TRINIDAD WATER SUPPLY

UPDATE: 22 October 2021 - Trinidad says no to water pipeline

At the 12 October meeting of the Trinidad City Council, the issue of whether or not Trinidad should connect to the proposed Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District mainline extension from Clam Beach to the Trinidad Rancheria, and thereafter the City of Trinidad, was considered for a third time. Steve Allen, engineer for GHD, reported that concerns regarding future Luffenholtz flows may be real, that hooking up to HBMWD would increase resilience of Trinidad’s water supply, and that the current environment to seek funding for water improvements was as good as it ever will be. Watershed scientists from Pacific Watershed Associates (PWA) gave an impressive presentation on the Luffenholtz Creek watershed, noting that five former marine terraces were present in the watershed. The deep layers of sand deposits in the watershed provide much more gradual release of stored water than in other coastal streams so that base flows remain relatively high in late summer months compared to other coastal streams of similar watershed size. They showed that during the past two drought years, Trinidad has never pumped Luffeholtz Creek below the state-established minimum flows. PWA suggested that addition of storage in the upper watershed, collecting water during winter months, could address the late summer low flow issues. Council members and members of the public thereafter commented on the reports by GHD and PWA, including discussions of potential growth impacts of a pipeline (CouncilmanWest) and divided opinions of Trinidad residents (Councilman Davies).

Members of the Council agreed to “Continue to pursue funding for water storage, for water treatment plant improvements, for fixing leaky pipes, and not pursue Humboldt Bay at this time. “ The formal motion (Ladwig/Davies) adopted was:

”to increase the supply of water to the Trinidad Water system by the City to obtain winter storage and develop reservoirs, increase infiltration to the gravel aquifer and/or appropriative rights to springs in the Luffenholtz Creek watershed, and consider a HBMWD connection after the Trinidad Rancheria pipeline is built within 3-5 years. “

 West: Yes.; Davies: Yes; Ladwig: Yes; Clompus:  No; Grover: No

UPDATE: 30 June 2021.

Water Advisory Committee (WAC)

The first meeting of the newly formed WAC was held on June 14. The committee is composed of three Trinidad City Council members (Clompus (Chair), Grover, Kelly), two Trinidad residents and former Council members (Dwight Miller, Bryce Kenny) and the City Manager (Eli Naffah). Members will be exploring the following issues: (a) near-term funding sources for leak repairs (Clompus); (b) new infrastructure required if new raw water (e.g., from Mill Creek) were introduced into the existing treatment system; (c) identification of alternative/additional water storage options; (d) exploration of Mill Creek water rights and possible augmentation of water supply from this source; and (e) discussions with Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District concerning possible future water purchase if a mainline extension is developed to the Trinidad Rancheria.

Water Shortage Response Team

This team is charged with implementation of the Water Shortage Contingency Plan. The size of the team has been a subject of discussion which will probably be continued at the July meeting of the Trinidad City Council.

UPDATE: 01 December 2020.

Draft Water Policy

The draft Water Policy was submitted to the City Council on 4/14/20 for review.  After a brief discussion, the Council voted to direct the Planning Commission to develop a Drought Contingency Plan (Now called the Water Shortage Contingency Plan – WSCP) so that a water policy would include water shortage contingency plans to assist in future decision making. The City Council has not had any further discussion on the draft Water Policy since then, but the Planning Commission has been working on the WCSP. 

Draft Water Shortage Contingency Plan

A draft WSCP was submitted to the City Council on 7/14/2020 for discussion and review. At their meeting of August 19, 2020, the Planning Commission made a recommendation to the City Council to declare a potential water shortage situation and to implement public outreach and water conservation measures. This was based on the fact that it is a below normal water year, and anecdotal observations that creek levels are getting low. In addition, the City’s recent flow measurements indicate that Luffenholtz flows may be at or near 0.86 cfs. The current working version of the WSCP (November 10) was considered at the 11/18/2020 Planning Commission meeting.

Drought Declaration.

At the City Council meeting on 9/8/20, the Council passed Resolution 2020-16 “DECLARING DROUGHT CONDITIONS AND IMPLEMENTING WATER CONSERVATION MEASURES AS DEFINED BY TRINIDAD MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 13.08 TO PREVENT OR MITIGATE AN EMERGENCY”  The Council also established a water shortage committee consisting of the City Manager, 2 Councilpersons (Clompus/West) and other members of City staff to direct all required activities during water shortage conditions. On November 10, the TCC issued a drought declaration based on low flows in Luffenholtz Creek.

UPDATE: 23 May 2020.

On 13 May 2020, Garth Sundberg of the Trinidad Rancheria sent a letter to the Trinidad City Mayor and City Council in which he stated that the Rancheria would not provide access to its Trinidad harbor properties for purposes of completing the City’s stormwater management project until and unless the City provides a final and mutually acceptable decision responding to the Trinidad Rancheria' s request for expanded water service“. In response, Trinidad staff developed a MOU concerning cooperation between the Rancheria and the City. The draft MOU did not include any mention of the draft water policies (see sections below) that have not yet been adopted by the Trinidad City Council (TCC) and which could only allow the TCC to provide water for the hotel under a special “exception” category that would require numerous findings. The TCC held a special teleconference meeting on 21 May to consider the draft MOU. The TCC voted 3-2 to reject the draft MOU and to instead reconsider the issue only after Trinidad adopted final water policies.

You can read Garth Sundberg’s letter here. You can read HARP’s comments on the draft MOU as well as Sundberg’s letter to the Mayor and TCC here. A summary of the May 21, 2020 TCC meeting was reported by the Lost Coast Outpost.

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One possible source of water supply for the proposed Trinidad Rancheria Hotel is the City of Trinidad’s water supply. Trinidad relies on a surface water supply, Luffenholtz Creek, with available volume varying substantially over the course of a year. Creek flows are typically lowest in late summer and early fall; demand typically peaks in late summer. Madrone (2011) recently completed an MS thesis which focused substantially on sediment loading of Luffenholtz Creek.

As noted in the history and status of the Trinidad Rancheria Hotel, the August 2019 favorable consistency determination made by the CA Coastal Commission was a conditional one, with the condition being that the Rancheria provide the Commission with an assurance of a viable long-term water source. Currently, the only possible sources of water for the proposed hotel would be the City of Trinidad’s water supply or some groundwater supply (well) that would be located on the Rancheria’s lands or other properties for which the Rancheria has a secured water right.

A thus far “informal” request by the Rancheria for water from the City of Trinidad, combined with formal requests for water service by the Cal Fire station located about 1.5 mile north of Trinidad, have in part highlighted the importance of the City of Trinidad’s updating of their General Plan (GP).  As part of the update, new State requirements for accommodating climate change and sea level rise need to be incorporated into the GP.  Some of these new requirements focus on the City’s water supply and possible effects on the supply due to potential future development and climate impacts.

Draft water service policies are part of the Circulation, Energy and Public Services Element of the draft GP.  The City Council will be reviewing and possibly adopting the latest version of the draft water policies at its 14 April 2020 City Council meeting (video conference).

The City supplies water to all customers within the City limits as well as customers outside of the City limits within what is defined as the Service Area (Figure 14 – Circulation, Energy and Public Services Element).  The City’s priority is to first supply water for all requirements and needs within City limits. Then, if there is adequate supply and infrastructure, the City can provide water to a limited number of water hookups outside the city limits but within the boundary of the Service Area. 

Two recent requests for new water service hook-ups have highlighted the need for updated policies to improve the water supply infrastructure, to supply water to current customers, and to accommodate future requests for new water service.  The first of the new requests was for the City to supply water to the Cal Fire substation located 1.5 miles north of the City limits on Patrick’s Point Drive.  The current Cal Fire water source is severely degraded.  The City approved a Coastal Development Permit to allow a water hookup to the Cal Fire station.  There were significant restrictions on the City’s approved permit, including requirements that Cal Fire provide the funding to install the water line and a restriction on the size of the water pipe to ensure that further development would be limited.  In September 2018, the California Coastal Commission (CCC) adopted an amendment to the City’s LCP (Local Coastal Plan) to approve the Cal Fire water service extension.   However, as part of that approval, the CCC modified the LCP amendment to incorporate language to allow additional water connections on a selective basis to support visitor services and accommodations in the Trinidad area. 

The second less “formal” request was for the Trinidad Rancheria’s proposed 100 room hotel.  At present, the Rancheria purchases water from the City to serve its existing casino and other facilities, but the proposed hotel would require a new water hookup.  Significant issues still need to be resolved including the amount of water required by the proposed hotel, the amount of water that the City can process and supply to the hotel, as well as the amount of water available from the City’s water source, Luffenholtz Creek under severe climatic conditions.  Additionally, the Rancheria has proposed to supply at least part of its new hotel water needs from a newly dug well on Rancheria property. Water available from that new source would theoretically reduce the amount of additional water that the Rancheria would need to purchase from the City. Information presented in the BIA’s Final Environmental Assessment/FONSI suggests that two new Rancheria wells would be able to supply part but not all of the hotel’s water needs, but this document provided no information on water quality or needs for water treatment from these shallow well sources.

As a result of these issues, the City has embarked on an effort to (1) update water policies to accommodate current and future customers; (b) determine required upgrades to the water system infrastructure and storage requirements, and (c) identify potential alternate water sources and climatic impacts. The following reports/documents are pertinent to the process of developing updated water policies:

Water Demand Assessment - This report describes various scenarios for the complete buildout of all parcels that could be theoretically serviced by the City water.  Assuming the entire theoretical buildout within the City and including parcels outside of the City currently supplied by City water, there is insufficient water supply to accommodate all future customers unless there are significant upgrades to the water system infrastructure.  There are various subsets of customers that could be accommodated but not all.  Thus, the City is not yet in a position to determine if it has sufficient water to accommodate the Trinidad Rancheria’s apparent request to supply water for its proposed 100 room hotel. This report was written by the City's planning staff and the engineering firm SHN. 

Water Treatment Plant Production Rate Test and Analysis (May 1, 2019) – This report summarizes the theoretical maximum water production of the City's water plant and limitations to production and recommends specific upgrades to increase water production.  This report was written by the City’s engineering staff and the engineering company GHD.

Additional reports developed by the City Engineer (GHD) & Staff discuss various aspects of the City's water system, water loss assessment and future alternate water sources: 1) Conceptual Hydrological Assessment of the Luffenholtz Creek Watershed, 2) Update and Summarize Alternative Sources of Supply, 3) Water Demand and Loss Analysis, and 4) Water Storage and Distribution System Model.

Using these reports and studies, the City has initiated the process of developing new formal water policies that will be part of the General Plan update.  This process includes public hearings with both the Trinidad Planning Commission, the Trinidad City Council and most likely the California Coastal Commission.  The timeline required to complete these efforts is currently being reviewed.