Contra Costa County has participated for the past several years in an inter-county effort to develop a list of water projects that would be agreeable to all of the participating counties. The effort was conducted jointly by the Delta Counties Coalition and the Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley. Supervisor Mary N. Piepho participated in the effort, in her role as the County’s representative to the Delta Counties Coalition. Supervisor Karen Mitchoff participated in her role as the County’s alternate representative. County staff also participated.  
  
The joint effort in September 2012 reached agreement on a list of water-related projects that were agreeable to all participants in the process. The two groups have pledged to work together to move the projects forward, pending approval from the boards of supervisors of the 12 counties involved. The Delta Counties Coalition consists of Contra Costa, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano, and Yolo Counties. The Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley consists of San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare, Fresno, Kern, Madera, Merced and Kings Counties.  
  
The supervisors and staff from the two groups were designated as the Water Work Group.  
  
The process was facilitated by the California Water Institute (at California State University, Fresno) and by the San Joaquin Business Council.   
  
It was decided from the start that the discussions would ignore the highly controversial Bay-Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), which proposes to build two large tunnels that will divert Sacramento River water under the Delta to the water export pumps near Tracy. Instead, the group looked for less controversial water-related improvement projects that both the Delta counties and the Valley counties could support.  
  
The participants also agreed to support only projects with no negative impacts on any of the participating counties.  
  
The effort resulted in the attached list of 22 projects.   
  
The technical work was performed by staff of the California Water Institute, Delta counties, Delta Counties Coalition, and some of the Valley agencies. Staff of San Joaquin County played a key role in both technical work and policy recommendations. San Joaquin County is the only county included in both the Delta Counties Coalition and the Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley. Staff of the California Water Institute also played a vital role in communicating the technical details of the Valley water projects to the Delta counties' staffs.   
  
The projects on the list fall into five categories: (1) environmental restoration, (2) flood control, (3) groundwater recharge, (4) water quality, and (5) water supply.   
  
The projects of most direct interest to Contra Costa County are FC (Flood Control) Project # 3A, Delta Levee Improvements--Emergency Preparedness; EN (Environmental Restoration) Project # 4, Testing and Improving Invasive Species Control; and EN Project # 2, Pilot Fish Screen at Clifton Court Forebay.  
  
Project FC # 3A would include levee improvements in the Delta counties including Contra Costa County, along with dredging of channels and emergency preparedness projects such as stockpiling rocks for emergency levee repairs at strategic locations throughout the Delta. All projects of those types would be eligible for advancement under this categorical project listing.  
  
Project EN # 4 would involve testing and development of improved methods for combating invasive species in the Delta such as water hyacinth, egeria densa, and South American spongeplant, which clog Delta channels, making them impassible for boaters and unusable for fishing and other recreational uses.  
  
Project EN # 2 would set up a fish-screen pilot project at Clifton Court Forebay, where large numbers of fish are often trapped as the export pumps draw water from the Delta. The likely location for the project – which is a fish-screened water intake – would be at the southeast corner of Byron Tract on Old River. An August 2009 study by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that fish take at Clifton Court is significantly worse than was previously estimated. This study was on the heels of the shutdown of Delta export pumps in May 2009 due to excessive fish take at Clifton Court. A group of water agencies including the Contra Costa Water District have been performing a feasibility study of the project.  
  
The other projects on the list are located throughout the Delta and San Joaquin Valley. All were vetted by technical staff to determine their benefits and ensure the projects as described would not negatively impact any of the participating counties. For some of the projects, environmental impact review is yet to be performed. Should future environmental study determine a project will negatively impact one of the participating counties, that project would not be carried forward on the list.   
  
The project list attached to the resolution lists the 22 projects and provides additional information about each project including its current state of readiness, its permitting requirements, funding status, and whether the project is authorized by any specific legislation.  
  
Of the 22 projects shown, most are shown in green while a few are shown in yellow. Green projects are those that are fully supported by the Water Work Group. The yellow projects are those that the group supports in concept but seeks further discussion. These projects may be given the “green” designation pending the outcome of future discussions and technical vetting.   
  
The Transportation, Water and Infrastructure Committee on November 1, 2012 acted to recommend the full Board of Supervisors adopt the attached resolution of support, to help move the projects forward.  
  
Attached are (1) the Board resolution of support recommended by the Committee, (2) a spreadsheet listing all of the projects along with their current status, and (3) a document that provides descriptions of the projects on the list. One project listed on the spreadsheet – Flood Control (FC) Project # 3b, “Strategic Levee System and Through-Delta Conveyance” – is not included in the project descriptions document, because it was added to the list very late in the process and its sponsor, the Delta Vision Foundation, was still working on the project description. The Water Work Group supported the concept and chose to include it on the spreadsheet, but indicated full support could not be offered until the project description is completed and there is a chance for further discussion.