CWA adopts IRWMP, authorizes grant application

By Joe Naiman
The Alpine Sun

     SAN DIEGO — The San Diego County Water Authority board adopted the 2007 San Diego Integrated Regional Water Management Plan and authorized the County Water Authority's general manager to submit a grant application for $25 million to the State of California. Other than two CWA board members who abstained due to potential conflicts of interest, all CWA board members voted to support the IRWMP and the grant application.
     The grant application will include a request to fund part of the Back Country Land Trust of San Diego County's "Conservation in the Campo Valley" program.
     "This is a milestone for the county," said Ken Weinberg, the CWA's Director of Water Resources. "This is the first-ever Integrated Regional Water Management Plan in San Diego County."
     In November 2002 the state's voters approved Proposition 50, which authorized the spending of $3.4 billion for projects involving fresh water and coastal resources. Chapter 8 of Prop 50 authorizes up to $500 million for integrated regional water management (IRWM) planning and implementation grants.
     Following the passage of Prop 50, the CWA board authorized the agency's general manager to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the City and County of San Diego to form a regional water management group (RWMG), which would lead the IRWM effort in the San Diego region. The CWA was designated as the lead agency of the RWMG, which also organized a Regional Advisory Committee with 27 representatives from water management, business, academia, and other sectors.
     "It's not just a Water Authority effort. It truly was a regional effort," Weinberg said. "It was years in the making."
     In July 2007 the CWA board authorized the submittal of the San Diego region's application for the second round of funding. That funding cycle will allocate $64.5 million in projects grants with a cap of $25 million per region. Due to a regional distribution requirement in Prop 50, at least $43.5 million will be awarded to regions in Southern California, which is defined as eight counties including San Diego.
     After the CWA submitted the grant application, the state Department of Water Resources and the State Water Resources Control Board accepted five Southern California grant applications and 12 Northern California applications for review, and some of those applicants will be invited to submit a Step 2 application. The final Step 2 applicant list is expected to be issued Nov. 21, and the Step 2 application deadline is Jan. 14. The state will have a public comment period on the draft Step 2 funding recommendations and is expected to announce the grant awards in May 2008.
     A nine-member workgroup reviewed 51 projects, along with Regional Advisory Committee input, in detail before proposing a package of 25 projects and a $25 million funding request.
     "All of the projects offer multiple benefits to the region," said CWA principal imported water specialist Mark Stadler.
The package contains proposals from 14 different proponents (in addition to public agencies, a handful of foundations and conservancies are also serving as project leads). The CWA itself has three projects on the list: An integrated landscape conservation effort, an agricultural water use efficiency program, and recycled water retrofit assistance. The three CWA projects would total $2.95 million in grants, if full funding is allocated.
     The grant application seeks $650,000 for the Conservation in the Campo Valley project, which would acquire and protect 1,600 acres of land in the Campo Watershed. That would protect the only water supply for the area and also protect habitat lands which recharge groundwater and serve as flood plains and channels for surface water.
     The program would also protect critical linkages and wildlife corridors for sensitive plant and animal species, restore natural habitat areas through the removal of invasive plant species, and educate Back Country communities about the Campo Watershed and how residents' behavior affects the health of the groundwater. The program has a total estimated cost of $5.6 million.
     The CWA's integrated landscape conservation effort would include a web-driven water budget program and landscape measurement tool, which would enable the CWA to measure all landscaped areas throughout the county and set a measurable conservation target for the region. The program would also include water use targets, demonstrations of financial viability, incentives for change, and promotion of low water use landscapes.
     The grant application requests $1,631,508 of the total $8,450,000 estimated cost.
     The CWA's agricultural efficiency program would save between 1,500 and 3,000 acre-feet per year. The CWA and its contractors work with farmers to provide agricultural audits, although the demand for audits exceeds the CWA's available funding. The audits have improved efficiency by an average of 13 percent without compromising crops or production. The grant request seeks $390,000 while the total project cost is estimated at $520,000.
     The CWA's recycled water retrofit assistance program has a total estimated cost of $1.6 million, and the grant application seeks $800,000. That program would offer direct financial assistance to homeowners' associations, public agencies, and other customer types to facilitate the retrofitting of suitable water sites from potable to recycled water. The CWA has a goal of recycled water producing five percent of the region's water demand by 2011.

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