minutes

Regular Meeting

Governing Board of Sweetwater Authority

April 9, 2003

The Governing Board of Sweetwater Authority held a regular meeting on Wednesday, April 9, 2003, at the Sweetwater Authority Administrative Office, 505 Garrett Avenue, Chula Vista, California. Chair Doud called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.

ROLL CALL

Directors Present: Beauchamp, Doud, Pocklington, Welsh, Wolniewicz and Wright.

Directors Absent: Inzunza.

Others Present: General Manager Bostad, Operations Manager Rogers, Legal Counsel Cowett, Treasurer Avery, and Board Secretary Farpón-Friedman. Staff members, Hank Gaus, Hector Martinez, Bill Olson, Paula Roberts, Don Thomson, and Tom Woodrum.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
Chair Doud conducted the pledge of allegiance to the flag.

OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT (Government Code Section (54954.3)
There were no members of the public present for comment.

CHAIR ’S PRESENTATION
There was no presentation.

ITEMS TO BE ADDED, WITHDRAWN, OR REORDERED IN THE AGENDA
There were none.

1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Director Beauchamp made a motion, seconded by Director Wolniewicz, that the Board approve the minutes of March 26, 2003. The motion carried.

2. APPROVAL OF DEMANDS AND WARRANTS

Director Pocklington made a motion, seconded by Director Beauchamp, that the Board approve Warrants 87867 through 88107 including all voided checks. The motion carried.

CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS

3. OPERATIONS COMMITTEE (Meeting of April 2, 2003)

CONSENT ITEMS

Director Beauchamp made a motion, seconded by Director Wright that the Governing Board approve consent Items A through D. The motion carried.

A. Approve the request to quitclaim the Kimball Brother’s blanket easement at 1825 8th Street, National City, with the understanding that the owners will pay the processing costs.

B. Robert A. Perdue Water Treatment Plant, Water Quality Studies – Update on design. This was an information item and no action was required by the Governing Board.

C. Joint shared services – Discussion of involvement with regional design standards. This was an information item and no action was required by the Governing Board.

D. Resolution 03-06 adopting the updated local guidelines for implementing the California Environmental Quality Act.

Upon a motion made by Director Beauchamp, seconded by Director Wright, the following Resolution:

RESOLUTION 03-06

AMENDING AND ADOPTING LOCAL GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (PUB. RESOURCES CODE §§ 21000 ET SEQ.)

was passed and Adopted by the following vote, to wit:

Ayes: Directors Beauchamp, Doud, Pocklington, Welsh, Wolniewicz, and Wright
Noes: None
Absent: Inzunza
Abstain: None

4. FINANCE AND PERSONNEL COMMITTEE (Meeting of April 3, 2003)

Consideration of personnel requests for 2003-04 Budget. This was an information item and no action was required by the Governing Board.

5. APPROVAL OF DIRECTORS’ ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS AND FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

A. Director Pocklington made a motion, seconded by Director Welsh, that the Board approve per diem for Director Beauchamp‘s attendance at the South Bay Irrigation District Board meeting of March 17, 2003. The motion carried.

B. Director Welsh made a motion, seconded by Director Beauchamp, that the Board approve per diem for Director Wright‘s attendance at the Metropolitan Water District Board meeting on March 25, 2003. The motion carried.

C. Council of Water Utilities Breakfast meeting – StoneRidge Country Club – Tuesday, April 15, 2003 at 7:15 a.m.: All directors will be attending this pre-approved event. No action was required by the Governing Board.

D. WateReuse Association – San Diego Regional Chapter meeting – Wednesday, April 16, 2003 – 9:30 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., at the Otay Water District Training Room: Due to previous commitments, none of the directors will be able to attend this meeting. No action was required by the Governing Board.

E. Institute of the Americas and San Diego Dialogue – San Diego and Baja California Water Futures – UCSD, La Jolla – April 25, 2003, 7:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.: Director Wright made a motion, seconded by Director Doud, that per diem be approved for directors who wish to attend this event. Directors Beauchamp, Pocklington, Wolniewicz and Wright will attend. The motion carried.

6. REPORT OF TREASURER – WANDA AVERY

Ms. Avery was not present at the meeting due to illness.

7. MANAGEMENT REPORT

A. Report of Rainfall and Reservoir Levels – Operations Manager Rogers: Operations Manager Rogers reported that we received 2.22 inches of rainfall at Loveland Reservoir in March versus the average of 2.96 inches. If there were no more rainfall between now and the end of June, we would end up with approximately 88 percent of normal at Loveland. At Sweetwater Reservoir we had 1.94 inches of rainfall, which is below the average of 2.0 inches. The evaporation was approximately 1,800 acre-feet and the runoff was about 3,814 acre-feet. Under normal circumstances in an average year with the amount of rain received, we would have about 12,000 acre-feet of runoff, and in a very dry year, we would have about 4,000 acre-feet. The ground was very dry, and most of the runoff soaked up before it went into the reservoir. Staff had originally planned on putting approximately 8,200 acre-feet into the reservoir under the Direct Storage Program. They now expect to place about 10,200 acre-feet in the reservoir. Sweetwater Reservoir is 48 percent full and Loveland is 30 percent full. At the end of April, staff expects Sweetwater to be at 55 percent of full capacity.

Director Wright asked about the situation over the summer and the possibility of needing new conservation programs. Operations Manager Rogers stated that, according to MWD, there would be no problems for at least the next two years. Beyond that, if the programs they have on the drawing board come to fruition, there should be no problems for the next 20 years.

Report of General Manager Bostad: General Manager Bostad informed the Board that he has been working with Rick Alexander and Peggy Strand to develop support to Senate Bill 572 authored by Denise Ducheny. This bill was designed to put in language addressing Sweetwater Authority and three other water agencies that are part of the joint water agency NCCP. Senate Bill 107 was passed last year and it increased the level of requirements and some other procedural processes. The language in Senate Bill 572 will allow us to resolve some of the issues between SB 107 and the current NCCP requirements. The bill went forward to the Senate Natural Resources and Wildlife Committee with no opposition and it is very likely that there will be no resistance in moving forward to the Assembly.

He also reported on a letter received from the ACWA Water Quality Committee Chair acknowledging our $2,000 contribution. He also informed us that ACWA has hired McGuire Environmental Consultants to do research on developing data and to do a cost benefit analysis for the Arsenic Regulation.

General Manager Bostad stated that the Chula Vista Interagency meeting on April 28th at 3:00 p.m. would include a presentation/workshop on water supply reliability. City of Chula Vista staff have indicated that they want to do a public release to the community. The CWA will have a speaker to provide an overview of the regional water supply reliability and background on the Water Facilities Master Plan Desalination and the IID Water Transfer.

8. REPORT OF CALFED/BAY-DELTA OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVE - DIRECTOR WRIGHT

Director Wright stated that he would like to continue being the CALFED/Bay Delta representative, although there is not much information coming from them. He gets information from the Farm Bureau and the Agriculture sector. He suggested that the heading for this item on the agenda be changed to Report of CalFed/Bay-Delta/ National Water Resources Association (NWRA) Representative, since he is also the NWRA representative. This would allow him to give reports on NWRA.

9. DIRECTORS’ COMMENTS

Director Pocklington said that he has been inundated with information this week. On Monday, the LAFCO Commissioners, Advisory Committee and the Board appointed for the review of the Southern Districts met to discuss what has been done and to set policy for the remainder of the year. They voted to continue with the investigation and report back to the Commissioners. He referred to population growth and said that the State of California in the year 2002 grew by over 600,000 people, with over 500,000 births, over 300,000 immigrants, and the death of only 200,000. Every day there will be 600 more cars on the freeway, or 18,000 more cars every month in the state of California. Without the population growth, we would not have any problems. One of the speakers at the conference he attended the last two days said that by the year 2020, there would be 48 million people in the state of California. The population now is 32 or 33 million.

He also learned that groundwater agencies are having the same problems as the surface water agencies. They wish they had more water to put in the ground so that they could take it out during the dry periods. The Governor in California usually signs about 1,200 bills per year. This year, the word “water” comes up in 317 Bills.

Also discussed at the conference was bottled water and legislation. There is also a big push is for conservation. He said that Sweetwater Authority uses less water per capita than any other water district in San Diego, so we are doing our job.

Director Pocklington commented that Mike Madigan had been reappointed to the CWA Board but he had resigned. He read the letter that Mike Madigan wrote to the Board explaining that he undertook two jobs, one to build a museum of immigration of new Americans, and the second to do consulting work for a project design consultant. This Consultant has a contract with a firm doing business with the CWA. He had considered the situation and came to believe that his resignation is an appropriate way to resolve the matter.

Director Beauchamp asked if we could order a copy of the CD from the last two days’ proceedings at the Groundwater conference that includes all Power Point presentations. He said that all of the meetings he is being sent to are of different groups. They are all very positive and know what they are doing. He thought when he reached this point in his life that he pretty much knew it all, but now he realizes there is a lot he does not know.

Director Doud said that at the LAFCO meeting, he was really impressed by having three Chairmen there from three different organizations, and he thought that Chair Diane Jacobs handled it very well.

10. CLOSED SESSION

At 6:46 p.m., in compliance with Government Code Section 54956.8, the Board recessed to convene in Closed Session to conference with Legal Counsel regarding real property negotiations. All persons left the room with the exception of the Governing Board, Management Team, Legal Counsel, Board Secretary, and Deputy Chief Engineer Martinez. There were no minutes taken, and the session was not tape-recorded.

At 7:03 p.m., Chair Doud declared the meeting to be in open session, and there was no reportable action.

11. ADJOURNMENT

With no further business before the Board, Chair Doud adjourned the meeting at 7:03 p.m., to the hour of 3:30 p.m. on April 23, 2003.