Department of Water and Wastewater Resources
153 Lake Merced Boulevard
Daly City, CA 94015
December 10, 1997
Mr. John Plummer
Friends of Lake Merced
100 Santa Barbara Avenue
Daly City, CA 94014
Dear John:
Thank you for your letter and submittal of names in organizations that should be included as part of the mailing list developed for the AB 3030 Westside Basin Groundwater Management Plan. I believe you'll be happy to know everyone was already included on the list and they were sent the mailing announcing the November 20th Public Meeting.
Attached please find a listing of organizations from our current list. If there are other organizations that should be included I would like to take advantage of your generous offer. More importantly, I am pleased to know your willingness to work with us in bringing this program into being, and believe your participation will help produce a better plan.
While I appreciate your sentiments about expanding the existing partnership to include environmental interests and community groups, such a structure is already incorporated into the existing public participation format. As I mentioned during my presentation at the November 20th Public Meeting, I was attempting not to distinguish between partners, stakeholders and interest parties within the process of public participation, but rather put forth the concept of the "collective us" when addressing the development of an AB 3030 plan. I am not sure that this format requires the elevation of any interest or group promoting a perspective in the role of a partner since all participants have an equal voice in providing input into the plan's development. As you might appreciate, it was not envisioned there would be a need to incorporate funding for public participation, save that contractually obligated to the scope of work, when establishing a budget for the AB 3030 plan development.
Within the framework of an AB 3030 plan, the Water Code identifies twelve components that may be considered. These are: the control of saline water intrusion; identification and management of wellhead protection areas and recharge areas; regulation of the migration of contaminated groundwater; the administration of a well abandonment and well destruction program; mitigation of conditions of overdraft; replenishment of groundwater extracted by water producers; monitoring of groundwater levels and storage; facilitating conjunctive use operations; identification of well construction policies; the construction and operation by the local agency of groundwater contamination cleanup, recharge, storage, conservation, water recycling and extraction projects; the development of relationships with state and federal regulatory agencies; and the review of land use plans and coordination with land use planning agencies to assess activities which create a reasonable risk of groundwater contamination. These were used in developing common areas of concern to the agencies that use, or exercise jurisdiction within the basin. I would submit that inter-related within all the identified common areas of concern are environmental issues. Take for example groundwater storage and quality monitoring. There's general consensus for the need for a regional, systematic protocol for measuring groundwater quality, movement and storage within the aquifer. This protocol should provide information regarding whether the basin is in an overdraft condition, is groundwater quality deteriorating, and the relationship between deep well pumping and water levels in Lake Merced. Each of these aspects contain environmental consideration which are not lost on either the participating agencies or consultant staff. Accordingly, environmental participation, as is any participation, is warranted and genuinely welcomed.
I look forward to you continued participation.
Sincerely,
Patrick Sweetland
Director of Water and Wastewater Resources
L97-282
