Recent learnings to share: ACWA and the Bay Delta Tour

Thank you once again for electing me to represent District 2 on the Valley Water Board. I take that seriously and am now in the process of drinking through multiple firehoses to build upon and grow my understanding of all things water.

It is with that in mind that I recently spent several days away at conferences and educational sessions, first on a three-day tour of the Bay Delta through the Water Education Foundation and second at the spring ACWA conference (Association of California Water Agencies). I’d like to share some of my experiences with you here so read on if you’re interested. I’m also not spending too much time perfecting my writing as I’d rather prioritize sharing as widely as I can, quickly (before I forget!) so that you too can benefit from what I’m learning.

Bay Delta Tour with the Water Education Foundation

This is a big issue which as of last week became even bigger with the Governor’s announcement.

As a part of my role on the Valley Water Board of Directors, I get to represent you all as an alternate to the Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Authority (DCA). This is the statewide organization tasked with overseeing the planning and construction of a 45-mile underground pipe that would sip water further upstream of the Sacramento River near the communities of Hood and Courtland  in order to move it to areas of the state that need water. (Sidenote: I’m going to be grossly oversimplifying things for the purposes of this blog.)

Many of you may recognize this project as the current episode of a long running telenovela. It started as what was called the peripheral canal and has morphed over the years to what it is now the Delta Conveyance Project.

In order to comprehend this project, it’s important to understand the Bay Delta, the place where fresh water from our snowpack flows through the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers to meet the salt water of the San Francisco Bay. This mixing of water and the constant flushing based on tidal rhythms and the ever-changing weather and snow melt-based flows makes for a very unique ecosystem. This ecosystem plays a critical role in the health of our region providing a stopover for migrating birds and essential fish habitat. Layer onto that the fact that the US government, back in the days before, during and after the Gold Rush, basically begged people to clear what were seasonal wetlands for farming. Land was pumped, levies erected, and the Delta is now home to 415,000 acres of farmland.

I've included links above so if you'd like to do a deep dive on the Delta, click through.

Jones Pumping Plant

So what is the problem? There are several.

•                People need water and the current way of moving water from where it falls in the north to where it is needed, through the Delta, is problematic

•                With climate change and water coming in fierce bursts instead of a gentle melt from the snowpack over the year, regulating the flow of water through the Delta will become increasingly difficult

•                Water quality, due to sea level rise, will decline as salt water pushes further inland, threatening the ecosystem, the ability of farmers to access non-salty water, and Santa Clara County's water (plus other regions around the state) that receive water through State and Federal pumps at the Southern end of the Delta

•                Fish are struggling (we’re in the third year of a halt to commercial salmon fishing)

How do all these interests come together to solve these problems? This remains to be seen. And you’re also probably asking, what does Valley Water have to do with all this? Well, ~40% of our water is imported through the Delta. So, we at Valley Water are an official part of the governance body, the Delta Conveyance Design and Construction  Authority and the Delta Conveyance Finance Authority, tasked with planning, funding and building the 45 mile pipe.

This past week, Governor Newsom put his thumb on the scale in a big way by proposing several measures that would expedite the construction of the pipe. Those include things like shortening the allowed time period for CEQA litigation. The proposal was made as a part of the budget, which means we’ll know by June if this project is going to get a huge boost, a boost that will speed things up and, as a result, save a whole lot of money. It is estimated that for every year of delay, the cost of the project goes up $600 million.

This was a poor Cliffs Notes Delta Conveyance overview, but I’m hoping your interest is piqued enough to click through to the links to find out more.

ACWA

The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) hosts several conferences a year and I attended my first one this past week in Monterey. Like any conference, there are panels and sessions over a two and a half day period. However, the real action is in all the side meetings. Because EVERYONE goes to ACWA, it is the time for in-person meetings and lots of deal-making.

That said, I attended several sessions including:

•                Rate setting

•                Resilient water projects

•                The CEO Water Commitment

•                The Great Valley Farm Water Partnership

Of those, the one that is most relevant today is rate setting because at the end of this month, the Valley Water Board will make its annual vote on rates. I know I and my colleagues are deeply interested in understanding how to use rates to incentivize the water use behavior we want to see. Sadly, there are two main challenges with that:

1.              We’re a wholesaler and as such are an arm’s length from you, the actual ratepayer and individual user of water

2.              We’re severely constrained by Proposition 218, 26 and the District Act.

Regardless of those constraints, the organization continues to look at what is needed to operate the system we have today while planning for future upgrades and growth of our infrastructure. Rates are dependent upon what kinds of projects we plan to build, and those projects are mainly outlined in the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) as well as the Water Supply Master Plan. Do we build a new reservoir to store water? Do we expand our water purification center? What about desalination? And how about making some deals with folks who have storage space in their groundwater basins down south? All of these options have different price tags and pros and cons. And all of these options impact our rates.

One of the things I’m interested in is whether and how we might be able to pursue a rate structure that mirrors the widely accepted notion of a progressive tax rubric. When it comes to income taxes, we as a society believe that those who make less money should be taxed less as a percentage of their income and those who pay more can afford to pay more. This same belief is not permitted in how we structure water rates, per Proposition 218 and 26. Everyone is required to pay the same and the only differences in rates are based on the cost of infrastructure serving a house.

When it comes to water conservation, there are also limited levers available to the Board in setting rates that encourage the use of less water.

For both, the Water District has created workarounds in the form of:

1.              The Water Rate Assistance Program: This is a program where low income folks can apply for assistance to pay their water bills.

2.              Landscape Rebate Program: This is a program where the Water District provides rebates to folks who swap out water gulping lawns and put in landscaping that doesn’t use as much water.

The Valley Water Board is currently in the throes of the rate-setting process. We have had several public hearings with lots of opportunity for you all to listen, learn, and ask questions. ACWA helped further my understanding of the levers (or lack of) we have to set rates in ways that allow us to achieve our organizational values.

I've only just scratched the surface of what I've learned over the past few weeks. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions you may have about any of this and thank you for being interested enough to have read all the way to the end!