REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
June 25, 2015
FROM: THOMAS C. ESQUEDA, Director
Department of Public Utilities
BY: MICHAEL CARBAJAL, Division Manager
Department of Public Utilities - Water Division
SUBJECT
Title
Approve the Common Use Agreement between the Garfield Water District and the City of Fresno for selected parcels where easements for construction, operation and maintenance of the Friant-Kern Canal Raw Water Pipeline will share areas of common use
Body
RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that City Council:
1. Approve the Common Use Agreement (CUA) between the Garfield Water District (GWD) and the City where easements for construction, operation and maintenance of the Friant-Kern Canal Raw Water Pipeline will share areas of common use with the GWD, as shown in Exhibit A.
2. Authorize the Director of Public Utilities, or his designee, to sign all documents on behalf of the City.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Department of Public Utilities, Water Division, is finalizing the design of the Friant-Kern Canal Raw Water Pipeline to deliver raw water from the Friant-Kern Canal to the Northeast Surface Water Treatment Facility (NESWTF). With bidding scheduled to begin in summer 2015, establishment of a CUA between the GWD and the City of Fresno (City) for this pipeline project is necessary.
BACKGROUND
Presently, the City's contract with the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) for Central Valley Project (CVP) surface water travels nearly 55 miles in open canals from Friant Dam (Millerton Lake) to the NESWTF. The proposed project consists of the construction and operation of a 5.6-mile raw water pipeline. The new pipeline reroutes the CVP water directly to the NESWTF and will eliminate nearly 47 miles from the conveyance distance. The project will convey water in an enclosed system and greatly reduce the threat to water quality, in otherwise open canals which are exposed to contamination from environmental debris, and accidental or malicious acts. The pipeline will be constructed across numerous properties in unincorporated Fresno County and connected to the existing one-mile long segment of pipeline constructed in 2007. Additional benefits of the project include reduced power consumption, chemical utilization, and increased operational reliability at the NESWTF.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
An initial study and Mitigated Negative Declaration was prepared and adopted on June 14, 2012 for this project. A Notice of Determination was subsequently filed with the Fresno County Clerk's Office on June 19, 2012. The proposed project consists of the construction and operation of a 5.6-mile raw water supply pipeline northeast of the City of Fresno, in unincorporated Fresno County at the City's existing NESWTF. The Proposed Project would be located between the NESWTF near Chestnut and Behymer Avenues and the Friant-Kern Canal to the northeast. The purpose of the proposed project is to develop a reliable raw water conveyance system with reduced potential for water quality contamination that will bring the City's existing CVP contract supply water directly from the Friant-Kern Canal to the NESWTF. This approval is to implement that project.
An analysis has been performed pursuant CEQA Guidelines ยง15162 to determine whether subsequent environmental review is required for the project. Based upon this analysis the following findings are made to support the determination that no subsequent environmental review is required:
1. No substantial changes are proposed in the project which will require major revisions of the previous Mitigated Negative Declaration due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects. In this case there are no changes to the project.
2. No substantial changes occur with respect to the circumstances under which the project is undertaken which will require major revisions of the previous Mitigated Negative Declaration due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects. In this case, the proposed pipeline alignment has not changed.
3. There is no new information, which was not known and could not have been known at the time of the previous Mitigated Negative Declaration that the project will have significant effect not discussed in the Mitigated Negative Declaration.
Based upon these findings, it has been determined that no further environmental documentation is required for this project.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local Preference was not considered because this action does not include a bid or an award of a City construction or services contract.
FISCAL IMPACT
Approving implementation of this Common Use Agreement will not impact the General Fund. Project construction is expected to start in fall 2015.
Attachment:
Common Use Agreement