REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL April 21, 2016 FROM: THOMAS C. ESQUEDA, Director Department of Public Utilities THROUGH: MICHAEL CARBAJAL, Division Manager Department of Public Utilities - Water Division BY: MARTIN WENDELS, Project Manager Department of Public Utilities - Water Division SUBJECT ..Title RESOLUTION - In support of realigning water service boundaries for the City of Fresno Department of Public Utilities Water Division (City) and the Pinedale County Water District (District) (Citywide) ..Body RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends Council adopt a Resolution in support of realigning water service boundaries between the City and District to resolve overlapping water service and infrastructure in portions of the City and County islands. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The City is a municipal corporation which owns and operates a water supply distribution system for domestic water supply to inhabitants within the city boundaries and within the City's Sphere of Influence (SOI). The District is an independent special district that owns and operates a water supply distribution system for domestic water supply to inhabitants within the District. The City and the District, with the assistance of the Fresno Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo), have agreed upon a draft service area map and proposed SOI that accurately reflects the agencies' respective service areas, see attached. Upon Council approval of the Resolution, the District will apply to LAFCo for the appropriate boundary adjustments and SOI determinations. LAFCo is supportive of the realignment. BACKGROUND The Department of Public Utilities' Water Division and the District currently provide domestic water service to inhabitants both within and outside their respected SOI. As the City developed, in some instances providing water service involved the City or District providing water service outside of their service boundaries and crossing into the SOI of the other agency. This practice created infrastructure overlap. As a result, today maps of the agencies' infrastructure and SOI boundaries are convoluted, making it difficult for developers to understand service boundaries and for the agencies to maintain accurate accounts of infrastructure. To address this problem, the City and the District, with the assistance of LAFCo, have participated in a cooperative effort to realign the water service boundaries in a mutual and equitable manner which will minimally impact those being served by either agency. By adopting the Resolution, the Council will support realigning the water service boundaries for the City and District, as agreed upon by the City and District, and approved by LAFCo. ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS This is not a "project" for the purpose of CEQA, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines � 15378. LOCAL PREFERENCE Local Preference was not considered because this action does not include a bid or award of a City construction or services contract. FISCAL IMPACT The Resolution is not associated with any contracts and realignment of the water service boundaries concluded in a zero net gain for either agency; and as such it will not have any impact to the General Fund or the Water Enterprise Fund. Attachment: Resolution in Support of Realigning Water Service Boundaries