General Plan Update Review Committee Draft Elements Part 2 For ...

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Waterway stewardship should improve surface water quality, restore riparian habitat, and help reconnect the City with its creeks. 6-4 VISALIA GENERAL PLAN UPDATE 6.2 WATER RESOURCES Water resources are important not only for residents and businesses but also for agriculture, oak woodlands and other aspects of the natural environment. Visalia’s natural waterways also contribute to the character of the community. Careful stewardship is critical to conserve and protect surface and groundwater, ensure water quality, manage stormwater, and create a more livable city. Water quality standards are established and enforced by the State and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB). Water supply, use, and conservation measures are addressed in the Parks, Schools, Community Facilities and Utilities Element and the Visalia Urban Water Management Plan. Flooding hazards are addressed in the Safety and Noise Element. Surface Water Hydrologic Features and Supply The Planning Area is located in the heart of the Kaweah River’s delta system, so many rivers and creeks flow through the city. Surface runoff generally flows from east to west and terminates in the Tulare Lake Basin. Major surface water resources in the area include St. Johns River, Mill Creek, Packwood Creek, Cameron Creek, Deep Creek, Evans Creek, Modoc Ditch, Mill Creek Ditch, Persian Ditch, Tulare Irrigation District (TID) Canal, and some other local ditches (See Figure 6-1). Except for the TID Canal, most watercourses are intermittent drainages that receive a significant portion of flow from storm water runoff during the rainy season. This intermittent flow is typically supplemented with water released from Terminous Dam, constructed in 1962 and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The City maintains a municipal storm drainage system that consists of drainage channels, 23 detention and retention basins, 33 pump stations and 250 miles of pipe. Historically, runoff was disposed of by directing it to the natural creeks, rivers and irrigation ditches that flow through the city. With increased runoff due to urbanization, the City has created permanent retention basins. These basins also help replenish groundwater as water infiltrates into the aquifer. Future restoration of the natural drainages should be one of the City’s priorities as urbanization concentrates and redirects flows to these drainages, causing potential excessive erosion. Surface Water Quality The water quality of the Kaweah River Delta system is considered to be excellent, with no known water quality impairments in the area. The City complies with the terms of its permits for storm water discharges from small municipal separate storm sewer systems. In November 2005, the City adopted a Storm Water Management Plan that includes a detailed analysis of plans to handle storm water runoff from increased amounts of impervious surface. These plans include retention/detention facilities, street sweeping, establishment of a water quality hotline, and an illicit discharge protection system which will allow the City to determine if there is a serious water quality problem from illegal discharges. Additional development in watershed areas has the potential to cause some surface water quality degradation through storm water discharges. However, improved stormwater management should be
expected to prevent further degradation or even improve water quality. Chapter 4 provides relevant policies for stormwater management. Waterway Restoration and a More Livable Visalia Waterway restoration is a very important focus of this General Plan. Policies in this section outline City actions to improve surface water quality, restore riparian habitat, and help reconnect the City with its creeks through development of greenway trails and urban design that makes waterways a focus of new parks and neighborhoods. Groundwater Groundwater Resources The Visalia area is within the Kaweah Groundwater Subbasin of the San Joaquin Valley Groundwater Basin. The Subbasin’s 696 square miles generally comprises lands in the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District (KDWCD), and include the Kaweah and St. Johns Rivers, with the former being the primary source of groundwater recharge. The alluvial fans of waterways provide highly permeable areas in which groundwater is readily replenished. Annual rainfall in Visalia usually ranges from eight to 12 inches; however, there is no estimate of what percentage of rainfall reaches the groundwater supply. Groundwater flow is generally southwestward. Based on groundwater elevation maps, horizontal groundwater barriers do not appear to exist in the subbasin. According to the Department of Water Resources, groundwater levels in the subbasin have declined about 12 feet on average from 1970 to 2000, with periodic fluctuations. As population continues to grow, and farming practices continue at the current rate, groundwater levels may also decline unless recharge is increased. See Chapter 4 for further discussion. Groundwater Quality The quality of the groundwater that underlies the City is excellent for domestic and agricultural uses. This is due to the abundant snowmelt that originates in the Sierra Nevada. However, the 2005 Water Supply and Facilities Master Plan for the Visalia District documents several constituents of concern in groundwater in the area, including nitrate(fertilizer/private sewage disposal); volatile organic chemicals (VOCs); MTBE (gasoline oxygenate); DBCP (pesticide used until 1977); and pentachlorophenol (a wood preservative). In general, water quality deteriorates west of Highway 99. In addition, groundwater has been contaminated in two areas by past industrial activities (See Chapter 8 for more detail on contaminated sites). Groundwater Management The City of Visalia and the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District (KDWCD) have mutual interests in restoring and maintaining groundwater supplies and controlling flood water, and have worked on a number of projects in the past that benefit City and District interests. Visalia has implemented a Groundwater Overdraft Mitigation Ordinance, which imposes a groundwater mitigation fee on new development and a groundwater impact fee on water suppliers. The fees are used to construct and improve groundwater recharge facilities and to purchase water for groundwater recharge. Recharge efforts are coordinated by the City with KDWCD and local irrigation districts. Chapter 4 provides relevant policies for water conservation. DRAFT ELEMENTS For General Plan Update Review Committee AUGUST 2012 6-5
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For General Plan UPdate Committee r
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General Plan Update Review Committe
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Introduction ..
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5 Parks, Schools, Community Facilit
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Figure 4-2e: Gateway Boulevard (6-L
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Table 4-7: Future Intersection LOS
Page 13 and 14: 4 CIRCULATION The Circulation Eleme
Page 15 and 16: • Traffic controls are incorporat
Page 17 and 18: 10 160 acres 40 Freeway Existing Ar
Page 19 and 20: Existing conditions for roadway seg
Page 21 and 22: Table 4-3: Existing Intersection LO
Page 23 and 24: Table 4-4: Existing Roadway Segment
Page 25 and 26: travel lane, and bike lane widths;
Page 27 and 28: Table 4-5: Planned Roadway Improvem
Page 35 and 36: Figure 4-2b shows a “green corrid
Page 37 and 38: Future Traffic Conditions The TCAG
Page 39 and 40: Source: Omni-Means, 2012 DRAFT ELEM
Page 41 and 42: Table 4-8: Future Roadway LOS (2030
Page 43 and 44: Local Systems Visalia Transit Visal
Page 45 and 46: Visalia City Coach Routes Visalia T
Page 47 and 48: All KART bus routes begin and end a
Page 49 and 50: esources, improved air quality and
Page 51 and 52: Pedestrian Circulation Walking is t
Page 53 and 54: T-P-45 Require that collector stree
Page 55 and 56: • Establish specific standards fo
Page 57 and 58: T-P-61 *Encourage high-security off
Page 59 and 60: 4.9 AVIATION Visalia owns and opera
Page 61 and 62: 6 OPEN SPACE AND CONSERVATION The O
Page 63: OSC-O-4 Create and maintain open sp
Page 67 and 68: Objectives OSC-O-6 Protect water re
Page 69 and 70: Figure 6-2: Typical Residential Sec
Page 71 and 72: 6.3 LAND RESOURCES This section con
Page 73 and 74: Farmland Type 160 acres 10 40 Prime
Page 75 and 76: activities, and agricultural practi
Page 77 and 78: Mineral Resources The most economic
Page 79 and 80: Special Status Plant Species Specia
Page 81 and 82: Objectives OSC-O-10 Protect and enh
Page 83 and 84: Archaeological Resources A records
Page 85 and 86: 7 AIR QUALITY & GREENHOUSE GASES 7.
Page 87 and 88: State and national health-based amb
Page 89 and 90: Table 7-1: State and National Crite
Page 91 and 92: Toxic Air Contaminants The ambient
Page 93 and 94: State and regional agencies identif
Page 95 and 96: Global Climate Change Global climat
Page 97 and 98: 2010. If California were considered
Page 99 and 100: Objectives AQ-O-3 *Reduce emissions
Page 101 and 102: 8 SAFETY AND NOISE The purpose of t
Page 103 and 104: Huron Avenal 46 Kerman 269 145 33 S
Page 105 and 106: Objectives S-O-1 Minimize risks of
Page 107 and 108: Flooding Risks 10 160 acres 40 } 99
Page 109 and 110: Laws and Regulations Federal and St
Page 111 and 112: ing underground storage tanks which
Page 113 and 114: Fire Threat 10 160 acres 40 Moderat
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S-P-30 Assist in solving the incend
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EMERGENCY RESPONSE In 2008, the Dep
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S-P-39 *Continue to work with weath
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Noise Generation in Visalia A commu
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craft and rail transportation. Nois
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other businesses, including a used
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The Noise Ordinance may remain prim
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N-P-5 Continue to enforce applicabl
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GLOSSARY 100-Year Flood. That flood
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Connectivity. The quality of street
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dation, competition, or disease. Th
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Groundwater Recharge. The natural p
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Maximum Contaminant Level. Are stan
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of Federal Regulations, Section 17.
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Transportation Demand Management. M
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cfs: Cubic feet per second CGS: Cal
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TAZ: Traffic Analysis Zone TCAG: Tu
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Table A-1: Contaminated Sites ID Si
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Table B-1: Existing Traffic Noise C
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B-4 Table B-1: Existing Traffic Noi
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B-10 VISALIA GENERAL PLAN UPDATE Th
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D Y E T T & B H ATIA Urban and Regi
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