HomeMy WebLinkAbout13 Hirschdale Pipeline CEQA Public Hearing - Board TRUCKEE - AGENDA ITEM #13
Public Utility District
MEETING DATE: April 5, 2023
TO: Board of Directors
FROM: Chad J. Reed, Water Utility Director
SUBJECT: Consideration for Scheduling of a Public Hearing to Receive
Comments on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Initial
Study for the Hirschdale Pipeline
APPROVED BY
Brian C. Wright, General Manager
RECOMMENDATION:
Schedule a public hearing at the regularly scheduled District Board Meeting on May 3,
2023 at 6:OOPM, or soon thereafter, for the purposes of receiving input and public
comment related to the CEQA Mitigated Negative Declaration Initial Study for the
Hirschdale Pipeline.
BACKGROUND:
The District operates two separate water systems in the Truckee area: the Hirschdale
System and the Truckee System.
The Hirschdale System is rather small, consisting of:
• One pressure zone
• One well
• One storage tank
• About 3,100 feet of pipeline
• 26 customer accounts
In contrast, the Truckee System is a relatively complex system, consisting of:
• 46 pressure zones
• 12 active potable water wells
• 3 active non-potable wells
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• 34 active storage tanks
• 25 pumping stations
• About 235 miles of pipeline ranging from 2-inches to 24-inches in diameter
• 40 control valve stations
• About 13,600 customer accounts
The Hirschdale System is located to the east of the Truckee Main System with a distance
of about 1,700 feet separating the two systems. As noted above, there is a single well
that supplies water to the Hirschdale System. When this well is taken out of service to
perform maintenance, it is necessary for the District to implement temporary measures
such as using potable water trucks or an aboveground pipe to supply water to the
Hirschdale area. It addition, the water produced by the Hirschdale Well has high levels
of naturally occurring arsenic and manganese. The District operates a treatment system
to remove the arsenic and manganese to ensure the water supplied to customers
complies with State and Federal requirements. However, the treatment system is
expensive to operate and requires extensive maintenance and supervision.
The Water Department has identified the need to construct a pipeline to connect the
Hirschdale Water System to the main Truckee Main Water System. This pipeline will
provide a second source of water to the Hirschdale area and allow the District to supply
Hirschdale in a more cost effective manner. As all interconnections between different
systems require the water system to modify the State issued permit to operate a public
water system, staff has been working closely with the California State Resource Control
Board (Water Board) engineer. It is anticipated that upon completion of this project,
District staff will continue to work with the Water Board to consolidate the two water
systems. The consolidation will increase operational efficiencies for District staff, some
examples would be:
• One Consumer Confidence Report
• One Electronic Annual Report
• One System Water Audit
This project was identified in the current Water System Master Plan and the current Water
Department Capital Improvement Plan. This project does not involve maintenance or
replacement of existing facilities therefore a CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act)
review is necessary.
CEQA applies to public agencies throughout the State of California, including local
governments, special districts and State Agencies. The CEQA guidelines dictates when
an activity is subject to environmental review, which steps are required in the process and
what content needs to be included in the document. The CEQA process also requires a
public agency to serve as the "lead agency", since the District is a public agency it will
serve as the lead agency for this project. Once the project and lead agency have been
identified an initial study will be performed to assess whether to prepare an environmental
impact report (EIR) or a mitigated negative declaration (MND). Once the appropriate
action has been determined either the EIR or MND will be prepared and circulated for 30
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days. Upon completion of the circulation, elected officials of the lead agency must
consider any received comments and accept the EIR or MND with the known
environmental issues and choose to proceed with the project or not.
In October 2022, the Board awarded a contract to Inland Ecosystems to perform the
CEQA review. Inland Ecosystems completed the CEQA review during the week of March
15 and has determined that a mitigated negative declaration (MND) is appropriate.
The project schedule is listed below:
• March 15 — Initial Study/MND ready for public circulation
• March 16 — Initial Study/MND filed with Nevada County and State Clearing House
• May 3 — Conduct Public hearing to receive comment on Initial Study/MND
• May 3 — Adoption of Initial Study/MND
• May 25 — Bid opening for pipeline construction contract
• June 7 —Award contract for pipeline construction contract
Copies of the completed Initial Study/MND will be transmitted to the Board concurrent
with the filing to Nevada County and the State Clearing House.
Goals and Objectives:
This item is in support of the following goals and objectives:
District Code1.05.020 Objectives:
1. Responsibly serve the public.
3. Provide reliable and high quality water supply and distribution system to meet current
and future needs
5. Manage the District in an environmentally sound manner
6. Manage the District in an effective, efficient and fiscally responsible manner.
Strategic Goals:
1. Manage for Financial Stability and Resiliency
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no direct fiscal impact associated with conducting the public hearing. There are
minor costs of about $2,500 associated with filing of the CEQA documentation with
Nevada County and State Clearing House. The cost is planned to be charged to the
project. If the project is not approved, the cost will be expensed.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachments 1 Draft Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration
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