To: Board of Directors, Sonoma County Water Agency
Department or Agency Name(s): Sonoma Water
Staff Name and Phone Number: Dale Roberts 707-547-1979
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Lease Agreement with Marin County for Advanced Quantitative Precipitation Information System Weather Radar Station
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Authorize Sonoma County Water Agency’s General Manager or designee to execute a lease agreement, with the County of Marin, in a form approved by County Counsel, to place weather radar station equipment and appurtenances in support of the Bay Area Advanced Quantitative Precipitation Information System Project; authorize General Manager to amend, assign, or terminate this agreement with approval of County Counsel. (exempt per CEQA Guidelines Section 15303(d) and 15304(a)(f)).
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Executive Summary:
Sonoma County Water Agency (Sonoma Water) is engaged in implementation of the San Francisco Bay Area Advanced Quantitative Precipitation Information System Project (AQPI Project). The purpose of the AQPI Project is to provide more precise rainfall forecasting for atmospheric rivers, which will give flood control managers, including Sonoma Water, emergency responders, transportation officials, and media outlets more precise information on the location, timing, and intensity of expected rainfall. County of Marin’s communication site located within Mount Barnabe in Marin County has been identified as a suitable site with existing infrastructure for placement of a C-Band weather radar station. The County of Marin has agreed to lease the location for $1 per year for an initial ten-year term. Sonoma Water expects to assign the lease agreement and weather radar station equipment to Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California at San Diego (Scripps) under terms of an agreement with Scripps that is under development.
Discussion:
For more than eleven years, Sonoma Water and several other agencies in the Bay Area have collaborated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Colorado State University’s Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, the United States Geological Survey Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, and the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, to develop a regional AQPI Project. The program is funded in part by a Department of Water Resources (DWR) grant under Proposition 84 with cost share from participating agencies.
The AQPI Project is a multi-year project to provide improved precipitation and hydrologic information to flood managers, emergency managers, water agencies, and other stakeholders in the San Francisco Bay area to assist the region in mitigating flood hazards, maximize water supply, and enhance ecosystem services. The primary emphasis will be to improve short-term (48-hour) monitoring and prediction of high-impact rainfall events. The secondary emphasis will focus on improved medium-range precipitation forecasts (out to 10 days) for water supply.
Under this program, three weather radar stations have been deployed in the north bay, south bay, and east bay to track local precipitation amounts and locations. To complete the AQPI system under the DWR grant, two more weather radar stations need to be deployed. One station needs to be deployed in the west bay and a second weather radar station on the north coast needs to be deployed. San Francisco Public Utilities Commission will deploy a weather radar station to track local precipitation in the west bay (in San Mateo County). Sonoma Water will deploy a weather radar station on the north coast to track the precipitation data of atmospheric rivers approaching the Bay Area from the Pacific Ocean. After evaluation of various potential sites on the north coast in Sonoma and Marin Counties, Sonoma Water and its partners determined Mt. Barnabe as the most viable site to deploy a weather radar station to track these approaching atmospheric rivers.
Under a Planning Agreement between various the San Francisco Bay Area water, wastewater, and flood management entities, the Local Partner Agencies Committee was created and will negotiate funding contributions from the partner agencies for installation of the weather radar station at Mt. Barnabe. The DWR grant is funding the purchase of the weather radar station equipment for approximately $1.2 million. The estimated construction cost of approximately $600,000 is expected to be split four ways between north, south, east, and west regions of the Bay Area.
Under the proposed agreement with County of Marin, Sonoma Water will lease an area within County of Marin’s Mount Barnabe Communications Site (Assessor Parcel No. 168-240-01) situated in the unincorporated area of Lagunitas. The lease agreement grants Sonoma Water the non-exclusive right to install, operate, use, maintain, alter, repair, or replace weather radar station equipment, along with any associated facilities, improvements, and appurtenances contained within a portion of the Mount Barnabe Communications Site for a term of ten years (ten-year term prescribed by Marin County ordinance; it is anticipated that the lease will be renewed at the end of the term). Sonoma Water expects to assign the lease agreement and weather radar station equipment to Scripps under terms of an agreement with Scripps that is under development.
CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA) COMPLIANCE:
Sonoma Water’s General Manager has determined that the project is categorically exempt from CEQA under the State CEQA Guidelines Sections 15303(d), New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures, and 15304(a)(f), Minor Alterations to Land, because entering into the lease agreement for installation, operation, and maintenance of weather radar station equipment and appurtenances would result in grading, minor trenching and backfilling within previously disturbed areas where surfaces would be restored and would not involve removal of healthy, mature, scenic trees. The project would not impact a scenic or historical resource or degrade the quality of the environment and would not result in any significant or cumulative adverse effect upon the environment.
County Strategic Plan
This item directly supports the County’s Five-year Strategic Plan and is aligned with the following pillar, goal, and objective.
Pillar: Climate Action and Resiliency
Goal: : Goal 5: Support, fund, and expand flood protection.
Objective: Objective 1: Develop partnerships with cities, tribal governments, and private organizations regarding flood protection and sustainability to identify gaps and address climate change impacts.
Sonoma Water Strategic Plan:
Alignment Flood Protection, Goal 1: Provide efficient and effective flood protection programs.
The AQPI Project advances Sonoma Water’s efforts to be proactive in mitigating and adapting to the causes and impacts of climate change to safeguard the environment, human health, and the economy.
Prior Board Actions:
04/20/2021: Authorized four AQPI program- related agreements, including Planning Agreement to Form the San Francisco Bay Area AQPI Local Partner Agencies Committee; a cooperative agreement for project funding of the east bay weather radar station; license agreement with American Towers for placement of AQPI east bay weather radar station on Rocky Ridge in Castro Valley, CA; and an Agreement for System Integration of the AQPI System with Scripps.
11/05/2013: Adopted a resolution supporting continued development of the San Francisco Bay Area AQPI System and its Inclusion in the San Francisco Bay Area's Proposal under Round 3 of Proposition 84 Integrated Regional Water Management Implementation Grant Funding.
Fiscal Summary
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Expenditures |
FY 22-23 Adopted |
FY23-24 Projected |
FY 24-25 Projected |
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Budgeted Expenses |
$1 |
$1 |
$1 |
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Additional Appropriation Requested |
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Total Expenditures |
$1 |
$1 |
$1 |
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Funding Sources |
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General Fund/WA GF |
$1 |
$1 |
$1 |
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State/Federal |
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Fees/Other |
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Use of Fund Balance |
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Contingencies |
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Total Sources |
$1 |
$1 |
$1 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Sonoma Water will pay a nominal fee of $1 per year to the County of Marin for the lease agreement. Budgeted amount of $1 is available from FY 2022/2023 appropriations for the Sonoma Water General Fund. FY 2023/2024 & 2024/2025 appropriations will be budgeted in those fiscal years.
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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):
None
Attachments:
Draft Lease Agreement
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None