19E - LETTER WATER SUPPLY RELIABILITY RPT

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(a), The difference in groundwater availability creates a "haves versus have- nots" situation that is conducive to inherent conflicts. Disagree. The City of Santa Ana provides its own water utility and does not experience any conflicts with cities outside of Santa Ana in this regard. (b), The difference in groundwater availability provides opportunities for responsible participants to develop and construct long-term solutions which will benefit the entire county. Disagree partially on finding 4.b. Use of storage in the OCWD basin is allowed by agreement with OCWD. OCWD has entered into storage arrangements that allow MWD to store up to 66,000 AF of imported water and to recall as much as 20,000 AF out of this same storage in any one year. This additional yield out of storage benefits everyone in Southern California. In addition, a February 2006 Emergency Services Program Agreement was developed with OCWD that allows emergency water supplies from the basin to be exchanged with south Orange County. This program is currently being used to allow conveyance of water to south Orange County during emergency situations. • R-1, Each Orange County municipal planning agency, in cooperation with its respective water supply agency, should prepare for adoption by its city council, a dedicated Water Element to its General Plan in conjunction with a future update, not to exceed June 30, 2010. This document should include detailed implementation measures based on objective-based policies that match realistic projections of the County's future water supplies. These objectives, policies and implementation measures should address imported supply constraints, including catastrophic outages and incorporate the realistic availability and timing of "new" water sources such as desalination, contaminated groundwater reclamation and surface water recycling. This recommendation will not be implemented. The City of Santa Ana adequately plans for its projected water needs through its General Plan and its Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). The General Plan incorporates a significant amount of policy language through its Conservation and Land Use Elements. Requiring a separate Water Element would duplicate the goals and objectives already contained in the General Plan without providing any additional benefit to long-term water planning. The City's UWMP also serves along-range planning function for water supply issues and is required to be updated every five years. In addition, MWD prepares an UWMP, an Integrated Resources Plan, and provides periodic water supply updates for use by the City. Collectively, these documents provide what has been suggested. 19E-6