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Matt Morrison stated that he tried to educate himself since 1998 on water issues as a citizen concerned about the environment. He indicated that he was invited to a drop panel at U.C. Berkeley last March, and there was a presenter there, Dr. Lynn Ingram, a Paleo- Climatologist, who wrote a book that came out this year from U.C. Berkeley Press. He noted that Dr. Ingram looked back over the water issue in California and stated that over the last 2,000 years, droughts lasting decades or even centuries are common, and in the 20th century when all water rights were established in California, it was a wetter than normal century. He added that water users and water agencies are coming to grips with the fact that apart from climate change or any other reason that could be affecting our water supply, California may not have its allocated amount of water based on how all the rights have been given out during the 20th century. Mr. Morrison stated that he is bringing this up because using the 2010 Urban Water Management Plan is totally inadequate to address the infrastructure needs for water as the Plan is not accurate and presumes that the area has the ability to get the banked water stored down in Kern County; but this is a serious drought and this area cannot get that water, so they are now looking at extreme measures like pumping it back up. Mr. Morrison stated that that is what he wants to address in the staff report which says that what the City needs to do is more effectively manage its water, and "effectively manage" means current users of water will end up paying more for less. He cited, as an example, reverse osmosis water, which is being branded as being a replacement to increase potable water supply; but reverse osmosis can cost up to ten times the amount of the today's cost of water. He continued that to address the fact of lower per capita use of increased development, President John Greci of Zone 7, at the water committee meeting yesterday, brought up the fact of how Zone 7 can put the retailers on notice about growth, because Zone 7 is concerned about how it will continue to supply water if the drought extends for another year or two and end up in an emergency situation. He indicated that emergency planning is not planning at all, and the way to plan is to understand ahead of time what the impacts are going to be. He stated that President Greci directed staff to have a conversation because if residents are already reducing their water use by 25 percent, additional development, even if that development is using less per capita, would still be tapping into the water that existing users who have already reduced their water use are getting to. Mr. Morrison stated that what is coming out with the water agencies he talks to now is regional sustainability and how to manage the water that the City has locally. He indicated that the City cannot rely on the State water project; it has to rely on what it has banked beneath the City. He added that what the City needs to look at is the sustainable amount the City can maintain in its groundwater table and how it can best manage that with growth. He urged the Commission not to approve the Housing Element until Zone 7 puts out its 2015 Urban Water Management Plan, or at least towards the end of this year when it starts planning how it is going to charge rates and how that will affect growth. THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS CLOSED. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, August 13, 2014 Page 24 of 32