HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Packet 1992/08/26
August ii, 1992
FROM:
The Honorable Mayor & City Council
Patty Wesp, Secretary MR
JOINT CITY COUNCttr~AY WATER DISTRICT MEETING
MEMO TO:
SUBJECT:
After polling Councilmembers, the following date and time have been confirmed via
Attorney Tom Harron representing the District to conduct a Joint City Council/Otay Water
District meeting:
Wednesday. August 26, 1992 . 3:00 p.m.
Otay Municipal Water District
(Board Room)
10595 Jamacha Boulevard
Spring Valley
For your reference, I am attaching a copy of our 7/24/92 letter. Should you have
questions or additional directions, please advise.
cc: City Manager
City Attorney
City Clerk
otay
NOTICE OF A SPECIAL JOINT MEETING
OF THE CHULA VISTA CITY COUNCILjOTAY MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the city Council of the City of
Chula vista will meet in an special joint meeting on Wednesday,
August 26, 1992 at 3:00 p.m. in the otay Municipal Water District
Board Room, 10595 Jamacha Boulevard, spring valley, CA.
Said meeting will be for the purpose of a Joint Meeting with
the otay Municipal Water District Board.
DATED: August 18, 1992.
Beverly A. Authelet, city Clerk
"I declare under penalty of perjury that I am
emplo'le1 by the City of Chula Vista in the
01fice of t"o Ci ty Cieri: and th~ 1 posted
this r,;;eneJ3/Notice en the Bulletin Ooard at
the pUbly?es BuJding and at Cit~1t!!1 on
DATED: I~/~ SIGNED6-9'r::y/ ..
~\ft-
=~~~
~~~~
~~~"""'"
"'"""'- ~
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
TIM NADER
ellY OF
CHULA VISTA
July 24, 1992
Board of Directors
Otay Municipal Water District
10595 Jamacha Blvd.
Spring Valley,Ca. 91978
Dear Chairman Hilton and Board Members:
This letter is in regards to the action taken by the City Council in December
1991, to work with the Otay Water District in resolving concerns we had with the
purchase of a 57 acre parcel from the Otay Ranch without environmental clearance.
The City Council's concerns have been centered in the area of emergency/terminal
storage. The storage options presented in your master plan, prepared by Black
and Veach, placed over half of your total system cost into concrete storage
facilities. We are concerned with the lack of environmental review and planning
consultation prior to this decision.
Our staffs have been working on the issues over the last 6 months with written
questions and answers being transmitted back and forth. Our staff was slow in
responding to your last letter. We apologize but due to the necessity of having
top management involvement coupled with very critical issues during the last two
months of the fiscal year, our response and further questions were delayed.
We have been made aware that your Board has indicated a desire not to extend the
period that an environmental lawsuit may be filed. Therefore, it is important
that decisions be made prior to early September which are acceptable to our
respective agencies. We request that a joint meeting between your Board and the
City Council be held. Our last staff communication was transmitted to you in
early July. In order to give you ample time to reply, and our staff time to
review your reply, we would suggest the joint meeting be held during the week of
August 24. If your Board agrees, please contact Patty at my office to schedule
the joint meeting.
Very truly yours,.
..[;.. /k~<C.-
Tim Nader
Mayor
TN:mab
276 FOURTH AVENUE/CHULA VISTA. CALIFORNIA 919101(619) 691-5044
CONFIDENTIAL
MEMORANDUM
August 21, 1992
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Director of Public Works ~
SUBJECT: Otay Water District Meeting- August 26, at 3:00 pm
There will be a special joint meeting with the Otay Water District to discuss the Lawsuit over
purchase of the 57 + Acre Reservoir site from Baldwin. Otay has indicated that they do not
wish to continue the time for a CEQA lawsuit beyond their first board meeting in September.
Attached is a packet of pertinent material. This includes the Council report that started this
process; and correspondence between the two agency staffs concerning the issues. The main
issue is the method of providing 10 days emergency storage as recommended by the CW A. CV
staff is not opposed to 10 days storage. We still question, that the most economical method is
being used.
There is a need for hundreds of millions of dollars of infrastructure and public facilities to be
constructed in the Eastern Area, including Streets, Sewers, Drainage, Parks, Schools as well as
an adequate water system. Our concern is that if an independant water agency gold plates their
system, there is less debt that can be used for other needed infrastructure.
Sid Morris or John Lippitt will be willing to discuss this with you prior to the meeting. WE
have also asked our consultant to be available for a closed session following Tuesday's Council
meeting, should the council wish to call one.
AUG-21-'92 14:31 ID:POWELL/PC AQUATICS
TEL NO:619-753-0730
11950 P02
. u
. .
DRAFT
alSIOHS. TO OTAY WAT.a D%8TaXCT'S LBTT.a OP
AUGUST 17, un
City staff has reviewed the Auqust 17, 1992, letter response trom
Otay Water District (otay) regarding their Water Resource. Master
Plan. We believe that Otay has written a credible response to the
issues that have been raised and we appreciate the time and effort
that went into the letter.
Certainly, the City staff agrees that the provision of sufficient
water storage is critically important and does not dispute the
validity of the CWA recommendinq that its member agencies develop
the ability to remain off the aqueduot for up to ten days. It
should be noted that the issues that have been raised by staff are
focused on the form that the emerqency supplies should take, not
the need for the emergency supplies themselves. There are several
alternatives available for developing emergency storaqe and its is
important that the most economic and operationally appropriate
form of developing that storage be selected.
The following are Bome specific comments on several of the issues
discussed in the letter I
1. Master Plan storage M04if1cat1ons- Staff is pleased to
see that Otay will amend its draft master plan to call
for 5 days of emergency storage in the form of potable
water in covered reservoirs and 5 days of storaqe in the
form of raw water storaqe in larqe open reservoirs.
Staff also agrees with otay's position that distribution
system storage be credited towards the 5 day requirement.
Both of these amendments allow for considerable cost
savings.
2. LoWer otay .e..rv01r- It is also encouraging to read that
otay is pursuing raw water storage rights and treatment
capacity from the city of San Diego in Lower otay
Reservoir. Staff agrees that this approaoh appears to be
the most economic way of supplying emergency supplies to
otay'. service area.
~"....-..........-- - -
RUG-21-'92 14:31 ID:POWELL/PC AQUATICS
TEL NO:619-753-0730
11950 P03
.
-
,. pe.klnq I'.oto~- staff still believe. that a peaking
factor of 2.2 or 2.3 i. very conservative for the design
of district-wide facilities. This level of peaking factor
may be appropriate for the design of smaller localized
system components but is too conservative for the design
of District-wide facilities. Significant opportunities
for facility cost savings may be possible if lower
peaking factors are considered.
... Longer Term Raw Water storage- staff pleased to see that
otay is working with the CWA, MWO and the county to
secure one to three months of raw water storage in the
event of an area-wide emergency. We also understand that
the CWA has .tored raw water in Lower Otay Reservoir for
many year.. However, it is very important that Otay
have the facilities available to treat and deliver this
water to all portions of its service area in order to
take advantage of this storage.
5. con.ervation DurinljJ an Emergenoy- Reducing water demands
during an emergency was discussed in otay I s letter.
Staff concurs that it would be inappropriate to design
water storage for ~he extreme case that all water for
irrigation and outdoor uses would be prohibited such that
significant landscape losses would occur. We believe
that a more moderate approach of some what restricting
outdoor water uses could allow significant conservation
without causing the death of plants. This level of
conservation could substantially reduce the size and cost
of water .torage.
I. BOODO.io Analy...- As stated above, it appears that
obtaining raw water supplies from the City of San Diego
appear. to be the moat economic alternative at this time.
Staff concurs that if this alternative is workable
detailed economic studies may not be needed. However,
costs and benefits do not always work out as they may
tir.t appear upon a cursory evaluation. Spendinq several
thousand. ot dollars now in economic studies could
literally save millions of dollars in the future. Should
the negotiations with San Diego be unsuccessful, it will
be very important that a careful economic evaluation of
the remaining storage options be undertaken prior to
commencement with the construction of 10 days treated
water storage.
7. J Days TJ:eate4 Wat.r storaqa- Otay has clearly explained
its rationale for covered water storage.Th1s rationale is
based on operational experience and judgement, which has
merit. However, there are ways other that using
judgement to determine if the five days of covered
storage is the optimum amount of storage. Failure and
risk analyse. can be performed to determine the need for
_.~--~._"_.'-
AUG-21-'92 14:32 tD:POWELL/PC AQUATICS
TEL NO:619-753-0730
11950 P04
-
.
covered storage. The CWA is doing this now in
conjunction with their emergency storage studies. We
fe.l that this issue is important and encourage Otay to
perform . risk analysis to quantify the potable water
storage requirement. If raw water storalle can be
purchased form the city of San Diego, it will likely be
cheaper than the construction of treated water .torage.
Possibly purchasing 6 or 7 days storage should be
considered, thereby reducing the amount of treated water
.toraljJe needed..
8. 'fre.t..llt l'lut loonom10 u.u..- Staff aqrees that each
of the ar9U=ents made in each of the paragraphs on page
a of otay's letter are valid when viewed separately. As
stated. before, constructinq treatment facilities just for
the .ake of saving the coat differential between raw and
treated water is probably not economic. However having
access to or owning treatment facilities and raw water
storage can lJignificantly reduce the requirement and
capital cost of treated water storaqe. When the cost
savings of purchasing raw water are added to the cost
savinqs of not having to construct hundreds of millions
of gallons of treated storage treatment facilities lI\ay be
very economic. In addition invaluable benefits are
gained by havinq the ability to construct or purchase
riqhts in a raw water reservoir that would qive one to
three months of storaqe as opposed to 10 days.
88/17/'2 13:32
a 1 619 670 22'S
OTAY WATER DI5T.
P.e2
...ct>OOICtrIcd to (',()IIIIWmII~ f:c.IlIir.c
.....,JIULICHA IOUl.E\MD, ......N3 ~ C/N.FORfr&' '"'"
ta.a'HCNE: -. ARiA CODE"
Auqust 17, 1992
Hr. John D. Goss
City Manager
city of Chula Vista
276 Fourth Avenue
Chula Vista, CA 91910
Re: Water Resources Kaster Plan
Dear John:
Thank you for your l.etter of July 15, 1992. Your co_entll in
that letter zero in on the vital issues which affect both of our
agencies, i.e., how to finanoe the neoessary infrastructure to
serve future development in a manner in which ill both economi-
cally feasible and whioh preserves the quality of life in Cbula
Vista.
There are some fundamental assumptions which we JIlake in address-
ing these problems. The first is that development should pay its
own way. Existing customers should not be forced to subsidize
future development. You have colDlllented on the -general" nature
of some of our answers to your questions ami requested more
specifics. In order to obtain the specific answers that you
seek, in sOllie instances it is necessary that expensive studies be
conducted. We believe that it is reasonable to finance general
planning from customer rates but the specific studies are
financed by the developers who benefit from them. In some
instances, it may be that our general planning will obviate the
need for lIore specific stUdies. SOlletiDes the beet anllwerll
becollle obvious and nothing further need be done. In other
instances, specific studies are required and timing beoomes oru-
cial. Those specific studies should be carried out at the ti1lle a
developer applies for water service so that the studies will be
financed by the developer rather than existing customers.
With these basic assumptions in .incl, we will try to give further
responses to your letter. We continue to refer to the subject
titles and the paragraph nUJDbers that we have used in previous
letters.
88/17/"2 1:S1:S:S
:s: 1 61" 678 22:18
OTAY WATER DIST.
P.8:S
Mr. John D. Goss
city Manager
city of Chula Vista
Page 2
August 17, 1992
CURRENT CWO TERMINAL WATER STORAGE PLAN
OWD a'lr.ell with City Staff'lI allllertion that .erioUII conll1deration
should J)e 'liven to directin'l OWO's resouroes and efforts towards
finding a seoure souroe of raw water storage. Potential souroes
inolude treating raw water fro>> the San Diego County Water
Authority (CWA), the City of San Diego, Sweetwater Authority and
Helix Water Distriot. The Middle Sweetwater River Croundwater
Basin is also under consideration. We believe that the construc-
tion of new raw water storage is a less promising alternative.
The expense and severe envirolllllental impacts associated with the
development of new raw water storage facilities argues against
it. It is true that we have not incurred the expense of detailed
specific studies on this latter approach but we have followed the
experience ot OliveDhain with Mt. IsraelI, CWA with Pallo Dam and
ot the NWO with Domenigoni Reservoir.
Focusing on the issue of emergency water supply for Eastern Chula
villtar we don't need a ctudy to know that if we could obtain a
right to raw water in Lower otay Reservoir and either build addi-
tional treatment capacity for the city of San Diego or indepen-
dent treatment capacity for ourselves, this should be the most
preferable and least expensive alternative for providing emer-
gency supply for days six through ten. We use the word "should"
because we don't know how much the City of San Diego or CWA is
going to charge us for this right. We will offer to pay for the
raw water and the oost of constructing the additional treatment
capacity. The advantage to San Diego is that it will bring dol-
lars to the City at a time when all government agencies are
strapped for funds and it will add sOlRe redundancy to the City's
system. In our aeetings with representatives of the Baldwin Com-
pany, it has been our understanding that they are also willing to
otfer to _ke lIoms improvementll to the City of San oiego'lI .ystem
in return for right. to raw water .torage and trsament. We hope
that we will be able to offer a "paokage" to San Die'lo that will
be attraotive enough to convinoe it to agree to thill alternative.
While we aSIIWIle that the above alternative would be the least
expensive, we do not know what its actual cost will be until we
get a response fron San Dieqo. The City is currently considering
our initial proposal. Until we get this response we cannot put a
dOllar figure on this alternative and it is therefore i.possible
to do a cost analysis of this alternative versus other
1 oUvenhain water District has been workin'l on the Mt. Israel
Reservoir for nearly 20 years. NoW, as they are approaChing
construction, the neighboring honeowners are 1IIOunting strong
oppolli tion.
88....17....92 1:S1:S~
S 1 61~ 678 22"
OTRY WRTER OIST.
P.84
Mr. John D. Goss
city Manager
city of Chula Vista
Pllqe 3
August 17,. 1992
alternatives. xt would be hard to justiry spending thousands or
dollars on studies until we have this alternative nailed down.
In the interia, it continues to be our position that ve should be
prspared for the vorst oas.. consistent with HWD and CWA quide-
lines, OWO requires 10 average days of _ergenoy supply to be
available in oase of an aqlleduot shutdown, earthquake or other
_jor _e~enoy. We r8qllire that five days of this supply be in
oovered reservoirs containing potable water. The remaining five
days Ilay be provided froa other .ources but OWD require. .ites
for these additional covered reservoirs in oase other sources are
never found. OWO currently has sites purc::hased for five clays of
oovered storage for our Central Areo. system if the Baldwin parcel
is included. The acreage required to site an additional five
days of storaCjJe, if other sources are not available, is a little
over 100 acres. 'l'he cost of this acreage would be sODewhere
between $5,000,000 and $6,000,000 if the land is not dedicated as
a condition of develop~ent. We oonsider this to be a reasonable
a~ount to insure that OWD will be able to provide a 10-day _er-
gancy supply to future custo~ers. If assured sources of cheaper
_erqency supply are obtained, the additional reservoirs vill not
be built and the site(s) can be sold or used for other purposes.
You asked how the oost for correcting deficiencies in terainal
storage for existing custo~ers will be allocated. The District's
primary souroes of revenue for facilities benefitting existing
custo~ers are the monthly water revenues and availability fees.
These revenues go into specific funds whic::h are then drawn upon
to pay for the replacement or betterment portion of a faoility
benefitting existing users. These funds would be used to correct
any deficiencies in terminal storage.
WATER STORAGE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES
1. Water Resource OUAlitv Issues. You asked for OWO's schedule
for oompleting the water quality plan. The Distriot's Water
Quality Kaster Plan is IIOheduled. to be oompleted in early 1~~3 in
advanoe of the BPA's Disinfeotion Byproduots Rule. When this
plan i8 coapleted, Staff will forward a oopy to the city of Chula
vista for review.
2. Distribution SVStem storaae. You asked for a aore preoise
rationale for the District's eme~ency distribution storage
requirement of 2.3 average days. The District.. requir_nt i.
actually equal to one maximum day demand. This is approximately
equal to 2.3 average days but varies .Ughtly dependlnq on the
land use and location in the system. We checked with the allen-
cies mentioned in your letter and also the oriteria for vista
Irrigation, SWeetwater Authority, Helix and Vallecitos. Of the
B8/17/92 13136
S I 619 678 22'8
OTAY WATER DI5T.
P.B~
Kr. John D. Goss
city Hanager
city of Chula Vista
Page 4
August 17, 1992
various agenoies, it appears.that you cite~ the .tan~ards ot only
those agencies that bave a lower criteria than otay an~ excl~e~
those that are higher. You cited the City of San Diego's crite-
ria as 0.8 average days when it is actually 1.2 average days an~
mentioned the criteria for OCeanside, whioh does not have one.
It should also be noted that the' city of San Diego currently bas
three treatment plants, with a fourth planned, with a oombined
capacity 130\ greater than their average day demand in addition
to the 1.2 days of treated storage. 'l'hia capacity, along with
the redun~anoy built into their distribution systea, provides a
great deal of flexibility during emergencies.
OW's oriteria are based on two factors: 1) Hany area a in the
District are'remote from the aqueduct and muat stand alone clurinq
an outage, and 2) Distribution storage serves the dual purpose of
providing some emergency storage.
Historically there has not been sufficient development to allow
the District to interconnect its various subsystems with re~un-
dant feeds. However, as development continues to expan~ and fill
in the District's system, the interconnecting facilities in the
Kaster Plan will be laplemented.
If sufficient interconnections between pressure zones and subays-
tns are in place, there is some support for the rationale that
lower criteria for distribution storage would exist. However,
this storage also counts towards the required five days of cov-
ered emergency storage and removing it from the distribution
reaervoira would alao reduce the amount of emergency storage be-
low 10 days. '1'hia atorage muat atill be aupplied ela_here, pre-
sumably in larger terminal storage reservoira. It is aigniti-
oantly cheaper to pay for the incremental upsizinq of the diatri-
bution reservoir to hold more emergency storage then to build a
new terminal reservoir. It is therefore desirable to put aa much
emergenoy storage as possible in the distribution system reser-
voirs to reduoe the cost to our custollers of the five-days cov-
ered emergency storage.
3. EmeraenCIV storaae Reauirements. You argue that our storage
criteria are .ubjeotive, not quantitative, unoonvinoing and not
based on rational analyais. Aa profe..ionals who operate and
maintain a water diatribution aystem on a daily basis under a
wil2e ranqe of emergencies and conl2itions and who meet on a regu-
lar basis with representatives of other districta, CWA, the MWD
and state water otticials to discuss criteria, it ia our opinion
that five days of covered storage is the minimum ..erQsDCy stor-
age requirement at this tille. We benefit from our own experience
as well as the experience of others in ~raftinq our oriteria.
88/17/'2 1;S1;S7
a 1 61' 678 22~8
OTAY WATER 015T.
P.86
Mr. John D. Goss
city Manager
city of Chula vista
paqe 5
Auqust 17, 1992
At thill point it aiqht be helpful to cite an example with which
the City ia ramlliar. When CWA ahut down the aquedUct in April
to allow for the relocation of some of ita facilities in oonjuno-
tion with the i.prov_ent of Highway 52, we haeS a .planned out-
age." OWD was able to make arrangeaenta with the city of San
Dieqo and HeUx to provieSe t_porary interconneotions. What
wasn't planned. was the extraordinary heat wave that struok the
County at that tiae and some Jlalfunctions in the City of San
Dieqo's syatea. Although this outage didn't present a threat to
life or health, it did threaten property (e.q., parks and playing
fields in Chula vista). Property eSllJDage due to a lack of water
oan be very expensive. It has been estiJlated that Santa Barbara
lost up to $450,000,000 worth of landsoaping during the drought.
ClfA employees inspected the aqueduct in the South Bay during this
planned outage and found it to be in operable condition. This
was no sure thing. Had they been required to replace some of the
aqueduot, the outaqe oould have lasted another week. This woulcl
have had a aevere impaot on the South' Bay. Again, this wa. a
.planned outage." We Jlust be prepared for the unplanned emer-
qency~
Although emergenoy storage may be drawn upon for minor, local
emergenoies, the primary purpose of the 10-day total _ergenoy
supply with five days in oovered. storage is to _intain servioe
eSuring Jlajor outages. Under normal oonditions, it Jlay be possi-
ble to activate a treatment plant in one or two days. However,
in a major outage, such as an .,.rthquake, the aqueduct couleS be
severed and treatment facilities dllJDaqed. It could take days or
weeks before supplies from those sources would be available. In
addition, after such a major event, it is reasonable to expect
numerous District pipelines could fail also, as well as those of
neiqhboring agencies. Althouqh otay and the other local a9encies
keep suffioient pipe on hand for most minor emervencies, after a
major event there will be a high demand placecl upon pipe manufac-
turers who mayor may not be able to make immediate deliveries
due to inventories and road conditions. Based on the Distriot's
experience over the last 36 years in operating a water systsa
under aqueduct shutdowns and local emerCjJencies, we believe five
eSays Is a reasonable compromise between the risks and oosts
involved.
You charaoterize this as a "feels right" analysis as opposed to a
"rational analysis." It is probably not,unlike the analysis you
apply to many of your own servioes. For exllJDple, the City'S
thresholds contain minimum response tises tor polioe and tire.
we would imagine that,you would have a hard time providinq quan-
titative back-up to support a five-minute response time versus a
six-minute response time for the fire department. What Is the
value of the property that burns in that extra minute versus the
88/17/92 13139
a: 1 619 678 22'8
OTAY WATER 0 1ST.
P.87
Kr. John D. Goss
city Manager
city of Cbula Vista
Page 6
August 17, 1992
cost of another fire station ana sora fire righters? ~ase kinds
of questions do not readily lend themselves to quantitative anal-
ysls, particularly when health and safety are involved. Instead,
jud9l1ents are based on experience. Similarly, experience plays a
large role in the water business in developing oriteria.
Peakina Pact.ors. You comment that the pxuum day peaking fact.or
of 2.3 used in the report was conservatively hi41h and that a
lower peaking factor would reduce the size of the emergency stor-
age requirements. Please note that the maximum day peaking fao-
tor of 2.3 is an approximation of the combined potable and non-
potable peaking factors. The maximua day peaking factor used in
the Master Plan for potable. water is actually 2.2, not 2.3. You
also mentioned that the peakinq factor shown in the Master Plan
steadily decreased since 1970. Although the trend may be correct
for District-wide demands, the.peakin9 factor shown in the report
were for District-wide maximum month demands which have a consid-
erably lower peakinq factor than for maxillum day demanda. When
sizing a atorage reaervoir, pipeline or pump atation, peaking
faotors 100a1 to the faoility, not Distriot-wide peakinq factors,
are used. In cheoking with several other agenoies, we found 2.4
to be a OODmon lIaximum day peaking faotor used for sizing faoili-
ties.
Historically the District has used 2.6 as a maxillUD day peaking
factor. Therefore the 2.2 used in the Master Plan reflects the
District's continuing effort to appropriate adjustaents to our
criteria as conditions change. Our plan is that the construction
of facilities will keep pace with development. If the trend con-
tinues for lower peaking factors, we will be able to downsize our
facil.ities.
Bal.anced Infrastructure Develonment. We ahare your concerns for
the limits on the allount of money available for infrastructure
improvements. We .believe that we should not spend more than the
minimUlll amount neoessary to provide reliable water service. We
hope to have a oooperative relationship with the city of Chula
Vista in exwning these issues. On the other hand, we want to
be careful not to develop an inadequate system that will require
oonstant and expensive upgrading at the expense of our lIutual
oonstituents.
4 . onA ~o fJ'hrAEl Months of RAW Wa1:ar St:.orllOB.
The CWA has begun the EIR process required to locate and con-
struct a major storage reservoir .in Harth county. The MWD is
proceeding with its work to design and construct Domeniqoni
aeaervoir. CWA is examining the cost effectiveness of storing
emergenoy 8upplies at various locations throughout the county.
88/17/'2 13140
a 1 619 678 22'S
OTAV WATER DI5T.
P.8S
Mr. John D. Goss
city Jlanaqer
city of Chula Vista
page 7
August 17, 111112
As we stated in our April 16th letter, CWA and HWD are planninq
to provide eaerqenoy supplies for up to six .onths. They have
also advised us to plan to be self-suffioient for up to 10 days.
The County of San Diego's Water Annex for B1aergenoy water Supply
i. a document which provides for .utual aid among all oounty
agencies after a ma:lor event. Thi. Annex is in the final draft
staqe and expected to qo to tbe Board of Supervisors for approval
in October. The CWA already has water stored in several of the
City of San Dieqo reservoirs, ineludinq Lower Otay. In the event
of a aajor outage, this stored water would be available to otay
as well as the other .8lIIber aqencies of CWA.
5. Imnact of Water conservation on Storaae Reauirements. Your
oomment that 8hort-term emergency outdoor watering restrictions
reduce demands i8 a valid one. We have had 80me experience with
thie from the aquedUct fallure two year8 aqo and recent 8hut-
downs. We want to be able to get the community throuqh an emer-
gency outage with as little damage as possible. cutting off
irriqation bas its consequences. For example, if you lost land-
scaping valued at $1,000 per home, 10,000 homes would suffer
$10,000,000 in damages. These and other losses would need to be
weighed with any savings resulting from not building _erqency
storage.
6. Use of Groundwater Basins for Storaae. You asked for the
status and copies of the Middle Sweetwater Basin Study. The Dis-
trict has now finalized this study and is makinq it available for
public comment. A copy is attached for the city of Chula vista
for review.
Inte~rated Plannina Issues. You comment that the District is
cont nuinq to use a "piece-llIeal" approach in planning the water
system and asked what plans we had in it for integrating our var-
ious water subsystems. A review of the Master Plan plainly ahows
plans to tie all six of our subsystems together. As you .en-
tioned, this will i.prove our operation flexibility and reliabil-
ity. Thes. improve.ents are shown on the Master Plan, Water Dis-
tribution System Improvements Map (Fiqure IX-l). You..y be con-
tusinq the phased construction described in the Master Plan with
a "piece-meal" approach. Many of the facilities planned are
being phased to coincide with development. The District triss,
whenever possible, to avoid building facilities that benefit
future customsrs at existing customers' expense.
7. Economics of Obtainincr Storaae in SWAA't:.WIl't.Ar Reservoir.
Your commenta and questions in Items 7, II, 10 and 11, priaarily
deal with evaluating the economics of various alternatives fer
emerqency sources of supply or storaqe. The alternatives men-
tioned include raw water storage in other aqeneies' reservoirs
88/17/92 1:'5142
Z 1 619 678 22'8
OTAY WATER DIST.
f'.B'
Mr. John D. Goss
city KanaljJBr
city of Chu1a vista
Pa'1e 8
AUCJUst 17, 1992
and treating raw water frOlI the aqueduct or a new open re..rvoir.
We do not !:Ielieve that it takes an expensive study to tell us
that obtaininq treatment capacity and raw water storaqe at Lower
Otay Lake lIhould be the JDOst economic alternative. The i.sue is
what will San Diego or possibly CWA deaand from us in compensa-
tion for this storage. To date, our discussions with San Diego
have been very encouraging. We bave _de a proposal whereby we
would pay the cost of redundant treataent capacity in return tor
the right to treatment of water during an emergency. Once we
have San Die90's response, we will be able to attach cost tigures
to this alternative. If the cost is cOIlllll8nsurate with the actual
cost of purchasing and treating the lake water, we believe it
will be much less than the COlilt of treating raw water trom the
aqueduct or establiShing a new open reservoir. The need for an
expensive study to do comparative cost analysis will no lonqer
exist.
It San Diego lIakes excessive deJllands, we would have to oompare
the oost ot meeting those demands with the cost of providin9
treatment for raw water from the aqueduct or a new open reser-
voir. At that point, the COllt of preparing- a ClOJIlprebensive eco-
nOllic comparison of alternativell would be justified.
8. Neaotiations with Helix and San nieao for Raw Water storaqe.
You requested more specific information and a schedule regarding
negotiations with Helix, San Diego, sweetwater and CWA. After
reviewing Sweetwater's counter-proposal, negotiations have ):)een
put on hold pending a search for less expensive alternatives. We
have had meetings with ):)oth San Diego and Helix and have a pro-
posal ):)efore the City of San Diego. It is cur hope that we will
have some resolution of these Negotiations this year. Our dis-
cussions with Helix are at a preliminary stage.
g. Economic Comnarison of Treated Versus Raw Wat.er storaae.
See Item 7.
10. Sitina Raw 'Water storaae and TreatlM!nt Pacilities. This
option has not been discarded but we recognize that it has severe
limitations. We have followed CWA's experience with PaRo Dam,
Olivenhaints experience with Mt. Israel and the MWD's experience
with the Domeniqoni Reservoir olosely. Not only is this approach
tille oonsuminq an4 expensive, it involves severe environmental
consequences. We would bave problellS justifying the initial
stu4y costs, of such an alternative until we first resolve the
issue of whether we can obtain storage in Lower otay Reservoir.
11. Providina Treatment Pacilities to Access Both Raw and
Piltered Water Pioe1ines, Again, we are not at a point where we
oould justify the expenditure of funds on this alternative until
88'17'92 13:43
II: 1 6U 678 22'S
OTAY WATER 015T.
P.1S
Mr. John D. Goss
City Manager
City of Chula Vista
Page 9
August 17, 1992
we have determined whether we can o/:;)tain treatment capacity and
storage at Lower otay Reservoir. oThere are economies of scale
that can be o/:;)tained in treating raw water. Bulldinq a treatDent
facility for the sole purpose of meeting the ..ergenay storage
requireaant does not on its face seea to be a very economical
solution. Buildinq a treatment facility to treat all or a large
portion of water used in the otay Water District would seea to be
uneconoaical compared to buying water treated by MWD because
their treataent facilities would have an -econoay of .cale~
advantaqe over otay trea~ent facilities.
1'reatment Plant Economic XIIIIU811. Your point is well taken that
oonstruction of a treatment plant could result in a reduction in
the cost of storage facilities which may more than offset the
additional oost of the treatment facilities. We believe that
this issue deserves further economic anallsis prior to building
underqround storage facilities for days s x through ten. xt is
our hope that the cost of performing such a study will be avoided
if we can reach agre8llent with the city of San Dieqo over treat-
ment and storage at Lower otay Reservoir.
RENTAL OF TREATMENT CAPACXTY
You raised several questions reqarding the District's efforts to
lease "excess capacity. from another aqency's treatment plant.
Treatment plants are oonstructed in a modular fashion. Extra
filtration modules are usually provided for redundancy and baok-
up capacity. Xf a lDodule is out of service When the full plant
oapacity is needed, the "excess capacity" makes up the differ-
ence. OWD has proposed to obtain some "excess capacity. frolD the
city of San Diego. The conditions, such as the term of the
lease, the quantities involved 0 and the availability during an
emergency, would all be subject to negotiation.
CONCLUSION
As we bave stated in the past, the draft Master Plan for Water is
be1n9 revised to CAll for ten days of 8IIIer\Jency supply with a
minimum of five days in covered storage (inclucUn\J emergency
storaqe in distribution reservoirs). We believe that five days
distributed throughout the District in covered storaqe tacilities
is necessary to enable us to have tilDe to repair treatment facil-
ities, pumps and tranalllission pipes that lIay be duaqed in a
major earthquake or other emariency. We hope to provide for days
six throuqh ten in the most econolDically feasible manner. At the
salDe tilDe, we want to reserve sites to provide tor underground
storaqe throuqhout the District tor days six throu\Jh ten in case
no other aolution is found.
88/17/92 1314'
S I 61' 678 22~8
DTRY WRTER DIST.
P.II
Mr. John D. Goss
City Nanaqer
city of Chula Vista
Page 10
AU'iUst 17, 1992
The purchase of the Baldwin property is required for the five
4ays of covered storaqe. The reservation of additional sites in
the Central Area for emerqency storaqe should continue until firm
cCJlllllitments for additional sources of emet'gency supply are in
place. San Diego'S asking price for treatment capacity and any
additional storaqe in LOWer otayReservoir should be determined
prior to incurring the expllJ1se of a comprehensive cost analysis
of other alternative..
We hope this information provides additional olarification and
addresses your oo_ents on our April 16, 1992, letter. It is the
Dietriot's 90&1 to provide reliable service at a reasonable oost
to our customers inoluding the City of Chula vista. We deaire to
continue cooperating with you to addreaIJ your concerns.
Very truly ~?, .
~~~
Iteith Lewinqer
General Xanager
XL/TJH/BM/nes
Enclosure
cc: otay Board of Direotors (w/o enolosure)
CONFIDENTIAL
MEMORANDUM
July 31, 1992
TO: Honorable Mayor and city Council
PROM: city Manager j
SUBJECT: Water Consultant Study - Phase II
In December of 1991 Council authorized me to execute a contract
with John Powell and Associates, civil Engineers, for the purpose
of assisting the City in evaluating the actions of the Otay Water
District as it relates to their water Master Plan for Chula vista,
and with particular emphasis on the economics of concrete storage
vs. open reservoir storage. The Contract was to be in two phases.
Phase I was in the amount not to exceed $10,000, and was to assist
in addressing the potential lawsuit we would place against otay
Water District for buying the 59 acre reservoir site from Baldwin
without an EIR. Phase II would be entered into if phase I showed
a need to do further detailed studies on the best way to serve
water to the Otay Ranch and Eastern Chula vista. Phase II could
not exceed $100,000 without a contract provision approved by
Council. It was also indicated that I would inform Council before
entering into Phase II. I believe it is now time to enter into
phase II of the contract.
The primary reasons that we should enter into phase II portions now
are:
1. Phase one is virtually finished, and there is no more money
left without a contract modification or entering into phase
II.
2. The otay Ranch hearings are beginning with the project to
receive approval with the next several months. Since
annexation would follow that approval, we need to have a good
position on water service for that area prior to annexation.
3. The Otay Board has indicated that they will not delay the
deadline for filing of an environmental lawsuit beyond the
first Board meeting in September.
4. It is very important to Chula Vista that an economical and
CONFIDENTIAL
!
adequate water supply be provided our developments. We have
huge infrastructure costs, in addition to water, that need to
be completed and all will be financed, one way or another, by
the new homeowner. A single purpose agency like a water
District has a tendency to only look at the needs of their
water customers, and not balance the total costs to the buyer
more like a City would do.
We have had discussions with City of San Diego about supplying
us water to be able to serve Otay Ranch as a City enterprise.
This consultant has been helpful in giving us ideas that we
could use to bargain with the City of San Diego.
Although we have not finished our questions and answers
correspondence with Otay, and since Otay Board has indicated that
they will not extend the date for a lawsuit beyond their first
meeting in September, we need to enter. Phase II of the Consultant
Contract at this time. This study will provide the information
needed to determine if we should proceed to attempt to become a
water provider, or stay with the Otay Water District and, if we
stay, what changes we would urge Otay to make in the master
plan/operations.
5.
Attached are copies of correspondence between Otay staff and us.
Also attached is a proposal by John Powell and Associates for Phase
II of the Study.
The Contract will be written such that anytime at City's direction,
all work will stop, or the scope could be modified. This would
stop further expenditures if an agreement is reached with Otay in
the early stages.
Also included is a list of some of the problems we have had with
the Otay Water District, and a background statement of Powell &
Associates.
CONFIDENTIAL
\
PROBLEMS WITH OTAY WATER DISTRICT
We have experienced problems with Otay Water District over the past
few years that I believe gives more justification to consider
alternatives for water service to the area:
1. Otay asked us to hold up our Telegraph Canyon/Otay Lakes Road
project in order to design and pay for reclaimed water
distribution lines in the roadway. Otay then backed out of
paying for the lines in Phases I & II of the project. They
did pay for lines in Phase III.
2. When Otay has emergencies in the roadway, they take a very
long time to repair the street to a satisfactory condition.
3. They have known and been working on a plan to provide water to
the Otay Valley Redevelopment Area for over 5 years. They had
a plan to build a 3 mg tank at the Sanitary landfill site.
When the development plans for the Auto Park were distributed
to them, we received a reply that there was not adequate water
supply to serve the area. We are working with Otay and City
of San Diego to resolve this. But it is another example of a
lack of coordination and follow through on their commitments.
4. Several years ago we built a water reservoir and pump station
in an assessment district for Otay to serve Eastlake I. They
approved the plans, but when it came time to accept the work,
they found reasons to require many change orders, involving
several hundred thousand dollars. This was very difficult to
resolve.
5. Their new General Manager appears to be making some headway to
improving the situation. Recently, for reasons unknown to me,
the Chief Engineer has left. The decisions are made by a 5
member board which only has two members representing Chula
Vista areas. Their area of influence and concern is different
than Chula Vista's.
6. They have not aggressively pursued agreements with Sweetwater
Authority and/or City of San Diego to provide more economical
ways to store water.
~Vt~
-iC-
r-..:_ ____
"'"....:~~
~~~-
/11- y' G:D /0
t/ tV ~j)
7- / :r-
ellY OF
CHUlA VISTA
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
July 15, 1992
Mr. Keith Lewinger
General Manager
Otay Water District
10595 Jamacha Boulevard
Spring Valley, CA 92D78
SUBJECT: WATER RESOURCES MASTER PLAN
Dear Keith:
Thank you for your response to the City's March 5, 1992, letter regarding your
Water Resources Master Plan. I appreciate the time and effort you, your staff
and Board put into the letter. It shows a commendable effort at cooperation and
your obvious interest in providing economical water service to your District.
However, after a careful and detailed review of your April 16, 1992 letter, staff
finds that a number of the responses are incomplete, and in some instances, non-
responsive. The following are several comments and additional questions
regarding the April 16, letter. The numbered responses refer directly to the
corresponding numbers in the April 16, letter.
CURRENT OWD TERMINAL WATER STORAGE PLAN
You have stated orally that until the 5 days of raw water storage is secured from
outside agencies, OWD will continue to secure sites for 7.7 days of terminal
storage. Please confirm OWD's current position on this matter. This is a
significant issue in that considerable time and money will be expended to
purchase or otherwise tie up reservoir sites. Staff strongly believes that
serious consideration should be given to directing OWD's resources and efforts
towards finding a secure source of raw water storage (either by purchasing or
leasing existing storage or by constricting new raw water storage), rather than
securing sites for additional treated water storage.
A 1 so, the Apr il 16 1 etter po i nts out that some of the serv i ce areas may be
deficient in storage (have less than 2.3 average days of emergency storage). How
will the costs for correcting this deficiency be allocated? Who will pay for the
construction of the large terminal storage projects?
WATER STORAGE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES
1. Reservoir Water Quality Issues - We have no further comments at this
time. Staff would like the opportunity to review the plans for
maintaining reservoir water quality as they are developed by OWD. What is
OWD's schedule for completion of the water quality plan?
276 FOURTH AVENUElCHULA VISTA, CALIFORNIA 91910/(619) 691.5031
2. Distribution System Storage - Distribution system storage is typically
constructed to provide peak hour flows, fire flows and emergency storage
for a particular pressure zone. Dual pipeline feeds to one pressure zone
greatly increases the reliability of the water supply to that pressure
zone. If dual feeds or looping are provided, then the 2.3 average days
requirement of distribution system emergency storage seems quite high.
Other water purveyors use much less stringent criteria. For example, the
City of San Diego's requirement for emergency storage is 0.8 average days,
the City of Escondido's requirement is 1.0 average days and the City of
Oceanside's requirement is 0.8 average days. Could you provide a more
precise rationale for this higher level of distribution storage?
3. Emergency Storage Requirements - The statements made here to justify
OWD's emergency storage criterion are very subjective and do not provide
quantitative back-up for the decision to have 5 days of treated water
storage. It appears that the 5 day requirement was selected because it
"feels right", not because it was based on a rational analysis. If raw
water were available locally, staff believes a treatment plant could be
activated and water delivered in much less than 5 days, probably as little
as one or two days.
I
I
i
I
I
I
i
i
I
I
,
I
\
\
\
i.
It may take the CWA and MWD 5 to 10 days to repair seven to ten foot
diameter pipelines; however it is hoped that OWD could repair 18" to 24"
diameter local distribution mains in much less time (one to two days).
After reading the letter, staff is not convinced that the five and five
day split (raw and treated) is the optimum arrangement. Perhaps it is 7
days raw water and three days treated water storage, or maybe it is 8 days
raw and 2 days treated depending on the location and reliability of raw
water and treatment facilities. Five days of treated water storage is
still a large quantity of water and it is very expensive to build.
~; Factors - In addition, staff believes that the maximum day
peaking factor of 2.3 selected in your study is conservatively high. The
OWD Master Plan shows that peaking factors in OWD have decreased steadily
since 1970 (from about 2.2 to 1.7). Two factors typically account for
this reduction in peaking. The first is growth in size of the District,
which helps to dampen the peaking factors. The second is a change in the
types of customers serviced from largely agricultural uses to municipal
and industrial uses. Staff believes that both of these trends wi 11
cont inue, thereby reducing peak ing even further. Experience of other
water districts suggests that OWD should review the peaking factor
criteria and consider adopting a lower figure based on a detailed
analysis.
A lower peaking factor would substantially reduce projected water demands
and associated emergency storage. For example, use of a 1.8 factor in
lieu of 2.3 would result in about 22% reduction in emergency storage
requirements. These reductions could represent approximately 33 MG at a
projected cost of $17 million. Similar cost savings could be realized for
all system components, including pipelines and pump stations.
Balanced Infrastructure Development - From the perspective of City
Government, I am concerned that if excessive amounts of capital are used
-2-
CITY OF CHULA VISTA
to construct treated water storage or other water works, that this will
take away money from other needed infrastructure facilities. There is
only a finite amount of money available for infrastructure improvements
and the quality of streets, storm drains, fire facilities, schools, parks,
1 ibraries, etc. will suffer as a resu lt of over ly-conservat i ve water
system design criteria.
4. One to Three Months of Raw Water Storage - The statements made in this
part of the letter are very general. More information on the status of
the negotiations and studies with the CWA and the County is requested. It
would be helpful to know what OWO believes that likely outcome of these
negotiations will be.
5. Impact of Water Conservation on Storage Requirements - In order to
clarify the question in the original letter, the conservation that was
referred to is short-term conservation that will be implemented during an
emergency. Restrictions can be placed on outdoor water usage during an
emergency that will very significantly reduce demands, thereby reducing
short-term treated water emergency storage requirements. Short-term
conservation could be in the 30% to 50% range, thereby significantly
cutting treated water storage requirements.
6. Use of Groundwater Basins for Storage - Please send copies of the draft
study reports when they are ready. What is OWO's schedule for completing
these reports? The letter states that the Middle Sweetwater Basin study
will be completed in May 1992. Is it available now?
Integrated Planning Issues - The statements about the Middle Sweetwater
Basin not benefitting Chula Vista raises another issue. Historically, the
OWD system has been planned and designed as essentially several separate
water systems. This piece-meal planning approach appears to be continued
in the current planning efforts. What plans does OWO have to integrate
the design and operation of the separate sub-systems into one large
system? The redundancy of an integrated system would certainly improve
system re 1 iabil i ty as we 11 as improve operat ion flex ibil ity. Shared
groundwater storage is an example of such benefits.
7. Economics of Obtaining Storage in Sweetwater Reservoir - The issue raised
in the March 5 letter was economics, but OWD's response furnished only
capital costs. The Montgomery report contains capital costs only and does
not address economics. There are major differences between a capital cost
estimate and an economic study. As stated in the March 5 letter, an
economic study is needed that compares alternatives and addresses the
issues raised in paragraph 9 of that letter. These issues include raw
versus treated water pricing, seasonal pricing, the cost of constructing
covered water storage, etc.
As has been stated before, while the economics of building a treatment
plant (or purchasing existing treatment capacity) and treating water may
not be attractive on the surface, when the cost of covered storage is
included, it may be economic. The economic viability of your proposed
approach has not been shown.
-3-
CITY OF CHULA VISTA
Prior to commencing with the extremely costly storage program outlined in
your Master Plan, we believe it is essential that a comprehensive economic
comparison of alternatives be performed. Anything less could border on an
unjustified commitment of the limited funds available for infrastructure
development.
8. Negotiations with Helix and San Diego for Raw Water Storage - Your
response is appreciated, but not as helpful as it may have been because it
was very general. Discussions with Helix and San Diego were mentioned,
but does OWD believe they will lead to real results? Please furnish more
specific information on these meetings and negotiations and an assessment
of what the likely outcome may be. For example, what were the results of
your April meeting with City of San Diego staff? What is the next step
with the City of San Diego? What is the current status of your
negotiations with Helix, Sweetwater and the CWA? What is your schedule
for these negotiations?
9. Economic Comparison of Treated Versus Raw Water Storage - The March 5
letter presented many issues and preliminary cost figures relating to the
issues of treated water storage, raw water storage, treatment plant costs,
seasonal water pricing, etc. While the response in the April 16 letter is
appreciated, it was very general and did not address the economic and
other issues stated in the March 5 letter. For example, the December 1989
report prepared by Woodward-Clyde/Engineering Science addressed
preliminary capital costs but not an economic comparison of alternatives.
In our vipw, a detailed economic study of raw water storage and treatment
versus treated water storage is needed for proper planning of your storage
system.
10. Siting Raw Water Storage and Treatment Facilities - The possibility of
raw water storage and treatment options should not be discounted. Any
study that could potentially save millions of dollars and improve the
reliability of Otay's system should not be ignored. The prior study
prepared for OWD did identify several candidate sites, however, it did not
follow through with further technical review or an economic analysis.
11. Providing Treatment Facilities to Access Both Raw and Filtered Water
Pipelines - The question in the March 5 letter dealt with what
consideration OWD has given to the potential increased reliability of
being able to access both the raw and filtered water pipelines. Staff
believes that having the capability to take water from both pipelines
significantly increases the reliability of water supply to the District.
What consideration has OWD given to this issue?
Treatment Plant Economic Issues - Economics do play an important part in
resolution of this issue. However, it is not just the issue of whether
one can construct and operate a treatment plant more (or less)
economically than purchasing treated water. It also includes the issue of
what reduction in treated water storage can be realized by having more
than one source of supply. The reduction in cost of treated water storage
facilities may more than offset the cost of treatment facilities.
-4-
CITY OF CHULA VISTA
RENTAL OF TREATMENT CAPACITY
The Apri 1 16 letter concludes by suggest ing that rent ing excess treatment
capacity is a solution to OWO's storage problems. A more complete description
of this alternative would be helpful. What is meant by "excess capacity?" Would
this alternative provide a secure long term water supply source? Would the
"excess capacity" diminish over time as the water demands of the (Moner agency
increase? Would this capacity be available to OWO under an area wide water
emergency?
CONCLUSION
Again, the time and effort you, your staff and Board have put into discussion of
these water issues is greatly appreciated. We request your further cooperation
in reviewing and respondi~g to this letter.
I suggest that a meeting be calendared as soon as possible to discuss these
issues further. To allow us time to review your response to this letter, we
would like to receive your written response at least one week prior to the
scheduled meeting. My staff will contact OWO to select an appropriate time and
date.
.v-
"John O. Goss
City Manager
J
,
JOG/kt/cf
(B:LEWINGER)
cc: Mayor/City Council
-5-
CITY OF CHULA VISTA
./
I .
...-1),(/il'rllllllr, ('('"ll\lllllil~ r:;rHiN
105e~ ,JAMACHA BOULEVARO. SPRING VALLEV. CALIFORNIA 81977
TElEPMONE 157'0-2222. AREA CODE 818
April 16, 1992
Mr. John D. Goss
city Manager'
city of Chula Vista
276 Fourth Avenue
Chula Vista, CA 92012
Subject: Water Resources Master Plan
Dear Mr. Goss:
We have reviewed the ~estions sent in your March 5, 1992 letter.
The purpose of this letter is to respond to those questions and
address some of the concerns that were raised.
;'
CURRENT OWD TERMINAL WATER STORAGE PLAN
Your understanding of otay's current approach to satisfying a
minimum of ten (10) days terminal water storage is essentially
correct. Only 2.7 days of additional covered terminal storage
will be required if the following conditions are established: 1)
otay is able to successfully negotiate with other agencies for 5
days of raw water storage and treatment capacity, and 2) Otay is
able to achieve 2.3 average days (1 Maximum Day) of emergency
storage located in the distribution system's operational
reservoirs.
Although Otay has been in contact with neighboring agencies and
has attempted to negotiate with them for 5 days of water supply
(storage and treatment) for some time, there is no assurance that
these agencies will agree. Agreements have not been established
to date. Depending on the success of these negotiations, and
otay's ability to find other alternatives for replacing 5 of the
10 day terminal storage requirement, otay may need to provide
anywhere from 2.7 to 7.7 days of covered terminal storage
reservoirs similar to the 30 MG reservoir being designed for
construction in EastLake.
Although otay provides for some emergency storage in its
operational reservoirs, a full 2.3 average days cannot always be
counted on. For example otay has some areas where there is
insufficient operational storage to meet existing demands. Where
sufficient operational storage is not available, the emergency
component is reduced to less than the 2.3 average days to make up
the difference. These variables must be considered in making the
statement that otay only needs an additional 2.7 average days of
covered terminal storage.
Mr. John D. Goss
city Manager
City of Chula Vista
Page 2
WATER STORAGE OUESTIONS AND ISSUES
1. All major terminal and operational reservoirs built in the
future will have water recirculating capabilities so that the
turn over rate of reservoir water occurs every 5 to 7 days.
Where nece~sary, the appropriate chlorination, and/or ammoniation
capabilities will be provided to maintain proper disinfection
residuals. otay is currently preparing a disinfection plan that
will recommend the appropriate facilities and procedures to meet
the current and proposed Federal and state water quality
standards in existing and future facilities. Terminal storage
cost estimates include the appropriate disinfection facilities to
protect water quality.
2. The District's objective is for each pressure zone in the
distribution system to be designed to carry its own level of
operational storage that consists of operational, fire, and
emergency storage components. Currently the required emergency
storage component is equal to I maximum day's demand that is
approximately equal to 2.3 average days demand. This criterion
has been established by otay due to the remote location of otay's
service area from the water supply. Looping and dual pipelines
are also used by otay to increase reliability, however, they do
not reduce the amount of storage required. A second pipeline
allows you to deliver water if the first pipeline is out of
operation but it is of no help if there is no water available to
deliver. These options add flexibility to the system, enhances
otay's ability to distribute storage and transfer water between
zones in the case of an emergency such as fire.
3. Several factors were considered in establishing five days as
the minimum amount of covered terminal storage that would be
required by otay. These factors included the reaction time of
repair crews in the case of major pipeline emergency shutdowns
and unanticipated emergencies such as earthquakes; the economic
impact to District customers to construct facilities for storing
more than the 5 days of covered terminal storage; otay's
abilities to schedule and construct the facilities as part of its
Capital Improvements Program; and the feasibility of maintaining
the quality of large volumes of water over long periods of time.
otay feels strongly that requiring less than five days of covered
emergency storage would significantly reduce the reliability of
the system for serving our customers. In some cases it could
take at least five days to marshall the required equipment and
material and make other preparations to repair a severed major
transmission line that serves a remote part of the District.
This judgment is based on our own experience in maintaining our
system and on our observations of repair and maintenance projects
carried out by SDCWA and MWD. If otay had only one day of
. Mr. John D. Goss
City Manager
City of Chula vista
Page 3
emergency storage and relied primarily on other agencies'
treatment plants that could also be damaged in an emergency,
there is a high risk that customers would be out of water. On
the other hand, if otay is required to construct a full 10 days
of emergency storage it will place a tremendous financial burden
on existing and future customers. Five days is also considered
to be a conservative time period to maintain the quality of water
in storage.
To a certain extent, this is a judgment call and we ask the City
to exercise its own judgment in considering this question in
light of the factors discussed above. Consider an emergency
situation such as an earthquake. If the treatment plant is
damaged or if the transmission pipes from the plant or the pump
stations are out, the covered storage will be all Chula Vista
residents will have quring this very critical time. It may be
difficult to effect repairs in such circumstances. Fire fighting
problems are predictable. How many days of reliable water supply
does the City believe its citizens should have? We believe five
days is a reasonable compromise considering risks and costs.
4. If we have five days in tanks, that gives us an opportunity
to repair our system to treat and deliver the water that is
stored in open reservoirs. We then have an additional five days
to connect to other sources within the County. SDCWA and MWD
have a program to ultimately provide two months of storage below
the San Luis Rey River and six months of storage below San
Bernardino. The theory is that repairs could be accomplished
outside these areas within the two and six month periods so that
these sources would suffice. SDCWA and MWD advise us to be self
sufficient for ten (10) days. In addition, Otay is interested in
obtaining several months' storage over and above the 10 day
storage requirement. Discussions are ongoing with the San Diego
County Water Authority (SDCWA), City of San Diego, Helix Water
District, and the Sweetwater Authority for storage and treatment
capacity. otay will continue to pursue agreements with these
agencies as well as continue working with the SDCWA and the
County of San Diego in their preparation of the Water Annex For
Emergency Water Supply. The Water Annex will address long-term
emergencies.
5. Water conservation has been considered in projecting the
future storage requirements of otay. However, since terminal
storage will be built over a long period of time, possibly 20
years, usage patterns could change. If these patterns change
over the long-term due to conservation, the sizing of reservoirs
wi~l be adjusted to reflect the change in demands.
6. Groundwater storage to provide water supply during an
emergency is being investigated for long-term water outages.
This type of storage is usually extracted and delivered at a
slower rate over an extended period of time to supplement more
Mr. John O. Goss
City Manager
city of Chula vista
Page 4
readily available sources such as terminal storage and lakes.
otay and Sweetwater Authority have hired a consultant to study
the Middle Sweetwater River Basin. otay is considering joint
studies on the Upper San Diego River and otay Valley Basins.
otay will be evaluating the alternative projects identified in
the study to transport imported raw water for groundwater storage
and extraction. However, the Middle Sweetwater Basin would
primarily benefit the northern area of otay and an adequate
groundwater source has not yet been found in the Chula Vista
area. A final report on the Middle Sweetwater Basin is expected
to be available in May 1~92.
7. Possible storage in the Sweetwater Reservoir along with 15 - I
MGD of treatment plant capacity from Sweetwater Authority has ~/. . ~
been discussed and a report has been prepared by Montgomery ~,~
Engineering. [The economics presented in the report were not ~
favorable to Otay in that the report presented costs for storage~
and treatment that were greater than otay purchasing treated ~
water from SDCWA.] Alternatives are being considered to develop
a project that is more economical. For example, the purchase of
existing auxiliary treatment capacity for emergency use would be
less expensive. A copy of the Montgomery report has been
provided to your staff.
8. As previously mentioned Otay has had ongoing discussions with
the City of San Diego and Helix Water District. In January Otay
made a proposal to the City of San Diego for the use of their
treatment plant's emergency treatment capacity. These
discussions have been positive from the Staff's standpoint. A
future meeting has been scheduled in April with the City of San
Diego for continued discussions with staff on the details. The
Helix Water District has also, over a number of years, provided
otay with emergency water supply through an interagency
connection. Otay is working with Helix and the SDCWA to maintain
this connection. Otay is also discussing with SDCWA the
possibilities of how a desalination plant they are studying may
fulfill part of the District's emergency storage requirement.
Otay is pursuing agreements with the City of San Diego, Helix
Water District, and possibly Sweetwater Authority to acquire
emergency storage, treatment capacity and additional interagency
support.
9. otay has considered the construction of raw water storage and
treatment facilities. In pursuing such a project Otay would
develop more raw water storage than would be required for five 1
days. It would be economically infeasible to construct treatment
facilities for a reservoir that could be dry in 2 or 10 days.
Such a reservoir project would require large up front
expenditures that could range from 50 to 90 million dollars
[compared to the incremental construction of covered storage, the
cost of which is spread over time and is paid for as development
occurs.] This expenditure would be required to fund the
Mr. John D.Goss
city Manaqer
city of Chula Vista
paqe 5
environmental and regulatory process, accomplish the required
mitiqation, purchase the land, build a reservoir and construct
treatment facilities. otay could not afford to finance such a
larqe amount, therefore, participation with other aqencies or the
SDCWA would be required for these types of facilities. Recently
otay, alonq with Padre Dam, participated in a study for just such
a possible project called the West Sycamore Canyon Reservoir and
Treatment Project. However, when SDCWA was approached for their
involvement, they would not support it because of hiqher priority
reservoir sites outside of the Padre Dam and otay Service areas.
The pamo Dam experience .has engendered some pessimism as to
whether projects of this nature can be built at all for
environmental reasons. It is difficult to justify larqe
expenditures for projects that face a stronq chance of rejection.
Although otay is not completely closed to the idea, other
alternatives or combinations of alternatives appear more
achievable from an environmental and economics stand point than
constructing new raw water reservoir and treatment facilities.
10. otay is in aqreement with your assessment of the
difficulties in findinq a suitable site to construct a raw water
storage reservoir. It is therefore not wise for otay to abandon
any environmentally acceptable sites it now owns for
environmentally difficult sites that could be used for future
terminal storage. otay has performed a study in the north part
of the District to consider constructing a treatment plant and
dam for raw water storage. The economics for a less than 1000
acre foot reservoir was not justifiable considering the
environmental process and permits required, in addition to
finding a suitable site. A copy of this study is enclosed for
your information. Based on the Pamo Dam experience and otay's
experience in pursuing new raw water storage reservoirs, Otay
does not feel further study at this time is worthwhile.
11. The benefits of constructing a treatment plant solely to
treat water from the new raw water pipeline may not be
justifiable compared to buying existing excess treatment capacity
in existinq plants. However, Otay agrees that having access to
treatment facilities through other aqencies does make sense and
is beinq pursued. Raw water could also be used directly to help
reduce demands on filtered water supplies. Otay is considerinq
the possibility of utilizing raw water for qroundwater storaqe
and for supplementing reclaimed water for irrigation. Storage of
raw water in qroundwater basins could improve the groundwater
quality and fit into a long range storage and extraction program
for emergency supply. This program could provide replacement
water to raw water taken from lake reservoirs. Agreements with
other water agencies for treatment would also need to be
considered as a part of the groundwater program.
Mr. John D. Goss
city Manager
City of Chula Vista
Page 6
ECONOMIC DATA
In response to our February meeting at which time we said
economic data was available to prove that construction of
treatment facilities for treating imported water were
uneconomical, we were primarily referring to information in a
report prepared by Montgomery Engineering for Sweetwater
Authority. This report has been sent to John Lippitt for his
information.
This report shows that construction of treatment facilities for
treating raw water is uneconomical when compared to purchasing
treated water from SDCWA. Construction of treatment facil.ities
is less expensive than building covered storage but we believe
that five days of covered storage is necessary under any
circumstances. We believe a more economical alternative for
dealing with emergency storage for days 6-10, is to "rent" excess
treatment capacity in existing plants for use in an emergency.
This is the alternative we are currently pursuing with the City
of San Diego.
Very truly yours,
;s;;;-~ ~~
Keith. Lewinger 1./ .
General Manager
KL/GED/BM:mds
Attachment
K-CiCIM' .DOC
t,
Woodward. Clyde Consultants
NORTH DISTRICT TERMINAL STORAGE PROJECT
PHASE ONE SCREENING STUDY RESULTS
proiect Obiective
To provide a means for the Otay Water District to store up to
674 million gallons of emergency potable water supply
(sufficient to meet an average ten-day demand, as recommended
by San Diego County Water Authority) at or near the 520-pressure
zone in the North District Service Area.
preliminarv Pro;ect Characteristics
The conceptual design components of the project at each site
included: an unlined, uncovered terminal storage facility
capable of holding at least 674 MG of raw water; a booster pump
station capable of delivering a minimum of 15 MGO to the 520-
zone service area; pipelines for carrying raw water into the
facility and for delivering treated water back into the nearest
OWO distribution network; and, access roads for facility
construction and operation. The des'ign concept was to minimize
disruption or disturbance of current site conditions and to take
advantage of natural topographic and hydrologic characteristics
or existing OWO facility locations wherever possible.
Desianation of Candidate sites and Alternatives
After considering several dozen potential candidate sites and
alternatives suggested by staff engineers, consultants,
community leaders, and community planning groups, OWO planning
staff selected nine candidate sites and one alternative project
'to undergo preliminary feasibility screening (Phase One of the
1
,.-
NDTRP
-.
.. ....
-. '.
~
.
'" .
~ ~
. '.
=: .
~ .
.~ I
> :.
. "
.l.."".":
C 4"
...:.. ~~ ..
..q. ...-'.
,. "..
o~
I
'. ~.
I
\ (~
~ .~
Woodward. Clyde Consultants
site Selection and Environmental Review Process). As located
on the accompanying map, the Phase One screening candidate sites
were:
Candidate site Name site Desicnation
Jamacha Village West Site 0
Regulatory Hilltop Site 1
Sweetwater Gorge East-- 2A
River Access Site
Sweetwater Gorge East-- 2B
Upland Access site
Steele Canyon North Site 3
Sweetwater Gorge North site 5
Sweetwater Gorge West Site VF-3
Jamacha Boulevard North Site VF-4
Jamacha Boulevard South site MF-B
Sweetwater Reservoir Storage, SWR
Pipeline, and Treatment Plant
(Alternative Project)
Phase One Evaluation Methodolocv
'Each of the candidate sites was visited by evaluation teams from
WCC and ESI. Additional site characterization data was obtained
3
Woodward. Clyde Consultants
from a review of aerial photography and previously documented
or published reports on the site area. In many cases, source
documents included certified Environmental Impact Reports and
technical field studies (e.g., biologic diversity data bases,
archeological reports, geologic investigations) which had been
prepared in conjunction with earlier development proposals in
the area; these provided valuable site-specific information
which was used in evaluating site conditions. Finally, members
of the evaluation teams met to develop a uniform set of
quantitative scoring criteria for each of the four categories
of characteristics compared: Engineering, Land Use,
Environmental, a~d Geologic/Geotechnical. Subsequently, the
evaluation teams developed quantitative ratings for each of the
sites using a much more detailed breakdown of subcategories,
which were then summarized as shown in Table 1 into the four
major categories.
screenina criteria and ouantitative Ratinas
The attached matrix depicts a quantitative rating of various
engineering, land use, geotechnical, and environmental criteria
for the nine sites, three of which were deemed infeasible
because they did not accommodate basic project design
characteristics. Ratings were given on a scale of 0 (least
desirable) to 5 (most desirable) for each sub-category at the
six remaining candidate sites. Issue-by-issue rating was
performed by technical specialists from the District I s
consultants on the project, Woodward-Clyde Consultants (WCC) for
environmental and geotechnical issues, and Engineering-Science,
Inc. (ESI) for engineering and land-use issues. The definitions
for each rating were as follows:
5
Good opportunity; most acceptable,
constraints
least
4
Project NO. _11118-001A
TobIe 1:
MORTN DISTRICT TERMINAL STORAGE PROJECT
SINWlT SITE RANKING MATRIX
SITE DESIGNATION
aater Category/Criteri. D 2A 28 3 5 Yf-3 Yf-4 MF-8
ESI 1. Engineering
. Nydrology 3 2 4 4 Not 4 3 Not Rot
. Constructebilfty 3 2 4 4 Techni. 2 1 Technl' Teen'"
. Project Cost Effectiveness 3 3 5 5 caUy 3 1 cally caUy
. Risk Mitigation J 1 4 4 Feas- ,4 4 Fees. Fees.
. praxl.ity to Service Area 4 5 J 3 ible 3 2 Iblelble
Total Engineering .atlng 16 13 20 20 16 11
ESI 2. land Use
. C~tibility 3 4 3 3 3 2
. Site Access 4 5 3 2 3 2
. Required She 4 5 5 5 3 2
. Ownership 4 5 2 2 4 4
Totat land Use Ret Ing 15 19 13 12 13 lD
IICC 3. Envlr~nt.l
. Vegetal ion 3 3 2 4 2 4
. lIildllfe 2 3 1 3 2 2
. Habi tat 2 3 1 3 2 3
. Rare/Endangered Specl.. 2 4 0 4 4 3
. Cultur.l Resources 3 4 2 3 2 2
. Aesthetics/VisU81 1 2 4 4 2 3
. Traffic/Circuletlon 2 3 3 3 3 3
Totel Environmental Rating 15 22 13 24 17 20
IICC 4. Geoloqfc/Geotechn'ce'
SeiSRIic Considerations 5 5 4.5 4.5 5 4.5
. Stetic Stability 5 4.5 5 S 4.5 1.5
Seepage 3 2.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 1.5
Totel Geologic Rating 16.5 14.5 17.5 17.5 16 8.5
OVERAll RARKING ORDER 2nd 3rd 4th 1st 5th 6th
Woodward. Clyde Consultants
4 Above average level of opportunity: more
acceptable
3 - Average or "baseline" level for site comparison
purposes
2 Below average level of opportunity: less
acceptable.
1 Poor opportunity; least acceptable, most
restrictive
o - Fatal flaw: project needs to be redesigned.
A separate qualitative evaluation of the alternative project
(Sweetwater Reservoir Storage and Treatment Plant) was also
performed by wee and ESI; this analysis is summarized later in
this report.
Results of site Ratina Evaluations and Relative Rankina Amona
sites
The rating scores were totalled by category in order to provide
a summary comparison and ranking. By totalling the ratings of
characteristics wi thin each category, a relative-preference
ranking can be derived. The overall rank order is shown at the
bottom of Table 1. Rankings were derived by comparing the
relative position within categories: rating scores by category
could not be totalled without creating a "weighting" distortion
problem.
The highest-ranked site (2B -- Sweetwater Gorge East, with
Upland Access) rated first or tied for the highest score in
6
Woodward. Clyde Consultants
three out of the four categories. In fact, each subcategory
evaluated was rated a "J" (average or baseline) or higher for
all characteristics reviewed at this site. No other site rated
so consistently high, and only in the Land-Use Category did it
fail to be rated among the top three sites, tying for fourth
because of difficult access and multiple ownership of the
property.
The next highest overall ranking was achieved by site 0 (Jamacha
village West), which was rated second-highest in three of the
four categories; unfortunately it received sub-average ratings
in five of seven of the Environmental sub-categories, though it
was rated average'or above in all other SUb-categories. Site
o physical constraints would limit capacity to a maximum of J62
MG, however.
The third overall highest ranking site (1 -- Regulatory) was
ranked highest in the Land-use category, second highest in
Environmental, but could do no better than fourth in the two
remaining categories (Engineering and Geologic/Geotechnical).
The fourth-highest ranked site (2A -- Sweetwater Gorge East,
with River Access) tied for the highest rating in two categories
(Engineering and Geologic/Geotechnical), but was last or second
to last in the Land-use and Environmental categories; the fact
that it achieved a "0" rating in the Endangered Species
subcategory (because of access impacts in crossing a designated
habitat conservation zone) suggests a possible fatal-flaw, but
this issue would require further analysis and discussion with
regulatory agencies to confirm absolutely.
The fifth-ranking site (5 -- Sweetwater Gorge North) could do
no better than tie for third in two categories (Engineering and
7
Woodward. Clyde Consultants
Land Use), while tying for fourth or fifth in the two remaining
categories (Environmental and Geologic/Geotechnical).
Finally, the lowest-ranked site (VF-3 -- Sweetwater Gorge West)
was clearly the least desirable of the six candidates, ranking
last in three out of the six categories, and achieving a third-
highest only in the Environmental category.
As previously mentioned, three of the sites (3, VF-3, and Mt-S)
did not meet the minimal technical requirements (potential
storage capacity, pressure-zone location, impoundment
feasibility), and. so were eliminated before the candidate site
rating was performed.
Alternative proiect
In addition to the nine candidate sites reviewed as part of the
Phase One screening process, one alternative method of providing
emergency storage capacity to the North District service area
(other than new reservoir construction) was also considered.
The alternative project (SWP -- Sweetwater Reservoir storage,
Treatment, and Pipeline) would entail otay Water District
negotiating an agreement with the Sweetwater Authority to store
a minimum of 674 MG (the average ten-day emergency supply) in
Sweetwater Reservoir in lieu of OWD constructing new reservoir
storage capacity. In addition, the water treatment plant at
Sweetwater Reservoir would be expanded to add 15 MGD nominal
capacity and a 15 MGD booster pump station provided to serve the
520 pressure zone. Approximately one-mile of 20 to 30-inch
buried pipeline would be constructed beneath existing roadways
(Lakeview and Kempton Avenues) to connect the treatment plant
with an existing OWP 30-inch pipeline running through the North
District Service Area along Jamacha Boulevard.
8
Woodward. Clyde Consultants
The SWP Alternative is not shown on the site ranking matrix
~ecause its characteristics are so substantially different that
they cannot be compared using the rating scheme used to screen
the candidate reservoir sites. Instead the following
qualitative analysis is provided, using the same general
evaluation categories:
. Engineering -- The SWP would ~e relatively easy to
construct, involve no su~stantial alteration of
existing hydrology or topography, create no additional
risk of.. upset or failure: pipeline and construction
access would be along existing paved surface streets:
project costs would probably be significantly lower
than construction of any new reservoir, particularly
when compared on a cost per acre-foot of storage
capacity basis.
Land Use The existing Sweetwater Authority - owned
site is currently employed in an identical land use,
will require no land purchase or acquisition costs
(other than negotiating an agreement regarding costs
of shared capacity): fewer than two acres of additional
land will be required for the .swp, a full order of
magnitude less than any of the reservoir sites.
. Environmental Because only a few acres of
previously-graded land would ~e developed or changed
~y the SWP, there are likely to ~e few significant
env ironmental impacts, none of which would require
major mitigation: perhaps the only significant impact
would be the temporary disruption of local traffic flow
to surface streets which overlie the proposed pipeline
connection route along Lakeview and Kempton Avenues.
9
Woodward. Clyde Consultants
Comoarative Costs and Cost-Effectiveness
The following table (Table 2) summarizes and compares
preliminary cost estimates for the six technically feasible
reservoir sites and the Sweetwater Reservoir alternative. Cost
estimates are based on preliminary and conceptual design
characteristics, which may change as the project becomes better
defined. Nevertheless, since a common set of project
characteristics were used in developing the estimates, they are
valid indicators of relative cost, even if the absolute costs
are subject to change.
The estimates include costs of land acquisition, design and
construction of the reservoirs, a booster pump station, access
roads, a water treatment plant, offsite pipeline connections,
plus 15 percent engineering costs and 15 percent for
contingency. No costs are included for environmental mitigation
or permitting, . since more detailed studies will be needed to
develop this information. The SWP cost estimates do not include
any costs for use of Sweetwater Reservoir or lease of land on
which the treatment plant would be built, since these potential
costs (if any) are subject to negotiation between OWD and the
Sweetwater Authority.
10
Woodward. Clyde Consultants
Table 2:
SUMMARY COMPARISON
PRELIMINARY COST ESTIMATES
....rvolr 5fUI
Al ttrnat (y.
Toul (stfNted
tost (5 millions>
Estimeted Cost Per
MG t.poofty (5 thousands)
o .. Jemie.. VIII.;.
West 5 It.
5 23.5
S 65.2
1 .. ";ulltory
Hilltop 51t.
S 37.5
S 55.6
2A .. Sweetwlter
Gorge East, River
ACCISI Rout. Sftl
5 28.4
5 42.4
21 .. Sweetwater
Gorg, West, Upland
ACCIII Rout. Sfte
S 28.6
S 42.6
5 .. Sweetwater
Gor;. Nor.h 5ft.
S 40.4
S 59.9
VF.3 .. Sweetwater
Gorge South Sitt
S 65.9
S 97.8
SWP .. Sweetwater
R.s.rvoir Project
5 16.5"
S 24.5*
*
Does not include potenti.l costl of reservoir use or Lind lease agreement to be negotiated between
~ and Sweetwater Authority.
11
SITE NO. 0
PRELIMINARY PROJECT COST ESTIMATE
FOR OTAY RESERVOIR PROJECT
RAW WATER RESERVOIR $ 7,959,000
Unlined
Uncovered
Single Inlet/Outlet
Selective Drawoff Tower
Zoned Dam Embankment (impervious core)
Chimney Drain .
Spillway
BOOSTER PUMP STATION $ 500,000
15 mgd Initial Capacity (520 Zone)
30 m~d Ultimate Capacity
Configured to Accommodate Two
Other Sets of Pumps (803 & 832 Zones)
WATER TREATMENT PLANT S 7,500,000
15 mgd Nominal Capacity
30 mAd Uhimate Capacity
Use egulatory Reservoir as Clearwell
OFF-SITE PIPELINES S 900,000
Reservoir Supply Line to Conn.
& Regulatory Reservoir
Outlet line from Regulatory Reservoir to
Jamacha Blvd.
Sub Total S 16,859,000
Contingency @ 15 Percent S 2,528,000
Sub Total S 19,387,000
Engineering, Surveying, $ 2,908,000
ugal, Administrallve @ 15%
(l)Land & Easement Cost $ 1,170,000
(2)Total Project Cost S 23,465.000
(1) TP @ Regulatory Site - reservoir site - 39 acres @ S30,000/acre
(2) Doesn't include environmental costs
SD02S;,\L llirrF.;RJGI IT
SITE NO.1
REGULATORY
PRELIMINARY PROJECf COST ESTIMATE
FOR OTAY RESERVOIR PROJECf
RAW WATER RESERVOIR
(Due to downstream development.
this estimate includes a liner)
Lined .
Uncovered .
Single Inlet/Outlet
Selective Drawoff Tower
Homogeneous Dam Embankment
Chimney Drain
Spillway
BOOSTER PUMP STATION
IS mgd Initial Capacity (520 Zone)
30 m~d Ultimate Capacity
ConfIgured to Accommodate Two
Other Sets of Pumps (803 & 832 Zones)
WATERTREAT~ENTPLANT
IS mgd Nominal Capacity
30 mgd Ultimate Capacity
OFF-SITE PIPELINES
Reservoir Supply Line to Conn.
. & Regulatory Reservoir
OutJetline from Regulatory Reservoir 10
Jamacha Blvd.
S 19,741,000
S 500,000
S 7,500,000
S 300,000
Sub Total S 28,041,000
Contingency @ IS Percent S 4,206,000
Sub Total S 32,247,000
Engineering, Surveying, S 4,837,000
Legal, Administrallve @ 15%
(1)Land & Easement Cost S 400,000
(2)Total Project Cost S 37,484,000
(1) 5 acres for TP @ SSO,OOO/acre
(2) Doesn't include environmental costs
SD02!{,\LTSrn;iRIGI rr
SITE NO. 2A
PRELIMINARY PROJEcr COST ESTIMATE
FOR OTAY RESERVOIR PROJECf
RAW WATER RESERVOIR
Unlined
Uncovered
Single Inlet/Outlet
Selective Drawoff Tower
Zoned Dam Embankment (impervious core)
Chimney Drain '
Spillway
ROAD CONSTRUcnON
BOOSTER PUMP STATION
15 mgd Initial Capacity (520 Zone)
30 mgd Ultimate Capacity
ConfIgured to Accommodate Two
Other Sets of Pumps (803 & 832 Zones)
$ 10,149,000
S
$
449,000
500,000
WATER TREAT~ENTPLA."lT S 7,500,000
15 mgd Nominal Capacity
30 m~d Ultimate Capacity
Use egulatory Reservoir as Clearwell
OFF-SITE PIPELINES S 1,416,000
Reservoir Supply Line to Conn.
& Regulatory Reservoir
Outlet line from Regulatory Reservoir to
]amacha Blvd.
Sub Total S 20,014,000
Contingency @ 15 Percent S 3,002,000
Sub Total S 23,016,000
Engineering, Surveying, S 3,452,000
Legal, Administrallve @ 15%
(1)Land & Easement Cost 5 1,960,000
(2)Total Project Cost S 28,428,000
(1) TP @ Regulatory Site. Pipeline easement. 2.0 acres @ 55,OOO/acre. reservoir
site 65 acres @ S30,000/acre
(2) Doesn't include environmental costS
SOOUl/AL TSrrE/RIGI rr
SITE NO. 2B
PRELIMINARY PROJECf COST ESTIMATE
FOR OTAY RESERVOIR PROJECf
RAW WATER RESERVOIR
Unlined
Uncovered
Single Inlet/Outlet
Selective Drawoff Tower
Zoned Dam Embankment (impervious core)
Chimney Drain .
Spillway
ROAD CONSTRUcnON
BOOSTER PUMP STATION
15 mgd Initial Capacity (520 Zone)
30 mgd Ultimate Capacity
ConfIgured to Accommodate Two
. Other Sets of Pumps (803 & 832 Zones)
WATER TREATMENT PLA.l'1T
15 mgd Nominal Capacity
30 mgd Ultimate Capacity
Use Regulatory Reservoir as Clearwell
S 10,149,000
S 482,000
S 500,000
S 7,500,000
OFF-SITE PIPELINES
Reservoir Supply Line to Conn.
& Regulatory Reservoir
Outlet line from Regulatory Reservoir to
Jamacha Blvd.
S 1,496,000
Sub Total S 20,127,000
Contingency @ 15 Percent S 3,019,000
Sub Total S 23,146,000
Engineering, Surveying, S 3,472,000
Legal, Administrative @ 15%
(l)Land & Easement Cost S 1,964,000
(2)Total Project Cost S 28,582,000
(1) TP @ Regulatory Site. Pipeline easement. 2.8 acres @ S5,OOO/acre - reservoir
site 65 acres @ S30,000/acre
(2) Doesn't include environmental costs
SD02S/AL TSrn;/RJGI IT
SITE NO.5
PRELIMINARY PROJEcr COST ESTIMATE
FOR OTAY RESERVOIR PROJEcr
RAW WATER RESERVOIR
Unlined
Uncovered
Single Inlet/Outlet
Selective Drawoff Tower
Zoned Dam Embankment (impervious core)
Chimney Drain .
Spillway
ROAD CONSTRUCTION
BOOSTER PUMP ST AnON
15 mgd Initial Capacity (520 Zone)
30 m~d Ultimate Capacity
ConfIgured to Accommodate Two
Other Sets of Pumps (803 & 832 Zones)
WATER TREATMENT PLANT
15 mgd Nominal Capacity
30 mgd Ultimate Capacity
Use Regulatory Reservoir as Clearwell
S 19,577,000
S 449,000
S 500,000
S 7,500,000
OFF-SITE PIPELINES
Reservoir Supply Line to Conn.
& Regulatorv Reservoir
Outlet line from Regulatory Reservoir to
Jamacha Blvd.
S 1,330,000
Sub Total S 29,356,000
Contingency @ 15 Percent S 4,403,000
Sub Total S 33,759,000
Engineering, Surveying, S 5,064,000
ugal, Administrallve @ 15%
(1)Land & Easement Cost $ 1,565,000
(2)Total Project Cost S 40,388,000
(1) TP @ Regul:llory Site. Pipeline easement - 1.0 acres @ S5,000/acre . reservoir
site 52 acres @ S30,000/acre
(2) Doesn't include environmental costs
SOO=S/AL Tsrre/RJGI rr
. ',.
SITE NO. VF.3
PRELIMINARY PROJECT COST ESTIMATE
FOR OTAY RESERVOIR PROJECT
RAW WATER RESERVOIR
Unlined
Uncovered
Single Inlet/Outlet
Sele :tive Drawoff Tower
Zoned Dam Embankment (impervious core)
Chimney Drain.
Spillway .
ROAD CONSTRUCTION
BOOSTER PUMP STATION
15 mgd Initial Capacity (520 Zone)
30 m~d Ultimate Capacity
Configured to Accommodate Two
Other Sets of Pumps (803 & 832 Zones)
WATERTREATMENTP~~T
15 mgd Nominal Capacity
30 mgd Ultimate Capacity
Use Regulatory Reservoir as Clearwell
OFF-SITE PIPELINES
Reservoir Supply Line to Conn.
& Regulatory Reservoir
Outlet line from Regulatory Reservoir to
]amacha Blvd.
$ 37,524,000
$ 792,000
S 500,000
S 7,500,000
S 1,786,000
Sub Total S 48,102,000
Contingency @ 15 Percent S 7,215,000
Sub Total S 55,317,000
Engineering, Surveying, S 8,298,000
Legal. Administrallve @ 15%
(l)Land & Easement Cost S 2,294,000
(2)Total Project Cost S 65,909,000
(1) TP @ Regulatory Site - Pipeline easement - 3.9 acres @ S5,000/acre-
reservoir site 75.8 acres @ S30.000jacre
(2) Doesn't include environmental costs
SOO2S/,\l TSITF./R1CI IT
t., .
SWJ::ETW A TER ALTERNATIVE
PRELIMINARY PROJECf COST ESTIMATE
FOR OTAY RESERVOIR PROJECf
COSTro STORE WATER IN
SWEETWATER RESERVOIR
ROAD CONSTRUcnON
BOOSTER PUMP STATION
15 mgd Initial Capacity (520 Zone)
30 mgd Ultimate Capacity
WATER TREATMENT PLANT EXPANSION
15 mgd Nominal Capacity For Otay
OFF-SITE PIPELINES
Sub Total
Contingency @ 15 Percent
Sub Total
Engineering" Surveying,
Legal, Adnunistratlve @ 150/0
Land & Easement Cost
(lrrotal Project Cost
Unknown
Not Required
$ 500,000
S 10,000,000
S 2,0000,000
$ 12,500,000
S 1,875,000
S 14,375,000
$ 2,156,000
Not Required
S 16,531,000
(1) Does not include potential costta share capacity in Sweetwater Reservoir.
Project No. 8968118U-OO I U
\
Silc (t.oc.,tiun)
Jatnocha Village (0)
RcgulalOry IliIhop (I)
~w("l'h\:ll('r (~nrr.l" f';lsl
Rivcr Roule Aligll. (2AJ
S wcct",:ner Gorgc J;a,,1
Upland Roule Align. (28)
wmchl
Nonh District Tennin,,' Reservoir Project
Siting Considerations
Seismic
Considcr;llions
. Activc Faults
Grmllld Shaking
. Liquefaclion
Scq..gc
Pnlenli:.1
Excavalion/llormw POIcntial
Cnmmcnts
SIalic Slahilily
DalllSilc
IA,ndslidcs
Rc.~rvnir
Dam Silc
Reservoir
. Dam Sitc
. Reservoir
. Borrow
No aclivc laults; No lalKlslides: Mc.k,r.ne 5Ct.l"'gc Variahlc sl~,lIow Variablc shallow Limiled core Moderate
no groulld sl~,killg Kgr IKlth pol. from soils 011 Kgr; soils on Kgr, material il Capacily sile
1"".1fd ahovo typical abulnlclllS amI wc;,lheml. wc.,d,cred K Cr to weathcred K gr 10 residual soil is widlOut major
arc.,.wide conccm; lou'Klation. lo;lClurr.tl rock at 20 - 30'. Rock' 20.30'. Rock Slockpilcd, excavation.
no signilicanl al,utlllcllt"round oolerups OIl ootcroflS, Good hard rock
li'luef:lClion alinn; also res. abotlllcllt colluvium . quarry potenlial.
IKllelltial (no Qal atC;, IIallkcd by locally.
wid, shallow watcr). ~,kJlcd ridgc
wiah moo.
scrpagc
potclllial.
No arli,'e 1'lIIlls: 110 Nol;IIUhli,ks, f\llltl. srrpa!;c Rrmm'c lill, L,,,sc lill, nICk No il1l(1Cn'iOlls SlIIall rar'Kil)'
t;HlUllcl shak illg t\:f:r. l1li_1:rll ;11 1"C)Ic.'nli~11 ~lIlbl1l \\C';llh('I...(II\!~r sltx:lpilcs rurc. clislillg !iilc: c:<iSling
h;1Ia,,1 ,llx)\'c Iypkal hOlh ;1hullllfl1l ~llc - IlqK:'lItls on f(lumla1iou nnd I"~scnl; 1:lq:c n,'k alMI D.G. ra(ililies hdo\V
mCJ-witIcC(lI)ccm; :111(1 rUIlIltI~ltions flll;1l :i1hullllcnl. wilh cxccss III:IICI i:tI. rill. rc~. ic>d anti
nn siJ:.llilic::1II1 (al,kl'lh) l-ollli,~III;llitlll: lIIi.ed rock Il'l'C seep,age
lilllK"l':tl:(itHI (11""1111)' lill '"hl li!~hl :ll'111I11fl1l alltl lsJllllc:lII)'. tlowlIstrc:un ..
IhU(lIli:l1 (1II1Q:l1 fll(kSI,dl',I",1 11I:1)' hc k:lll'. sll~gcslS lining.
wilh shall,,\V ""ucr). in res, :U(':1.
No a..-li,",' r;lIIlt~ Nc,bIlCI..:lillt..,; Il.illll'll.l'.p 1/,-1I1O\"t..(1:1I al1ll H.K'k ,.'l,'rnl" l.illkl'rno('nrt.~ 1_;lq~r r:lll:k'il)'
Iil".~ly . 1i11c.~:l1l1cnl~ hp inl"'lh 1Il;"kl~lh.' :'.~,:rpa~\' IhmllSIIl'a1l1lill Ih,ollghulIl, 1II:lIni:d, litNKI sile; &uutl
I"c.'scntnertl SliMly, "hullllt.'IUS. H'~:.. 1",I"1l1ial willi .1';I",t'Ckt!: some resilhl:11 ",,,,1 rtl(k '1(0111)' st'lling u\'cr:lll;
Nu grlllll" shakill!: :lIul ft)UlUlali'H~. lu(;dly high ~h:llln\Y slIil :.llIorlh lJOlc"'ial. H.C.C, or
hazanlahovc Il'ricaI sh:.lll1wQ;tI IK11C'lIlial; sllil"iIlC ,kJllhs lacing slope. rocUiII \\'ill,
area-wkJc concern; downsln:.1I11 01 lI1;l~si\'c ridges ;11 abullnents atId concrek: face.
no sicllilic.1II1 foundation, \lound ICS, low lournlation.
li'luclacliun 10 lIIotlcr.llC
polcntial (110 Qal S<'CJ"Cc
wilh shallow walcr). polenlial.
.(-
1'1l1.in'l Nil. IlIJhB IIIlB.(KJIII
Sit~fl.u,:ali'M')
Seismic
C()I1sidcmlillRS
AClive F'lIIll~
Grolllld Sh:tking
IjI)IIe(,"'lioll
Nunh l>islI i,'l Tcnuill,.llh'scr"uir l'rojecl
Siling Cunsit.lcriUiuns
Sl;Ilif :';'ahilily
DolIlI Sile
',"..lsli.ks
Ih'scr\'nir
Srq'al:"
PI,lcnli.11
Dam Sile
I~csc:r\'oir
. Dam Sile
Elc.naliulI/llormw Polential
. Rc~rvnir
\
. Borrow
Commellls
D,uW...d:
SI,'ds Call)'ulI Nonh (J)
Sweelwale, Gorge North (5)
SW...d\\'~lll'l (iul&t~ \\'l'SI
I\T .'1
"......,.'..::11,.( 1.'I....lilh... :\Ii!!I1.
IS"I"
lil,l;malll'"
Q,II . Q"atem.1rY aged alluvium
Nn a(live raults; IH)
j;IUlllltI sh"lillg
,."",,1 :thove IYJlical
.In';1 wilk:: no
~if~lIilk:U1t
litIIK'I;...:liuII
1lI'lellli,lI.
N(J;I,"lin'I;IIIII~;
J'llItIIMI..h.lI.illg 11M)'
:lIlnl'1(,-".hl(;
tUKI\licks.
Nu l;lIuhl itks;
K~, alld },I'
mixccllcrr.ain in
res. wca and dam
sill;.
I'f,,~illll'
I:mcbluk..... tll~".t.
~1lIc.1 SIII:III wak.
1,lllllIl.llicl'I,
;Ihllllllnll, ;lIul
"0\,: .1'1' hll;,1I1
,,,",oI'IY",";III,,,.,,,1
1"1
I ,,:;lk.I,:tO
11ulrlllial
r1lt...kr..tlc.in
r'lUlutuinn.
:lhuunrnl. .lIul
Irso
Ptlll<<klolh" 1'llIi:oll
\\'.'p;I~O" 1"11"1111011
ellh: In (.II-.: ~"'J
tkl'u,ihlll
;1"111111'"111 ;11111
..",,"'\tlll,
1\',,, 1.0' at'"nll", ~o,onlp,'i,.ho",ok, luth ;11 (l'U. ,d..,;tllp,,-.
Varjahlc sl..lIow
,uil'pinr. or
,..."II...,ed rock
mill ,csidu.,1 soil.
\'.ui:lIlk
~1I il Il1i 111: ckpdls
;lIulnlo:l1\i,.c
c"'H'.I".lIi~"1 if Qls
('!J ;II\~ 1)f('~'III,
Qls. hUldslidc dCIKJSil~. 'IIk~1 icd wlk~rc UllCell.lin
Ilock outcrops;
lhin soils,
v;~riablc
wralhe,ing
dCl'lh.
"o"ihlc f.lb C')
ckl'tI..ilS
Irph.:~IIII:II~e
,'ullltlle or
m:lh'riallu he
c"r;wf.llrd.
Liltle core
lIIalenal; IL,n1
rock quarry
potential.
l.imill'dnllt:
IIlah'Ii;ll: CXfCSS
,\\";ldkoll..'d
l...,l"k'k,
UlII:nu\\'lItlll:lrry
,"lemi,,1.
res. = rcscn'Oir
Kgr . Crcl:lCC\IOS aged gr.Ulitic n",l
Jsp. Jllra.~ic aged mClOl'\lk.llli.:: .IIItIIllCI..sc..~dillll'nlOuJ ruck of the Santiclgo Peak MClavolcanics
a/mehl
I"~. = IlIlItnli,,1
.2.
Small rap",'ilY
Silt; Cllcl1~ivc
sile g,ading 10
enlarCt site.
Smilll..al',,,'i')"
~il\'. t~\I,OflSi,.~
r"lI1rdiall:r:,ding
1t11~1II()\"C.
, '
~V?-
:- ~~ ~
~~
- - -~
, .
em OF
CHULA VISTA
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
March 5, 1992
Mr. Keith Lewinger
Genera IJtailailer
~ay)Wat~~strict
05~amacha Boulevard
prlng Valley, CA 92078
Subject: Water Resources Master Plan
Dear Keith:
Thank you for meeting with us on February 3, 1992, to discuss the results of your
Water Resources Master Plan, particularly the portion that discusses treated
water storage requirements. The purpose of this letter is to (a) document our
understanding of your current terminal water storage plan as presented on
February 3, (b) present some questions and issues that we would like you to
respond to and (c) request that you send the economic data that you mentioned in
the meeting. Each of these three issues are discussed below.
Current OWD Terminal Water Storage Plan
We understand that your current terminal water storage plan is somewhat different
than that discussed in the Master Plan. The current plan includes 5 average days
of fi ltered-water storage in covered reservoirs and contracting with other
aQencies, i.e., Sweetwater Authority, City of San Diego and possibly Helix Water
Dlstrict, for 5 additional days of raw water storage and treatment capacity. In
addition, your plans include for the provision of 1 maximum day of storage (which
equals average 2.3 days) located in the distribution system. It is our
understanding that this 2.3 average days will be counted as satisfying a part of
the 5 average days of terminal water storage. Therefore, only 2.7 days (5 days
minus 2.3 days) of terminal water storage will be required.
Please let us know if the above understanding is correct. If not, please restate
your current plans in your response to this letter.
276 FOURTH AVENUElCHULA VISTA. CALIFORNIA 91910/(619) 691-5031
..
Water Storage Questions and Issues
We have reviewed your Master Plan and the information presented to us in the
February 3 meeting as they relate to your plans for terminal water storage. The
following is a list of questions and issues that we would like your written
response to:
1.
2.
We are pleased to hear that the plans for treated water storage have been
scaled back to 5 average days, 2.3 days emergency reserve and 2.7 days of
terminal storage. However, this is still a large quantity of filtered
water to hold in storage. We are concerned that water quality may
deteriorate as a result of loss of chlorine residuals. Based on this
concern could you please outline the procedure OWD will use to correct
this potential problem and indicate whether the costs have been included
1n the cost of terminal storage?
What is the rationale used to justify the need for 2.3 days of
distribution system storage that is classified as emergency reserve? Can
redundant supply systems (dual pipeline feeds to a given pressure zone or
service area) be used to reduce this amount?
3.
What is the basis for deciding to have 5 average days of emergency storage
as filtered water storage and 5 days as supplies stored in raw water
reservoirs from adjacent agencies? Should there be less water stored as
filtered water and more as raw water or vice versa? What is your view of
having, for an example, one days supply stored as terminal storage (which
would give the agencies time to activate treatment facilities and pumping
stations to supply the needed water to OWO) and the balance raw water
storage?
While storing 10 days of water as filtered water may be too much, 10 days
of total emergency reserves may be too little. Aqueduct outages could
range from as little as several days to as much as several months. What
consideration has been given to obtaining 1 to 3 months of raw water
supplies to provide water service in the event of an extended aqueduct
outage caused by earthquake, flood or other natural disaster? With OWD
being literally at the end of the line, what consideration is being given
to the true availability of emergency storage owned by the County Water
Authority and Metropolitan Water District.
Have the effects of water conservation on water demands been considered in
selecting storage requirements?
Has the storage of imported water in groundwater basins to be used during
an emergency been examined in any detail? And, if so, with what results?
4.
5.
6.
,
o.
CITY OF CHULA VISTA
7. What is the current status and what are the terms of the proposal to store
water in Sweetwater Reservoir? We understand that 3,500 acre-feet of
reservoir storage and up to 30 million gallons per day (MGD) of treatment
plant cafacity could be made available. How do the economics of this
potentia agreement compare to the terminal water storage option? Please
update us on these negotiations.
8. Have any similar type discussions or negotiations been held with the City
of San Diego or Helix Water District? Again, we would appreciate an
update. (We understand, for example, that the City of San Diego leases up
to 60,000 acre-ft of storage to the County Water Authority for $2.00 per
acre-ft per year.)
9. Because of the high cost of constructing covered storage and the
difficulty in finding suitable sites for several hundred million.gallons
of reservoir capacity, it may be prudent to revisit the issue of
investigating the feasibility of constructing raw water storage and
treatment facilities. What are the economics of constructing treatment
facilities and purchasing imported raw water? Although the economics of
treating raw imported water may not be attractive on the surface, when a
more comprehensive evaluation is made, including the cost of covered
storage, this alternative may appear economically feasible. Some of the
factors that could be included in this analysis are:
o
The price differential between raw and treated water, which is
currently $46/AF:
The operations and maintenance costs of treating water at a locally
owned treatment plant:
Seasonal pricing of raw and treated imported water. The current
seasonal discount in $92/AF for raw water and $107/AF for treated
water. If large enough raw water storage facilities could be
constructed, then raw water could be stored in the winter for
treatment and delivery in the summer, which may help offset the cost
of construction of raw water storage.
The cost of constructing covered treated water storage is in the
range of $0.50 per gallon when all costs are included. If 680
million gallons of covered storage were constructed, this would cost
$340,000,000.
Raw water storage and treatment facH ities could cost less than
covered terminal storage. The following 1s a rough order-of
magnitude estimate: (Per the OWD Master Plan, the maximum day water
demand is 75 million gallons per day (MGD).)
o
o
o
o
CITY OF CHULA VISTA
Treatment Facilities- 75 MGD @ $800,000=
to $l,OOO,OOO/MGD
$75,000,000
Raw Water Storage-
2,549 AF @ $6,000 to=
$10,000/AF
26,000,000
Subtotal
Engineering and Administration 20%
Contingencies 20%
5,000,000
10,000,000
5,000,000
$121,000,000
24,000,000
24,000,000
Misc. Transmission Facilities
Land- 150 acres at $65,OOO/acre
Environmental Mitigation
Total
$169,000,000
10. As can be seen from this list of issues, the decision to construct raw
water storage and treatment facilities versus constructing terminal water
storage is a complex economic issue that requires further detailed study.
In addition there is, of course, the issue of finding a suitable site for
storage and treatment facilities. This in itself is a formidable task.
If you have done any work in this area, could you please describe it? In
addition, resolving the environmental issues to gain approval for the
construction of reservoir and treatment plant is very difficult.
However, gaining environmental approval for several hundred million
gallons of treated water storage may prove to be equally as trying.
11. Another reason to construct or have access to treatment facilities is to
have the abilitr to take water from the new raw water pipeline that will
be constructed 1n the near future. If OWD were able to take both filtered
and unfiltered water, then the reliability of supplies to the District
would be increased. What consideration has OWO given to this option?
Economic Data
During the February 3 meeting you stated that you had economic data that proved
that constructing treatment facilities to treat imported water was uneconomic.
As discussed in that meeting, please furnish us with that economic data.
CITY OF CHULA VISTA
"
" Conclusion
I appreciate the time you and your staff have provided to discuss these water
issues with us. Obviously, I am concerned not only about having adequate water
service and storage, but also with the cost of various alternatives for providing
this service and storage as part of the overall cost of the total infrastructure
1n the eastern part of our community.
Your further cooperation in reviewing these comments and questions would be
greatly appreciated. To allow us time to review your responses and prepare for
the next meeting we would like to receive your response one week prior to the
meeting. If you have any questions or need further clarification on any of the
above, please call. We look forward to your response.
JDG:mab
'\.
CITY OF CHULA VISTA
~:
'~ ..
;,
COmrC%L aGDIJ:l& ft~'l'DDI'1'
~
.%!'D 'l'n'LBa
~~-
]lee~1Dq Da~e 12/17/91
. "port on Water "ster Plan study rOI: ...tern
Cu1a Vista . . . .. . .. , - .
.."- ".,
.esolution authorizinq a Study ~o Bvaluaie the
otay Water District ...ter Plan and the cost
effectiveness of 'their ruture plana..s it
relates to the Cbula Vista General Plan Area
and, if necessary, ~o deteraine r_edial
action, and appropriate ~unds therefor
-City Manager ~ 7rtJj!j
(t/nll. Votea ~e.-1- .0_)
About two years ago, when ,you adopted the General Plan, you
expressed concerns about water availability, supply, storage and
quality, as well as proper planning for the total infrastructure of
the community. Since then, I have given you reports over the past
few years dealing with water issues facing Cbula Vista as this
relates to the otay Water District. .
8UBKI'l"1'BD BYa
In .ummary of those reports, I think it has been recognized
by both those in the County Water Authority and other water
districts that, over the long term, the otay Water District has not
shown a proficiency for future planning. In the past, the District
had the reputation of -living off the pipeline.-
.
As you know, the otay Water District has had a reputation, and
probably will continue to have a reputation, of having higher costs
than the other major water provider in Chu1a Vista, the Sweetwater
Authority.. ~is is in part because of new racilities being
constructed by otay, .whereas the Sweetwater Authority facilities
are pretty much in place. On the other hand, Sweetwater ha. an
older system, which is requiring major maintenance expenditures as
compared to the part of the Otay Water District in Cbula Vista
which does not. ..
.
In recent years, we believed 'that 'there bad been a major
effort to turn that around, with the hiring of new General lIanager,
and with the planning of the Diatrict infrastructure, including the
preparation of a new Kaster Plan for the Diatrict. .
However, recent events have focused new conc~ over the
planning and cost efficiency decisions of the otay Water District,
end the general impact this will have in Chula Vista and its
environs.
1
--
(
2:~
,~etlD9 Date 11-17-91
While t:.he OWD h.. :finally prepared a draft ...ter plan :for
~t. district operatione (a copy of which -we bave received only
recently), ~t 'has not yet prepared an Bnvironaental %apact Report
:for thie plan, -and yet ere beginning to iJlpl..ent portione of it,
.uch as the purchase of sOlIe 4g acres :frOll t:.he Baldwin to conetruct
a tank :fara. While there aay _ a .flood reason :for tilis purchase
(it certainly va. a Vood aconOllic'deal :for the 'llistrict), . it
appears to staff, .. lay observers, tiult "this is a -.uch aore
axpenaive vay to accOllplish vater .torage t:.han obtaining lake
.torage rights by working with the SWeetwater Authority or the City
of San Diego.
Because of this action by the District, .specially without
evaluatinq the economics of other alternatives, at least from what
we have been able to determine, we have a concern that present and
future Chula Vista water ratepayers ..y be spendinq alllions of
unnecessary, extra dollars in developing water infrastructure just
for these water projects, compared to other infrastructure needs
that will be required to build thie part of the community. !l'hiS
ultimately will mean hiqher costs for property owners coming into
the community.
It should be pointed out that this is an area of concern and
that the otay Water District is now willinq, apparently after the
fact, to prepare an EIR on the land acquisition for the 'rank Farm.
While this is all well and good, it would be good public policy to
develop additional independent data as to whether or not the action
of buyinq land and ultimately building such a ..ssive tank farm, is
goinq to be in the best interest of the overall public. .
!l'he above comments are .ade recognizing that the City and City
staff are not water experts, and at this point we are only raisinq
concerns which we feel should be addressed because these actions
say have significant impact on the overall cost of infrastructure
in developinq new areas to the .ast of the City.
UCOVVWWDA'1'%ON
1. Authorize staff to conduct a two phase study of the hapacts of
recent actions of otay Water District, the first phase of
which is to determine if the planned facilities are adequate
and the sost cost effective to be able to keep the costs to
current and future Cbula Vista cu.tOllers at the lowest
possible level. Xf phase I deteraines that there are negative
adverse cost impacts on the development of Cbula Vieta by
actions of the District, then the City Manaqer is authorized
to conduct phase %1 which is to determine options for the City
including developinq significant detailed information to
. 2
f
,
, ,
I'
, I
f,
I
r
,
,
<
........
h~t;_
3.
.....u.,.-te 12-17-11
respond '~ tile 't;wo fiR' a which hopefully .,i11 .- prepared by
--the District. , ,,'. r" ..: "......... '...'", < '_"'-~',,:. ,",<;. ",',q..-;' , "
Authorize t:be City Attorney to eomaence ~itivat:ion aqaiMt 'the
otay Water Dbtrict ~ require t:bea to a) rucind the action
to purchase 'the C9 acre reservoir aite, .b) conduct a1U.ster
plan of t:beir water 8Yst_, c) .conduct an EIR on t:beir "ster
. plan.and 4) conduct an EIR on tile propoaed raservoir aite.
i I .
Appropriate $50,000 ror tile ~ auit and $110,000" $10,000
for phase X and $100,000 ~or phase %J ror.tile .ater"ster
Plan.
"2.
..
aOARD/COVVT88IOB "cnFMw~~IOB NIl.
J)I8CU8SIOB
As stated above, staff has been concerned ror aeveral years
about the ability of otay to advance plan their facilities to
provide water when needed and at the lowest costs to our citizens.
It wasn't until a new Director arrived two year. aqo that they were
able to enter into a contract with'a consultinq firm to complete a
aaster plan.
We have recently learned that it ia an adopted policy of OWO
to provide a 5 day, 380 Million Gallons, of terminal atoraqe in
concrete storaqe tanks. They also purchased a 49 acre aite from
Baldwin without an EIR, and are planning to purchase additional
property from EastLake. Based upon advise from water Enqineer. and
staff from other water purveyor., this auch concrete storaqe i. too
costly and difficult to aaintain the water quality.
Chula Vista doe. not have ataff that are experts in the water
aervice business. But ataff is concerned that otay is vivinq
adequate and economical aervice to our existing and future
citizens. staff believes it prudent to hire experts to guide us in
evaluat:inq otay's plans. '!'he problem 18 that if these alternatives
are too expensive, it will take resource. away from other ~jor
infrastructure needs auch a. aewer, atreeta, achools, parks,
libraries and fire atations. '
. ,~. i.
i
!
i
I'
f
~
I
"rank Site Em :
The Dbtrict COunsel haa indicated by letter that they will do
an EIR on 'the Kaster Plan. Also, the otay Water Dbtrict has
tentatively agreed to perform an Em for the tank aite purcha.e.
They have not agreed to re.cind the purcha.e nor have they agreed
to place themaelve. in 'the aame unbia.ed position they would have
.3
: '
~
,
(
,..;: ",
..- .,
,'Zt:_
:"eu.a; Da0""12-17-1I1
I>>aen in bad tiley environaantally reviewed the llaster Plan and ~e
t'ank Fara purchase prior ~ .acqulaition. .......our ..legal..dvlaors
Mlieve it in 1:he Mst interest of 1:he City t;o ~ile a la".uit prior
'to 1:he expiration of tile CEQA Statuo of Liaitation ~o achieve 1:he
. -following: :,. ,. t.,
1)
2)
3)
',:,. ...
."~<.
-.~ .~. '.
c..:;;;, '.-.'_
Perform Cl EIR .on1:he .., acre'C:anJt 1ara .io prior ~o any
-design on the .torage Z'..arvoir. .t'hla would "include
alternative .ites and ~lternative ...olutiona t;o concrete
.torage.
complete1:he .uter Plan ~or 1:heir ~acil1ties.
4)
Perform an EIR on 1:he Kaster Plan, including cost benefit
analysis.' .
Rescind the purchase with Baldwin, or at least enter into an
aqreement with Baldwin 'to let either party back out of the
deal.
Conclusion
There may be concerns that otay Water District is moving in
the wrong direction in implementing Terminal storage facilities.
They have just completed a Draft Kaster Plan for the District.
However, an EIR for the Master Plan needs to he accomplished prior
to its adoption. Also, the Dlatrict is purchasing land for
Terminal Storage facilities prior to the Kaster Plan being adopted
and environmental review heing conducted.. The Master Plan shows
approximately $225 million in capital improvements to he installed
during the next 10 years. Of that amount, $118 million (over sot)
i. for 'terminal atorage alone. I helieve other options for
terminal storage should he considered and We ahould retain
expertise to.review their Kaster Plan.
~
~I1caL %KPACT
!'here will be an iJamediate cost ~ 'the General Fund of $10,000 for
the study. Bowever, 'there could he .avings t:o tile public that
could exceed aeveral aillion over 'the next 10 years if a less
costly alterpnative ~or terminal storage is found.' . _
..
,
1 MINUTES OF THE
CHULA VISTA CITY COUNCIL AND
2 OTAY WATER DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS JOINT MEETING
3
AUGUST 26, 1992
4
1.
The meeting was called to order by Otay Water
S
6
District President Hilton at 3:16 p.m. in the District
7
Boardroom, 10595 Jamacha Boulevard, Spring Valley, Cali-
fornia.
8
9
OTAY DIRECTORS PRESENT: Hilton, Haden, Mulcahy,
and Watton
10
OTAY DIRECTORS ABSENT:
Laudner
11
12
OTAY STAFF PRESENT:
General Manager Lewinger
Operations Dept. Head Przybylski
Finance Dept. Head Chambers
Attorney Harron
District Secretary Bartlett-May
Others as per attached list
\3
14
CHULA VISTA CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT:
IS
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
Moore, Malcolm, Rindone, Horton
and Mayor Nader
CHULA VISTA STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:
Assistant city Manager Morris
Director of Public Works Lippitt
Deputy City Manager Kremple
Attorney Boogaard
City Clerk Authelet
2. President Hilton inquired if anyone in the
audience desired to address the Board on any item not on
23
the agenda. No one wished to be heard.
24
2S
26
3.
President Hilton welcomed the members of the
Chula vista city Council and Staff.
4. General Manager Lewinger stated discussions
have been held between the City and Otay since December,
27
28
1991 regarding facilities that the District has planned
1
CALL TO
ORDER
ROLL CA.LL
AVDIENCE
PARTICIPA-
TION
'iJELCOHING
RE~1ARKS
GENE RA L
~'ANAGER 'S
PRFSENTi'.-
TJON
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
1
in its draft master plan to provide service to the exist-
ing and future citizens of Chula Vista. He stated some
2
3
of the concerns expressed by City staff revolve around
4
storage facilities and the cost of facilities. The Dis-
trict's planning goals are to develop a master plan that
includes a long-range picture for 20 to 50 years and will
integrate what used to be three separate areas of the
District. These were the North, Central and South areas.
The master plan has shown that over time as development
occurs, the North will be tied to the Central Area by a
pipeline in Proctor Valley Road and the South will be
tied to the Central Area by a pipeline on the west side
of Brown Field as well as a pipeline from the Olympic
Training Center area to the Donovan prison area. He
stated this will integrate all the systems and should
eliminate the perception of piecemeal planning. The
master plan will also maintain flexibility to provide for
reaction to changes in conditions which may affect the
size of ultimate facilities, such as peaking factors, ef-
fects of water conservation, and the impact of using more
reclaimed water. He stated by building facilities as
they are needed based on the conditions in place at that
time, the District would not be building too much
facility for what might change in the future. One type
of storage facility the District builds are the smaller
tanks within service zones to meet operational demand.
The demand in a neighborhood such as EastLake varies over
the day with peak demands typically in the morning and
evening. The supply of water from the County Water
2
5
6
7
8
9
1
2
3
Authority (CWA), however, must be taken at a constant
rate. The District must make up the difference between
the rate water is taken from CWA and the District's
4
S
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
IS
16
17
18
19
20
21
demand through storage. When the demand drops below the
rate water is taken from CWA, the tanks are filled. The
difference in these numbers represents the volume of
storage necessary to equalize the demand in a zone. Mr.
Lewinger displayed a schematic of a sample tank including
operational storage which typically amounts to about one-
third of a maximum day plus fire storage capacity, and
emergency capacity for emergencies such as pipeline
breaks. A peak day's worth of storage is maintained in
the operational reservoirs in case of main breaks where a
zone would have to be served without service from the
CWA. The District is trying to develop facilities to
meet the CWA policy for larger emergencies such as
aqueduct breaks or earthquakes. The Metropolitan Water
District is trying to develop a reservoir near Hemet so
that they will have six months of water storage below San
Bernardino and the County Water Authority wants two
months of storage below San Luis Rey. otay has been told
22 by the County Water Authority to be prepared to sustain
23 deliveries to its customers for ten days without service
~
2S
from CWA. This is where the District's criteria for ten
days of emergency storage is derived. The Board's policy
26 as recommended by Staff is to have five days of this
27 storage in treated water reservoirs owned by the District
28 and another five days in the least costly alternative
which is considered to be leasing capacity in the Lower
3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
otay Reservoir. The first five days already includes the
2.3 days in the emergency storage in the operational
tanks. The 2.3 days is used as the peaking factor in
Chula Vista to determine how much water is used on a peak
day versus an average day and is based on actual
experience. He stated in other areas of the District the
factor is closer to 3 or 4 while the City of San Diego's
actual peaking factor for their system is 1.7. He stated
this factor is very dependent on weather.
Mr. Lewinger then explained why the District chose
five days of covered storage and five days of another
type of storage. He stated the District looked at the
type of emergency it wanted to be prepared for and con-
cluded that it should be prepared for an earthquake. He
stated the District felt it was important to be able to
provide the customers with drinking water and sufficient
water to fight fires after an earthquake. He stated af-
ter a severe earthquake there would be multiple pipeline
breaks among the water agencies and stated that after the
Sylmar quake in 1971, the city of Los Angeles experienced
more than 150 pipeline breaks in that area. He stated
none of the water agencies keep enough material on hand
to repair that many breaks. He stated the District uses
a nationwide criteria which is also followed by Chula
Vista's fire department which will supply water to fight
a fire for five hours. He stated the sum total of the
fire storage in the five service zones in Chula Vista is
7.5 million gallons for five hours. There will very
possibly be more than five or ten hours of fire fighting
4
I
after an earthquake and between the fire fighting and the
2
3
leaks in the pipelines, almost all of the 2.3 days of
emergency storage will be used on the first day after the
4
.5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
earthquake. The 2.7 days of emergency storage facilities
will be all that will be remaining and it is reasonable
to expect that help from the City of San Diego will not
be immediately available as they will be having pipeline
and treatment plant breaks and power shortages to cope
with before they could provide water to the District.
The total of the 2.3 days of emergency storage in the
operational tanks and the 2.7 days in the emergency
storage facilities is the five days the District uses in
its criteria. This is a reasonable number based on the
13
14
1.5
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
2.5
26
27
28
District Staff's experience in the water business and
weighed against the cost of building the facilities.
Mr. Lewinger stated there are several different ways
of supplying the second five days of emergency storage
and the District is not set on anyone way except that it
should be the least costly alternative. He stated Staff
considers the least expensive to be an arrangement with
the city of San Diego and that Staff is currently
negotiating with the city. He stated Staff will also
consider outright purchase or building new capacity at
Lower otay and leasing or purchasing capacity in the
lake, building a District-owned treatment plant to either
treat water directly out of the CWA aqueduct or in
conjunction with a new open reservoir, developing
groundwater and desalination. He stated if all of these
alternatives fail, the District could build storage tanks
5
1
2
3
4
S
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
IS
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
~
2S
26
27
28
to store treated water but the District wants to do
whatever is least costly for the residents of Chula Vista
and the District's ratepayers. He stated if none of the
other alternatives work and building storage tanks was
the District's available source of emergency storage, 100
acres more than the District currently owns would be
necessary. He stated the 50 acres purchased from Baldwin
along with the property on Eastlake Parkway and the small
operational tanks, are enough for five days of storage
but to protect the District, it is felt that it would be
prudent to work with city staff to identify sites for
days 6 through 10 so they do not get developed before a
decision is made. If the District is able to develop a
less costly alternative for days 6 through 10, the sites
could be released.
Councilmember Malcolm inquired if there was a reason
the sites should all be in Chula vista.
General Manager Lewinger stated they do not have to
be in Chula Vista and the master plan identifies sites in
otay Mesa, the Baldwin property, and in Proctor Valley.
Attorney Harron pointed out that the closer to the
area of need, the more reliable the service and the Dis-
trict is limited by elevations to provide for gravity
flow.
General Manager Lewinger stated the District's mas-
ter plan needs to be re-evaluated as the city re-evalu-
ates its general plan.
Mr. Lewinger then discussed how the District intends
to finance these facilities. He stated the Chula Vista
6
I
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
IS
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
Z4
25
26
27
28
staff was concerned that the price tag for all the facil-
ities in the master plan is hundreds of millions of dol-
lars. He stated this is true, but new development will
have to pay its own way and existing customers should pay
for replacement or betterment facilities. He stated the
District does not want to place the burden on existing
residents to build facilities to serve future customers.
The District's improvement district in this area has
bonding authority but the District's Board has a self-im-
posed limit of $0.10 per $100 assessed valuation. He
stated developers have informed Staff that a 2% tax rate
is the limit for new housing and with 1% of that being
the general property tax, that leaves 1% for financing of
remaining services. He stated of that 1%, the District
would take a maximum of $200 per year on a $200,000 home
leaving the City and other services with $1800.
Attorney Harron stated the District gets as much
bonding authority as possible but its not just to build
the original facilities to serve the development but for
future improvements also.
General Manager Lewinger stated the funds needed for
capital facilities are funded through two sources of rev-
enue; bond debt repaid through taxes and connection fees,
and developer funded.
Councilmember Malcolm inquired how the District
would fund facilities in an area that is built out.
General Manager Lewinger stated if an area is built
out, the District should not need new facilities.
7
1
2
3
4
S
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
1S
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
~
2S
26
27
28
Councilmember Malcolm stated there are a lot of
built out areas that do not have five days.
General Manager Lewinger stated in built out areas
without five days, the District would consider the facil-
ity a betterment project and would fund it through
standby charges and availability charges. Existing cus-
tomers would pay for the portion of the five days emer-
gency storage benefitting them and new development would
pay for their share. If the $0.10 tax rate will not pay
for the new development's share of the facility, the de-
velopers must come up with cash to build the facility.
He stated the 30 mg reservoir to be built on Eastlake
Parkway will cost between $14 and $17 million dollars but
the District will not sell bonds for that amount and so
the developers have an agreement with the District
whereby their cash participation is $14 million. He
stated to cover the design and the construction
management for this reservoir, the District may have to
sell $5 million dollars worth of bonds which should
result in a tax rate of $0.05 or $0.06. He stated any
development not participating would have to pay $1,800
per home as their share of the reservoir costs.
General Manager Lewinger stated as far as water
rates, the District's rates for 95% of its customers are
lower than Helix and Sweetwater Authority. He stated the
District's monthly service charge is comparable to both
agencies also.
Councilmember Malcolm stated the city's Staff is
saying differently.
8
I
2
3
Chula vista's Director of Public Works Lippitt
stated the cost of water service in otay is higher when
all the other charges such as the capital facilities
costs are added.
4
S
6
7
8
9
General Manager Lewinger stated that would not be
comparing apples to apples because the older home in
Chula vista at some time in the past would have paid for
their capital facilities. He stated the new home should
pay its fair share of the facilities necessary to provide
service. He stated those costs cannot be charged to the
existing customers in Chula Vista.
Mayor Nader inquired of his staff how the water cost
to an older home in Chula vista would compare between
Sweetwater Authority and otay.
Mr. Lippitt stated that the homes in otay are in im-
provement districts and haven't used assessment district
financing and most of the prices in the older homes, if
there are any costs, obviously the pipes in front of the
house are always paid by the developer and included in
the price of the house. He stated he was talking more
about the backbone facilities that the original develop-
ers and the District paid for. He stated EastLake and
some of the new developers have put facilities in, and in
fact, the city built a tank through a street assessment
district.
10
II
12
\3
14
IS
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
2S
26
27
28
Director Watton stated out of fairness to Helix and
Sweetwater, their rates are higher because they have
older systems and they are funding a lot of their re-
placement out of their annual budget. He stated a few
9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
\8
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
years ago San Miguel Partners compared developing their
project in Sweetwater Authority versus otay and found the
costs to be almost the same.
Mayor Nader stated he still had not heard an answer
to his question. He stated he thought the Council had
been told that when a number of fees, taxes, etc. were
added on top of the basic water rate, otay was a great
deal more than Sweetwater and he inquired of his Staff if
the cost to the new homes is put aside, .is that true.
Mr. Lippitt stated if the tax amount is not in-
cluded, theotay bill would be a lot less.
Mayor Nader inquired what taxes an older home would
pay.
Mr. Lippitt stated that was not known.
General Manager Lewinger stated, for example, Im-
provement District 22 where Councilmember Malcolm re-
sides, the tax rate for a $200,000 home would amount to
about $80 a year and will be 0 in five years.
Mayor Nader inquired if the tax is the only other
charge besides the basic monthly charge that his staff
included in their figures.
Mr. Lippitt said that was the only other charge.
Director Watton stated the tax is not a monthly fee
and City staff should be looking at the monthly cost to
the homeowner.
Councilmember Malcolm. stated their staff had indi-
cated that Otay's water rate is cheaper but there are a
lot of hidden charges when in fact Otay is saying if a
10
home is older there are no other charges, just the cost
to the new homes for the necessary facilities.
General Manager Lewinger stated there were some
goals he hoped to accomplish at today's meeting. He
stated the most important one was for the two agencies to
reach a consensus that his description of the District's
policies and goals regarding providing storage for an
emergency is reasonable and that five days is not an
overly conservative amount and that days 6 through 10
should be provided by whatever is the least costly
alternative. He stated the second goal is to provide for
coordinated planning between the two agencies, especially
regarding the potential siting of reservoirs for days 6
through 10. He proposed that if this can be done, that
before any construction is done on the Baldwin site, the
District would do an EIR. He stated an EIR would also be
I
2
3
4
S
6
7
8
9
10
II
12
\3
14
IS
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
2S
26
27
28
done before the District formally adopts its master plan.
He stated he hoped that Chula Vista could include the
reservoir sites for days 6 through 10 in its general plan
and create a "holding" zone for those sites until the
District determines what the least cost alternative
actually is and if it isn't tanks, those sites can be
released. He suggested the best way to accomplish all of
this if a consensus is reached is to use the Interagency
Task Force who could oversee the implementation of these
goals.
Councilmember Malcolm stated if he understood so
far, the District would agree that prior to construction
of the site purchased from Baldwin, an EIR would be done
11
1
2
3
4
S
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
1S
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
2-4
2S
26
27
28
and that prior to adoption of a master plan, an EIR would
be completed.
General Manager Lewinger stated the District has
agreed to do this.
Councilmember Malcolm asked, if the attorneys can
put an agreement together, would there be a problem?
Assistant City Manager Morris stated city staff
would like to make a presentation. He stated Staff
agrees that discussion has been going on since December
and part of the process has been to get the issues on the
table. He stated both agencies have been going through a
protracted process of doing that with an exchange of let-
ters raising, responding and identifying new issues and
the majority of issues have probably been identified that
are of a concern to the city. He stated the City saw
movement on otay's part in terms of its initial proposal
versus what it has now, regarding the move down to five
days covered storage versus the original position. He
stated city Staff still has concerns and he is not cer-
tain that the City is ready to reach consensus that five
days is appropriate and Staff's position might be that
maybe this meeting would be the impetus for future meet-
ings between Staff on these issues.
Councilmember Malcolm inquired if it was possible
for the City to deal with the issue of the lawsuit before
getting into whether five days is appropriate or not. He
inquired what else city Staff would want otay to agree
to.
12
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
.8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
Assistant city Manager Morris stated he heard Mr.
Lewinger indicate otay still needs the five days and city
staff still has questions on that.
Mr. Lippitt inquired what the City's position would
be as far as moving on if the City is satisfied with
otay's agreement to perform the environmental work on the
master plan and the site.
city Attorney Boogaard explained that the lawsuit is
based on two premises: that the District should have done
environmental review before purchasing the land and otay
should submit their public works projects to the city for
review by the city's Planning Department to determine
consistency with the City's general plan. He stated the
fundamental premise that has brought about these discus-
sions is that the city Public Works Department is not
convinced that a proper planning approach has been uti-
lized in determining the five-five split for storage. He
stated he was advised by that Department that there
should be some risk assessment to determine what the
split should be between covered versus open storage be-
fore entering into a decision to buy land. He stated
that risk assessment should contribute to a master water
plan and after the draft master water plan is prepared an
environmental impact report should be engaged in and then
the purchase of land necessary to meet the original risk
assessment. He said this process has been reversed in
this case and the land has been purchased first before
any risk assessment or final master plan or environmental
impact report has been done.
13
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
1
2
3
Councilmember Moore stated now that they understand
otay's side he would like otay to understand the City's
side. He stated the City as a multi-purpose agency al-
ways expects a draft master plan and a draft EIR. The
CEQA rule says "thou shall" and he personally waits for
that so that the City can review the documents and return
it with their concerns. He stated if they do not receive
these documents or the District disagrees with the con-
cerns, then a lawsuit is formed for the purpose of forc-
ing people to review the concerns of the other parties.
His concern is that he has not had an opportunity to re-
view a draft master plan or draft EIR. He stated he has
seen a master plan but it did not say draft and it did
not have a date.
Attorney Harron stated that a draft master plan was
sent to the city in November of last year and city staff
has commented and as a result of the comments, some
changes were made by the District. He stated the most
important change was in the underground storage for days
6 through 10 which now provides that the District will
look for the least expensive alternative. He stated
Councilmember Moore is correct regarding the EIR on the
master plan. He stated the District has been trying to
decide what the project is before an EIR is commenced.
He stated the project now will include some of the
changes recommended by City staff that otay has agreed to
and that is why there is no EIR today.
Councilmember Moore stated that was his primary con-
cern but his second concern is what happens to the prop-
14
4
S
6
7
8
9
10
II
12
13
14
IS
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
~
2S
26
27
28
2
3
erty owners in Chula vista if the cost of all the utili-
ties and services exceeds the 2% tax limit.
Attorney Harron stated the developers have informed
the District that they cannot market homes with more than
the 2%.
4
Councilmember Moore inquired if any other agency
could assess the property owner in this manner.
Attorney Harron stated that could not be done unless
the developer or their successors supported the assess-
ment.
General Manager Lewinger stated a developer would
not support an assessment district if it increased the
tax bill beyond the 2% because the developer would not be
able to sell the homes.
Councilmember Moore stated these things should have
been worked out by the two Staffs and brought forward to
the two policy groups but these are his two concerns.
Mayor Nader inquired if Mr. Lippitt could make a
presentation that would be keyed specifically to whatever
issues might be outstanding regarding the lawsuit.
Mr. Lippitt stated he had a presentation that would
speak to some of the City Staff's concerns also. He
stated otay has been giving the City extensions on the
time limit for filing the lawsuit but he understood that
otay had decided not to grant any further extensions af-
ter September and so this meeting was called. He stated
he felt there had been progress made between the two
Staffs but there is still a need for further discussion
of some of the issues. He stated city Staff members are
15
10
11
12
13
14
IS
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
~
25
26
27
1
2
3
not experts in the water field so they hired a consultant
to help them and they also looked at other agencies'
policies. He stated this was not done necessarily to
just critique otay's planning but because the City has
their concerns with multi-millions of dollars of improve-
ments but they have to build in order to serve their
area. He stated in that there is $226,000,000 that otay
is proposing to build District-wide before the year 2000.
He stated that all of these facilities must be financed
out of the tax rate or the price of the home. He stated
when the District purchased the 57 acres, the whole thing
became urgent and that was when the lawsuit was dis-
cussed. When City staff reviewed the master plan, they
saw that $118,000,000 was estimated for terminal storage
and $50,000,000 for operation storage. He stated the 57
acre parcel purchased from Baldwin is for approximately
90 million gallons with 30 million gallons being built .
for EastLake. He stated every day of storage in concrete
reservoirs costs approximately $30,000,000 when built
out. He stated that relates in the master plan to an av-
erage day use of about 76 million gallons and even though
the two Staffs are down to two or three days still under
discussion, that is still $80 to $90 million dollars and
that amount is still worth talking about. He stated one
other area that Staff had concerns with is the peak fac-
tor which is 1.4 in Sweetwater Authority and otay's mas-
ter plan table 4-2 indicates otay's Central Area maximum
4
5
6
7
8
9
28 day to the average annual day ratio is 1.7 or 1.6. He
stated he understands it is hotter in otay's area but he
16
7
8
9
10
11
12
\3
14
IS
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
2S
26
27
28
1
2
3
is wondering if otay's factor of 2.2 is a little high and
maybe a lot of facilities could be reduced in cost if
that factor was more realistic based on the trends. He
4
stated table 4-1 indicates the trend is tending to go
down especially when water reclamation and other things
impact the peaking factor. He stated City staff believes
otay should adopt a policy on storage, finalize the mas-
ter plan, determine locations and perform the environmen-
tal study and then purchase the land. He stated that is
not the way the process has occurred but maybe there is a
way through agreements that the City can be satisfied
legally. He stated the City does not know if the five
days is the correct number of days for covered storage
and is concerned that the rest of the five days is cen-
trally located around the aqueduct near EastLake High
School and is not spread out enough. He stated an engi-
neering firm could probably look at the risk analysis and
look at the standards throughout the area and come up
with a number. He stated the City feels based on an ex-
penditure of $80 million dollars, it would be worth
spending $40,000 or $50,000 to perform a study like this.
He stated the City is also concerned with the cost to the
homeowners for the different alternatives and he under-
stands otay has looked at this but only from the taxes
standpoint, not the total cost including the cost of the
home and other assessment districts and improvement dis-
tricts. He stated the City also feels otay should com-
plete its negotiations with San Diego and/or Sweetwater
Authority and find out what those costs would be and then
17
S
6
1
2
3
4
S
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
IS
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
~
2S
26
27
28
finalize the master plan with a financial plan to tie in
the entire burden including the City's needs. He stated
the City understands that otay must meet certain safety
standards and other requirements and policies. He does
not think the two Staffs are far apart on agreement but
are only arguing about a few days.
General Manager Lewinger stated he and his Staff are
professionals in the water business with 20 to 30 years
experience and the city has professionals advising on
health and safety issues such as fire service. He stated
the City has certain criteria on response time for fire
service as well as police service. He stated just as it
is very difficult for the City to determine the value of
providing a five minute response time in lieu of a six
minute response time, a study is not done, the City looks
to its professionals to determine what is acceptable from
a risk standpoint.
Assistant City Manager Morris stated before that ex-
ample is used he would like to point out that a study was
done in a fire station master plan siting using consul-
tants and Staff to analyze that entire issue.
Councilmember Malcolm stated it was not a good exam-
ple but it was understood where Mr. Lewinger was heading.
General Manager Lewinger stated he tried to layout
a reasonable scenario that the District is trying to pro-
tect against which is similar to insurance where some
people live on the edge and don't carry a lot of insur-
ance and some want to be safe and pay the extra cost.
18
S
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Councilmember Malcolm stated he agreed but he had no
I
2
idea what the assessment would be for four days versus
3
five days and he stated he would like to be educated on
this.
4
General Manager Lewinger stated the District has not
done a risk analysis as requested by the city Staff but
the District's goal is to not run out of water under a
plausible set of circumstances. He stated Mr. Lippitt is
correct that the master plan indicates a huge amount of
money for storage. However, under the revised guidelines
13
14
IS
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
2S
26
27
28
once the 30 million gallon EastLake Reservoir is
constructed, if development continues at the current
pace, additional storage would not be necessary until
after the year 2000. He stated the majority of that
money was to build the second five days of tanks which
will not be built if a cheaper alternative is available.
He stated regarding the issue of the peaking factor and
Mr. Lippitt's comment that if a lower peaking factor was
used, smaller facilities could be built, the District
cannot pick a peaking factor, it must use the factor that
exists which is 2.3 in Chula vista. He stated the
figures in table 4-1 are monthly peaking to average
ratios which are much lower than maximum day. He stated
there is a trend to peaking factors getting lower but the
District is looking at a fifty year planning horizon. He
stated the other thing to remember is assuming five days
of emergency storage, if the 2.3 peaking factor becomes
1.7, the District still needs five days and whatever is
taken out of operational tanks must be put in the
19
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
2<4
25
26
27
28
terminal storage tanks to achieve the five days. He
stated tanks have to be sized for each zone and there are
five zones in Chula vista. He stated the smaller the
zone, the larger the peaking factor because the larger
the population, the smoother the curve. The operational
tanks in each zone are sized using the peaking factor and
whatever portion of the five day emergency storage is not
in the operational reservoir needs to be in the emergency
reservoir. He stated the emergency storage in the
operational tanks is counted toward the needed area-wide
emergency storage.
Director Watton stated the District's preference is
to have the emergency storage located in the operational
tanks to improve response time.
Councilmember Malcolm inquired what peaking factors
have to do with the emergency storage.
General Manager Lewinger stated peaking factors have
nothing to do with the emergency storage but are used to
design the other facilities such as pipeline and pump
stations. He stated the point is that the peaking factor
is what it is and is not a made up number.
Mr. Lippitt stated he would think the District would
want all of its storage in the operational tanks spread
around the District.
Director Watton stated that would be even more ex-
pensive.
Assistant City Manager Morris stated it is apparent
from this discussion that there are still a lot of issues
to discuss and the City staff is not prepared to recom-
20
4
S
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
IS
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
2S
26
27
28
I
2
3
mend to the council that five days is appropriate and
they have concerns about turning this over to the Intera-
gency Task Force. He stated a better scenario might be
to have the two Staffs meet to discuss the issues further
and bring a final report back to the respective Boards.
Councilmember Moore stated it seems to him that our
combined goals are to pursue the open and closed storage
days of five/five with a goal to reduce closed storage.
If closed storage is reduced the next area is to combine
the above costs to the combined constituents with both
agencies trying for a lower minimal cost. If a minimal
cost is achieved more money is released for infrastruc-
ture or the cost to the constituency is lowered. Another
goal is to pursue sites for closed storage and pursue an
EIR to fruition. If the agencies could come an agreement
on this type of verbiage the two staffs could work to-
gether and keep the policy makers advised.
Mayor Nader inquired if there was any inconsistency
between Mr. Lewinger's presentation and Councilmember
Moore's statement and did otay leave anything that were
still concerns of city staff regarding the lawsuit that
still needs to be resolved.
Attorney Boogaard stated he would like to advise the
Council in Closed session.
Mayor Nader stated he heard nothing in the otay pre-
sentation that sounded wrong with the exception of the
five days of covered storage and he doesn't know that it
is wrong but if City staff still has qualms he would like
to hear what the attorney has to say in Closed Session
21
1
2
3
4
S
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
IS
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
~
2S
26
27
28
before making any commitments. He stated one of the con-
cerns he has is that the citizens of Chula Vista be effi-
ciently served and while he is not an expert in the water
field, he does have to listen to any concerns expressed
by Staff. He stated he does feel there needs to be more
closer coordination of planning between the Staffs.
Director Mulcahy stated it is the otay Board's con-
cern that there is enough water to serve its con-
stituents.
Councilmember Moore stated the District does have
some flexibility in what it can do with conservation and
restrictions.
Mayor Nader stated there was no action that could be
taken today but there is need for further discussion on
the city's part and he would like to bring the meeting to
a close.
Attorney Harron stated he would like to reach agree-
ment to use the Interagency Task Force to provide status
reports because one of the reasons the otay Board stopped
extending the statute of limitations is that it was felt
the City was being unresponsive.
Mayor Nader stated he saw no reason not to use the
Task Force.
Assistant City Manager Morris stated Staff did not
disagreed to the Task Force's use for that purpose but
they did not want it to be a decision making body.
Councilmember Moore stated some type of time line
should be used to keep everyone's feet to the fire.
22
S
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
IS
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
2S
26
27
28
1
Director Watton stated there are really two issues
that will not be resolved today but he would like closure
on them quickly and that is the lawsuit and the reservoir
site. He stated either this is going to be worked out or
the City is going to file the suit. He stated otay does
not want a suit to be filed because that doesn't look
good for anybody and is kind of stupid when you get to
the end of it because its usually realized that it could
have been worked out. He stated if agreeing to an EIR
process before concrete is poured is a way to do that,
fine but we do need to come to terms on that. He stated
2
3
4
the two agencies should continue the planning and better
coordination which is a must without compromising the de-
livery of services on either side. He stated debate can
be held on the size of water facilities or the size of
streets but the coordinated planning effort is what is
important not arguing over four versus five days. He
stated the bottom line for him on the development issue,
whether financing is provided through bonding or capacity
fees, the District is going to have a certain level of
service necessary for health and safety and the City will
have certain levels for the services they are concerned
with and either the development supports that in the mar-
ket place or it doesn't. If it does support it you move
forward and if it doesn't then does the agency go back
and reduce the level of service until it works? He
stated that is where the coordination and the planning
comes in and the location of sites and the master plan
and general plan is where it gets more mechanical and
23
S
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
IS
16
17
\8
19
20
21
22
23
24
2S
26
27
28
1
2
3
technical. He stated it's important for the staffs to
have a better relationship than in the past and not be-
cause it hasn't been available but because it hasn't been
4
needed. Both agencies have been going about their busi-
ness but now in the current economic times it has become
much more critical. He stated the lawsuit and the EIR
issues need to be dealt with immediately and the Staffs
should get together and coordinate the other issues on an
on-going year after year basis, particularly when otay
Ranch begins.
Councilmember Moore stated to settle the lawsuit is-
sue, shouldn't the party who failed to meet a CEQA item
make the first move.
Director Hilton inquired if the City performs CEQA
on every project or any approval of purchase before it
comes before the Council.
Councilmember Moore stated if a certain level of
construction in an area where there are mutual government
entities, certain things must be done.
Director Watton stated to answer Mr. Moore's ques-
tion, the District has already stated an EIR would be
done before the site is developed.
Councilmember Moore asked if the District would put
that in writing.
Director Watton stated the District would.
General Manager Lewinger stated that had already
been put in writing.
Councilmember Malcolm stated the City council has
been given a set of facts that is a little different from
24
1
2
3
4
S
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
IS
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
~
25
26
27
28
their Staff's presentation and Staff needs to look at the
issues again. He stated he thinks every one of the goals
outlined by General Manager Lewinger are exactly the same
as the City'S such as low price, quality service, and
enough water for emergencies. He stated he did not want
the District to tell the City how to run the police
department and he does not want the city to tell otay
what is proper for water issues. He stated the City is
concerned that proper zoning and proper planning be done
in the placement of these facilities and how it affects
the city's circulation, housing, and infrastructure. He
stated hopefully the agencies can use the Task Force to
get reports to both agencies.
Director Haden stated the District had no intention
of trying to bypass CEQA but the property came up and the
District needed it.
Attorney Harron stated a negative declaration was
done at the time.
Councilmember Horton asked for a response to the
comment that the property came up and the District had to
act on it.
Attorney Harron stated what happened was that Bald-
win was in difficult financial straights and the District
had been looking at the property for a long time and were
able to get a very good deal.
Councilmember Horton stated the District had identi-
fied it prior to Baldwin coming to the District and mak-
ing the offer.
25
"
S
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
IS
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
2S
26
27
28
1
Attorney Harron stated that was correct, it was an
opportunity the District did not want to miss. He stated
he checked to see if there would be opposition to the
preparation of a negative declaration, but as he has
since learned, Tony Letteri, the person he called was the
wrong person to talk to and the District found out at the
last second that the City was very much opposed to the
negative declaration instead of an EIR but at that point
the District was in a time bind. He stated part of the
EIR will be an alternatives analysis and if something
else makes more sense and is more feasible then that
would become the project.
President Hilton inquired if there were any other
comments. There were none and he thanked everyone for
attending the meeting.
2
3
4
5.
with no further business to come before the
ADJOURN~..EK
Board the meeting was adjourned at 5:01 p.m.
~
ATTEST:
26