Protecting SLR River a major concern

The San Diego County Water Authority’s Engineering and Operations Committee heard a presentation February 24 on how CWA staff will proceed with the review of the proposed Gregory Canyon Landfill.

Although the Regional Water Quality Control Board and not the CWA will make the decision whether protection of the San Luis Rey River is sufficient to issue the permit to Gregory Canyon Ltd. (on March 1 the RWQCB determined that the Joint Technical Document submitted by Gregory Canyon Ltd. was completed; that agency will convene at least one public workshop prior to scheduling consideration of the permit at a monthly meeting and plans to make the Joint Technical Document available on the agency Web site in mid-March), the solid waste facility permit approved by the California Integrated Waste Management Board on December 14 allows for the CWA to dictate the relocation of San Diego Aqueduct pipelines if necessary.

“The Authority has to be happy and satisfied that their facilities will not be adversely affected,” said Bill Rose, the CWA’s Director of Right of Way.

If ensuring the safety of the pipeline can only be achieved by moving the pipeline, the relocation would be done at the expense of Gregory Canyon Ltd. and at no cost to the CWA. Gregory Canyon has accepted that condition.

“If it becomes necessary to move those pipelines, that’s what we’ll do,” said Jim Simmons, the president of Consultants Collaborative, who represented Gregory Canyon at the February 24 CWA meeting.

The Gregory Canyon area was rezoned for a landfill following approval in the November 1994 election, and an initiative to repeal that zoning was defeated in the November 2004 election. The CWA board took neutral positions on both propositions but sanctioned CWA staff to participate in environmental reviews of Gregory Canyon. The November 1994 proposition included the condition that the landfill perform “work required to protect any San Diego Aqueduct pipelines to the extent and in the manner required by the San Diego County Water Authority.”

The conditions of the solid waste permit include obtaining an encroachment permit from the CWA prior to construction, providing the County of San Diego’s Department of Environmental Health with a copy of the agreement between Gregory Canyon Ltd. and the CWA which provides for the relocation and protection of the San Diego Aqueduct pipelines, and designing and engineering any necessary relocation so that no flood-related impacts to the pipeline occur in accordance with CWA approval.

Although CWA staff and Gregory Canyon development staff have met since 1994, no detailed project plan has been submitted. “The plans are currently being formulated as to how we are going to address these issues,” Simmons said.

The exact plans with regard to CWA facilities will be contingent on the final landfill site plans. “At this point we have several issues that we need to address,” Simmons said.

The CWA’s Administrative Code allows staff to address possible encroachments into CWA right of way. Staff is also authorized to collect fees from encroachment applicants to offset the cost of plan review and construction inspection.

Rose said that the CWA will meet with the applicant, a meeting which will be provided at no cost to the applicant. Following that meeting an applicant must make a deposit to cover staff time and other expenses for the plan review.

Rose indicated that various CWA departments will review the plans, including the operations, right of way, and water resources departments.

Rose added that there is no limit on the number of times a proposal may be revised following CWA staff comments during a review. He noted that the average time to respond to each update was approximately 30 days. The number of review cycles will depend on the quality of the plans, the number of new changes to the plans, and the willingness of the applicant to make the required changes.

A project the size and complexity of the Gregory Canyon Landfill will require a Major Encroachment Permit and possibly more specific agreements before construction can begin. The Major Encroachment Permit requires indemnification of the CWA and requires construction upon CWA facilities to be bonded or otherwise secured. Gregory Canyon Ltd. will also be required to adhere to all applicable laws.

CWA and Gregory Canyon staff have also discussed the acquisition of additional easements for the proposed Pipeline 6, whose approved alignment is westerly and adjacent to the Second Aqueduct through the Gregory Canyon Landfill site. Additional discussions on Pipeline 6 will be required after determining the extent of the Pipeline 1 and Pipeline 2 relocations.

The CWA board representatives of at least two nearby water agencies spoke in favor of relocating the pipelines to guarantee protection from contamination by the landfill. “We have a responsibility to the folks of the County of San Diego to ensure that these aqueducts are protected in perpetuity,” said Fallbrook Public Utility District representative Keith Lewinger, who is also FPUD’s general manager. “I think the only

way to guarantee the pipelines are going to be protected is to move them.”

Lewinger noted that the protection would be required even after the landfill is closed and the landfill operator is no longer present.

“I think we need to be far-sighted here. You never know what’s going to happen in the future,” said Barry Martin, who is the City of Oceanside’s Director of Water Utilities and also Oceanside’s representative on the CWA board.

CWA deputy general manager Paul Lanspery explained that the next step was for Gregory Canyon Ltd. to present the permit proposal to the CWA. “Once we get their actual development permit, then we’ll start processing it,” he said.