Conservancy as Delta Partner, Convener and...
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Campbell Ingram, Executive Officer Presentation to the National Planning Conference April 16, 2012 Conservancy as Delta Partner, Convener and Implementer
Transcript of Conservancy as Delta Partner, Convener and...
Campbell Ingram, Executive Officer
Presentation to the National Planning Conference
April 16, 2012
Conservancy as Delta Partner, Convener and Implementer
Co-Equal Responsibilities
■ Act as a primary state agency to implement
ecosystem restoration in the Delta, and
■ Support efforts that advance
environmental protection and the economic
well-being of Delta residents
Overview
Legislation
Mandates
Board and Advisors
Strategic Plan
Strategic Plan Process
• Process – Outreach and Public Meetings
• Public Draft Available, March 26, 2012
– www.deltaconservancy.ca.gov
• Comment Period Through, April 20, 2012
• Three Public Workshops
– Rio Vista, April 10, 2012, 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
– Clarksburg, April 12, 2012, 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm
– Oakley, April 14, 2012 (Sat.), 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
• Anticipated Adoption, June 27, 2012
Draft Strategic Plan Goals
Potential Roles for the Conservancy
Restoration Network
Develop an
Implementation
Framework
Coordinate restoration
efforts of DWR, DFG,
SFCWA, Conservancy
Integrate and Learn
Adaptively and Track
Effectively
www.deltaconservancy.ca.gov
Questions: (916) 375-2084
PLANNING SOLUTIONS FOR THE
SACRAMENTO-SAN JOAQUIN DELTA
LEVEE PERSPECTIVE
American Planning Association National Conference
April 16, 2012
Gilbert Cosio, P.E.
MBK Engineers
PAST PLANNING EFFORTS
“In 1976 the Legislature directed the Department to prepare a plan for
preservation of Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta levees. This report is in
response to that directive – Chapter 1302, Statutes of 1976. In a joint effort with
the Corps of Engineers, technical plans for restoration of all or part of the Delta
levee system have now been prepared. Virtually all that can be done in terms
of such feasibility studies has been done.
Now is the time for decision. The most significant element in a decision on what
action to take is how much can we afford and who will pay? These questions
can only be answered by the Legislature, the local landowners, and the
Congress. The potential cost is enormous.”
“Delta Levees Investigation, Bulletin 192-82”, Department of Water Resources, December 1982
FLOOD CONTROL
Significant Events 1980-1998
• FEMA disasters 1980, 1982, 1983, 1986 ($100 million) • Extensive levee surveys 1984 • HMP required for future FEMA (1986) • Delta Levee Subventions increased funding SB 34 (1988) • Substantial HMP compliance 1991 • Major disasters averted 1995, 1997, 1998
Monumental Agreement
• FEMA Disaster Assistance Considered if HMP Compliant
by September 1991 • State to Provide Funding Assistance
• SB 34 (1988) • Up to 75% State Reimbursement
• Locals to Provide 25% Cost Share Plus $1,000/mile
SB 34 (1988)
Subventions Program • All levee maintenance and rehabilitation
Special Projects • Focused on eight western islands and islands with
significant State importance
Expenditures 1973-2010
($1,000)
Subventions $265,852 Total
$118,402 Local
$147,450 State
Special Projects (Local Share varies 0%-25%) $237,890
$209,050 Engineering and Construction
$ 28,840 Habitat Enhancement
SUBSIDENCE
SEISMIC
SEA LEVEL RISE
MAINTENANCE
Issues Impacting Maintenance of System
• Existing Minimal Levee Standard
• Subsidence
• Funding
• Regulatory
• Emergency Response
• Sea Level Rise
• Responsible Agency
• Politics
HABITAT
Beaver Slough Habitat Improvement Project
• Levee in need of erosion repair
• Very little existing rip rap
• Work with agencies for overall wildlife enhancement
Beaver Slough Habitat Improvement Project
1999 2005
Beaver Slough Habitat Improvement Project
1999 2005
Beaver Slough Habitat Improvement Project
1999 2005
Decker Island
• Removed 625,000 cubic yards of material
• Return 30 acres to tidal wetlands
• Major rehabilitation of over 8 miles of levee on
4 Reclamation Districts
• Required cooperation of DWR, Reclamation Districts,
DFG, Corps of Engineers, RWQCB, USFWS,
NOAA Fisheries
Decker Island Habitat Restoration Project
Before After
Carbon “Farming” for Reversing the Effects of
Subsidence and Carbon Sequestration
Steve Deverel, HydroFocus, Inc. and Belinda Morris , Environmental Defense Fund
American Planning Association Meeting, April 16, 2012
1
Subsidence:
Why, where,
how much and
consequences
2
Increasing
3
Causes Oxidation (~70%) and Consolidation (~30%) • Oxidation :
– Is microbially mediated;
– Is proportional to soil organic matter content;
– Is minimally affected by tillage and
cultivation practices;
– Decreases with shallower water table
– Stops with permanent flooding
– Results in deepening and increasing density of drainage ditches.
• Consolidation: from dewatering
of saturated peat.
See Deverel, Steven J. & Leighton, David A. 2010. Historic, Recent, and Future Subsidence,
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, USA. San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science, 8(2), 1-23
4
2010 estimated
subsidence rates
Su
bsid
en
ce (
cm
/yr)
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
2010 Model Output Values
CO
2 F
lux
(to
n C
O2
/a
c/yr)
25
20
15
10
5
0
2010 Model Output Values
-14
-12
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2
Feb-93 Feb-94 Feb-95 Feb-96 Feb-97 Feb-98 Feb-99 Feb-00 Feb-01 Feb-02
LV
DT
ele
vati
on
(cm
)
average = 1.1 cm/year
Bacon Island
Twitchell Island
5
Twitchell
Sherman
Bacon
Consequences
6
We are seeing more of this
7
Sand boil in drainage ditch
8
Carbon-Capture Wetlands –
Potential Alternative Land Use
Overall Objectives:
• Stop and reverse effects of subsidence
• Stop carbon dioxide loss due to peat oxidation
• Background
• Experimental results
• Economics and
benefits
• Recent Progress and
Next Steps
9
• Permanently flooded,
freshwater, non-tidal
• Two 7 acre wetlands,
established in 1997
Carbon wetlands on Twitchell Island
10
Wetland accretion and carbon accumulation
Lan
d S
urf
ace C
han
ge (
cm
)
BIOMASS ACCRETION
SUBSIDENCE
East West
Miller, R.L., Fram, M.S., Wheeler, G., Fujii, R., 2008. Subsidence reversal in a
re-established wetland in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, USA.
San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science, 6(3): 1-24.
Key = slow decomposition
11
Range: 9 to 40 MT CO2 per acre-year
Miller, Robin L., 2011 Carbon Gas Fluxes in Re-Established Wetlands on Organic Soils Differ
Relative to Plant Community and Hydrology, Wetlands DOI 10.1007/s13157-011-0215-2
Estimated
Net Greenhouse Gas
Benefit
12
MT CO2 equivalent per
acre-year
Average carbon
sequestration
20
Methane emission -9
Current CO2 loss due to
soil oxidation
9
Net benefit (20 – 9 + 9) 20
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
40
50
Prairie Forest
Tidal
Marsh
Twitchell Wetland
Delta Corn
Carb
on D
ioxid
e (
metr
ic t
on
s p
er
acre
) Productivity comparison
13
Market Opportunities
• California State Senate passed Assembly Bill 32 in
2006 • Statewide GHG emission limit equivalent to the1990 GHG emissions by
2020
• Mandates a cap-and-trade program
• Carbon market , registries, protocols
• Subsided islands = accommodation space for
sequestrating carbon.
14
Conceptual Design and Estimated Operating Expenses for 240-acre
Wetland
Total O&M (type 1 & 2)
operation and cash
overhead expenses
$276
Type 3 Capital
Recovery costs
Machinery & Vehicles $9
Buildings $13
Equipment $2
Field Construction $1,386
Subtotal $1,410
Total $1,686
2011 $/A
Benefit – Net Present Value
10 15 20
Year 10 -$1,695 -$814 $321
Year 25 -$1,514 $853 $3,165
Year 50 $182 $4,078 $9,095
-$4,000
-$2,000
$0
$2,000
$4,000
$6,000
$8,000
$10,000
Net
Pre
sen
t V
alu
e i
n $
/acre
Initial price per ton ($)
Net Present Value, 20 tonnes CO2/acre-year
Year 10
Year 25
Year 50
9
20 MT CO2 per acre per year, varying initial price, 5% increase per year
48
17
Recent net
revenue for Delta
corn ~ $190/A
The present value is the total amount that a series of future payments is worth now
Wetlands
Drained ag
Benefits
Saturated conditions allow for
greater drainage discharge control
and load reductions
Eliminate need for
deepening drainage ditches
Reduces threat to levee stability
Reduced seepage and
hydraulic force on levees
Stops volume loss
17
Progress and next
steps Recent progress
• DWR wetland
constructed on
Sherman Island
• GHG monitoring
• Water quality
monitoring
• Site analysis
• Conceptual design for
farm scale wetlands
• Preliminary science
plan
Next Steps
• Farm-scale wetlands
construction
• GHG monitoring
• Water quality monitoring
• Methodology
development
• Peer review
• Additional economic
analysis
• Mosquitoes
18
Thank you • Department of Water
Resources
• Nature Conservancy
• Metropolitan Water District
• Delta Conservancy
• Environmental Defense Fund
• Twitchell Island Reclamation
District
19
• Gornto Ditching
• USGS
• Delta Wetlands
• Ducks Unlimited
• Sherman Island Reclamation District
• Stillwater Sciences
• Wetland and Water Resources
Extra Slides
Program Coordination Technical Advisory Committee 1
Establish Policy FoundationFederal, State, or International laws and regulations support formation and functioning of
regulatory carbon markets, environmental regulations, and funding mechanisms
10
ROAD MAP TO CARBON CAPTURE WETLAND FARMS IMPLEMENTATION
Proof of ConceptRegulatory Structures
Formation
Verification protocols
Predictable and feasible
regulatory compliance
5
4B) Demo Projects
Quantify GHG emissions
Quantify MeHg, DOC/ DBPP, & mosquito impacts
Design, construction, and operations alternatives
A) Quantify Baseline *
GHG
MeHg and DOC/DBPP
* Applies also to LCA
Production cost model refinement 6
Secure funding for these early actions 7
#Details described by Action no. in Chap 10
IMPLEMENT PROJECTS
Project Financing
mechanisms
Technical Assistance Program
9
82
3
Quantify other ecosystem services
roadmap to implementation
BIOMASS ACCUMULATION
PERMANENT WETLAND (NET CARBON GAIN)
Gaseous carbon loss
Deverel and others, 1998, Subsidence of organic soils in Land Subsidence Case Studies
And Current Research (Borchers, J.W., ed) Star Publishing
22
DRAINED AGRICULTURE
(NETCARBON LOSS)
Biomass Carbon dioxide
23
Estimated depth
of subsidence
from 2007 to
2050
Su
bsid
en
ce (
cm
/yr)
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
2010 Model Output Values
EXPLANATION
Subsidence 1.00 m - 1.36 m
0.75 m - 0.99 m
0.50 m - 0.74 m
0.25 m - 0.49 m
0 m - 0.24 m
0 5 10
Kilometers
I 24
25
Consequence: changing
seepage hydraulics
Early 1900s
26
Changing seepage hydraulics
Present
27
-30
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
40
1995 2000 2005 2010
Ele
vati
on
(cm
)
East
Simulated
East
Measured
West
simulated
West
measured
28
2050
29
2003 with drains at land surface
30
2050
31
2003 with drains at land surface
32
Western Delta
Islands –
increasing volume
below sea level
• Simulated volume
loss for 2007-2050:
63,000 acre feet. 18,000
6,000
16,0000 5,600 11,0000
6,500
• When levee fails,
saline water is
drawn from the west.
See Deverel, Steven J. & Leighton, David A.
2010. Historic, Recent, and Future Subsidence,
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, USA.
San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science, 8(2), 1-23 33
Island Benefits Cumulative Force on
Levees
CF = 0.05rH2 L
where r is the density
of water, g is
gravitational
H is the difference
between the average
channel water surface
elevation and the
average elevation of
the island and L is the
levee length for the
island.
CF = 0.05rgH2L
H
Mount J, and Twiss R. 2005, Subsidence, sea level rise, seismicity in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. San Francisco Estuary and Watershed
Science. Vol. 3, Issue 1 (March 2005), Article 5.
Island Benefits
Reduction in Cumulative Force For Twitchell Island
Will likely translate to reduced risk to levees
50%
70%
90%
110%
130%
150%
170%
190%
2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060
Percent of Current Value
Year
Wetland accretion
Subsidence and sea level rise
Accretion estimates from Deverel, SJ, Drexler, JZ, Ingrum, T, and Hart, C. 2011.
Simulation of Vertical Marsh Accretion in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta,
California, USA. In preparation for submission to San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science
35
Environmental Issues
and Needs • Quantification of net greenhouse benefit
– Methane
– Nitrous oxides
– Baseline carbon dioxide emissions
• Mosquitoes
• Water quality issues
– Methyl mercury
– Dissolved organic carbon
36
