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ENGINEERING AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE MEETING SUMMARY MINUTES

Wednesday, March 17, 2021 4:15 p.m.

ATTENDANCE Directors: Judy Huang (chair), Paul Sethy Staff: Robert Shaver, Ed Stevenson, Ariz Naqvi, Rekha Ippagunta, Ben Egger, Jeenu Singh,

Kerri Smyth

The monthly Engineering & Information Technology Committee Meeting was held on March 17, 2021, at 4:15 PM. Due to COVID-19 and in accordance with Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-25-20 which suspends portions of the Brown Act, this meeting was conducted by Zoom Webinar and Teleconference and members of the public were invited to participate. Materials presented to the Committee were posted in advance of the meeting at www.acwd.org and copies of materials as presented are attached to these minutes.

DISCUSSION TOPICS

1. Update on Vallecitos Channel Maintenance Project: Kerri Smyth, Project Engineer, provideda brief review of the project and an update on project related permitting status, staff’s CaliforniaEnvironmental Quality Act (CEQA) analysis, and anticipated project mitigation. VallecitosChannel conveys deliveries of raw water from the South Bay Aqueduct (SBA) to AlamedaCreek for the purposes of groundwater recharge. Although initially designed for a capacity of120 cubic feet per second (cfs) to allow for delivery of the District’s imported water as well asemergency releases from the SBA, vegetation growth, burrowing animals, and weather eventshave resulted in erosion to the channel banks, damage to the adjacent access road, and asignificant reduction in channel capacity. The District requires a reliable capacity of at least30-40 cfs for groundwater recharge during dry years. Repairs are required to the channel torestore the channel capacity. The Vallecitos Channel Maintenance Project will addresscapacity, erosion, and access issues. At the time of the committee meeting, permit applicationsto the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife(CDFW) for an Incidental Take Permit had been submitted. Permit applications to the RegionalWater Quality Control Board and to CDFW for a Streambed Alteration Agreement werenearing completion and planned for submission in April 2021. Additionally, Ms. Smyth notedthat development of the Draft Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) hasbeen completed by the Project Team, and the requisite CEQA public 30-day review processfor the Draft IS/MND has commenced. No public comments have been received to-date.

The project is designed to minimize environmental impacts of the site restoration work and to comply with Best Management Practices and local regulations, however, additional mitigation for impacts to habitat for California red legged frog, Alameda whipsnake, and California tiger salamander is required. This mitigation will be accomplished through on-site mitigation in the form of planted in-channel benches to increase riparian/wetland habitat included in the site restoration design and purchasing mitigation credits via a local conservation bank. The Ohlone West Conservation Bank has both multi-species and individual species credits available.

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Multi-species credits provide mitigation for all three impacted species, whereas individual species credits apply only to one specific species. The multi-species credits are nearly sold out, so the project team is preparing to recommend the purchase of mitigation credits in advance of the project environmental permits being issued. The agencies with jurisdiction on species mitigation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and CDFW, have both stated they would accept mitigation credits purchased before the permits are issued. Purchasing the multi-species credits available would save the District $110,000 compared with purchasing all mitigation in the form of individual species credits. The project team expects to bring a recommendation to purchase the mitigation credits for the Board’s consideration at the April Board Meeting and provide a recommendation regarding CEQA adoption for consideration at the May Board Meeting. Staff responded to questions from Directors Huang and Sethy.

2. Update on Main Renewal Program: Rekha Ippagunta, Project Engineering Manager, provided

a preview of the agenda of the District’s Main Renewal Program Board Workshop scheduled for April 1, 2021. Ms. Ippagunta provided an outline of the workshop that included review of the objectives, overview of the prior analysis and recommendations, distribution system analysis, and recommended improvements based on the leak data and condition of the system. The workshop will also review the process to prioritize and select the main renewal candidates programmed into the District’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and provide the status of the Main Renewal projects. Additionally, the workshop will include findings from a survey of Bay Area agencies related to their main renewal programs. Finally, the District’s proposed approach and recommendations for the short term and intermediate implementation of the program will be reviewed at the workshop. Staff received input and responded to questions from Directors Huang and Sethy.

3. Update on Records Management Project and Retention Schedule: Jeenu Singh, Senior Business Analyst, provided an update on the Records Management Project. The goal of the project is to update the District’s Records Management Program for both hardcopy as well as electronic documents by developing and implementing revised RM guidelines and an updated Records Retention Schedule (RRS). The existing RRS was adopted by the Board in 2002 and primarily addresses hardcopy documents. The project will help align retention of electronic and hardcopy documents, reduce costs, and improve efficiencies by automating the disposal of electronic records as per the adopted RRS, streamline responses to requests made under the Public Records Act, reduce compliance risks, and ensure compliance with applicable laws relating to records retention. The District engaged the services of a records management consultant who worked with each work group within the District to identify record categories and appropriate retention schedules for these categories. The resulting draft RRS was first reviewed by a third-party legal firm with expertise in the area of records management. The RRS was subsequently reviewed by District Legal Counsel. The District also updated its records management program guidelines to ensure that the adopted RRS can be consistently applied across various District record repositories. The next step in the process is for the Board to adopt the new RRS per legal requirements. Once the new RRS is adopted, the last phase of the project will involve the implementation of the new RRS across various District document repositories including SharePoint Document Management System and e-mail.

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Staff responded to questions from Directors Huang and Sethy. 4. Update on Clean Energy Program: Ed Stevenson, Manager of Engineering and Technology

Services, provided an overview of the District’s Clean Energy Program and its objectives, elements, and status. Mr. Stevenson reported that this information was also recently shared with City of Fremont planning, sustainability, and community development staff in order to evaluate and leverage the shared interests of the agencies. Mr. Stevenson reported that staff and legal counsel have been negotiating with the solar developer which ranked highest in the District’s competitive procurement process. The negotiations over the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) which will implement the program have been underway for several months, and progress has been slow. Key issues remain under discussion, however staff is still targeting Board action on the PPPAs within the next couple of months such that construction on the first phase of program implementation sites can begin in the fall of 2021. Mr. Stevenson responded to questions from Directors Huang and Sethy.

5. Public Comments: There were no public comments. RECOMMENDATIONS Topics discussed by the Committee were informational only, and no recommendations are being made.

ETS Committee MeetingMarch 17, 2021

Alameda County Water DistrictVallecitos Channel Maintenance

Project

Project Background• Vallecitos channel is used to convey water

from the SBA for GW recharge.• Vegetation management performed October

2020• Project will address capacity, erosion, and

access issues

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CEQA and Environmental Permitting

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Authority Document Status

CEQA IS/MND Public comment; May Board

USACE CWA 404 Individual Permit Submitted 3/5/21

RWQCB CWA 401 WQ Cert To be submitted in April 2021

CDFW 1602 SAA To be submitted in March 2021

CDFW ITP To be submitted in March 2021

Mitigation• Minimize impacts in design• BMPs and local regulations• On-site mitigation• Mitigation Measures• Mitigation bank credit purchase

– Estimate with current availability - $184,950– Multi-species credits likely to sell out – could

cost an extra $110,000– USFWS & CDFW authorized pre-purchase

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Next Steps• Complete environmental permitting• Mitigation credit purchase to Board April

2021• CEQA adoption to Board May 2021• Construction

– Cost estimate: $1.5 M– Schedule estimate: 13 weeks, between July-

October 20215

Engineering and Information Technology Committee Update on the Main Renewal and Seismic Upgrade Program – Board Workshop Outline

March 17, 2021

1. Objectives of the Board Workshop

Review objectives of the District’s Main Renewal and Seismic Upgrade program Provide a status update of the program implementation and lessons learned Review staff’s planned approach for near and intermediate-term implementation of

the program

2. Recap of prior board presentations and analysis ACWD Seismic Vulnerability Assessment in 2008 ACWD Asbestos Cement Pipe Assessment in 2009 Board Presentations in 2011 and 2014 and recommendations

3. Review of the Distribution System Statistics

Distribution system overview Pipeline condition and pipe failures by age, material, size and other factors

4. Review of project implementation workflow and program status

Prioritization model and hydraulic modeling for Pipeline selection Design; Permitting, Construction and Commissioning Status of the program

i. Projects completed since 2013 ii. Projects in construction

iii. Projects in design iv. Program implementation challenges and lessons learned

5. Industry research and survey results

6. Recommendations and approach for near term and intermediate program implementation

Proposed replacement rate for short term and long term CEQA considerations Explore opportunities to collaborate with Cities on their street improvement projects Pursue grant programs as applicable

7. Future considerations

Pilot projects using different pipe materials and pipe rehabilitation technologies and continue to use CIPP lining as applicable

Explore alternative project delivery and/or contracting approaches Update Seismic Assessment Study with emphasis on Distribution system

vulnerabilities and upgrades Update Asbestos Cement Pipe assessment Board policy for Developer Main Renewals

Month, Day, Year

Update on Records Management Project and Retention Schedule

Engineering & IT Committee03/17/2021

Jeenu Singh, Senior Business Analyst

Effort to revamp District’s Records Management (RM) Program for both hardcopy documents as well as electronic documents.

Developing and implementing refreshed policies/guidelines, Records Retention Schedule (RRS), tools to automate processes for retention/disposal of documents and data based on adopted RRS categories.

Overview of the Project

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Why are we doing this?

Policy needs to be updated and include both hard-copy and electronic recordsImprove efficiencies; Mitigate compliance risks & Reduce costs

Optimize RM for use with SharePoint to maximize document availability and accessibilityStreamline responses to Public Records Act requestsEnsure compliance with legal requirements related to document retention (and limit liabilities)

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Phase 1 & 2 (November 2017 – February 2021)Worked with a RM consultant and each District work group to develop Records Retention Schedule (RRS)

598 categories of recordsFinalized a draft of Records Management Policy/GuidelineRRS reviewed by a 3rd party legal firm specializing in RMFinal RRS and RM Policy/Guideline reviewed by District Legal Counsel

Accomplishments

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Examples of Record Categoriesfrom RRS

Next Steps

Phase 3 (July 2021 – December 2022)Board to consider adoption of new RRS in April 2021

Current RS was adopted in 2002Board adoption a legal requirement for public agencies

Implement RM software to automate RRS for electronic records in SharePoint and Email

Implementation Plan2 pilot sites to be rolled out initiallyRemaining - 2 at a time

Staff training6

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Phase 1 (Aug 2017 - Aug

2018)Phase 2

(Sep 2018 –Feb 2021)

Phase 3 (Mar 2021 – Dec

2022)

Project Timeline

Questions?

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Ed Stevenson, Manager of Engineering & TechnologyEngineering & Information Technology Committee

March 17, 2021

Alameda County Water District

Update on Clean Energy Program

Clean Energy Program Goals• Generate large scale, clean,

renewable energy• Reduce ACWD’s carbon footprint• Reduce ACWD’s long-term operating

costs• Hedge against future utility rate

inflation• Minimize impact to ACWD’s core

operations during construction and operational phases

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Clean Energy Program• Solar arrays at select ACWD

facilities• Power Purchase Agreements

leveraging Investment Tax Credits• PG&E Renewable Energy Self

Generation Bill Credit Transfer program (RES-BCT)

• Net Energy Metering (NEM)– Sized to maximize energy use on site– Excess to grid through RES-BCT

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Solar Site Locations

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Whitfield Reservoir (buried)

Location: 42900 Paseo Padre Pkwy.,

Fremont, CAPanel type: Ground mountDC Capacity: 2,473 kWAC Capacity: 2,000 kWNew site perimeter fenceProject phase: 1Construction start: Fall 2021COD: Nov. 2021CEQA status: MND Adopted

Whitfield Reservoir

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ACWD Headquarters

ACWD Headquarters

Location: 43885 S. Grimmer Blvd.,

Fremont, CAPanel type: Roof mountDC Capacity: 554 kWAC Capacity: 450 kWPanel area: 31,500 sqftProject phase: 1Construction start: Fall. 2021COD: Nov. 2021CEQA status: Exempt

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Reservoir Roofs

Mayhew Reservoir

Location: 44100 Mission Blvd.,Fremont, CA

Panel type: Roof mountDC Capacity: 347 kWAC Capacity: 300 kWPanel area: 25,800 sqftProject phase: 1Construction start: Fall 2021COD: Nov. 2021CEQA status: Exempt

Location: 509 Curtner Rd.,Fremont, CA

Panel type: Roof mountDC Capacity: 1,109 kWAC Capacity: 875 kWPanel area: 78,000 sqftProject phase: 2Construction start: Aug. 2023COD: Jan. 2024CEQA status: Exempt

Alameda Reservoir

Location: E/S Mission, S. Appian,Fremont, CA

Panel type: Roof mountDC Capacity: 1,113 kWAC Capacity: 875 kWPanel area: 78,000 sqftProject phase: 2Construction start: Aug. 2023COD: Jan. 2024CEQA status: Exempt

Decoto Reservoir

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Newark Desalination Facility

Newark Desalination Facility

Location: 6833 Redeker Pl.,Newark, CA

Panel type: Roof mountDC Capacity: 162 kWAC Capacity: 124 kWPanel area: 11,100 sqftProject phase: 1Construction start: Fall 2021COD: Nov. 2021CEQA status: Exempt

Clean Energy Program• More than 4.5MW clean, renewable

energy– 10% increase in total solar in Fremont

(23% increase in non-residential)• Reduce carbon emissions by over

1,000 tons annually• Save millions $ in long-term operating

costs

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Clean Energy Program Status

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• Analyses, planning, modeling, complete• Preliminary engineering complete• CEQA documentation completed and

adopted• Negotiating Power Purchase Agreements• Targeting construction start within months• Multi-year program: complete by end of 2024

Questions?

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