2019-113 - Mainplace Mall Mixed-Use Project

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of Santa Ana CEQA Guidelines Section 15155(f) states: Main Place Mall Transformation Project Water Supply Assessment (f) The degree of certainty regarding the availability of water supplies will vary depending on the stage of project approval. A lead agency should have greater confidence in the availability of water supplies for a specific project than might be required for a conceptual plan (i.e. general plan, specific plan). An analysis of water supply in an environmental document may incorporate by reference information in a water supply assessment, urban water management plan, or other publicly available sources. The analysis shall include the following: (1) Sufficient information regarding the projects proposed water demand and proposed water supplies to permit the lead agency to evaluate the pros and cons of supplying the amount of water that the project will need. (2) An analysis of the reasonably foreseeable environmental impacts of supplying water throughout all phases of the project. (3) An analysis of circumstances affecting the likelihood of the water's availability, as well as the degree of uncertainty involved. Relevant factors may include but are not limited to, drought, salt -water intrusion, regulatory or contractual curtailments, and other reasonably foreseeable demands on the water supply. (4) If the lead agency cannot determine that a particular water supply will be available, it shall conduct an analysis of alternative sources, including at least in general terms the environmental consequences of using those alternative sources, or alternatives to the project that could be served with available water. SB 221 requires cities and counties to include (as a condition in any tentative map that includes a subdivision involving more than 500 du, a requirement to obtain a written verification from the applicable public water system or, where there is no existing water supplier, from a consultant directed by the city or county, that sufficient water supplies are available for the subdivision. Like SB 610, SB 221 also addresses the issue of land use and water supply, but at a different point in the planning process than does SB 610. Section 66473.7(b)(1) of the California Government Code requires a city or county to condition approval of a tentative tract map upon "a requirement that sufficient water supply be available" and requires verification priorto approval of the final tract map. The proposed Project includes a tentative tract map that meets the thresholds of SB 221. Further, a development agreement that includes a subdivision, as defined in Section 66473.7 of the California Government Code, cannot be approved unless the development agreement provides that any tentative map prepared for the subdivision will comply with the provisions of Section 66473.7 and includes a subdivision requirement that a sufficient water supply shall be available. Therefore, the Project would be required to comply with SB 221. For projects that include tentative tract maps involving over 500 du, SB 221 requires that the retail water purveyor (or if there is none, the planning agency) verify that the water system operator that would supply the project with water has a sufficient water supply to serve the proposed project and all other existing and planned future uses, including agricultural and industrial uses, in its area over a 20-year period, even in multiple dry years. The verification must look at (1) the history of water availability over at least the KimleyoHorn 55 -18 Page 110