AGENDA NEWPORT BAY WATERSHED EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE March 15, 2017 1:30 3:30 p.m. Irvine Ranch Water District 15600 Sand Canyon Avenue Irvine, CA 92618 Peer Swan, Chair Irvine Ranch Water District Andrew Do, Vice Chair County of Orange Dr. Allan Bernstein City of Tustin Marshall Duffield City of Newport Beach Allan Mansoor City of Costa Mesa Dean Kirk The Irvine Company Melissa Fox City of Irvine William von Blasingame Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board Fred Mousavipour City of Santa Ana Andrew Hamilton City of Lake Forest Carla Navarro California Department of Fish and Wildlife Meeting information available at http://ocwatersheds.com/programs/ourws/wmaareas/wmacentraloc/nbexeccomm The Newport Bay Watershed Executive Committee welcomes you to this meeting and encourages your participation. This agenda contains a brief general description of each item to be considered. No action shall be taken on any items not appearing in the following agenda except as otherwise provided by law. Any member of the public may ask the Executive Committee to be heard on the following items, as those items are called. To speak on an agenda item, please provide a speaker request card to the Committee Staff. To speak on a matter not appearing in the agenda, please provide a speaker request card to the Committee Staff indicating Public Comments.
Welcome and Pledge of Allegiance ITEM # 1. ITEM # 2. ITEM # 3. ITEM # 4. ITEM # 5. ITEM # 6. ITEM # 7. ITEM # 8. ACTION MINUTES OF THE DECEMBER 7, 2016 MEETING Recommended Action: Approve the action minutes of the December 7, 2016 meeting ELECTION OF OFFICERS Recommended Action: Elect Chair and Vice-Chair for 2017-18 2017 UPDATE TO THE CENTRAL ORANGE COUNTY WATERSHED MANAGEMENT AREA EXECUTIVE ACTION PLAN Recommended Action: Review, Comment and Provide Direction RESEARCH UPDATE: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE STUDY - DEVELOPMENT OF MODELING TOOLS TO MANAGE SEDIMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE AND RESILIENT COASTAL LOWLAND HABITAT IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Recommended Action: Receive and File EXECUTIVE OFFICER REPORT EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS PUBLIC COMMENTS ADJOURNMENT Next meeting is June 21, 2017 Meeting information, including presentations, is available upon request. To obtain copies, contact Elaine Miller at (714) 955-0603 or elaine.miller@ocpw.ocgov.com
AGENDA STAFF REPORTS NEWPORT BAY WATERSHED EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MARCH 15, 2017 DISCUSSION CALENDAR, ITEMS # 1-4 ITEM # 1. ACTION MINUTES OF THE DECEMBER 7, 2016 MEETING ACTION MINUTES NEWPORT BAY WATERSHED EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Date and Location: December 7, 2016; 1:40-3:14 p.m. Irvine Ranch Water District 15600 Sand Canyon Avenue Irvine, CA 92618 **Audio recording for the December 7 th meeting will be available here. Recording times noted in the minutes correspond to that item on the recording** Welcome and Pledge of Allegiance (Recording: 00:03:52) Roll Call/ Self-Introductions (Recording: 00:04:30) Peer Swan, Chair, Irvine Ranch Water District Dean Kirk, The Irvine Company Duffy Duffield, City of Newport Beach Andrew Hamilton, City of Lake Forest Peer Swan, Irvine Ranch Water District Kurt Berchtold, Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, Alternate Carla Navarro, CA Department of Fish and Wildlife Beth Krom, City of Irvine Sandra Genis, City of Costa Mesa Amanda Carr, Executive Officer, County of Orange Michelle Steel, Supervisor, County of Orange ITEM # 1 Approval of Minutes (Recording: 00:06:18) The minutes of the October 19, 2016 meeting were presented to the Executive Committee. Recommended Action: Approve the minutes of the October 19, 2016 meeting Motion: First/Second: Abstained: Outcome: Approve minutes Beth Krom/Andrew Hamilton Sandra Genis Unanimous, except for one abstention ITEM # 2 Fecal Coliform TMDL (Recording: 00:06:47) Newport Bay Watershed Executive Committee Minutes Page 3 of 10 December 7, 2016
Amanda Carr gave a concise summary of interactions between Orange County Coastkeeper (OCCK) and the County of Orange over the past year, then she introduced Garry Brown to the Executive Committee. 2A) Coastkeeper s Perspective on the Bacteria TMDL for Newport Harbor Garry Brown, founder and President, Orange County Coastkeeper (Recording: 00:09:12) Mr. Brown offered a brief background of OCCK, illustrating their advocacy and activities as an organization. He gave information as to why OCCK served the County of Orange (County) with a Notice of Violation and Intent to Sue under the Clean Water Act on April 26, 2016. He provided an overview of what OCCK expects from the County regarding provisions of the settlement agreement, including a stakeholder process with an end date of two years to develop achievable standards and a clear path to compliance. Committee member s discussion and questions started at 00:27:54 to 00:32:30. 2B) OC Public Works Presentation on Fecal Coliform Stakeholder Process Amanda Carr, County of Orange (Recording: 00:32:35) Ms. Carr expressed her appreciation to Mr. Brown for addressing the Executive Committee (EC) with OCCK s viewpoint and for giving a background behind the recent legal activites. On October 26, 2016, the Orange County Board of Supervisors approved a settlement agreement with OCCK to address the Notice of Violation and Intent to Sue. Ms. Carr s presentation outlined the key terms of the settlement and discussed The Newport Bay Fecal Coliform TMDL Stakeholder Group Mission Statement and Principles of Participation attachment in the Agenda Staff Report given to the EC, elucidating its purpose and the objectives of the stakeholder process. Committee member s discussion and questions started at 00:40:30 to 00:59:29. The Chair opened the floor for comments and questions; there were none from the audience. Recommended Action: None, information items only, receive and file Motion: Objections: Outcome: Receive and file None Received and filed ITEM # 3 Sediment TMDL Basin Capacity Report and Planned Sediment Removal Jamie Habben, County of Orange (Recording: 00:59:50) Ms. Habben gave a summary of the basin capacity annual report that was submitted to the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board on November 15, 2016, documenting the available capacity of Basins 1, 2 and 3 and the planned sediment removal in San Diego Creek. Her presentation included a drone video giving an overview of San Diego Creek at Michelson, showing the location of the planned vegetation and sediment removal by OC Operations & Maintenance. Committee member s questions and comments started at 01:01:30 in the recording and ended at 01:24:54. The Chair opened the floor for comments and questions; there were none from the audience. Recommended Action: Receive and file Motion: Objections: Outcome: Receive and file None Received and filed Newport Bay Watershed Executive Committee Minutes Page 4 of 10 December 7, 2016
ITEM # 4 2017 Meeting Schedule (Recording: 01:25:00) The proposed meeting dates for 2017: March 15, June 21, September 20 and December 20. Ms. Carr recommended the committee consider moving the December 20 meeting to December 13; the Committee concurred. Recommended Action: Approve the proposed 2017 meeting dates of March 15, June 21, September 20 and December 13. Motion: First/Second: Abstained: Outcome: Adopt 2017 meeting schedule Beth Krom/ /Andrew Hamilton None Adopted meeting schedule as revised ITEM # 5 Executive Officer Report (Recording: 01:26:41) Amanda Carr, County of Orange Executive Action Plan (EAP) - at the October 19 meeting, the Executive Committee (EC) gave directions to the Management Committee (MC) to come up with recommendations to revise the 2010 EAP. The MC met on November 7, 2016, to begin the process and will meet in January and February to prepare a refined version of the EAP to present to the EC for consideration at the March 15 meeting. Per the EC request, the EC will be notified via email of the future MC meetings to be aware of actions of the MC. Action Minutes the MC discussed at the November 7, 2016 meeting how the minutes will be maintained and dispersed moving forward. The action minutes will consist of one or two sentences of the topics, the actions and the votes that are taken, as well as the requests made by the EC to any staff. We will provide a link to the recording and note the time on the action minutes of where to find the topics. Ms. Krom s service on the Executive Committee was recognized. ITEM # 6 Executive Committee Members Comments (Recording: 01:31:55) The Chair opened the floor for Executive Committee (EC) comments. Ms. Sandra Genis wished Ms. Beth Krom well on pursuits as she is stepping down from the EC Ms. Krom expressed her pleasure in serving on the EC as well as on other boards during her tenure Mr. Berchtold offered his best wishes and gave an update on board member appointments-jay Famiglietti resigned; two new members were appointed, Dan Selmi (City of Newport Beach) and Lana Peterson (City of Orange) The Chair recognized Ms. Krom s past service Ms. Carr presented a letter of appreciation and acknowledgement to Ms. Krom on behalf of the EC. There were no further comments. ITEM # 7 Public Comments (Recording: 01:36:05) None ITEM # 8 Adjournments (Recording: 01:36:24) Meeting adjourned at approximately 3:14 p.m. The next regular meeting is scheduled for March 15, 2017. Newport Bay Watershed Executive Committee Minutes Page 5 of 10 December 7, 2016
Non-Committee Attendees: Garry Brown Craig Foster Ray Heimstra Victor Kao Thomas Lo Peter Meier Bart Mejia Terri Reeder Doug Shibberu Devin Slaven Mark Tettemer Alex Waite David Webb Thomas Wheeler Orange County Coastkeeper City of Santa Ana Orange County Coastkeeper City of Irvine City of Irvine City of Lake Forest City of Costa Mesa Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board City of Lake Forest Irvine Ranch Water District City of Tustin City of Newport Beach City of Lake Forest Committee Staff: Amanda Carr, Chris Crompton, Jamie Habben, Jian Peng and Elaine Miller Recommended Action: Approve the minutes of the December 7, 2016 meeting as follows. Newport Bay Watershed Executive Committee Minutes Page 6 of 10 December 7, 2016
ITEM # 2. ELECTION OF OFFICERS Recommended Action: Elect Chair and Vice-Chair for 2017-18 Newport Bay Watershed Executive Committee Page 7 of 10 Staff Report, March 15, 2017
ITEM # 3. 2017 UPDATE TO THE CENTRAL ORANGE COUNTY WATERSHED MANAGEMENT AREA EXECUTIVE ACTION PLAN The Central Orange County Watershed Management Area Executive Action Plan (Action Plan) was first developed and approved by the Executive Committee in July 2010. At the Executive Committee meetings of August 19, 2015 and June 15, 2016, County staff was directed to update the Action Plan to reflect changes since 2010. At the December 7, 2016 Executive Committee meeting, the first draft of the updated Action Plan was presented along with a number of decision points for consideration. The Executive Committee, as an action, tasked the Newport Bay Watershed Management Committee with reviewing the Action Plan and the decision points and reporting back on its recommendations. The Management Committee has met twice to review the Action Plan and an update will be provided on changes being made to the draft Plan. The Executive Committee is not being asked to approve the Action Plan at this meeting but to provide any comments and direction. The Action Plan will be brought back at a subsequent meeting for approval. Recommended Action: Review, Comment and Provide Direction Newport Bay Watershed Executive Committee Page 8 of 10 Staff Report, March 15, 2017
ITEM # 4. RESEARCH UPDATE: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE STUDY - DEVELOPMENT OF MODELING TOOLS TO MANAGE SEDIMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE AND RESILIENT COASTAL LOWLAND HABITAT IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Presenter: Eric Stein, PhD, Principal Scientist, Biology Department, Southern California Coastal Water Research Project The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration s (NOAA) National Centers for Coastal Science has awarded researchers from UC Irvine (UCI) and the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP) researchers $1.15 million for their efforts to understand and mitigate sea level rise and storm surge impacts on changing coastal landscapes. With the four-year award, researchers will develop modeling tools to analyze how sediment management practices affect the stability of coastal communities and wetlands facing the tests of climate change. Sediment is the most valuable resource we have for dealing with the risks of rising seas and storm events on coastal development, wetland habitat and the iconic beaches of Southern California. Humans have significantly altered the rates of erosion throughout the California landscape primarily through land use while also reducing sediment delivery to the sea by trapping behind dams and debris basins. One important challenge will be whether coastal wetlands and other natural resources will be sustainable in the near future when sea-level rise is expected to accelerate. Fine sediment supplies are expected to be a primary driver of wetland sustainability, and systems without adequate supplies of fines are expected to submerge. In contrast, other wetland systems have been overwhelmed by high rates of sedimentation resulting from poor land use and exceptional landscape erosion within their watersheds. The UCI and SCCWRP will develop new innovative modeling approaches to analyze flood risk, sediment instability and erosion risk, and habitat distributions under various climate change scenarios projected through the next 80 years. They ll examine and compare alternatives in sediment management practices to see what might work best to protect and adapt coastal lowlands. The region is in critical need of new sediment management practices that address the present-day imbalances between excesses and deficits of sediment. These imbalances represent an enormous opportunity. Additionally, the timing is good to critically examine the measures that are physically and ecologically possible irrespective of what is allowable under current policies, because with the advancement of science comes the opportunity for new policies. The central question to be addressed by this project is whether lowland habitats can be sustained into the future with a new paradigm of sediment management made possible by improved understanding of the tradeoffs associated with alternative sediment management approaches. Answering this question will require the co-development of modeling tools and knowledge with stakeholders and natural resource managers, including a reexamination of sediment management policy. Results will provide opportunities to explore changes to how we manage sediment in the short and long term to help ensure that coastal wetlands persist into the future. Recommended Action: Receive and File Newport Bay Watershed Executive Committee Page 9 of 10 Staff Report, March 15, 2017
ITEM # 5. EXECUTIVE OFFICER REPORT ITEM # 6. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS ITEM # 7. PUBLIC COMMENTS ITEM # 8. ADJOURNMENT Next Meeting date: June 21, 2017 Newport Bay Watershed Executive Committee Page 10 of 10 Staff Report, March 15, 2017