The Honorable Kim Dunn-ing Presiding Judge of the*

There is inadequate coordination between local land-use planning agencies and local water supply agencies, resulting in a process that fails to fully engage the issues. (a) Water agencies have tended to avoid interfering with or participating in growth- management decisions. (b) Cities and the County have tended to not critically evaluate the limitations of the water agencies' supply projections. Response: The City of Stanton does agree with the general statement that coordination between local land-use planning agencies and local water supply agencies could be improved upon, however, the City disagrees with the assumptions made in subsections A and B. (a) Disagree. Water agencies aren't land planning agencies. Historically and today, water agencies have had the responsibility of providing water for the approved land use. Planning being performed at the local, regional and state levels is aimed at using our existing water supplies more efficiently and developing new supplies and systems to accommodate the current and future needs of our residents and businesses and to improve supply reliability where necessary. Further, California's population is projected to continue to grow. Unless California can prevent natural increases in population and new residents from moving into the state, population growth is an inevitability. (b) Disagree. The City of Stanton does not agree with the assumption that it does not critically evaluate the limitations of the water agencies projections. The City has recently conducted an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) as part of the Comprehensive General Plan Update. As part of this EIR, the City evaluated the water supply availability for the City's build out projections. It was determined that the existing water supply for the City is sufficient to meet projected water demands associated with the General Plan build out, assuming source and supply capacities remain consistent with current conditions. There have also been several projects proposed/developed in the City which have occurred through planned developments or specific plans. These projects have required EIR's or Mitigated Negative Declarations, both of which have evaluated the water demand of the project, and available water supply in the region. during the development review process for each entitlement application, the city critically evaluates each project, and if it is determined that the project may have a negative impact on the water system, the City transmits the plan to the City's water purveyor for review and comment. Finally, the City of Stanton is a built-out city with only 1.4% of the land vacant. This means that even with development of the city to its fullest capacity, the increase in water demand would not have a significant impact on the entire water system. The 2005 UWMPs prepared for the MWDOC and the GSWC services areas indicate there are sufficient water supplies and water shortage contingency plans to protect existing and future regional needs. The 2005 UWMP also indicates that the service area which the City of Stanton resides is expected to have sufficient existing and planned supplies to meet 100 percent of the projected demand through 2030.

California's looming water supply crisis receives very little, if any, expressed concern from the public in comparison to the numerous other environmental issues presented during development project reviews. (a) Orange County's citizens and interest groups do not appear to grasp the seriousness of the water supply situation or the complexity and urgency of the necessary solutions. (b) Several recent, substantial water supply awareness efforts are underway (e.g. the O.C. Water Summit) that show promise but appear targeted to audiences that are already informed. Response: (a) Somewhat disagree. Although the water crisis does not receive as much media/citizens attention as other environmental crises, the City has had numerous constituents indicate their growing concerns about water availability and requesting information on how they could help reduce water consumption. From this growing concern, water use has decreased as people attempt to conserve more. In addition, as concern increased, the City has had several active citizens requesting the City to allow alternatives to natural landscaping in order to reduce water usage for their property. This request prompted the city to adopt an ordinance allowing artificial turf to be utilized on a portion of the required landscaping. (b) Somewhat agree. The water crisis in Southern California has received minimal concern compared to other environmental crises; however, this is not for a lack of effort by the City and the water purveyors. The City has made available several pamphlets regarding water conservation efforts, which were provided by Golden State Water, and are available to all persons. In addition, the City has utilized "Bewaterwise.com" and the "Nifty-Fifty" list of drought tolerant plants to evaluate landscape plans to ensure the plants would be drought tolerant in nature. The City also advocated water conservation through its Housing Rebate and Rehabilitation programs. Through these programs, dependent on what the applicant is requesting, it is required that water conserving toilets, dishwashers, irrigation, and landscaping be installed. The City also utilizes mass advertising techniques to reach a wider base, this includes utilizing the city cable channel (Channel 3) and the reader board located in front of City Hall. In addition to the City's efforts, the water purveyors within the County have attempted to create awareness of the water crisis. In recent years, the water industry has collectively advertised itself as the "Family of Southern California Water Agencies" and promoted "Bewaterwise.com" to get the word out on the water supply situation and water conservation tips and opportunities. Retail agencies utilize bill stuffers, newsletters and websites to inform the public. In Orange County, there are monthly meetings of a Public Affairs Workgroup made up of the staff from all of the retail agencies. They work to develop and implement consistent message points for the public. MET also has a Public Information Officers workgroup that coordinates outreach and communication among the MET member agencies. Due to the expense and the limited budgets of the retail agencies, the brunt of the TV and radio media outreach has been developed via MET through an advertising campaign for the Los Angeles & San Diego markets. Although there are always opportunities to improve methods of communication, studies and polling conducted by MWDOC indicate that a large percentage of people understand there is a water crisis (76% in a recent survey by MWDOC). Furthermore, 78% indicated they would change their water using habits to conserve to prevent water rationing and 67% believe that their water agency does an effective job of keeping them informed about water supply.

LAFCO is the agency charged with facilitating constructive changes in governmental structure to promote efficient delivery of services. To this end, LAFCO is conducting a governance study of MWDOC which is the designated representative for nearly all the Orange County retail water agencies, acting on behalf with their surface water supplier Metropolitan. (a) There are a number of points of governance disagreement between MWDOC and several of its member agencies. This is creating an impediment to the on-going effectiveness of these agencies in critical areas of Orange County's water supply management. (b) The current disagreement is a distraction from the greater good of the agencies working toward Orange County's water future. (c) The stakeholders in LAFCO's study failed to meet their March 11, 2009 deadline for LAFCO's public hearing on this matter. Continued delays are unacceptable. Response: (a-c) As the City of Stanton has not been a part of these discussions as it is not a water purveyor, the City does not disagree with this finding. However, the City does encourage both MWDOC and its member agencies to work cooperatively to come to a common goal and solution.

Orange County is uniquely fortunate to have a vast, high-quality, well-managed groundwater basin serving its north geographical area. However, in its south reaches, it has an equally large high-growth area with virtually no available groundwater resources. (a) The difference in groundwater availability creates a "haves versus have-nots" situation that is conducive to inherent conflicts. (b) The difference in groundwater availability provides opportunities for responsible participants to develop and construct long-term solutions which will benefit the entire County. Response: (a) Agree. The City of Stanton agrees with this statement, however, in this case, the inherent conflict is brought about due to natural occurrences. South Orange County does not have a viable groundwater basin to distribute potable water to the population, while North Orange County has an expansive groundwater basin. Although South Orange County does not have its own groundwater supply, it was able to develop successfully due to the water agencies ability to obtain imported water supplies and develop extensive recycled water programs. (b) Partially disagree. Use of storage in the OCWD basin is allowed by agreement with OCWD. OCWD has entered into storage arrangements that allow MET to store up to 66,000 Acre Feet of imported water and to recall as much as 20,000 Acre Feet out of this same storage in any one year. This additional yield out of storage benefits everyone in Southern California. In addition, a February 2006 Emergency Services Program Agreement was -developed-with OCWD that allows emergency water supplies from the basin to be exchanged with south Orange County. This program is currently being used to allow conveyance of water to south Orange County during emergency situations. Allowing access to the lower cost groundwater outside of the basin or allowing access to more storage by south Orange County would increase the cost to the basin agencies and put them at risk. Response to Recommendations: