Replenish Big Bear Program

Replenish Big Bear Program

Replenish Big Bear includes permitting, design, and construction of full advanced treatment facility upgrades at the existing BBARWA WWTP, more than 7 miles of pipeline for product water and RO brine minimization, three pump stations, a groundwater recharge facility, and up to four monitoring wells. The Program is currently estimated to produce approximately 1,950 acre-feet per year (AFY) of high-quality purified water, and may produce up to 2,210 AFY by 2040 through operation of a high-recovery brine minimization technology. For the purposes of this document, 2,210 AFY is used to be conservative in evaluating environmental impacts. Up to 80 AFY of purified water will be sent to Shay Pond, and any remaining purified water will be sent to the Lake The objectives of the Project remain the same and include the following uses and benefits: • Purified water will be discharged to Shay Pond to sustain habitat for the federally listed Unarmored Threespined Stickleback fish, which is currently sustained using potable groundwater • Purified water will be discharged to the Stanfield Marsh Wildlife and Waterfowl Preserve (Stanfield Marsh), providing a consistent water source to sustain habitat and increase education opportunities for the community and visitors; • Purified water will flow through Stanfield Marsh and provide new inflow to the Lake to increase inflows and Lake level, enhance recreational opportunities and aquatic habitat, and support water quality improvements; • When needed, purified water stored in the Lake will be pumped to Sand Canyon to recharge the groundwater basin to strengthen the sustainability of the groundwater basin; • Purified water stored in the Lake for can be used for golf course irrigation and dust control by the Big Bear Mountain Resorts (Resorts) in the summer; • During wet periods, excess purified water stored in the Lake could be stored locally as snow, providing flexibility to further enhance winter recreation, reduce spills from Big Bear Lake, augment spring runoff and increase groundwater recharge. This activity is not currently planned to be implemented as part of the Program, but the Program provides the flexibility to adapt if more extreme hydrologic conditions occur in the future; and, • Additional inflow may enable BBMWD to modify their current Big Bear Lake management strategy to minimize spills and optimize releases to enable additional water to be captured downstream for recharge of the San Bernardino Basin, rather than discharged to the ocean. For redundancy purposes, BBARWA is also seeking to maintain its current discharge location in Lucerne Valley, where undisinfected secondary effluent is currently conveyed to irrigate crops used for livestock feed.

Big Bear City

San Bernardino

Southern California

California Air Resources Board (ARB), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Inland Deserts Region 6 (CDFW), California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Department of Transportation, District 8 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, Division of Aeronautics (DOT), California Department of Transportation, Division of Transportation Planning (DOT), California Department of Water Resources (DWR), California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES), California Highway Patrol (CHP), California Natural Resources Agency, California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Colorado River Basin Region 7 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Santa Ana Region 8 (RWQCB), California State Lands Commission (SLC), Department of Toxic Substances Control, Office of Historic Preservation, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Quality, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Rights, State Water Resources Control Board, Divison of Financial Assistance, California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC)

California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC)

Water Facilities (Wells & Pump Stations)(Type 4 Wells, 3 Pumps, MGD 2.2), Other (6.59 miles of pipeline; 57-acre evaporation pond), Waste Treatment:Other (Purified)(MGD 2.2)

Site Plan

Aesthetics, Air Quality, Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, Cumulative Effects, Drainage/Absorption, Energy, Fiscal Impacts, Flood Plain/Flooding, Geology/Soils, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Growth Inducement, Hazards & Hazardous Materials, Hydrology/Water Quality, Land Use/Planning, Mineral Resources, Noise, Population/Housing, Public Services, Recreation, Schools/Universities, Sewer Capacity, Solid Waste, Transportation, Tribal Cultural Resources, Utilities/Service Systems, Vegetation, Wetland/Riparian, Wildfire