No direct fiscal impact to the County from this action. However, the Bay Area is fortunate to have the unparalleled resource of San Francisco Bay and the adjacent Delta, the largest estuary system on the West coast of North and South America. If this national resource diminishes in quality, that impact will be felt at many levels throughout the Bay Area, including an impact to the local economy in each community in Contra Costa County.
For the last four or five years there has been a tremendous amount of activity in the Delta that will have far reaching impacts throughout the State. To provide comments and articulate the perspective of Delta counties, Contra Costa, Solano, Yolo, Sacramento, and San Joaquin counties formed the Delta Counties Coalition (DCC). The Coalition believes now is the time to reach out to their cities and other interested agencies to increase support for advocacy on Delta issues. In San Joaquin County, for example, the "San Joaquin County Delta Initiative Coalition Stakeholders" adopted on December 5, 2011 a joint resolution in support of an initiative for joint action, advocacy, and mutual interests on issues concerning the Delta.
The purpose of the attached resolution is to facilitate a similar effort in Contra Costa County. The goals of the initiative are to increase awareness and communication on current issues in the Delta and to increase influence at legislative, political, and other levels by having a greater number of agencies in Contra Costa County that are interested, engaged and supportive on Delta issues.
It is recommended that the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors and each City/Town Council/Special District adopt the Resolution on Water, Ecosystem Health and Other Issues Related to the San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
It is also recommended that Board of Supervisors and each City/Town Council/Special District Board of Directors authorize the County Administrator/Mayor/Council Member/City/Town Manager/District Manager to work with the Coalition on Delta issues as necessary to convey the County's/City’s/Town’s interest and support to State and Federal elected officials and other committees working on Delta issues.
Background
There are several broad initiatives that are underway in the Delta that will have impacts within, around, and outside of the legal Delta boundary. In Contra Costa County the cities of Pittsburg, Antioch, Oakley, and Brentwood are within the legal Delta boundary. The following is a brief discussion of each of these initiatives and the impacts they will have on cities within Contra Costa County.
1. Central Valley Flood Protection Plan
SB 5 enacted in 2007 requires cities and the County in the Delta area to provide 200 year flood protection for new development starting in July 2015. This and other land use requirements are being incorporated into the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan, which is being prepared by the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and is to be adopted by July 2012. Once the Plan is adopted, cities and counties in the Delta will have to amend their General Plans and Zoning Ordinances to be consistent. The Plan will also include new levee design standards currently being developed by DWR. These new standards will need to be incorporated into land use entitlement processes.
2. Delta Plan
In November 2009, the legislature enacted the Delta Reform Act (SBX7-1). This legislation established the Delta Stewardship Council, an independent State agency, and required the Council to develop a Delta Plan by January 2012. The Delta Plan is a long-term management plan for the Delta and Suisun Marsh. Plan implementation is to achieve the co-equal goals of providing a more reliable water supply for California and protecting, restoring, and enhancing the Delta ecosystem. These two co-equal goals are to be achieved in a manner that protects and enhances the unique cultural, recreational, natural resource, and agricultural values of the Delta as an evolving place. The Plan generally covers the following topic areas and goals:
1) Increased water supply reliability
2) Restoration of the Delta ecosystem
3) Improved water quality
4) Reduced risks of flooding in the Delta
5) Protection and enhancement of the Delta as an evolving place
6) Regulatory changes in which some local land use decisions will be subject to review and overturning by the Delta Stewardship Council ("covered actions").
The Delta Stewardship Council itself will not construct, own or operate any facilities; however, the Plan sets forth regulatory policies and recommendations that will influence the actions, activities, and projects of cities, counties, the State, Federal and other local agencies. The Delta Plan enforces its policies through defining "covered actions" and having the Stewardship Council serve as an appellate body to approve "covered actions" if they are appealed. A covered action is any plan, program or project that meets all of the following conditions:
1) Will occur in whole or in part within the boundaries of the Delta or Suisun Marsh.
2) Will be carried out, approved or funded by the State or a local public agency.
3) Is covered by one or more provisions of the Delta Plan.
4) Will have a significant impact on achievement of one or both of the co-equal goals or the implementation of government sponsored flood control programs to reduce risks to people, property, and State interests in the Delta.
For the purposes of the Delta Plan “project” has the same meaning as it is used for CEQA, although it does not include CEQA’s exemptions, except for ministerial projects. For any covered action project, the local jurisdiction must prepare a written certification of consistency with detailed findings as to whether the covered action is consistent with the Delta Plan and submit that certification to the Council. Projects that an agency believes are consistent with the Delta Plan could be appealed to the Council by anyone who opposes the project.
3. Bay Delta Conservation Plan
The Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) is a plan to develop a new water conveyance project to get more water to the Central Valley and Southern California, along with habitat conservation projects in the Delta and Suisun Bay. The BDCP is co-sponsored by the state and federal governments and water agencies from around California that receive water from the Delta. The BDCP will be prepared to cover a proposed "isolated conveyance" facility. This facility will be a canal around the Delta (Peripheral Canal) or a tunnel under the Delta. The canal or tunnel will pick up Sacramento River water downstream of Sacramento and convey it to Clifton Court Forebay. When the Plan is adopted it will provide the take Permit under the Endangered Species Act for construction of the conveyance facility. It will also provide a body of studies to obtain a water quality certification and other environmental permits. Part of the BDCP effort includes planning for mitigation in the neighborhood of 100,000 acres of tidal marsh, floodplain, terrestrial, and riparian habitats.
Impacts on Cities
1. Land Use
Prior to approving land use projects, cities within the Delta boundary must show that the development has 200 year level of protection. The current maximum level of protection anywhere in Contra Costa County is 100 years. Some public projects, and private projects approved by a city within the Delta boundary, will have to make a determination of consistency with the Delta Plan. The amount of effort this entails depends on how the Delta Stewardship Council administers their covered action program.
2. Water Quality
The NPDES stormwater permit for each city is issued by the Regional Water Quality Control Board. The requirements of the stormwater permit are developed, in part, based upon the water quality of the bodies of water that our streams and creeks drain into, such as the Delta, Carquinez Straits or San Francisco Bay. If the water quality of these water bodies degrades then our stormwater permit requirements increase.
There are proposed scenarios in the Delta that would replumb the current flow regime to direct more pollutant laden south Delta water through to San Francisco Bay and direct cleaner Sacramento River water south to the pumps at Clifton Court Forebay. This would decrease the quality of water through the Carquinez Straits and into San Francisco Bay. If water quality decreases the Regional Water Quality Control Board can adjust an existing TMDL or develop a new TMDL for a particular pollutant of concern. These requirements would be folded into our next stormwater permit. A TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) establishes limits or concentrations of a particular pollutant and actions to be taken that will reduce concentrations.
3. Delta Outflow
Ninety percent of the flows coming into San Francisco Bay come from the Delta. The recently release State of the San Francisco Bay 2011 Report indicated that the fresh water inflow index was “very poor” for the water year 2010. Eight of the last ten years have resulted in drought conditions for San Francisco Bay when comparing the fresh water flows during these eight years to flows prior to the construction of dams or diversions. The State Water Resources Control Board and biologists from US Fish and Wildlife Service have both indicated recently that additional flows need to drain through the Delta and into San Francisco Bay for a healthy Delta and San Francisco Bay Estuary. As the health of the Delta goes so goes the health of San Francisco Bay. Reduced outflow is a stressor on the overall health of San Francisco Bay.
4. Economic
To a certain extent the attraction that each city in the County has for bringing in or retaining development and business is due to our location in the Bay Area. The Bay Area is fortunate to have the unparalleled resource of San Francisco Bay and the adjacent Delta, the largest estuary system on the West coast of North and South America. If this national resource diminishes in quality that impact will be felt at many levels throughout the Bay Area, including an impact to the local economy in each community in Contra Costa County.