Jim Watson – The Sites Reservoir and North of the Delta Offstream Storage (NODOS) Project

In the summer of 2015, in the midst of the worst drought California has experienced in decades, water was released from Shasta, Oroville, and Folsom Reservoirs to provide vital flows to the Sacramento River – this resulted in some of the lowest reservoir levels recorded and threatened municipalities that depend primarily on surface water.  What if California had another solution? Fortunately, there is the Sites Reservoir – an offstream storage solution that avoids a new dam on a major river (that is, on-stream storage) and captures water during relatively higher flow periods in winter.  The reservoir would store up to 1.4 million acre-feet of water and be located north of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in the foothills of the Coastal Range west of Colusa. 

The California Department of Water Resources and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, working in cooperation with other federal, state, and local agencies, have begun planning this project, officially termed North-of-the-Delta Offstream Storage (NODOS).  NODOS would provide a robust set of benefits including: water supply reliability for municipal and industrial uses, agriculture, and wildlife refuges; ecosystem enhancement actions to improve fish survival in major northern California rivers and the Delta; water quality improvements for Delta water users and estuarine species; flexible hydropower generation; recreation opportunities at the new reservoir and improved recreation at existing reservoirs; and local flood damage reduction below the new Sites Reservoir. The mix of benefits would also support improved flexibility and long-term viability of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project. As the current drought is showing, flexibility of these projects is impaired during multiple dry years or droughts. Total water supply benefits of NODOS would be up to 500,000 acre-feet per year on average and over 600,000 acre-feet per year during dry and critical years.

The Presentation Topic: Tim Godwin, PG, CHG of DWR will provide a general presentation illustrating the effort to date on the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).  Mr. Godwin will create an open dialogue session to provide some clarity to the implementation of SGMA, on specifics of the regulations, and various programs.  The presentation will provide a discussion on the base understanding of the “local” role emphasis of the Act, and the roles and responsibilities of the state agencies.  The presentation will cover the following topics:
*        General timeline of SGMA implementation
*        Advisory group outreach and development process of draft regulations
*        Overview of Basin Boundary Regulations
*        Update on the Draft Groundwater Sustainability Plan Regulations
*        Update on Groundwater Sustainability Agency Formation
*        Planning for Best Management Practices
*        Implementation and Planned Technical Assistance

Senate Bill 4 (SB 4) required the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources to adopt regulations specific to oil and gas well stimulation.

“An Overview of Implementation of Senate Bill 4 (SB4) aka The Fracking Bill“

Dr. Cindy Schreier discussed some of the unique challenges of marketing a business to a national clientele on a small budget.  Topics included creating/maintaining your website, sending an eblast/newsletter without getting black listed, and hosting a webinar.

Touted as the largest infrastructure project in the U.S., the historic high-speed rail project slated to begin in the Golden State’s Central Valley will put thousands to work.  Mark McLoughlin will discuss planning, contract opportunities, environmental benefits and the future of high-speed rail, specifically for Northern California.

It was a great turnout for this annual SacPEMA/SAME/SMPS event. 150 registered attendees and 15 corporate sponsors came together at Mulvaney’s Next Door the B&L to raise over $5000 for St. John’s Shelter Program for Women and Children.  To see if you caught our photographer’s eye, Please visit our Flickr Photo Gallery.

Annually, the California NPS Program allocates approximately $4.0 million of CWA Section 319(h) (CWA §319(h)) funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.EPA) to support implementation and planning projects that address water quality problems in surface and ground water resulting from NPS pollution. The goal of these projects is to ultimately lead to restoring the impacted beneficial uses in these water bodies. Projects are required to be located in a watershed that has an adopted/nearly adopted Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for the constituent of concern and has been identified in the NPS Program Preferences. Projects focused on working toward achieving the goals of the TMDL to restore beneficial uses will be the most competitive in the selection process.
Proposals are requested through a statewide solicitation process. The solicitation process is conducted in two phases – the Concept Proposal (CP) Phase and the Full Proposal (FP) Phase. The application process is facilitated through the Financial Assistance Application Submittal Tool (FAAST) operated by the State Water Resources Control Board’s (State Water Board’s) Division of Financial Assistance. The two phase process including development and approval of the final list of recommended funding projects by the State Water Board Executive Director takes approximately nine months. Typically, the solicitation process for a CWA §319(h) Grant runs from August (of the previous year) through April of the following year when the Grant funding is actually received from the U.S.EPA. For more information, see the current CWA §319(h) Grant Solicitation.

Stephen Fagundes (P.E.) is a Senior Water Resource Control Engineer at the California State Water Board, Division of Water Quality. He has been Chief of the Nonpoint Source (NPS) Implementation Unit for 13 years directing the State Water Board and the nine Regional Water Quality Control Board programs. The CA NPS Program addresses water quality problems through a watershed based approach including policy, planning, implementation, and outreach and education. In addition, he manages the CWA 319(h) NPS Grant Program. His educational background is in civil and environment engineering from the University of California at Davis where he earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees with an emphasis in environmental engineering.

“Clean Water Act (CWA) 319(h) Nonpoint Source (NPS) Grant Program”

Annually, the California NPS Program allocates approximately $4.0 million of CWA Section 319(h) (CWA §319(h)) funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.EPA) to support implementation and planning projects that address water quality problems in surface and ground water resulting from NPS pollution. The goal of these projects is to ultimately lead to restoring the impacted beneficial uses in these water bodies. Projects are required to be located in a watershed that has an adopted/nearly adopted Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for the constituent of concern and has been identified in the NPS Program Preferences. Projects focused on working toward achieving the goals of the TMDL to restore beneficial uses will be the most competitive in the selection process.
Proposals are requested through a statewide solicitation process. The solicitation process is conducted in two phases – the Concept Proposal (CP) Phase and the Full Proposal (FP) Phase. The application process is facilitated through the Financial Assistance Application Submittal Tool (FAAST) operated by the State Water Resources Control Board’s (State Water Board’s) Division of Financial Assistance. The two phase process including development and approval of the final list of recommended funding projects by the State Water Board Executive Director takes approximately nine months. Typically, the solicitation process for a CWA §319(h) Grant runs from August (of the previous year) through April of the following year when the Grant funding is actually received from the U.S.EPA. For more information, see the current CWA §319(h) Grant Solicitation.

Stephen Fagundes (P.E.) is a Senior Water Resource Control Engineer at the California State Water Board, Division of Water Quality. He has been Chief of the Nonpoint Source (NPS) Implementation Unit for 13 years directing the State Water Board and the nine Regional Water Quality Control Board programs. The CA NPS Program addresses water quality problems through a watershed based approach including policy, planning, implementation, and outreach and education. In addition, he manages the CWA 319(h) NPS Grant Program. His educational background is in civil and environment engineering from the University of California at Davis where he earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees with an emphasis in environmental engineering.

Environmental practitioners face numerous challenges when evaluating exposure to subsurface
vapors that migrate into buildings. To assist in these evaluations, DTSC guidance has been updated to reflect recent developments in the field of vapor intrusion.  This presentation will review the difficulties associated with obtaining representative data for exposure assessments. Additionally, new technologies for indoor air sampling will be discussed, along with issues associated with confirmation sampling upon completion of site remediation.

Dan Gallagher is a Senior Engineering Geologist with the Department of Toxic Substances Control, where he provides geological support on contaminated sites and monitoring activities at hazardous waste landfills. He joined DTSC in 1999 after spending five years with Chevron Products Company as an environmental project manager and four years with Chevron Research and Technology Company as a hydrogeologist.  He has an MS in geology from the University of Utah and a BS in geology from
the University of Southern California, and he is a California Certified Hydrogeologist.

“Recent Changes in California’s Vapor Intrusion Guidance”

Environmental practitioners face numerous challenges when evaluating exposure to subsurface
vapors that migrate into buildings. To assist in these evaluations, DTSC guidance has been updated to reflect recent developments in the field of vapor intrusion.  This presentation will review the difficulties associated with obtaining representative data for exposure assessments. Additionally, new technologies for indoor air sampling will be discussed, along with issues associated with confirmation sampling upon completion of site remediation.

Dan Gallagher is a Senior Engineering Geologist with the Department of Toxic Substances Control, where he provides geological support on contaminated sites and monitoring activities at hazardous waste landfills. He joined DTSC in 1999 after spending five years with Chevron Products Company as an environmental project manager and four years with Chevron Research and Technology Company as a hydrogeologist.  He has an MS in geology from the University of Utah and a BS in geology from
the University of Southern California, and he is a California Certified Hydrogeologist.