Central Coast Water Authority and Irvine Ranch Water district 2023 Short Term Water Exchange Program

Summary

SCH Number
2023030296
Public Agency
Central Coast Water Authority (CCWA)
Document Title
Central Coast Water Authority and Irvine Ranch Water district 2023 Short Term Water Exchange Program
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
3/9/2023
Document Description
The CCWA and IRWD 2023 Short Term Exchange Program (Transfer/Exchange) will provide for IRWD to store a portion of CCWA's unused SWP Table A water, Article 56 carryover water or schedulable Article 21 water in the Water Bank (Exchange Water) in the Water Bank for the benefit of both agencies. Within the first year of the execution of the Transfer/Exchange Agreement, CCWA may deliver up to 1,500 acre-feet of Exchange Water to the Water Bank at the IRWD point of delivery which will be the Strand Ranch and/or Stockdale West Turnouts on the Cross Valley Canal, other Rosedale diversion locations as specified by Rosedale, or thereabouts, or as directed by MWDSC. By the end of the sixth calendar year after CCWA delivers Exchange Water to the Water Bank, IRWD will remit water in return equal to one-half of the Exchange Water placed into storage less applicable losses (Return Water) by either (i) an exchange of banked water for SWP water or other water already in the California Aqueduct, or (ii) recovery of water from the Water Bank wells with subsequent delivery through the Cross Valley Canal to the California Aqueduct. JRWD shall provide Return Water at a time when requested by CCWA at an annual rate not to exceed one-third of the portion of the Maximum Account Balance, or 583 AF due to be returned to CCWA after losses. The other one-half of the Exchange Water placed into storage less applicable losses shall be deemed transferred to IRWD.

Contact Information

Name
Ray Stokes
Agency Name
Central Coast Water Authority
Job Title
Executive Director
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Email

Location

Counties
Kern, Santa Barbara
Regions
Southern California
Other Location Info
Existing State Water Project (SWP) facilities to existing turnouts in Santa Barbara and Kern Counties. The SWP includes facilities located throughout the State of California. The SWP is owned and operated by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), headquartered in Sacramento, California. The Central Coast Water Authority (CCWA) has assumed responsibility for the Santa Barbara County Flood Control and Water Conservation District (SBCFCWCD)'s State Water Project (SWP) and CCWA's service area is located in Santa Barbara County. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWDSC) is a SWP contractor serving most of Southern California and headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is headquartered in Sacramento, California. Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD) receives SWP water from MWDSC through the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) and is located in Orange County. IRWD owns the Strand Ranch Integrated Banking Project and Stockdale Integrated Banking Project (Water Bank) located in Kern County. IRWD, MWDSC and MWDOC have executed a Coordinated Operating and Exchange Agreement that allows IRWD to secure SWP water on MWDSC's behalf for the joint benefit of MWDSC and IRWD. The Water Bank is operated by Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District Rosedale) which has an annual SWP Table A allocation through SWP contractor Kern County Water Agency also located in Kern County.

Notice of Exemption

Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
14 Cal. Code Regs. §§ 15300.2, 15301
Reasons for Exemption
None of the exceptions under CEQA Guidelines Section 15300.2 apply because there will be no significant cumulative impact as there are no known successive projects of the same type in the same place that will occur over the same time horizon; there is no reasonable possibility that the activity will have a significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances; and there are no scenic highways, hazardous waste sites, or historical resources in the area. CEQA Guidelines Section 15301 provides an "existing facilities" exemption to environmental review that exempts activities that include the "maintenance, permitting, leasing, licensing, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment, or topographical features, involving negligible or no expansion of existing or former use." The water exchanged will be delivered to existing facilities, which include the Cross Valley Canal, Strand Ranch and/or Stockdale West Turnouts on the Cross Valley Canal, California Aqueduct, or other existing water banking or exchange programs (including the Water Bank) in which IRWD is a participant in Kern County. The Exchange is intended to meet existing uses of water and would not support new development or a change in land use. (14 Cal. Code Regs.§§ 15061(b)(3), 15301.)

Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
Pub. Res. Code§ 21065; 14 Cal. Code Regs.§§ 15061 (b)(3), 15378
Reasons for Exemption
The Transfer/Exchange is not a project under CEQA (Pub. Res. Code§ 21065; 14 Cal. Code Regs.§§ 15061 (b)(3), 15378) because it will not result in direct or indirect changes to the environment. IRWD has already conducted environmental review under CEQA for the Water Bank that takes into consideration the delivery of SWP water to the Water Bank. Rosedale and IRWD independently certified and approved the Water Bank Project on May 27, 2008 for Strand Ranch Integrated Banking Project and December 8, 2015 for Stockdale Integrated Banking Project. Moreover, the SWP long-term water supply contracts include provisions for delivery within the SWP place of use. Accordingly, the activity is simply a change in water management operations using existing facilities. CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) provides a "common sense" exemption to environmental review that CEQA only applies to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to review.
County Clerks
Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Santa Barbara

Attachments

Notice of Exemption

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