Water Management Program Agreement between Montecito Water District and Homer LLC

Water Management Program Agreement between Montecito Water District and Homer LLC

1. Background Santa Barbara County Flood Control and Water Conservation District (SBCFCWCD) is party to a long-term water supply contract with the Department of Water Resources (DWR) (the "Water Supply Contract") that provides for water supply, storage and conveyance services from the State Water Project (SWP). ln 1991, SBCFCWCD and CCWA entered into the Transfer of Financial Responsibility Agreement, which, among other things, transferred responsibility for the Water Supply Contract to CCWA. Pursuant to the Water Supply Agreement, dated August 1, 1991, between CCWA and MWD, MWD is entitled to purchase from CCWA a portion of the SWP supply delivered to CCWA. KCWA also has a long-term water supply contract with DWR that permits KCWA to receive SWP water supply, storage, and conveyance services from the SWP. Semitropic obtains water from the SWP through its contracts with KCWA. 2. The Project MWD prepared an Initial Study/Negative Declaration for the Water Management Program Agreement between Montecito Water District and Homer LLC (the "Project"). At its meeting of January 10, 2025, MWD's Board of Directors adopted the IS/ND for the Project. The Project involves a five-year (2025 to 2029) transfer agreement of SWP supplies between MWD and Homer. Under the agreement, MWD would annually assess its water supplies and determine whether it has surplus Table A SWP water to transfer. If MWD determines it has surplus Table A SWP water, Homer would be obligated to purchase the surplus Table A SWP water at a predetermined unit price. The transfer of Table A SWP supplies would take place at the SWP Banks Pumping Plant. ln addition, the Project involves potential single-year transfer agreements of Article 56C (carryover) SWP supplies between MWD and Homer during the period of 2025 to 2029. These agreements may be executed in years when MWD determines it has surplus SWP supplies carried over from prior years. The transfer of Article 56C SWP supplies to Homer would take place at the San Luis Reservoir. Under either type of transfer agreement, Homer would store some or all of the delivered water at the Semitropic Groundwater Storage Bank in Kern County prior to use. These transfer agreements would not change the maximum annual Table A allocations of CCWA, KCWA, or MWD's maximum allocation of SWP supplies from CCWA. As such, the Project would not require additional water supplies to be diverted from the Delta. No physical infrastructure upgrades would be required to implement these transfer agreements because the surface and groundwater facilities (i.e., the Banks Pumping Plant, San Luis Reservoir, Semitropic) and Homer facilities currently exist and are in regular use for delivery of SWP supplies via KCWA.

Alameda, Contra Costa, Kern, Merced

Southern California

Santa Barbara