Item 27 - Water Supply Assessment for Cabrillo Town Center Project

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Santa Ana 2020 Urban Water Management Plan arcadis.com 7-4 Dramatic swings in annual hydrologic conditions have impacted water supplies available from the SWP over the last decade. The declining ecosystem in the Delta has also led to a reduction in water supply deliveries, and operational constraints, which will likely continue until a long-term solution to these problems is identified and implemented (MET, 2021). Legal, environmental, and water quality issues may have impacts on MET supplies. It is felt, however, that climatic factors would have more of an impact than legal, water quality, and environmental factors. Climatic conditions have been projected based on historical patterns but severe pattern changes are still a possibility in the future (MET, 2021). 7.2.2 Regulatory and Legal Ongoing regulatory restrictions, such as those imposed by the Biops on the effects of SWP and the federal CVP operations on certain marine life, also contributes to the challenge of determining water delivery reliability. Endangered species protection and conveyance needs in the Delta have resulted in operational constraints that are particularly important because pumping restrictions impact many water resources programs – SWP supplies and additional voluntary transfers, Central Valley storage and transfers, and in-region groundwater and surface water storage. Biops protect special-status species listed as threatened or endangered under the ESAs and imposed substantial constraints on Delta water supply operations through requirements for Delta inflow and outflow and export pumping restrictions. In addition, the SWRCB has set water quality objectives that must be met by the SWP including minimum Delta outflows, limits on SWP and CVP Delta exports, and maximum allowable salinity level. SWRCB plans to fully implement the new Lower San Joaquin River (LSJR) flow objectives from the Phase 1 Delta Plan amendments through adjudicatory (water rights) and regulatory (water quality) processes by 2022. These LSJR flow objectives are estimated to reduce water available for human consumptive use. New litigation, listings of additional species under the ESAs, or regulatory requirements imposed by the SWRCB could further adversely affect SWP operations in the future by requiring additional export reductions, releases of additional water from storage, or other operational changes impacting water supply operations. The difficulty and implications of environmental review, documentation, and permitting pose challenges for multi-year transfer agreements, recycled water projects, and seawater desalination plants. The timeline and roadmap for getting a permit for recycled water projects are challenging and inconsistently implemented in different regions of the state. Indirect potable reuse projects face regulatory restraints such as treatment, blend water, retention time, and Basin Plan Objectives, which may limit how much recycled water can feasibly be recharged into the groundwater basins. New regulations and permitting uncertainty are also barriers to seawater desalination supplies, including updated Ocean Plan Regulations, Marine Life Protected Areas, and Once-Through Cooling Regulations (MET, 2021). 7.2.3 Water Quality The following sub-sections include narratives on water quality issues experienced in various water supplies, if any, and the measures being taken to improve the water quality of these sources.