To: Board of Directors, Sonoma County Water Agency
Department or Agency Name(s): Sonoma County Water Agency
Staff Name and Phone Number: Dale Roberts 707-547-1979
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Advanced Quantitative Precipitation Information System Project
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Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Authorize Sonoma County Water Agency’s General Manager to execute the Third Amended and Restated Agreement for Design and Implementation of the Advanced Quantitative Precipitation Information System with the Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System’s Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, in substantially the form as the draft presented to this Board. The amended agreement extends the agreement term by one year for a new end date of March 31, 2026, with no change to the agreement amount.
B) Authorize Sonoma County Water Agency’s General Manager to execute the Third Amended and Restated Agreement for Reimbursement of Travel Expenses Related to Design and Implementation of the Advanced Quantitative Precipitation Information System with the Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System’s Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, in substantially the form as the draft presented to this Board. The amended agreement extends the agreement term by one year for a new end date of March 31, 2026, with no change to the agreement amount.
C) Authorize Sonoma County Water Agency’s General Manager to execute Amendment 3 to the Memorandum of Understanding for Bay Area Advanced Quantitative Precipitation Information System with U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research Earth System Research Laboratory, in substantially the form as the draft presented to this Board. The amendment extends the agreement term by 15 months for a new end date of March 31, 2026, with no change to the agreement amount.
D) Authorize Sonoma County Water Agency’s General Manager to execute the Third Amended and Restated Agreement for Project Coordination Services Related to the Advanced Quantitative Precipitation Information System Project with Jennifer Krebs dba Jennifer Krebs Environmental Planning, in substantially the form as the draft presented to this Board. The amended agreement extends the agreement term by one year for a new end date of June 30, 2026, with no change to the agreement amount.
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Executive Summary:
Sonoma County Water Agency (Sonoma Water) was awarded $19.84 million in grant funds from the Department of Water Resources statewide Proposition 84 (The Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006) to implement the San Francisco Bay Area Advanced Quantitative Precipitation Information System project (AQPI Project). Costs incurred by Sonoma Water in implementing the AQPI Project and associated agreements will be reimbursed with these grant funds or by local project partners.
This item presents for consideration and approval three amended agreements and one amended memorandum of understanding (MOU) with technical partners to continue the work funded by the grant award.
Discussion:
HISTORY OF ITEM
For more than 12 years, Sonoma Water and several other agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area have collaborated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Colorado State University's Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA), Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at Scripps Institute of Oceanography (CW3E), and the United States Geological Survey - Pacific Coast and Marine Science Center (USGS) to develop the AQPI Project. The AQPI Project will provide improved precipitation and hydrologic information to 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 AQPI Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) is comprised of NOAA, CIRA, CW3E, USGS, Jennifer Krebs dba Jennifer Krebs Environmental Planning, Bay Planning Coalition, and the local project partners that include, but are not limited to, Sonoma Water, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Santa Clara Valley Water District, East Bay Municipal Utility District, Alameda County Flood Control & Water Conservation District, Alameda County Water District, East Bay Dischargers Authority, Contra Costa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, and the Bay Area Flood Protection Agencies Association.
On January 13, 2016, the Department of Water Resources announced statewide Proposition 84 (The Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006) grant awards that include over $43 million for water resources-related projects in the San Francisco Bay Area. Nearly half, or $19.84 million, will go towards funding the AQPI Project.
The grant funding is being used to place up to five new radar units throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, specifically to provide more precise rainfall forecasting of atmospheric rivers (ARs). It is estimated that over the last few decades more than 50 percent of major flooding in the San Francisco Bay Area, and nearly 70 percent in the North Bay, has come from ARs that often are not detected with conventional, high-aiming S-band, or NEXRAD, radar units that were originally designed for thunderstorms in the Midwest.
The radar network will consist of four X-band radars in each ordinate of the San Francisco Bay Area and one C-band radar in the north bay near the coast to detect ARs approaching from the north Pacific Ocean. X-band radars have been deployed in the south bay, east bay, and north bay. One more X-band radar needs to be deployed in the west bay near Millbrae by San Francisco Public Utilities Commission in Fall 2024. Sonoma Water will deploy the C-band on Mount Barnabe in Marin County.
Implementation of the AQPI Project has been affected by several back-to-back disasters including the major wildfires affecting the Bay Area in 2017, 2019, and 2020 as well as the COVID-19 global pandemic. The AQPI Project also suffered delays related to the 2018-2019 federal government shutdown. As of result of these disruptions, radar deployments (done in conjunction with CIRA), other surface instrumentation deployments, and system development have been delayed.
Sonoma Water has also experienced significant delays in obtaining a building permit from County of Marin. A septic tank and leach field were discovered in the vicinity of the intended site of the new C-Band radar on Mt. Barnabe. County of Marin was unaware of these untended facilities and unable to determine whether they would interfere with the installation of the AQPI C-Band radar system. Sonoma Water undertook digging across the site to reveal the full extent of the septic system. This investigation, completed the first week of July 2024, indicated that the AQPI C-Band radar system can be installed on the site at least 10 feet away from the septic system, as required by County of Marin building code. Sonoma Water can now apply for a building permit from County of Marin, which is expected to issue the permit later this year.
Once the building permit is granted from County of Marin, Sonoma Water will produce construction contract documents to advertise, bid, award, and execute the construction contract. Sonoma Water expects the C-Band radar at Mt. Barnabe to be built and fully operational by the end of calendar year 2025.
See Attachment 5 (Justification for Proceeding in Light of New and Ongoing Delays) and
Attachment 6 (Agreements and Amendments history).
County of Sonoma Strategic Plan Alignment:
This item directly supports Sonoma County’s Five-year Strategic Plan and is aligned with the following pillar, goal, and objective.
Pillar: Resilient Infrastructure
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.
The AQPI Project supports Sonoma County’s efforts to partner with other local entities to prepare, mitigate, and prevent community impacts caused by emergencies and natural disasters including, but not limited to, flood protection and other adverse effects from heavy precipitation events.
Sonoma Water Strategic Plan Alignment
Goal: Climate Change
Strategy: Develop and implement practices to understand and minimize vulnerability to climate change impacts.
Action: Support interagency partnership efforts addressing regional climate-resiliency planning and projects.
The AQPI Project supports Sonoma Water’s efforts to partner with other agencies to respond and adapt to the effect’s climate change is having on precipitation patterns in the region, as well as improve early warning capabilities to avoid life-safety threats from potential land sliding, debris flows, flooding, erosion, road hazards, and burn scar problems that could be compounded from heavy rain events.
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
No
Prior Board Actions:
See attachment 7
Fiscal Summary
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FY24-25 Adopted |
FY25-26 Projected |
FY26-27 Projected |
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Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Budgeted amounts were appropriated under prior Fiscal Years. No additional appropriations are required.
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
N/A
Attachments:
Attachment 1: Draft Third Amended and Restated Agreement for design of AQPI system with CIRA
Attachment 2: Draft Third Amended and Restated Agreement for reimbursement of travel expenses related to AQPI design with CIRA
Attachment 3: Draft Third Amended and Restated Agreement with Jennifer Krebs dba Jennifer Krebs Environmental Planning
Attachment 4: Draft Third Amendment to the MOU with NOAA
Attachment 5: Justification for Proceeding in Light of New and Ongoing Delays
Attachment 6: Agreements and Amendments history
Attachment 7: List of prior Board actions
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None