REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
SUBMITTED TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
SUBMITTED BY: Oliver Chi, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Travis K. Hopkins, PE, Director of Public Works
Subject:
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Approve and authorize execution of an Agreement for sharing consultant costs for the 2019 America’s Water Infrastructure Act’s Compliance Risk and Resiliency Assessments and Emergency Response Plans (Phases II and III) with the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC)
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Statement of Issue:
Submitted for City Council approval is an agreement to share consultant costs for the 2019 America’s Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) Compliance Risk and Resiliency Assessments (RRA) and Emergency Response Plans (ERP). Completion of the RRA and the ERP is a Federal mandate.
Financial Impact:
Expenditure appropriations totaling $115,000 are budgeted in Water Fund account 50685801.69365 for this project.
Recommended Action:
recommendation
Approve and authorize the City Manager to execute the “Agreement for Sharing Consultant Costs for 2019 AWIA Compliance Risk and Resiliency Assessments and Emergency Response Plans for Participating Agencies (Phases II and III)” with the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC).
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Alternative Action(s):
Instruct staff to hire a consultant independent of MWDOC.
Analysis:
Section 2013 of AWIA requires community water systems that serve more than 3,300 people to complete a risk and resiliency assessment (RRA) and develop an emergency response plan (ERP). The RRA is due March 31, 2020, and the ERP is due September 30, 2020.
Risk and Resiliency Assessment
Per AWIA, the RRA shall include:
1. The risk to the system from malevolent acts and natural hazards;
2. The resilience of the pipes and constructed conveyances, physical barriers, source water, water collection and intake, pretreatment, treatment, storage and distribution facilities, electronic, computer, or other automated systems (including the security of such systems) which are utilized by the system;
3. The monitoring practices of the system;
4. The financial infrastructure of the system;
5. The use, storage or handling of various chemicals by the system; and
6. The operation and maintenance of the system.
Essentially, this expands on the Vulnerability Assessment that all water systems were required to perform in 2002. However, this Assessment includes an assessment of potential natural hazards, cyber threats, and the financial infrastructure.
Emergency Response Plan
No later than six months after certifying completion of its risk and resilience assessment, each system must prepare or revise, where necessary, an emergency response plan that incorporates the findings of the assessment. The plan shall include:
1. Strategies and resources to improve the resilience of the system, including the physical security and cybersecurity of the system;
2. Plans and procedures that can be implemented, and identification of equipment that can be utilized, in the event of a malevolent act or natural hazard that threatens the ability of the community water system to deliver safe drinking water;
3. Actions, procedures and equipment which can obviate or significantly lessen the impact of a malevolent act or natural hazard on the public health and the safety and supply of drinking water provided to communities and individuals, including the development of alternative source water options, relocation of water intakes and construction of flood protection barriers; and
4. Strategies that can be used to aid in the detection of malevolent acts or natural hazards that threaten the security or resilience of the system.
As many of these requirements are similar, if not identical for many of the water agencies in Orange County, MWDOC has retained a consultant, Herndon Solutions Group (HSG) to prepare the RRA and ERP for member agencies who choose to participate. HSG was selected via a Request for Proposal process by MWDOC with member agencies contributing to both the development of the RFP as well as the selection process. A majority of MWDOC member agencies have agreed to participate with the MWDOC effort. The City’s $115,000 costs are based on the MWDOC consultant contract divided by the number of agencies participating in the project. Per MWDOC, 23 out of 25 agencies have indicated their intention to participate and are in the process of receiving approval from their respective governing bodies.
Partnering with MWDOC will allow the City to benefit from the economy of scale under such common requirements rather than bearing these costs entirely by hiring our own consultant. Additionally, with the tight deadline imposed by the EPA on larger water systems to complete the RRA, it would be difficult to retain our own consultant and meet this deadline. Failure to submit either assessment by the deadline could result in a penalty of up to $25,000 per day. At this time, the EPA has still not finalized all details of the requirements in the RRA, but they have indicated that the March 31, 2020 deadline will not be extended.
It should be noted that the RRA and ERP will contain sensitive information about the City’s Water Infrastructure and therefore, the final assessment will neither be considered in an open City Council session nor will it be submitted to the State Water Resources Board or any other public agency where the document would be subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
Environmental Status:
Not Applicable
Strategic Plan Goal:
Enhance and maintain infrastructure
Attachment(s):
1. “Agreement for Sharing Consultant Costs for 2019 AWIA Compliance Risk and Resiliency Assessments and Emergency Response Plans for Participating Agencies (Phases II and III)” with the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC)