[00:00:02]
[CALL TO ORDER]
OKAY.RIGHT NOW, RIGHT NOW, FIVE 31.
APRIL'S WATER IN A WASTEWATER COMMISSION, THREE EURO MEETING BY VIDEO CONFERENCING.
UH, FIRST WE'LL COME COMMISSIONER.
JUDY MUST GO UP FOR THE COMMISSION WILL COME ON BOARD AND WE WILL CODE THE ROAD.
AND I BELIEVE WE GOT COMMISSIONER MORNING, YETI COMMISSIONER PAIN, ALL THE CASTLEBERRY, MOSCOW WILLIAMS FISHER, AND, UH, COMMISSIONER MICHELLE.
WON'T BE ABLE TO ATTEND AND HOPEFULLY COMMISSIONER TO THE APAC.
AND THERE IS NO SEASONS COMMUNICATIONS, SO WE WILL MOVE ON TO ITEM
[A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
A APPROVAL OF MINUTES ON THE FEBRUARY 3RD, 2021.WHAT WASTEWATER COMMISSION WE GO TO CODE 18 AND I JUST GOT MINOR CORRECTION THAT NEEDED TO BE DONE.
UM, ITEM E BEFORE THE COMMISSION COMMISSIONER TESL PERRY'S MOTION.
SHOULD IT BE COMMISSIONED COMMISSION? THAT'S AN ALIGNMENT CORRECTION.
UH, COMMISSIONER'S GOT ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR ANY MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES.
I'LL MAKE A MOTION FOR APPROVAL AS AMENDED.
IS THERE A SECOND? I'LL SAY, CAN YOU OKAY? OH, IN FAVOR, UH, THE COMMISSIONER, UH, HE SPRANG UP, PLEASE CALL AT ALL.
UH, CON UH, CHAIR LI UH, VICE CHAIR.
[B. ITEMS FOR COMMISSION’S REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION FOR APPROVAL TO CITY COUNCIL]
IT'S MOVED, UM, TO, UH, TO ITEM B AND WE WILL GO AROUND THE TABLE AND AS A COMMISSIONER, IF WANT TO PULL OUT ANY SHAME OR ANY RECUSALS? COMMISSIONER MOORE, YETI, NO QUESTIONS, NO ROUTINES COMMISSION.WE'RE A SUB-CONSULTANT ON THAT DESIGN TEAM.
AND I GOT QSO, UM, ITEM NUMBER EIGHT, BECAUSE OF THE CONTRACT.
ARE YOU SMOKING? UM, ONE OF THE PROJECTS THAT WE DESIGNED, SO I NEED TO RECUSE ON IT.
I HAVE A QUESTION ON ITEM EIGHT.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS. RECUSALS.
COMMISSIONER FISHER, NO QUESTIONS, NO RECUSALS.
SORT OF CONSENT ITEMS OR ITEMS? ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, NINE, 10.
IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE IT? NOT HOW I, SOME MOTION MADE BY COMMISSIONER HALL.
SECOND, MISS BRANCA, PLEASE CALL THE ROLL.
[00:05:01]
COMMISSIONER HO YES.UH, APPROVAL, UH, WITH, UH, UNANIMOUS APPROVAL AND TRITA, UH, OFF THE DYESS.
AND, AND THE COMMISSIONER MICHELLE IS, UH, UH, A 10TH.
WITH COMMISSIONER MICHELLE ABSENT AND COMMISSIONER TREE AT ALL, UM, OFF THE DICE OR ABSENT IF SHE DOESN'T JOIN US, UH, DURING THE MEETING.
[B.8. Recommend approval to award and execute a construction contract with Santa Clara Construction, Ltd (MBE)., for the Bryker Road Water and Wastewater Pipeline Renewal project in the amount of $1,417,578 plus a $141,757.80 contingency, for a total contract amount not to exceed $1,559,335.80. (District 10)]
AND WE WILL ASKIT IS A TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL TO AWARD AND EXECUTE A CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT WITH SANTA CLARA, CONSTRUCTION, LTD MBE FOR THE BRIDE PER ROAD, WATER AND WASTEWATER PIPELINE, RENEWABLE PROJECTS, AND THE AMOUNT OF $1,417,578 PLUS $141,757 AND 80 CENTS CONTINGENCY OR A TOTAL CONTRACT AMOUNT, NOT TO EXCEED 1,000,505 FEET, $559,335 AND 80 CENTS.
UM, WE HAVE, I HAD A QUESTION ON IT.
UM, UH, I NOTICED THAT SANTA CLARA, UH, CONSTRUCTION HAS HAD QUITE A FEW CONTRACTS WITH AUSTIN WATER.
UM, AND THE LAST FEW YEARS I'M GETTING, I'VE GOTTEN TO RECOGNIZE, UM, THEIR NAME.
AND, UM, I ALSO NOTED THAT THIS, UH, THE WRITEUP, UH, HAD, UH, EMPHASIZE THAT THIS CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT IS TIME SENSITIVE.
UM, SO MY QUESTION WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, DO THEY HAVE ADEQUATE RESOURCES AND COMMITMENTS FOR THIS PROJECT? BRING IN SOME OF OUR ENGINEERING STAFF TO HELP ANSWER THAT GOOD EVENING, COMMISSIONERS, COMMISSIONER CASTLEBERRY, SHAY ROLSON ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR ENGINEERING.
SANTA CLARA HAS WON A NUMBER OF PROJECTS RECENTLY.
UM, THE, THE CONTRACT, THE STANFORD CITY CONTRACT HAS REQUIREMENTS FOR COMPLETION TIME.
AND BY ENTERING INTO A CONTRACT WITH US, THEY COMMIT TO THOSE, UH, COMPLETION DATES.
AND OUR STANDARD PROJECT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ARE TO MONITOR THE SCHEDULE REQUIREMENTS, SCHEDULE FROM THEM UPFRONT, AND THEN MONITOR IT AS WE GO ALONG AND DEVELOP RECOVERY SCHEDULES.
IF THEY FALL BEHIND, WE DON'T HAVE ANY INDICATION THAT, UM, THAT THEY DON'T HAVE THE RESOURCES TO, TO GET THIS WORK DONE, OR WE BELIEVE THERE IS SUFFICIENT TIME IN THE CONTRACT FOR THEM TO ORGANIZE THEIR CREWS, UM, TO ACCOMPLISH THE WORK THAT THEY HAVE.
UM, WITH THAT, UH, IS THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR DISCUSSION I'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION FOR APPROVAL? I MOVE, WE APPROVE ITEM B, COMMISSIONER MESS GROVE, UM, NEWS TO APPROVE.
DO I HAVE A SECOND OR YOU ALREADY SENT A SECOND ADD BY MORIARTY AND COMMISSIONER.
UM, AND I'LL TAKE A, UH, CAN I DO A SHOW OF HANDS OR DID WE HAVE TO DO A ROLL CALL BLANCA? I'LL LET YOU DO A ROLL CALL.
UH, WITH COMMISSIONER MORIARTY, UH, APPROVAL AS HIS SECOND COMMISSIONER, PENN IS RECUSED COMMISSIONER HO UH, COMMISSIONER MICHELLE IS ABSENT.
UH, CHAIR LEE IS RECUSED, UH, COM UH, VICE CHAIR CASTLEBERRY.
UM, COMMISSIONER MUSK GROVE, UH,
[00:10:01]
MADE THE MOTION.AND COMMISSIONER CERITA IS ABSENT.
SO THAT IS, UM, APPROVAL WITH, UH, TWO RECUSALS AND COMMISSIONERS MICHELLE AND TRIANA ABSENT.
TWO COMMISSIONERS, UH, BLANCA.
HOW MANY VOTES DID THAT GIVE? OKAY.
I DON'T THINK HE GOT ENOUGH TO HAVE A QUORUM, SO IT'LL GO TO THE COUNCIL WITH NO RECOMMENDATION.
DID WE GET SIX POSITIVES ON THAT? HMM, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE.
ONE, TWO, THREE WITH COMMISSIONER HILL.
I BELIEVE IT SAID SIX, SO BARELY, BUT YES, SIR.
AND I'LL RETURN THE MEETING BACK TO CHARLIE.
[C.1. Officer Elections of the Water and Wastewater Commission; Chair and Vice-Chair]
THANK YOU.AND THEN WE'LL MOVE ON TO ITEM C1, OBVIOUSLY THE MISSION OF THE WATER AND WASTE WATER COMMISSION, CHAIR, AND VICE CHAIR.
SO IS THERE ANY NOMINATION I'D LIKE TO NOMINATE A CHAIR LEAD TO SERVE AGAIN AS CHAIR, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE HE KIND OF GOT STUCK WITH A PANDEMIC.
HE DIDN'T REALLY GET TO CHAIR.
MAYBE WE CAN RETURN TO IN-PERSON MEETINGS.
AND NOW ACCEPTED THE NOMINATION.
IS THERE ANY OTHER NOMINATION, IF NOT, WE WILL ASK THE BRONCHITIS PLEASE.
FOR CHILI'S VICE-CHAIR CASTLEBERRY.
THAT IS EIGHT YESES FOR CHAIR LEE AS A CHAIR.
AND WE, NOW WE WILL EVACUATE, UH, THAT MY CHAIR AND I WERE NOMINATE COULDN'T VICE CHAIR, CASE OR PERRY, OR CONTINUE OR SERVICE WHERE YOU ACCEPT MY NOMINATION.
IS THERE ANY OTHER AMMUNITION, IF NOT
UH, VICE CHAIR, CASTLE BERRIES, UM, NOMINATION, UH, MOVES EIGHT WITH, UH, COMMISSIONERS MICHELLE AND TRITA ABSENCE.
[D.1. Appointment of Budget Committee Members and Officers; Chair and Vice-Chair]
WE WILL MOVE ON TO ITEM D ONE APPOINTMENT OF BUDGET COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND OFFICERS OR CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.AND I DISCUSSED WITH COMMISSIONER
SO I'D LIKE TO APPOINT NAME, CONTINUE WITH YOUR SERVICES.
AND RIGHT NOW WE GOT, UM, PERMISSION OF FISHER AND MORIARTY IN THE PEN OR THE BUDGET COMMITTEE MEMBERS.
[00:15:04]
UH, WELL ITEM D TWO, ANDLET'S MOVE THIS SKIP ITEM EACH THREE
[E.1. Update from Joint Sustainability Committee Meeting]
AND MOVE ON TO ITEM E ONE UPDATE FROM JONES SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE MEETING, COMMISSIONER HALL.UM, SO THE, A MEETING, AS YOU COULD IMAGINE, FOCUS A LOT ON THE, UM, THE, UH, THE SNOWSTORM AND A LOT OF THE COMPENSATION AROUND, UM, UH, RESILIENCY PLAN AND HOW A LOT OF THE, UH, THINGS THAT, YOU KNOW, GENERALLY THE, THE COMMUNITY TYPE FOR GRANTED WAS MISSING.
AND SOME OF THE THINGS THAT RELATED TO WHAT WE DOING, UM, SOME OF IT HAS TO DO WITH A CONVERSATION AROUND, UH, YOU KNOW, COMMUNITY CENTER, UH, AND SO ON, AND ALSO THE FOOD NETWORK, UM, HOW PEOPLE CAN GET TO A FOOD CHOICE DURING THE SNOWSTORM.
SO I IMAGINE AS WE PROGRESS FORWARD, UH, THE CITY JUST HIRE, UH, SUSTAIN THE, UM, RESILIENCY OFFICER, CHIEF RESILIENCY OFFICER THAT IS REPORTED DIRECTLY TO AN ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER.
UH, AND I BELIEVE SOME OF THE CONVERSATION GOING FORWARD, UM, I'M SURE WOULD HAVE A LOT OF NEXUS TO DO WITH WATER, ENERGY, FOOD, ACCESS, UH, SAFETY FOR THE COMMUNITY.
UM, SO IT'S RELATED TO A COUPLE OF ITEMS IN OUR AGENDA LATER TODAY.
OBVIOUSLY WE HAVEN'T DONE SORT OF AN AFTER ACTION REPORT, UH, AS FAR AS YOU WATER AND WASTEWATER IS CONCERNED.
UM, SO I, I DIDN'T WANT TO OVER W I DIDN'T DISCUSS ANY ITEM RELATED TO THAT BECAUSE I WANTED TO SEE THE ACTUAL APP TO ACTION FIRST.
UM, BUT CONSIDERING THAT THERE'S A COMMITTEE BEING A WORK GROUP, OR THAT'D BE INFORMED FOR THE FEBRUARY SNOWSTORM, UH, I WOULD HIGHLY ENCOURAGE THAT THE WORK OF THAT WORK GROUP, UH, REVOLVE AROUND CHINA, THINK OF WAY THAT OUR COMMUNITY CAN BE MORE RESILIENT AND HOW AUSTIN WATER CAN PLAYS A PART, UM, YOU KNOW, THINGS RELATED TO URBAN FARM, UH, YOU KNOW, HOW CAN WE HELP HAVE THEM SHOWED US SOME OF THE CAUSE, UM, THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
SO I JUST WANT TO SHARE THAT HIGH LEVEL, UH, CAUSE I THINK IS RELEVANT TO WHAT WE'RE GOING TO BE DISCUSSING TODAY.
UH, COMMISSIONER SCOTT, ANY QUESTION TO COMMISSIONER HALL? OKAY, GO AHEAD.
YOU SAID THAT, UM, THE RESILIENCY OFFER OFFICER REPORTS DIRECTLY TO THE CITY MANAGER.
SO THEY'RE NOT IN A DEPARTMENT OR THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE, IS THAT RIGHT? NO, THEY, UH, THAT OFFICER REPORT TO AN ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, SO NOT, NOT ON THE SAME RANK, UM, BUT IT WAS FOR CONTEXT, IT WAS VERY CRITICAL WHEN THE JOYCE SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE DISCUSSED THE RECOMMENDATION FOR THAT POSITION, THAT WE FELT STRONGLY THAT THAT POSITION SHOULD BE IN THE EXECUTIVE RANK, UH, TO KEEP THE CONVERSATION ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE AND, AND COMMUNITY EQUITABLE, UH, LENS IS IN THE FOREFRONT.
AND, UM, IN THE HIGHEST RANKED THAT THE IT'S NOT A TOKEN POSITION THAT DOES NOT HAVE, UH, POWER, UH, FOR CONTEXT.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR COMMISSIONER HALL? WE WILL MOVE ON TO
[F.1. COVID-19 – Austin Water Operations, Staff and Financial Impact Update]
ITEM F1 COVID-19 AUSTIN, WATER OPERATIONS STUFF, AND THE FINANCIAL IMPACT UPDATE THIS ONE SECOND.I'M HAVING TROUBLE GETTING MY VIDEOS STARTED.
UM, I'M HERE TO PROVIDE AN UPDATE AND MY NAME IS JOSEPH GONZALES, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AUSTIN WATERS,
[00:20:01]
AND I'LL PROVIDE A BRIEF UPDATE ON OUR CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE THEY'LL RELEASE PROGRAM, AS WELL AS A COVID-19 FINANCIAL UPDATE.AND I'LL START WITH OUR PLUS ONE BILL RELIEF PROGRAM IN MARCH.
THE PLUS ONE PROGRAM PROVIDED A $795,000 IN BILL RELIEF TO, UH, 2,579 CUSTOMERS FOR A TOTAL OF 12 AND A HALF MILLION OF PAYMENT ASSISTANCE SINCE LAST APRIL.
UM, AS FAR AS THE FINANCIAL IMPACT OF, OF, OF COVID-19, I'LL PROVIDE A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF, OF WATER DEMAND, REVENUES AND EXPENSES FOR, FOR WATER DEMAND.
CUSTOMER WATER DEMAND CONTINUES TO TRACK ABOVE BUDGETED LEVELS, UH, PARTICULARLY WHEN, WHEN THE WINTER STORMS ARE IN.
UM, AND, AND ALSO, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE COMMISSION DIDN'T MEET LAST MONTH, I'D LIKE TO POINT OUT THAT WHILE CUSTOMER DEMAND WAS ALMOST 19% ABOVE EXPECTATIONS IN FEBRUARY DUE TO THE WINTER STORM.
UH, BUT BECAUSE OF OUR WINTER STORM BILL RELIEF EFFORTS THAT WE'LL DISCUSS LATER, UM, THAT WON'T RESULT IN ADDITIONAL REVENUE FOR THE, FOR THE UTILITY, UH, WHILE IN MARCH DEMAND WAS 5.4% HIGHER THAN EXPECTED, OR ABOUT 200 MILLION GALLONS ABOVE BUDGETED LEVELS.
NOW, NORMALLY THIS WOULD BE AN INDICATION OF, OF HIGHER REVENUES TO COME IN APRIL, BUT AGAIN, SOME OF THAT WILL LIKELY BE OFFSET BY OUR ONGOING BILL RELIEF EFFORTS.
NOW FROM A REVENUE PERSPECTIVE, YOU KNOW, FEBRUARY WATER AND WASTEWATER REVENUES WERE ACTUALLY ABOUT 8.3 MILLION, UH, BELOW EXPECTED LEVELS, UH, FOR, FOR ALL CUSTOMER CLASSES, RESIDENTIAL MULTIFAMILY, AND COMMERCIAL DUE PRIMARILY TO, TO BILLING DELAYS CAUSED BY THE WINTER STORM.
AND WE WEREN'T ABLE TO GET OUT AND DO METER READS, UH, FOR, FOR THE WEEK OF THE STORM.
UM, AND AS A RESULT, OUR, OUR BILL CYCLES WERE, WERE ALL DELAYED.
UM, SO THAT, THAT $8 MILLION APPEARS TO BE PRIMARILY RELATED TO TWO BILLING DELAYS.
UM, HOWEVER, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE FEBRUARY SHORTFALL WAS, WAS MADE UP IN MARCH, WHICH WAS SIX AND A HALF MILLION ABOVE BUDGET EXPECTATIONS.
AND, AND, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF YEAR TO DATE REVENUES THROUGH MARCH A YEAR-TO-DATE REVENUES ARE OUT 10.9, ALMOST 11 MILLION ABOVE BUDGETED LEVELS.
UH, SO WE'RE STILL IN GOOD SHAPE FROM, FROM A REVENUE PERSPECTIVE.
AND THEN WITH REGARD TO EXPENSES, UH, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T SAY WE'RE NOT SEEING A WHOLE LOT OF ONGOING, UH, COVID-19 RELATED EXPENSES, BUT, UM, COVID-19 EXPENSES THROUGH MARCH, UH, FOLLOWED 4.3 MILLION.
AND THESE EXPENSES, YOU KNOW, PRIMARILY, YOU KNOW, THE ONGOING EXPENSES FOR TEMPERATURE MONITORING, BUT WE, WE HAVE HAD OTHER EXPENSES RELATED TO PERSONNEL AND, AND PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT.
NOW, AUSTIN WATER CONTINUES TO MONITOR THE FINANCIAL IMPACTS OF THE PANDEMIC CLOSELY.
UH, BUT WE'RE CONFIDENT THAT WE CAN SUSTAIN OUR FINANCIAL POSITION, UH, THROUGHOUT THE DURATION OF THE PANDEMIC.
IN FACT, SINCE REVENUES FOR THE YEAR ARE ALMOST 11 MILLION ABOVE BUDGET EXPECTATIONS, AND, YOU KNOW, DESPITE THE WINTER STORM BILLING DELAYS, AND BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE ANY SIGNIFICANT ONGOING COVID RELATED EXPENSES, UH, WE, WE DON'T BELIEVE THE PANDEMIC WILL HAVE ANY ONGOING IMPACT ON OUR FINANCIAL CONDITION.
AND WE'LL PROPOSE THAT THIS BE THE LAST COVID FINANCIAL, UH, IMPACT UPDATE.
UH, AND WITH THAT, I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS, ANY QUESTIONS
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENT INFORMATION.
[F.2. Austin Water February Winter Storm Event Briefing]
LET'S MOVE ON ITEM F TO AUSTIN WATER, FEBRUARY WINTER STORM EVENT.WHAT DO YOU THINK? THANK YOU, CHAIR.
UH, THIS IS DIRECTOR GREG MAZARRA, SO I'LL GET US KICKED OFF TONIGHT.
SO APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO UPDATE YOU ALL ON THE WINTER STORM FROM FEBRUARY AS YOU'LL SEE IN THE PRESENTATION TONIGHT, AND IT GETS FAIRLY DETAILED.
WE REALLY WANT TO PROVIDE YOU A COMPREHENSIVE OVERVIEW, UM, THAT THE FEBRUARY WINTER STORM HAVE IMPACTED, UH, EVERY ASPECT OF FOSTERING WATERS, OPERATIONS, STAFF, AND SYSTEMS. AND, UM, WE'LL SHARE THAT WITH YOU TODAY, WHICH IS PROBABLY THE START OF JUST THE BEGINNING OF ULTIMATELY, YOU KNOW, WORKING THROUGH ALL THE AFTER ACTION PROCESSES WITH THIS STORM AND, AND MORE THAN JUST AUSTIN, THIS, UH, THIS WINTER STORM, OF COURSE, AS YOU ALL KNOW, WAS A STATEWIDE EVENT, UH, AFFECTING, UH, THE ENTIRE STATE OF TEXAS AND, UH, TENS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE.
UH, TCEQ HERE RECENTLY SHARED SOME DATA ON THEIR WEBSITE
[00:25:01]
OVER 2300 WATER UTILITIES, EXPERIENCED A BOIL WATER NOTICE OR OTHER FORMS OF DISRUPTION DURING THIS EVENT.UH, LAST WEEK, UH, I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO ATTEND A MEETING WITH OTHER LARGE UTILITY DIRECTORS ACROSS THE STATE AND SHARE OUR JOINT EXPERIENCE AND, UH, AND, UH, THINGS THAT WORKED AND DIDN'T WORK AND WHAT WE'VE COMMITTED TO CONTINUING THAT DIALOGUE, UH, AS WE'RE ALL LEARNING, UH, HOW TO, UH, BEST, UH, ADAPT TO, UH, A WINTER VORTEX OF THIS NATURE.
UH, THE BRIEFING TODAY WILL BE CONDUCTED BY SEVERAL OF OUR EXECUTIVES.
WE'LL BE PROVIDING A PRETTY GOOD OVERVIEW OF THE IMPACTS TO OUR SYSTEM.
UH, SOME OF THE, UH, THE DEMANDS THAT WE EXPERIENCED, UH, OUR, OUR STORAGE.
YOU'LL SEE SOME OF THE GRAPHS.
YOU MAY HAVE SEEN SOME OF THIS IN SOME OTHER BRIEFINGS THAT WE'VE DONE, WE'VE DONE, BUT THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO KIND OF REALLY ENGAGE MORE DIRECTLY WITH THE COMMISSIONERS.
UM, E IN ADDITION, WE'LL BE SHARON, AS JOSEPH INDICATED A LITTLE MORE DETAIL ON THE FINANCIALS, UH, STEPS WE TOOK TO KEEP CUSTOMERS WHOLE AND PREVENT CUSTOMERS FROM RECEIVING LARGE BILLS ASSOCIATED WITH, UH, WITH, UH, ANY LEAKS THAT THEY HAD.
UH, CERTAINLY THAT WAS A BIG PART OF THE EVENT WAS A MANY THOUSANDS OF, OF PRIVATE ELITES AND A IN BURST PIPES.
UH, IN ADDITION, WE'LL BE SHARING, UH, SOME OF OUR, UH, PREVIOUS RESILIENCY PLANNING, UH, FOR THE UTILITY AND, UH, AND, UH, AND, UH, WHERE WE SEE SOME OF THAT GOING IN THE FUTURE.
UM, THERE SIGNIFICANT WORK AHEAD FOR OUR UTILITY, UH, TO, UH, WORK THROUGH THESE, UM, PROCESSES AND, UH, COME OUT WITH RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND, UH, WE, WE WOULD BE, UM, ASKING FOR THE COMMISSION'S HELP IN THAT REGARD.
UH, ONE OF THE ITEMS THAT'S LINKED TO THIS TONIGHT IS THE FORMATION OF A WORKING GROUP, UH, WITH THE COMMISSION, UH, TO HELP US, UH, EVALUATE RECOMMENDATIONS TO GIVE US GOOD, HONEST FEEDBACK ON THE PROCESS.
OBVIOUSLY, MANY OF YOU, ALL OF YOU ARE AUSTIN WATER CUSTOMERS.
YOU, UH, EXPERIENCED THE EVENT, THE EVENT FIRSTHAND AND COULD GIVE US, I THINK, GOOD OBJECTIVE, UH, OF, UH, PERSPECTIVE AND INPUT ON, ON RECOMMENDATIONS AND STEPS THAT WE CAN AND WILL TAKE.
UM, UH, ALSO MANY OF YOU ARE VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE WATER INDUSTRY AND AUSTIN WATER IN PARTICULAR.
YOU'VE SERVED ON THE COMMISSION FOR MANY YEARS.
UH, WE THINK YOUR PERSPECTIVES WOULD BE HIGHLY VALUED OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS AS WE WORK THROUGH THIS, BUT WE DON'T SEE THIS AS A LONG-TERM MULTI-YEAR COMMITMENT.
YOU KNOW, WE'RE LOOKING FOR A, KIND OF A WORKING GROUP WHICH CAN OPERATE A LITTLE LESS STRUCTURED.
IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE POSTED OR NEED A QUORUM OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
IT'S JUST AN OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE A LITTLE BIT MORE CLOSELY WITH, UH, WITH OUR STAFF, UH, AND, UH, AND OTHERS TO HELP US SORT THROUGH, UH, HOW WE WORK THROUGH THIS, UH, AT AUSTIN WATER AND, UH, ULTIMATELY PROGRAM, UH, CHANGES INTO THE FUTURE TO OUR OPERATIONS IN OUR CAPITAL PROGRAMS. UM, SO APPEAL TO YOU TO THINK ABOUT SERVING ON THAT COMMITTEE, UH, IF YOU WOULD WANT, WE CAN HAVE UP TO FIVE ON THAT WORKING GROUP AND, UH, AND WOULD, UH, WOULD REALLY, UH, APPRECIATE ANY COMMISSIONER'S WILLINGNESS TO HELP US OUT THERE.
AND, UH, AND WITH THAT, WE'LL, WE'LL COME BACK TO THAT ITEM, OF COURSE.
AND WITH THAT, I'LL, UH, I'LL TURN IT OVER FOR THE FIRST PART OF THE BRIEFING.
I THINK, UH, UH, SUSAN DIRECTOR, RICK CORNETTO IS GOING TO BE DOING THAT PART OF THE BRIEFING.
GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS, UM, CHAIR LEE AND COUNCIL, UH, VICE CHAIR CASTLEBERRY.
UM, I'M GOING TO GO OVER, UH, QUITE A BIT OF CONTENT, UH, AS THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS.
IF YOU WANT TO GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO I HAVE QUITE A BIT OF CONTENT, AND SO I WILL COVER THE SYSTEM OVERVIEW AS WELL AS SOME OF THE DEMAND ANALYSIS IN, IN BETWEEN.
I HAVE SOME PAUSE, UM, SLIDES JUST HAVE SOME QUESTIONS, BUT WE WILL ALSO LEAVE OPPORTUNITY AT THE END, UH, TO PROVIDE FOR DISCUSSION AND QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
SOME OF THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN SHARED PREVIOUSLY, BUT I WANT TO KIND OF GIVE YOU A SYSTEM OVERVIEW OF THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.
UH, THE COMMUNITY ITSELF IS NOT, UM, FAMILIAR WITH SOME OF THE INTRICATE DETAILS THAT IT TAKES TO PROVIDE WATER TO THE CUSTOMERS.
AND SO THIS IS INTENDED TO BE AN OVERVIEW, A GRAPHIC TO KIND, TO KIND OF HELP SHARE HOW WATER IS MOVED FROM OUR LAKE SYSTEMS THAT ARE TYPICALLY A LOWER ELEVATIONS TO SOME OF OUR HIGHER ELEVATION PRESSURE ZONES.
AND THIS IS A COMPLIMENT OF THIS GRAPHIC OVERVIEW IS ALSO A COMPLIMENT OF THE GENERAL MAP THAT YOU WILL SEE IN THE NEXT SLIDE, BUT I KIND OF WANT TO
[00:30:01]
SPEND A LITTLE TIME ON THIS ONE JUST TO KIND OF KEEP PEOPLE ORIENTED.UM, WE HAVE ABOUT NINE MAJOR PRESSURE ZONES, UH, THROUGHOUT THE CITY, AND THEY ARE SET UP IN SUCH A WAY THAT THEY, THEY KIND OF ARE, UM, UH, START AT THE LOWEST CENTRAL ZONE ELEVATION FROM, UH, LAKE AUSTIN, UH, AS ONE OF OUR PRIMARY, UH, SOURCE WATER, UH, TO OUR HIGHEST ELEVATION, WHICH IS OUR NORTHWEST, UH, SEA AS WELL AS OUR NORTHWEST OR SOUTHWEST SEA.
SO THIS KIND OF SHOWS YOU NOT ONLY THE ELEVATION DIFFERENCES, BUT ALSO SOME OF THE, UH, TANK VOLUMES, OUR TANK VOLUMES RANGE, IT'S INTENDED TO KIND OF DEPICT OUR LARGEST TANKS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE NORTHWEST AEA AREA.
SO ON MARTIN HILL, WHICH IS A 34 MILLION GALLON WATER STORAGE TANK, TWO, UH, TANKS THAT ARE AS SMALL AS ELEVATED, UH, JUST OVER A MILLION GALLONS.
SO THAT'S THE VARIATION OF DIFFERENT STORAGE THAT WE HAVE AT H PRESSURE ZONE.
IN ADDITION TO THAT, YOU HAVE SOME, UH, DIAGRAMS HERE OF PUMP STATIONS LIKE OLRICK WATER TREATMENT PLANT IS ABLE TO PUMP TO THE CENTRAL ZONE AS WELL AS TO THE SOUTH STONE.
SO WE HAVE MULTIPLE HIGH SERVICE AND MEDIUM SERVICE PUMPS THAT PUMP TO THOSE DEDICATED, UM, PRESSURE ZONES.
UH, IN ADDITION TO THAT, UH, YOU ALSO HAVE, UH, DAVIS WATER TREATMENT PLANT THAT ALSO PROVIDES WATER TO THE CENTRAL ZONE AND IT'S MEDIUM SERVICE PUMP STATION AND TO THE NORTH ZONE IN ITS, IN ITS HIGH SERVICE PUMP STATION, WE ARE CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION OR DAVE IS TO REBUILD THE MEDIUM SERVICE PUMP STATION.
AND THAT WILL SHORTLY BE, UM, OPERATIONAL AS WE KIND OF INVEST IN SOME OF THE, UH, PUMP STATION ASSETS, UH, ALSO WAS SHOWN IS THE ILLUSTRATION OF LAKE TRAVIS IN WHICH, UH, WE'RE PULLING WATER, UH, AT HANCOCK'S WATER TREATMENT PLANT.
AND THAT TYPICALLY WILL SEND WATER TO THE NORTHWEST A ZONE.
SO THIS HELPS GUIDE THE CUSTOMER TO UNDERSTAND WHY, UH, SOME OF THESE AREAS MAY HAVE EXPERIENCED, UH, WATER SHORTAGES SOONER THAN OTHERS.
AND WE'LL KIND OF ALSO, UH, COUPLE THAT WITH THE NEXT DIAGRAM.
THIS GRAPHIC WAS, UH, SHOWN PUBLICLY IN SEVERAL ITERATIONS, THE COLOR CODING THERE WAS DEPICTING THE DIFFERENT PRESSURE ZONES.
UH, AGAIN, CENTRAL ZONE IS THE GRAIN.
UH, YOU HAVE SOUTH AND NORTH IN BLUE, UH, AND THEN THEY PROGRESS AS YOU GET CLOSER TO THE OUTSKIRTS OF TOWN WITH SOUTHWEST C, UH, BEING MORE OF A BROWNISH COLOR, UM, IS THE HIGHEST ELEVATION.
AND, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE, UH, IMPORTANT FACTS OF THIS GRAPHIC IS IT HELPS NOT ONLY THE CUSTOMER IDENTIFY WHERE THEY LIVE AND WHAT PRESSURE ZONES THEY ARE, ALTHOUGH GENERIC IN THIS FORM, UH, WE WERE ABLE TO STAND UP, UM, UH, KIND OF, UH, UH, ON THE FLY GIS MAP THAT KIND OF HELPED IDENTIFY, UH, CUSTOMERS AND WHERE THEIR LOCATIONS ARE.
I MENTIONED THAT THIS IS A, THERE ARE NINE MAJOR PRESSURE ZONES, BUT IN EACH ONE OF THESE ZONES, THERE MAY BE, UM, IRS ELEVATIONS OR LOWER ELEVATIONS SUCH AS BOOSTED ZONES OR REDUCE SOANES THAT ARE ENCOMPASSED IN SOME OF THESE MAJOR ZONES.
AND THAT ALSO FACTORED INTO, THERE ARE SOME AREAS OF TOWN THAT IT DIDN'T EXPERIENCE ANY, UH, WATER OUTAGE, BECAUSE THEY MAY HAVE BEEN IN LOWER PRESSURE ZONES, UH, THAT STILL WERE, UH, SUSTAINED WITH WATER.
SO WE'LL GO OVER THE, KIND OF THE TIME OF EVENTS AND HOW, UH, CERTAIN AREAS MAY HAVE EXPERIENCED WATER OUTAGES, AS WELL AS THOSE THAT MAY HAVE STILL SUSTAINED WATER.
THIS HERE, IT IS A GRAPHIC THAT IS SIMILAR TO, UM, THE TIMELINE THAT WE EXPERIENCED, UH, STARTING FROM A NORMAL PRE, UH, FREEZE EVENT CONDITIONS, STORM EVENT CONDITIONS TO, UH, DURING THE EVENT CONDITIONS AND ALSO POST RECOVERY CONDITIONS.
UH, I WILL KIND OF JUST POINT OUT THE DIFFERENT PINS HERE JUST TO, UH, SO THAT WAY YOU CAN FOLLOW ALONG IN YOUR OWN PACKETS IS THE DARK RED IS THE STORAGE LEVEL.
[00:35:01]
ARE THE, UH, USAGE, AND THEN THE GREEN IS DEPICTED AS THE PUMP EJ THAT LEAVES THE PLANTS AND THE, THE STORAGE IS CALCULATED ON AN HOURLY BASIS.THERE'S NO, UM, AUTOMATIC, UH, CALCULATION THAT OCCURS, UH, AS WE POPULATED THIS GRAPH, BUT THE PUMPING, WHICH IS ONLINE INFORMATION WHERE THOSE ARE COMING FROM THE PLANTS THAT IS, UH, OUT OF THE WATER, THAT'S LEAVING THE FACILITIES.
THE, UH, USAGE IS THE CALCULATION THAT WE USE THAT IS KIND OF THE, THE WATER BALANCE THAT HAPPENS EVERY HOUR TO DETERMINE HOW MUCH WATER WAS USED BASED ON HOURLY CHANGES IN THE STORAGE.
SO I'LL ALSO HIGHLIGHT THIS CRITICAL 48 HOUR PERIOD, AND THAT'S KIND OF DEPICTED BETWEEN, UM, FEBRUARY THE 16TH THROUGH ABOUT THE 18TH.
AND THAT IS GOING TO BE THE CRITICAL PERIOD IN WHICH THERE WAS ATTORNEY EVENTS WHERE THE WATER STORAGE, UM, DEPLETED, UH, WHERE THE DEMAND INCREASED.
AND THIS IS, UH, ALSO HOURLY DATA.
SO YOU'LL SEE SOME DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THIS GRAPHIC AND OTHERS.
UH, THIS IS INTENDED TO HAVE HOURLY INFORMATION, UH, VERSUS OTHER GRAPHS YOU'LL SEE, ARE MORE NORMALIZED WITH A DAILY AVERAGE INFORMATION.
IN ADDITION TO THAT IS EACH, UM, EACH CHANGE IN THE PUMPING IS ACTUAL, HOURLY PUMPING INFORMATION AS WELL.
ALSO HAVE A NOTE THAT, UH, ON THIS GRAPHIC IS AN APPROXIMATE TIMEFRAME IN WHICH WE HAD THE BEGINNING OF THE FREEZE, AND ALSO THE END OF THE FREEZE.
UH, THIS WAS, UH, UH, PROBABLY HAVE A DURATION OF ABOUT EIGHT DAYS, TYPICAL, UM, SYSTEM, UH, EXPERIENCES OR A WINTER FREEZE EVENTS ARE ANYWHERE FROM TWO TO THREE DAYS OF FREEZING.
AND THERE THERE'S A TIMEFRAME WHERE THINGS THOUGHT OUT.
SO, UH, THIS IS WELL IN EXCEEDANCE OF OUR TYPICAL OR NORMAL, UH, WEATHER PATTERNS.
SO I WANT TO ALSO POINT THAT OUT AS WELL.
UM, AND WE'LL, WE'LL GO BACK TO SIMILAR GRAPHICS AND HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK AT EVEN MORE DETAILS, UH, WITH THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO THIS IS A, UH, A CLOSEUP VERSION OR KIND OF A ZOOMED IN TIMEFRAME, UH, BREE, UM, THE INITIAL STORM RESPONSE.
AND I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT, UM, I'VE MENTIONED IN PAST PRESENTATIONS IS THAT, UH, ON THE 10TH, THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT WATER MAIN BREAK.
IT WAS A 48 INCH WATER MAIN BREAK THAT OCCURRED ON LAKEWOOD, UH, ON THE 10TH ABOUT 1:00 PM AND THAT, UH, REGISTERED ON OUR USAGE, UH, GRAPHIC, UH, AS A SPIKE THAT, UH, GAVE US, UH, AN HOURLY PEAK OF ABOUT 200 MILLION GALLONS THAT AFTERNOON.
AND WHAT THAT THAT IS INTENDED TO DO IS TO KIND OF HELP TO PICK THAT, ALTHOUGH WE EXPERIENCE OF A, ROUGHLY A 15 MILLION GALLON WATER LOSS EVENT, UH, THE SYSTEM WAS ABLE TO RECOVER OR DID NOT EVEN SHOW A SYSTEM, UH, ISSUE WITH THAT SIGNIFICANT, UH, TRANSMISSION MAIN BREAK.
UM, SO THAT KIND OF ALSO, UH, KIND OF STARTS TO PAINT THE PICTURE OF WHAT TYPE OF DEMAND, UH, UH, UH, DEMAND THAT WE EXPERIENCED DURING THE STORM EVENT.
SO I JUST WANT TO NOTE THAT IN ADDITION TO THAT, YOU KNOW, SHORTLY BEFORE WE STARTED GETTING INTO THE FREEZE, UH, EVENTS, WE ARE, WE DID START TO, UM, SET UP THE INCIDENT COMMAND ON STANDBY.
SO INTERNALLY WITH AUSTIN WATER, UH, WE WERE IN A VIRTUAL MODE OF A INCIDENT COMMAND, UH, SYSTEM.
WE HAD OUR SCHEDULE SET UP AND WE DEFINITELY HAD A ROTATION OF STAFF THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH, BUT THAT WAS A NOTE, UH, THAT WE, WE HAD TO, UH, PREPARE FOR PRIOR TO THE STORM EVENT.
I ALSO HAVE ON HERE A NOTE OF A SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOW, SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOW THAT OCCURRED IN THE TEXAS PLUME LIFT STATION.
THAT WAS A SIGNIFICANT OVERFLOW IN WHICH, UM, WE LOST POWER TO THE LIFT STATION.
AND WE'LL GO IN MORE DETAIL ON SOME OF THE LIFT STATION
[00:40:01]
IMPACTS THAT WE HAD WITH THE STORM, BUT THAT WAS JUST NOTED, UH, PRIOR TO SOME OF THE, UM, UH, DEMAND, UH, WATER DEMAND ISSUES THAT WE FACED SHORTLY AFTERWARDS.SO THE FIRST EXPERIENCES THAT AUSTIN WATER HAD WITH THE STORM OR RELATED TO POWER OUTAGES AT LIFT STATIONS, AS WELL AS OUR OUTAGES, AS LONGHORN DAM, UH, IN WHICH WE ENACTED, UH, MORE MANUAL OPERATIONS, AS WELL AS, UM, UH, HAD TO MOBILIZE SOME GENERATORS FOR SOME OF THESE AREAS.
THIS, UM, TIME TABLE HERE IS BETWEEN THE 15TH AND THE 23RD.
HOWEVER, IT'S A, IT'S A LITTLE BUSY, BUT I'M GOING TO FOCUS ON KIND OF THE STORAGE LOSS, UH, DURING THE EVENT, THE WATER STORAGE LOSS, UH, SOME OF THE FIRST, UM, ITEMS THAT ARE, UH, HIGHLIGHTED HERE, OR WHEN WE EXPERIENCED SOME LEVEL OF OUTAGE IN THE, UH, WHAT WE CALL THE SOUTHWEST B, UH, PRESSURE ZONE, UH, SOUTHWEST BE PRESSURE ZONE.
IF YOU RECALL, FROM THE PREVIOUS SYSTEM OVERVIEW IS ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE SYSTEM.
IT, UH, FOR SOUTHWEST B THAT PROBABLY SERVES A NUMBER OF CONNECTIONS, UH, ROUGHLY ABOUT, UH, 26,000 TO 7,000 CONNECTIONS.
SO THAT KINDA GIVES YOU A SENSE OF, YOU KNOW, WHEN I SAY CONNECTIONS, THOSE ARE METERS THAT ARE LOCATED IN THOSE ZONES.
UH, SO THAT WAS THE FIRST, UH, ZONE THAT EXPERIENCED A WATER, OUR WATER OUTAGE.
UH, WE NOTED A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT HAPPENED THAT EVENING WAS, UH, REPORTS OF WATER MAIN BREAKS IN THE AREA, AS WELL AS, UM, UH, RESPONSE TO, UH, THE WATER OUTAGE, UH, IN THE CIRCLE CA UM, NEIGHBORHOOD AREA.
ANOTHER NOTE IS THAT SHORTLY AFTER THAT WATER OUTAGE, WE STARTED THE ACTIVATION FOR THE NEXT AVAILABLE SHIFT AND OUR INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM, WHICH WAS ON THE 17TH AT 7:00 AM.
NOW WE WERE WORKING THROUGH THE NIGHT, BUT THAT KIND OF WAS THE FIRST FULL, UH, SHIFT THAT WE WOULD HAVE ACTIVATED WITH THE INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM.
UM, OTHER NOTES THAT I HAVE THERE IS THAT, UH, WE EXPERIENCE, UH, ONE OF THE, PROBABLY THE HIGHEST, UM, PEAK EVENTS OR PEAK HOURLY EVENTS THAT, UH, I'VE RECORDED IN MY TENURE.
UM, NORMALLY A PEAK EVENT OF 330 MILLION GALLONS HOURLY EVENT IS SOMETHING THAT YOU WOULD SEE IN THE SUMMER MONTHS, UH, UH, IN PARTICULAR, ANY DROUGHT CONDITION TIMEFRAMES, BUT THIS PROBABLY IS NOT SOMETHING THAT I'VE, UH, I'VE RECORDED IN ANY OF THE PEAK HOURLY EVENTS.
AND SO I POINT THAT OUT AS, BECAUSE NOT ONLY WAS IT A PEAK HOURLY EVENT, IT WAS, UH, WE WERE UNABLE TO CAPTURE WHAT THE TRUE HOURLY EVENT WAS BECAUSE SOME OF THE RESERVOIRS MAY HAVE GONE, UH, EMPTY.
AND THEN WE'RE LOOKING AT NOW PIPELINES THAT ARE BEING DEPLETED OF WATER.
AND SO WE DON'T REALLY HAVE A TRUE WAY TO CAPTURE, UH, THE HOURLY EVENT, UH, WITH THE, THE 10:00 PM EVENT OR OUTAGE, UH, PREVIOUSLY ON THE 16TH, WE HAD TO, UH, ISSUE OUT A BULL WATER NOTICE, NOT ONLY FOR THE SOUTHWEST B, BUT WE WERE ALSO PREPARING AND PREPARED A, UM, A LOST CREEK, UH, BOIL WATER NOTICE.
CAUSE THAT WAS A, UH, ALTHOUGH A SMALLER SYSTEM OF CONNECTIONS.
IT DID HAVE A POWER OUTAGE AT ONE OF THE, UH, UM, HYDRO SYSTEMS. THE HYDRO PNEUMATIC SYSTEMS WAS, ARE TYPICALLY NOT SERVED BY ELEVATED TANKS ARE SERVED BY PRESSURIZED SYSTEMS THAT EXPERIENCE A WATER OUTAGE.
AND WE WERE, UH, WE WERE PREPARING BOTH THOSE NOTICES AT THE SAME TIME, UH, AND CONCURRENTLY WITH THE, UH, SYSTEM PEAK THAT OCCURRED THAT JUST AT 9:00 AM.
SO IF YOU'RE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE, THE, UH, USAGE PATTERNS, WE TYPICALLY WILL SEE A MORNING AND AN EVENING WATER USAGE PEAK.
THIS HAPPENED TO BE THE EARLY AM PEAK.
THAT, UH, WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS, UH, TO ME, UH, A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR INTO WHY WE LOST THIS AREA IN, UH, STORAGE AT, UH, ABOUT, UH, 2:00 PM.
[00:45:02]
UM, WE EXPERIENCED A POWER OUTAGE AT ALRICH WATER TREATMENT PLANT.UH, THAT WAS A, UM, UH, FEED SYSTEM, UH, POWER FEED LINES, UH, THAT, UH, WAS IN THE BEAK CREEK SUBSTATION.
BOTH OF THOSE FEEDS WE LOST, UH, AS, UH, AS IT WAS RELATED TO, UH, THE STORM EVENT, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY WAS ABLE TO RECOVER ONE OF THE FEEDS REMOTELY, HOWEVER, BECAUSE IT, UH, TAKES THE ENTIRE PLANT DOWN.
UH, WE HAD TO, UM, MOBILIZE, UH, SOME OF OUR ELECTRICIANS TO, UM, TO ALL RICK, THEY WERE ATTENDING TO SOME OF THE LIFT STATION, UM, OUTAGES.
UM, AND SO WE MOBILIZED THEM AND THEY WERE THERE WITHIN AN HOUR AND A HALF, AND WE WERE ABLE TO GET, AT LEAST THE PLANT STARTED SOMETIME AROUND FOUR 30, EXCUSE ME, 5:30 PM.
SO SEVERAL HOURS LATER OF SYSTEM CHECKS, SAFETY CHECKS, MAKING SURE THAT, UH, WE, UH, KIND OF BRING UP THE SYSTEM AS IT HAS BEEN STIRRED UP WITH, UH, THE PROCESS, UH, UH, KIND OF, UH, ON, UM, ON A, UH, RAMPING PROCESS.
SO WE BROUGHT UP THE FIRST LEVEL OF PUMPING PROBABLY, UM, ABOUT FIVE 30, BUT WE WERE BACKED UP TO CAPACITY, UH, PRIOR TO THE SHUTDOWN BY 1:00 AM THAT EVENING OR THE FOLLOWING MORNING.
UH, SOME OF THE OTHER NOTES THAT I HAVE ON HERE IS AS, AS WE EXPERIENCED THE, UH, THE PEAK DEMAND, AS WELL AS THE POWER OUTAGE, THERE WAS, UH, UM, THE PLANNING FOR CITYWIDE BOIL WATER NOTICE THAT HAD TO OCCUR, UH, AND THAT WAS, UH, RELATED TO THE DEPRESSURIZATION OF THE SYSTEM.
AND IT ALIGNS WITH ALSO THE STORAGE LEVELS, CONTINUING TO DROP.
AND FINALLY, UH, HAD A VERY LOW LEVEL OF LESS THAN, UH, 50 MILLION GALLONS TO, IN THE ORDER OF A COUPLE OF MILLION GALLONS LEFT IN RECORDED STORAGE.
UM, THINK THOSE WERE THE MAJOR, UH, ITEMS THAT ARE LEFT ARE CAPTURED IN THIS GRAPHIC.
I'LL GO AHEAD AND GO TO THE NEXT FLIGHT SYSTEM, RECOVERY SYSTEM RECOVERY, YOU KNOW, PART OF THE RECOVERY PROCESS HAD TO DO WITH IDENTIFYING WHAT WOULD BE A, UH, HEALTHY STORAGE CONDITION OR THE SYSTEM, HOW WE WOULD KIND OF COME OUT OF THE BOIL WATER NOTICE.
UH, WE WORK WITH TCQ, UH, TO TRY TO, UM, UH, COME UP WITH A PLAN THAT WOULD BE, UM, ON A PRESSURE ZONE BASIS.
SO SOME OF THE PLANS THAT WE HAD WERE TRYING TO BRING UP THE, UH, CRITICAL ZONES, UH, PRESSURE ZONES THAT DEFINITELY WERE ALREADY BEING SERVED BY MULTIPLE PLANTS AND ALSO TIED TO SOME OF THE CRITICAL CUSTOMERS, UH, TO BRING THOSE UP FIRST, UH, WE HAD TO ISOLATE CERTAIN LATERALS ON TRANSMISSION MAINS TO TRY TO GET WATER TO DIFFERENT PRESSURE ZONES, MAKE SURE THAT SOME OF THE MAJOR HOSPITALS WERE IN, IN PRESSURE, UH, THROUGHOUT THE DURATION.
UH, THERE WAS A LOT OF, UM, UH, FIELD MANIPULATION OF THE VOWS IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH THAT.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, WE WERE DOING TESTING AND FLUSHING IN ORDER TO GET THE FIRST LEVEL OF, UH, ZONES BACK, UH, TO RESEND THE BULL WATER NOTICE.
SO THE FIRST ZONE THAT WAS RESCINDED WAS THE CENTRAL ZONE SOMETIME ON, ON, UH, THE 22ND, THE NEXT, THE NEXT ZONE THAT WAS, UH, UH, SCHEDULED FOR A BULL WATER LIFT WAS THE NORTH SOUTH AND NORTHWEST DAY.
THAT WAS ALSO ON THE 22ND, BUT LATER THAT AFTERNOON.
UM, AND FINALLY THE CITYWIDE NOTICE, UH, WAS LIFTED ON THE 23RD, UH, IN THE, UH, AFTERNOON AS WELL, OR ABOUT NOON.
UM, WE DID NOT LIFT THE EMERGENCY WATER RESTRICTIONS UNTIL THE 24TH AFTER WE HAD STABILIZED THE SYSTEM AND KNEW THAT WE WERE ON A CONTINUED ROAD FOR RECOVERY.
THIS GRAPHIC HERE IS KIND OF A SUMMARY OF ALL THE EVENTS THAT OCCURRED, UM, THAT
[00:50:01]
WE, WE NOTED.UH, I WOULD LIKE TO POINT OUT, UM, A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT ARE DIFFERENT WITH THIS ONE IS AN ATTEMPT TO TRY TO IDENTIFY, UH, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE DEMAND, UM, CAUSES FOR DEMAND.
WE DID PLOT AGAINST THIS WAS SOME OF THE MAIN BREAKS.
NORMALLY, UM, THE MAIN BREAKS ARE REPORTED BY CUSTOMERS OR FIELD STAFF, OR WERE, WE HAVE INDICATION OF SOME LEVEL OF PRESSURE, UH, SYSTEMS THAT HAVE GONE, UH, LOW IN THE LOW STATUS.
NOW, DURING THIS EVENT, WE HAD A VERY STRONG, UH, SCADA NETWORK UP AND GOING, MEANING THAT WE CAN SEE THE, THE PUMP STATIONS, THE RESERVOIRS, UH, WE CAN SEE THE, UH, THE PRESSURE POINTS, UM, AND WE CAN HAVE ACCESS TO, UH, TURNING ON AND OFF PUMPS REMOTELY.
UH, THAT WAS VERY MUCH SUSTAINED THROUGHOUT THE EVENT.
AND THAT WAS, UH, PARTLY BECAUSE WE HAD A LOT OF INVESTMENTS IN TRYING TO MAKE THAT A LITTLE MORE RESILIENT.
UM, AND, AND THAT WAS ACCOMPLISHED.
HOWEVER, THE THINGS THAT DID NOT WORK WERE, UH, SOME OF THE FIELD DEVICES THAT MAY HAVE FAILED BECAUSE OF FREEZING TEMPERATURE.
FOR EXAMPLE, WE LOST, UH, AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE OF MAYBE 40 OF THE 70, 40 TO 45 OF THE 70 PRESSURE ZONES OR PRESSURE POINTS THAT ARE IN THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.
AND THOSE WERE BECAUSE THEY ARE TYPICALLY OUT IN THE OPEN, UH, THEY ARE KIND OF LIKE IN THESE TRAFFIC CONTROL BOXES AND THE ELEMENTS, UH, TOOK OUT THE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEMS THEMSELVES, THOSE THAT, UH, WERE ABLE TO STILL MAINTAIN THOSE, THAT DATA POINT OR PROBABLY MORE INDOOR, UH, FACILITIES SUCH AS FIRE STATIONS.
UM, THAT'S AN AREA THAT WE'RE GOING TO REVIEW AND MAKE SURE THAT, UH, OTHER THAN REPLACEMENT IS HOW TO, UH, HARDEN THOSE PRESSURE ZONES.
CAUSE THAT THOSE WERE KIND OF OUR EYES OF WHERE WATER PRESSURE WAS DEPLETED.
ALTHOUGH WE DID HAVE A LOT OF THE PRESSURE, UH, INDICATORS AT THE PUMP STATIONS, IT'S THE EYES AND THE EARS OF WHERE THE PRESSURE IS IN THE OUT IN THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM IS WHERE WE LOST, UH, SOME OF THAT INFORMATION.
UM, AND NORMALLY WE WOULD SEE AN A, UH, AN EVENT LIKE THIS, WHERE WE HAVE, UH, A FEW DAYS OF, OF FREEZING TEMPERATURE TWO TO THREE DAYS IS THOSE WOULD NOT BE IMPACTED DURING A STORM LIKE THAT.
UM, IN THIS EVENT WE EXPERIENCED QUITE A BIT OF THOSE SYSTEMS GO OUT PROBABLY CLOSER TO THE 16TH OF THE EVENT.
AND DEFINITELY BY THE 17TH, WE DID NOT HAVE, UH, THE MAJORITY OF THOSE 45, UH, INSTRUMENTS.
THIS GRAPHIC AGAIN, SHOWS WHAT WAS ATTEMPTED TO DO IS TO PLOT NOT ONLY SOME OF THE LEAKS FOR SERVICES, BUT ALSO THE MAIN BREAKS AND THAT THIS DATA, UM, STARTED TO SPIKE ON THE 18TH.
AND PART OF THAT WAS BECAUSE, UM, THE GROUND WAS COVERED WITH SNOW.
AND SOME OF THAT WAS HIDDEN UNDER SOME OF THE BLACK ICE WHERE YOU PROBABLY COULD NOT REPORT A MAIN BREAK, EVEN IF YOU WERE OUT IN, IN, IN THE ROAD.
UH, SO THAT PROBABLY DELAYED, UH, SOME OF THE RESPONSE TO THAT I WOULD LIKE TO POINT OUT IS THAT WE HAD A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF RESOURCES, INCLUDING OUR INTERNAL STAFF, OUR DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM MAINTENANCE OR DISTRIBUTION, OUR CONSTRUCTION REHAB STAFF, AS WELL AS, UH, OUR IDQ CONTRACTORS, ALL IN UNISON TO TRY TO GET THE MAIN BREAKS, UH, ISOLATED REPAIRED AND BACK IN SERVICE.
SO JUST KIND OF THE INITIAL COUNT AND NOW KIND OF GO OVER.
AND THAT DETAIL IS WE HAD ABOUT, ABOUT 166 WATER MAIN BREAKS.
AND, UH, THE MAJORITY OF THAT, UH, INVENTORY WAS ABOUT, UH, 75% WAS CAST IRON PIPING.
UM, WELL, WE'LL GO THROUGH ANOTHER GRAPHIC THAT KIND OF DEPICTS, YOU KNOW, THE DEMAND THAT THE DEMAND ANALYSIS, UH, AND, AND HAVE A LITTLE MORE DETAIL, PLEASE.
SO I ALSO WANTED TO SHARE, I WANT TO HAVE A QUESTION.
UH, I ALSO WANTED TO SHARE SOME OF THE STORM IMPACTS TO OUR FACILITIES, SO IT'S GOOD TO KIND OF SEE THE GRAPHICS, BUT I WANT TO KIND OF GIVE YOU A LITTLE
[00:55:01]
MORE CLOSE UP OF SOME OF THE THINGS THAT OUR OPERATORS FACED, UH, WHILE THEY WERE, UM, DURING THE EVENT.NEXT SLIDE, THIS SLIDE HERE IS RELATED TO ACTUALLY ACCESS, UH, TO OUR, UH, WATER TREATMENT PLANT, UH, ORC WATER TREATMENT PLANT.
UM, SO WE HAD A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF, UM, ACCESS ACCESSIBILITY TO THE FACILITIES THAT WERE RESTRICTED.
UM, THIS IS WESTLAKE FIRE TRUCK THERE.
THAT'S KIND OF SIMILAR SIZE TO SOME OF OUR SLUDGE TRUCKS.
UH, WE HAD, UH, IN PREPARATION FOR THIS STORM, WE HAD A, UM, A, UH, A RAMP UP OF DELIVERIES THAT WE, WE, UH, TRIED TO GET DONE BY THE FRIDAY BEFORE THE EVENT, UH, WHICH INCLUDED SLUDGE DELIVERY OR SLUDGE HAULING TO OUR LANDFILL.
UM, THAT WAS ALL KIND OF BUTTONED UP, UH, ON FRIDAY.
AND WE KIND OF, UH, EMPTIED OUR HOPPERS FOR SLUDGE.
WE ALSO, UM, UH, FILLED UP OUR BINS FOR LYME AS WELL AS OTHER CHEMICALS THAT WE NEEDED.
SO WE WERE IN PREPARATION FOR THIS, UH, UH, EVENT, UH, TRYING TO ESTABLISH SOME, UH, VEHICLES THAT COULD BE USED, UM, INCLUDING ANY FOUR BY FOURS THAT WE HAD, AND ALSO ANY CHAINS THAT WERE AVAILABLE TO PUT ON THESE VEHICLES.
UM, I MENTIONED THAT BECAUSE THESE CONDITIONS TRAVEL WAS, UH, VERY UNSAFE, BUT WE WERE ABLE TO TRANSPORT NOT ONLY, UH, EMPLOYEES TO AND FROM WORK AND HOME, BUT ALSO WE HAD A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF STAFF THAT KIND OF WERE SHELTERED IN PLACE AS WELL.
SO, SO THAT WAS KIND OF THE, UM, UM, SOME OF THE PLANNING, AS WELL AS SOME OF THE, UM, CONDITIONS THAT WE HAD TO FACE DURING THE EVENT.
UM, SO SAFETY, IT WAS A BIG, UM, ASPECT OF OUR OPERATIONS.
WE DID HAVE, YOU KNOW, SLIPS, TRIPS FALLS.
THOSE ARE THINGS THAT NORMALLY WOULD HAPPEN, UH, IF YOU HAVE THESE TYPES OF CONDITIONS, BUT WE WERE VERY COGNIZANT AND TO, TO CONTINUE TO, UH, ENFORCE AND AS WELL AS, UM, HELP SEND THE MESSAGE THAT SAFETY WAS, WAS NOT ONLY FOR THE PUBLIC, BUT ALSO OUR EMPLOYEES AS THEY BATTLED THROUGH SOME OF THESE WEATHER, UH, HEAVY WEATHER CONDITIONS.
I MENTIONED THAT THE SLUDGE TRUCKS WERE, UM, KIND OF IDLE DURING THIS TIMEFRAME, AND WE WERE ABLE TO GET THEM BACK IN OPERATION BY, UM, FRIDAY THE 19TH.
UH, PART OF THE REASON WHY WE DID THAT AS WE HAD TO WORK WITH PUBLIC WORKS, TO TRY TO CLEAR SOME OF THE ROADWAY AND USE SOME OF OUR VEHICLES TO HELP CLEAR THIS PATH.
THIS I BELIEVE IS PROBABLY RED BUD, AS WELL AS A RED BUS TO, UM, TO ALL REC, UM, IN ORDER TO GET EVEN OUR NEXT DELIVERY, UM, FROM OUR AUSTIN WHITE LINE VENDOR, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE ALL REQUIRED OR TRIM PLANT.
UH, WE HAD, UH, SOME SIGNIFICANT, UH, UH, CHEMICAL LINE BREAKS, AND I'M GONNA KIND OF WALK THROUGH A COUPLE OF THESE.
UH, WE HAD A CLARIFIER THAT, UH, WAS OUT OF SERVICE, UM, UH, AS WELL AS WE HAD A CLARIFIER THAT WAS BEING PUT IN SERVICE.
UM, WHAT YOU SEE FROM THE PHOTOS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT IS STARTING WITH THE LEFT SIDE IS JUST KIND OF A PICTURE OF PIPING THAT BURST THAT NORMALLY WOULD PROBABLY BE IN THE BASINS.
UH, THE PROTECTION WOULD PROBABLY BE UNDER WATER, ESSENTIALLY.
IT WOULD BE IN WATER, WHEREAS THE WALKWAY, WHICH IS THE NEXT PHOTO IS A, UM, AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE HUNDREDS, IF NOT THOUSANDS OF FEET OF LINEAR FEET OF PIPELINES THAT WE HAVE THAT PROVIDE CHEMICALS TO THE DIFFERENT BASINS.
AND THEY ARE TYPICALLY INSULATED AS WELL.
SO THEY ARE INSULATED AND WRAPPED.
AND, UM, EVEN EVEN A WELL-INSULATED PIPELINES SUCH AS THIS, INCLUDING COPPER, UH, FAILED DURING THIS EVENT BECAUSE OF THE EXTREME TEMPERATURES.
AND SO WHAT YOU SEE IS, UH, US GOING THROUGH, OR AT LEAST THE AUSTIN WATER STAFF AT ALL REC GOING THROUGH AND REMOVING ALL THAT INSULATION, FINDING THE, UH, THE BROKEN PIPELINES AND REPAIRING THEM IN ORDER TO BRING BACK, UH, THAT SYSTEM BACK IN SERVICE.
UH, SO THAT, THAT'S KIND OF JUST TO KIND OF WANT TO GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE OF SOME OF THE, THE, UH, ISSUES THAT SOME OF THOSE STAFF FACED WHILE THEY
[01:00:01]
WERE WORKING 24 SEVEN, THE OTHER, UH, THE LAST PHOTO I'LL JUST KIND OF PUT IT POINT THAT OUT IS JUST KIND OF, UH, YOU KNOW, NOT ONLY, UH, KEEPING SOME OF THE PIPELINES AND OPERATION IS OUT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE ENVIRONMENTALLY, UH, SAFE AND MAKING SURE THAT WE DON'T HAVE ANY SLIP HAZARDS, AS WELL AS CLEANUPS OF ANY CHEMICAL SPILLS BEFORE SOME OF THE SNOW STARTED TO MELT.SO THAT WAS CONTAINED AS WELL.
THAT'S WHAT THAT PHOTO IS ON THE FURTHER, RIGHT? NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
HANCOCK'S, UH, WATCHING PLANT, UH, THIS KIND OF JUST SHOWS A COUPLE OF OTHER, UH, PHOTOS, EVERYTHING FROM, YOU KNOW, PRESSURE REDUCING VALVES THAT MAY HAVE, UM, OPENED UP OR FAILED, UH, SENDING WATER, UM, ALLOWING US TO, UH, SEND WATER TO THE SANITARY SEWER.
SO THAT WAS ONE OF THE CONCERNS IS WHETHER OR NOT WE COULD, UM, YOU KNOW, PROCESS SOME OF THE SLUDGE, UH, WE DID HAVE AN OPTION TO SEND WATER TO SANITARY SEWER, AND THAT WAS SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE DID TO TRY TO MITIGATE AND KEEPING THE PLANT AND OPERATIONS, UH, OTHER THINGS THAT MIGHT'VE HAD SOME WATER LEAKS THAT WERE EXTERIOR PUMP STATIONS THAT, UH, DIDN'T THAT WEREN'T IN A BUILDING.
AND, UH, NORMALLY THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, UH, WOULD BE IN A, IN A BUILDING, BUT THIS IS, UH, ONE OF THOSE STATIONS, UH, AT HANCOCK'S THAT WE HAD TO MANUALLY DO, UH, BACK WASHES.
SO THAT WAS SOME OF THE FOCUS OF THE OPERATORS IS TO MOVE FROM MORE AUTOMATED SYSTEMS TO MANUAL PROCESS SYSTEMS. IN ADDITION TO THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY WORKED, UH, INTERNALLY TO TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY MAINTAIN WATER PRESSURE.
UM, IN, IN THIS CASE, THEY WERE ABLE TO FACILITATE HYDRO SYSTEMS WITHIN THE WATER PLAN TO KIND OF HELP MAINTAIN PORTABLE WATER PRESSURE TO RUN, UH, UH, EVEN SLACKERS MANUALLY.
SO NOT ONLY DID THE WATER SIDE, UM, HAVE AN IMPACT, BUT ALSO THE WASTEWATER SIDE, INCLUDING SOME OF THE LIFT STATIONS.
UH, THESE ARE JUST A COUPLE OF, UH, EXAMPLES.
UH, I MENTIONED EARLY ON IN THE PRESENTATION THAT WE HAD, THE EVENTS THAT WE STARTED TO FACE FOR POWER OUTAGES, UH, ESPECIALLY TO THE LIFT STATIONS ABOUT 20 LIFT STATIONS WERE IMPACTED DURING THIS EVENT OF WHICH 10, THE POWER WAS RESTORED VERY SHORTLY AND THE OTHER REMAINING 10 OR HALF OF THOSE, UH, HAD SOME LEVEL OF OUR, UH, ISSUES THAT WE HAD.
UM, THOSE STATIONS THAT MAY HAVE HAD A FIXED OR A STATIONARY GENERATORS IN, IN WORKING CONDITION, OR WE HAD A PORTABLE GENERATORS THAT WE WOULD LOCATE RELOCATE TO THESE LIFT STATIONS AND A COMBINATION OF, UH, PUMPING HALL.
SO, SO OF THOSE THREE TYPES OF CATEGORIES OF, OF LIFT STATIONS, WE WERE ABLE TO SUSTAIN ASIDE FROM, UH, THE TEXAS PLUME, WHICH WAS A MAJOR UNDERTAKING AND ALSO, UH, MATERIALIZE IN AN EMERGENCY CONTRACT TO HELP REPAIR THAT LIFT STATION.
UH, ASIDE FROM THAT THERE WAS PARTIAL, UH, DRY PITS THAT WERE FLOODED THAT WE HAD TO PUMP OUT.
UH, THERE ARE SOME THAT WHERE WE WERE ABLE TO AVOID SOME SSLS, BUT FOR THE MOST PART OF THOSE THAT WERE, UH, OUT OF POWER, UH, 10 WORD WAS THE INVENTORY THAT WE HAD TO WORK.
I JUST WANTED TO ALSO TOUCH ON THE WASTEWATER SIDE, UM, FOR THE MOST PART, UH, THE, THE MAJOR CONCERNS ON THE WASTEWATER SIDE WERE PROBABLY MORE NON-POTABLE WATER LEAKS IN, IN THE SAME CONDITIONS YOU SAW ON THE WATER PLANTS, EVEN THOUGH YOU MIGHT'VE HAD SOME LEVEL OF INSULATION OR PROTECTION, THERE WERE THE KIND OF, ONE OF THE, UH, WHERE THE GAPS MIGHT'VE BEEN, WHERE WE DIDN'T HAVE EITHER SOME KIND OF HEAT STRIP TRACING, OR MAYBE SOME, UM, UH, INSULATION, UH, MAYBE DETERIORATED INSULATION.
THOSE ARE THINGS THAT MAY HAVE FAILED IN INTO A LEAK, UM, AND WERE REPAIRED SHORTLY.
UH, THE, THE, THE MORE MAJOR CONCERN WAS MORE THE STATEWIDE HYPOCHLORITES SHORTAGE.
AND SO, UH, WITH, UH, SOUTH AUSTIN REGIONAL FEEDING, HYPOCHLORITE, UH, GETTING A VENDOR TO PROVIDE, YOU KNOW, SOME ADDITIONAL, UH, HYPOCHLORITE
[01:05:01]
WAS, UH, UH, PROBABLY MORE OF THE MAJOR CONCERN, BUT WE WERE ABLE TO FIND AN EMERGENCY PURCHASE TO GET A VENDOR OUT THERE TO REPLENISH AS WE KIND OF WORKED THROUGH, UM, THE ROADWAYS CLEARING FOR MORE DELIVERIES.IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE HAVE INITIATED PURCHASE OF ADDITIONAL HYPOCHLORITE STORAGE TANKS.
SO THAT'S KIND OF ONE OF THE AFTER ACTIONS THAT WE'RE ALREADY PURSUING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE COULD HAVE A LONGER HOLDOVER FOR EVENTS LIKE THIS IN THE FUTURE.
SO THE NEXT TOPIC I WILL START IS, IS KIND OF GIVE MORE OF A DEMAND OVERVIEW OF, UH, SOME OF THE DEMAND THAT WE FACE DURING THIS EVENT.
AND THIS IS A KIND OF A COLORFUL GRAPHIC HERE, BUT I WANT TO KIND OF HIGHLIGHT SOME OF THE DETAILS TO THIS.
THE A DASH LINE REPRESENTS A TYPICAL FEBRUARY DEMAND, UH, WATER DEMAND THAT OCCURS.
UM, AND, AND WE WERE PROBABLY ON PAR WITH THAT DEMAND ON THE FIRST, UH, FEW DAYS OF THIS EVENT, OR FEW DAYS OF THIS GRAPHIC HERE, UM, THE LIGHTER BLUE THAT'S ON THE BOTTOM OF BAR GRAPH, WHICH KIND OF REPRESENTS A NORMAL BASELINE WATER DEMAND THAT YOU WOULD SEE FROM THE CUSTOMERS.
UM, THE YELLOW, UH, REPRESENTS ANY UTILITIES SIDE, UH, LEAKS OR LOSSES, WHETHER IT'S MAIN BREAKS OR SERVICE BREAKS, OR EVEN, UM, UH, SMALL OTHER SMALL DEMANDS LIKE METER, UH, LEAKS, VAL LEAKS, AND SO FORTH.
THIS IS INTENDED TO BE AN ILLUSTRATION.
YOU KNOW, THE ACCURACY OF, OF THIS IS, IS STILL UNDER SOME LEVEL OF REVIEW, BUT THIS HELPS GUIDE US ON WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE, UM, EXPERIENCED THROUGH THIS EVENT.
NOW, THE DARKER BLUE THAT'S ABOVE THE BASELINE IS MORE THE INCREASED CONTINUOUS USAGE THAT WE EXPERIENCED FROM THE CUSTOMER, AS WELL AS POTENTIAL BURST THAT ALSO MAY HAVE OCCURRED ON THE PRIVATE SIDE OF THE METER.
UM, I'M GOING TO EXPAND A LITTLE MORE ON THIS DETAIL AS WE PROVIDE A LITTLE MORE DETAIL ON THE AMI INFORMATION THAT WE WERE ABLE TO CAPTURE DURING THIS EVENT.
UM, THE GREEN IS INTENDED TO DEPICT WHEN WE ARE FILLING THE, UH, WATER STORAGE TANKS.
SO, UH, UH, KIND OF MOSTLY, YOU'LL SEE THE GREEN SHOW UP ON THE RECOVERY END OF THE EVENT, AS WELL AS I MENTIONED THAT, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE UNCERTAINTY ON IS, UM, WE HAVE ABOUT JUST AS MUCH VOLUME ABOVE GROUND AS WE DO BELOW GROUND, MEANING WE HAVE ABOUT 150 MILLION GALLONS PLUS OF STORAGE ABOVE GROUND, BUT WE HAVE JUST ABOUT THAT MUCH OF IN THE MAJOR PIPELINES AS WELL.
SO UNABLE TO CAPTURE THAT OR QUANTIFY THAT THIS IS KIND OF DEPICTED IS THAT WE'RE, UH, FILLING THAT ONLY SOME OF THE STORAGE TANKS, BUT WE WERE FILLING SOME OF THE WATER PIPELINES, UH, IN THE RECOVERY PHASE OF THIS EVENT.
SO WHAT YOU W WHAT WAS JUST SHOWN IN THE GRAPHIC IS THAT THE FIRST EXPERIENCE FOR DEMAND WAS MORE ON THE PRIVATE SIDE BEFORE WE WOULD, UM, SEE THE MAIN BREAKS.
AND SO I WANT TO, UM, POINT OUT THIS GRAPHIC WAS TAKEN FROM, UH, SOME OF THE DATA THAT WE WERE ABLE TO COLLECT FROM THE AMI, MY ATX WATER PORTAL.
SO WE HAVE ABOUT DURING THIS EVENT, WE HAD ABOUT 38 37, 3,800 CUSTOMERS ON THE, UH, AMI SYSTEM AND OF THOSE 3,800 CUSTOMERS, ABOUT 30% OF THOSE CUSTOMERS EXPERIENCE WHAT I'LL CALL A CONTINUOUS USAGE, UH, OR A BURST LEAK EVENT.
AND I'M GOING TO DEFINE THAT, UH, CONTINUOUS USAGE WAS DEFINED AS DEFINED IN OUR SOFTWARE AS, UM, WATER, UH, THAT IS CONTINUOUSLY BEING USED AND REGISTERING ABOVE THREE GALLONS PER HOUR, OR A DURATION OF 36 HOURS OR MORE.
AND, AND THAT'S IMPORTANT BECAUSE THAT ALSO WE'LL, WE'LL LET THE CUSTOMER KNOW, KNOW THAT THERE
[01:10:01]
IS A, UM, CONTINUOUS USAGE ON THEIR ACCOUNT, AND IT WILL FLAG WITH AN ALERT ON IF YOU ARE ON USING THE MITX WATER PORTAL.THE BURST LEAK IS DEFINED AS A USAGE IN EXCESS OF 120 GALLONS PER HOUR, OR A DURATION GREATER THAN EIGHT HOURS.
AND SO WHAT YOU HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU IS BOTH, YOU KNOW, THE CUMULATIVE OF BOTH THOSE TYPES OF EVENTS, OR THAT ONLY CONTINUOUS USAGE, BUT ALSO BURST LEAKS THAT OCCURRED, UH, DURING, UH, THE EVENT.
AND IT WAS CAPTURED IN SOME OF THE MITE ATX WATER PORTAL CUSTOMERS.
UH, THIS IS ROUGHLY ABOUT 30% OF THOSE EXPERIENCED THIS TYPE OF EVENT ON THE 17TH.
AND WE'LL GO INTO A LITTLE MORE DETAIL ON SOME OF THE EXAMPLES THAT, UH, WERE EXPERIENCED FROM, FROM TWO TYPES OF CUSTOMERS.
TWO EXAMPLES ARE FROM CUSTOMER PROFILES THAT WE WERE ABLE TO CAPTURE THE EVENT.
ONE IS CUSTOMER ONE WAS RUNNING A HOSE, A WATER HOSE TO PREVENT FROM FREEZING, UM, THAT, THAT EVENT, OR THAT INFORMATION TRANSFERRED INTO A BURST LEAK.
UH, AND WE'LL KIND OF SEE THE DETAILS ON THAT ONE AS WELL.
UH, CUSTOMER NUMBER TWO WAS A BURST LEAK FROM, UH, FROM THE FROZEN IRRIGATION LINE AND THE WATER DEMANDS ON THOSE TWO EVENTS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT.
SO THIS IS A NORMAL WATER PATTERN FROM, UM, MY ATX CUSTOMER WATER, UH, PORTAL.
UH, IT'S NOT UNCOMMON TO HAVE WATER USAGE, UM, THAT ARE IN THIS RANGES FROM ANYWHERE FROM FIVE GALLONS PER HOUR.
THESE ARE HOURLY DATA POINTS TO 35 GALLONS PER HOUR.
OBVIOUSLY THERE'S PROBABLY SOME, NO WATER USAGE DURING THAT TIMEFRAME, WHICH IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IF, IF THERE'S A NO WATER USAGE, THAT JUST MEANS THAT THERE'S NO CONTINUOUS LEAK OR CONTINUOUS USAGE, UH, TRENDS ON THAT ACCOUNT.
THIS EXAMPLE I MENTIONED WAS A, UH, A CUSTOMER THAT WAS, UM, UH, RUNNING THEIR, UH, WATER HOSE, UH, KIND OF DRIPPING I, TO WHAT EXTENT I'M NOT AWARE, BUT, UH, I APOLOGIZE THAT SOME OF THE ARROWS DID NOT COME OUT CLEARLY, BUT, UM, THE FIRST NOTIFICATION THAT PROBABLY CAME THROUGH WAS ON THE 13TH WAS THE EVENT OF WHEN THE SYSTEM NOTIFIED THE CUSTOMER, THAT THERE WAS A CONTINUOUS USAGE EVENT.
AND WHAT THAT MEANT WAS THAT THE CUSTOMER WAS NOTIFIED AND ACTUALLY THE CUSTOMER PROBABLY NOTIFIED AUSTIN WATER, UH, PROBABLY ON THE 18TH THAT THEY WERE RUNNING A WATER HOSE, UH, RUNNING A HOSE, UH, TO PREVENT FROM, UH, FREEZING.
AND SHORTLY AFTER THAT, ON THE 20TH, UM, THEY EXPERIENCED A, A BURST LEAK.
AND SO THE WATER USE PER HOUR JUMPED FROM THE, UH, PROBABLY THE, UH, GREATER THAN FIVE GALLONS PER HOUR TO SOMEWHERE IN THE 150 GALLONS PER HOUR RANGE.
AND SO THAT, THAT IS AN EXAMPLE OF NOT ONLY DID THE CUSTOMER GET THE FIRST NOTIFICATION OF CONTINUOUS USAGE, BUT THEY ALSO RECEIVED A BURST LEAK, A NOTIFICATION AFTER THE 150 GALLON OR 120 GALLON THRESHOLD.
THIS EXAMPLE IS OF A CUSTOMER THAT, UH, EXPERIENCED NORMAL USAGE PRIOR TO THE 14, BUT THEN HAD HOURLY, UH, WATER USAGE IN THE ORDER OF, UH, ANYWHERE FROM A THOUSAND TO 1200 GALLONS PER HOUR.
AND THAT WAS IDENTIFIED AS AN IRRIGATION LINE BURST.
UH, SO THEY WOULD HAVE RECEIVED A NOTIFICATION EIGHT HOURS INTO THAT EVENT.
UM, OBVIOUSLY THAT, THAT, THAT TIMEFRAME WOULD HAVE BEEN SOMEWHERE OVERNIGHT AND MAY, MAY HAVE NOT, UM, SEEN THAT NOTICE UNTIL THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF 8:00 AM.
SO THAT KIND OF GIVES YOU AN EXAMPLE OF AN IRRIGATION LEAK.
[01:15:01]
THE, THE PRIVATE SIDE TYPE OF LEAKS THAT WE WERE ABLE TO CAPTURE THROUGH THE, MY ATX, UH, WATER PORTAL, UH, WE DID, UM, START TO EXPERIENCE SHORTLY AFTER THE 18TH, A SIGNIFICANT SPIKE IN THE PUBLIC SIDE, MAIN BREAKS, AS WELL AS SERVICE LINE BREAKS.THAT'S SO MUCH IN THE SERVICE LINE BREAKS, BUT DEFINITELY, YOU KNOW, WE HAD, UH, AN ORDER OF A HUNDRED TO 150, 160 WAS THE LATEST COUNT, A WATER MAIN BREAKS.
I MENTIONED THAT THE, A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF THAT 75% WAS IDENTIFIED AS CAST IRON PIPING.
UH, WE'RE STILL GOING THROUGH THAT ANALYSIS AND WE HAVE MAPPED THAT IN ORDER TO KIND OF INCORPORATE IT INTO OUR RENEW AUSTIN PROGRAM, OUR RENEW AUSTIN PROGRAM, FOR THOSE WHO AREN'T FAMILIAR WITH OUR KIND OF HELP, UM, IDENTIFY AREAS THAT HAVE, UH, UH, MULTIPLE BREAKS, UM, AS IT RELATES TO THE WORK ORDER SYSTEM AND HELP DEFINE AND SHAPE THE SCOPE OF WORK THAT WE NEED TO HAVE FOR SOME OF THE REPLACEMENT ASSETS IN, UM, THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
BUT WE'LL DEFINITELY COME BACK TO YOU ON MORE OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE, UH, AFTER ACTION, UH, CONSIDERATIONS THAT ONLY, UH, IN MAIN BREAKS, BUT ALSO SERVICE LINE BREAKS.
UH, INITIALLY, LIKE I SAID, UH, THAT ANALYSIS STARTED TO SURFACE AND, UH, WE HADN'T HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK AT ANY OF THE PRIVATE SIDE INFORMATION UNTIL, UH, THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS, BUT DEFINITELY, UH, WE'LL CONTINUE TO, UM, LOOK AT MORE OF THAT DATA TO FIGURE OUT ADDITIONAL STRATEGIES TO, UH, INVEST IN OUR INFRASTRUCTURE.
ALSO WANTED TO POINT OUT, UM, AND THIS, THIS LAST BULLET HERE IS THAT WE DID RESPOND TO AN EXCESS OF 1500 EMERGENCY WATER SHUTOFFS.
AND SO THOSE EMERGENCY WATER SHUT OFFS WOULD, UH, TYPICALLY, UH, BEFORE PRIVATE, UH, LEAKS.
AND SO, UM, THAT IS STILL BEING SCRUBBED, BUT THAT WAS THE LATEST COUNT IS WE HAD OVER 1500 RESPONSES FROM OUR STAFF TO GO AND ASSIST CUSTOMERS TO HELP, UH, THEM FOR, UM, UH, REPAIR THE PRIVATE SIDE, UH, LEAKS.
AND WITH THAT, I BELIEVE THIS IS THE LAST SLIDE I HAVE.
I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS IF I MAY ASK THEM, IS IT OKAY IF I ASK MY QUESTIONS, I'LL LEAVE IT UP TO SHARE CHARLIE.
UH, I WANTED TO LEAVE TIME FOR OTHER PEOPLE TO ASK QUESTIONS, BUT I WANTED TO ASK A QUESTION FROM, FROM AN ARTICLE THAT APPEARED IN THE FEBRUARY 28TH, AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN, I'M GOING TO QUICKLY READ THE ARTICLE IT'S SHED YET.
POWER WAS NOT RESTORATIVE TO ALL REQUIRED A TREATMENT PLAN FOR ROUGHLY THREE HOURS.
ACCORDING TO AUSTIN WATER, CORNADO SAID NO ONE AT THE SITE COULD OPERATE A MANUAL GEAR SWITCH INSTALLED IN 1969.
THEY COULD HAVE SWITCHED THE PLAN TO BACKUP POWER.
THE EXACT SEQUENCE OF EVENTS SEEMED TO BE UNCLEAR TO BOTH AUSTIN ENERGY AND AUSTIN WATER OFFICIALS.
CORONADO SAID, AUSTIN WATER STAFFERS WERE NOT TRAINED TO SWITCH THE WATER TREATMENT PLANT TO BACKUP SOURCE OF ELECTRICITY.
WELL, PIERPOINT SAID AUSTIN WATER SHOULD HAVE KNOWN HOW TO CONDUCT SUCH A TASK.
MY QUESTION, SIR, IS THAT AN ACCURATE STATEMENT BY THE AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN? I WILL RESPOND TO THAT.
WE DID, UH, TRY TO CLARIFY THAT STATEMENT WITH THE STATESMEN.
AND WE DID PROVIDE A MEMO TO MAYOR AND COUNCIL, UH, THAT KIND OF CLARIFIED THAT, BUT THE STATEMENT AROUND THERE WAS NO ELECTRICIANS ON STAFF ONSITE DURING THAT TIMEFRAME WAS NOT CLARIFIED.
AND I THINK, UH, I TRY TO ATTEMPT THAT THOSE ELECTRICIANS WERE OUT IN THE FIELD ATTENDING TO LIFT STATION, UM, UH, POWER OUTAGES, AND THEY WERE IN ROUTES TO GET THEM TO, UH, RESTART THE PLANT.
SO THAT WAS THE CLARIFICATION THAT WAS NOT ACCEPTED BY THE STATESMAN.
SO YOU'RE SAYING IF THOSE ELECTRICIANS HAD NOT LEFT THE PLANT TO GO FIX THE LIFT STATION, THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO MAKE THE TRANSFER PROPERLY.
IS THAT YOUR STATE, IF THEY WERE ELECTRICIANS ON SITE, UH, DURING THAT OUTAGE, THEY WOULD HAVE, UH, INITIATED THE
[01:20:01]
RESTART OF THE PLANT.I WANT TO ASK ABOUT THE SWITCH.
DID THEY KNOW HOW TO WORK THE, SO ANY, YES.
ANY OF THE EQUIPMENT THAT AUSTIN WATER OWNS AND OPERATES, THEY ARE PREPARED AND TRAINED TO DO ALL THAT WORK.
AND THEY DID THAT ONCE THEY ARRIVED ON SITE.
THAT INCLUDES THIS IS THE, UH, 1960S EQUIPMENT THAT, UH, DEFINITELY HAS TO GO THROUGH A MANUAL PROCESS.
AND SO THEY HAVE TO MANUALLY THAT ONLY, UH, GEAR UP, BUT ALSO GO THROUGH SEQUENCE OF EVENTS THAT ARE ESSENTIALLY MANUAL.
BUT, BUT I I'M, I'M NOT GETTING THIS CLEARLY.
YOU'RE SAYING THE AUSTIN WATER ELECTRICIANS DO, DID KNOW HOW TO OPERATE THAT TRANSFER SWITCH.
THEY DID THE FET 17, NO ONE ELSE DID THAT WORK OTHER THAN ALSO WATER ELECTRICIANS.
SO WHAT WAS SAID IN THE PAPER WAS FALSE.
I HAVE RELATED TO ANOTHER ARTICLE AND THIS RELATES TO THE, UH, STUDY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REQUIRED AUSTIN WATER TO MAKE APPROXIMATELY A YEAR AGO, EMERGENCY CONTINGENCY PLAN.
AND I JUST WANT TO READ FROM THIS ARTICLE, WINTER WEATHER WAS ALSO NOT INCLUDED IN AUSTIN WATERS, FEDERALLY MANDATED RISK AND RESILIENCE ASSESSMENT, THE HIGHEST PRIORITY THREATS FOR THIS PLAN.
ACCORDING TO BRIAN, BORSHOFF INCLUDED IN CLIMATE WEATHER IN GENERAL FLOODS, DROUGHTS, AND EXTREME HEAT, THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY SIGNED OFF ON THE CITY'S ACCESS ASSESSMENT.
WHEN YOU SAY THEY SIGNED OFF, CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THAT MEANS? SO I'LL, I'LL START.
AND THEN ALSO, UM, YEAH, I'LL, I'LL ALLOW ANYONE ELSE TO KIND OF FILL IN, BUT SIGN-OFF TYPICALLY IS A SELF-CERTIFICATION WITH EPA.
SO THE, UH, WE, UH, ACT, UH, AMERICAN WATER INFRASTRUCTURE ACT THAT CERTIFICATION IS DONE WITH AUSTIN WATER.
AND WE SUBMIT THAT CERTIFICATION TO EPA EPA DOES NOT COME IN AND DO AN ASSESSMENT.
WE DO THE ASSESSMENT AND WE, THEN WE PROVIDE THAT CERTIFICATION TO EPA.
SO EPA REALLY DOESN'T KNOW WHAT'S IN YOUR ASSESSMENT.
ISN'T THAT TRUE? THAT IS SELF-CERTIFIED THAT ITSELF CERTIFYING THE STATEMENT IN THIS ARTICLE.
WOULD YOU SAY THAT THAT STATEMENT IS A WRONG STATEMENT, THAT THE EPA DID NOT SIGN OFF ON THIS DOCUMENT? CLEARLY THEY DID IT.
IF ALL YOU DID WAS SELF-CERTIFIED, THERE'S NO ONE AT EPA THAT WEIGHED IN ONE WAY OR THE OTHER DID THAT.
NO, THEY, THEY PROVIDE US WITH TOOLS ON HOW TO SELF-CERTIFY AND WE USE THE TOOLS THAT EPA ALLOWS US TO HAVE YES, PROPERLY.
I UNDERSTAND THAT, BUT NO ONE AT EPA COMMENTED AND HOW YOU DID THE STUDY.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT COLD WEATHER OUT OF IT.
NOBODY AT EPA WAS GIVING YOU ANY FEEDBACK WHERE THAT, THAT, THAT IS CORRECT.
WE DID NOT HAVE A COMMUNICATION WITH THE EPA TO, TO CERTIFY THIS.
MAY I ADD COMMISSIONER MORIARTY? MAY, MAY I PLEASE ADD TO THAT? THIS IS ANA BRIAN
UM, THE, THE COMMENT IN THE ARTICLE THAT YOU WERE REFERENCING THAT THE EPA SIGNED OFF ON THE REPORT, I BELIEVE THAT IS AN INFERENCE THAT THE REPORTER DREW FROM MY COMMENTS THAT DAY, I DID NOT MAKE THAT STATEMENT TO, UH, OUR OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.
I STATED THAT WE HAD COMPLIED WITH THE LAW AND THAT WE, UH, HAD, UH, CERTIFIED ON TIME.
AND I BELIEVE THERE, THEY KIND OF MISUNDERSTOOD THAT WHEN STATING THAT EPA SIGNED OFF, THAT WAS NOT A STATEMENT THAT AUSTIN WATER MADE.
SO I JUST WANT TO BE CLEAR ABOUT THAT.
I ASKED THIS QUESTION, WHEN YOU SAW THIS ARTICLE, DID YOU WRITE A LETTER TO THE MONITOR AND CORRECT US, JUST LIKE YOU DID WITH THE STATESMAN WHEN THEY REPORTED THEIR INFORMATION INCORRECTLY? NO, I DIDN'T.
THAT IS A VERY FAIR POINT THAT YOU WERE MAKING, SIR.
I'LL, I'LL, I'LL OPEN QUESTIONS FOR OTHERS.
SO IT'S ON A PRESENTATION STYLE PRESENTATION REAL QUICK, AND THEN WE CAN TAKE CARE OF OTHER ITEMS AND WE'LL NEED THOSE ADULTS, ANY SPECIAL EQUATIONS THROUGH THE WORKING GROUP DISCUSSION TIME.
THAT'S WHY WE FORMED WEEK THAT LOOKING GROUP.
UH, PLEASE CONTINUE ON THE PRESENTATION.
[01:25:04]
GOOD.ANYTHING COMMISSIONER? MY NAME IS JOSEPH GONZALES, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AUSTIN WATER, AND I'LL BE PROVIDING AN OVERVIEW OF AUSTIN WATERS, FINANCIAL RELIEF EFFORTS IN RESPONSE TO THE FEBRUARY WINTER STORMS. NEXT FINE.
ON MARCH 4TH, THE CITY COUNCIL APPROVED AN ORDINANCE TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL RELIEF TO OUR CUSTOMERS.
AND TO, WITH THE GOAL OF AVOIDING HIGH CUSTOMER BILLS AS A RESULT OF DRIPPING FAUCETS AND BURST PIPE DURING FOR EVENT.
NOW THE ORDINANCE A WAY EMERGENCY CUTOFF FEES, UM, DURING THE EVENT, AND ALSO PROVIDED TEMPORARY RESIDENTIAL RATE PRODUCTION, UH, TO ENSURE THAT OUR CUSTOMERS, RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS DIDN'T FACE HIGH BILLS AS A RESULT OF INCREASED USAGE, THAT WOULD PUSH THEM INTO THE HIGHER TIERS OF OUR INCLINING CONSERVATION BASED RATE STRUCTURE.
UH, THE, THE TIERS THREE THROUGH FIVE VOLUMETRIC RATES FOR DROPPED TO 1 CENT PER THOUSAND GALLONS WHILE THE TIERED FIXED FEES FOR TWO YEARS, THREE THROUGH FIVE WERE DROPPED TO THE TIER TWO RATE OF $3 AND 55 CENTS.
UH, THIS TEMPORARY RATE REDUCTION, UH, REDUCED RATES ESSENTIALLY KEPT, UH, RESIDENTIAL BILLS AT ABOUT 6,000 GALLONS OF CONSUMPTION OR ABOUT $37 FOR WATER USE IMMEDIATELY.
FOLLOWING THE STORM EVENT, WE BEGAN BUILDING USING ESTIMATED READS PARTIALLY OUT OF NECESSITY SINCE WE WEREN'T ABLE TO OBTAIN A METER READS DURING THE STORM, BUT, BUT ALSO TO PUSH HIGH RESIDENTIAL CONSUMPTION RESULTING FROM THE STORMS INTO BILLING PERIODS BEGINNING MARCH 19TH, WHEN THE REDUCED RATES BECAME EFFECTIVE.
NOW, IN ADDITION, THE ORDINANCE, GRANTED AUSTIN WATER AUTHORITY TO STREAMLINE THE BILL ADJUSTMENT PROCESS, UM, AND, AND FOREGO THE FORMAL BILL ADJUSTMENT, LEAK, ADJUSTMENT, UH, POLICY, AND TO EXTEND BILL ADJUSTMENTS TO, UH, COMMERCIAL AND MULTIFAMILY ACCOUNTS IMPACTED BY THE WINTER STORM.
AND FINALLY, UM, THE, THE ORDINANCE ALSO ALLOWED AUSTIN WATER TO MODIFY THE WASTEWATER AVERAGING METHODOLOGY TO USE THE, THE LOWER OF THE ESTIMATED, UH, REID OR ACTUAL CONSUMPTION AMOUNT, OR FOR THAT THIRD MONTH OF THE WINTER AVERAGING PERIOD TO ENSURE THAT OUR CUSTOMERS WERE NOT UNFAIRLY PENALIZED FOR HIGH CONSUMPTION CAUSED BY THE WINTER STORMS. NOW, JUST THIS WEEK, WE COMPLETED OUR REVIEW OF WASTEWATER AVERAGE CALCULATIONS, AND WHILE MOST OF OUR 247,000 CUSTOMERS BENEFITED FROM THE USE OF AN ESTIMATED READ THAT WAS LOWER THAN THEIR ACTUAL METERED CONSUMPTION, UH, ALMOST 37,000 CUSTOMERS OR AROUND 15% OF OUR TOTAL CUSTOMER BASE, UH, BENEFITED FROM USING THE ACTUAL CONSUMPTION AMOUNT FOR THE FINAL MONTH OF THE WASTEWATER AVERAGING PERIOD.
AND WE'RE WORKING WITH AUSTIN ENERGY.
I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH AUSTIN ENERGY THIS WEEK TO GET THOSE, UM, WASTEWATER AVERAGE CALCULATIONS LOADED INTO THE SYSTEM FOR BILLS STARTING, UH, YOU KNOW, IN THE NEXT WEEK OR TWO NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
YEAH, WE WERE THROUGH THE FIRST 10 BILL CYCLES, 10 OF 20 BILL CYCLES THAT WERE SCHEDULED TO BILL SENSITIVE PRAIRIE RATE OF TEMPORARY RATE REDUCTION TOOK EFFECT IN ON MARCH 19TH.
UM, SINCE THEN APPROXIMATELY 172 MILLION GALLONS OF CONSUMPTION, UM, HAS BEEN BILLED IN TEARS THREE THROUGH FIVE, UH, RESULTING IN ALMOST $2.2 MILLION OF RESIDENTIAL RATE RELIEF AS COMPARED TO THE AMOUNT THAT WOULD NORMALLY BE CHARGED UNDER OUR REGULAR RATE STRUCTURE AND PUT THAT IN PERSPECTIVE, UM, BUDGETED RESIDENTIAL REVENUES FOR FEBRUARY AND MARCH, YOU KNOW, AVERAGE ABOUT 7.3 MILLION A MONTH.
SO RESIDENTIAL RATE RELIEF PROVIDED TODAY FOR ABOUT 50% OF OUR BILL CYCLES REPRESENTS 32% OF NORMAL MONTHLY BUDGETED REVENUES FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR NOW FOR COMMERCIAL AND MULTIFAMILY ACCOUNTS, AUSTIN WATERS MANUALLY REVIEWING THOSE ACCOUNTS TO IDENTIFY CONSUMPTION AND PROACTIVELY APPLYING BILL ADJUSTMENTS TO REDUCE BILL CONSUMPTION DOWN TO THE NORMAL EXPECTED LEVEL OF CONSUMPTION FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR NOW TO DATE, WE'VE APPLIED ALMOST 430, $8,000 IN BILL ADJUSTMENTS FOR COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS AND APPROXIMATELY $702,000 IN BILL ADJUSTMENTS FOR MULTIFAMILY ACCOUNTS.
ON THE COMMERCIAL SIDE, THE BILL ADJUSTMENTS REPRESENT APPROXIMATELY 9% OF OUR NORMAL MONTHLY REVENUE.
WHILE ON THE MULTI-FAMILY SIDE, UH, THE BILL ADJUSTMENTS REPRESENT ABOUT 14 AND A HALF PERCENT OF OUR NORMAL MONTHLY REVENUE FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR.
NOW IN TOTAL, WE PROVIDED OVER 3.3 MILLION AND BILL RELEASE TODAY TO OUR CUSTOMERS IMPACTED BY THE WINTER STORM EVENTS.
UH, BUT I'D LIKE TO POINT OUT THAT THAT BILL RELIEF DOESN'T NECESSARILY REPRESENT LOST REVENUE.
IT'S REALLY A NORMALIZATION OF, OF REVENUES, UM, WHEREBY WE'RE FOREGOING ANY EXCESS
[01:30:01]
REVENUE RESULTING FROM THE HIGH LEVELS OF STORM-RELATED CONSUMPTION THAT WE WOULDN'T NORMALLY RECEIVE, UH, THIS TIME OF YEAR.NOW, LOOKING AHEAD, WE EXPECT TO THE BULK OF THE FINAL FINANCIAL RELIEF PROCESS TO BE COMPLETE BY THE END OF THE MONTH, BUT, UH, IT MAY TAKE A FEW ADDITIONAL BILLING CYCLES TO FULLY REVIEW CUSTOMER COUNTS AND APPLY ADJUSTMENTS, UH, TO OFFSET ALL OF THE INCREASED CONSUMPTION RESULTING FROM THE WINTER STORMS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
THEN FINALLY, I'D LIKE TO QUICKLY HIGHLIGHT, UH, TWO OTHER RELIEF EFFORTS BEING FUNDED IN PART BY AUSTIN WATER, UH, AUSTIN WATER COMMITTED $1 MILLION IN FUNDING TO SUPPORT THE HOUSING AND PLANNING DEPARTMENTS, EMERGENCY HOME REPAIR INITIATIVE FOR PLUMBING REPAIRS THAT WERE CAUSED BY THE WINTER STORM EVENT.
IN ADDITION, UM, IN EARLIER IN MARCH AUSTIN, WATER AND AUSTIN ENERGY COMMITTED AN ADDITIONAL 5 MILLION H FOUR, A FUNDING FOR RESIDENTIAL UTILITY BILL PAYMENT ASSISTANCE THROUGH FOR THE PLUS ONE PROGRAM AND WHILE DEMAND FOR PLUS ONE PAYMENT ASSISTANCE HAS INCREASED DURING THE PANDEMIC.
THIS ASSISTANCE IS NOT LIMITED TO CUSTOMERS IMPACTED BY COVID-19 AND THAT INCLUDES THE FINANCIAL RELIEF PORTION OF THIS UPDATE.
AND WITH THAT, I'LL HAND IT OVER TO ASSISTANT DIRECTOR BRIAN BORA TO DISCUSS OUR RESILIENCY EFFORTS.
I AM ANA BRIAN
AND THIS EVENING I'M GOING TO SHARE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WITH YOU ABOUT AUSTIN WATERS, RESILIENCY INITIATIVES.
FIRST I'D LIKE TO TELL YOU ABOUT OUR PROACTIVE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM.
BACK IN 2010, AUSTIN WATER BEGAN IMPLEMENTING THE NATIONAL INCIDENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
AS YOU MAY KNOW, THIS IS A NATIONAL FRAMEWORK THAT'S PUT FORWARD BY FEMA FEMA, AND IT GUIDES ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS OUR COUNTRY IN ALL SECTORS OF THE ECONOMY TO PREVENT, RESPOND TO AND RECOVER FROM INCIDENTS TODAY, AUSTIN WATER HAS BUILT UP A PROFESSIONAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT STAFF.
THE TEAM NOW CONSISTS OF THREE FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT EMPLOYEES, AND NEXT YEAR IT WILL GROW AS WE ARE ADDING ADDITIONAL POSITIONS.
WE HAVE A HIGHLY QUALIFIED STAFF WHO COME, WHO BRING A COMBINED 70 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN MULTIPLE DISCIPLINES, INCLUDING PUBLIC SAFETY, MILITARY OPERATIONS, NURSING, AND PUBLIC HEALTH FIRE RESCUE, AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES AND OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH.
THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT STAFF HOLD DEGREES, CERTIFICATIONS AND STATE LICENSES RELATED TO THESE FIELDS.
AUSTIN WATER ALSO HAS A DEDICATED SPACE AT OUR WALLER CREEK CENTER HEADQUARTERS BUILDING FOR OUR DEPARTMENTAL OPERATIONS CENTER.
IT'S EQUIPPED WITH MEETING SPACE AND TECHNOLOGY THAT ALLOWS OUR INCIDENT MANAGEMENT TEAM TO GATHER AND RESPOND TO EMERGENCIES DURING COVID.
WE HAVE TRANSITIONED TO A VIRTUAL DEPARTMENTAL OPERATIONS CENTER WHILE WE MAINTAIN THE STRUCTURE OF OUR INCIDENT MANAGEMENT TEAM.
WE ALSO HAVE A REGULAR ONGOING TRAINING PROGRAM TO PREPARE FOR EMERGENCIES.
WE TRAIN OUR EMPLOYEES IN FEMA'S INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM OR ICS, AND OUR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT STAFF ARE FEMA CERTIFIED ICS INSTRUCTORS.
WE CONDUCT REGULAR TABLETOP EXERCISES TO PREPARE FOR EMERGENCIES AND TO PRACTICE THE INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM.
OUR EMPLOYEES HAVE PARTICIPATED IN A VARIETY OF EXERCISES, WHICH ARE SIMULATIONS, INCLUDING TOPICS SUCH AS A WASTEWATER OVERFLOW AND A BOIL WATER.
WE ALSO CONDUCT DRILLS AT OUR FACILITIES, WHICH INCLUDE CHEMICAL DISASTER AND FIRE EVACUATION DRILLS.
AND FINALLY, IN 2020, WE BEGAN IMPLEMENTING SPECIALIZED EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE.
WHEN THIS IMPLEMENTATION IS COMPLETE, THE SOFTWARE WILL ALLOW US TO BETTER MONITOR DAILY SITUATIONAL AWARENESS TO PREPARE CONTINUITY OF OPERATIONS PLANS AND TO ACTIVATE THE INCIDENT MANAGEMENT TEAM VERY RAPIDLY.
THIS SOFTWARE REPLACES, UH, PRIOR SYSTEMS AND REALLY UPGRADES AND ENHANCES OUR CAPABILITIES WHEN IT COMES TO EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, I'D LIKE TO TALK ABOUT ENTERPRISE RESILIENCY AS A STRATEGIC INITIATIVE AT AUSTIN WATER, AS YOU MAY RECALL FROM, FROM, UH, PRIOR PRESENTATIONS THAT WE HAVE SHARED AUSTIN USES EFFECTIVE UTILITY MANAGEMENT AS OUR PLANNING AND IMPROVEMENT
[01:35:01]
FRAMEWORK, EFFECTIVE UTILITY MANAGEMENT OR EUM IS AN INDUSTRY BEST PRACTICE FRAMEWORK, WHICH WAS DEVELOPED BY THE EPA IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE WATER INDUSTRY IN EARLY 20, 20 AUSTIN WATERS, EXECUTIVE TEAM RECOGNIZED THE NEED TO STRENGTHEN RESILIENCE.WE ALREADY HAD SEVERAL EFFORTS UNDERWAY, INCLUDING THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES THAT I DESCRIBED, UM, AS WELL AS OUR WATER FORWARD PLAN AND WILDFIRE MITIGATION ACTIVITIES ON OUR WILDLANDS.
BUT WE WANTED TO GO FURTHER BY SELECTING ENTERPRISE RESILIENCY AS A FOCUS OF OUR EFFECTIVE UTILITY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM.
WE HAD LAUNCHED THAT PROGRAM IN 2016 AND IN 2020, WE DECIDED TO ELEVATE THE ENTERPRISE RESILIENCY ATTRIBUTE TO A STRATEGIC INITIATIVE, AND WE COMMITTED TO A COMPREHENSIVE EFFORT TO IMPROVE RESILIENCE.
OVER THREE YEARS, WE ASSEMBLED A CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAM WITH REPRESENTATIVES FROM EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, CLIMATE PROTECTION, SECURITY, WILDLANDS, AND AUDITING TO NAME A FEW.
AND THE TEAM ESTABLISHED A COMPREHENSIVE THREE-YEAR PLAN WITH THESE GOALS THAT YOU SEE HERE, WHICH ARE TO ENSURE PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE TO CRITICAL INCIDENTS IS EFFECTIVE, PRACTICED, AND REVIEWED TO ENSURE THAT OPERATIONAL RESILIENCY, UM, EXISTS THROUGH NORMAL AND EMERGENT CONDITIONS AND TO ENSURE RESILIENCY BY IDENTIFYING AND ADDRESSING NATURAL HAZARD RISKS, TO MAINTAIN FOCUS AND MOMENTUM.
THE ENTERPRISE RESILIENCY TEAM LEADER PARTICIPATES IN WEEKLY HUDDLES AND MONTHLY BRIEFINGS TO OUR EXECUTIVE TEAM.
NOW I'D LIKE TO SPEAK TO HOW WE ARE PREPARING FOR FUTURE EMERGENCIES.
UM, DURING THE BOTH THE COLORADO RIVER FLOOD OF 2018 AND WINTER STORM YURI IN 2021, AUSTIN WATER SUPPORTED THE DISTRIBUTION OF BOTTLED WATER TO THE COMMUNITY, WHICH WAS LED BY OUR PARTNERS IN THE CITY'S HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT.
ONE OF THE LESSONS LEARNED FROM THESE EVENTS IS THAT WE NEED TO HAVE A PORTFOLIO OF OPTIONS TO PROVIDE WATER TO THE COMMUNITY.
DURING TIMES OF EMERGENCY BOTTLED WATER IS ONE PART OF THE PORTFOLIO, BUT IT IS NOT THE ONLY SOLUTION IN THE AFTERMATH OF WINTER STORM.
YURI AUSTIN WATER PURCHASED 60 BULK WATER TOTES, WHICH ARE PORTABLE 275 GALLON WATER TANKS.
AND WE ALSO CONTRACTED WITH WATER TO PROVIDE BULK WATER DISTRIBUTION.
THESE RESOURCES WERE DEPLOYED TO LOCATIONS ACROSS THE CITY, AS OUR COMMUNITY WAS RECOVERING FROM THE STORM AND AUSTIN WATER PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THOSE COMMUNITY RECOVERY EFFORTS GOING FORWARD, AUSTIN WATER IS COMMITTED TO HAVING A PORTFOLIO OF OPTIONS FOR PROVIDING EMERGENCY WATER AS A MEANS OF SUPPORTING COMMUNITY RESILIENCE.
WE'RE INVESTIGATING BULK WATER TRUCKS AND RIGHT-SIZING OF AN INVENTORY OF BOTTLED WATER TO KEEP ON HAND.
AS OUR DIRECTOR MENTIONED EARLIER, MORE THAN 2300 PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS EXPERIENCED A BOIL WATER NOTICE DURING THIS STORM.
AND THERE WAS A TREMENDOUS DEMAND FOR BOTTLED WATER SUPPLIES ACROSS THE STATE, BY HAVING A PORTFOLIO OF OPTIONS AVAILABLE, AUSTIN WATER WILL HAVE GREATER FLEXIBILITY TO PROVIDE WATER TO OUR COMMUNITY DURING TIMES OF EMERGENCY.
AND I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THAT DURING THAT COMMUNITY RECOVERY PHASE, UM, WE WERE WORKING WITH THE SUSTAINABILITY OFFICERS.
SO REFERENCING BACK TO COMMISSIONER HO'S COMMENTS ABOUT, UH, THE ROLE OF THE COMMUNITY, UH, CHIEF RESILIENCE OFFICER, AS WELL AS THE CHIEF EQUITY OFFICER, WE WERE ENGAGED WITH THEM DURING THIS STORM, AND I EXPECT WE WILL CONTINUE TO, UH, BE INVOLVED WITH THOSE OFFICES.
NOW I WOULD LIKE TO, UM, SPEAK TO AUSTIN, WATER'S COMPLIANCE WITH AMERICA'S WATER INFRASTRUCTURE ACT, WHICH COMMISSIONER MORIARITY REFERENCED EARLIER.
SO, UM, AS YOU MAY KNOW, THIS IS A FEDERAL LAW THAT WAS ENACTED IN OCTOBER OF 2018, AND IT DOES REQUIRE DRINKING WATER SYSTEMS TO DEVELOP OR UPDATE RISK ASSESSMENTS AND TO PREPARE EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANS.
AT AUSTIN WATER, WE ASSIGNED AN EXPERIENCED INTERNAL AUDITOR
[01:40:01]
WITH A CERTIFICATION IN RISK MANAGEMENT TO LEAD THE RISK AND RESILIENCE ASSESSMENT.AND THE, UH, TEAM LEADER USED TOOLS PROVIDED BY THE EPA TO PREPARE THAT ASSESSMENT.
AND THEN THE EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN WAS PREPARED BY OUR UTILITY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATOR.
AND AS I MENTIONED, AUSTIN WATER DID COMPLY FULLY AND ON TIME WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THIS LAW AND CERTIFIED OUR COMPLIANCE TO THE EPA.
NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE GOING FORWARD, AUSTIN WATER WILL EXCEED THE REQUIREMENTS OF AMERICA'S WATER INFRASTRUCTURE ACT WITH WHAT WE ARE CALLING A WIA 2.0 OR
HOWEVER, AUSTIN WATER WILL REPEAT THE PROCESS FOR THE DRINKING WATER SYSTEM.
IN ADDITION, THIS LAW DOES NOT APPLY TO THE WASTEWATER SYSTEMS. HOWEVER, AUSTIN WATER WILL CONDUCT A RISK AND RESILIENCE ASSESSMENT OF THE WASTEWATER SYSTEM.
AND IN FACT, WE LAUNCHED THAT ASSESSMENT IN EARLY 2021.
AGAIN, WE WILL REPEAT THAT WASTEWATER SYSTEM ASSESSMENT EVERY TWO YEARS THROUGH A WEEA 2.0, WE ARE IMPLEMENTING ANNUAL STANDARDIZED RISK ASSESSMENTS AND DEVELOPING CORRESPONDING RESPONSE PLANS.
AND NOW AS OUR NEXT STEPS, FOLLOWING WINTER STORM, YURI, AUSTIN, WATER STAFF STAND READY TO SUPPORT THE COMMISSION'S RESILIENCE WORKING GROUP, WHICH IS ON YOUR AGENDA THIS EVENING.
SHOULD YOU FORM THAT GROUP? AND WE ARE ALSO PARTICIPATING IN A CITY-WIDE AFTER ACTION REVIEW, AS WELL AS CONDUCTING OUR OWN INTERNAL REVIEW TO GATHER LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE STORM.
AND THIS CONCLUDES OUR STAFF PRESENTATION.
THANK YOU, MISS ANNA, UH, COMMISSIONERS, BECAUSE WE GOT SO MANY ITEMS THAT NEED TO BE CLOSED THROUGH AGAIN.
SO IF WE CAN HOLD YOUR QUESTIONS AND THEN AT THE END OF THE MEETING, MAYBE WE GOT TIME, THEY WALK, WE'LL TRY TO ASK STAFF TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS.
SO WE, BECAUSE OF TECHNICAL ISSUES THAT WE DID NOT CATCH, UH, MISS, UH, COMMISSIONER
SO I MAKE IT TO HER TO HAVE ANOTHER CHANCE TO EXPRESS HER BOAT AND MEET COMMISSIONER
HOW ABOUT THE, UH, DISCUSSION ITEMS WE ONCE WILL BE? CAN I APPROVE YOU? APPROVE? OKAY.
I WAS INFORMED BY MS. FRANCA THAT WE GOT TO MEET TWO.
I CAN SEE ONE, OBVIOUSLY IRRIGATION FOR WATER AND WASTE WATER COMMISSION, CHAIR, AND VICE CHAIR, BECAUSE WE NEED TO HAVE A MOTION IN THE SECOND AND THEN BOTH EAT.
AND THEN THE PERSON WHO NOMINATED IT EITHER TO HAVE A BRIEF DISCUSSION OF WHAT'S THE PLACES NORMALLY NEED TO EAT OR
UH, I NOMINATE CHAIR LEE AND, UM, AGAIN, I THINK I STARTED THE FIRST TIME HE GIVE HIM AN OPPORTUNITY.
HOPEFULLY WE CAN MEET IN PERSON AND TO CHAIR IN PERSON.
FINISHING NAILS AND ISF COMBINATION.
SO IS THERE A MOTION IN THE MOTION MADE BY SUSAN'S MY COMMISSIONER CREATOR.
IS THIS A SECOND OR YOU ALREADY CIRCUS ON 82ND? UH, IS FRANCA PLEASE CODE AT ALL? YES.
CHARLIE, UM, COMMISSIONER MORIARITY MADE THE MOTION, UH, COMMISSIONER PEN.
MY APOLOGIES COMMISSIONER MORIARITY SECONDED.
[01:45:02]
COMMISSIONER PEN.COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS HAD TO STEP AWAY, BUT, UH, WE CAN ALLOW HER PREVIOUS VOTE TO, TO STAND SINCE SHE DID VOTE THE FIRST TIME, UH, COMMISSIONER FISHER AND COMMISSIONER, TERETTA MAKING THE MOTION FOR YES.
SO THAT IS UNANIMOUS WITH, UH, COMMISSIONER MICHELLE ABSENCE.
WE WILL MOVE TO THE SECOND OR VICE CHAIR AND I WILL NOMINATE, COULD VICE CHAIR PISS OFF.
SHE HAS BEEN A VERY COMMITTED SENIOR, UH, COMMISSION MEMBER AND SHE GOT A PRETTY PG SCHEDULE UNDER PERSONAL DRIVE IN A PROFESSIONAL LIFE.
IS SHE STILL COMMITTED TO IT? AND I THINK WE'D LIKE TO CONTINUE HER LEADERSHIP TO HELP THE COMMISSION OUT.
AND IS THERE A MOTION I MOTION TO A VOTE FOR CASTLEBERRY AS VICE CHAIR? YEAH.
SO THERE ARE THESE MORIARTY COMMISSIONER MORIARTY SECOND.
WITH, UH, COMMISSIONER CERITA MAKING THE MOTION AND COMMISSIONER MORIARTY.
COMMISSIONER MICHELLE ABSENT COMMISSIONER, UH, CHAIR LEE.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS PREVIOUSLY, UH, VOTED YES.
COMMISSIONER MISHER, UH, FISHER.
AND THAT IS UNANIMOUS AGAIN WITH COMMISSIONER MICHELLE ABSENT.
THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING THAT REVISION DISCUSSION OF MEETINGS, SCHEDULE, PACKET COMMITTEE, UH, COMMISSIONER RIETTA.
UM, CAN WE GET SOME DATES IN THE PACKET OR DO WE NEED TO JUST VISIT ABOUT IT? I'M SORRY.
UH, SO, UM, UH, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, JOSEPH GONZALEZ, UH, CAN SPEAK TO THE, UH, PROPOSED TIMELINE FOR, UH, THE AVAILABILITY OF THE MEETING AND THE SPECIFIC DATES I WILL BE WORKING, UM, WITH STAFF TO SECURE THAT.
AND WE'LL CONFIRM, UH, WITH THE MEMBERS AT A LATER DATE.
SO JUST TO ADD TO THAT, YOU, YOUR MIKE LAST YEAR, UM, THE CITYWIDE BUDGET WILL BE, UH, PROVIDED TO COUNCIL ON JUNE AND JULY NINE.
UM, HERE'S THE POST BUDGET PRESENTATION.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, LIKE HERE'S PAST, WE PROPOSED THAT WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, ONE OR TWO MEETINGS IN ADVANCE OF THAT TO TALK ABOUT FORECASTS, UM, AND, AND SPECIFIC ASKS AND FOLLOWING THE PRESENTATION TO COUNCIL ONLY TWO MEETINGS BASED ON THE COMMITTEE'S AVAILABILITY TO GET INTO MORE DETAIL, UH, OVER AUSTIN WATER'S PROPOSED BUDGET.
UM, SO, UH, WE, WE PROVIDED SOME, SOME TIMELINES FOR THAT YOU, IN TERMS OF, OF THE INITIAL MEETINGS IN MAY AND EARLY TO MID JUNE, UM, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, PROBABLY A MEETING FAIRLY QUICKLY AFTER THE JULY 9TH, UH, COUNCIL BUDGET PRESENTATION, UM, TO REVIEW THE FINAL PROPOSED BUDGET AND IN, AT HIGHER LEVEL OF DETAIL, UM, IN ADVANCE OF OUR AUGUST, UH, UM, COMMISSION MEETING.
[01:50:03]
WELL THEN THAT'S REALLY ALL I HAD KELLY YOU'RE YOU'RE MUTED IF YOU'RE SPEAKING, SIR, YOU'RE, YOU'RE CURRENTLY MUTED.I KNOW, I THINK YOU'RE MUTING YOURSELF AND THEN YOU'RE UNMUTING YOURSELF.
SO WHEN YOUR MIC IS GREEN IT'S IT'S UN-MUTED, UM, I'M TRYING TO HELP YOU ON THIS AND AS THE AB TECH.
LET'S MOVE ON TO ITEM EASTERY, APPOINT MINT MEMBERS TO FEBRUARY WINTER STORM WORKING GROUP.
BEFORE WE DO THAT, UH, I THINK EVERYBODY GOT A ONE AND HALF HOUR PRESENTATION FROM THE STAFF ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING AND WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE.
AND AFTER DISCUSSION WITH THE AUSTIN WATER UTILITY, WE THINK THAT IT'S APPROPRIATE FOR A GROUP TO DISCUSS ALL THE ISSUES AND ESPECIALLY ON THE WATER SIDE OF IT, YOU KNOW, EVEN WE GOT SOME DIFF STATION ISSUES, BUT I THINK IF WE CAN FOCUS ON THE WATER SIDE OF THE ISSUE, WHEN IT WILL BE MUCH, UH, CONCENTRATED OR FOCUSED ON IT.
SO WE NEED COMMISSION MEMBERS EXPERTISE AS AN ENGINEER, AS A CONSUMER CUSTOMER TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ORGANIZATION, ALSO THE GROUP, AND WE DISCUSS ABOUT IT, YOU KNOW, EITHER SET UP A COMMITTEE OR SET UP A COOKING GROUP, BUT BECAUSE A COMMITTEE WE ARE REQUIRED FOR THEM POSTING, AND RIGHT NOW WE'RE UNDER THE COVID 19 SOCIAL DISTANCING ISSUES AND SCHEDULING ISSUES.
SO WE, UH, WE, UH, DECIDED THAT IT'S BETTER TO HAVE A WORKING GROUP.
SO WE DON'T HAVE A POSTING REQUIREMENT AND OUR TIME IS MORE FLEXIBLE AND WE DON'T HAVE A CORAL QUORUM REQUIREMENT.
IT AS A, AS WE DON'T HAVE ONE IN FIVE MEMBERS.
SO TO ACTUALLY DISCUSS WITH COUPLE, UH, COMMISSIONERS TO, UH, CHECK ON THEIR INTERESTS AND THEIR ABILITY TO SERVE ON A COMMITTEE THAT TOOK THE WORKING GROUP.
AND THEN I, I THINK I'D LIKE TO APPOINT VICE CHAIR, SO PETTY TO SERVE AS THE CHAIR FOR A WORKING GROUP.
AND THE PEOPLE CAME TO HER TIME TO EAT, UH, TO HELP US OUT, UM, THOSE ISSUES.
AND THEN THAT I CAN TOO, UH, COMMISSIONER MONYETTE II AS VICE CHAIR, BUT A WORKING GROUP THAT WILL HELP, UH, COMMISSIONER CASTLE PERRY WHEN SHE STARTED AVAILABLE TO CONDUCT A MEETING AND A MEETING.
UH, MY THINKING ALL WITH MY DISCUSSION WITH THE AWU STUFF IS THAT IT'S GOING TO BE LAST ABOUT SIX MONTHS FROM APRIL TO, UH, SEPTEMBER.
AND THE MEETING WILL BE ABOUT ONCE A MONTHS KIND OF THAT IN ITS ATRIAL WILL BE MORE FLEXIBLE BECAUSE DEPENDS ON THE WORKING GROUP MEMBERS TO BE ABLE TO TIME.
AND WE DON'T HAVE THE POSTING REQUIREMENT, BUT ON SIMPLE AND, UH, THE WORKING GROUP, WE HAVE HE REPORTING TO THE WHOLE COMMISSION AND A MONTHLY BASIS TO LET US KNOW WHAT HAD, HAD BEEN DISCUSSED AND WHAT WAS ACCOMPLISHED, AND WHAT'S THE ACTION PLAN AND ET CETERA, THAT WAY WE CAN, WE CAN, UM, SHARE AND, UH, AND GUIDED INFORMATION, UH, TO THE BOOKING GROUP.
SO AS FOR THAT, AND I TALK WITH SOME OTHER, UH, COMMISSION MEMBERS.
SO I THINK I'D LIKE TO APPOINT COMMISSIONER FISHER AND THE COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS AND COMMISSIONER PENN TO BE THE WORKING GROUP MEMBERS AND THEY ARE, UH, WAITING TO SERVE AND TO HELP US OUT.
[01:55:01]
SO THAT'S OUR DISCUSSION ON ITEM THREE.AND NOW I'D LIKE TO GO BACK TO ITEM F TWO.
SO SHE COMMISSIONED, WAS THAT ANY QUESTIONS ON THE PRESENTATION? AND IT'S FOCUSED ON THE PRESENTATION CURRENTLY VACATION ONLY IF, IF WE GOT SOME OTHER QUESTIONS LET'S SAY BEET OR THE WORKING GROUP DISCUSSIONS, OR S-CURVE BOOKING GROUP PEOPLE TO CONVEY THE MESSAGE OR DISCUSS WITH THE STAFF TO COMPARE THE MESSAGE OF YOUR CONCERNS OR QUESTIONS OR WHATEVER, BUT LET'S FOCUS TODAY'S QUESTIONS TO THE PRESENTATION ITSELF.
VERY, NO OPEN FOR ALL COMMISSIONER SCOTT, ANY QUESTION I HAVE? YES, YES, PLEASE.
UM, I WAS WONDERING, I NOTICED ON THE PRESENTATION, THE EMERGENCY WATERS, HIS RESTRICTIONS WERE LIFTED ON FEBRUARY 24.
WHEN WAS IT TO BE AN ACTIVE RESPONSE TO IT? UH, IF I RE REPEAT THE QUESTION, IS THAT, UH, WHEN WAS IT ACTIVATED? RIGHT.
LET ME SEE IF I CAN GO BACK TO THE GRAPHIC HERE.
UM, I THINK WE ARE I'LL START.
I THINK IT WAS ON WEDNESDAY, THE 18TH, WE HAD MANDATORY RESTRICTIONS AND THEN, UH, THEN WE HAD SOME CAR WASHES START UP.
UM, AND WE, UH, WE, UH, IMPLEMENTED ADDITIONAL PROCEDURAL, UM, UH, STAGE FOUR, WHICH GIVES US ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS WHERE WE CAN TURN OFF WATER.
AND, UH, I THINK THAT WAS A COUPLE OF DAYS AFTER THE WEDNESDAY ENACTMENT THAT THAT'S JUST OFF, OFF MY TOP OF MY HEAD, BUT, UM, RICK OR SOMEBODY MAY HAVE THE ACTUAL SPECIFICS.
WE CAN DEFINITELY GET YOU THE ACTUAL DATE TIME, BUT I BELIEVE THAT IS CORRECT.
THE TIMELINE WAS AFTER THE CITY-WIDE BOIL WATER, THEN WE, UH, IDENTIFIED SOME, UM, ADDITIONAL ACTIONS TO TAKE ON THE 18TH.
SORRY, YOU GOT 80 ANIMAL QUESTION.
I HAVE ONE MORE, SORRY THAT THE SMART METERS THAT YOU'VE GOT CAN, CAN THEY STOP THE WATER OR CAN THEY JUST NOTIFY PEOPLE THAT IT'S LOOKS LIKE A BURST PIPE OR, YEAH, SO THE, UH, SMART METERS, UM, THE ACTUAL METERS THEMSELVES ARE, UH, JUST THE PAST THROUGH, THERE'S NO A CONTROL VALVES TO THOSE METERS.
SO IT WOULD BE MORE JUST THE NOTIFICATION PROCESS AS WELL AS MAY.
ANY RESPONSE THAT THE CITY MAY HAVE, UH, MAYBE THE SYSTEM ITSELF WILL NOTIFY, BUT WE CAN ALSO MONITOR THAT INFORMATION AS WELL.
HOW DO YOU NOTIFY THE PEOPLE THROUGH PHONE CALL OR EMAIL, OR IT IS A COMBINATION OF DIFFERENT, UH, COMMUNICATION MEANS WHETHER IT'S TEXTS, OPTIONS OR EMAIL OPTIONS.
UH, THOSE ARE CURRENTLY THE STANDARDS, BUT, UH, ALSO, UH, WE'RE LOOKING AT OTHER OPTIONS.
UM, MAYBE, UH, MAIL-OUTS, THOSE ARE NOT AS IMMEDIATE, BUT THOSE THAT DON'T HAVE THE ACTUAL, UH, MY ATX WATER PORTAL ON WHAT OTHER OPTIONS OF COMMUNICATIONS WE MAY HAVE, BUT TYPICALLY RIGHT NOW IT'S TEXTS OR EMAIL.
I GOT AN 80 QUESTIONS SORT OF STUFF.
I ASKED HIM THAT HOW I HAVE SOME PLEASURE, MR. CHAIR, GO AHEAD.
UM, STARTING WITH THE, UH, THE LAST PORTION OF THE RESILIENCY, UM, THERE'S THE, UH, ENTERPRISE RESILIENCY HAVE COMPONENTS, UH, PLUGGING INTO THE, UM, THE COMMUNITY RESILIENCY PLAN OR THAT STRICTLY JUST FOR THE ENTERPRISE.
AWESOME WATER ITSELF, NOT NEITHER GOOD OR BAD.
I JUST TRY AND UNDERSTAND HOW BROAD THAT SCOPE IS.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER HOPE FOR THAT QUESTION ON, UH, BRIAN
[02:00:01]
UM, I BELIEVE YOU WERE ASKING ABOUT THE, UM, CITY'S, UH, CLIMATE RESILIENCY PLANNING.IF I, IF I UNDERSTAND YOUR QUESTION CORRECTLY, UH, IN GENERAL, YES.
I'M JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND IF THE ENTERPRISE RESILIENCY IS BROADER, UH, THAN THE ENTERPRISE ITSELF AND KIND OF REACHING TO THE COMMUNITY.
UH, BUT YES, THE, A PART OF THE COMMUNITY QUESTION WOULD BE, UM, DO YOU HAVE A DIRECT, UH, UPDATE INTO THE RESILIENCY PLAN, BUT IT'S NOT LIMITED TO THAT PLAN.
IT COULD BE OTHER EFFORT THAT MIGHT BE CREATED.
UM, I MEAN, SINCE YOU ASKED, YOU KNOW, WE DO A LOT OF WORK WITH SCHOOL DISTRICT AND I BELIEVE THE CITY IS TRYING TO CREATE COMMUNITY SHELTERS, UH, THAT SPREAD OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY WITH, UH, AISD CAMPUSES, UM, AND OBVIOUSLY HOSPITAL AND ENJOYS BY A BIT OF, UM, UM, RE REDUNDANCY WHEN IT COME TO WATER SUPPLY.
BUT MOST OF THE SCHOOLS DON'T REALLY HAVE THOSE.
AND SO IN BROUGHT BRAS BACK, I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE IT'LL BE ENTERPRISE RESILIENCIES.
HOW FAR DOES IT REACH? SO, YES, THANK YOU FOR CLARIFYING AUSTIN WATER STAFF DO INTERFACE WITH THE CITY'S RESILIENCY PLANNING IN A NUMBER OF WAYS.
UM, OUR WATER FORWARD, UM, PLAN HAS A SIGNIFICANT, UH, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COMPONENT TO IT.
UM, WE ARE ALSO, UM, IN THE ENTERPRISE RESILIENCY INITIATIVE THAT I DESCRIBED.
UH, WE, AGAIN, THAT'S VERY BROADLY STRUCTURED ACROSS OUR ORGANIZATION TO CONSIDER, UH, NATURAL HAZARDS AND TO CONSIDER, UH, CLIMATE RISK AS PART OF OUR RESILIENCY PLANNING IN CONDUCTING OUR, UH, WEAH ASSESSMENT.
WE ALSO CONSIDERED THE CITY'S RESILIENCY PLANNING.
THE CITY'S CLIMATE PLAN FOR CITY FACILITIES WAS PART OF THAT ASSESSMENT.
AND THEN YOU MENTIONED THE COMMUNITY RESILIENCE HUBS THAT COUNCIL IS CONSIDERING.
OUR STAFF ARE ENGAGED IN DISCUSSIONS, UH, ABOUT THE PLANNING FOR THAT INITIATIVE AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE ENGAGED IN THAT.
UM, AND THEN, UH, IF I DON'T, I HAVE JUST HAVE A QUICK QUESTION FOR RICK.
UM, AND, AND THANK YOUR STAFF.
I MEAN, THIS IS, I'M SURE LOOKING AT THIS GRAPH, DOESN'T TRANSLATE HOW MANY HOURS YOU HAVE TO WORK IN LONG SHIFTS.
SO I JUST WANT TO THANK STAFF WHILE I'M AT IT.
UM, BUT THE, FOR 48 HOURS PERIODS, THE CRITICAL PERIODS, RICK, IS THAT, UM, IS THAT AN OFFICIAL BASELINE THAT WILL BE BUILT, UH, INTO THE PLANNING GOING FORWARD? KIND OF LIKE THE DROUGHT OF RECORD? UM, I'M JUST TRYING TO ART, PART OF ME, UH, LOOKING AT RESILIENCY AND IN GENERAL IS, YOU KNOW, UH, DRAWING SIMILARITY FROM FLOODPLAIN WHERE 500 YEAR BECOME A HUNDRED YEAR.
IT'S LIKE A BASELINE ADJUSTMENT AND EVERY TIME SOMETHING THIS MAGNITUDE OCCUR OR JUST UNUSUAL.
SO, YOU KNOW, I JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND IF THAT 40 HOURS PERIOD IS SOMETHING THAT GOING TO BE BENCHMARK AND BUILT INTO THE PLANNING GOING FORWARD.
I'LL START WITH KIND OF, UH, IDENTIFYING THAT 48 HOUR PERIOD WAS PROBABLY THE, THE, UH, TIMELINE IN WHICH WE WENT FROM A HEALTHY, UH, STORAGE CONDITION TO AN UNHEALTHY ONE, IN WHICH IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, BUT ALSO EXPERIENCED, UH, SOME OF THE PEAK DEMANDS THAT WE HAVE NOT SEEN.
SO THERE WILL BE SOME, UM, KIND OF DIVING INTO THAT TIMEFRAME.
UH, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE SHOWING YOU A ROLL-UP OF THE ENTIRE CITY.
AND SO DISSECTING THE CITY IS PART OF THE AFTER ACTION.
UH, WE DO HAVE A BREAKDOWN OF EVERY SINGLE ZONE, SO EVERY SINGLE ZONE EXPERIENCE, THIS, THIS TIMEFRAME A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY.
AND SO IT IS PART OF MORE OF THE AFTER ACTION OF WHAT HAPPENED AT EACH LOCATION TO HELP STRATEGIZE WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MITIGATIONS THAT WE CAN HAVE.
FOR EXAMPLE, IF SOUTHWEST B WAS ONE OF THE FIRST AREAS THAT EXPERIENCED THAT SOONER, WE WILL WANT TO KIND OF IDENTIFY THAT AND ALSO IDENTIFY IF STORAGE WAS, UM, UH, AN IMPACT.
WE MEET STORAGE REQUIREMENTS THROUGHOUT THE CITY BASED ON TCEQ REQUIREMENTS, BUT THEY MAY NOT BE, UM, UM, RESILIENT IN, UH, IN A HIGH DEMAND PEAK BECAUSE STORAGE IS TYPICALLY THAT BUFFER OR, UH, THE CUSTOMER, NOT ONLY FOR FIRE FLOW PROTECTION, BUT ALSO PEAK,
[02:05:01]
UH, ISSUES SUCH AS A WATER MAIN BREAK, OR MAYBE EVEN A LARGE DEMAND, UH, FROM THE SYSTEM.SO WE'RE GOING TO BE LOOKING AT THAT 48 HOURS PER ZONE.
UH, AND THAT MAY SHIFT A LITTLE BIT, EVEN THOUGH I GAVE YOU A KIND OF A RELATIVE TIMEFRAME, IT MAY BE DIFFERENT PER PRESSURE ZONE.
I, I W I WOULD ADD TO THAT, YOU KNOW, THE SIZE, OUR SYSTEMS, WE'LL BE LOOKING AT HOW OUR COMMUNICATION AND CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR OCCURRED DURING, DURING THAT PERIOD IN THE, IN THE PORTS LEADING UP TO IT.
UM, YOU KNOW, FOR, FOR EXAMPLE, UH, I THINK, YOU KNOW, THERE'S GOING TO BE A NEED TO, YOU KNOW, EDUCATE THE COMMUNITY ON ADDITIONAL STEPS TO PROTECT THEIR PRIVATE PLUMBING FROM BURSTING.
UH, I MEAN, THIS ISN'T ALL GOING TO BE JUST PUBLIC, UH, SIDE IMPROVEMENTS.
I THINK THE OTHER ASPECT OF COMMUNICATIONS, AND THIS IS AREAS THAT I THINK OUR COMMISSION CAN HELP IS, UM, YOU KNOW, HISTORICALLY OUR RESPONSE IN A FREEZE IS WE ENCOURAGE CUSTOMERS TO DRIP WATER.
AND, UH, AND AS RICK SHOWED WITH AMI DATA, THAT THERE WERE, YOU KNOW, UH, YOU KNOW, THOUSANDS PROBABLY ULTIMATELY IF YOU EXTRAPOLATE IT MANY TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CUSTOMERS THAT WERE, WERE DRIPPING WATER, AND THAT WAS, UH, USING TENS OF MILLIONS OF GALLONS AND, UH, AND PUT ADDITIONAL PRESSURE ON THE SYSTEM.
AND I THINK WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO REVISIT THOSE HISTORIC PRACTICES FOR THESE LONG DURATION FREEZES.
AND SO, UM, THAT THAT'S, YOU KNOW, KIND OF THE WHOLE BROAD SPECTRUM OF ISSUES WOULD BE EXAMINING THAT IN, IN THESE CRITICAL PERIODS.
UM, YEAH, AND I THINK, YEAH, I DON'T WANT TO GET TOO MUCH INTO WHAT Y'ALL WILL BRING BACK.
THAT'S THE ACTION REPORT AFTER ACTION REPORT, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO KIND OF STUDY AND HAVE BETTER UNDERSTANDING HOW WE CAN DO A BETTER FORWARD, I GUESS MY QUESTION.
AND I APPRECIATE THE FEEDBACK THERE IS TO KIND OF LOOK AT IT EVEN MORE LONG, GO LONGER TERM, JUST FROM A RESILIENCY STANDPOINT.
UM, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, I DON'T HAVE EXPERTISE IN, IN WATER PLANNING PER SE, BUT IN, IN THE STORM WATER, YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE WAS A TIME WHEN, UM, UH, STORM EVENT, IT WAS DESIGNED FOR ONLY THREE HOURS PERIOD BECAUSE NO ONE KNOWS NO ONE THING IT WOULD RAIN MORE THAN THREE HOURS AT THE TIME, AND THEN IT BECOME 24 HOURS.
SO I WOULD JUST, UH, WANT TO POINT OUT THAT AS WE GO FORWARD, YOU KNOW, UH, IF THERE'S A WAY FOR THE RESILIENCY'S PLAN TO REALLY LOOKING AT THE DURATION, UH, OF THESE, UH, DISASTER, BECAUSE THE NEXT TIME IT COULD EVEN BE LONGER AND THINK THERE'S NEVER ENOUGH STORAGE TO STORE FOR FOREVER.
SO, UH, WHATEVER SMART IDEA Y'ALL COME UP WITH, I JUST WANT TO POINT OUT THAT I THINK, I THINK A LOT OF THE BASELINE AND BENCHMARK MAY HAVE TO CHANGE, UH, AFTER WE EXPERIENCED SOMETHING, THIS, THIS CATASTROPHE, AND I JUST WANT TO POINT THAT OUT.
I LOOK FORWARD TO HEAR MORE FROM THE ACTIONS AFTER ACTION REPORT.
THANKS YOU FOR THE QUESTION, MR. CHAIR.
COMMISSIONER HALL, UH, COMMISSIONERS, YOU GOT ANY MORE QUESTIONS FOR THE STAFF ON THE PRESENTATION? OKAY.
IF NOT, WE'LL MOVE TO THE LAST ITEM ON THE AGENDA ITEM
[G.1. Discussion of future agenda items.]
DISCUSS OR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. I KNOW COMMISSIONER MICHELLE IS NOT HERE, BUT, UH, IN FEBRUARY HE ASKS FOR ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE UPDATE, UM, IMPLEMENTATION.SO WE WILL HAVE 13 NEW STAFF TO GET READY FOR A PRESENTATION SOMETIME DOWN THE ROAD.
ANY OTHER ITEMS THAT ONE TO, TO, TO PUT ON THE UPCOMING, UH, AGENDA
WELL, WHAT ESCO MS.
CHEERLY MAY I BE RECOGNIZED? YES.
I, I W I, I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A TAPES PRESENTATION ON THE CUSTOMER BILLING SYSTEM RELATIVE TO A HIGH INCOME PEOPLE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE CAP SYSTEM AND SEE WHAT THE CITY IS GOING TO DO ABOUT THAT SLOW THAT DOWN.
SO YOUR QUESTION IS OUT OF CUSTOMER, WHICH PEOPLE REACH CUSTOMERS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CAMP SYSTEM TO THE STREET? A LOT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT THAT, YOU KNOW, THE PEOPLE WHO ARE CLEARLY QUITE WEALTHY, AREN'T TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE CAP SYSTEM AND, UH,
[02:10:01]
WHAT COULD BE DONE ABOUT IT.WE'LL ASK HER STUFF, BUT GIVE US THE CURRENT REGULATIONS IN THIS SEAT, HOWARD HOUSE SIMEO, THE SITUATION COMES, AND THEN WHAT'S THE PROPOSED SOLUTION TO IT.
ANY OTHER POTENTIAL FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS, COMMISSIONERS? UM, I HAVE ONE JUST TO PUT ON THE TABLE FOR A LONGER TERM WOULD BE, WHICH IS RELATED TO THE EITHER 10, UM, WHICH WOULD BE JUST TO HAVE A SUMMARY OF, UH, WATER CONSERVATION REBATE, INCENTIVE PROGRAMS, KIND OF A STATUS OF HOW THAT ITEM 10 SHOW I'M KIND OF LOOKING FURTHER OUT.
UM, DEFINITELY NOT IN THE NEXT FEW MEETINGS, BUT ONCE THAT PROGRAM GETS ESTABLISHED, I'D LIKE TO HEAR A REPORT ON IT.
I THINK THAT'S A REAL GOOD, BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T TALKED ABOUT POINT A FIRE.
WE TALK ABOUT THE USE OF ALL THE WASHERS PROGRAM IN SOME OTHER STUFF THERE, BUT WE HAVEN'T HAD AN UPDATE OR A FILE.
WE GOT A CUSTOMER CAP OR THE, WHICH CUSTOMERS IN OTHER CONSERVATION REBATE.
AND WE ALSO GOT THE AMI UPDATE IMPLEMENTATION.
THOSE ARE ITEMS THAT ARE GOING TO BE ON THE UPCOMING, UH, AGENDA SOMETIME.
THEN IF THERE'S NO OTHER ITEMS, UH, THE NEXT MEETING WE HAVE THE WEDNESDAY MAY THE PIPS, AND WE DON'T HAVE A TIME YET BY IT'S GOING TO BE MADE OF FAITHS OR THE REGULAR MEETING.
AND IF THERE IS THERE ANY HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS, IF NOT, THEN THE MEETING IS ADJOURNED AT SEVEN 45 AND WE'LL SEE YOU NEXT MONTH.