To: Board of Directors, Sonoma County Water Agency
Department or Agency Name(s): Sonoma County Water Agency
Staff Name and Phone Number: Jay Jasperse / 547-1959
Vote Requirement: 4/5th
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Engineering Support for Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations Phase II - Prado Dam
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Recommended Action:
Recommended action
In an ongoing effort to promote effective statewide water management by supporting implementation of Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations for improved flood operations and water resource management:
A) Authorize Sonoma County Water Agency’s General Manager or designee to enter into an agreement with Orange County Water District through June 30, 2020, in the not-to-exceed amount of $20,000 (Orange County Water District is paying Sonoma County Water Agency) in a form approved by County Counsel and, consistent with other agreements, authorize the General Manager to amend or terminate the agreement with approval of County Counsel. (Majority Vote)
B) Adopt a Resolution authorizing adjustments to the Board Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2019-2020 for the Sonoma County Water Agency General Fund in the amount of $32,000 for Engineering Support for Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations Phase II. (4/5th Vote Required)
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Executive Summary:
As Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations (FIRO) matures for Lake Mendocino and transfers to other reservoir systems, the need to leverage key Sonoma County Water Agency (Sonoma Water) engineering expertise has become apparent for the success for the larger program. Orange County Water District (Orange County) has requested engineering support services to initiate FIRO for Prado Dam. Under the proposed agreement, Sonoma Water will provide engineering support for FIRO to Orange County; Orange County will pay Sonoma Water up to $20,000 through June 30, 2020. Sonoma Water’s overhead rate will not be fully covered by the Orange County agreement, which does not comply with the Board’s financial policy adopted in June 2019; however, the successful implementation of FIRO at other reservoir facilities in addition to Lake Mendocino benefits Sonoma Water in several ways. First, FIRO implementation at multiple sites allows improvement to Sonoma Water’s model, with those benefits resulting in improved results for FIRO implementation at Lake Mendocino. Second, successful implementation of FIRO at additional sites will provide additional support for funding of other reservoirs including Lake Sonoma. Success of FIRO at multiple reservoirs provides continued support on a federal basis for FIRO programs, including at Lakes Sonoma and Mendocino.
Discussion:
BACKGROUND
Since 2014 Sonoma Water has partnered with a number of federal, state and local agencies, universities, and others to develop and test FIRO at Lake Mendocino. FIRO is a nationally recognized innovative management strategy co-developed by Sonoma Water that uses data from watershed monitoring and modern weather and water forecasting to help water managers selectively retain and release water from reservoirs in a manner that reflects current and forecasted conditions. FIRO was named as one of three most significant innovative water resource management strategies in the nation by the White House in 2016. FIRO originated as a concept and has been led by Sonoma Water and University of California, Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E). As part of the FIRO program development, a model was developed by Sonoma Water that provides the basis for reservoir operations under FIRO strategies.
FIRO engages experts and stakeholders in civil engineering, hydrology, meteorology, biology, economics, and climate from several federal, state, and local agencies, universities, and others. There is significant interest and support for developing FIRO at other appropriate locations in the Western U.S. and elsewhere.
Based on the success to date of the Lake Mendocino demonstration project, the potential application of FIRO is being evaluated for several additional reservoir sites. These new facilities include Prado Dam, Oroville Dam, and New Bullards Bar Dam, with additional sites to be added. This larger effort is being led by CW3E with funding provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps).
The need to leverage Sonoma Water’s engineering expertise has been identified for the success for expanding FIRO to new reservoir sites. Consequently, Sonoma Water is preparing an agreement with CW3E for Board of Directors approval in January 2020 to provide hydrologic and engineering support for research and development efforts associated with FIRO at these new reservoir sites. Sonoma Water’s contributions will include scoping and developing selection criteria for additional reservoir sites, as well as required data collection, processing and evaluation of candidate sites. In addition, Sonoma Water will provide engineering support to transition the FIRO model, developed by Sonoma Water, from a research application to an operations model domain.
Orange County is in the initial stages of implementing FIRO at Prado Dam and has an immediate need for engineering support from Sonoma Water to keep technical work on schedule. Consequently, Orange County would like to enter into a technical services agreement with Sonoma Water to provide engineering support for FIRO at Prado Dam.
What is the benefit of this project to Sonoma Water?
The FIRO initiative is a partnership of federal, state and local agencies, universities and other stakeholders across the Western U.S. In order to prove its value and effectiveness, FIRO must be tested and demonstrated at multiple locations and different environments, and this work requires the collaboration of the partnership. As FIRO is tested at different sites and geographical locations, the FIRO knowledge base expands and the technology is continuously improved. The successful implementation of FIRO at other reservoir facilities in addition to Lake Mendocino benefits Sonoma Water for several reasons. First, FIRO implementation at these sites allow improvement to Sonoma Water’s model, with those benefits resulting in improved results for FIRO implementation at Lake Mendocino. Second, successful implementation of FIRO at additional sites will provide additional support for funding of other reservoirs including Lake Sonoma. Success of FIRO at multiple reservoirs provides continued support on a federal basis for FIRO programs, including at Lakes Sonoma and Mendocino.
Implementing FIRO at Lake Sonoma is an important objective, because it supports our goal of modifying the Water Control Manual for Lake Sonoma, which will result in great improvements in how the reservoir is managed for both water supply and flood control. FIRO must be implemented by the whole partnership - it is not an initiative Sonoma Water alone can pursue successfully. It requires the cooperation of FIRO partnership.
Since the first FIRO demonstration site was at Lake Mendocino, it is important for the technology to be proven at other reservoirs sites with different environmental and regulatory issues. Collaborating with Orange County Water District and other FIRO partners on additional sites outside of Sonoma County will strengthen and improve FIRO technology, and Sonoma Water’s continued support and participation in the partnership will eventually lead to FIRO implementation at Lake Sonoma.
SERVICES TO BE PERFORMED UNDER AGREEMENT WITH ORANGE COUNTY
Under the proposed agreement, Orange County will pay Sonoma Water to provide Prado Dam FIRO engineering support including the following: Familiarization with Prado Dam’s
physical attributes and operational constraints and goals; lead efforts to configure, apply, test, and refine the Ensemble Forecast Operations Model to Prado Dam; contributions to the hydrologic engineering management plan for developing and evaluating Water Control Plan alternatives for Prado Dam; general technical support associated with project objectives as directed by Orange County.
Sonoma Water will incur costs of $32,000 for staff labor and travel, of which up to a maximum of $20,000, excluding Sonoma Water’s fully loaded overhead rate, will be reimbursed by Orange County. The agreement term end date is June 30, 2020.
Prior Board Actions:
None
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY 19-20 Adopted |
FY20-21 Projected |
FY 21-22 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
29,000 |
|
|
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
3,000 |
|
|
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Total Expenditures |
32,000 |
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|
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Funding Sources |
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General Fund/WA GF |
12,000 |
|
|
|
State/Federal |
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|
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Fees/Other |
20,000 |
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Use of Fund Balance |
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Contingencies |
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Total Sources |
32,000 |
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Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Additional appropriations are required to process FY 19/20 expense. Expenditure appropriations of $29,000 for staff salaries and benefits is already included in Sonoma Water’s FY 19/20 Adopted Budget. A budgetary resolution has been submitted with this item to add $3,000 for travel costs. Offsetting revenue in the amount of $20,000 will come from Orange County, with the remainder to be covered by Sonoma Water’s General Fund.
With Board approval of the requested additional appropriations, Sonoma Water’s projected ending General Fund balance at the end of Fiscal Year 2019/2020 is expected to be at or 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:
Attachment 1: Resolution
Attachment 2: Draft Agreement
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None.