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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 3.C 09/09/2019DATE: September 9, 2019 TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council FROM: Peggy Flynn, City Manager6- Dan St. John, Director of Public Works & Utilities SUBJECT: Resolution Approving the Response to the Sonoma County Grand Jury's Final Report for Fiscal Year 2018/19 entitled, "Will There Be Water After an Earthquake?" RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached Resolution Approving the Response to the Sonoma County Grand Jury's Final Report for Fiscal Year 2018/19 entitled, "Will There Be Water After an Earthquake?" BACKGROUND Under California law, the Civil Grand Jury is an independent institution that oversees all aspects of the legislative and administrative departments that make up county, city, and special district governments, and has the power to investigate them to ensure they are serving the public and individual citizens. At the end of each fiscal year, the Grand Jury issues its final report to the community. DISCUSSION On June 14, 2019, the Grand Jury provided the City with its final report for Fiscal Year 2018/19 entitled, "Will There be Water After an Earthquake?" and required a response from the City and the City Council to Recommendations R-5. A copy of the full report including its findings and recommendations are in Attachment 3. Petaluma's draft response is attached for Council's consideration and approval. The response must be submitted to the Grand Jury no later than 90 days after the Grand Jury submits its final report to any public agency malting the due date for the City's response September 14, 2019. ATTACHMENTS 1. Resolution 2. Draft Grand Jury Response Letter 3. Grand Jury Report, "Will There be Water After an Earthquake?" Attachment 1 RESOLUTION APPROVING THE RESPONSE TO THE SONOMA COUNTY GRAND JURY'S FINAL REPORT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018/19 WHEREAS, under California law, the Civil Grand Jury is an independent institution that oversees all aspects of the legislative and administrative departments that make up county, city, and special district governments, and has the power to investigate them to ensure they are serving the public and individual citizens; and WHEREAS, the Grand Jury conducts investigations, culminating in a final report to the community at the end of each fiscal year; and WHEREAS, the 2018/19 Sonoma County Grand Jury issued its final report to the City of Petaluma on June 14, 2019; and WHEREAS, one of their investigations, "Will There be Water After an Earthquake?" requires a response from the City of Petaluma. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council approves the response letter to the Grand Jury and authorizes the Mayor and City Manager to sign said letter on behalf of the City Council. 01 Attachment 2 DRAFT LETTER September 9, 2019 The Honorable Gary Nadler Foreperson Presiding Superior Court Judge Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury Hall of Justice P.O. Box 5109 600 Administration Drive Santa Rosa, CA 95402 Santa Rosa, CA 95403 RE: Grand Jury Final Report for FY 2018-2019 Finding and Recommendations — Will There be Water After and Earthquake? Dear Judge Nadler: The City of Petaluma is pleased to provide our responses on behalf of the City of Petaluma and the Petaluma City Council, to the Findings and Recommendations in the 2018-2019 Grand Jury Final Report, "Will there be Water After an Earthquake?" The responses are formatted in accordance with Penal Code Section 933 and 933.05. Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the Grand Jury's report. If you have additional questions, please let us know. Sincerely, Teresa Barrett Mayor cc: Sonoma County Board of Supervisors Sonoma County Clerk Petaluma City Clerk Petaluma City Council Sonoma County Cities Peggy Flynn City Manager Attachment 3 Response to Grand Jury Report Form Report Title: Will there be water after an Earthquake Report Date: Not dated but delivered June 14, 2018 (SIC) Rec'd 6/14/19 Response By: Title: Mayor Teressa Barrett and Title: CitManager Pegg�Flnn Agency/Department Name: City of Petaluma FINDINGS: We agree with the findings numbered: F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, , F9, F10, F11 We disagree wholly or partially with the findings numbered: F8 F8 Because operating pressures must be maintained throughout the system, water contractors have limited ability to curtail water uses without compromising availability of water for critical applications such as fire suppression and hospital use. Petaluma's Response: Finding (178) is disputed because the City has the power to impose its water shortage contingency plan during a water supply curtailment such as might occur during the after -math of an earthquake. Under the Plan, the City would likely declare a third level emergency in which all unnecessary water use (i.e. outdoor use, washing, etc.) would be prohibited and if a customer did not comply, their water service would ultimately be shut off. It should be pointed out that by shutting off a customer's domestic water supply, they would still have access to fire flows from nearby fire hydrants, and if they do have an in -building fire sprinkler system, it is fed by a separate fire service line that would not be affected if the domestic water service were to be shut off for non-compliance with the drought restrictions. RECOMMENDATIONS: Recommendations numbered: RI, R2, R3, R4, and R6 are directed to Sonoma Water. R5 is the sole recommendation directed to the City of Petaluma. RS Water contractors study options for making local systems more adaptable under emergency conditions — such as dedicated supply loops, digitally monitored metering, or automatic shut -down valves, by December 31, 2019. Petaluma's Response: Recommendation #5 has not yet been implemented but will be implemented in the future. Key regional elements will be implemented by Spring 2020. The City of Petaluma is continuously L, evaluating operational functions to add resilience and make the system less vulnerable. The City is currently updating a vulnerability assessment and Gap study in resilience and operation activities. The City of Petaluma is evaluating SCADA upgrades and performing automatic valve replacements. These upgrades are anticipated to be completed by the end of 2020. The City will have two booster pump stations and valves replaced in early 2020. The City has recently upgraded storage facilities and has CIP projects for upgrades to all the reservoirs in the system. Two reservoir upgrades for seismic and coatings are scheduled to be completed in 2021 with the remaining by the end of 2023. A well siting study is currently underway, and an additional well is scheduled for completion by mid -2021. Local System Integration with Regional Wholesaler The City of Petaluma fully supports the Grand Jury's recommendation to study options for making our local public water supply system more adaptable for emergency conditions. Although the water systems of Sonoma Water and its retail customers are inter -connected, integration improvements are possible, especially in times of water shortage. By leveraging the collective water resources and infrastructure of Sonoma Water and its nine retail customers, there could be opportunities to improve water supply reliability and resiliency through better integrated water resources planning and management. To this end, the City of Petaluma and the eight other retail water contractors are funding a Regional Water Supply Reliability Study (Study) coordinated by Sonoma Water. The Study was initiated in February of this year when Sonoma Water engaged the services of Jacobs Engineering Group to evaluate strategies and water supply projects to improve integrated water resources management and make the service area more resilient to potential short term (e.g., earthquakes) and long-term (e.g. sustained drought) water shortages. This Study will identify opportunities to enhance coordination and partnerships between the City of Petaluma, Sonoma Water and the eight other water contractors for improved regional integrated water supply emergency planning. It is anticipated that this work will be completed by Spring 2020. Local System Resiliency In addition to purchasing wholesale water from Sonoma Water, the City of Petaluma has local water supplies that are used to meet the demands of our customers. Based on State Water Resources Control Board inspection documents, the City of Petaluma can produce a sustained capacity of 50 gal/per person/per day, which means that the City should have enough emergency water supply to meet the minimum water demand for sanitary purposes, such as drinking, cooking and sanitation. The production of water from local sources is based on running wells with one standby reserved. Recommendation numbered: n/a has not yet been implemented but will be implemented in the future. Recommendations numbered: n/a require further analysis. Recommendations numbered: n/a will not be implemented because they are not warranted or are not reasonable. Date: Signed: Mayor Teresa Barrett Date: Peggy Flynn, City Manager Number of pages attached: 4