March 19, 2006
1. Management
Objectives
The
District desires to maximize the long-term production potential and protect the
environmental quality of the Carmel River and Seaside Groundwater Basins. In addition, the District desires to maximize
the amount of water that can be diverted from the Carmel River Basin and
injected into the Seaside Groundwater Basin while complying with the instream
flow requirements recommended by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
to protect the Carmel River steelhead population. To accomplish these goals, a water supply
strategy and budget for production within the California American Water
(Cal-Am) main water distribution system is reviewed quarterly to determine the
optimal strategy for operations, given the current hydrologic and system
conditions.
2. Quarterly
Water Supply Strategy: April - June 2007
On
March 9, 2007, staff from the District, Cal-Am, and NMFS discussed the proposed
water supply strategy and related topics for the remainder of March 2007 and the
April-June 2007 period. Currently, flow
in the Carmel River is unregulated with Los Padres Reservoir full and
spilling. As of March 9, 2007, Carmel
River flows at the USGS gaging stations at the Esquiline Road Bridge and Via
Mallorca Bridge were approximately 53 and 57 cubic feet per second (cfs),
respectively, and declining. Flow in the
Carmel River is continuous to the Lagoon.
For the first five months of Water Year 2007 (October 2006 through
February 2007), rainfall at San Clemente Dam in the upper watershed totaled 8.9
inches or 57% of the long-term average at this site. Further, runoff at San Clemente Dam in the
upper watershed totaled 6,890 AF or only 18% of the long-term average at this
site.
Carmel
River Basin Given these conditions
and the assumption that “critically-dry” inflows (similar to flows that
occurred in Water Year 1990) are expected to occur during the April - June 2007
period, it was agreed that Cal-Am would divert no surface water from its San
Clemente Reservoir and would divert no more than approximately 30 AF of
groundwater each month from its wells in the Upper Carmel Valley. To meet customer demand, Cal-Am would operate
its wells in the Lower Carmel Valley in a downstream-to-upstream sequence, as
needed. For the quarterly budget, it was
agreed that Cal-Am would produce approximately 710, 860, and 960 AF of
groundwater from its wells in the Lower Carmel Valley during April, May, and
June 2007, respectively. Table 1 shows
projected monthly releases and diversions from Los Padres and San Clemente
Reservoirs for the March through June 2007 period. As shown, water stored in Los Padres
Reservoir will be released in May 2007 to maintain storage in San Clemente
Reservoir and downstream streamflow.
Seaside
Groundwater Basin It was also agreed
that Cal-Am would maximize production from the Seaside Basin during the April -
June 2007 period to reduce as much as possible diversions from the Carmel River
during this key steelhead emigration period.
Specifically, it was agreed that Cal-Am would produce up to 400, 500,
and 500 AF of groundwater from its wells in the coastal subareas of the Seaside
Basin during April, May, and June 2007, respectively.
Lastly, it was assumed that no water would be diverted from the
Carmel River Basin and injected into the Seaside Groundwater Basin during the
April – June 2007 period.
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