Title
[Contract] Regional Water Authority Cost-Sharing Agreement for the Water Forum
End
FileID
File ID: 2026-01002
End
Location
Location: Citywide
End
Recommendation
Recommendation: Pass a Motion authorizing the City Manager or designee to execute an interagency cost share agreement on behalf of the Water Forum for the Healthy Rivers & Landscapes Program (HR&L) with the Regional Water Authority (RWA).
End
Contact
Contact: Ashlee Casey, Executive Director, (916) 808-1995, acasey@waterforum.org; Emily Lee, Administrative Analyst, (916) 808-1993, elee@waterforum.org, Water Forum; Kelly Sherfey, Supervising Financial Analyst, (916) 808-1466, ksherfey@cityofsacramento.org, Department of Utilities
End
Presenter
Presenter: None
End
Attachments
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Exhibit A-RWA Cost Share Agreement
3-Verdantas HR&L Scope
4-SP Cramer HR&L Scope
End
Description/Analysis
IssueDetail
Issue Detail: The interagency HR&L cost share agreement with RWA supports HR&L Science Plan development and related pre-implementation tasks associated with salmonid habitat improvements and monitoring for the Lower American River, which are a requirement of the statewide HR&L Program, pursuant to the State Water Resources Control Board’s Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan update process. Water Forum is supporting the HR&L Program process due to their long-standing partnership with RWA and as the sole implementer of salmonid habitat improvements and science and monitoring activities associated with those habitats, on the Lower American River.
The cost-share agreement will provide the budget, framework and specific approach for Science Plan development and a monitoring framework for assessment of the Flow and Non-Flow Measures to address several important and broad-scale ecosystem management questions required to be analyzed and reported upon under the HR&L Program. The agreement is needed since the level of effort and budget previously assumed for HR&L Science Plan development and other pre-implementation tasks for the statewide HR&L Program has been vast and labor-intensive, and above original estimates of engagement for Water Forum. Thus, RWA, as the American River regional representative for the HR&L Program development process, will be providing a cost-share.
End
PolicyConsiderations
Policy Considerations: City Council approval is required for agreements of $250,000 or more per City Code 3.56.090.
End
EconomicImpacts
Economic Impacts: None.
End
EnvironmentalConsiderations
Environmental Considerations: Government fiscal activities do not constitute a project pursuant to CEQA and are therefore exempt from CEQA review (CEQA Guidelines § 15378(b)(2) and (b)(4)).
End
Sustainability
Sustainability: Approval of an interagency HR&L cost share agreement with RWA is consistent with the following City of Sacramento’s 2040 General Plan Goals.
Environmental Resource Constraints Goal 1 - Responsible management of water resources that preserves and enhances water quality and availability.
Environmental Resource Constraints Goal 2.1 - Conservation of Water Resources in Open Space Areas. The City shall continue to preserve, protect, and provide appropriate access to designated open space areas along the American and Sacramento Rivers, floodways, and undevelopable floodplains, provided access would not disturb sensitive habitats or species, and shall support efforts to conserve and, where feasible, create or restore areas that provide important water quality and habitat benefits such as creeks, riparian corridors, buffer zones, wetlands, open space areas, levees, and drainage canals for the purpose of protecting water resources and habitats in the city’s watersheds, creeks, and the Sacramento and American Rivers.
Environmental Resource Constraints Goal 2.12 - Support Habitat Conservation Plan Efforts. The City shall encourage and support regional habitat conservation planning efforts to conserve and manage habitat for special status species. New or amended Habitat Conservation Plans should provide a robust adaptive management component sufficient to ensure that habitat preserves are resilient to climate change effects/impacts and to ensure their mitigation value over time. Provisions should include but are not limited to: greater habitat ranges and diversity; corridors and transition zones to accommodate retreat or spatial shifts in natural areas; redundant water supply; elevated topography to accommodate extreme flooding; and flexible management and fee structure.
Environmental Resource Constraints Goal 2.14 - Climate Change-related Habitat Restoration and Enhancement. The City shall support active habitat restoration and enhancement to reduce impact of climate change stressors and improve overall resilience of habitat within existing parks and open space in the city. The City shall support the efforts of Sacramento County to improve the resilience of habitat areas in the American River Parkway.
End
Commission/Committee Action
Commission/Committee Action: The proposed agreement was reviewed and approved by the Water Forum Coordinating Committee in April 2026.
End
RationaleforRecommendation
Rationale for Recommendation: Approval of an interagency HR&L cost share agreement with RWA will enable the Water Forum to provide and manage an appropriate level of staff and technical consultant support for HR&L Science Plan development process needs. As the sole implementor of salmonid habitat and science and monitoring activities on the Lower American River, Water Forum is an integral partner to RWA on the HR&L effort. The cost-share agreement will provide the budget, framework and specific approach for Science Plan development and a monitoring framework for assessment of the Flow and Non-Flow Measures to address several important and broad-scale ecosystem management questions required to be analyzed and reported upon under the HR&L Program.
End
FinancialConsiderations
Financial Considerations: The proposed budget for this agreement is $316,939, which will be shared among 13 participating agencies.
There are no General Funds allocated or planned for this agreement.
End
LocalBusinessEnterprise
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Not applicable.
End