To: Board of Directors, Sonoma County Water Agency
Department or Agency Name(s): Sonoma County Water Agency
Staff Name and Phone Number: Brad Sherwood 707-547-1927, Susanne Oliver 707-524-1155
Vote Requirement: 4/5th
Supervisorial District(s): All
Title:
Title
Sonoma Water Allocation Change Request
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Adopt a Resolution amending the Department Allocation List for Sonoma Water, effective September 29, 2026.
B) Adopt a Resolution Authorizing Adjustment to the Board Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2026/2027 for the Sonoma Water General Fund in the amount of $239,125 for the Sonoma Water Allocation Change Requests.
(4/5th Vote Required)
end
Executive Summary:
Sonoma County Water Agency (Sonoma Water) staff recommend the addition of two positions to enhance internal organizational effectiveness and to better respond to Sonoma Water’s commitments to the community and achieve Sonoma Water’s strategic goals. Adding these allocations represents a total net increase in FY 2026/2027 labor costs of $239,125. For FY 2027/2028, the net increase for projected salary and benefits is $328,398 and $338,250 for future years. Sonoma Water’s General Fund and associated enterprise funds have ongoing capacity for both current and projected levels of revenue for these positions. The positions are critical in nature and delay of approval would slow or halt work planned for FY2026/2027. County Human Resources has evaluated and concurs with Sonoma Water’s recommendation.
Discussion:
Addition of 1.0 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Administrative Aide (Admin Aide)- ERPA
In 2023, Sonoma Water, the County of Sonoma, and the Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission formed the Eel-Russian Project Authority (ERPA) as a joint powers authority. Pursuant to the joint exercise of powers agreement and ERPA Board of Directors action, Sonoma Water is designated as the principal office and serves as the Secretary/Clerk for ERPA. Sonoma Water’s Assistant General Manager - Environmental Resources serves as ERPA’s Executive Director. ERPA recently received an $8.7 million grant from the State of California to advance engineering design and environmental compliance for the New Eel-Russian Facility over the next several years. Work under the grant will be coordinated with staff from Sonoma Water, Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission, and multiple consultants. Administrative support for ERPA should qualify for partial reimbursement under the grant. The requested position will primarily support the ERPA Executive Director (Water Agency Assistant General Manager) and Environmental Resources Division Manager (ERPA Environmental Resources Manager) in managing this new workload by supporting efficiency and timely service to colleagues, partners, and stakeholders. The tasks outlined in this request cannot be absorbed by existing staff at Sonoma Water. The requested position will allow Sonoma Water to better fulfill ERPA responsibilities and will allow supervising staff to focus on higher-level activities and needs in their sections.
The body of work will include:
• ERPA Board clerk duties - coordinate meeting times and locations; public notice of Board meetings; preparation of Board agenda items and resolutions; recording and preparing meeting minutes; and submitting final meeting materials to records.
• Scheduling and meeting coordination - coordination with dozens of external organizations and individuals on a weekly basis.
• Records management - develop and manage the organizational structure for ERPA and Environmental Resources Division records, including categorizing and submitting records, managing Public Records Act requests, and developing responses for ERPA. The Admin Aide must have the ability to analyze and comprehend Public Records Act requirements and work independently with minimal oversight.
• Preparation of Correspondence - format and prepare formal letters associated with ERPA business functions and environmental compliance and Tribal outreach communications for both ERPA and Environmental Resources Division work.
• Remediation of documents for website posting - independently process complex documents such as technical engineering and environmental reports.
• Independent research and technical administrative work - analyze and comprehend material to develop foundational context and effectively understand legal and regulatory (Brown Act) requirements, learn technical meeting topics, and take accurate notes.
Addition of 1.0 FTE Admin Aide - HR
Sonoma Water requests the addition of 1.0 FTE Admin Aide within the Human Resources Section to optimize operational efficiency and properly align specialized administrative responsibilities. Currently, the HR Section is overseen by a Department Analyst who manages recruitment, leave management, and risk/safety/claims, supported by one Admin Aide dedicated to recruitment. Because critical compliance workflows-including medical leave processes, commercial driving programs, Learning Management System (LMS) management, and union contracting-out notices-require independent initiative, data analysis, and technical decision-making, adding this position will allow the Department Analyst to effectively delegate higher-level technical tasks, and free up supervisory staff to focus on strategic, high-level agency needs.
The responsibilities of the requested position include:
• Medical leave administration - track leaves, create notices, collaborate with Payroll on system updates
• Union Notices - manage union contracting-out notices and follow-up meet-and-confer processes; ongoing collaboration with Technical Writing section to continue to improve timely noticing processes
• Commercial Driving Programs - administer and manage the DOT and Embark programs and processes for Sonoma Water; collaborate with County Safety partners
• Intern recruitment - support all aspects of Sonoma Water intern recruitment processes
• LMS Management - act as the Sonoma Higher Ed training admin for Sonoma Water; collaborate with internal training section and with County to ensure trainings are entered and tracked
• Website management - continue to develop, update, and maintain internal HR and Risk websites and act as system administrator
• Payroll Support - develop internal training and job aids
• Back up Payroll and Recruitment - provide backup technical support during absences
• Support process improvement - support HR Supervisor on strategic initiatives such as the improvement of communication and internal business processes to enhance transparency and internal coordination
County of Sonoma Strategic Plan Alignment:
N/A
Sonoma Water Strategic Plan Alignment:
Goal: Strengthen the organization and workforce to perform core functions.
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
No
Prior Board Actions:
N/A
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY26-27 Adopted |
FY27-28 Projected |
FY28-29 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
|
$328,398 |
$338,250 |
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
$239,125 |
|
|
|
Total Expenditures |
$239,125 |
$328,398 |
$338,250 |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
|
$328,398 |
$338,250 |
|
State/Federal |
|
|
|
|
Fees/Other |
|
|
|
|
Use of Fund Balance |
$239,125 |
|
|
|
General Fund Contingencies |
|
|
|
|
Total Sources |
$239,125 |
$328,398 |
$338,250 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Salary and benefits are budgeted in the Agency’s General Fund, which is funded through property tax revenue, grants, and by Sonoma Water’s enterprise funds through the overhead rate using project costing. Sonoma Water’s cost accounting system allocates labor costs to enterprise specific projects based on hours worked. Enterprises have various funding sources that include tax revenue, fees, charges for services, rental income, grants, and loans. Sonoma Water’s General Fund and associated enterprise funds have ongoing capacity for both current and projected levels of revenue for these positions.
Adding these allocations represents a total net increase in FY 2026/2027 labor costs of $239,125. For FY 2027/2028, the net increase for projected salary and benefits at $328,398 and $338,250 for future years.
|
Staffing Impacts: |
|
|
|
|
Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
|
Administrative Aide |
$6,645.74 - $8,078.89 |
+2.0 |
0.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
If approved, this request will change Sonoma Water’s allocation tables as follows:
Administrative Aide from 4.0 to 6.0 FTE
Attachments:
Resolution 1 Amending Department Allocation List
Resolution 2 Budgetary Resolution
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None.