I. RECOMMENDATION:
Authorize the City to enter into a license agreement with the Pleasant Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency (the Agency), a California groundwater sustainability agency, to allow access to the well near the intersection of California St and Cambridge Ave. The agency desires access to the well that formerly was used to supply the historic “third-faucet” in homes and businesses to gather data on both water quality and subbasin water levels.
II. BACKGROUND:
The City, in its history, had a third faucet to facilitate the delivery of water to homes for non-potable uses such as car washing, yard and garden irrigation and similar uses, in an effort to reduce demand on the drinking water capacity. The use of this third faucet system was discontinued when the liability and cost exceeded the usefulness of a second, non-potable, water system. The well in question in the alley behind the intersection of Cambridge Ave. and California St. is a remnant of this system and remains as a standalone, unused, relic of this system.
III. DISCUSSION:
City Staff were contacted by the Agency to request access to, and the right to install and maintain data collection equipment necessary for the data gathering operation. The Agency will solely bear the responsibility and expense to install, maintain and ultimately remove all equipment at the conclusion of the initial ten-year term, if the agreement is not renewed, or upon termination of the program, if the agreement is terminated early.
Provisions to protect The City exist in the agreement such that agreement may be terminated for cause, and The Agency agrees to return to The City to terminate this agreement should the data no longer be needed, at which point all equipment will be removed, and the well returned to its original state. The City shall not have any obligation to reimburse or in any other way remedy any damage to the equipment should it become damaged or need repair.
The City has a long-standing relationship with The Agency and has a mutually beneficial need to monitor the quality and water levels in the basin. The interagency cooperation is a benefit to The City and staff recommends approval.
IV. ALTERNATIVES:
- Authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement with The Agency. (recommended)
- Do not authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement. (not recommended)
V. FISCAL IMPACT:
There will not be any fiscal impact to either alternative. |