Title
Adopt a resolution to authorize and direct the Auditor-Controller to amend the Resource Management Agency Fiscal Year 2020-21 Adopted Budget, General Fund 001, Planning Unit 8529, Appropriation Unit RMA110, increasing appropriations by $182,262, financed by General Fund Assigned Fund Balance, Fund 001, Balance Sheet Account 3134-SVGB to complete the Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin Investigation (4/5th vote required).
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors adopt a resolution to authorize and direct the Auditor-Controller to amend the Resource Management Agency Fiscal Year 2020-21 Adopted Budget, General Fund 001, Planning Unit 8529, Appropriation Unit RMA110, increasing appropriations by $182,262, financed by General Fund Assigned Fund Balance, Fund 001, Balance Sheet Account 3134-SVGB, to complete the Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin Investigation (4/5th vote required).
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
The Resource Management Agency (RMA) is responsible for the administration of the Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin (SVBG) Investigation. In June 2020, at the recommendation of the RMA and with the support of the Budget Committee, the Board of Supervisors authorized and directed the Auditor-Controller to assign the remaining funds in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019-20 for the SVGB Investigation, in an amount not to exceed $182,262, to the General Fund Assigned Fund Balance Account. On June 23, 2020, the Board of Supervisors adopted the FY 2020-21 Recommended Budget, along with modifications which included $75,998 for SVGB, financed by General Fund Cannabis Assigned Fund Balance.
New policies implemented with the adoption of the 2010 General Plan for Monterey County to address groundwater overdraft resulted in litigation. As part of a settlement agreement reached in 2012 in one lawsuit (Salinas Valley Water Coalition et al v. County (Monterey Superior Court Case No. M109451), the County considered and adopted an amendment to Policy PS-3.1 of the Public Services Element of the General Plan. Per the amended policy, the County is conducting a five-year study to assess the general health of SVGB with regard to its ability to provide a sustainable supply of water for land-use activities projected through Year 2030 to meet the County General Plan projected development (Investigation). Completion of the SVGB Investigation (SVGBI) will satisfy the County’s obligation and the requirements to implement the 2010 General Plan.
The County entered into a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to configure and calibrate an integrated comprehensive hydrogeologic model to assess the general health of SVGB. Subsequently, the County, through RMA, entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Monterey County Water Resources Agency (MCWRA) to provide project management, and engaged Errol L. Montgomery & Associates, Inc. (M&A) via a Standard Agreement for professional hydrogeological services to complete the SVGBI (Attachment A-Agreement A-14638). M&A is tasked with reassessing and summarizing the state of the SVGB using the most recently configured USGS Salinas Valley Integrated Hydrologic Model (SVIHM). A delay in USGS’s completion of this model pushed back M&A’s start of work until the model results became available in July 2020, and correspondingly, the scheduled completion of theSVGBI to June 2021.
RMA requests the Board adopt a resolution to authorize and direct the Auditor-Controller to amend RMA Fiscal Year 2020-21 Adopted Budget, General Fund 001, Planning Unit 8529, Appropriation Unit RMA110, increasing appropriations by $182,262, financed by General Fund Assigned Fund Balance, Fund 001, Balance Sheet Account 3134-SVGB, to complete the SVGBI.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
MCWRA performs project management for SVGBI. The SVIHM that M&A will use to conduct the SVGBI was provided by the USGS. On October 7, 2020, the Board of Supervisors’ Budget Committee voted to support this recommendation.
FINANCING:
A total of $1,957,243 has been spent for Fiscal Years (FYs) 2014-15 through 2019-2020 to conduct the SVGBI. On June 25, 2019, the Board of Supervisors approved a FY 2019-20 budget augmentation of $304,752 to complete the SVBGI. On June 16, 2020, the Board of Supervisors approved setting aside $182,262, the unspent portion of the augmentation, in the Assigned Fund Balance to be used in FY 2020-21 for the SVGBI. RMA noted at that time, that an additional $75,998 was needed for M&A to complete the final report and to reimburse MCWRA for project management. On June 23, 2020, the Board of Supervisors approved modifications to the FY20-21 Recommended Budget to include appropriations of $75,998 in the General Fund 001, Planning Unit 8529, Appropriation Unity RMA110, financed by General Fund Cannabis Assignment Fund Balance.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES:
If approved, the recommended action supports the Board of Supervisors’ Economic Development, Administration, and Infrastructure Strategic Initiatives by ensuring accurate, timely, and transparent fiscal accounting and effective resource management by enabling RMA to complete critical work for the long-term benefit of the County through implementation of General Plan policy.
X Economic Development
X Administration
Health & Human Services
X Infrastructure
Public Safety
Prepared by: Shandy Carroll, Management Analyst III (831) 784 5643
Reviewed by: Melanie Beretti, Property Administration/Special Programs Manager
Approved by: Shawne E. Ellerbee, Assistant Director of Resource Management Agency
Approved by: Carl P. Holm, AICP, RMA Director
Attachments:
Attachment A-03-03-2020 Agreement A-14638 with Errol L. Montgomery & Associates, Inc.
Attachment B-Draft Resolution
(Attachments are on file with the Clerk of the Board)