CCMIN031991 - Laserfiche WebLink

102 Mr. Tarver commented that while the City, as water supplier, should have done its own research on the water situation before -- approving the construction of new buildings, Zone 7 has continually assured the City that there would be adequate water supply through the City's General Plan build-up. He proposed that Staff conduct a research on the amount of water the State and Zone 7 can realistically provide so the City can come up with contingency plans for its residents. He added that projects whose designs and PUD processes have been approved still have to take out building permits and get Growth Management approval before they can start construction. Mr. Mercer commented that having a moratorium on building construction will not mean that there will be no rationing. Ms. Tracy stated that Clause 18B of Zone 7's contract with the State indicates that the State will deliver water if it is available. She added that although the State Water Report shows that the State has contracted to deliver 4.3 million acre feet of water per year, the diagram shows that the State has a capacity of only 2.2 million acre feet. Zone 7 receives about 1% of the State Water Project. Ms. Mohr inquired if entitlements are made for gravel quarries and if these are subject to rationing. Ms. Tracy replied that gravel quarries and agricultural users are major pumpers who do not have to account to Zone 7. She added that these users are not subject to rationing and may pump as much water as they wish. She explained that the Federal government controls four times the amount of water the State controls and has contracts with large businesses with water rights that they would forfeit if they do not use the water. The Governor could preempt the Federal contracts and reassign the water if a State water emergency is declared. The reassignment of 10% to 15% of agricultural water would mean 100% more for urban users. Mr. Tarver inquired if Staff is proposing that the City take an average of all users and indicate the number of gallons each user would get or if the City will request all users to cut back 25% from last year's usage for the coming month and 50% thereafter. Ms. Acosta replied that what Staff is proposing in the conceptual program are goals. This notice to be sent to the user will include the user's personal consumption history as well as the goal the user will be asked to meet. The program does not consider a straight 25% cutback across the board; it suggests some averages based on what the average household use is and comes down by 25% or 50%. Individual appeals can be made for those with larger families - 32 - 3-19-91