CENTRAL SACRAMENTO COUNTY GROUNDWATER FORUM

 

Business Caucus

Issues and Interests Statement

 

1.      Promote Economic Growth and Health of the Region

·        The vitality of the region relies on economic growth to provide jobs and improve services.

-        Economic growth and the maintenance and creation of jobs are of critical importance to the Sacramento Region.  Employment for all members of the Region provides a foundation for services, individual and family self-sufficiency and community stability.

-        For the Sacramento Region to remain healthy, we must continue to attract a diversity of jobs and industry to this region, as well as maintain and facilitate the growth of existing industries that are beneficial to the economy. Agriculture is an important piece of the economy.  Those who are doing recruiting need the ability to assure those they are recruiting that basic needs, such as water, are available and comparatively cost-effective.  Water availability is a marketing tool.

·        The Groundwater Plan should not act as a growth control mechanism.

-        The Groundwater Plan should be designed to accommodate all water demand in the region and should not be used as a tool to artificially control or direct growth. 

·        The Groundwater Plan should allow healthy growth in the region.

-        Healthy growth levels should be established using open and public forums and decision-making processes.  The Groundwater Plan should then facilitate and accommodate those growth levels.

-        A General Plan is a planning tool and guiding document for a local jurisdiction and it is within that context that population and capacity issues should be discussed in balancing the environmental, social and economic needs of a jurisdiction.  No one issue should be allowed to drive those decisions.  In the case of water, the resource should be developed to accommodate the demand.

2.      Ensure Reliability and Certainty of a Safe and Clean Water Supply

·        The Groundwater Plan needs to provide the community with a supply that can be counted upon regardless of weather, varying demand, or year-to-year uncertainties.

-        The business community cannot adequately plan to provide jobs and economic benefits to area residents when a major component in planning, such as water, is not reliable.

-        Adequate supplies and delivery mechanisms must be reliable for accurate planning efforts and realistic outcomes.

-        Certainty of water supplies should not be sacrificed during years when weather conditions vary from normal.  The Groundwater Plan needs to anticipate a water supply system that can accommodate years of excess water, with reserves to accommodate dry years.

-        The Groundwater Plan needs to provide adequate supplies in order to serve all water demands in the community anticipated during the planning period.

 

·        Once established, this reliability should allow water supplies to be available whether it is by area or by project.

-        Once adopted, the Groundwater Plan should not constrain the timing or location of site-specific demands.

 

·        The long-term definition, development, and operation of the Groundwater Plan should incorporate the concept of flexibility to allow for adaptation and modification in order to achieve the goal of reliability and certainty of supply.

-        A wide variety of stakeholders have an interest in the Sacramento Region’s water resources including municipal, industrial, agricultural and environmental concerns both within and outside of the Central Sacramento Area.

-        Economic, political, regulatory, environmental, and weather related impacts will cause changing water supply demands and priorities as well as changes in the water supply assets and liabilities of the region.

-        The Groundwater Plan should recognize that conditions can change and should allow for adaptations to the plan to accommodate those changes without jeopardizing the long-term goal of protecting the interests of current and future stakeholders while coordinating with neighboring interests.

 

·        The Groundwater Plan should not compromise water quality and should provide the region’s residents with a safe and clean water supply.

 

3.      Optimize Use of All Available Water Supply Resources

 

·        The region’s portfolio of water resource solutions should include conjunctive use, transfers and exchanges, reclamation and re-use (recycling), and conservation.

-        Use of multiple solutions offers system redundancy and the flexibility to deal with wet and dry conditions.

-        The various stakeholders throughout the region may not have direct access to all of the aforementioned solutions due to financial, political, regulatory, or geographic constraints.  Coordination of the stakeholders can maximize utilization and benefits of the varying solutions.

-        Existing programs and efforts provide value to the region’s overall water supply solution.  This value should be recognized.

 

·        Conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water supplies is essential.  The Groundwater Plan should safely maximize the utilization of groundwater resources for the environmental and economic benefits of the community. 

-        The groundwater system should be managed to insure that it is not harmed.

-        Empty aquifer space can be employed for storing surplus surface water flows so they may be called upon in times of need.

-        Recharging of groundwater aquifers should be encouraged when it is cost effective, reliable and beneficial.

 

·        Water transfers and exchanges will be necessary to implement and operate a conjunctive use program.

-        Transferring surplus or conserved water supplies to storage is considered a beneficial use of water under the California State water code.

-        Future extraction of these stored supplies is also provided for under the water code.

 

·        Efforts should be made to utilize innovative technologies to extend the existing water supply.

-        The recycling and reuse of water streams can augment existing water supplies.

-        Conservations measures, such as low-flow toilets and showerheads, can reduce consumption leading to an improved water supply.  

 

4.      Realistic Regional Demand Projections

·        Demand projections for Sacramento County must recognize the County’s place in both the statewide growth context and the Regional growth context and plan to accommodate for its growth accordingly.

-        California’s population is currently 34 million and is expected to reach 42 to 50 million by 2020.

-        The Sacramento Region’s share of that projected growth will total nearly 1 million people by 2020.  Sacramento County’s portion of that is roughly 500,000 people.

-        Over 80 percent of California’s population growth in the 1990s was from natural increase (i.e. births over deaths) and current projections indicate that new births will account for most of the state’s population growth for decades to come (Source: Public Policy Institute of CA)

·        Failure to plan for water needs does not slow growth; it simply decreases supply and leaves demands unmet.

-        If water supply does not expand to meet projected population growth, all segments of the community – including current users – will suffer.

·        Failure to resolve our local issues and adequately plan for our own needs may result in outside interests benefiting from water supply that should remain within the Sacramento Region.

 

·        The Central Sacramento County Groundwater Plan should establish a goal of coordinating with other Groundwater Plans within the region in order to ensure that water supply demands are accurately assessed and planned for and that resources are fully utilized.

 

5.      Cost Equity

·        The cost of capital improvements and operations (rates) must be balanced with other needs and desires.

-        Some solutions will be more costly than others. When considering a solution, we will need to weigh the ability to pay and spread the price with the benefits it brings to the entire community. For example, the best environmental solution may be cost-prohibitive to implement and the least costly may be environmentally unacceptable.  Fairness and balance need to be the basis for decisions.

6.      Quality of Life Should Be Maintained

·        Like many aspects of the community, the business community relies on and contributes to a high quality of life in this region. Components of that quality of life include economic and environmental components.

-        Business is the economic engine which generates the capital to create and continue to fund what people recognize as “quality of life” factors, i.e. affordable housing for all income levels, business opportunities, cultural amenities, recreational opportunities and environmental resources.

-        The business community contributes to quality of life through job creation, by generating funding through sales tax and through volunteer efforts, charitable donations.