To: Board of Directors, Sonoma County Water Agency
Department or Agency Name(s): Sonoma County Water Agency
Staff Name and Phone Number: Todd Schram 524-1173
Vote Requirement: 4/5th
Supervisorial District(s): All
Title:
Title
Post-Wildfire Research on Russian River Water Quality
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Authorize Sonoma County Water Agency's General Manager to execute the Third Amended Strategic Partnerships Projects Agreement with The Regents of the University of California, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, expanding the scope of work and extending time for an additional 23 months to provide post-wildfire related research, increasing the amount by $400,000 for a new not-to-exceed agreement total of $575,000 and end date of November 30, 2022;
B) Authorize Sonoma County Water Agency's General Manager to execute the Second Amendment to the Joint Funding Agreement for Spatial and Temporal Removal of Pathogens and Indicator Organisms within the Riverbank Filtration System with U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, for Mirabel and Wohler water quality investigation, increasing the amount by $382,740 to expand the scope of work to include activities related to the Kincade and Walbridge Fires and extending the term by two years, for a new not-to-exceed agreement total of $882,284 and a new end date of September 30, 2022; and
C) Adopt a Resolution Authorizing Adjustments to the Board Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2020-2021 for the Water Transmission Operations Fund in the Amount of $257,740 for Post-Wildfire Research on Russian River Water Quality (4/5th Vote Required).
end
Executive Summary:
In collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior (U.S. Geological Survey) and Regents of University of California, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), the Sonoma County Water Agency (Sonoma Water) has developed a water quality monitoring program and post-fire-related research to support assessment of the potential impacts to Sonoma Water’s drinking water facilities resulting from the recent wildfires in the Russian River watershed. This program is proposed to be extended to include the monitoring and assessing the impacts of the most recent wildfires: the Kincade Fire in October 2019 and Walbridge Fire in August 2020. Data collected under this program will also provide valuable information to other water supply systems downstream of the affected areas, as well as for studies on potential ecosystem impacts.
Discussion:
BACKGROUND
Sonoma Water initiated a collaborative research partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 2008 to study Sonoma Water’s riverbank filtration system on the Russian River that serves as the primary treatment for the drinking water production facilities at Wohler and Mirabel. This effort has resulted in an enhanced understanding of the characteristics of the physical, chemical and biological mechanisms that result in the high-quality produced water from the Russian River alluvium. The U.S. Geological Survey has focused on analyzing and characterizing the water and sediment chemistry and microbiology with field and laboratory experiments. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has completed sampling and monitoring of the microbial community for the riverbank filtration, performed data analyses and statistics and applied the data to the development of subsurface flow, reactive transport and microbial modeling. A component of this research included investigating how a wildfire in the watershed may alter the surface water chemistry and physical, chemical and microbial mechanisms that are integral to the ecosystem function of the Russian River alluvial system. In response to the October 2017 wildfires in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties, the research program activities were expanded to support the then newly launched post-fire water quality monitoring program and the agreements with both partners were amended in 2018. The Amendment No. 1 Agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey covered activities and funding through September 30, 2020. The First Amended Agreement with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory covered activities and funding through December 31, 2019. In December 2019, the Second Amended Agreement was signed to extend the agreement end date until December 31, 2020. Since the post-fire water quality monitoring program began in 2017, the Russian River watershed has been subjected to large wildfires every year since and the importance of studying the impacts of runoff contributions from wildfire burn areas has become more evident.
SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED
Third Amended Agreement with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Under the proposed amended agreement, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will continue development of a number of important datasets, assessments, and modeling capabilities to evaluate post-fire water quality conditions. The main objectives of the proposed tasks are to extend the sampling and research efforts that have been ongoing for many years and have demonstrated the robust ability of the Russian River alluvial system to provide high quality potable water. Since 2017, water quality studies were extended more broadly to tributaries and reaches of the Russian River that are downstream of the Tubbs, Nuns, and Kincade Fires. The proposed work in the amended agreement supports the continuation of the watershed sampling program downstream of burn areas from the Kincade and Walbridge Fires, provides analysis and interpretation of water quality datasets, continues the development of a reactive transport model, and simulates potential post-fire water quality impacts on the alluvial aquifer system. These activities investigate potential water quality changes due to wildfires at Wohler and Mirabel regarding the fate and transport of dissolved organic carbon, metals, nutrients, and other constituents of concern following the recent wildfires. This work will be performed in conjunction with tasks executed by the U.S. Geological Survey under a separate agreement.
The additional cost is $400,000, for a new not-to-exceed agreement total of $575,000. The amendment extends the term end date by two years for a new end date of November 30, 2022.
Amendment No. 2 to the Agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey
Under the proposed amendment, the U.S. Geological Survey will provide analytical services and conduct experiments to characterize changes in water and sediment chemistry and microbiology in the Russian River and its tributaries that are downstream of areas subjected to the recent wildfires. This work includes characterization of ash collected from the Walbridge Fire to support previous efforts to assess how wildfire ash leachate affects the top layer of river bottom sediments in the vicinity of Sonoma Water’s riverbank filtration that serves as a critical treatment mechanism to remove pathogens. Additional proposed tasks include conducting chemical analyses of water and sediment samples from sites impacted by recent wildfires, microbiological analyses of microbial communities to assess changes in the water column and river sediments, and the study of the relationships between microbial communities, environmental variables and stream flow to examine processes and potential transformations. This study investigates how water chemistry and the microbial community may be altered in these sediments. Overall, this research attempts to understand if effects from wildfires alter sediment microbial processes leading to potential impacts on groundwater quality, such as the mobilization of pathogens (e.g. Cryptosporidium parvum) and constituents of concern for drinking water (e.g. dissolved metals). Collectively, this research work will enhance Sonoma Water’s predictive capabilities in assessing the potential for wildfires to alter the existing efficacy of river bank filtration in providing high-quality drinking water to its water supply customers.
The additional cost is $382,740, for a new not-to-exceed agreement total of $882,284. The amendment extends the term end date for an additional two years with a new end date of September 30, 2022.
RECOMMENDATIONS
(1) Sonoma Water staff recommends that the Board authorize Sonoma Water's General Manager to execute the Third Amended Strategic Partnerships Projects Agreement with The Regents of the University of California, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, expanding the scope of work for a new not-to-exceed agreement total of $575,000 and end date of November 30, 2022;
(2) Authorize Sonoma Water's General Manager to execute Amendment No. 2 to the Joint Funding Agreement for Spatial and Temporal Removal of Pathogens and Indicator Organisms within the Riverbank Filtration System with U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, for Mirabel and Wohler water quality investigation expanding the scope of work for a new not-to-exceed agreement total of $882,284 and end date of September 30, 2022; and
(3) Adopt a Resolution Authorizing Adjustments to the Board Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2020-2021 for the Water Transmission Operations Fund in the Amount of $257,740 for Post-Wildfire Research on Russian River Water Quality.
Prior Board Actions:
9/27/2016: Approved agreement between Water Agency and U.S. Geological Survey. Cost $179,500; term end December 31, 2019.
7/10/2018: Approved authorization to execute amended agreement between SCWA and U.S. Geological Survey for total cost of $499,545 with term end date of September 30, 2020 and to execute amended agreement with The Regents of the University of California, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for total cost of $175,000 with term end date of December 31, 2019.
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY 20-21 Adopted |
FY21-22 Projected |
FY 22-23 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
$525,000 |
|
|
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Additional Appropriation Requested |
$257,740 |
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Total Expenditures |
$782,740 |
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Funding Sources |
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General Fund/WA GF |
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State/Federal |
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Fees/Other |
$525,000 |
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Use of Fund Balance |
$257,740 |
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Contingencies |
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Total Sources |
$782,740 |
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Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Agreement: Budgeted amount of $200,000 is available from FY 2020/2021 appropriations in the Water Transmission Operations Fund. Additional appropriations in the amount of $200,000 are required to process this expense.
U.S. Geological Survey Agreement: Budgeted amount of $325,000 is available from FY 2020/2021 appropriations in the Water Transmission Operations Fund. Additional appropriations in the amount of $57,740 are required to process this expense.
With Board approval of the attached budgetary resolution, FY 2020/2021 appropriations of $257,740 will be made in the Water Transmission Operations Fund. Water Transmission fund balance at the end of FY 2020/2021 is expected to be above target, consistent with prior years, and will not be negativity impacted by this Board item.
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Staffing Impacts: |
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Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
N/A
Attachments:
Resolution
Amended Agreements (Two)
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None