P UBLI C M EETI NGS Pure Water Monterey Groundwater Replenishment Project AND D RAFT E NVI RONMENTAL I MPACT R EPORT May 20-21, 2015
Meeting Overview 1. Introductions 2. Summary of the Project 3. Draft EIR: Process and Contents 4. Next Steps 5. Questions and Answers about the Project Everyone is invited to comment and view posters following this presentation.
Introductions
Agency Staff Present Lead Agency: Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency (MRWPCA) Keith Israel, General Manager Paul Sciuto, Deputy General Manager Bob Holden, P .E., Principal Engineer/Project Manager Mike McCullough, Recycled Water Program Partner Agency: Monterey Peninsula Water Management District (MPWMD) Joe Oliver, Water Resources Manager Jon Lear, Senior Hydrogeologist
CEQA Team Members Present Den enise se Duffy & Asso ssociat es es Haz azen an and Saw aw yer • Denise Duffy • Valerie Young, AICP • Alison Imamura, AICP • Diana Buhler
Summary of Proposed Project
What is Pure Water Monterey? Pure Water Monterey is a groundwater replenishment project that will provide a safe, environmentally sustainable and economically responsible water supply for years to come. What is Groundwater Replenishment? Groundwater Replenishment utilizes water that has been purified through a four-step Advanced Water Treatment process and then introduced into the groundwater where it mixes with native groundwater.
Why Pure Water Monterey? Pure Water Monterey is a: • multi-benefit, • multi-region, • multi-agency project that will provide purified, high quality, drinking water for the Monterey Peninsula and additional irrigation water for the Salinas Valley.
Sources of Water for Purification Treated Wastewater Produce Wash Water
Sources of Water for Purification Agricultural Drainage: • Blanco Drain • Reclamation Ditch • Tembladero Slough Storm Water Runoff: • Salinas • Monterey
Key Source Water Sites Regional Treatment Plant Tembladero Slough Diversion is located 4 miles northeast. Blanco Drain N Diversion Reclamation Ditch Diversion Salinas Lake El Estero Pump Salinas Treatment Facility Diversion is located Diversion Storage and Recovery 6 miles southwest.
How Does Purification Work? Treated UV Disinfection Ozone Membrane Reverse Source and Hydrogen Treatment Filtration Osmosis Waters Peroxide
Groundwater Replenishment Schematic Rainfall ASR Groundwater (Carmel River I njection Vadose Zone Existing Cal-Am/ Water) Well Well Seaside Wells Dune and Alluvial Deposits Monterey Bay Paso Robles Aquifer Groundwater Santa Margarita Aquifer Monterey Formation
Pure Water Monterey Safety Advanced water purification technology is a proven approach to provide clean drinking water
Environmentally Responsible • Reduces pollutant discharge into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary • Uses less energy than desalination • Protects and improves the water quality in the Seaside & Salinas Valley Groundwater Basins • Protects endangered species and habitat in Carmel River
Economically Responsible Pure Water Monterey is locally owned and managed by a public agency partnership insuring transparency and a competitive cost overall per unit of water.
Water Supply Diversification Traditional Sources Future Sources
Who Has Benefited From Advanced Water Treatment Technology? • Orange County, CA • Los Angeles County, CA • Santa Clara, CA • Scottsdale, AZ • El Paso, TX • Fairfax, VA • Cambria, CA (recently permitted) • International projects • And many others are working toward potable reuse
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Draft EIR Process
Overview/Purpose of CEQA • Requires review before discretionary approvals • Includes process and content requirements • Understand environmental consequences and identify mitigation measures • Inform decision-making; public disclosure
Lead Agency EI R Determination Notice of Preparation Summer 2013 and EI R Scoping Supplemental Notice of Preparation December 2014 April 22, 2015 Draft EI R Completed Public Review Period Today (ends June 5, 2015) Final EI R Completion Late Summer 2015 EI R Certification/ Fall 2015 Project Approval
Public Review of the Draft EIR Notice of Availability of Draft EIR distributed on April 22 to: • Email list, including: federal, state, local agencies, o non-governmental organizations (environmental, o community groups), interested parties o • Newspapers • State, regional, county clearinghouses • Posting at a variety of public places, incl. County Clerk Copies on-line, at libraries, and MRWPCA/MPWMD offices
EIR Purpose • Disclose the environmental effects of a proposed project • Identify mitigation measures to avoid, reduce, minimize significant environmental effects • Evaluate reasonable alternatives
Key Chapters of Draft EIR • Chapter 2: Project Description • Chapter 3: Water Quality Compliance Overview • Chapter 4: Environmental Analyses (includes Introduction and 17 topical sections) • Chapter 6: Alternatives to the Proposed Project
Draft EIR Technical Work
Draft EIR Appendices Plus, Appendices E through Z with more detail on specific issues in the DEIR
EIR Resource Sections (Chapter 4) • Environmental Setting • Regulatory Setting • Thresholds to establish how EIR determines significance of impacts • Approach (assumptions /methods of analysis) • Impacts Analysis (construction, operational, and cumulative)
Types of Significance Determinations • Beneficial Effects • No Impact • Less than significant • Significant, but reduced to less than significant with mitigation • Significant and unavoidable (with or without mitigation)
Temporary Construction Impacts • air quality • hydrology/water quality • biology • land use/agricultural • cultural resources resources • energy • noise* and vibration • geology and soils • public services • hazardous materials • traffic * = significant and unavoidable
Operational Impacts • Aesthetics (light and glare from safety lighting) • Biology (fish flows downstream of source water diversion) • Biology (maintenance at source water diversions) • Surface water quality (operation of source water diversion pumps)
Beneficial Impacts • Groundwater: Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin Depletion, o Levels, and Quality Seaside Groundwater Basin Water Quality o • Marine water quality due to diversion and treatment of impaired waters • Carmel River hydrology and biological resources
Alternatives Analysis Requirements • Describe and evaluate a reasonable range of alternatives, that would: • lessen significant effects • meet most of the basic objectives • be potentially feasible • An EIR need not consider every conceivable alternative
Alternatives Evaluated • No Project Alternative • Reduced Scale Alternative • Alternative combinations of source waters • Alternative Designs and Locations by Project Component (source water, treatment, conveyance, injection, distribution) • Discussion of environmentally superior alternative(s) (as required by CEQA)
Next Steps
How to Comment Submit comments on Draft EI R in writing no later than: 5:00 P.M. on June 5, 2015 Email: gwr@mrwpca.com Mail: MRWPCA Fax: 831-372-6178 Attn: Bob Holden 5 Harris Court, Bldg. D (also send hard copy by mail) Monterey, CA 93940 Comment Table is available tonight. Members of the public can provide their comments in writing or orally .
Final EIR: Next Steps • All written comments will be responded to during public review. • The Final EIR will contain: o Draft EIR, including appendices; o comments received during the public review period and responses to those comments; and o relevant text changes to the Draft EIR. • The Final EIR will be scheduled for MRWPCA Board certification.
Lead Agency EI R Determination Notice of Preparation Summer 2013 and EI R Scoping Supplemental Notice of Preparation December 2014 April 22, 2015 Draft EI R Completed Public Review Period Today (ends June 5, 2015) Final EI R Completion Late Summer 2015 EI R Certification/ Fall 2015 Project Approval
For More Information Project Website: ht t p t t p:/ / pure rew at at erm erm ont ere erey.org rg Complete Draft Environmental Impact Report is available on the website. In addition, the EIR Summary and CD copies are available tonight.
Questions
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