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C. 36

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	John Kopchik, Director, Conservation & Development Department
Date:	December 5, 2017

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

First Amendment to the East County Groundwater Sustainability MOU

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 12/05/2017

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor
Diane Burgis, District III Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

Contact:

Ryan Hernandez (925) 674-7824

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: December 5, 2017
David Twa,

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

1) APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Director of Conservation and Development, or designee, to execute, on behalf of the County, an amendment to the memorandum of understanding with cities and water agencies in east Contra Costa County regarding coordinated groundwater management of the Tracy Subbasin, to allow the County to provide in-kind services in lieu of payment to support the parties’ development of a sustainable groundwater management plan for the portion of the east Contra Costa County subbasin, and take related actions.


2) DESIGNATE the Director of Conservation and Development, or designee, to be the County’s representative for all actions the County performs under the MOU, as amended.

RECOMMENDATION(S): (CONT'D)

3) DECLARE Contra Costa County's support for the City of Brentwood's Proposition 1 grant application to the Department of Water Resources for funding portions of the development of a Groundwater Sustainability Plan for the Tracy Subbasin.

FISCAL IMPACT:

No impact to the General Fund. Costs to prepare the groundwater sustainability plan will be divided evenly among the parties to the MOU, except that the County may elect to satisfy some or all of its cost-share obligation through in-kind services performed by County staff, which will be funded by the Water Agency.

BACKGROUND:

On April 25, 2017, the Board adopted Resolution Number 2017/148 declaring Contra Costa County's intent to become a Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) and authorized execution of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with east county entities to prepare a Groundwater Sustainability Plan for the portion of the Tracy Subbasin within Contra Costa County. The east county entities that also are parties to the MOU include the Cities of Antioch and Brentwood, Contra Costa Water District, Diablo Water District, East Contra Costa Irrigation District, and the Discovery Bay Community Services District. The MOU was executed shortly after the Board hearing and became effective on May 9, 2017.

Additionally, the County submitted an application to the Department of Water Resources regarding becoming a GSA on May 11, 2017 and 90 days later, on August 10, 2017, Contra Costa County became the exclusive Groundwater Sustainability Agency for a portion of the Tracy Subbasin within east Contra Costa County, as further described in the resolution. The other parties to the MOU also applied and became exclusive GSAs for their portion of the Tracy Subbasin within Contra Costa County, as described in the MOU.

The parties entered into the MOU in order to develop a groundwater sustainability plan (GSP) for the East Contra Costa County Portion of the Tracy Subbasin. The MOU reflects the Parties’ general agreement that the costs of developing the GSP should be split evenly among the Parties. The MOU also generally allowed the County to provide in-kind services to satisfy some or all of its cost-share obligations. This amendment to the MOU establishes a process, undertaken annually, through which the parties agree on the GSP-preparation services to be performed. The County will determine annually whether it will provide in-kind services. The County will be responsible for paying the other parties true-up payments at the end of the year if the value of its in-kind services is less than what the amount of its cost share would have been. If the value of in-kind services exceeds what the cost-share would have been, the excess is carried over to satisfy next year’s in-kind service contribution. The MOU establishes how the value of County in-kind services will be calculated. In addition, this amendment designates Brentwood as the party that will serve as the contracting Party with the consultant on behalf of all of the other Parties. The Parties wish to memorialize their mutual agreements by means of this First Amendment, attached.

The Conservation and Development Department Director recommends the Board adopt the First Amendment to the MOU for the development of a Groundwater Sustainability Plan for the East Contra Costa County Portion of the Tracy Subbasin.

The City of Brentwood is preparing a grant application to the State that would cover some of the costs of preparing a Groundwater Sustainability Plan. If approved, such a grant would reduce local agencies' share of the costs.

CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:

If the Board does not adopt the first amendment to the MOU, the County would have no process in place to provide in-kind services that could offset some of the costs of preparing the Groundwater Sustainability Plan for the portion of the Tracy Subbasin within Contra Costa County.