019

3 Meeting Date: March 5, 2019 DISCUSSION Amending the definition of basin allows ground water management to apply City-wide rather than just the Hollywood Basin (See Attachment 2). All ground water management provisions, especially BHMC section , thereafter will be applicable to all dewatering facilities within City limits. Currently, there are ten dewatering facilities within the Hollywood Basin subjected to BHMC section Eight out of the ten sites could not use the ground water beneficially; therefore, each applied for a permit and are subject to the replenishment fee. The remaining two came to an agreement with the City that partially funded the construction of the two Maple Shallow Ground Water Wells. The proposed definition amendment will add eight existing dewatering facilities to the list, which are located within the Santa Monica and the unadjudicated portions of the Central ground water basin. The list of new dewatering facilities were taken from the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) ground water permits issued by the Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) with the exception of the Metro Purple Line Section 1. Table 1 lists the dewatering facilities and annual maximum dewatering volumes based on their individual NPDES permit. Table 1: Current Dewatering Facilities in Santa Monica and La Brea Sub-Area Basins. Location Annual Acre-Ft. Metro Purple Line Section Wilshire Blvd Olympic Blvd N. La Cienega Blvd Wilshire Blvd Wilshire Blvd Wilshire Blvd Wilshire Blvd. 25 Total 1322 The proposed amendment will help account for approximately 1322 acre-ft. (431 MG) of shallow ground water annually discharged to the storm drain system. If the proposed amendment is adopted, these facilities will be required to apply for a permit, put their shallow ground water to beneficial use, recharge the basin, deliver the water to the City or be subject to a replenishment fee. In addition, the proposed Ordinance amends the definition of ground water in the Water Supply Ordinance. The current definition reads, All water beneath the surface of the earth within the zone below the water table in which the soil is completely saturated with water, but does not include water which flows in known and definite channels. Staff believes that this definition could be misinterpreted to not cover the same very shallow ground water because of the imprecise location of where soil is completely saturated with water. To avoid any confusion, the Ordinance would redefine the definition of ground water to simply read, All water that can be or is produced from beneath the ground surface, but does not include water which flows in known and definite channels. Staff presented the proposed definitional amendment to the Public Works Commission (Mayor Gold and Council Member Wunderlich) on January 10, 2019, and the Public Works Liaison on January 29, Both unanimously supported the proposed amendments as they accurately define all ground water resources within the City s jurisdiction and furthers the City s ground water management. Page 3 of 4 2/26/2019

4 Meeting Date: Match 5, 2019 COMMUNITY ENGA GEMENT As part of the process, a community workshop was held on January 30, 2019, informing stakeholders of the proposed ordinance amendment. NPDES ground water permittees from the Santa Monica and unadjudicated portions of the Central ground water basins attended the workshop, Stakeholders attending the meeting included representatives of Metro, Douglas Emmett, Amir Development, ETCO Homes and GEIC Construction. The stakeholders were introduced to the proposed amendment and how the Dewatering Section (BHMC section ) of the Water Supply Ordinance will be applicable to their facilities if the proposed amendment passes. The stakeholders were informed that if the Ordinance passes it will be effective in April 2019, 30 days after the second reading of the Ordinance. Stakeholders asked how the City plans to use the revenue collected from the replenishment fee. As currently practiced, revenues are deposited in the Water Enterprise Fund and set aside to pay for the City s ground water development in the Water Enterprise Plan (WEP). Representatives from Metro separately raised questions and concerns about the ordinance s effect on its dewatering activities at the construction sites for the La Cienega and Rodeo stations. Stakeholders who are temporarily dewatering during construction were concerned how their temporary dewatering affects ground water capacity in a basin. Staff indicated that dewatering prevents ground water from reaching the ground water basin where it can be usable for the City as its highest beneficial use as a potable water source. Therefore, subjecting temporary dewatering facilities to BHMC section protects the City s ground water source from non-beneficial discharges and preserves it. flscal IMPACT Dewatering facilities that are not able to put ground water to beneficial use will be subject to the replenishment fee. The replenishment fee is calculated based on MWD Tier 1 Rate plus a fifteen percent administrative fee. For calendar year 2019, the projected replenishment fee rate is $ per acre-ft., which will bring an expected revenue of approximately $750,000 using the maximum annual volume discharged from each dewatering facility. This projection is conditional upon that all new dewatering sites discharges to its maximum annual volume. These projections may decrease if some dewatering sites have no discharges. This instance has occurred in the Hollywood Basin. This estimate excludes Metro s replenishment fee revenue as its replenishment fee rate is under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). By Page 4 of 4 2/26/2019

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6 ORDINANCE NO AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF BEVERLY HILLS AMENDING THE BEVERLY HILLS MUNICIPAL CODE TO APPLY THE WATER SUPPLY ORDINANCE TO THE SANTA MONICA AND UNADJUDICATED PORTIONS OF THE CENTRAL GROUND WATER BASINS AND TO CLARIFY THE DEFINITION OF GROUND WATER RECITALS 1 The City of Beverly Hills exercises its police power to regulate, manage, conserve, protect, and preserve the City s water supply, including ground water resources within the City s jurisdiction. 2. The City has historically applied the Water Supply Ordinance of the City of Beverly Hills, including its regulation of dewatering, to the activities located within the Hollywood ground water basin. 3. The City is contemplating pumping water from the Central ground water basin to supplement its water supply. To that end, the City has identified three new groundwater wells capable of producing approximately 1,700 acre feet in the unadjudicated portion of the Central ground water basin, known as the La Brea sub basin. In addition, the City is currently exploring methods of protecting its interests in the Santa Monica ground water basin should it decide to extract addition ground water from that basin as an additional supply source. 4. In order to further preserve and protect ground water resources, the City Council now desires to expand the Water Supply Ordinance to the other ground water basins located within the City of Beverly Hills and to clarify the Water Supply Ordinance s definition of ground water. ORDINANCE NOW THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BEVERLY HILLS HEREBY ORDAINS AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. The definition of BASIN in Section ( DEFINITIONS ) of Article 6 ( Water Supply ) of Chapter 4 ( WATER REGULATIONS ) of Title 9 ( BUILDING AND PROPERTY HEALTH AND SAFETY REGULATIONS ) of the Beverly Hills Municipal Code is amended to read as follows: BASIN: The Hollywood, Santa Monica, and unadjudicated portions of the Central ground water basins, as defined in Bulletin 11$ of the Department of Water Resources, as amended from time to time. Section 2. The definition of GROUND WATER in Section ( DEFINITIONS ) of Article 6 ( Water Supply ) of Chapter 4 ( WATER REGULATIONS ) of B \ v3.doc

7 Title 9 ( BUILDING AND PROPERTY HEALTH AND SAFETY REGULATIONS ) of the Beverly Hills Municipal Code is amended to read as follows: GROUND WATER: All water that can be or is produced from beneath the ground surface, but does not include water which flows in known and definite channels. Section 3. CEQA. The City Council finds that the adoption of this Ordinance is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section (14 C.C.R. Section 15307), which applies to actions taken by regulatory agencies as authorized by local ordinance to assure the maintenance, restoration, or enhancement of a natural resource where the regulatory process involves procedures for protection of the environment. This Ordinance is intended to regulate, manage, conserve, protect and preserve the city s water supply through a permitting and oversight process that protects the environment. Section 4. Severability. If any section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this Ordinance for any reason is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance, and each section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions thereof be declared invalid or unconstitutional. Section 5. Publication. The City Clerk shall cause this Ordinance to be published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation, published and circulated in the city within fifteen (15) days after its passage in accordance with Section of the Government Code, shall certify to the adoption of this Ordinance and shall cause this Ordinance and the City Clerk s certification, together with proof of publication, to be entered in the Book of Ordinances of the Council of this city. Adopted: Effective: JULIAN A. GOLD, M.D. Mayor of the City of Beverly Hills ATTEST: LOURDES SY-RODRIGUEZ Assistant City Clerk (SEAL) B \ v3doc -2-

8 APPROVED AS TO FORM: APPROVED AS TO CONTENT: A-L( (,j) LAURENCE S. W ENER MAHDI AL ZRI City Attorney City Mana r SHA A PST Dire or 1ic Works l\ v3doc -3-

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