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Home My WebLink AboutID# 15-766 Storm Watch 2015 - Preparing for El NinoCITY OF ins LADE r�jLSIAO DREAM EXTREMEN REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council FROM: Grant Yates, City Manager DATE: September 22, 2015 SUBJECT: Storm Watch 2015 — Preoarina for El Nino Recommendation Discuss, review and approve the proposed Storm Watch 2015 Plan to educate and prepare the community and residents for the anticipated El Nino event. Background As of September 10, 2015, experts are predicting a 95% chance that El Nino will continue through the Northern Hemisphere in the winter of 2015 -16. The latest reports state that this year's El Nino event will be significant and is strengthening as we move into the fall months. In fact, most expect that this year's El Nino event could rival the intensity of the record event in 1997 -98, and could be the strongest El Nino of the past 50 years. El Nino is a warming of the eastern Pacific Ocean, particularly along the Equator, that results in abnormally heavy rainstorms and warmer waters. El Nino and the associated storms occur every two to seven years. The severity of each El Nino event varies with water temperatures rising by up to 4 degrees Celsius (7 degrees Fahrenheit) more than normal. El Nino typically reaches its peak during the December and February period and weakens in the spring. The City and our lake is at the bottom of the 720 square mile San Jacinto Watershed in western Riverside County. The watershed begins in the San Jacinto Mountains and runs west through Canyon Lake, ending in Lake Elsinore. Therefore, the City is extremely vulnerable to heavy rainfall throughout western Riverside County that could result in large amounts of runoff flowing downstream causing the lake and our community to flood. In the 1980s, the City of Lake Elsinore suffered a major flooding event as the lake filled rapidly due to heavy rainstorms. Since then, the Lake Elsinore Management Project was completed in 1995 to provide critical infrastructure needed to address future flooding concerns and lake stabilizing needs. Storm Watch 2015 — Preparing for El Nino September 22, 2015 Page 2 Rainfall totals for Riverside County and Lake Elsinore from July 1992 to June 2015 are attached in Exhibit A. This fiscal year Lake Elsinore has received 2.31 inches of rain. The annual average rainfall for Lake Elsinore is 11 inches. Discussion Recognizing the City's vulnerability and the high probability of above average rainfall, staff has launched a Storm Watch 2015 planning effort to prepare and educate the community prior to the anticipated 2015 El Nino event. At the City Council meeting, City staff will present an outline of the proposed plan for Storm Watch 2015. The City's efforts are focused on preparing the City and our residents for El Nino. This includes creating a comprehensive Emergency Action Plan, regional collaboration with neighboring cities and agencies, and a proposed public outreach program to encourage residents to take steps to prepare prior to the anticipated El Nino rainstorm event. The Emergency Action Plan identifies several key components including procedures for reporting emergencies, contact phone numbers for key stakeholders and resources, and action plans addressing preparation before, during and after a major rainstorm event for each division of public works. Divisions include Streets, Lakes, Parks, Emergency Services, and Fleet. In addition, public works staff is identifying key areas /neighborhoods of concern to explore mitigation strategies to limit potential flooding or other public safety concerns. The City will hold internal meetings over the coming months to ensure ongoing attention regarding concerns related to the anticipated El Nino event. In addition, several of our staff members have recently completed a Web EOC training and will be participating in the regional Southwest Table Top Exercise by Riverside County Emergency Management Department. A local collaboration meeting will be held early next month to facilitate critical discussions with neighboring cities and local agencies to coordinate our efforts and ensure adequate communication and support in the event of an emergency and /or major flooding incident. Storm Watch 2015 is a commitment to fulfilling our duties to protect the public safety of our community. Through Storm Watch 2015, we intend to prepare, educate, and collaborate with our community members and agency partners to collectively prepare for and address the potential impacts that may result from the anticipated El Nino event. Storm Watch 2015 — Preparing for El Nino September 22, 2015 Page 2 Fiscal Impact None. Prepared by: Nicole Dailey, Senior Management Analyst Approved by: Grant Yates, City Manager Attachments: Exhibit A: Rainfall Summary from July 1992 to June 2015 RIVERSIDE COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT Rainfall Summary Santa Ana Watershed - July 1992 to June 2015 8/18/2015 Page 1 of 1 Santa Ana Rain 2015 Annual Rainfall (inches) Year * Riverside Corona Elsinore Hemet /SJ Perris /MV 1993 24.18 34.89 25.20 28 23.53 1994 9.89 11.57 10.14 9.4 8.31 1995 21.74 24.97 18.92 20.7 17.53 1996 8.72 10.11 7.31 8.63 6.91 1997 11.35 12.41 8.35 9 8.18 1998 24.49 32.73 24.41 24.1 21.32 1999 6.27 6.79 5.79 6.8 5.5 2000 7.64 9.58 6.20 8.4 7.31 81% 2001 11.22 7.73 9.10 9.4 9.52 2002 3.57 4.07 2.90 3.7 4.28 2003 15.84 16.59 13.52 13.6 16.62 2004 7.18 9.32 6.70 7.62 9.53 2005 23.90 28.90 28.80 24 26.61 2006 7.88 10.49 8.62 10.79 11.02 2007 2.74 2.54 1.60 3.37 3.28 2008 8.09 9.34 934 11.44 11.11 wet 2004 2009 7.52 9.50 8.81 8.74 9.29 2010 1 12.30 16.82 11.39 11.48 14.51 2011 16.43 23.25 14.97 17.07 20.24 2012 6.93 9.19 5.78 8.55 7.44 2013 6.22 6.44 4.42 6.33 7.74 2014 6.59 7.22 4.59 6.32 8.28 2015 8.96 7.29 7.01 68% 8.79 9.57 8/18/2015 Page 1 of 1 Santa Ana Rain 2015 ercen o or orma = Current Year 7 Average Year Year * Riverside Corona Elsinore Hemet /SJ Perris /MV Mean (4) Result 1993 219% 242% 231% 224% 198% 223% record wet year 1994 90% 80% 93% 75% 70% 82% dry 1995 197% 173% 173% 165% 147% 171% very wet 1996 79% 70% 67% 69% 58% 69% dry 1997 103% 86% 77% 72% 69% 81% dry 1998 222% 227% 224% 193% 179% 209% ve wet 1999 57% 47% 53% 54% 46% 51% dry 2000 69% 66% 57% 67% 61% 64% dry 2001 102% 54% 83% 75% 80% 79% dr 2002 32% 28% 27% 30% 36% 31% very dry 2003 143% 115% 124% 109% 140% 126% wet 2004 65% 65% 61% 61% 80% 66% dry 2005 216% 200% 264% 192% 223% 219% record wet year 2006 71% 73% 79% 86% 93% 80% dry 2007 25% 18% 15% 27% 28% 22% very dry 2008 73% 65% 86% 91% 93% 82% dry 2009 68% 66% 81% 70% 78% 73% dry 2010 111% 116% 104% 92% 122% 109% normal 2011 149% 161% 137% 136% 170% 151% wet 2012 63% 64% 53% 68% 62% 62% dry 2013 56% 45% 41% 51% 65% 51% dry 2014 60% 50% 42% 51% 70% 54% dry 2015 81% 50% 64% 70% 80% 69% d Fiscal Year = July 01 thru June 30 8/18/2015 Page 1 of 1 Santa Ana Rain 2015 Station Information Name ID No Avg Years Location Riverside 178 11.04 67 2S/5W -14 Corona 035 14.44 86 4S/7W -02 Elsinore 067 10.91 122 6S/4W -07 Hemet /SJ 186 12.51 123 4S /l W -35 Perris /MV 155 11.91 60 4S/3W -30 8/18/2015 Page 1 of 1 Santa Ana Rain 2015