Item 21 - Water Supply Assessment for the Warner - Red Hill Mixed Use Development Project

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T HE W ARNER P ROJECT W ATER S UPPLY A SSESSMENT A UGUST 21, 2020 F USCOE E NGINEERING , I NC. 14 • Warner Basin: A 50-foot-deep recharge basin located next to the SAR at the intersection of the 55 and 91 freeways; • Burris Basin: Located between Lincoln Avenue and Ball Road in the City of Anaheim; • Kraemer Basin: Located adjacent to Burris Pit; • Santiago Creek: Located in the City of Orange between Villa Park Road and E. Bond Avenue. As mentioned above, SB 1262 amended Section 10910 of the Water Code and requires the inclusion of SGMA-related information in WSAs. Specifically, following the SGMA basin prioritization and designations6, for a non-adjudicated basin that is designated as high- or medium-priority pursuant to Section 10722.4, information regarding the following must be included: • Whether the department has identified the basin as being subject to critical conditions of overdraft pursuant to Section 12924. • If a groundwater sustainability agency has adopted a groundwater sustainability plan or has an approved alternative, a copy of that alternative or plan. The OC Basin (also referred to as Basin 8-1) has been designated as a medium-priority basin which requires this WSA to address or include information regarding the bullets above. As mentioned, SGMA provides authority for agencies like OCWD to develop and implement Groundwater Sustainability Plans or alternative plans (“Alternatives”) that demonstrate the basin has operated within its sustainable yield over a period of at least 10 years. OCWD decided to submit an Alternative for evaluation by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR). An Alternative is required to be submitted to DWR for review no later than January 1, 2017, and every 5 years thereafter. In general, Alternatives must be consistent with one of the following (Water Code §10733.6(b)): • A plan developed pursuant to Part 2.75 (commencing with Section 10750) or other law authorizing groundwater management. • Management pursuant to an adjudication action. • An analysis of basin conditions that demonstrates that the basin has operated within its sustainable yield over a period of at least 10 years. The submission of an alternative described by this paragraph shall include a report prepared by a registered professional engineer or geologist who is licensed by the state and submitted under that engineer’s or geologist’s seal. OCWD prepared an Alternative that satisfies the third bullet point above to prove the OC Basin has operated within its sustainable yield over a period of at least 10 years. The Basin 8-1 Alternative can be found on OCWD’s website. The Alternative states that Basin 8-1 has operated within its sustainable yield for more than 10 years without experiencing significant and unreasonable (1) lowering of groundwater levels, (2) reduction in storage, (3) water quality degradation, (4) seawater intrusion, (5) inelastic land subsidence, or (6) depletions of interconnected surface water that have significant and unreasonable adverse impacts on beneficial uses of the surface water. In addition, Basin 8-1 has not been in conditions of critical 6 SGMA Groundwater Information Center Interactive Map Application, found here: https://gis.water.ca.gov/app/gicima/