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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07 - Water Quality GrantsCITY OF NEWPORT BEACH CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT Agenda Item No. 7 April 26, 2005 TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL FROM: City Manager's Office Dave Kiff, Assistant City Manager 949/644 -3002 or dkiff @city.newport- beach.ca.us SUBJECT: Resolution 2005 - Relating to Applying for Water Quality Grants from the State Water Resources Control Board ISSUE: How should the City seek funding for solutions to water quality challenges in Newport Bay and along the ocean shoreline? RECOMMENDATION: Adopt Resolution 2005- authorizing the City to apply for water quality grants under the Integrated Regional Water Management Program of the State Water Resources Control Board. DISCUSSION: This agenda item seeks the Council's permission to apply for State water quality grants for two aspects of Newport Beach's recreational waters: (1) methods to limit illegal discharges into Areas of Special Biological Significance (ASBSs); and (2) ideas to improve the management of habitat in Upper and Lower Newport Bay via a Harbor Area Management Plan (RAMP). ASBSs. California has 34 Areas of Special Biological Significance (ASBSs) off of our coastline. The State Water Resources Control Board ( SWRCB) designates all ASBSs. The California Ocean Plan (adopted in 1997 as a plan to manage California's offshore resources) directs that "wastes shall not be discharged to areas designated as being of special biological significance" and that any runoff into the ASBS is subject to discharge prohibitions established by the SWRCB and its nine regional boards (RWQCBs). Newport Beach has two of the state's 34 ASBSs: • Newport Beach Marine Life Refuge ASBS; and the • Irvine Coast Marine Life Refuge ASBS SWRCB Grants April 26, 2005 Page 2 In October 2004, the City received a letter from the State Water Resources Control Board that said: "Your (the City's) discharge of stormwater (dry and wet weather runofq into the Newport Beach Marine Life Refuge Area of Special Biological Significance is subject to the prohibition against waste discharges to an ASBS. " The letter further told us that exceptions are granted in some cases and that the City had to tell the SWRCB what it intended to do (ask for an exception versus stop discharges immediately) by January 1, 2005. We sent a letter asking for an exception. At the same time, we agreed to work with other affected agencies to address the problem, in part via funding available under Proposition 50 (the Water Security, Clean Drinking Water, Coastal and Beach Protection Act of 2002). Prior to submitting any grant for Proposition 50 funding, your City Council must adopt a resolution authorizing City staff to do so. Harbor Area Management Plan (HAMP). In recent years, the City has discussed the concept of developing a long -term plan for the management of the Harbor. We had hoped that this HAMP would assist us by establishing proper habitat goals for the Harbor and plans to achieve those goals, especially addressing the areas of: Eelgrass; Dredging; and Water Quality & Total Maximum Daily Loads. Many of the affected regulatory agencies (US Fish and Wildlife, National Marine Fisheries Service, California Department of Fish and Game, the US Army Corps of Engineers, and the California Coastal Commission) have expressed interest in assisting with the HAMP (and, importantly, following it once it is adopted), but the Federal funding sought for the HAMP has never been budgeted. We hope to attain a Prop 50 grant to fund a RAMP. Environmental Review: Applying for grant funding is not a project under CEQA. Submitted by: — 1)"/'N �' Dav iff Assis ant City Manager Attachments: Resolution 2005 - Maps of Two ASBSs in Newport Beach SWRCB Grants April 26, 2005 Page 3 RESOLUTION NO. 2005- A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH RELATING TO APPLYING FOR INTEGRATED REGIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS WHEREAS, voters of the State of California passed Proposition 50 (the Water Security, Clean Drinking Water, and Coastal and Beach Protection Act of 2002) in November 2002; and WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Newport Beach supported the passage of Proposition 50 in 2002; and WHEREAS, Proposition 50 includes funding for various programs and measures designed to improve both drinking water quality and recreational water quality; and WHEREAS, Proposition 50 includes an Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) component that includes funding for both Planning Grants and Implementation Grants; and WHEREAS, Newport Beach is home to two Areas of Special Biological Significance (ASBSs), Upper and Lower Newport Bay, and other bay or coastal waters that are eligible for funding under Proposition 50's IRWM grants programs to improve water quality; now, therefore be it RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Newport Beach, that application be made to the California Department of Water Resources and State Water Resources Control Board to obtain an Integrated Regional Water Management Planning Grant and /or an Integrated Regional Water Management Implementation Grant pursuant to the Water Security, Clean Drinking Water, Coastal and Beach Protection Act of 2002 (Water Code Section 79560 et seq.); and be it further RESOLVED that the City is authorized to enter into an agreement to receive an IRWM Planning and /or Implementation Grant for the Newport Beach Marine Life Refuge, the Irvine Coast Marine Life Refuge, or the Upper and Lower Newport Bay; and be it further RESOLVED that the City Manager of Newport Beach is hereby authorized and directed to prepare the necessary data, conduct investigations, file such application, and execute a grant agreement with California Department of Water Resources or State Water Resources Control Board. ADOPTED this 26" day of April, 2005. STEVE BROMBERG Mayor of Newport Beach ATTEST: LAVONNE HARKLESS City Clerk SWRCB Grants April 26, 2005 Page 4 v c w 0 N O d m 01 0y1 tti� � H � ec'oa0 N IL G`Q ©� f rp Q _ -Q (y o Z M 5 b Z c � o 00 � U) a �a0w c 0 ®4 W, L U b