The County has historically closely monitored and been engaged in efforts pertaining to state policy initiatives in the Yolo Bypass and the Delta including the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), the DWR - FESSRO Central Valley Flood System Conservation Strategy, the Delta Counties Coalition, and the federal Biological Opinion process under the umbrella of the Delta Advocacy Program. The impetus of this significant degree of engagement is the broad and significant impact state water policy and projects in the Delta have on the County’s landscape, economy, and legacy of agriculture. Such impacts include the conversion of agricultural land to habitat, conflicts with the continued maintenance of flood control facilities, the loss of waterfowl habitat and related recreational resources, and potential conflicts with the County HCP/NCCP, all of which directly impact the viability and sustainability of the County’s agricultural economy.
More recently, the Delta Advocacy Program has been expanded to include the development of the Lower Sacramento-Delta North Regional Flood Management Plan and more specifically, the implementation of the Corridor Management Framework Plan that includes specific flood risk reduction and habitat proposals related to the Yolo Bypass, Knights Landing, Clarksburg, the Town of Yolo, the cities of West Sacramento and Woodland and other proposals and projects. This greater focus on flood control is driven by renewed state and federal policy objectives to mitigate flood risk by managing land use in flood plains and increasing urban flood protection. Given the County’s geography, it is imperative the County engage in this process to ensure state flood control policy objectives reflect the County’s interests and again, ensure the continued viability of the County’s agricultural communities along the Delta and tributary rivers and its agricultural economy.
In FY 15-16, the Delta Advocacy program will focus on advancing regional flood solutions, as previously delineated, as well as continuing the County’s engagement with the state related to Delta conveyance and habitat projects following the state’s reconfiguring and rebranding of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan into the EcoRestore and California Water Fix programs, including the review and comment on the recirculated draft of the BDCP EIR/EIS (anticipated in mid-July 2015).
The FY 15-16 Delta, Flood and Habitat Budget breakdown is as follows:
Delta/Flood/Habitat Costs and Distributions
Consero Solutions $120,000
Staff Support $65,000
County Counsel $80,000
TMDL Fees $1,500
Outside Counsel $40,000
DCC Coordinator $35,000
Consultants $125,000
Total Expenditures $466,500
How costs are distributed: General Fund Expense $421,500 plus Reimbursable Contracts $45,000 = $466,500
Due to the inordinate amount of time involved to comment, analyze and confer on the myriad of Delta water, flood, and habitat proposals that impact Yolo County, staff contracted with two primary consultants; Doug Brown with Douglas Environmental and Petrea Marchand with Consero Solutions.
Consero Solutions is lead for those issues surrounding the Bureau of Reclamation’s Biological Opinion process related to the Yolo Bypass, implementation of the Yolo Bypass Drainage and Infrastructure Improvement Study, technical issues related to the fish benefits of proposed Yolo Bypass proposals, participation in the development of the governance structure for the Corridor Management Framework Plan and lead for identification of agricultural sustainability models. The total contact amount is not to exceed $120,000. This amount is $20,000 less than FY 14-15 because it more closely represents the amount expended in FY 14-15 and the anticipated workload for FY 15-16.
Doug Brown’s primary focus is to assist the County with the implementation of the Lower Sacramento - Delta North Corridor Management Framework, the development of the Yolo Bypass/Cache Slough Complex Management Plan, and other flood and water-related issues. Brown will also sub consult to the fish biologist that is on retainer to assist with identifying the impacts of Yolo Bypass proposals. The total FY 15-16 contract amount is not to exceed $100,000 with $20,000 attributable to the fish biologist and $80,000 to Douglas Environmental. It is anticipated that $20,000 of this amount will be reimbursable through grants. In addition, Douglas Environmental will be leading the stakeholder engagement process and other related activities for the Corridor Management Framework plan under contract to the West Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency with funds secured through the Department of Water Resources. These activities directly benefit Yolo County at no cost.
The additional $25,000 included in the total consultant cost of $125,000 is a set aside for expertise that may be needed to establish the agricultural sustainability models for mitigation of impacts related to the conversion of agricultural lands to other purposes.
County Counsel has taken an active leadership role in the Delta since the inception serving as the negotiation lead with the State and providing the main review, analysis and comments on BDCP documents including environmental documents. This coming year is no exception as we anticipate the release of a revised BDCP EIR/EIS that includes new alternatives intended to implement the California Water Fix program. In addition, County Counsel is co-lead on the negotiations with the Natural Resources Agency on a potential MOA/MOU to form a partnership among interested federal, state, and local agencies to improve the integration of Yolo Bypass flood management, habitat restoration, agriculture and regional economic sustainability efforts. The budget includes a not to exceed amount for County Counsel at $80,000 with $5,000 reimbursable through grants. In addition, $40,000 has been allocated in the event that outside counsel will need to be retained for special issues that may arise that are outside the purview of the County Counsel office.
The County has participated in the Delta Counties Coalition (DCC) since its inception. The annual cost of participation in the DCC is $35,000 to defer the cost of the DCC Coordinator.
The County is required under state law as a discharger to the Delta to submit a Delta Methylmercury reduction plan; the County opted to participate at a cost of $1,500 per year in the State’s plan as the annual fee is far less than the cost to implement a work plan on our own to obtain compliance.
The Delta, flood and habitat budget allocations are not to exceed caps. Actual costs may be less given the variations in work load that can occur based on actions outside of our control at the State and Federal level. These caps are determined by previous actual amounts and estimates of the projected work load for the coming year. For example, the State’s recent action to dismantle the BDCP and launch two new programs, EcoRestore and the California Water Fix, precipitated a change in both the Consero Solutions and Douglas Environmental contacts shifting the focus to these new programs. However, staff and the consultants will still need to address issues related to BDCP and the EIR/EIS.
A discussion of the Delta, flood and habitat budget would not be complete without a discussion of the grant funding that has been awarded to the West Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency on behalf of the region, including Yolo County, to continue the activities that were established through the development of the Lower Sacramento – Delta North RFMP and the Yolo Flood Governance Study. Both of these plans were produced at no cost to the County. Staff participation was reimbursed through grant proceeds. The second round of funding in the amount of $500,000 over the next two years, will be utilized to continue stakeholder engagement (Douglas Environmental work discussed above), advancing the recommendations made in the Yolo Flood Governance Study, continued development of small community flood options (Knights Landing and the town of Yolo), and addressing institutional barriers such as permitting of flood management and O & M activities, flood insurance, sustainable financing and others.
Reductions to the Delta Advocacy program would limit staff’s ability to meaningfully engage in and respond to the state’s water, habitat and flood control policy initiatives. Consequently, the inability to substantively analyze, comment, and confer on state water and flood control policy proposals would reduce the likelihood of alignment between the County’s and state’s policy objectives in these areas. This lack of alignment between the County and state on critical policy areas could result in state policies and projects which jeopardize or negatively impact the County’s agricultural economy and flood control objectives in the Delta, the Yolo Bypass, and the surrounding areas including the cities of Woodland and West Sacramento.
|