Jessica Ussher
Valley News Investigative Reporter
The Meadowview Homeowners Association (HOA) in Temecula met on Wednesday, Jan. 10, to discuss the potential monetization of a stream located within the Temecula Meadow.
This monetization initiative, also known as an ‘alternative water compliance’, equates the water collected in the stream to a specific number of ‘stormwater credits’. These credits are subsequently sold to developers who are unable to fulfill their requirements to capture 100% of their stormwater onsite.
During the meeting, panel members Teri Biacancardi (Meadowview HOA Director and management chair), Annie Bostre- Le (Stormwater programme manager – City of Temecula), Ron Moreno (Assistant Director- public works), Stuart Kuhn (Creator of the Alternative Compliance Program) and Mike Spiellman (Meadowview HOA manager), presented details of the alternative compliance program and took answered questions posed by Temecula residents.
This project, if approved by the residents, will be an extension of Meadowview’s stream restoration program, which was undertaken after a boy, Anthony Fowler, died in a bank collapse in the same stream just 6 inches downstream from the Meadowview’s property line.
“We worked with a number of partners, the US Fish and Wildlife service, the National Resource Conservation Service, Flood Control and the city. What we did instead of concretising that channel which is a traditional stormwater conveyance system, was a nature based stream restoration. The benefit of that was it did not cost us a ton of money. With a nature-based restoration, the stream is thriving. There are plants, birds and animals around the stream and it’s safe,” said Biacancardi in an interview with the Valley News.
The panel also highlighted the natural benefit of the streams located within the 400 acres of Meadowview. “Given that approximately 97 percent of our waterways have been destroyed, the streams serve as a crucial ecological system. We now know that these waterways provide ecosystem benefits that we all depend on and a key benefit of natural conservation is that wetlands are nature’s wastewater treatment plant. There are water districts that, instead of building wastewater treatment plants costing millions of dollars, will restore their wetlands,” said Biacancardi.
Moreno stated that the restored Meadowview stream now functions as a water quality component that can be monetized. The Water Quality Management Plan (WQMP) documents the credits generated by the stream that can be sold to other developments who opt to meet their water quality obligations with offsite environmentally superior projects.
Kuhn’s presentation discussed at the meeting highlighted that hiring the WQMP would cost the HOA approximately $30,000 and stressed that no land is being sold to developers meaning that Temecula residents will still have access to the meadow. “ The water quality benefits are generated through a natural system and require no maintenance. However, the stream restoration’s engineered features would need to remain in place in perpetuity” stated Kuhn.
However, at a rebuttal meeting held on Saturday in response to the stormwater trading process, some residents expressed their concerns. Residents questioned whether selling stormwater credits will allow private developers to build on the land, and also, if trading with private developers jeopardizes the HOA’s nonprofit status. Moreno stated that even without agreeing to trade stormwater credits, the Meadowview stream is under a jurisdictional area called bluelines that are managed by the Army Corps. Obtaining a permit to build on the stream is largely impossible due to tight environmental regulations. This precludes developers from building on the stream even though they purchase water credits. Moreno also stated that “a conservation easement will protect the meadow from development which would be valuable to the HOA”. Biacancardi affirmed this in an interview with Valley news stating that “putting a conservation easement on top of your property would protect it into perpetuity”. She added that should the HOA’s board decide to move forward with putting the credit program out to vote, the association has a long list of tasks to confront, including a full assessment of the impact a sale could have on their non profit status.
The density of Temecula was another major concern raised by the residents. With developers potentially fulfilling their water regulation requirements offsite, there is no longer the need to build water catch basins, allowing developers to build closer together. Temecula residents expressed concerns that Temecula will become overpopulated and overdeveloped. At the rebuttal meeting, Moreno confirmed that stormwater trading will allow developers to build more densely.
Additionally, some Temecula residents highlighted that developers “are not buying anything, they are not even taking water and draining it in our system. What it allows them to do is tick a box on their application that says we comply. How is the water on their property getting cleaned, purified and diverted just because they bought stormwater credits?”
Moreno replied to this overarching concern by stating that “It does allow the developer to check a box stating that they comply when their water is not getting cleaned, but the way that works is that the city is on the hook. The city has a responsibility to detail at the end of what ends up happening, as far as water quality goes, in the city. We detail how much water is being cleaned versus the quantity of new development. So, at the end of the day, we have to specify projects like this that we are going to show that the city of Temecula is cleaning more water than the development that came in”.
Other concerns from the residents included the fact the HOA board has an agenda to ensure this initiative is adopted. “Our job as board members is to check the pulse of the community, there is a legal requirement to bring potential sales like this to the attention of the community,” stated Biacancardi. Despite the limitations of the HOA community survey that were outlined by Biacancardi at Wednesday’s meeting, approximately 50% of respondents felt that they had enough information to vote.
Potentially a vote could be held in a year’s time, after which point the HOA board will begin to tackle questions of managing the stormwater fund and their obligations as a nonprofit organization. Some Temecula residents urged that all residents should insist on reviewing a contract prior to voting.
