Borrego Water District - 7-024 BORREGO VALLEY

Borrego Water District - 7-024 BORREGO VALLEY

A. Applicant Information

Requesting Agency Information
Agency Name: Borrego Water District
Address: 806 Palm Canyon Drive
City: Borrego Springs Zip: 92004
Work Phone: (706) 767-5806 Cell Phone:
Email: jerry@borregowd.org Fax:
Revision Request Manager Information
Person Name: Jerry Rowling
Address: Borrego Water District
City: Borrego Springs Zip: 92004
Work Phone: 760-767-5806 Cell Phone:
Email: jerry@borregowd.org Fax:
 

B. Description of Proposed Boundary Modification

  1. Boundary modification for the Borrego Valley Groundwater Basin (7-24).
    • Scientific Internal
  2. Historical water level data shows little or no change in groundwater levels southeast of the San Felipe Wash with respect to pumping in the Borrego Springs area. The San Felipe/Yaqui Ridge anticline and San Felipe fault compartmentalize the deep alluvial sediments in Borrego Springs from the alluvial sediments to the southeast of the San Felipe Wash. This boundary modification request is being made to divide the existing basin into two basins or two subbasins: one basin/subbasin affected by pumping in the area around Borrego Springs to the north, and a separate basin/subbasin in more remote areas with limited pumping to the south (Ocotillo Wells area). Sustainable management of the area to the northwest of the divide will be facilitated because the proposed boundary includes only those entities and areas subject to significant overdraft and the associated undesirable results. The basin prioritization ranking for the proposed Ocotillo Wells area may be recalculated as low or very low priority basin/subbasin because it is sparsely populated, has a low number of wells, has small irrigation acreage, has low groundwater use and no documented impacts. Additional detail is provided in the attached Borrego Valley Groundwater Basin (7-24) Boundary Modification Technical Memorandum.
    • 7-024 BORREGO VALLEY
  3. Borrego Valley Groundwater Basin (7-24) and Ocotillo Wells Groundwater Basin (7-XX) or Borrego Valley Groundwater Subbasin (7-24.1) and Ocotillo Wells Groundwater Subbasin (7-24.2)

C. Initial Notification and Combination of Requests

  1. Yes
    Local Agency Potential Basin(s)/Subbasin(s)
    Borrego Water District
  2. No

D. Required Documents for All Modifications

In review of CEQA, Borrego Water District has made the determination that Basin Boundary adjustment does not constitute a ?Project? under CEQA and is therefore not subject to CEQA. Given that the Basin Boundary adjustments do not meet the ?Project? definition, there is no requirement to seek or make a finding for a Statutory or Categorical Exemption, or provide any other CEQA treatment at all.

E. General Information

The proposed Borrego Valley Groundwater Basin underlies Borrego Valley in northwestern San Diego County. The basin is defined by the contact of poorly to moderately consolidated sediments with granitic, medisedimentary, and metamorphic basement to the west (San Ysidro Mountains); the Santa Rosa Mountains and the mapped trace of the Coyote Creek fault that trends northwest ? southeast to the north and east of the Basin and by the location of San Felipe Wash as mapped by the National Hydrography Dataset to the south, which is approximately co-located with a basement high known as the Yaqui Ridge/ San Felipe anticline and San Felipe fault. The definable bottom of the basin is defined by the basement rock underlying the poorly to moderately consolidated aquifer formations. The basement rock which consists mainly of granitic and metamorphic rocks occurs at a depth of a few hundred feet along the perimeter up to 3,800 feet in the east ? northeast portion of the basin based on the gravity model. Coyote Creek drains the valley to Borrego Sink, a major collection point for runoff that on rare occasions may overflow to San Felipe Wash. The proposed Ocotillo Wells Groundwater Basin underlies Lower Borrego Valley in the eastern Imperial and western San Diego Counties. The basin is bounded by San Felipe Wash on the north which is approximately co-located with a basement high known as the Yaqui Ridge/ San Felipe anticline and San Felipe fault, Coyote Creek and Superstition Mountain faults on the northeast, and the Fish Creek and Coyote Mountains on the southwest. The southeastern boundary is a surface drainage divide from the Coyote Mountains northeast to Superstition Mountain. San Felipe Creek drains the valley southwestward.

F. Notice and Consultation

Anza Borrego Foundation, Bureau of Land Management , California Department of Parks and Recreation - Anza Borrego State Park , California Department of Parks and Recreation ? Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area (SVRA) , California State Lands Commission, County of Imperial, County of San Diego, Imperial Irrigation District, and State Water Resources Control Board Division of Drinking Water.
The requesting agency and County of San Diego has worked on water and groundwater related issues in the basin for multiple decades. Therefore, they are familiar with the interested local agencies. Additionally, jurisdictional review was completed using available GIS datasets to verify local agencies, public water systems and state and federal agencies (See GIS shapefile and map of political boundaries and local, state and federal agencies.
Affected or interested agencies were contacted via written communication (see attachments).
The proposed boundary modification was discussed at the following public meetings: 1. Borrego Water District Borrego Valley Groundwater Basin (BVGB) (7-24) Draft Boundary Adjustment ? Board of Directors Special Meeting a. Date: October 20, 2015 b. Description ? Presentation and discussion of SGMA including GSA formation. Scientific data were presented and jurisdictional issues discussed for a boundary adjustment. 2. Borrego Water District Board Meeting a. Date: January 27, 2016 b. Description ? This was the meeting at which the Borrego Water District was authorized by Resolution to function as the Requesting Agency for the purpose of modifying the Basin Boundary. The item included a discussion regarding SGMA in general and Basin Boundary Modification in particular. 3. Borrego Valley Groundwater Basin Boundary Modification Public Meeting a. Date: February 16, 2016 b. Description ? As part of the public and stakeholder outreach process, the Borrego Water District held a public meeting at the Borrego Water District office. The meeting consisted of a presentation regarding SGMA and the proposed basin boundary modification and a question and comment period. c. Attachments: i. Presentation ii. Agenda iii. News Paper Notice iv. Comment Summary (See Item F5. of DWR On-line Application) v. Sign in Sheet
All comments received to date are supportive of the basin boundary modification request. Thus, no responses to comments are provided by the requesting agency.

H. Local Support

All requests for boundary modification must include the following:
Identified affected agencies were provided written notice of the proposed basin boundary modification request by the Borrego Water District via written communication; letter and/or e-mail. Local agencies were requested to provide input and support of the proposed modification.
County of San Diego County of Imperial Anza Borrego Foundation Borrego Water Coalition
At this time, no opposition arguments to the proposed basin boundary modification have been submitted to the BWD.

I. Hydrogeologic Conceptual Model

Requests for boundary modification, must include a document or text to a clearly defined hydrogeologic conceptual model demonstrating each of the following:

K. Technical Studies for Internal Scientific Modifications

Requests for an internal scientific modification involving a hydrogeologic barrier must include a document or text that demonstrates the presence or absence of subsurface restrictions on lateral groundwater flow. Provide the following:
Both USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5150 and the Technical Memorandum Borrego Valley Groundwater Basin Boundary Modification provide detailed maps depicting structural geologic features that could significantly impact lateral groundwater flow (attached).
Geologic and hydrologic evidence of groundwater conditions of the Borrego Valley is provided in USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5150 including historical and current potentiometric surface maps, groundwater levels, groundwater recharge and discharge areas of the aquifer system. Long-term pumping over decades demonstrates the basin boundary condition response, which indicates that pumping cones of depression do not propagate south of the Yaqui Ridge/ San Felipe anticline and San Felipe fault. See groundwater level contour maps provided in USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5150. Water quality information is Included in USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5150. Additional Water quality information can be accessed from the USGS at: http://ca.water.usgs.gov/projects/borrego/borrego-water-quality.html and from the State Water Resources Control Board Electronic Data Transfer Library and Water Quality Analyses Data and Download Page at: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/EDTlibrary.shtml Geophysical studies have been completed for the basin by Moyle (1982) gravity survey, Langenheim, V. E. and R. C. Jachens. 1993. Isostatic Residual Gravity Map and Henderson (2001) gravity model.
Created on 03/23/2016 at 9:35PM, last modified on 01/02/2018 at 11:23AM and page generated on 10/07/2024 at 12:58AM