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Public Works Agency <br />www.santa-ana.org/pw <br />Item # 18 <br />City of Santa Ana <br />20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701 <br /> Staff Report <br />February 1, 2022 <br />TOPIC: Washington Avenue Well Project <br />AGENDA TITLE <br />Public Hearing - Adoption of a Resolution Approving the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative <br />Declaration and the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program for the Washington <br />Avenue Well Project (Non-General Fund) <br />RECOMMENDED ACTION <br />1. Hold a public hearing and adopt a resolution approving an Initial Study/Mitigated <br />Negative Declaration and the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program for the <br />Washington Avenue Well Project. <br />2. Approve the Washington Avenue Well Project. <br />DISCUSSION <br />The City is currently in the design stages of the Washington Avenue Well Project, which <br />will be located on the northwest corner of the intersection of Washington Avenue and <br />Penn Way (Exhibit 1). The project involves construction of a new groundwater well, <br />including piping and electrical equipment, a well building, and a chemical storage building. <br />The project creates an additional local water supply, which improves the City’s long-term <br />resilience to drought. It also closes the projected gap between future demand and <br />available supply by adding over 4,000 acre-feet per year to the City’s pumping capacity. <br />The majority of the City’s potable water comes from an underground basin and is pumped <br />through 21 existing wells. Given the limited water supplies in the region and recent <br />recurring droughts, constructing a new well in the City would improve overall water system <br />reliability and reduce the burden on other water production facilities. This promotes less <br />reliance on imported water, which, in turn, reduces water costs. The project will also <br />address low-pressure deficiencies, improve reliability, and increase flexibility within the <br />City’s water system, as identified in the City’s 2017 Water Master Plan. <br />In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), an Initial Study and <br />Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) was prepared for this project (Exhibit 2), along <br />with a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP) (Exhibit 3), which must be <br />approved and adopted by resolution of the City Council (Exhibit 4). Approval of this