Item 36 - Grant Applications for Water Well Projects

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and piping, electrical cabinets and SCE switchgear. The onsite generation disinfection equipment will be housed in a chemical facility building that will separate salt and brine storage areas from the hypochlorite production and storage area. Each building will have reinforced, solid-grouted concrete masonry walls, a shallow concrete foundation, a concrete floor slab-on-grade, and a gable roof structure. The masonry walls will provide a high level of security, sound attenuation, durability and strength. The exterior surface of the masonry walls will be colored, textured, scored, and/or fluted to create an appearance that will complement the surrounding structures. 5. Does this project respond to an existing emergency to humans and/or wildlife? If so, please describe the emergency and how this project is addressing it. Yes, the Project will install a local groundwater well that will increase the City of Santa Ana’s increased resilience to ongoing and future droughts. Currently the City acquires approximately 22% of its water supply from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s (MWD) imported water connections that receive water from the Colorado River and the State Water Project (SWP) from northern California, which are directly influenced by climate conditions in northern California and the Colorado River Basin, respectively. Both regions are currently experiencing and have been suffering from multi-year drought conditions which directly impact water supplies to southern California. For instance, due to the on-going drought conditions in the Colorado River Basin, the federal government declared a shortage on the Colorado River for the first time in the existence of the Colorado River Compact. This declaration curtails allocations to Colorado River water users. Additionally, the Sierra Nevada Mountains (the source of water for the SWP) are currently designated as Exceptional Drought areas according to the U.S. Drought monitor. The City’s ability to pump from Washington Well will reduce the City’s dependence on the drought- stricken states’ limited water supplies, offering long-term drought resilience benefits (both quantifiable and qualitative) by providing an additional water supply, improving water management and indirectly benefitting fish, wildlife and the environment. Additionally, there has been a tremendous environmental impact from the recent drought conditions. According to the Pacific Institute, many of the state’s environmental flows went unmet during the drought period, affecting aquatic ecosystems and decreased protections for endangered species. The increased salinity levels in the Bay Delta (caused by less rainwater diluting the salinity of the water) have affected waterfowl, wildlife refuge and fisheries habitat. The recent drought has caused losses or destruction of fish and wildlife habitat, loss of wetlands, more wildfires and lower water levels in reservoirs, lakes, and ponds. Dry creeks and rivers led 18 fish species to diminish to near extinction. According to The Public Policy Institute of California, a priority of the Proposition 1 water bond are California’s ecosystems, which have been hit hard by the drought; 45 projects address water supply and habitat to support native species around the state. Wildlife that have thrived in urban habitats have also struggled to adapt as state and local conservation regulations force California homeowners to let their lawns and gardens dry and die. By reducing the City’s reliance on imported water supplies, the City will effectively be creating more water supplies for the environmental systems that also rely on the imported supplies.