SCH Number 2021090310

Project Info

Title

Inland Empire Utilities Agency Chino Basin Program (CBP) Draft PEIR

Description

The CBP was submitted for Proposition 1 – Water Storage Investment Program (WSIP) funding and was awarded $206.9M in conditional funding in July 2018. Under the WSIP, the CBP is proposed to be a 25-year conjunctive use project that proposes to use advanced water purification to treat and store up to 15,000 acre-feet-per-year (AFY) of recycled water in the Chino Basin and extract the water during call years, which will likely be in dry seasons. The CBP would increase additional available groundwater supplies in the adjudicated Chino Basin through increased water recycling that would result from operation of a new AWPF and through groundwater storage by operation of new injection wells. The CBP would then dedicate a commensurate amount of water generated by the AWPF for Chino Basin use to provide for an exchange of State Water Project (SWP) supplies in Lake Oroville in northern California that would otherwise be delivered to southern California. The additional Lake Oroville water would subsequently be released in the form of pulse flows in the Feather River to improve habitat conditions for native salmonids and achieve environmental benefits. Additionally, new water stored in the Chino Basin would also enhance emergency response water supply availability for IEUA and other participating agencies during crises such as flood or seismic events that disrupt imported water infrastructure. IEUA’s partner and the State Water Project Contractor that will facilitate the exchange for the CBP is Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD). The Program would rely on water transfer agreements through MWD. For every acre-foot of water requested for north of the Delta ecosystem benefits, IEUA would pump locally stored groundwater and deliver it to MWD or use the water locally instead of taking raw imported water from MWD. MWD would then leave behind an equivalent amount of water in Lake Oroville to be dedicated and released for the requested ecosystem benefit. The CBP can be operated in a way to provide up to 50,000 AFY of water for up to 7.5 years, with a consecutive draw of no more than 3 years, of the 25-year program (up to 375,000 AF total) as long as the groundwater extraction does not exceed the approved borrow amount. This would result in balancing the PUTs (the components to recharge purified water to the Chino Basin) and TAKEs (the components to extract groundwater and convey potable water supply) to the Chino Basin at the end of the 25-year program, i.e., up to 375,000 AF would be recharged over 25 years and the same amount could be extracted over 25 years The CBP’s proposed AWPF, new injection and extraction facilities, conveyance facilities, and water system interconnections will allow more optimal management of local water supplies, including meeting water quality requirements for the continued use of recycled water within the Chino Basin, improved storage and recovery operations, as well as redundancies in water delivery infrastructure that will facilitate future rehabilitation and replacement of existing infrastructure. Additionally, the proposed CBP requires an increase in the Safe Storage Capacity of the Chino Basin in order to accommodate the additional managed storage above the existing Safe Storage Capacity (700,000 AF through June 30, 2030, and to 620,000 AF from July 1, 2030 through June 30, 2035) required to operate the CBP. As such, the CBP would contemplate a tiered increase in Safe Storage Capacity that would accommodate CBP storage requirements as well as Watermaster stakeholder storage requirements as follows: the CBP proposes an increase in Safe Storage Capacity up to 700,000 AF through June 30, 2039, and to 580,000 AF from July 1, 2039 through June 30, 2048, with the Safe Storage Capacity decreasing to 500,000 AF thereafter.

5 documents in project