The first step in updating the Groundwater Management Plan for
the San Benito County portion of the Hollister-Gilroy Basin got
underway Wednesday.
The first step in updating the Groundwater Management Plan for the San Benito County portion of the Hollister-Gilroy Basin got underway Wednesday.
A community scoping meeting was held for the proposed water supply project that would encompass the northern part of the county, including Hollister, San Juan Bautista and Tres Pinos.
The county water district, along with the Water Resource Association, is preparing the Program Environmental Impact Report for the Groundwater Management Plan.
As the lead agency, the San Benito County Water District prepared the initial study identifying areas of potential environmental effects, which was presented by district manager John Gregg to the responsible agencies – the cities of Hollister and San Juan Bautista and the Sunnyslope County Water District.
The proposed plan would incorporate existing water resources programs and new project elements into an integrated strategy for managing imported surface water from the San Felipe Project as the surface and groundwater resources.
Potential impacts of the project include hydrology and water quality, land use, agricultural resources, biological resources, geology and seismicity, including liquefaction.
Marchel Nelson of the Sunnyslope County Water District asked consultants if the PEIR was unusual in comparison to other EIR programs.
“How does it differ from what you have done for communities in the past?” he said.
Consultants for David Powell & Associates said the PEIR was very different from what they have done before.
“It encompasses so much and everything has so many direct and indirect effects,” Powell said. “That at a program level it may end up looking very conservatively at the impacts, but the actual projects become later project-specific, and there may be ways to avoid those impacts.”
Gregg said the plan was unusual and unique, but it was “not like doing an international airport.”
The PEIR calls for numerous institutional programs, mostly based on water conversation and nitrate education. Included is a proposal for a water softener ordinance, which would be applicable to the resale of homes.
Among the new projects listed for developing and improving local groundwater and surface water supplies is building a new pipeline from the Cienega Valley to join with the Central Valley Project at the downstream end of the system in Tres Pinos.
Gregg said the water quality of the Cienega Valley was “excellent” with total dissolved salt levels of less than 200 milligrams per liter.
Rob Mendiola, San Benito County Executive Planning Director, asked consultants to explain the need for a subsequent EIR review.
“I think that is what tends to get lost in the programmatic (PEIR),” Mendiola said. “People think, “We did an EIR,’ and clearly there are dozens of EIRs that use this as the floor and not the ceiling.”
Sachiko Itagaki, an engineering consultant for the water district, said the PEIR is intended to be the first tier of the EIR for the subsequent actions that will be needed to implement the plan.
“Meaning all the various wastewater treatment facilities, groundwater treatment facilities, pipelines, stream diversions,” she said.
Each time a project is proposed by an agency it will need to be evaluated to see if it addresses the impacts and whether or not the PEIR is efficient, Gregg said.
“The way this plan is structured, it is by design to be consistent with city and county general plans that cover the area in which any of these projects would be implemented, including the growth management plan those organizations have in place,” he said. “The intent is to be consistent.”
Matt Fabry, representing the Regional Water Quality Control Board, wanted to know if the PEIR was limited to Hollister’s general plan, which has a build-out until 2010, or if it was flexible.
“The (PEIR) plan is intended to go out to 2020, 2022,” Itagaki said.
Those wishing to comment on the notice of preparation have until Dec. 31.
The next step will be to draft the EIR, which will have a 45-day review period for comments. The goal is to have the EIR ready for adoption by the SBCWD in June.
