Connecting rural water systems to State funds

Inyo-Mono “IRWMP” offers funding opportunities to disadvantaged communities and tribes.

As water woes in the Eastern Sierra deepen with drought, non-profit California Trout gathered stakeholders to discuss providing support to water systems in disadvantaged communities and tribes in both Inyo and Mono Counties.

The Inyo-Mono Disadvantaged Community and Tribal Water Conference in Bishop on June 18 tackled the question of how best to understand and solve some of the issues facing local disadvantaged communities as they work with outdated and sometimes poorly equipped water systems, as well as mostly volunteer staff, to deliver a much-needed resource to their rate payers.

Many if not all of these disadvantaged communities lack the funding to create Capital Improvement Programs or emergency preparedness programs in case of fire or equipment failure. Some lack the funding even to provide resources taken for granted in larger communities, such as potable water storage or water treatment systems.

The Inyo-Mono Integrated Regional Water Management Plan (IRWMP) may offer a solution to these problems.

CalTrout Eastern Sierra Regional Manager Dr. Mark Drew explained that in recent years, California has been focused on an integrated approach to water management. Instead of taking each community on a case-by-case basis, the State is looking to address water quality, use efficiency, and stewardship of regional water systems using IRWMPs. IRWMPs are not mandatory, but provide regional coordination and tools for funding for water projects.

In 2002, the State passed Prop. 50, granting $15 million for IRWMP plans and $370 million for project implementation, and in 2006, Prop. 84, which set aside $30 million for planning grants, and $27 million for project implementation in the South Lahontan area, of which Inyo and much of Mono County are a part.

In spite of this funding pool, Dr. Drew explained that the rural nature of Inyo and Mono County communities often means they get the lowest priority in the State.

“We have a population of four people per square mile,” he said. “How the State is allocating money is 75 percent [based on] population, and 25 percent [based on] geography … Our region is the lowest-funded in California.”

To remedy this problem, CalTrout started an Inyo-Mono IRWMP in 2008. The IRWMP has more than 30 participating entities, and focuses particularly on Disadvantaged Communities (DACs) and tribes. Through extensive outreach efforts, the Inyo-Mono IRWMP has provided opportunities for rural, disadvantaged communities to seek funding for water-related projects.

The IRWMP has thus far completed four out of seven water projects funded through a Prop. 84 Department of Water Resources (DWR) Implementation Grant of $1.1 million, Dr. Drew reported. These projects include the Tecopa Water Feasibility Study, Coleville School District water treatment system, Round Valley well and pump, and the Hilltop well project in Swall Meadows. The remaining three projects are scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.

“There are a whole suite of other projects that have been funded,” Dr. Drew added. These projects, funded through the Prop. 84 DWR Planning Grant of $500,000, include a Restoration Plan for the Oak Creek Watershed, Restoration Plan for the West Walker River, and Phase 1 of a  Stormwater Management Plan for Mammoth Lakes.

“It feels like slowly but surely, we’re beginning to effect some change,” he said.

Inyo-Mono IRWMP Program Manager Dr. Holly Alpert explained some of the challenges that face the Inyo-Mono IRWMP as it identifies and address the needs of DACs and tribes.

The definition of DAC is any community with 80 percent or less of California’s median income. This means residents must make an annual income of $48,706 or less. Severely disadvantaged communities must earn 60 percent or less of the median income.

“Half of our major population centers are DACs, and 15 are severely DACs,” Dr. Alpert said. According to the DAC definition, all 10 tribes are DACs, and six out of 10 are severely DACs.

However, census data for many of the smaller, outlying communities in Inyo and Mono Counties remains incomplete. Lack of data to prove DAC status makes seeking grant funding a challenge, Dr. Alpert explained. And community specific income surveys, which would supply the needed information, cost about $10,000.

Meanwhile, tribes argue they should be considered separately from DACs, so that they can avoid competition for the same small pool of funding for projects.

Dr. Alpert explained at the June 18 conference that because of problems with the DAC definition, she and the IRWMP program office brainstormed other methods for determining DAC status. They came up with indicators like the percentage of single family homes, landscaping or lack of landscaping, and percentage of mobile homes in a community.

“The data gaps are problematic and challenging in a rural area like this,” Dr. Alpert said. “We wanted to find metrics to replace incomplete data sets … to create a rapid assessment approach.”

Although Dr. Alpert said the assessment approach still needs work, she offered it as an example of a different way to think about DACs, which may better help communities gain financial benefits from State programs.

Another challenge facing DACs is that, if so defined, and if granted funding, these communities frequently lack the resources and additional funds to complete the desired project.

Executing a grant requires technical and managerial expertise that takes time and money. Sometimes, as Alan Babcock from the Big Pine Paiute Tribe pointed out at the conference, communities have to complete the project before receiving full funding. This is impossible for disadvantaged communities, or tribes, with limited funds.

“It can take a long time to reimburse,” he said. “We need to figure out other ways to make funds available.”

Marilyn Wiley of the Sierra East Mobile Home Park Homeowners Association, addressing the Association’s pursuit of a project to help with their water system, agreed.

“It’s becoming evident that administering grand funds is complicated and time consuming,” she said. “Yes, we need to conserve water, but how do we do that, and who can help? We’re stuck now with having obtained funding, but not having the resources to implement and use those funds.”

To solve this problem, GIS and Data Management Coordinator Janet Hatfield said she has started assembling a list of vendor information for everything from project management to engineering firms. She speculated that “Janet’s List” could even include a star rating system, allowing Inyo and Mono communities to select vendors other communities have used and approved.

Sometimes even having such a list may not be enough, as in the case of Tecopa, a small community at the far southeast corner of Inyo County. CalTrout screened a new, 20-minute documentary film sponsored by IRWMP funds at the conference that detailed Tecopa’s near-success story.

Tecopa was awarded a $70,000 Feasibility Study Grant, and earlier this year, a $140,000 grant for the installation of a potable (drinkable) water tank two miles outside of town. The community has never had a safe, potable water source; residents drive 80 miles round trip to the nearest community for drinking water. When the grant came through, Tecopa resident Toni Hickman called it “a major miracle in our community,” bringing an end to “a third-world situation.”

However, the community must now negotiate byzantine regulatory and permitting issues before the pump can be installed. Meeting regulatory and permitting requirements may become prohibitively expensive, effectively killing the project in the water in spite of its funding.

Inyo County Water Department Director Bob Harrington said staff is currently working on whether the potable water dispenser will be a private or community water supply, both of which have “some hurdles to overcome.”

“We’re so close, and yet there’s a continuing challenge, and the story goes on,” said Dr. Drew.

He emphasized that CalTrout would continue to perform outreach and pursue funding for local DACs. Moving forward, the Inyo-Mono IRWMP will be wrapping up the Disadvantaged Grant Project, which includes finalizing recommendations to the Department of Water Resources and State Water Resources Control Board about DAC definition and DAC grants, among other things.

In addition, “We’re looking to support the development and completion of drought management plans and emergency response plans for DAC systems,” he said. The IRWMP will also continue various showings of the water documentary, including to agency representatives in Sacramento.