Title
Receive a status report on the Interlake Tunnel and Spillway modification projects ("Project").
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Monterey County Water Resources Agency Board of Supervisors:
Receive a status report on the Interlake Tunnel and Spillway Modification Projects ("Project").
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
Project development financing has been secured with $10 million of State grant funding through the Department of Water Resources (DWR). DWR executed the Grant Agreement on February 16, 2017.
Environmental field studies have been completed and preparation of the Draft Administrative EIR is underway.
Planning has commenced for regulatory permit in compliance with the Endangered Species Act. The planning process has identified the avenue incorporating the Project to the likely preparation of a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for the Salinas Valley Water Project and other Agency projects. The challenge will be to accommodate the additional scope without additional funding and incurring possible Project delays.
The project schedule has experienced delays of approximately 6 months:
* The time between approval of AB 1585 in September 2016 and execution of the grant agreement with DWR in February 2017 has delayed the award of the engineering and design services contract with McMillen Jacobs Associates by 6 months.
* Extended duration for the USGS to complete the County's basin hydrologic model has delayed the hydrologic modeling for the project affecting the completion of the Draft EIR.
Accordingly, The forecast for the Proposition 218 election has moved from April 2018 to December 2018.
Status of Major Elements/Issues
Biological and cultural field surveys for sites impacted by the project have been completed and preparation of a Draft Administrative EIR is underway. Completion of the Draft EIR is dependent upon finalizing the Project Description which includes modeling reservoir release forecasts relative to operation of the tunnel a...
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