Indian Wells City Council
Discussion Topics:
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Landscaping and Lighting Maintenance Districts (LLMD) to Mid-Valley Pipeline
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Issue
Does the Council want to add an analysis of connecting the remaining four privately maintained Landscape and Lighting Maintenance Districts (LLMD) and one privately maintained Home Owners Association (HOA) along Highway 111 to Mid-Valley Pipeline water as a City Goal? If so, what are the key issues?
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Existing Conditions
Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) installed the Mid-Valley Pipeline in the Whitewater Channel to supply the Coachella Valley with untreated Colorado River water for landscape irrigation. Non-potable water is about 75% cheaper than potable (drinking) water and the use of non-potable water for landscaping conserves the Valley’s drinking water.
The City connected to the Mid-Valley Pipeline in September of 2009 as the water source for City maintained landscaping. For consistent, reliable flow, water must first be drawn from the Mid-Valley Pipeline into a storage facility. The City and the Indian Wells Golf Resort (IWGR) utilize the lakes at IWGR for water storage. The lakes are filled from the Mid-Valley Pipeline and the water is then pumped out for irrigating the Highway 111 landscaping and the golf courses. The IWGR lakes provide enough capacity to meet the current needs; however, there is no additional capacity in the lakes to irrigate the remaining LLMDs along Highway 111.
There are four privately maintained LLMDs i.e., Desert Horizons, Sundance, Casa Dorado, and Province and one HOA maintained area (Master Access Easement Association or MAEA) along Highway 111 that currently use potable water for irrigation and are subject to CVWD penalties for exceeding their drought water budget. The cost for water and associated penalties during this drought period are substantial and discourage the LLMD’s from turf over-seeding in the winter. This year The Province and the MAEA chose not to over seed with Winter Rye grass. Connecting to the Mid-Valley Pipeline could reduce costs and encourage the maintenance of green grass by privately maintained LLMDs or HOAs.
Staff examined whether the City could assist in the connection of these remaining LLMD to the Mid-Valley Pipeline by re-allocating the City’s operating subsidy to reduce future water costs for the LLMDs and potentially provide a payback mechanism for the City’s outlay costs.
The operating subsidy is separated into two areas: (1) administrative costs and (2) operating contributions.
1. Administrative fees are attributed to each LLMD reimbursing the City for its costs. The City instituted a policy to reimburse each LLMD for these payments resulting in no cost to the LLMD for City administrative services. Effectually, the City pays the cost of City employees to oversee the districts.
2. Operating contributions are actual cash contributions paid to each LLMD as required by the Engineer’s Report. The Engineer’s Report determines the level of general public benefit and establishes a value which becomes the contribution. Not all LLMD’s receive an operating contribution.
The table below illustrates the annual operating subsidy of the four privately maintained LLMD Districts, there are no fees associated with the private HOA:
Some additional considerations are:
• Cost to connect to Mid-Valley Pipeline
• Cost of an additional reservoir for irrigation purposes
• City financing and repayment
• Desire of private LLMD’s to participate
• Additional maintenance cost for green turf in the winter time