Apr 14 Evening Council Meeting Agenda.
The next meeting of the Watershed Council will be on Tuesday April 14, 2015. This will be an evening meeting, from 6:00-8:30 pm, at the Oak View Community Center, 18 Valley Rd., Oak View. The entire meeting will be devoted to presentations and discussions about the endangered southern California steelhead and related management issues in the watershed. Here is the agenda.
A 20-inch adult steelhead in San Antonio Creek, about a half-mile above its confluence with the Ventura River, April 2012. Photo courtesy of Scott Lewis.
From section “3.6.2 Steelhead” (note: big file) of the Ventura River Watershed Management Plan:
“The Endangered Species Act requires designation of critical habitat when a species is listed as endangered or threatened. Critical habitat is a specific area that has the physical or biological features essential to conservation and recovery of the species. In 2005, NMFS designated critical habitat for steelhead in many areas, including the Ventura River watershed (NMFS 2005). Forty-eight miles of river and tributaries in the watershed are included in the designation (see Figure 3.6.1.3 Critical Habitat Map, in “3.6.1 Habitats and Species”).”
See the Critical Habitat map, shown above, from our Map Atlas to see the critical habitat of the steelhead.
First and Last Call for Projects!
Final Round of Prop 84 Implementation Funding
The Watersheds Coalition of Ventura County has begun the process of selecting the projects from the County’s three watersheds that will be included in the next and final round of Proposition 84 grant funding. Once again, this round of funding was released with a very short timeline. The City of Ventura will be proposing a regional project, to include the Ventura River watershed, to fund turf removal incentives.
If your organization is planning to present a project for consideration from the Ventura River watershed, you must let me know about that ASAP, and no later than NEXT WEEK, April 2, 2015. If you are unfamiliar with the Prop 84 grant program already, then it is unlikely you have a project appropriate to this particular program. Here’s a test: Can you afford to spend thousands of dollars just to apply? Do you have the means to spend the amount of funding you are asking for and not be reimbursed for up to a year? This program is geared for larger projects that are ready to be implemented.
If other projects do come forward from the watershed, a special meeting of the Council’s Leadership Committee will be called in early/mid April to vote on the projects. If no other projects are proposed, then I will call for a vote of the Leadership Committee via email to support the City of Ventura’s project.
Ventura City Council Approves Three Measures to Address Water Shortage, Including Turf Removal Incentives
On March 9, 2015, the Ventura City Council approved three measures, as recommended by the City’s Water Supply Shortage Task Force, intended to address current and future water supply shortages.
Incentive Program. One measure approved was a program that would encourage conservation by providing customers with a financial incentive to implement outdoor water use efficiencies.
Participants in the program will receive a water survey of their property to verify square footage of turf to be removed and/or that the “distribution uniformity or DU” of the irrigation system is below 50% efficient. Applicants can apply for rebates for up to $300 per property to pay for devices, such as high efficiency nozzles, pressure regulators, and/or spray-to-drip conversion components and landscape materials such as compost and mulch. Additionally, an incentive to remove and replace turf with low-water alternatives like native plants, synthetic turf and permeable ground covers is included. This incentive of $2 per square foot up to $800 for smaller lots and $1,600 for larger lots will also require a pre- and post-survey of each property conducted by a qualified contractor.
City Administrative Report – Incentive Program
Water Rates. The Council also approved a new water rate structure that will be tied to the severity of the drought or other emergency that could threaten the water supply.
Key elements of the water shortage rates are:
- The existing Tier 1 for residential customers will be divided into two tiers to provide a protected range of water usage at the lowest level wherein the charge per hundred cubic foot (hcf) will not increase; thus, creating a four tier rate structure during a Water Shortage Event.
- The rates will be increased for each stage of mandatory conservation to ensure full revenue loss recovery.
- Non-residential customers almost universally use a lower percentage of water for landscape irrigation, reducing the water customer’s ability to reduce use without economic impacts. At each stage of a Water Shortage Event non-residential customers will be expected to conserve half of the specified percentage, for example at Stage 3 non-residential customers will reduce by 10% while residential customers reduce by 20%. The recommended per hcf charges reflect these conservation factors to allow full revenue recovery of the relevant loss.
- Pass-Through charges will be adopted if the City incurs penalty charges from Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency (GMA), United Water Conservation District and/or Casitas Municipal Water District.
A minority report was written on this item by one of the Task Force members (Diane Underhill), which urged the Council to consider changing the current threshold that triggers a building moratorium, so that existing customers subject to the new water shortage rates will not being penalized at the same time that new development is still being approved.
City Administrative Report – Water Rates
Revised Water Shortage Contingency Plan. A third approved measure was a revision to the City’s water shortage contingency plan to address a range of potential events that could result in serious water shortages, including drought, earthquakes or water supply failures.
The revision addressed the following policy changes:
- Definition of a water shortage event, the triggers that would determine which stage (severity) of a water shortage event, and actions necessary to respond to each stage of a water shortage event.
- The identification of six stages spanning from advisory (10% voluntary) to critical (50% mandatory) reduction goals, and the appropriate response actions by Ventura Water customers and the City to attain those goals.
- Actions in response to a catastrophic interruption in water service.
- Enforcement actions related to water restrictions.
- Measures to overcome revenue impacts from reduced water sales during a water shortage event.