Tahoe-Sierra Integrated Regional Water Management Plan July 2014 K/J 1270036 Photo courtesy of Matthew Grimm South Tahoe Public Utility District Prepared By Kennedy/Jenks Consultants
10850 Gold Center Drive, Suite 350 Rancho Cordova, California 95670 916-858-2700 FAX: 916-858-2754 Tahoe-Sierra Integrated Regional Water Management Plan July 2014 Prepared for South Tahoe Public Utility District 1275 Meadow Crest Drive South Lake Tahoe, California 96150-7401 K/J Project No. 1270036*00
Acknowledgements Prepared by: The Partnership of the Tahoe-Sierra Integrated Regional Water Management Partnership Prepared with funding assistance from: Proposition 84 Integrated Regional Water Management Planning Grant from the California Department of Water Resources With the assistance of: Kennedy/Jenks Consultants Ascent Environmental, Inc. Atypical Design Northwest Hydraulic Consultants, Inc. Shift Communications and Consulting Vaca Consulting The Partnership would like to thank the Department of Water Resources, and the many dedicated stakeholders of the Tahoe-Sierra Region for their time, guidance, and thoughtful participation in the creation of this truly integrated plan. Tahoe-Sierra IRWM Plan, July 2014
Executive Summary...ES-1 Section 1: Introduction... 1-1 1.1 Background... 1-1 1.1.1 Primary Focal Points of the IRWM Plan... 1-5 1.1.1.1 Protect and Improve Water Quality... 1-5 1.1.1.2 Protect the Community Water Supply and Treatment/Delivery Systems... 1-5 1.1.1.3 Manage Groundwater Sustainable Yield... 1-5 1.1.1.4 Contribute to Ecosystem Restoration... 1-6 1.1.1.5 Implement Integrated Watershed Management throughout the Region... 1-6 1.1.2 Formation of the IRWM Region... 1-6 1.2 Governance... 1-9 1.2.1 Partnership... 1-9 1.2.2 Regional Water Management Group... 1-10 1.2.3 Subcommittee... 1-10 1.3 Stakeholder Coordination and Outreach... 1-11 1.3.1 Overview of the Stakeholder Coordination and Outreach Process... 1-11 1.3.2 Stakeholders... 1-12 1.3.2.1 Municipal and County Governments... 1-13 1.3.2.2 Water Purveyors, Wastewater Agencies, and Similar Special Districts... 1-13 1.3.2.3 Regional, State and Federal Regulatory Resource Agencies... 1-13 1.3.2.4 Environmental Community... 1-14 1.3.2.5 Tribal Community... 1-14 1.3.2.6 Disadvantaged Community... 1-14 1.3.3 Community Outreach Overview... 1-14 1.3.3.1 Disadvantaged Communities... 1-15 1.3.3.2 Tribal Outreach... 1-15 1.3.4 Neighboring IRWM Regions... 1-16 1.4 Plan Development... 1-16 1.4.1 Overview... 1-16 1.4.2 Subcommittee... 1-17 1.4.3 Plan Organization... 1-17 1.5 Plan Adoption... 1-18 Section 2: Region Description... 2-1 2.1 Region Overview... 2-1 2.2 Early Region History... 2-1 2.3 History of Water Management... 2-5 Tahoe-Sierra IRWM Plan, July 2014 i
(cont'd) 2.4 Jurisdictional Boundaries... 2-7 2.4.1 State and Federal Lands... 2-8 2.4.2 Regional Jurisdictional Agencies... 2-8 2.4.3 Water and Wastewater Agency Summary... 2-8 2.5 Social and Cultural Makeup... 2-11 2.5.1 Population... 2-11 2.5.2 Socioeconomic Conditions... 2-13 2.5.3 Disadvantaged Communities... 2-13 2.5.4 Native American Tribes... 2-13 2.6 Land Use Summary... 2-17 2.7 Climate... 2-21 2.8 Watersheds and Groundwater Basins... 2-23 2.8.1 Beneficial Uses... 2-23 2.8.2 Lake Tahoe Basin... 2-24 2.8.3 Truckee River... 2-27 2.8.4 Little Truckee River... 2-31 2.8.5 West Fork Carson River... 2-31 2.8.6 East Fork Carson River... 2-35 2.9 Water Resources... 2-35 2.9.1 Water Supply... 2-35 2.9.1.1 Surface Water Sources... 2-35 2.9.1.2 Groundwater Resources... 2-38 2.9.1.3 Regional Water Supplies and Projections... 2-38 2.9.1.4 Recycled Water... 2-40 2.9.2 Water Demands... 2-41 2.9.2.1 Municipal Water Demands... 2-41 2.9.2.2 Non-Consumptive Demands... 2-42 2.9.2.3 Water Exports from the Region... 2-42 2.10 Water-Related Infrastructure... 2-42 2.10.1 Surface Water Infrastructure... 2-43 2.10.1.1 Dams and Reservoirs... 2-43 2.10.1.2 Intakes... 2-44 2.10.2 Groundwater Infrastructure... 2-44 2.10.3 Water Treatment and Distribution Infrastructure... 2-45 2.10.4 Wastewater and Recycled Water Infrastructure... 2-46 2.10.5 Flood Management and Infrastructure... 2-46 2.11 Water Quality... 2-47 2.11.1 Water Quality Regulations... 2-47 2.11.2 Surface Water Quality... 2-48 2.11.2.1 Lake Tahoe Basin... 2-48 2.11.2.2 Truckee River and Little Truckee River... 2-54 2.11.2.3 East and West Forks Carson River... 2-55 2.11.3 Groundwater Quality... 2-55 2.12 Ecological Resources... 2-56 2.12.1 Terrestrial Ecosystems... 2-56 ii Tahoe-Sierra IRWM Plan, July 2014
(cont'd) 2.12.2 Aquatic Ecosystems and Fisheries... 2-59 2.12.3 Endangered and Special-Status Species and Habitats... 2-60 2.12.4 Invasive Species... 2-61 2.13 Summary of Major Concerns and Conflicts... 2-61 2.13.1 Potential Climate Change Impacts and Vulnerabilities... 2-63 2.13.2 Water Quality... 2-63 2.13.3 Forest Management... 2-64 2.13.4 Infrastructure Needs... 2-64 2.13.5 DAC Needs... 2-65 Section 3: Relation to Local Planning... 3-1 3.1 Relation to Local Water Planning... 3-1 3.1.1 Urban Water Management Plans and Water Supply Assessments... 3-1 3.1.2 Groundwater Management Plans... 3-2 3.1.3 Water Quality Control and Management Plans... 3-4 3.1.4 Truckee River Operating Agreement... 3-5 3.2 Relation to Local Land Use Planning... 3-5 3.2.1 Local Land Use and Land Management Summary... 3-6 3.2.2 Other Land Management Agency Summary... 3-9 3.2.3 Climate Change Policies in Current Land Use and Management Plans... 3-11 Section 4: Objectives... 4-1 4.1 Key Terms... 4-1 4.2 Process for Developing Goals, Objectives and Measureable Planning Targets... 4-2 4.3 Plan Goals... 4-2 4.4 Plan Objectives and Measurable Planning Targets... 4-3 4.4.1 Water Quality (WQ) Objectives... 4-3 4.4.2 Water Supply (WS) Objectives... 4-5 4.4.3 Groundwater Management (GWM) Objectives... 4-6 4.4.4 Ecosystem Restoration (ER) Objectives... 4-7 4.4.5 Integrated Watershed Management (IWM) Objectives... 4-8 4.5 Prioritization of Objectives... 4-10 Section 5: Resource Management Strategies... 5-1 5.1 Resource Management Strategy (RMS) Summary... 5-1 5.2 RMS Applicable to the Region... 5-2 5.2.1 Reduce Water Use... 5-2 5.2.1.1 Agricultural Water Use Efficiency... 5-2 5.2.1.2 Urban Water Use Efficiency... 5-3 5.2.2 Improve Flood Management... 5-3 Tahoe-Sierra IRWM Plan, July 2014 iii
(cont'd) 5.2.2.1 Flood Management... 5-3 5.2.3 Improve Operational Efficiency and Transfers... 5-3 5.2.3.1 Conveyance Regional/Local... 5-3 5.2.3.2 System Reoperation... 5-4 5.2.3.3 Water Transfers... 5-4 5.2.4 Increase Water Supply... 5-4 5.2.4.1 Conjunctive Management and Groundwater... 5-4 5.2.4.2 Precipitation Enhancement... 5-5 5.2.4.3 Municipal Recycled Water... 5-5 5.2.4.4 Surface Storage Regional/Local... 5-5 5.2.5 Improve Water Quality... 5-6 5.2.5.1 Drinking Water Treatment and Distribution... 5-6 5.2.5.2 Groundwater Remediation/Aquifer Remediation... 5-6 5.2.5.3 Matching Water Quality to Use... 5-6 5.2.5.4 Pollution Prevention... 5-6 5.2.5.5 Salt and Salinity Management... 5-7 5.2.5.6 Urban Stormwater Runoff Management... 5-7 5.2.6 Practice Resource Stewardship... 5-7 5.2.6.1 Agricultural Land Stewardship... 5-7 5.2.6.2 Ecosystem Restoration... 5-8 5.2.6.3 Forest Management... 5-8 5.2.6.4 Land Use Planning and Management... 5-8 5.2.6.5 Recharge Area Protection... 5-9 5.2.6.6 Sediment Management... 5-9 5.2.6.7 Watershed Management... 5-9 5.2.7 People and Water... 5-9 5.2.7.1 Economic Incentives... 5-9 5.2.7.2 Outreach and Engagement... 5-10 5.2.7.3 Water and Culture... 5-10 5.2.7.4 Water-Dependent Recreation... 5-10 5.2.8 Other Strategies... 5-11 5.2.8.1 Crop Idling for Water Transfers... 5-11 5.2.8.2 Irrigated Land Retirement... 5-11 5.2.8.3 Rainfed Agriculture... 5-11 Section 6: Project Review Process... 6-1 6.1 Project Solicitation and Submittal Process... 6-1 6.1.1 Special Circumstances for Project Submittal... 6-2 6.2 Project Scoring Process... 6-2 6.2.1 Scoring Criteria... 6-3 6.3 Summary of Projects Included in the IRWM Plan... 6-7 6.3.1 Summary of DAC and Tribal Community Projects... 6-7 iv Tahoe-Sierra IRWM Plan, July 2014
(cont'd) Section 7: Impacts and Benefits... 7-1 7.1 Benefits of Plan Implementation... 7-1 7.1.1 Plan Benefits... 7-1 7.1.2 Plan Beneficiaries... 7-9 7.1.3 Interregional Benefits... 7-9 7.2 Impacts of Plan Implementation... 7-10 Section 8: Implementation Framework... 8-1 8.1 Introduction... 8-1 8.2 Recommended Governance Structure... 8-2 8.2.1 Organizational Structure and Function... 8-2 8.2.2 Roles and Responsibilities... 8-3 8.2.2.1 Partnership... 8-5 8.2.2.2 Regional Water Management Group (RWMG)... 8-5 8.2.2.3 IRWM Stakeholders/Participants... 8-5 8.2.2.4 Project Proponents... 8-5 8.2.2.5 As-Needed Subcommittee... 8-6 8.2.3 Access and Opportunity for Participation... 8-7 8.2.3.1 Internal and External Communication... 8-7 8.2.3.2 Public Involvement Processes... 8-7 8.2.4 Decision Making... 8-8 8.3 Plan Financing... 8-8 8.3.1 Funding Needs... 8-8 8.3.1.1 Implementation Administration Funding... 8-8 8.3.1.2 Project Implementation Funding... 8-9 8.3.2 Potential Funding Sources... 8-9 8.3.2.1 Stakeholder Funding... 8-9 8.3.2.2 Grants and Other Sources... 8-15 8.4 Plan Performance and Monitoring... 8-15 8.4.1 Project-Focused Performance Monitoring... 8-15 8.4.2 Objectives Focused Performance Monitoring... 8-17 8.4.3 Data Management... 8-17 8.4.3.1 Data Management System... 8-17 8.4.3.2 Potential Long-Term Data Management Options... 8-18 8.5 Suggested Initial Steps for Plan Implementation... 8-19 8.6 Plan Updates and Changes... 8-19 8.6.1 Making Changes to the IRWM Plan... 8-19 8.6.2 Updating and Amending the IRWM Plan... 8-20 Section 9: Coordination... 9-1 9.1 Intra-Regional Coordination... 9-1 9.1.1 Coordination by Partnership and Leadership Team... 9-1 Tahoe-Sierra IRWM Plan, July 2014 v
(cont'd) 9.1.2 Coordination among Local Agencies and Organizations... 9-2 9.1.3 Coordination with State and Federal Agencies... 9-3 9.2 Interregional Coordination... 9-4 Section 10: Abbreviations and Acronyms... 10-1 References... i List of Tables Table ES-1: Resource Management Strategies... ES-8 Table ES-2: Project Summary... ES-9 Table ES-3: IRWM Plan Near-Term Implementation Activities and Schedule... ES-13 Table 1-1: Current (a) Partnership and MOU Signatories... 1-10 Table 1-2: Summary of Partnership Meetings... 1-12 Table 1-3: Participating Stakeholders... 1-13 Table 1-4: Proposition 84 Standards and Plan Cross-Reference... 1-18 Table 2-1: Land Ownership in the Region... 2-7 Table 2-2: Population by County Within the Region... 2-11 Table 2-3: Regional Demographics... 2-12 Table 2-4: DAC Population... 2-14 Table 2-5: Historical Precipitation Summaries... 2-21 Table 2-6: Beneficial Use Designations... 2-24 Table 2-7: Yearly Runoff Volume... 2-37 Table 2-8: Water Supply Sources... 2-39 Table 2-9: Water Supply Projections (afy)... 2-40 Table 2-10: 2010 Water Demand by Sector (afy)... 2-41 Table 2-11: Municipal Water Demand Projections... 2-41 Table 2-12: Groundwater Infrastructure... 2-44 Table 2-13: 303(d) Listed Waterbodies... 2-49 Table 2-14: Percent Coverage of Land Cover Types by HU... 2-59 Table 2-15: Endangered and Threatened Species... 2-62 Table 6-1: Project Scoring Criteria... 6-5 Table 6-2: Restoration Projects Sorted by Total Score... 6-8 Table 6-3: Stormwater/Flood Control Projects Sorted by Total Score... 6-9 Table 6-4: Water Supply/Wastewater Projects Sorted by Total Score... 6-10 Table 7-1: Potential Benefits and Impacts from Plan Implementation Organized by Goal... 7-3 Table 7-2: Potential Benefits and Impacts from Plan Implementation Organized by Project... 7-7 Table 8-1: Activities, Participants, and Roles for Implementing the Tahoe-Sierra IRWM Plan... 8-4 Table 8-2: Project Financing Summary... 8-11 vi Tahoe-Sierra IRWM Plan, July 2014
(cont'd) Table 8-3: Project Specific Monitoring Plans... 8-16 Table 8-4: IRWM Plan Near-Term Implementation Activities and Schedule... 8-19 List of Figures Figure ES-1: IRWM Planning Process Overview...ES-2 Figure ES-2: Region Boundary...ES-3 Figure 1-1: Regional Location... 1-3 Figure 1-2: Neighboring Regions... 1-7 Figure 1-3: IRWM Planning Process Overview... 1-17 Figure 2-1: Regional Location... 2-3 Figure 2-2: Land Management Agencies... 2-9 Figure 2-3: Water District Service Areas... 2-10 Figure 2-4: Disadvantaged Communities... 2-15 Figure 2-5: Land Use... 2-19 Figure 2-6: Historical Average Minimum Temperatures... 2-22 Figure 2-7: Historical Average Total Precipitation... 2-23 Figure 2-8: Lake Tahoe Hydrologic Units... 2-25 Figure 2-9: Truckee River and Little Truckee River Hydrologic Units... 2-29 Figure 2-10: West and East Fork Carson River Hydrologic Units... 2-33 Figure 2-11: Average Streamflows... 2-36 Figure 2-12: 303(d) Impaired Waterbodies... 2-51 Figure 2-13: Land Cover Vegetation... 2-57 Figure 6-1: Project Location Map... 6-11 Figure 6-2: Project Location Map, DAC and Tribal Community... 6-13 List of Appendices Appendix 1 1-A Memorandum of Understanding Regarding the Tahoe Sierra IRWM Plan Revised January 30, 2014 and Proof or Adoption 1-B Proposition 84 Standards and Plan Cross Reference Table 1-C Proof of Publications 1-D Partnership and Subcommittee Meeting Summaries Appendix 2 2-A CDPH Regulated Water Systems 2-B 303(d) Listed Waterbodies 2-C Endangered and Threatened Species Tahoe-Sierra IRWM Plan, July 2014 vii
(cont'd) 2-D Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment/Prioritization 2-E Water Questionnaire Results 2-F Technical Analysis Appendix 3 3-A Local Planning Documents Appendix 6 6-A Project Information Form 6-B Project Lists 6-B-1 Projects Sorted by Project Number 6-B-2 Restoration Project Criteria Scores 6-B-3 Stormwater/Flood Control Project Criteria Scores 6-B-4 Water Supply/Wastewater Project Criteria Scores 6-B-5 Projects Sorted by Type and Agency/Organization 6-B-6 Projects Sorted by Type and Total Cost 6-B-7 Project Descriptions 6-B-8 Projects with DAC and Tribal Considerations 6-C Completed Project Information Forms Appendix 8 8-A Objectives Tracking 8-B Links to State of California Databases 8-C Sample Project Tracking viii Tahoe-Sierra IRWM Plan, July 2014
Photo courtesy of Carson Water Subconservancy District