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Council receives recycled-water update; staff advancing CEQA, AMMP baseline monitoring
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Summary
City staff and consultants told council they are advancing baseline monitoring for an Adaptive Management and Mitigation Plan (AMMP), preparing CEQA documents and coordinating with the State Water Board and resource agencies in pursuit of a change petition to use treated wastewater as recycled water; the project remains multi-year and technically complex.
Beaumont — Beaumont staff and West Yost consultants presented a technical update on the city’s recycled-water program, covering the brine line, adaptive management and mitigation planning (AMMP), and next steps in CEQA and regulatory coordination.
Technical background and regulatory path
Wastewater staff explained that the plant’s reverse-osmosis treatment produces reject water that discharges to the brine line; the state’s anti-degradation requirements mean the city must address salinity and environmental impacts as part of its long-term plan. Staff said the AMMP baseline-monitoring program is under way to characterize riparian and hydrologic systems and that the environmental work will need year-round, multi-year data collection.
Consultant Clay Sorensen (West Yost) outlined accomplishments and next steps: a characterization report and baseline-monitoring plan are in place, stream gauges were funded in part through a DWR grant to reduce city costs, CEQA scoping and technical studies have begun, and the change petition to the State Water Board will require AMMP and CEQA materials. Sorensen noted that staff has been engaging the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and other regulators earlier in the process to reduce the risk of later objections.
Council questions
Council members asked about downstream impacts, mitigation obligations if parties file objections during the change-petition process, and the Watermaster’s role. Staff said anyone downstream could file objections and that the AMMP is intended to identify and address impacts so that objections are less likely to hold up the project. Staff also said the monitoring and regulatory coordination are intended to give the city more defensible science before filing a change petition.
Next steps
Staff will continue baseline monitoring, advance CEQA documents and coordinate with partner agencies as they refine alternatives for how much flow to retain in the creek versus how much to divert for recycling.
