Received JUN 2 0 2006 Mendocino County Grand Jury Post Office BOX 629*

There are some 20 agencies, including Special Districts, involved with water resources within the entire County. RESPONSE TO FINDING #1: The District has no information or belief sufficient to agree with or contradict this finding. FINDING # 2: The Ukiah Valley and Potter Valley (UV/PV) area alone has nine Mendocino County water agencies and/or special districts. They are: Calpella County Water District (CWD) City of Ukiah Mendocino County Water Agency (MCWA) Millview CWD Potter Valley Irrigation District (PVID) Mendocino County Inland Water and Redwood Valley CWD Power Commission (IWPC) Russian River Flood Control and Water Willow CWD Conservation District (RRFCWCD) In addition there are a number of private water companies; the largest is the Rogina Water Company. RESPONSE TO FINDING #2: All of the entities listed in the finding are water agencies or special districts with the exception of the IWPC which is a joint powers authority involving some of the agencies listed in that finding.

Current water agencies/special districts in the UV/PV area originated as a result of an unplanned and uncoordinated history of water events, local and distinctly separate community and neighborhood interests, needs and demands. RESPONSE TO FINDING #8: The District disagrees with this finding in its entirety. The District would propose the following alternative finding which it believes correctly states the issue: "Current water agencies/special districts in the UV/PV area originated as the result of a planned and coordinated series of events all of which were approved by the then existing processes required for the formation of such agencies and districts. The District's were formed to meet the needs of the communities they serve, each of which had differing desires and needs which were facilitated by the formation of those agencies and districts. FINDING # 9: Continual growth and development, together with increased population demands, have resulted in some overlap of interests, influence and competition between various UV/PV area water districts. RESPONSE TO FINDING # 9: The District disagrees with this finding in its entirety. The District would propose the following alternative finding which it believes correctly states the issue. "There is no overlap of interests, influence and competition between the various retailers of water to municipal, industrial users. Each serves a distinct and separate geographical territory and customer set. RRFCWCD does not retail water to municipal and industrial users. RRFCWCD but does retail water to agricultural users with access to the Russian River. This District does wheel water for the RRFCWCD to agricultural customers who do not have access to the Russian River. MCWA has no water or water rights within the subject area and consequently does not either wholesale or retail water. FINDING # 10: State law and codes that mandate the organization and structure of water agencies/special districts are involved and complex. RESPONSE TO FINDING # 10: The District disagrees with this finding in its entirety. The District would propose the following alternative finding which it believes correctly states the issue. "State law regarding the organization and structure of water agencies/special districts are clear and straight forward and no more complex or involved than any state law." FINDING # 11: Water districts are largely autonomous and governed by elected boards of directors serving a specific defined geographical area and population. RESPONSE TO FINDING # 11: The District disagrees with this finding in its entirety. The District would propose the following alternative finding which it believes correctly states the issue. "Water Districts are established for specific purposes and there actions are controlled by the applicable State laws and regulations designed to enhance the service provided by them to their constituency. They are no more or less autonomous than any other governmental agency. The board of directors of each such district is obligated by law to conform their conduct to the law and are answerable to their constituents periodically by the election process as is every other elected official in this state." FINDING # 12: Unification or consolidation of water districts, a complex process, requires that all parties or districts concerned must approve such action. RESPONSE TO FINDING # 12: The District disagrees, in part, with this finding. The District would propose the following alternative finding which it believes correctly states the issue. "Unification or consolidation of water districts may be accomplished by the process established by law. This law is not complex but rather it is well defined and straight forward. Those parties who must consent to unification are set forth in the state law. Without an act of the state legislature that law may not be modified and must be followed if unification or consolidation is pursued. Without the consent of the persons and entities prescribed by law unification and consolidation cannot be effected." FINDING # 13: Except for the City of Ukiah, accurate measurement and/or metering of water usage (industrial, agricultural, and residential) within most water districts varies widely. Currently, it is not possible to know exactly how much water is actually being used in the UV/PV area because of the multiple systems of accountability in use, as well as a degree of undocumented use. RESPONSE TO FINDING # 13: The District disagrees with this finding in its entirety. The District would propose the following alternative finding which it believes correctly states the issue. "This District is informed and believes that each District that retails water in the Ukiah Valley requires water meters to be installed by all customers. This District requires such meters. This District is also informed and believes that RRFCWCD has recently required agricultural users to install such meters. This District has no knowledge of the method of accounting used by PVID. Due to lack of repair or maintenance, an individual meter may be inaccurate, however the Districts are required by law to repair or replace any such meter as soon as such a defect is discovered. Each Districts that retails water keeps records of all water used by its customers and those records are as accurate as reasonably possible and are reported to the State of California. Those records are public records and anyone who wishes to calculate the water use of any or all of those Districts can easily do so." FINDING # 14: The amount of water used by many water purveyors is known and available from those required to file Statement of Use with State Water Resource Control Board (WRCB). Reporting has been haphazard, with no current consequence for non-compliance. RESPONSE TO FINDING # 14: The District disagrees with this finding in its entirety. The District would propose the following alternative finding which it believes correctly states the issue. "This District reports it's water use in a proper fashion and does so as accurately as possible. This District has no information or belief that would enable it to say that other Districts or Agencies in this area neglect this requirement or are haphazard in the reporting of its water use. The Grand Jury has not presented a single fact or representation which would lead any reasonable person to believe that this District neglected to report their water use or did so in a haphazard fashion. Such an allegation by an official government agency is inappropriate unless supported by facts." FINDING # 16: Users with riparian rights, those whose property is immediately contiguous to a water source, are required to file a Statement of Use with WRCB. The requirement to report is currently not enforced, and many do not file. Currently, there is no requirement to report usage locally. RESPONSE TO FINDING # 16: This District has no riparian rights. This District has no information or belief with respect to the actions of all riparian rights holders in this area. This District would assume that some riparian users do report their use. This District does not require, and has no authority to require, riparian users to report their use to this District. This District has no obligation to, or desire to, record the use of riparian uses or to maintain such a data base. FINDING # 17: Projections of population growth and development within the County and specifically the UV/PV area, indicate that continued availability of adequate water resources will be problematic. RESPONSE TO FINDING # 17: This District expects population growth at the rate of approximately 2% percent per year. This is based upon a report entitled "Master Service Element and Annexation Plan for the Willow County Water District". This District's planning has been based in part upon that assumption, however we expect the new draft of the Ukiah Valley Area Plan may have updated growth projections. If they are substantially different from the projections we are now using we will update our projections. FINDING # 18: Increased demand for potable water within UV/PV area would require developing new water sources, conservation of existing sources and the construction of new treatment, storage or supply facilities. Construction of these facilities could have significant environmental effects. RESPONSE TO FINDING # 18: This District agrees with the finding, except that this District believes if those facilities are properly planned and the construction properly and timely implemented the environmental impact from such construction, if any, will be properly mitigated. FINDING \# 19: The majority of UV/PV area water districts have adequate emergency and water management plans for responding to local emergencies, such as power outages, local and system-wide contamination, and/or distribution interruptions. RESPONSE TO FINDING # 19: This District has emergency and water management plans for responding to local emergencies such as power outages, local and system-wide contamination, and or distribution interruptions. This District believes that those plans are as good as we can make them. FINDING # 20: Except for the City of Ukiah, the plans of most UV/PV area water districts for responding to earthquakes and multi-year droughts are marginal to non-existent. RESPONSE TO FINDING # 20: The District disagrees with this finding in its entirety. The District would propose the following alternative finding which it believes correctly states the issue. The District has an approved Emergency Response Plan that complies with Section 1433(b) of the Safe Drinking Water Act and Public Law 107-188, Title IV - Drinking Water Security and Safety. These plans include earthquake preparedness, an area-wide pipeline inter-tie between all water agency's from Redwood Valley to Willow so that if a water source or storage facility of one of the agencies is put out of commission they can all share the others' source and storage. This District has a long standing commitment for mutual aid with all local water agencies and fire departments. The District participates in local emergency preparedness planning sessions in the Ukiah Valley Area. In addition to its own staff and equipment The District maintains a data base with office and emergency phone numbers of local contractors with experience and equipment to repair our infrastructure in the event the need should arise. This District has a plan to respond to multi year droughts. Those plans include area wide inter- tie to share resources in the event it is needed, a water conservation plan, a source of supply restriction devices to compel reluctant customers to comply with cutbacks deep water wells, and a supply contract with RRFCWCD, among other things. FINDING # 22: While there may be some arrangements between various water districts for water sharing, there is no official comprehensive plan or legal agreement among water districts for sharing water resources. RESPONSE TO FINDING # 22: This District disagrees with this finding in part. This District proposes the following finding which it believes is more accurate. This District has a written contract dealing with the subject of the use of the inter-tie between our system and the City of Ukiah and the use of water under certain circumstances. This District agrees that an area wide emergency water supply/storage/use agreement should be entered into by all purveyors on the inter-tie, even though (1) the local agencies have a long track record of mutual assistance in times of need and (2) in an emergency the SWRCB could direct a reluctant agency to participate in a water sharing plan." FINDING # 31: State, Federal, and local laws deal with environmental issues, water supply, water quality, and water rights, utilization and distribution. RESPONSE TO FINDING # 31: This is a true statement. FINDING # 33: Agencies outside Mendocino County influencing decisions regarding UV/PV area water resources include: Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA) Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) California Water Resource Control Board (WRCB) National Marine Fisheries Services, California Regional Water Quality Control Board (NOAA-Fisheries) (RWQCB) State and Federal Courts California Department of Health Services (DHS) RESPONSE TO FINDING # 33: This is a true statement. FINDING # 34: There is universal agreement that the most efficient, inexpensive and environmentally sensitive method to increase water availability is to reduce demand through conservation. RESPONSE TO FINDING # 34: This is a true statement.