Status Update of the Strand Ranch - Municipal Water District of ...

Irvine Ranch Water District
i t
Water Banking Program
Municipal Water District
of Orange County
Planning and Operations Committee
October 1, 2012

Presentation Overview
IRWD’s Strand Ranch Integrated Water Banking Project
• Project background
• Summary ayof pat partnerships, es ps,benefitse • Strand Ranch facilities
• Getting water in, getting water out
• Measuring success
• Water Bank expansion
• Next steps
Groundwater recharging on the Strand Ranch

Strand Ranch Water Bank
Project Purpose:
To further improve IRWD’s
water supply reliability through
diversification.
How to achieve this?
Develop at least 50,000000 AF of
long–term supplemental
groundwater storage.
Supplies can be called on
during severe droughts and
supply interruptions.
Well construction at Strand Ranch

Strand Ranch Water Bank – Location
Ideal location relative to water conveyance facilities:

Partnerships Make it Happen
Two long-term agreements in place:
1) IRWD / Rosedale-Rio Ri Bravo Water Storage District i t (Rosedale)
• Water Banking and Exchange Agreement (30 year term)
• Executed in January 2009
• Provides for shared use of the Strand Ranch
• IRWD as the owner, Rosedale as the operator.
2) IRWD / Buena Vista Water Storage District (BVWSD)
• Water Exchange Agreement (28 year term)
• Executed in December 2010
• Exchanges of Pre-1914 Kern River water on a 2-for-1 basis

Strand Ranch Water Bank Benefits
Project Benefits to IRWD, Rosedale, and BVWSD:
• For IRWD: Establishes contingency
storage for emergencies
- Recharge up to 17,500 AFY
- Recovery up to 17,500 AFY
- Storage up to 50,000 AF
• For Rosedale: Augments Rosedale’s
existing banking supply program with
additional recharge and recovery
capabilities.
• For BVWSD: Provides the ability to
store and recover high flow Kern River
water under its “Water Management
Program”.
Groundwater recharging on the Strand Ranch

Strand Ranch Facilities
Construction complete on all recharge facilities:
• Two Cross Valley Canal (CVC) turnouts
• Two water supply channels to the north and south recharge
basins
• 502 acres of recharge basin area
• One siphon under the Pioneer Canal
Embankments under construction
Recharge on the Strand Ranch

Strand Ranch Facilities
Cross Valley Canal Turn-out Structures:
• Two CVC turn-outs t to the Strand
Ranch sized at 100 cfs each.
• Constructed by the Kern County
Water Agency; financed by IRWD.
Turn-outs under construction

Strand Ranch Facilities
Water Supply Channels to Recharge Basins:
Supply channels convey water from the CVC turnouts to the recharge basins

Strand Ranch Facilities
Basin Embankments and Transfer Structures:
10 miles of embankments with 25 transfer structures
to move water between basins

Strand Ranch Facilities
Siphon under the Pioneer Canal:
60-inch siphon delivers water to basins north of the Pioneer Canal
Siphon Inlet

Strand Ranch Facilities
Groundwater Recovery Facilities:
• Six production wells constructed on the
Strand Ranch (5 to 6 cfs each).
• One existing well rehabilitated.
• Total combined extraction capacity of
36 cfs.
- Short-term extractions of up to 40
cfs allowed for operational flexibility
• Three nested monitoring wells
constructed.
• Wellheads and pipelines to be
completed in October 2012.
• Startup testing in progress
Recovery Well at Strand Ranch

Strand Ranch Facilities
Cross Valley Canal Expansion:
• Conveyance capacity expanded from 922 cfs to 1,422 cfs
- Constructed by the Kern County Water Agency
- IRWD paid for 5 cfs through Rosedale
- Rosedale & IRWD have access to 79 cfs of capacity on 1 st priority
basis and access to other unused capacity
Finished section of the CVC at the Strand Ranch

Getting Water into the Water Bank
Goal: To secure surplus water supplies during wet periods
Primary Source: State Water Project (SWP):
• Unbalanced exchanges of Table A water from
SWP contractors
- 2008 & 2012 Central Coast Water Authority
- 2012 Antelope Valley East Kern Water Agency
• IRWD’s Jackson Ranch (883 acres)
- Located in Dudley Ridge Water District
- Purchased in 2010
- Rights to Table A water
o Portions to be banked in the Strand Ranch
Integrated Banking Project
- Participation rights in the Kern Water Bank
(7,600 AF of storage)

Getting Water into the Water Bank
Goal: To secure surplus water supplies during wet periods
Other Supplies:
• Kern River Flood flows
- Rosedale spreads flood water, IRWD
retains 20% (30-year agreement)
• High-flow Kern River water
- From Buena Vista Water Storage District
o 28-year agreement
o Pre-1914 water rights
o Water stored through unbalanced
exchange (IRWD retains 50%)
• Other wet-year exportable supplies
(as available)
The CVC on the Strand Ranch

Getting Water out of the Water Bank
IRWD’s Agreements with Metropolitan and MWDOC:
1) Coordinated d operating and exchange agreement (2011)
• Allows IRWD to secure SWP water
- Water is delivered to IRWD through exchange
- MWD can borrow supplies from IRWD
- MWD has option to store the water in Southern California
2) Wheeling agreement (in process)
• Allows IRWD to exchange non-SWP water supplies with
MWD for delivery to IRWD’s service area
- MWD cannot borrow these supplies.
- Pilot Project to move 1,000 AF of water to IRWD.

Measuring Success
Meeting our Reliability Goal of 50,000 AF of storage
At the end of 2012, a total of 36,000 AF of water will have
been placed into storage in IRWD’s water banking projects
in Kern County.
- Half of this water will need to be
returned to IRWD’s unbalanced
exchange partners.
- IRWD will have achieved 36% of its
50,000 AF storage objective.
- Existing facilities are being shared
with IRWD’s partners.
- Need to successfully move water from
Strand Ranch to Southern California
- Cost objective: less than Tier 2 water.
First Water to the Stockdale West Ranch

Expansion of the Water Banking Program
IRWD acquired Stockdale West Ranch in 2010

Pilot Project Facilities and Partnerships
Recharge basins on the Stockdale West Ranch:
• 259 acres of recharge ponds (construction complete)
• 4 miles of embankments
• 2011 Pilot Project with BVWSD and Rosedale:
- Up to 10,000 AF of BVWSD water to be stored on 2-for-1 basis
- Rosedale operates and has use of the facilities
Construction at the Stockdale West Ranch
Recharge at the Stockdale West Ranch

Stockdale West Water Banking Project
Long-term Project:
IRWD and Rosedale have negotiated terms for a long-term
integrated banking project agreement.
- Similar terms to the IRWD/Rosedale
agreement on the Strand Ranch.
- Makes use of IRWD’s Stockdale
West Ranch and Rosedale’s
Stockdale East Property.
- Environmental Impact Report (EIR)
currently under development.
- Terms for a water exchange project
with BVWSD are under development.
Recharge on the Stockdale West Ranch

Next Steps
• Complete startup testing of recovery facilities on the
Strand Ranch (Fall 2012)
• Execute agreement with Metropolitan and MWDOC;
move 1,000 AF of water to IRWD (Spring 2013).
• Complete the development of a draft EIR for the
Stockdale West Project and initiate public review
• Finalize and certify the EIR (Spring 2013)
• Expand water supply agreements to the Stockdale
West Project (Spring 2013)
D i d t t f iliti th
• Design and construct recovery facilities on the
Stockdale West Project (Winter 2014)

Questions?
Contact Information:
Paul Cook
General Manager
Irvine Ranch Water District
cook@irwd.com
Phone: (949)-453-5590
Paul Weghorst
Director of Water Resources
Irvine Ranch Water District
weghorst@irwd.com
Phone: (949)-453-5632