Item 28 - Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan

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Santa Ana 2020 Urban Water Management Plan arcadis.com 6-20 In FY 2021-22 additional production of approximately 22,000 AF above the BPP will be undertaken by the City of Tustin, City of Garden Grove, City of Huntington Beach, Mesa Water District, and IRWD. These agencies use the additional pumping allowance in order to accommodate groundwater quality improvement projects. As in prior years, production above the BPP from these projects would be partially or fully exempt from the BEA as a result of the benefit provided to the OC Basin by removing poor-quality groundwater and treating it for beneficial use (OCWD, 2021). 6.3.5 Recharge Management Recharging water into the OC Basin through natural and artificial means is essential to support pumping from the OC Basin. Active recharge of groundwater began in 1949, in response to increasing drawdown of the OC Basin and, consequently, the threat of seawater intrusion. The OC Basin’s primary source of recharge is flow from the Santa Ana River, which is diverted into recharge basins and its main Orange County tributary, Santiago Creek. Other sources of recharge water include natural infiltration, recycled water, and imported water. Natural recharge consists of subsurface inflow from local hills and mountains, infiltration of precipitation and irrigation water, recharge in small flood control channels, and groundwater underflow to and from Los Angeles County and the ocean. Recycled water for the OC Basin recharge is from two sources. The main source of recycled water is from the GWRS, which is injected into the Talbert Seawater Barrier and recharged in the Kraemer, Miller and Miraloma Basins (City of La Habra et al., 2017). The second source of recycled water is water purified at the Water Replenishment District’s Leo J. Vander Lans Treatment Facility, which supplies water to the Alamitos Seawater Barrier (owned and operated by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works). OCWD’s share of the Alamitos Barrier injection total for water year 2018-19 was less than half of the total injection, based on barrier wells located within Orange County. The Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD) also works closely with OCWD to ensure that the water demands at the Alamitos Barrier are fulfilled through the use of recycled water as opposed to imported water, however the recycled portion was less than 33% for the last six years due to operational issues and wastewater supply interruptions (OCWD, 2020a). Injection of recycled water into these barriers is an effort by OCWD to control seawater intrusion into the OC Basin. Operation of the injection wells forms a hydraulic barrier to seawater intrusion. OCWD purchases imported water for recharge from MWDOC. Untreated imported water can be used to recharge the OC Basin through the surface water recharge system in multiple locations, such as Anaheim Lake, Santa Ana River, Irvine Lake, and San Antonio Creek. Treated imported water can be used for in-lieu recharge, as was performed extensively from 1977 to 2007 (City of La Habra et al., 2017). For detailed recharge management efforts from OCWD, refer to OCWD’s 2017 “Basin 8-1 Alternative Plan” (Appendix G). 6.3.6 MET Groundwater Replenishment Program In the past, OCWD, MWDOC, and MET have coordinated water management to increase storage in the OC Basin when imported supplies are available for this purpose. MET’s groundwater replenishment program was discontinued on January 1, 2013, and currently MET via MWDOC sells replenishment water to OCWD at the full service untreated MET rate.