OH, LET'S CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER,
[Austin Integrated Water Resource Planning Community Task Force on September 7, 2021.]
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UM, AND BEGIN WITH VOTING ITEMS. UH, SO I BELIEVE THE ONLY VOTING ITEM IS FOR OFFICER ELECTIONS.UH, DID YOU NOW FOR SENDING OUT THE NOTES FROM DIANE AND MYSELF, UM, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE SOME TURNOVER, UM, AT A REALLY IMPORTANT STAGE IN THE TASK FORCES TENURE, AS WE GEAR UP, UH, TO S TO START THE FIVE-YEAR, UM, UPDATE TO THE PLAN.
AND, UM, I AM REALLY SAD TO HAVE TO ROLL OFF AS CHAIR.
UM, CAUSE IT'S BEEN REALLY, UM, VERY, UM, REWARDING PROCESS TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS WITH ALL OF YOU.
UM, BUT JENNIFER HAS BEEN, I THINK BASICALLY SERVING AS CHAIR FOR THE PAST NINE MONTHS, IF NOT MORE.
UM, SO I DON'T REALLY THINK IT'S GONNA FEEL LIKE MUCH OF ANYTHING IN TERMS OF YOUR EXPERIENCE OF CHANGE.
AND, UM, SO I GUESS I WOULD LIKE TO JUST START MAYBE BY, CAN I PUT FORWARD MY NOMINATION OR IF I'M ROLLING OFF, DOES SOMEBODY ELSE NEED TO PUT FORWARD A NOMINATION FOR JENNIFER? UM, I THINK SOMEONE ELSE WOULD HAVE TO PUT FORWARD DID THE NOMINATION AND, AND ANOTHER MEMBER OF THE TASK FORCE.
I NOMINATE JENNIFER I'LL SECOND.
YOU'VE BEEN HERE LONGER THAN ME.
WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND.
UH, SO ALL IN FAVOR, I W MIGHT NEED TO CAREFULLY DISCUSS THIS THOUGH FIRST, RIGHT? YEAH.
UH, SO PEOPLE THAT CAN VOTE, THEY HAVE TO BE ATTENDING IN PERSON.
IS THAT CORRECT? YOU CAN STILL VOTE.
I BELIEVE THERE JUST NEEDS TO BE A PHYSICAL FORUM.
CAN YOU HEAR THAT? YOU WERE ON? YEAH, NO WORRIES.
ARE YOU THERE? YOU CAN STILL VOTE HANEY.
UH, THERE JUST NEEDS TO BE A PHYSICAL QUORUM OF SIX HERE FOR YOU TO VOTE.
YOUR CAMERA HAS TO BE ON AND WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO SEE YOU, UM, PHYSICALLY RAISE YOUR HAND.
SO LET ME GO AHEAD AND MAKE SURE I THINK YOU'VE JUST TURNED YOUR CAMERA OFF.
UM, CAN YOU SEE ME NOW? NO, THERE YOU GO.
UH, WE'RE SEEING 1, 2, 3, 4, OR FIVE MANDAMUS AT FOR SOME REASON.
MINE'S NOT, YOU HAVE TO GET IT CLOSE TO YOUR MOUTH TO CHARLENE.
IT'S YOUR NO, WHEN IT'S RED LIGHT.
UH, I THINK THAT THAT'S A UNANIMOUS VOTE.
OH YEAH, YOU CAN'T SEE IT WHEN IT'S ON.
UH, SO NOW I SUPPOSE YOU'RE OFFICIALLY THE CHAIR.
SO WOULD YOU LIKE TO CONDUCT THE VOTE FOR THE VICE CHAIR? THAT, YEAH, SO WE, UM, I WAS SERVING IN VICE CHAIR PREVIOUSLY.
UM, AND SO WE NEED TO ELECT A NEW VICE CHAIR.
UM, AND, UH, AND SINCE, SINCE, UH, I WOULD LIKE TO ENTERTAIN A MOTION FOR VICE CHAIR FROM ANY OF THE, OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS.
DO WE HAVE TO NOMINATE YET TO NOMINATE? I WOULD, WITHOUT ANY PRIOR DISCUSSION OR CONSENT, I'D LIKE TO NOMINATE ROBERT MACE, IF HE WOULD BE WILLING TO SERVE YOU'LL SUCK AT THAT HANEY.
I HAVE HAD PRIOR DISCUSSION WITH ROBERT, BUT HE CAN SPEAK FOR HIMSELF.
AND IF YOU ARE WILLING TO ACCEPT THAT ILLUSTRIOUS POSITION, I I'M WILLING TO ACCEPT THAT ILLUSTRIOUS POSITION.
IS THERE ANY OTHER DISCUSSION? OKAY.
FOR MYSELF, I VOTED FOR MYSELF.
I MEAN, I FEEL LIKE IT'S GOOD.
LIKE THERAPISTS WOULD RECOMMEND.
SO WE HAVE A NEW CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR, UM, AND, UH, AND WE ALSO HAVE TWO MEMBERS GOING OFF, BUT WE HAVE ANOTHER AGENDA ITEM ABOUT THAT, BUT I DO WANT TO CLARIFY ONE THING THAT CHARLENE MENTIONED, UM, THAT THIS IS THE LAST MEETING.
UM, IT'S, IT'S UP TO YOU, BOTH THE, WE CAN TALK ABOUT WHEN WE GET TO THAT, UM, WHETHER YOU'D GO OFF AFTER THIS MEETING, OR IF YOU STAY ON UNTIL YOUR REPLACEMENT IS APPOINTED, UM, YOU CAN LET US KNOW
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AT THIS MEETING WHAT YOUR PREFERENCE IS ON THAT.UM, IT WOULD, IT WOULD BE HELPFUL.
UM, IF YOU STAY ON UNTIL YOUR REPLACEMENT IS APPOINTED, BUT, UM, YOU ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO DO SO WHATSOEVER.
AND IS THE, I GUESS THE PLAN IS FOR THESE MEETINGS TO BE HYBRID LIKE THIS GOING FORWARD.
AND SO WE WOULD HAVE TO MAKE SURE WE HAD SIX PEOPLE IN PERSON.
AND AS FAR AS WE KNOW, THE HYBRID MEETINGS ARE A PILOT, SO THE RULES COULD CHANGE.
WE'RE JUST GOING TO HAVE TO STAY UP ON THAT AND WE'LL KEEP YOU ALL INFORMED AS WE KNOW MORE.
I MEAN, THE CITY IS NOT BACK FULL-TIME FOR A LOT OF EMPLOYEES.
WHY ARE WE DOING, WHY ARE WE INSISTING ON HAVING AN IN-PERSON MEETING? UM, I CAN, I CAN, UH, THE, UH, THE, UM, THE EXCEPTION TO THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT EXPIRED SEPTEMBER 1ST.
UM, THE GOVERNOR DID NOT EXTEND IT, AND THIS IS AN OPEN MEETING.
SO THERE'S RULES THAT THEY ARE GOVERNED BY.
I'M INCLUDING WE HAVE TO BE IN PERSON FOR THAT MEETING.
THERE HAS TO BE A PHYSICAL QUORUM PRESENT.
SO, UM, I THINK, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT A CITY OF AUSTIN DECISION IT'S IT'S STATE LAW.
ROBERT, DID YOU WANT TO SAY SOMETHING YOU HAD YOUR HAND UP? SOUNDS GREAT.
AND I'M REALLY JUST GOING OUT ON A LIMB HERE.
THERE'S PROBABLY OTHER PEOPLE THAT KNOW THAT'S CORRECT.
ADD IT TO THE LIST OF STUFF TO TALK TO GOVERNOR ABBOTT ABOUT.
UM, SO, SO THE QUESTION IS ROBERT, YOU HAD A QUESTION ABOUT IN THE FUTURE, WHAT THAT'S GOING TO LOOK LIKE.
IT WAS JUST, UH, UM, THAT MAY BE FURTHER ENCOURAGE OUR MEMBERS WHO ARE LOOKING TO GO OFF TO, TO MAYBE PLEASE WAIT UNTIL THEY HAVE A REPLACEMENT, MAYBE TOUGH TO GET A SKIN PERSON QUORUM.
AND THE QUORUM WE CHECK THE BYLAWS IS THE, OF THE, OF THE MEMBERSHIP, NOT, NOT THE APPOINTED MEMBERS.
SO, UM, SO THE TOTAL MEMBERSHIP, THE TOTAL MEMBERSHIP.
AND HOW MANY OTHER SEATS DO WE HAVE EMPTY? UH, ONE COUNCIL MEMBER POINT IS HIS SEAT.
I CAN'T TELL IF I'M ON OR I'M NOT ON.
UM, SO, UH, VANESSA ALSO HAS TWO YOUNGER CHILDREN.
THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS THAT I WAS NEEDING TO STEP BACK AND POTENTIALLY STEP DOWN IS THAT THIS MEETING TIME COINCIDES WITH SCHOOL BEING RELEASED, AND THAT'S A VERY DIFFICULT POSITION TO PUT PARENTS OF YOUNG CHILDREN IN, YOU KNOW, YOU UNDERSTAND THIS.
UM, SO IT IS ALSO DIFFICULT FOR HER BECAUSE SHE HAS TWO CHILDREN AT TWO DIFFERENT SCHOOLS AND IT MAY NOT BE SOMETHING THAT IS WORKABLE FOR HER.
SO IF THERE'S FLEXIBILITY AND THE TIMING OF WHEN THE TASKFORCE MEETS, I THINK THAT THAT NOT ONLY IS SOMETHING THAT MATTERS FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE CURRENTLY SERVING HER IN THAT CIRCUMSTANCE, BUT ANYBODY WHO MIGHT BE TRYING TO RECRUIT.
SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT FLEXIBILITY ABILITY YOU'LL HAVE, BUT IT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION.
WE HAVE FLEXIBILITY AS A TASK FORCE IN TERMS OF DETERMINING THE MEETING TIME.
I THINK IT WOULD BE UP TO THE TASK FORCE TO MAKE THE DECISION TO MOVE THE TIME.
UM, WE'D WANT TO DO THAT WITH ENOUGH, UM, LEAD, UH, TO BE ABLE TO NOTIFY FOLKS WHO ARE FOLLOWING ALONG WITH THIS PROCESS AND WANTING TO ATTEND THE MEETINGS.
IT IS, I WILL NOTE THAT IT IS DIFFICULT JUST IN GENERAL TO FIND MEETING SPACES AND, UM, THE, UH, AT A TIME WHEN THE TASK FORCE WANTS TO MEET FOR THESE IN-PERSON MEETINGS, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE OUR ROOM 1 0 4 AND WALNUT CREEK CENTER IS UNDERGOING A RENOVATION.
SO WE DON'T HAVE THAT ROOM AVAILABLE TO US RIGHT NOW.
WE'RE KIND OF, YOU KNOW, WE'RE KIND OF LIMPING ALONG, BUT I DO THINK THAT IT WOULD BE UP TO Y'ALL IF YOU WANT TO SELECT ANOTHER MEETING TIME.
THAT'S, THAT'S REALLY GOOD FEEDBACK.
UM, I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING WE COULD LOOK INTO.
MAYBE WE COULD, UM, SEND A LITTLE POLL AROUND TO THE, TO THE GROUP MEMBERS TO SEE THAT, UM, IF THEY HAVE LIKE CHILDCARE CONSTRAINTS OR I KNOW WE USED TO MEET IN THE EVENINGS, UM, WHICH IS AFTER, WHICH HAS ITS WHOLE OTHER HOST OF ISSUES, BUT STILL AT LEAST YOU CAN GET YOUR CHILDREN HOME AND HAVE, HAVE, UH, OR BRING THEM THE MEETING WITH YOU OR, YOU KNOW, I TRIED THAT ONE VERY WELL AT ALL.
SO HOW ABOUT THIS? WE'LL SEND A POLL AROUND, UM, VIA EMAIL AND THEN MAYBE WE CAN ADD THAT AS AN AGENDA ITEM FOR A FUTURE TASK FORCE MEETING TO POTENTIALLY TAKE ACTION BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THAT POLL.
AND I'M SORRY, I'M HAVING TROUBLE, LIKE I'M USED TO SEEING ALL OF YOUR FACES AT ONCE, SO I'M JUST LIKE TRYING TO MAKE I KNOW, AND WE CAN'T SEE OUR IT'S.
LET'S JUST ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THIS IS WEIRD.
THIS IS LIKE ONE OF MY FIRST IN-PERSON
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MEETINGS AND LESS, I DON'T KNOW, LIKE YEAR AND A HALF, SO I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE REST OF Y'ALL, BUT, UH, LET'S JUST, UH, YOU KNOW, ROLL WITH IT AND, UM, AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THIS IS KIND OF WEIRD.HOPEFULLY I DON'T DO ANYTHING TOO CRAZY.
AND IT JUST, I GUESS, JUST ONE THING, IF IT'S POSSIBLE TO RESOLVE THAT QUESTION WITHOUT HAVING TO DO IT AT ANOTHER MEETING AGAIN, BECAUSE THE ISSUE IS LOGISTICAL, LIKE, AND I DON'T KNOW IF THIS HAS TO HAPPEN AS AN IN-PERSON DISCUSSION AND CONFIRMATION OF A TIME CHANGE.
ARE YOU SAYING THAT THAT WOULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR DECISION ON WHETHER IT IS STAY ON? NO, I JUST MEAN LIKE, WELL, I MEAN, POSSIBLY IT CERTAINLY MAKES IT EASIER TO STAY ON, ESPECIALLY UNTIL A REPLACEMENT IS FOUND AND THAT'S NOT A DIRECT CONFLICT, BUT LIKE FOR VANESSA OR SARAH OR ANYBODY ELSE IN THAT SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCE, LIKE IF IT REQUIRES ANOTHER MEETING TO PHYSICALLY ATTEND TO TALK ABOUT CHANGING THE MEETING TIME, THEY PROBABLY WON'T BE ABLE TO ATTEND THAT MEETING EITHER BECAUSE THE SAME PERSON.
DOES IT HAVE TO BE A BUDDY? NOT HIM TO CHANGE THE MEETING TIME.
I MEAN, CAUSE WE'VE HAD THEM SWITCHED, BUT THAT'S BEEN PANDEMIC RELATED AND WE CAN LOOK INTO THAT.
I KNOW THAT THE DATES HAVE OFTEN REQUIRED SOME SORT OF IN-PERSON ACTION, BUT LET'S, LET'S LET US CHECK AND WE'LL PULL UP.
AND WE CAN CHECK SPECIFICALLY AND WITH VANESSA, SINCE SHE'S IN HERE TO DATA TO LEARN MORE ABOUT, UM, CONSTRAINTS.
CAUSE WE DEFINITELY WANT TO BE SENSITIVE TO THAT.
SO SHOULD WE GO BACK TO THE REGULAR, UM, OF COURSE OF EVENTS OR DO WE WANT TO BACKUP TO, UM, MAKE SURE THAT WE GET TO ITEM NUMBER THREE RECOGNITION OF MEMBERS? DO YOU HAVE A RECOMMENDATION FOR HOW TO PROCEED? I WOULD RECOMMEND GOING UP THROUGH ONE A AND THEN, UM, YOU KNOW, WE CAN GET DOWN TO, I DON'T HARRIS, HERE'S A RECOMMENDATION ONE A AND THEN THREE A AND THEN GO THROUGH TO A THROUGH D DOES THAT SOUND OKAY? ONE, A THREE.
SO DO WE HAVE ANY, UM, WELL DO WE HAVE ANY CITIZEN COMMUNICATIONS? OKAY.
UM, AND THEN FOLKS HAVING YOUR MEETING PACKET AND RE RECEIVE VIA EMAIL, THE MEETING MINUTES FROM JULY 13TH, I MOVE APPROVAL OF THE MEET THE MEETING MINUTES.
AND THE SECOND, SECOND FROM PERRY.
ALRIGHT AND HAITI, IF YOU'RE PART OF THE MEETING, MY UNDERSTANDING IS YOU HAVE TO HAVE YOUR CAMERA ON YOU.
YOU HAVE TO, WE HAVE TO PHYSICALLY SEE THAT YOU'RE PRESENT AT THE I AM HERE.
SO I FIGURED THAT YOU GUYS DO WANT TO SEE MY FACE ALL THE TIME.
SO, WELL THE OPEN, THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT SAYS WE HAVE TO HAVE, WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO PHYSICALLY SEE YOU.
I CAN SEE ANYTHING ON THE WEB FOR SOME REASON.
OH, WE'VE GOT A TROUBLESHOOTER HERE THAT IS WORKING ON THAT, BUT UH, YOU'RE NOT MISSING ANYTHING, BUT SOME OF US ARE DRESSED UP THOUGH, BECAUSE WE'RE OUT IN PUBLIC.
WELL, I CAN HEAR YOU SO THAT'S GOOD.
I DIDN'T BRUSH MY HAIR FOR NOTHING TODAY.
SHE'S GONNA, SHE'S GONNA WORK WITH WORTH IT.
UM, HANEY, AND THEN, UH, IT MIGHT SWITCH AROUND FOR A FEW TIMES.
UM, DO WE HAVE, UM, ALL IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE MINUTES? OKAY.
HOW DO YOU RAISE THE SAND? OKAY.
LET'S GO TO THREE A, WE'VE DONE THIS ONE RECOGNITION OF MEMBERS.
UH, WE JUST WANTED TO HAVE A BRIEF ITEM ON HERE TO RECOGNIZE, UM, ALL OF YOUR, UH, LEADERSHIP, UM, CHARLENE, AND AS WELL AS DIANE, WHO'S ALSO GOING TO BE ROLLING UP AND WE WANTED TO SAY HOW MUCH WE APPRECIATED ALL OF YOUR PARTICIPATION ON THE TASK FORCE SINCE MAY OF 2015.
UM, THAT WAS A GOOD LONG TIME AGO.
UM, AND WE APPRECIATE HOW LONG Y'ALL HAVE BEEN IN THIS WITH US AND WORKING AS A TEAM TO REALLY MOVE FORWARD.
SOME, UM, PRETTY MONUMENTAL PLANNING, WORK AND STRATEGIES FOR, FOR THE UTILITY AND FOR THE CITY AS A WHOLE.
I THINK, UM, KEVIN, YOU MIGHT WANT TO SAY, YEAH, I WOULD JUST ADD, AGAIN, MY THANKS FROM AUSTIN WATER FROM THE EXECUTIVE TEAM, UH, CLEARLY, YOU KNOW, WE, WE JUST REALLY CAN'T EXPRESS HOW THANKFUL
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WE ARE.WE UNDERSTAND THAT THESE ARE VOLUNTEER POSITIONS ON CAN KIND OF TAKE ON THE LIFE OF THEIR OWN AND YOU KNOW, THE JOKE THEY SAY ABOUT, YOU KNOW, VOLUNTEERING, IT ONLY TAKES ONE, YOU KNOW, ONE HOUR A MONTH.
WELL, WE KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE, THIS IS A LOT MORE OF A COMMITMENT.
AND SO ON BEHALF OF THE EXECUTIVE TEAM ON BEHALF OF AUSTIN WATER AND THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE, UM, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR, UH, YOUR EFFORTS AND YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS AND REST ASSURED THAT YOUR, YOUR WORK IS, UH, NOT GONE UNNOTICED.
AND WE THANK YOU FOR MAKING OUR COMMUNITY MORE SUSTAINABLE OF WATER, UH, SUSTAINABLE UTILITY IN THE FUTURE.
UM, I, UH, HAVE REALLY ENJOYED WORKING WITH, UH, BOTH OF YOU SO MUCH, UM, THROUGHOUT THIS PROCESS.
AND I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S BEEN SINCE 2015 AND ACTUALLY STARTED BEFORE THAT.
UM, AND IT'S JUST LIKE A HUGE, UM, LIKE I THINK FOR ALL OF US PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL COMMITMENT TO THE FUTURE OF OUR COMMUNITY AND, AND ONE OF THE, THE, UM, WHAT I THINK I CAN SAY FOR BOTH OF Y'ALL MANY WAYS THAT YOU AND WE ALL CONTRIBUTE, BUT THIS IS LIKE SUCH A, A BIG THING.
SO I REALLY, REALLY APPRECIATE IT AND SAD TO SEE Y'ALL GO AND, BUT KNOW THAT YOU'LL ALWAYS BE THERE AND I CAN HAVE YOUR PHONE NUMBERS WHEN WE NEED YOU.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF ANYONE ELSE ON THE TASK FORCE WANTS TO SAY ANYTHING, YOU DON'T HAVE TO NO PRESSURE, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, UM, WE JUST REALLY APPRECIATE IT.
AND OF COURSE YOU ALL CAN SAY YOUR PIECE.
DO YOU GET YOUR FRATERNITY MICROPHONE OFF? SO I JUST WANT TO SAY THAT, UM, I'M ALREADY HAVING REGRETS.
UM, I I'VE THOROUGHLY ENJOYED EVERY, EVERY MINUTE OF IT AND I HAVE LEARNED SO SO MUCH AND I FEEL LIKE I'VE GOTTEN MUCH MORE THAN I'VE GIVEN.
UM, AND MINE IS NOT A TIME CONSTRAINT OF CHILDREN AT HOME.
UM, I WILL SAY, I DO NOT KNOW HOW PARENTS ARE DOING IT TODAY.
I REALLY, REALLY DON'T, BUT, UH, I GIVE KUDOS TO ALL OF YOU WHO ARE MANAGING IT.
UM, MINE HAS JUST BEEN MORE OF A, I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE TIME GOES ANYMORE.
UH, EXCEPT THAT I FEEL LIKE I'M SPENDING 24 HOURS A DAY ON MY COMPUTER AND IT'S JUST DRIVING ME A LITTLE CRAZY.
BUT, UM, THE, YOU KNOW, I JUST, I FEEL LIKE I'VE GOT TIME COMMITMENTS THAT I HAVE TO SPEND IN OTHER AREAS NOW AND TRY AND KIND OF REORGANIZE AND THAT KIND OF THING.
HAVING SAID THAT, UM, I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE THIS GROUP IN ALERTS IN ANY WAY, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO HAVING FORUMS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
SO I AM WILLING TO DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO COVER UNTIL, UM, YOU KNOW, ALISON CAN FIND SOMEONE OR DNO.
I JUST, IT WAS NEVER MY INTENTION TO LEAVE ANYBODY IN THE LURCH.
SO I'LL, I'LL BE HERE FOR WHATEVER.
AND, UM, JUST AM VERY GRATEFUL FOR THE TIME I'VE HAD WITH YOU GUYS.
I WANT TO JUST SAY A WORD FOR DIANE, BECAUSE I REMEMBER THAT THE STEPS THAT SHE TOOK IN 2018 AS WE WERE GEARING UP FOR COUNCIL TO ADOPT THE PLAN, AND SHE REALLY, UM, PUT A LOT OF EFFORT INTO, UH, MAKING SURE THAT THE AUSTIN BOARD OF REALTORS IN THE LARGER REAL ESTATE COMMUNITY UNDERSTOOD THE PLAN AND UNDERSTOOD THE IMPORTANCE AND THAT'S SUCH AN IMPORTANT STAKEHOLDER GROUPS.
SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT.
AND SIMILARLY, I'M, I'M HAPPY TO STAY ON UNTIL CASAR IS ABLE TO FIND AN APPOINTMENT.
I REALLY APPRECIATE BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY YOU'VE BEEN ON THIS JENNIFER SINCE BEFORE THE TASK FORCE THAT PROCEEDED THIS TASK FORCE.
IT'S BEEN A LITTLE BIT LONG HAUL.
UM, AND I JUST HAVE TO SAY LIKE 20, 20, 20, 21, IF THERE'S EVER BEEN A MOMENT WHERE WE REALIZED THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS NOW, WE'RE JUST FEELING THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING THAT'S GOING TO BE MASSIVELY DISRUPTIVE.
I MEAN, THE WORK OF THIS TASK FORCE IS, COULD NOT BE MORE IMPORTANT.
AND THAT'S WHY I FELT IT WAS SO IMPORTANT THAT WE REALLY HONOR THE LEADERSHIP THAT JENNIFER WAS DEMONSTRATING IN HER WORK TO, UM, HAVE HER BE ABLE TO LEAD IT IN A MORE OFFICIAL CAPACITY.
BUT SIMILAR WITH DIANE, I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE HERE TO SUPPORT THAT I'M HERE TO SUPPORT YOU AS YOU NEED.
ROBERT, DID YOU WANT TO SAY SOMETHING? I CAN'T TELL CAUSE YOU HAVE A MASS PHONE.
IT'S JUST GOING TO SAY AMEN AND, AND THANKS TO THE STAFF AS WELL.
CAUSE I MEAN, THIS HAS BEEN AN INCREDIBLE EFFORT AND I KNOW Y'ALL ARE THERE, THERE'S NO STEPPING OFF FOR YOU GUYS.
I MEAN, DIFFERENT THING TO STEP OFF, I GUESS, THAT WHO WOULD WANT TO, I MEAN, AND ALSO WE DON'T ALL HAVE TO COORDINATE AND DEAL WITH OPEN MEETINGS ACT
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AND COORDINATE A WHOLE TASK FORCE AND DO ALL THAT STUFF IN ORDER TO DO YOUR NEW JOB.IT'S I MEAN, IT'S PART OF YOUR JOB, BUT TO DO IT.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, UM, AND I'VE PARTICIPATED IN OTHER STAKE STAKEHOLDER TASKFORCE TYPE THINGS BEFORE, AND, AND SOMETIMES IT FEELS PERFUNCTORY AND HERE IT FEELS LIKE WE'RE ALL PART OF A TEAM.
AND THAT IS WHY ONE OF THE REASONS THAT, UM, THAT I KEEP COMING BACK, CAUSE I FEEL LIKE IT'S A TEAM EFFORT, UM, BETWEEN AUSTIN WATER, BETWEEN THE TASK FORCE, BETWEEN THE OTHER, UM, DIVISIONS IN THE CITY THAT ARE, UM, DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE WORKING ON THIS, UM, AND BETWEEN CITY COUNCIL AND THE COMMUNITY, LIKE IT JUST REALLY DOES FEEL LIKE A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT, WHICH, UM, IS REALLY GREAT.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I LOVE, I LIKE KEEPING THAT, KEEPING THAT ALL GOING AND I SEE THAT SARAH'S ON THERE NOW.
SARAH BAUSE HAS JOINED HI SARAH.
NO WORRIES, SARAH, THE RULES ARE THAT YOU, IN ORDER TO BE COUNTED PRESENT, YOU MUST HAVE YOUR CAMERA ON.
SO IF YOU'RE PREPARED TO DO THAT SURPRISE, BUT UM, THERE'S LIKE A DELAY IN ALLOWING ME TO TELL YOU, OKAY, SUPER SUPER.
WE'RE JUST TALKING ABOUT, UM, UH, DIANE AND CHARLENE ARE BOTH ROLLING OFF THE TASKFORCE.
THEY ARE GOING TO STAY ON UNTIL THEIR APPOINTMENT UNTIL THEIR, THEIR REPLACEMENTS ARE APPOINTED, WHICH WILL HOPEFULLY, YOU KNOW, THAT'S ALSO FURTHER ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THAT TO HAPPEN, BUT, UM, BECAUSE WE ARE IN THE SPECIAL QUORUM SITUATION.
SO, UM, ANYWAY, WE WERE GIVING THEM ACCOLADES SHOULD HAVE BEEN FOR 20, 25, RIGHT? YEAH.
UH, 2115, I GUESS THE PLANNING HORIZON.
WELL, LET'S GET, SINCE WE HAVE TO END BY FOUR 30, WE SHOULD PROBABLY GET TO THE, GET TO THE ACTUAL ORDER FORWARD SEVEN.
THIS IS ALL IS, BUT UM, IF WE HAVE ANYTHING ELSE WE CAN MOVE TO, TO I SHOULDN'T ITEM TO, HEY, THE WATER SUPPLY OUTLET.
UM, SO IF WE'RE SHARING THE SCREEN YEAH.
TO AID, THERE'S A COUPLE OF SLIDES IN THERE.
IF WE'RE SHARING THE SCREEN BETTER MEMBERS STILL HAVE THEIR CAMERAS ON.
RIGHT? UH, WELL I GUESS JUST WITH THE RULES AND EVERYTHING, YOU'RE STILL RECORDING THEM THE VOICES.
WELL LOOK, YEAH, LET'S JUST KEEP CLIMBING THROUGH, UM, SORT OF PARLOR MATERIALS.
SO FOR THE WATER SUPPLY OUTLOOK, UM, UH, YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, COMBINED, UH, THIS SLIDE, YOUR SHOWS COMBINED STORAGE OF LAKES, BUCHANAN, AND TRAVIS.
UH, YOU CAN SEE THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, UH, UP HERE A LITTLE BIT OVER A MILLION ACRE FEET IN TERMS OF COMBINED STORAGE.
UM, WE HAD RECEIVED A, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, A LITTLE BIT OF A BUMP WITH, UM, OUR WATER SUPPLIES AND THEN, UM, OVER THE SUMMER WITH SOME OF THESE SUMMER RAINS AND KIND OF TRENDING BACK DOWN A LITTLE BIT, UM, YOU CAN SEE THAT BETTER IN THIS SIDE INFLOWS.
UM, YOU CAN, UH, THE 2021 INFLOWS ARE IN TAN ON THE GRAPH.
YOU CAN SEE THAT OUR INFLUENCE WERE TRENDING PRETTY LOW FROM JANUARY THROUGH APRIL.
WE GOT A BUMP UP ON MAY AND JUNE, AND THEN WE'RE KIND OF, UH, YOU KNOW, BACK DOWN, UM, IN TERMS OF INFLOWS TOWARDS THE MORE RECENT AVERAGE FROM 2008 TO TWO 16, UM, FROM, UH, THE, FROM NOAH AND THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER, UM, FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER, UM, THEY'RE PREDICTING A KIND OF ENZO NEUTRAL THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE SUMMER, WHICH IS REALLY UPON US, UM, WITH THE LONDON NEAR POSSIBLY RE-EMERGING, UM, FROM ABOUT, UH, THROUGH OCTOBER AND THEN LASTING THROUGH THIS WINTER.
SO, UM, WE'LL BE TRACKING WITH THAT, UM, AS TIME MOVES ON, UH, THIS LAST SLIDE IS JUST SHOWING THE LCRA LAKE LEVELS FORECAST.
AND THIS IS FROM AUGUST 1ST, I DO BELIEVE, UM, UH, WE'RE ARE, UH, WE WILL BE TRACKING, UM, WITH OUR FORECAST JUST TO SEE IF AT ANY POINT DURING THE WINTER TIME WE SEE OURSELVES NEEDING TO, UH, GO INTO POSSIBLE STAGE ONE, UH, DROUGHT RESTRICTIONS.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, WE'LL BE KEEPING YOU UPDATED AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
AND GO AHEAD AND SEE WHAT YOU USUALLY HAVE A QUESTION SLIDE, BUT DID ANYBODY HAVE ANY, UH, THOUGHTS AND OR QUESTIONS? IT'S USUALLY A BRIEF UPDATE.
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MY MIC WAS OFF ANY QUESTIONS FROM TASK FORCE MEMBERS.IS THIS BEING BROADCAST TO APX THEN? OKAY.
UM, SO WE CAN GO TO, TO BE THERE ALSO SLIDES FOR THAT ONE.
UM, AND SO THIS IS A KIND OF A MID QUARTER FOR IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS UPDATE.
SO OUR, UH, QUARTER FOUR WILL BE COMPLETED AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER.
UM, WE'LL HAVE THE TYPICAL ONE PAGE REPORT THAT WE PRODUCE AT THAT TIME, BUT JUST AS A MIDPOINT UPDATE, UH, FOR JULY AND AUGUST, UM, SINCE OUR LAST TASK FORCE MEETING, UM, FOR THE WATER FOR 2024 UPDATE, OUR STAFF HAS CONTINUED PRE-PLANNING WORK, UH, CONSULTANT PROCUREMENT AND TECHNICAL WORK TO SUPPORT THE PLAN UPDATE THAT TECHNICAL WORK INCLUDES, UM, THINGS LIKE, UH, UPDATING BILLING DATA TO INCORPORATE INTO, UM, BASELINE DEMAND FORECAST.
UM, OUR CONSULTANT PROCUREMENT WORK HAS REALLY INCLUDED, UH, SOME, UH, STEPS TOWARDS PROCURING SERVICES, UH, FOR THE CLIMATE AND HYDROLOGY ANALYSIS UPDATE.
AND WE'VE ALSO BEEN HAVING CONVERSATIONS WITH THE CITY DEMOGRAPHER ABOUT THE, UM, PROCESS AND TIMELINE FOR, UH, DEVELOPING UPDATED DEMOGRAPHIC FORECAST BASED ON THE 2020 CENSUS DATA.
UM, THAT THOSE POPULATION FORECAST WILL ALSO BE INCORPORATED INTO OUR DEMAND FORECAST THAT WILL, UM, USE AS PART OF THE PLANNING UPDATE, UM, DURING, UH, QUARTER ONE OF
UM, I THINK THESE ARE SUPER HELPFUL AND PROBABLY OTHERS REMEMBER THE DETAILS OF THE PLAN FAR GREATER THAN I DO, BUT I THINK IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO COMPARE THE PROGRESS AND THE PLANNED ACTIONS VERSUS THE PLAN THAT WAS APPROVED.
JUST SO WE KNOW WHETHER WE'RE ON TRACK AHEAD OF SCHEDULE OR NOT.
AND WE ALSO HAVE AN ANNUAL REPORT, WHICH WE HAVEN'T GOT THAT YET HALF WEEK, THE TASK FORCE YOU HAVING, BUT YOU, UM, WE ARE PLANNING TO SEND THAT OUT AFTER THIS MEETING.
THERE'S AN ANNUAL REPORT THAT THEY PREPARE TO, WHICH IS YOUR, THIS IS KIND OF SEPARATE, BUT IT REMINDED ME JUST AN ANNUAL KIND OF PROGRESS REPORT.
UM, YOUR SUGGESTION IS GOOD FOR THIS, SO THAT YOU KIND OF HAVE A BENCHMARK ON WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT INSTEAD OF JUST THIS LOOKS GREAT.
WE'LL DO, UM, IN TERMS OF
UH, WE'LL BE FINALIZING THAT CLIMATE AND HYDROLOGY, UH, CONSULTANT PROCUREMENT PROCESS, AND THEN WE'LL BE CONTINUING THE TECHNICAL WORK TO SUPPORT THE PLANT UPDATE.
OUR THINKING RIGHT NOW IS THAT WE'LL KICK OFF THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND THE PUBLIC FACING PART OF THIS PROCESS IN EARNEST IN JANUARY OF 2022.
AND THEN WE'LL HAVE TWO CALENDAR YEARS TO COMPLETE THAT WORK.
UM, AND WE WILL HOPEFULLY HAVE AN ENTIRE PLAN REPORT COMPLETED BY THE END OF CALENDAR YEAR, UH, 2023.
WE MAY ROLL INTO CALENDAR YEAR 2024 AND TERM IN TERMS OF BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS AND COUNCIL APPROVAL, UM, UH, KIND OF, UH, A TIMING ISSUE.
WE'RE TRYING TO STAY IN ALIGNMENT ALSO WITH THE REGIONAL WATER PLANNING CYCLES SO THAT WE CAN FEED RIGHT INTO THAT.
SO W WE'RE GOING TO BE, IT'S GOING TO BE A LITTLE BIT OF A HUSTLE, BUT WE THINK WE CAN DO IT.
CONSERVATION, UH, STRATEGIES ARE, UM, MY ATX WATER TEAM HAS CONTINUED METER INSTALLATIONS AND PRE-INSTALL FIELD SURVEYS.
AND OUR TOTAL NUMBER OF METERS INSTALLED TO DATE IS NOW UP ABOVE 11,000, 11,771 METERS.
UM, THEY INSTALLATION OF THE, UH, OF METERS IS GOING TO TOTAL 250,000 METERS WHEN THEY'RE ALL REPLACED.
AND WE ANTICIPATE THAT BEING COMPLETED IN FYI 2025.
UM, WE'VE GOT ABOUT A 50% ADOPTION RATE FOR CUSTOMERS, UM, OF, UH, AFTER THE NEW METERS INSTALLED FOR THEM.
UPTAKING THE CUSTOMER PORTAL AND PARTICIPATING IN THE CUSTOMER PORTAL.
[00:30:01]
WE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE, UM, THAT PROCESS OF, UH, INSTALLED PRE UH, PRE-INSTALL SURVEYS AND METER INSTALLS, UM, THROUGHOUT DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS ACROSS THE CITY.UM, AS, UH, MORE INSTALLERS ARE HIRED, NEW QUESTION ON THAT ONE, TRY TO DO IT A CAN, BUT, UM, THAT, UH, PROJECT IS CONTINUES TO MOVE A PACE OR REALLY EXCITED ABOUT ALL THE INFORMATION WE'RE GOING TO GET FROM THAT AS AMI, IT GETS KIND OF BETTER INTEGRATED INTO THE WORK THAT WE DO.
UM, AGAIN, UH, AND THE NEXT LINE OF TRIED TO SEPARATE VC CAN KIND OF SEE WHERE ONE ENDS AND ANOTHER BEGINS, BUT OUR AUSTIN WATER STAFF IS BEGIN INTERNAL PLANNING DISCUSSIONS FOR FUTURE LANDSCAPE TRANSFORMATION ORDINANCE.
UM, AND WE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE THOSE INTERNAL PLANNING DISCUSSIONS IN TECHNICAL ANALYSIS DURING THIS NEXT QUARTER.
UM, I THINK THAT'S AN ITEM THAT WE'LL COME BACK TO THE TASK FORCE WITH FURTHER UPDATES AT A FUTURE MEETING.
WE CAN TALK ABOUT THE TIMING, UH, THAT AS WELL.
WE'RE THINKING THAT WE'D, UM, HAVE COMPLETION AND ADOPTION OF THAT ORDINANCE SOMETIME WITHIN
SO ANY QUESTIONS THERE, I GUESS, TO TODD'S EARLIER POINT, IS THAT ON TRACK WITH WHAT WAS FORECASTED IN THE 2018 PLAN? THAT'S ACTUALLY IT HAPPENING SOONER THAN WHAT WE SAW AND THE LAST PLAN.
MAYBE I'M JUST, UM, NEVERMIND, GO AHEAD.
I WAS ABOUT TO HAVE AN IDEA THAT I DON'T KNOW IS ACTUALLY A GOOD IDEA.
I'M STOPPING THIS ALL FOR IT COMES OUT.
THE HYDROLOGY ANALYSIS, UM, I GUESS, IS SLATED FOR A FYI 22.
SO I GUESS BY THE END OF NEXT YEAR, WE'LL HAVE THE CLIMATE AND HYDROLOGY ANALYSIS.
SO THAT'D BE AN ANALYSIS SHOWING THAN WHAT OUR SUPPLY IS OR CURRENT SUPPLIES IN THE PARLANCE OF STATE WATER.
SO THE, UM, THAT WOULD BE AN ANALYSIS TO SHOW IMPACTS OF, UM, POTENTIAL, UH, UH, CLIMATE CHANGE FUTURES ON OUR WATER SUPPLIES IN TERMS OF A NEEDS ANALYSIS OR A NEEDS ASSESSMENT.
JUST THE SUPPLIES THAT WOULD BE YEAH.
WOULD, UM, WOULD BE DELIVERED WITHIN THAT YEAR TIMEFRAME.
UM, I'LL FINISH THE THOUGHT ON THE NEEDS.
WE'RE ANTICIPATING THE NEEDS COMPONENT BEING COMPLETED BY THE END OF, UH, CALENDAR YEAR 2022 TO SET US UP WHERE THEN STRATEGIES, PORTFOLIOS, AND PLAN RECOMMENDATIONS AND A FINAL PLAN REPORT THE FOLLOWING YEAR AND CALENDAR YEAR 2023.
AND THIS ROBERT, THIS IS GOING BACK TO THE WATER FORWARD 20, 24 ITEM.
SOMETIMES IT TAKES A MINUTE FOR IT TO THE QUESTION.
UM, SO, UH, WE HAVE CONTINUED WORK ON OUR ASR STORAGE ZONE AND INTEGRATION POINT ANALYSIS.
THIS STORAGE ZONE ANALYSIS IS KIND OF THE DIFFERENT, UM, AQUIFER COUNTY COMBINATIONS THAT WE'D BE LOOKING AT TO LOCATE A POTENTIAL PILOT INTEGRATION POINTS OF WHERE THAT COULD POTENTIALLY INTEGRATE INTO OUR DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.
UM, WE, UM, HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT THAT WITH THE CONSULTANT AND WITH AUSTIN WATER STAFF, WE COMPLETED AN EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY RESEARCH EFFORT WHERE, UM, OUR STAFF HAVE REACHED OUT TO DIFFERENT UTILITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO GATHER INSIGHT AND INPUT FROM THEM.
UM, AS WE DEVELOP OUR EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY ROADMAP AND WE'VE CONTINUED WORK BURNER, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND EDUCATION PLAN, UM, ALL OF THOSE THINGS ARE KIND OF MOVING IN THE POT WHERE I'M GOING TO CONTINUE THAT WORK IN THE NEXT QUARTER.
AND WE WOULD LIKE TO COME BACK TO THE TASK FORCE WITH AN UPDATE ON OUR ASR PROJECT, UM, IN NOVEMBER AT THE NEXT TASK FORCE MEETING WITH THINKING THAT THAT WOULD BE A GOOD KEY ITEM.
UM, I DON'T WANT TO KIND OF MOVE AHEAD INTO FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS THAT WE'RE THINKING ASR UPDATE AND MAYBE AN UPDATE ON THE WATER FOR 2024 PLANNING PROCESS, JUST TO SET US UP FOR JANUARY AND ALL THE WORK BEFORE I'M DONE.
AND TO BE CLEAR WHEN YOU DESCRIBED THESE, WHAT SEEMED TO BE KIND OF THREE SEPARATE, BUT RELATED ITEMS, THE EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY RESEARCH IS SPECIFICALLY RELATED BACK TO THE ASR PROJECT AND THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT EDUCATION AS WELL.
AND THOSE ARE THE, A FEW MEETINGS TO GO.
Y'ALL HAD THEIR PRESENTATION ON THE ASR WHERE YOU, UM, THERE
[00:35:01]
WERE A FEW CONSULTANTS ON BOARD AND STUFF FOR DOING THIS WORK.AND SO THAT'S A GOOD POINT TO CLARIFY.
THERE'S GOING TO BE AN EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY ROADMAP FOR ASR, AND THEN THERE'S GOING TO BE AN EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY ROADMAP FOR, FOR 20, 24.
THOSE WILL BE SEPARATE, BUT WE'RE TRYING TO JUST NORMALIZE HOW WE'RE INCORPORATING THOSE ELEMENTS INTO OUR PLANNING PROCESS.
UH, FOR ONSITE WATER REUSE, OUR, UM, OUR STAFF HAS BEEN, UM, PERFORMING STAKEHOLDER OUTREACH TO, UM, INFORM THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY ABOUT THE ONSITE WATER REUSE ORDINANCE, UM, THE PROGRAM AND REQUIREMENTS FOR ONSET REUSE AS WELL AS OUR PILOT INCENTIVE PROGRAM.
UM, UH, EXCITINGLY STAFF HAS REVIEWED THE FIRST APPLICATION FOR AN ONSITE WATER REUSE SYSTEM PROJECT.
UM, JUST A REALLY GREAT AND, UH, THAT, UM, APPLICATION INCLUDED AN APPLICATION FOR THE PILOT INCENTIVE PROGRAM.
AND I THINK THAT WE'LL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO COME BACK WITH MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THAT IN THE LATER MEETING.
MA'AM WHAT JUST, WHAT TYPE OF BUILDING IS IT LIKE MULTI-USE RESIDENTIAL GENERAL BUILDING TYPE THAT CAME IN? YOU REPEAT THAT? YEAH, I WAS JUST WONDERING WHAT TYPE OF BUILDING THAT FIRST APPLICATION IS FOR.
OH, UM, I BELIEVE IT'S, UH, AN INDUSTRIAL FACILITY.
CAN, CAN YOU, IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO, UM, THE STAKEHOLDER OUTREACH TO EDUCATE THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY ON THAT, CAN YOU JUST TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THAT? AND, AND I KNOW THAT THE WATER UTILITY, CAUSE I'VE PARTICIPATED IN SEVERAL, LIKE DID SOME WORKSHOPS AND HAD SOME OPEN HOUSES AND I THOUGHT THEY WERE REALLY WELL DONE AND INFORMATIVE.
UM, YOU KNOW, AND THAT WAS, BUT THAT WAS BACK LIKE WHEN WE WERE CONTEMPLATING THE ADOPTION OF THESE HAS BEEN A LITTLE WHILE.
UM, UM, JUST, CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT YOU'VE BEEN DOING? SO MY UNDERSTANDING HAS BEEN THAT THIS HAS BEEN A LITTLE BIT MORE TARGETED IN TERMS OF THE OUTRAGE.
SO, UM, TARGETED TO INDIVIDUAL, UM, UH, COMPANIES, UH, THAT MAY BE SUPPORTING THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS, UM, OR TARGETED TO, UH, INDUSTRY, UM, EVENTS THAT HAVE BEEN, I THINK, PRIMARILY VIRTUAL, UM, UP TO THIS POINT AND THINGS HAVE BEEN A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT DURING COVID.
AND SO THAT OUTREACH HAS BEEN, I THINK, SMALLER IN SCALE AND TRYING TO TARGET THOSE FOLKS WHO WOULD SPECIFICALLY BE PROVIDING, UM, LET'S SAY ENGINEERING SERVICES OR OTHER SUPPORT SERVICES FOR THE TYPES OF DEVELOPMENTS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO TARGET WITH THE PROGRAM.
UM, WELL, I THINK THAT'S REALLY GREAT.
I MEAN, THAT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT SECTOR OF FOLKS TO TALK TO BECAUSE JUST IN MY UNDERSTANDING AND TALKING TO PEOPLE NOT ONLY IN AUSTIN, BUT IN OTHER COMMUNITIES, IS THAT, UM, THAT THEY REALLY RELY ON THOSE FOLKS THAT YOU'RE TALKING TO IN ORDER TO GET PROJECTS CONCEIVED, DESIGNED, BUILT ACROSS THE FINISH LINE IN VARIOUS WAYS.
AND IF THEY DON'T, IF THEY AREN'T AWARE OF, OR KNOW ABOUT ON-SITE REUSE OR INCENTIVES OR ANY OF THE, AND IT'S MUCH LESS LIKELY TO ACTUALLY HAPPEN.
SO I FEEL LIKE THAT'S A REALLY, REALLY GOOD STRATEGY.
SO I'M GLAD THAT YEAH, THANK YOU.
UM, AND CATHERINE AND HER TEAM HAVE BEEN DOING A REALLY GREAT JOB THERE.
SO, UM, I'M TRYING TO REMEMBER WHAT I PUT ON THESE, BUT IT'S TOO HARD TO SEE, SO, OKAY.
SO OUR STAFF IS GOING TO CONTINUE TO REVIEW THESE ONSITE WATER REUSE APPLICATIONS.
UM, AND WE, YOU KNOW, WE ARE WORKING ON STREAMLINING THIS INTO THE CITY'S DEVELOPMENT REVIEW PROCESS.
OH, ALSO COMMISSIONING IS CONTINUING FOR THE OSCA AND ASKER OSCAR, OSCAR, AND CLARA PILOT, AND, UM, UH, STAFF HAVE BEEN WORKING ON FINALIZING THE ONLINE WATER BENCHMARKING PLATFORM.
SO FOLKS WOULD BE ABLE TO JUST TAKE INFORMATION FROM A SITE PLAN AND THEN, UM, ENTER THAT INTO AN ONLINE APPLICATION.
SO THAT'LL KIND OF POPULATE THE CALCULATOR, UM, AND SHOOT OUT YOUR WATER USE PROFILE FOR A POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT.
UM, WE'VE BEEN GETTING LIKE A LOT MORE INCREASE FROM THE SURROUNDING METROPOLITAN AREA ABOUT, OKAY, WE'RE, WE'RE CONSIDERING ON-SITE WATER, BUT WE DON'T REALLY KNOW LIKE WHAT'S APPLICABLE AND WHATEVER.
IS THERE A PORTAL WHERE PEOPLE CAN DO THAT WITHOUT IT NECESSARILY PINGING YOU GUYS? CAUSE IT'S SUCH A COOL RESOURCE FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO PLAY WITH IT,
[00:40:01]
BUT WITHOUT YOU GUYS GETTING A BUNCH OF PHANTOM INQUIRIES ABOUT STUFF THAT'S NOT IN YOUR SERVICE TERRITORY, WELL, LET US GET BACK TO YOU ON THAT FORMERLY, BUT I DO THINK, I WANT TO SAY THAT IS AVAILABLE THROUGH OUR WEBSITE.SO IF YOU, YOU MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE NOTICED THAT OUR ON OUR UTILITY DEVELOPMENT SERVICES WEBSITE AT AUSTIN WATER, WE HAVE LIKE, FIRST OF ALL, THE GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS FOR RESIDENTIAL ONSITE AND FOR COMMERCIAL ONSITE APPLICATIONS.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IN PREVIOUS MEETINGS.
UM, I BELIEVE WE HAVE SOME LINK TO, UH, SORT OF WATER BEING SMART CALCULATOR.
I WAS LOOKING FOR THE CALCULATOR RECENTLY, BUT YEAH, IF, IF ONLY THAT THAT'S, IT'S JUST AN AMAZING RESOURCE.
IT WOULD BE GREAT TO HAVE THERE.
OH, UH, CENTRALIZED AND DECENTRALIZED RECLAIM, UM, CONTINUING TO WORK TO IMPLEMENT OUR, COMPLETING THE CORE PLAN AS WELL AS UPDATING OUR CENTRALIZED REPLAY MASTER PLAN.
UM, WE ARE, YOU KNOW, STAFF CONTINUES TO SUPPORT, UM, CENTRALIZED RECLAIMED INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.
AND THEN OUR STAFF IS ALSO WORKING ON DEVELOPING INFRASTRUCTURE PLANS RELATED TO DECENTRALIZED REUSE, UM, FOR SMALL AREA PLANNING, POLYGONS, SMALL AREA PLANNING, UM, AS, UH, SPACES OR GEOMETRIES, IF YOU CAN IMAGINE THAT.
UM, I WAS SURPRISED TO HEAR THE LIST OF, UM, EFFORTS THAT REQUIRE, OR, OR THAT ARE INITIATING, UM, AN EQUITY, UM, ASSESSMENT AND, AND NOT HAVE THIS ON THE LIST.
UM, THIS WOULD SEEM TO BE SOMETHING THAT COULD POTENTIALLY CAUSE, UM, COSTS TO GO UP CONSTRUCTION COSTS, ACCESS TO WATER COSTS, ET CETERA.
I JUST I'D LIKE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT DROVE THE CHOICE AROUND WHICH ITEMS WE THINK W UM, INITIATE AN EQUITY EVALUATION.
AND I'LL LET YOU ANSWER THAT BEFORE I ASK MY SECOND QUESTION.
UM, SO THE, UH, THE 2013 COMPLETING THE CORE PLAN WAS A PLAN THAT WAS IMP HAS BEEN IN PLACE FOR A LITTLE WHILE.
THE CENTRALIZED REPLAY MASTER PLAN, I THINK, IS REALLY, UH, UPDATING THAT IN TERMS OF INFRASTRUCTURE COMPONENTS IN CIP.
UM, YOU KNOW, UH, THAT FOLDS OVER INTO CIP PLANNING.
WE ARE HAVING THE CONVERSATION CURRENTLY ABOUT, UM, AFFORDABILITY IMPLICATIONS, UM, FOR THE RECLAIMED WATER SYSTEM, BUT SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO THE EXTENSION OF THE CURRENT RECLAIM WATER CONNECTION REQUIREMENTS.
AND I THINK THAT, UM, YOUR POINT IS VERY WELL TAKEN, THAT THERE IS A, UM, A, AN OPPORTUNITY, I THINK, IN THE NEXT WATERFORD PLAN UPDATE FOR US TO DO KIND OF A HOLISTIC EVALUATION OF EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY, UM, UH, IMPACTS AND POSSIBLY BENEFITS FROM THE STRATEGIES, INCLUDING THE CENTRALIZED AND DECENTRALIZED RECLAIM STRATEGIES THAT WE HAVE IN THE PLAN.
MY SECOND POINT IS A LITTLE BIT, UM, IT'S A LITTLE, I DON'T KNOW, IT'S A LITTLE OUT THERE I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS FOR THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF OR SO.
I, I BROUGHT IT UP AT ONE OF THE MEETINGS WE WERE IN PERSON AND I, IT WASN'T A FULLY FORMED THOUGHT.
UM, BUT I THINK ONE THING THAT COULD HELP US IN AS WE'RE EVALUATING THESE PROJECTS AND WHERE, UM, WORK IS APPLIED, WHERE OUR ATTENTION IS APPLIED IS SOME SORT OF, I KEEP THINKING ABOUT AN INFOGRAPHIC, WHICH SHOWS ALL THE PROJECTS ON, ON A MAP, UM, AND SHOWS WHICH PROJECTS IMPACT, UM, USAGE, YOU KNOW, I, I DEMAND AND WHICH PROJECTS IMPACT SUPPLY AND THE ORDER OF MAGNITUDE EACH OF THESE PROJECTS, UM, IMPACTS THE OUTCOME, UM, BECAUSE WE'RE LOOKING AT IT ON HERE.
I SHOULD, I DON'T, UM, YOU KNOW, I KNOW ASR IS A BIG DEAL AND, AND I THINK THE CENTRALIZED DECENTRALIZED RECLAIM IS A BIG DEAL.
UM, IT'S, IT WOULD BE INCREDIBLY, IT WOULD BE TOTALLY POSSIBLE FOR US TO MAKE ON CERTAIN ITEMS, BUT NOT THE MOST IMPACTFUL ITEMS. AND I FEEL LIKE THAT THAT FRAMEWORK IS IMPORTANT FOR US AS A TASK FORCE TO EVALUATE WHETHER OR NOT WE'RE CONTINUING TO MAKE PROGRESS ON THE MOST IMPORTANT ITEMS. AND THAT WE'RE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH A ONE PAGER EXTERNALLY, WHETHER IT'S TO THE COUNCIL OR IN OUR CITIZEN GROUPS, OR WHEREVER THE IMPORTANCE OF THE WHOLE PLAN AND, AND, AND BREATHE IN A BRIEF WAY, EXPLAIN WHAT EACH OF THESE THINGS ARE.
[00:45:01]
ARE VERY TECHNICAL TERMS, BUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? WELL, THIS MEANS WE USE LESS WATER.THIS MEANS THAT WE HAVE MORE SUPPLY DURING A DROUGHT PERIOD.
YOU KNOW, I MEAN, IT'S LIKE, I THINK, I THINK THAT INFOGRAPHIC MAY BE HELPFUL.
I DON'T, I KNOW PEOPLE THAT DO THAT WORK.
UM, THEY OBVIOUSLY DON'T DO IT FOR FREE.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF WE HAVE BUDGET TO DO THAT.
IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT THE TASK FORCE AND THE IN AUSTIN WATER WOULD LIKE TO CONSIDER, I'M HAPPY TO EXPLORE COST OPTIONS TO DO THAT WORK.
UM, BUT I WOULD ONLY WANT TO DO IT IF, IF, IF YOU GUYS FELT LIKE IT WAS A GOOD IDEA AND WE WANTED TO PUT FORTH THAT EFFORT AND, AND WE, YOU GUYS CAN, WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT IN THE GROUP.
WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT OUTSIDE OF THE GROUP.
I JUST, I KEEP COMING BACK TO THE FACT THAT I CAN'T, I CAN'T PUT MY HEAD WRAP.
I CAN'T WRAP MY HEAD AROUND ALL THIS YET, AND I'M TRYING TO THINK WHAT TOOL COULD I USE? SO THAT'S THE, YEAH, I WOULD SAY, I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA.
IT IS DIFF UH, WE'LL NOTE, IT'S REALLY DIFFICULT TO PUT ALL OF THIS INFORMATION ON A SINGLE PAGE.
SO, I MEAN, IF WE CAN STAND TO HAVE A COUPLE OF PAGES OF INFORMATION, IT MIGHT BE MOST USEFUL TO HAVE SOMETHING LIKE THIS KIND OF REPORT THAT'S PAIRED WITH SOMETHING THAT SHOWS LIKE THE RELATIVE MAGNITUDE OF, UM, THE STRATEGIES YIELD AND KIND OF THEIR, THE PROGRESSION OF, OF, OF THE STRATEGIES OVER TIME IN TERMS OF WHEN THEY WERE PLANNED.
UM, EVEN THIS, LIKE I TRIED TO FIT ALL OF THIS ON ONE SLIDE.
UM, I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA.
I, WHEN IT COMES TO MONEY, I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THAT.
YOU KNOW, I, THAT'S WHAT I STARTED LOOKING.
UM, I WOULD AGREE THAT IT'S A GREAT OPPORTUNITY AND LET US LOOK INTO IT.
I MEAN, I THINK, UM, WE HAVE SOME TOOLS IN PLACE AND SOME OPTIONALITY TO KIND OF HELP, I THINK, ANSWER SOME OF YOUR QUESTION AND COME UP.
HE SAYS, POINT, WE SPEND A FAIR AMOUNT OF TIME TRYING TO CRAFT THESE MESSAGING TOOLS AND MEET KIND OF THE, THE MOST APPROPRIATE AUDIENCES.
SO TO YOUR OTHER POINT ABOUT HOW TO IMPROVE THIS PARTICULAR DOCUMENT, THAT'S SOMETHING WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON.
SO WE'LL NEED TO LOOK AT THAT.
UM, BUT ABSOLUTELY, YOU KNOW, WE'LL, WE'LL DEFINITELY LOOK INTO IT AND WE'LL, WE'LL GET BACK WITH YOU TO THE EXTENT WE THINK WE SEE RESOURCE GAP.
I THINK THAT'S A REALLY GOOD SUGGESTION AND I THINK THAT A LOT OF THAT INFORMATION ALREADY EXISTS.
AND THE, AND I'LL SAY LIKE, IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, THE GRAPHICS AND COMMUNICATIONS OUT OF AUSTIN WATER, MAYBE, MAYBE IT'S BEEN LONG AND LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, BUT HAVE REALLY JUST LIKE GONE UP SEVERAL NOTCHES AND, AND, UM, AND, AND, UH, ESPECIALLY ON THE WATER FORD STUFF.
UM, AND IF YOU FOLLOW THEM ON INSTAGRAM, WHICH I DID, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, BUT, UH, UM, SO I FEEL LIKE THE PIECES ARE THERE AND I COULD ALMOST LIKE, JUST KEYING OFF OF WHAT YOU, WHAT YOU SAID, TODD, YOU KNOW, UM, LCRA DOES THAT ANNUAL WATER USE REPORT THAT HAS THAT MIDDLE FULL THAT'S, UH, ACROSS A PAGE.
AND IT'S GOT ALL THESE DIFFERENT BAR CHARTS THAT KIND OF SHOW THE MAGNITUDE AND THE DIFFERENT SUPPLIES, AND THIS IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT, BUT SOMETHING KINDA LIKE THAT, WHERE YOU COULD ILLUSTRATE IT, IT JUST LIKE, LIKE, LIKE BASED ON YOUR PREVIOUS SUGGESTION TOO, LIKE ALL OF THIS IS REALLY GREAT, BUT IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE CONTEXT, THEN YOU DON'T KNOW KIND OF WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT.
WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS, BUT HOW, HOW MUCH WATER IS THIS STRATEGY SAVING? WHEN IS IT SUPPOSED TO SAVE? WHAT'S THE BIG WATER SUPPLY PICTURE? WHAT ARE WE DOING? ARE WE TOTALLY MISSING THE BOAT ON THE BIG SAVINGS OVER HERE, BUT YOU KNOW, LIKE WE JUST NEED THE CONTEXT FOR IT.
UM, SO I DO THINK THAT A PIECE LIKE THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL.
THERE IS AN 18 PAGE, I BELIEVE, SUMMARY OF THE WATER FORD PLAN AND MAYBE EVEN A SMALLER ONE THAT I'VE SEEN, BUT I WILL NOTE, UM, AND I WAS MEANING TO TELL Y'ALL, UM, THEY'RE VERY DIFFICULT IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND ON THE WEBSITE.
AND I'M NOT REALLY SURE WHAT'S UP WITH THE WATER FORWARD SECTION ON THE WEBSITE, BUT LIKE STUFF THAT USED TO BE THERE IS LIKE, I CAN'T, I CANNOT FIND THE BOOKLET ANYMORE ON THERE.
UM, THERE'S SOME, SOME REAL ISSUES WITH THAT AS FAR AS LIKE BEING ABLE TO ACCESS STUFF.
AND I FEEL LIKE THERE'S ALMOST LIKE TWO VERSIONS OF IT AND DEPENDING ON WHAT I GOOGLE, UM, WHICH IS WEIRD.
CAUSE I DON'T, BUT ANYWAY, THAT JUST GOES BACK TO THE COMMUNICATION THING.
IF WE CREATE SOMETHING, WE WANT PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO FIND IT.
SO FOR THE NEXT TASK FORCE MEETING, I THINK IT WOULD BE HELPFUL.
JENNIFER, IF YOU'D CONSIDER ASKING STAFF TO PUT SOMETHING ON THE AGENDA, THAT WOULD BE, UM, A HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW OF THE ANNUAL REPORT THAT MARIE AND HER TEAM ARE GOING TO BE SENDING OUT.
UM, I KNOW FOR MOST OF US LIKE REVIEWING THE MATERIALS IS SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS ONLY WHEN WE'RE REALLY PREPARING FOR A MEETING.
UM, AND THAT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT PIECE OF INFORMATION BECAUSE IT, I THINK IT'S SUPPOSED TO INCLUDE KIND OF WHERE WE ARE QUANTITATIVELY AGAINST THE VARIOUS, UM, TARGETS THAT WERE PUT FORTH IN THE 2018 PLAN.
AND IT'S HELPFUL FOR US TO CONTINUALLY REMIND
[00:50:01]
OURSELVES WHERE WE STAND AGAINST THE DIFFERENT GOALS.YOU KNOW, HOW ARE WE TRACKING AGAINST EXPANSION OF THE PURPLE PIPE SYSTEM IS CENTRALIZED RECLAIMED, YOU KNOW, ARE, ARE WE HITTING THE TARGET IN TERMS OF TOTAL USE SAME WITH DE-CENTRALIZED AND ALL THE REST OF IT.
AND MAYBE THAT ALSO, I MEAN, I KNOW THAT'S A DIFFERENT REPORT THAN LIKE THE ORDER OF MAGNITUDE OF HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS RESOURCE.
VIS-A-VIS THE WHOLE PLAN, BUT THAT'S AN IMPORTANT DETAIL, I THINK FOR THE FORCE MEMBERS TO UNDERSTAND LIKE WHERE SHOULD WE BE FOCUSING OUR ENERGY, BECAUSE IT'S BOTH LIKE WHAT'S SUPPOSED TO BE IMPORTANT IN THE PLAN.
AND THEN ALSO LIKE, ARE WE ACHIEVING WHAT WE SAID WE WERE GOING TO ACHIEVE BY NOW OR NOT? AND I BELIEVE THAT WE HAD SOMETHING LIKE THAT EARLIER THIS YEAR WHERE WE TALKED OVER THE ANNUAL REPORT, WE JUST DIDN'T ACTUALLY GET THE ANNUAL REPORT BECAUSE IT WAS STILL IN DRAFT FORM.
BUT, BUT IF IT'S, IF IT'S COMPLETED NOW, UM, CAUSE I MEAN, WE'LL HAVE, UH, THE AOL REPORTS, IS IT FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR? FISCAL YEAR, FISCAL YEAR.
SO THIS IS A FISCAL YEAR THAT ENDED, YOU KNOW, LIKE A YEAR AGO BASICALLY.
UM, SO THAT'S YEAH, I WAS GOING TO MENTION THAT WE CAN TALK ABOUT THE PREVIOUS YEARS IN YOUR REPORT BY THE NOVEMBER.
I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT DATE IT IS, BUT I THINK IT'S NOVEMBER 7TH IS OUR NEXT SECOND IS OUR NEXT MEETING.
I, THE NOVEMBER 2ND MEETING, WE MAY NOT HAVE THE FYI 21 ANNUAL REPORT COMPLETED, BUT WE CAN HAVE AT LEAST KIND OF SOME LEAD-UP INFORMATION FOR THAT MEETING.
AND THEN WE WOULD HAVE BY THE JANUARY MEETING, WE'D BE READY TO HAVE THE, UM, A PRESENTATION ON THE FYI 21 ANNUAL REPORT.
SO OCTOBER, 2020 THROUGH OCTOBER, 2021, UM, WHERE WE WOULD HAVE, YOU KNOW, ALL OF OUR GRAPHICS DONE AND ALL OF THE UPDATE INFORMATION COMPLETED.
SO YOU, YOU GUYS WOULD BE OKAY WITH PRESENTING ON SOMETHING, KNOWING THAT IT'S A YEAR IT'S MISSING A YEAR OF DATA, BUT THEN YOU'D PROVIDE THE ADDITIONAL YEAR OF DATA IN JANUARY.
IS THAT I CAN, I CAN GIVE A LITTLE SUMMARY OR REVIEW OF THE
AND THEN WE CAN HAVE A FULL PRESENTATION ON THE FYI 21, UH, REPORT IN JANUARY OF 2022.
AND WE'LL, I WAS JUST TALKING TO JAY NOW.
UM, WE'LL HAVE TO, LET'S SEE IF WE CAN SAVE SOME TIME IN HERE.
WE ONLY GOT ABOUT 30 MINUTES OF TO TALK ABOUT THE TIME OF THE NEXT MEETING.
UM, IF I THINK WE'VE DETERMINED THAT THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE CAN DO.
UM, SO LET'S GO AHEAD AND TALK ABOUT THE TIME OF THE NEXT MEETING AND SEE IF WE CAN FIND A TIME THAT WORKS BETTER FOR FOLKS.
AND THEN IF WE CAN GET A TIME THAT'S MAYBE SOONER, WE EITHER NEED TO START, I THINK, LIKE AT NOON OR WE NEED TO START AT FIVE SO THAT WE COULD HAVE MORE TIME TO HOLD THESE MEETINGS CAUSE OTHERWISE WE'LL GET CUT OFF, YOU KNOW? OKAY.
AND I THINK IT'S FINE AND APPROPRIATE TO GO OVER SOME, THE ANNUAL REPORT, EVEN THOUGH IT'S FOR ENDED A YEAR AGO BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T ACTUALLY SEEN IT YET.
UM, AND UH, I KNOW WE DID HAVE, UH, A PREVIEW OF AN, A VERY INTERESTING AND RICH DISCUSSION ABOUT IT ACTUALLY, UM, EARLIER THIS YEAR, BUT WE DIDN'T, WE HAVEN'T ACTUALLY SEEN THE REPORT.
SO IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT IS WHAT IT IS.
IT'S JUST, IT'S COMING OUT, SO WE'LL BE ABLE TO SEE IT AND TALK ABOUT IT.
IS THAT IT FOR THIS AGENDA ITEM? DO WE WANT TO TALK ANYMORE ABOUT ANY OF THE SLIDES GONE? SO I PRESUME YOU ARE.
UM, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE GET TO OUR WATER LOSS PRESENTATION SO THAT COLIN IS HERE AND HE IS GOING TO BE PROVIDING AN, UH, AN OVERVIEW.
AN UPDATE ON WATER LOSS AND, UM, IS 3 57 IF WE WANT TO SET OUR MEETING TIME.
SO LET'S JUST TRY TO BE WRAPPING THIS UP.
SO WE WERE FOUR 20, WE'RE THINKING MAYBE, UH, 10 TO 15 MINUTES FOR PRESENTATION AND THEN TO TIME FOR QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION AND ADVISORY GROUP AND SUB COMMITTEE REPORTS, WE, WE MAY NOT GET TO THROUGH ALL OF THEM.
I HAVE, MY NAME IS MATT CULLEN.
I'M THE DIVISION MANAGER OF DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM ENGINEERING AND AUSTIN WATER.
AND THIS AFTERNOON, TRY AND GIVE YOU A QUICK BRIEFING ON WATER LOSS AND WATER LOSS MITIGATION EFFORTS AT AUSTIN WATER.
UM, KNOW WATER LOSS IS SOMETHING THAT EVERY WATER UTILITY HAS TO, UH, HAS TO DEAL WITH.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT, THAT EXISTS.
SO WE TRY TO MINUTE, UH, MINIMIZE IT AND, AND, UH, MANAGE THOSE ISSUES THROUGHOUT OUR ALMOST 4,000 MILES OF, OF, UH, WATER LINES.
SO HOW WE'RE GOING TO GO OVER THIS TODAY IS I'M GOING TO TALK ABOUT HOW WE MEASURE WATER LOSS AND THE PERFORMANCE MEASURES, UH, PERFORMANCE INDICATORS RELATED TO THAT.
[00:55:01]
UH, ON THOSE PERFORMANCE LINES.UM, AND THEN I'M GOING TO TALK ABOUT OUR PRODUCTION METER VALIDATION PROJECT, UH, WHICH TIES IN WITH THAT MEASUREMENT AND PERFORMANCE INDICATOR SIDE OF THINGS.
AND I'LL TALK ABOUT OUR STRATEGIES FOR ADDRESSING WATER LOSS, AND THEN WE'LL SUMMARIZE AND HOPEFULLY HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF TIME FOR QUESTIONS.
SO JUST AS A QUICK NOTE, THE WAY THAT WATER LOSS IS MEASURED, AND THIS IS HOW IT'S DONE IN THE INDUSTRY IS AS LAID OUT BY AWW A IS YOU TAKE, UH, YOUR, UH, VOLUME OF WATER THAT COMES OUT OF YOUR PLANTS AND ENTERS YOUR SYSTEM.
AND, UH, THEN YOU TAKE AWAY THINGS THAT ARE KNOWN AND, OR ESTIMATED LIKE THE WATER THAT YOU MEET, OR THAT GOES TO YOUR CUSTOMERS, WATER THAT'S USED FOR FIREFIGHTING.
YOU ESTIMATE THAT WATER THAT'S USED FOR FLUSHING, UH, PURPOSES, ALL OF THOSE KINDS OF THINGS.
AND ONCE YOU TAKE ALL OF THOSE AWAY, THEN YOU'RE LEFT WITH YOUR WATER LOSS.
YOUR REAL WATER LOSSES ARE BASICALLY, UH, WHAT'S, WHAT'S LEAKED FROM YOUR PIPES.
UM, AND SO THAT'S HOW IT'S, UH, HOW YOU COME UP WITH THE WATER LOSS NUMBER.
UM, AND SO THE PERFORMANCE INDICATORS THAT ARE USED, YOU MIGHT REMEMBER A COUPLE OF DECADES BACK.
A LOT OF PEOPLE WOULD TALK ABOUT PERCENT WATER LOSS, AND THE INDUSTRY IS, UH, DETERMINED THAT THAT'S NOT THE BEST WAY TO GO BEST WAY TO MEASURE, UH, EFFECTIVENESS.
AND SO THERE'S THIS TERM, THIS CALLED THE INFRASTRUCTURE LEAKAGE INDEX, WHICH BASICALLY YOU TAKE THE REAL WATER LOSSES, THE NUMBER I TALKED ABOUT ON THE PREVIOUS SLIDE, AND YOU DIVIDE THAT BY YOUR UNAVOIDABLE REAL LOSS, WHICH IT IS KIND OF JUST WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE IT'S WATER THAT YOU LOSE FROM THE SYSTEM THAT YOU CAN AVOID LOSING KIND OF BACKGROUND LEAKAGE.
SOME PEOPLE MIGHT REFER TO IT THAT WAY.
UM, AND AGAIN, THE INDUSTRY AWW HAS A WAY FOR, UH, CALCULATING THAT UNAVOIDABLE REAL LOSS.
IT'S BASED ON THE MILES OF MAIN, UH, YOUR SYSTEM PRESSURE AND THE NUMBER OF CONNECTIONS THAT YOU HAVE.
SO IT MIGHT NOT JUST BE NATURAL TO FEEL LIKE WHAT'S GOOD, OR WHAT'S NOT WHEN IT COMES TO AN ILI.
UM, BASED ON THESE NUMBERS HERE, A 1.0, THAT'S A THEORETICAL PERFECTION IT'S THEORETICALLY CAN'T DO ANY BETTER THAN THAT.
THAT'S NOT NECESSARILY, AND CERTAINLY ISN'T A, UM, KIND OF ECONOMIC PERFECTION, BUT BEST YOU COULD POSSIBLY DO IS A 1.0, UM, 2.0 IS AN EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE.
AND THAT'S OUR LONG-TERM GOAL IN WATER FORWARD IS, IS TO GET TO A 2.0, BUT THAT'S, THAT'S REALLY HIGH-PERFORMING.
UM, THE TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD, UH, SUGGEST AN OPERATING RANGE FOR A UTILITY LIKE OURS OF FROM THREE TO FIVE, UH, IS, IS THE SUGGESTED, UH, RANGE.
SO WHERE ARE WE? SO, UM, THIS SLIDE HERE, LET ME EXPLAIN A LITTLE BIT THAT GREEN BOX IS THAT SUGGESTED RANGE THAT I TALKED ABOUT, UH, THAT THREE TO FIVE, UH, THE ORANGE LINE IS OUR CALCULATED NUMBERS GOING BACK ALL THE WAY TO 2008.
UM, AND SO YOU CAN SEE WE'RE OPERATING KIND OF IN THE BOTTOM OF THAT BOX AND EVEN BELOW IT THERE FOR AWHILE AND OVER THE LAST NUMBER OF YEARS, ALMOST DECADE, A LITTLE BIT OF A, UH, AN UPWARD TREND THERE STILL, DEFINITELY WITHIN THAT SUGGESTED RANGE OF THREE TO FIVE.
UM, BUT WATER LOSS HAS BEEN INCREASING AND THEREFORE THE, THE ILI HAS BEEN, UH, INCREASING A LITTLE BIT.
AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT WHY WE THINK THAT MIGHT BE AS WE MOVE THROUGH THE PRESENTATION.
SO, UM, WE'VE GOT A NUMBER OF PERFORMANCE MEASURES, UM, THAT, THAT WE USE ILI IS CERTAINLY OUR, OUR STANDARD FOR TRACKING WATER LOSS.
UH, BUT YOU KNOW, THE INDUSTRY HAS A NUMBER OF STRATEGIES THAT ARE THE BEST PRACTICES FOR CONTROLLING WATER LOSS.
AND WHEN WE LOOK AT THOSE, W W THOSE OTHER MEASURES W WE'RE TRACKING RIGHT WHERE WE NEED TO BE, FOR EXAMPLE, UH, THIS IS ACTUALLY, UH, SHOWING, GETTING BETTER.
THIS BLUE LINE ON THIS GRAPH IS THE BRAKES, UH, PER A HUNDRED MILES PER YEAR.
UM, AND AS YOU CAN SEE, THAT'S BEEN GOING DOWN, UH, OVER THE LAST DECADE, UH, A BUMP UP AND IN 2017 AND 2018, UH, DUE TO SOME SEVERE COLD AND SEVERE HOT, UH, ONE'S A SUMMER.
AND ONE'S, UH, A WINTER ISSUE, UM, OF NOTE, THIS IS DATA THAT GOES THROUGH 2020.
SO IT DOESN'T INCLUDE 20, 21, UH, IN HERE.
BUT AS YOU CAN SEE, WE ARE BREAKS PER A HUNDRED MILES OF MAIN HAS BEEN MOVING IN THE DOWNWARD DIRECTION.
AND THIS IS, YOU KNOW, A GOOD THING.
THE PURPLE LINE ON THERE IS THE INDUSTRY AVERAGE.
IT'S ABOUT 14 BREAKS PER MILE PER YEAR.
AND WE'RE BELOW THAT OUR ILI OF COURSE, HAS BEEN CREEPING UP A LITTLE BIT.
UH, AND SO THOSE TWO AREN'T SEEMING TO TRACK TOGETHER.
[01:00:01]
WE'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR AWHILE, OKAY, WAIT A MINUTE.WHY, WHY IS THIS GOING UP? WE'RE DOING THE RIGHT THINGS.
AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT STRATEGIES IN A MINUTE.
WHY ARE WE DOING THE RIGHT THINGS? BUT THE WATER LOSS IS CREEPING UP A LITTLE BIT.
UM, AND THAT'S WHERE THIS DISCUSSION OF THE PRODUCTION METER VALIDATION PROJECT COMES IN AND TALKING WITH OTHER UTILITIES AND TAKING PART IN CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS.
UM, IT'S BEEN CLEAR THAT KNOWING THAT, AS YOU MIGHT REMEMBER BACK FROM THAT FIRST SLIDE WHERE I TALKED ABOUT WATER LOSS IS YOUR PRODUCTION VOLUME.
WHAT COMES THROUGH YOUR METERS INTO YOUR SYSTEM, THAT THAT'S WHERE YOU START, AND THEN YOU SUBTRACT EVERYTHING ELSE.
IF THAT NUMBER COMING INTO YOUR SYSTEM IS WRONG, THAT ERROR GETS MAGNIFIED, UM, UH, IN YOUR WATER LOSSES.
AND TYPICALLY, UH, METERS PLANT METERS HAVE HAD A CERTAIN LEVEL OF ACCURACY OR PRECISION IF YOU WILL.
AND WHAT WE'RE FINDING THE INDUSTRY'S FINDING IS THE LEVEL OF PRECISION NEEDED FOR WHAT GOOD WATER LOSS TRACKING IS HIGHER THAN WHAT HAS BEEN NEEDED AT THE PLANTS, UM, TO THIS POINT.
SO KNOWING THAT THIS, THIS MIGHT BE WHERE OUR PROBLEM WAS LYING, CAUSE IT DIDN'T MAKE SENSE FROM ONE YEAR TO THE NEXT, IF A WATER LOSS WENT UP OR DOWN, IT WASN'T TRACKING WITH OUR BRAKES, IT WASN'T TRACKING WITH OUR RESPONSE TIME OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT WE DOVE INTO LOOKING AT VALIDATING OUR PLANT METERS SO WE COULD GET AN IDEA OF, OF THEIR ACCURACY.
SO WE BROUGHT ON A CONSULTANT TO LOOK AT ALL 37 OF OUR METERS AT THE THREE PLANTS AND THE PROJECT WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN THE FINAL REPORT YET.
UM, BUT OUR PRELIMINARY TAKEAWAYS ARE, FIRST OF ALL, NOT ALL OF OUR METERS WERE CALIBRATED CORRECTLY.
THERE WERE SOME ISSUES WITH SOME OF THE FORMULAS AND, UH, A FEW, A FEW THINGS ON A FEW METERS.
UM, AND THEN SOME OF THE PLANT MIRROR METERS THEMSELVES DID HAVE ERRORS IN EXCESS OF 5%, SOME PLUS SOME MINUS SOME, YOU KNOW, READING IN EACH DIRECTION.
AND WHEN YOU GET THAT AIR OF, OF UP TO 5% AND OVER THAT, THAT'S GOING TO HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON YOUR WATER LOSS, UH, CALCULATIONS.
UM, AND I'M NOTE, THESE ARE, OH, SURE.
UM, SO THAT, THAT, THAT'S INTERESTING THAT, THAT, THAT YOU WOULD GO THERE.
I MEAN, IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN FOREVER TO THINK OF THAT.
SO I'M GLAD YOU GUYS WERE THINKING OF IT.
WHAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND IS WHY THIS, THIS PARTICULAR ISSUE WOULD CAUSE THINGS TO GET WORSE OVER TIME.
IS IT JUST A TOTAL VOLUME IS INCREASING THEREFORE, YOU KNOW, TOTAL AMOUNT OF INACCURATE MEASUREMENT IS INCREASING OR IS THERE SOMETHING ELSE GOING ON? UM, SO WE HAVEN'T TRACKED DOWN AND NAILED DOWN, AH, HERE IT IS.
AND THAT'S WHY IT'S BEEN INCREASING.
UM, IF I DID, UH, WELL, THIS ONE MAYBE SHOWS A LITTLE BIT BETTER.
I I'LL HAVE TO SAY THAT IN THE YEARS WHERE IT WENT DOWN.
I COULDN'T TELL YOU ANY MORE WHY IT WENT DOWN THEN IN THE YEARS THAT IT HAD GONE UP.
AND SO I THINK IT'S THE, THE, THE POINT BEING THAT IF THEY'RE NOT PRECISE ENOUGH ON, ON THE READINGS.
AND, AND HONESTLY, AS I TALK ABOUT THE CALIBRATION CALIBRATION ITEMS AS A SENSOR GETS SWITCHED OUT OR SOMETHING THAT COULD GET CHANGED FROM ONE YEAR TO THE NEXT.
AND SO SOMETHING THAT READS LOW ONE YEAR MIGHT READ HIGH THE NEXT.
SO, NO, IT'S NOT THAT, UH, OKAY, HERE'S THE PROBLEM.
IT'S MORE OF, UM, WE KNOW THEY'RE NOT PERFECT, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE NOT AS PRECISE AS WE'D LIKE THEM TO BE.
AND THAT LEADS TO VARIABILITY MORE THAN I CAN SAY ONE DIRECTION OR THE OTHER.
UM, AND BECAUSE OF THAT, BECAUSE THERE'S SOME VARIABILITY THERE, WE CAN'T NECESSARILY TAKE THE RESULTS THAT WE HAD, THAT, THAT WE GOT ON TESTING OUR METERS AND GO, OKAY, LET'S GO BACK A COUPLE OF YEARS AND RECALCULATE AND STRAIGHTEN THINGS OUT BECAUSE THINGS MAY HAVE CHANGED IN THE INTERIM.
IT'S MORE OF IDENTIFYING WHERE THERE MAY BE ISSUES THAT WE CAN CORRECT.
AND SO, AS I MENTIONED, IT'S NOT FINAL, BUT WE CERTAINLY DO HAVE SOME ACTION ITEMS WE CAN FOLLOW UP ON.
ONE OF THEM IS REFINING OUR CALIBRATION PROCEDURES, WORKING WITH OUR PLANT STAFFING AND TIGHTENING THOSE UP AND IMPROVING THOSE AS WE GO FORWARD.
UH, AND THEY DID NOTE, THERE WAS A COUPLE OF, UH, VENTURI METERS THAT NEED TO BE CLEANED OUT.
UH, THERE'S SOME WIRING AND SOME, UH, INSTRUMENTATION THAT NEEDS TO BE UPGRADED AS WELL.
AND THEN AFTER WE GET THOSE ITEMS DONE AND TAKEN CARE OF, KIND OF COME BACK AND DO THE VALIDATION PROCESS AGAIN, AGAIN, HONING IN GETTING AS PRECISE AS WE CAN ON THOSE METER READINGS.
SO I, I, I LIKED YOUR QUESTION BECAUSE I CAN'T SAY FOR CERTAIN, OKAY, HERE'S EXACTLY WHY IT'S INCREASED.
UM, BUT I CAN SAY IF WE'RE NOT VERY ACCURATE ON WHAT'S COMING OUT OF THE PLANTS, THEN WE CAN'T SAY FOR SURE, EXACTLY, OH, IT'S GOING UP OR IT'S GOING DOWN.
WE'VE GOT TO BE GOOD HERE IN ORDER
[01:05:01]
TO, UM, UH, IN ORDER TO HAVE THE QUALITY OF WATER LOSS TRACKING THAT'S THAT'S NEEDED.SO THAT'S, THAT'S THE MEASURING AND THE PERFORMANCE INDICATOR SIDE OF THINGS I'M GOING TO TRANSITION OVER TO YEAH.
UM, IT, IT TALKS ABOUT LEAKS PER A HUNDRED MILES AND MAIN AND THE INDUSTRY AVERAGE.
UM, AND WELL, IF THIS ISN'T A LONG ANSWER, JUST THAT, I DON'T KNOW HOW THAT RELATES TO THE METER CALIBRATION.
AND I THINK IT PROBABLY DOESN'T BECAUSE IT'S THE NUMBER OF LEAKS FOR RENDER MILES.
SO IT DOESN'T RELATE BACK TO THAT, BUT JUST, UM, AND IT, AND IT, SO WHAT'S, WHAT'S THE, YOU'RE JUST SHOWING THE DIFFERENCE OVER INDUSTRY AVERAGE OR KIND OF THE CONTENT.
BUT THE POINT OF THIS SLIDE IS WE CAN SEE THE ILI AND WITH A WATER LOSS HAS CREEPED UP A LITTLE BIT, BUT ONE OF OUR INDICATORS OF, OKAY, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY WHEN WE SEE THAT AS A UTILITY, WE'RE LIKE, OKAY, WE DON'T WANT OUR WATER LOSS GOING UP.
WHAT CAN WE DO DIFFERENTLY? WELL, OUR BRAKES PER A HUNDRED MILES PER YEAR, WE'VE BEEN DOING A GOOD JOB THERE WITH OUR RENEWING AUSTIN PROGRAM AND, YOU KNOW, REDUCING.
SO THAT'S, IT'S NOT LIKE, AH, OUR MAINS ARE BREAKING A WHOLE BUNCH MORE.
SO THE, THE POINT OF THIS WAS WE'RE DOING GOOD IN THAT AREA AND REDUCING OUR BREAKS PER A HUNDRED MILES.
UM, BUT THAT, THAT LEADS US TO, UH, AND AS I MENTIONED, THERE'S OTHER PERFORMANCE MEASURES THAT ARE TRACKING CONSISTENTLY AND I'LL GET INTO A COUPLE OF THOSE IN A MINUTE.
AND SO NONE OF THOSE STUCK OUT AS THE ISSUE.
SO YOU TAKE THAT ALONG WITH WHAT WE'VE HEARD FROM OTHER UTILITIES, HEY, LOOKING AT THE PRODUCTION METERS IS REALLY AN IMPORTANT THING TO DO.
I, I TALKED TO, OR I WAS IN A PRESENTATION AT ONE CONFERENCE WHERE IT WAS A, UH, A UTILITY THAT BOUGHT THEIR WATER FROM SOMEONE ELSE AND THEY DECIDED WE'RE GOING TO GET REALLY, UH, WE'RE GOING TO GET ON OUR ILI AND WE'RE, WE'RE GOING TO WORK THING.
AND WHEN THEY CALCULATED EVERYTHING, THEIR ILI WAS NEGATIVE.
UH, AND THAT'S BECAUSE THEIR METER WAS IN A BAD SPOT BY, UH, BY A VALVE.
AND SO THAT'S JUST AN EXAMPLE OF SOMEONE WHO SAW THAT YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE THIS BEGINNING NUMBER, RIGHT.
UH, IN ORDER TO HAVE A QUALITY NUMBER OF PIECES THAT GO INTO.
ANY OTHER MEASUREMENT OR PERFORMANCE MEASURE QUESTIONS BEFORE I RUN ON THE STRATEGY? SO, UM, AND I I'VE BEEN TOLD THIS IS KIND OF A BORING SLIDE AND, UH, SORRY ABOUT THAT.
UM, BUT SO THIS ONE IS OUR RESPONSE TIME TO LEAK.
SO THERE'S, UH, ONE OF THE MAIN INDUSTRY STANDARDS FOR, UH, DEALING WITH WATER LOSS AND LIMITING WATER LOSS IS RESPONDING QUICKLY TO LEAKS.
AND SO THIS SHOWS THAT WE, MORE THAN 90% OF THE TIME, WE RESPOND TO LEAKS WITHIN THREE HOURS.
AND WE'VE BEEN VERY CONSISTENT ABOUT THAT.
UH, THE UTILITY PUTS RESOURCES TOWARDS THAT, UH, TO, TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN.
AND IT'S A VERY IMPORTANT PART.
AND SO THAT'S ONE OF THE MAIN STRATEGIES INDUSTRY STANDARDS.
AND, UH, WE FOCUS ON THAT AND WE'VE BEEN DOING CONSISTENTLY WELL THERE.
UM, ANOTHER ONE OF THE BEST PRACTICES IS INFRASTRUCTURE RENEWAL.
UM, AND FOR US, THAT'S MOSTLY REPLACING OF LINES AND, YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHAT WE DO WITH OUR RENEWING AUSTIN PROGRAM.
AND WE FOCUS THAT ON PIPES THAT ARE MOST VULNERABLE TO ADDITIONAL LEAKS, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT OUR ASSET MANAGEMENT PROCESSES THAT IDENTIFY THE, THE LINES THAT ARE IN MOST DANGER OF, OF BREAKING.
AND THEN WE APPLY OUR, OUR FUNDS THAT WE'VE GOT CIP WISE TO, UH, REPLACE THOSE LINES.
LIKEWISE, YOU KNOW, SERVICE LINES BREAK AS WELL.
AND IN FACT, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT A NUMBER OF POLYBUTYLENE SERVICES AND, UH, IN OUR SYSTEM AND THEY BREAK AT A HIGHER RATE THAN THE OTHER SERVICE LINE MATERIALS.
SO WE'VE GOT A FOCUSED PROGRAM TO REPLACE THOSE.
UH, YOU SHOULD BE SEEING AN RCA FOR OUR NEXT CIP FOR THAT HERE IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.
UM, I'M THINKING ABOUT AS WE HAVE, UH, AS WE GREW UP TO EXPAND THE CENTRALIZED RECLAIMED SYSTEM, MORE, WE KIND OF DOUBLE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR A WATER LOSS.
UM, I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING REALLY ABOUT HOW THE MATERIALS, UH, DIFF WITH THE MATERIAL DIFFERENCES ARE FOR RECLAIMED WATER LINE VERSUS A POTABLE WATER LINE, BUT HAVE YOU LOOKED AT THE DIFFERENCE IN, UM, LOSSES BETWEEN THE TWO SYSTEMS AND TRY TO INFER ANYTHING ABOUT, LIKE ANYTHING THAT MIGHT HELP YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT MIGHT BE DRIVING LOSSES? ARE THEY TRACKING THE SAME? IS THERE A REMARKABLE DIFFERENCE? UH, EXCELLENT QUESTION.
AND, AND SO WE, HAVEN'T DONE AN ILI ON THE, ON THE RECLAIM SIDE, UH, BUT I'VE, I'VE GOT IN MY MIND TO DIRECT STAFF LET'S MOVE IN THAT DIRECTION, UH, BECAUSE THE TIME WILL COME WHERE THAT WATER IS JUST AS VALUABLE.
UH, I WILL SAY THE POINT ABOUT MATERIALS IS, IS GOOD.
[01:10:01]
UM, AGAIN, WHERE WE SEE A LOT OF OUR BREAKS ON THE PORTABLE SIDE IS THE CAST IRON, THE RECLAIM SYSTEM IS NEW ENOUGH.WE DON'T HAVE ANY CAST IRON IN THERE.
LYON AND WE'VE HAD VERY FEW FAILURES, BUT IT'S A VERY YOUNG SYSTEM.
UM, BUT THAT'S KIND OF MY LAST BULLET ITEM HERE IS AGAIN, THIS INDUSTRY STANDARD IS, IS REPLACING AND RENEWING AND LOOKING AT THE MATERIALS AND WHAT YOU USE IN YOUR SYSTEM.
AND ONE EXAMPLE OF HOW WE'RE BEING PROGRESSIVE AND LOOKING AT THAT IS THE MOVE TOWARDS HDPE.
WE'VE DONE THAT FOR SERVICE LINES.
WE'VE BEEN DOING THAT FOR ABOUT A DECADE.
WE'RE LOOKING AT UTILIZING HDPE MORE FOR OUR MAIN LINES AS WELL.
YOU KNOW, PART OF THAT UNAVOIDABLE REAL LOSS IS A PVC AND DUCTILE IRON PIPES.
THEY ALL HAVE GASKETED JOINTS, AND THERE'S GOING TO BE SOME LEVEL OF, OF LEAKAGE THERE, WHEREAS HDPE PIPE GETS FUSED TOGETHER.
AND SO YOU DON'T, YOU DON'T HAVE THE KIND OF, UH, BACKGROUND LEAKAGE.
SO THAT'S JUST ONE EXAMPLE OF HOW YOU'RE LOOKING TO IMPROVE THE MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT THAT WE USE, UH, TO REDUCE WATER LOSSES.
UM, SO ANOTHER STRATEGY IS LEVERAGING, UM, AS I'M SURE YOU'RE ALL AWARE WE'RE IN THE MIDST OF THIS MAJOR PROJECT REPLACING ABOUT 240,000 METERS OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS.
UM, ONE OF THE IMMEDIATE THINGS THAT WE'LL GET THERE AND THIS ISN'T NECESSARILY ILI, BUT IT IS LOST.
WATER IS HELPING OUR CUSTOMERS IDENTIFY WHEN THEY HAVE LEAKS ON THEIR SIDE.
AND THAT'S OTHER UTILITIES THAT HAVE IMPLEMENTED AMI HAVE SEEN THAT AS, UH, A RESULT RIGHT OFF THE BAT IS BEING ABLE TO NOTIFY A CUSTOMER.
HEY, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'VE GOT A LEAK AND THEY'RE ABLE TO LIMIT THE AMOUNT OF WATER THAT THEY LOSE THERE.
SO THAT'LL BE, UH, UM, RIGHT AWAY, WE'LL BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
AND THEN OF COURSE, AMI INVOLVES, THERE'S A LOT OF NETWORK OUT THERE AND A LOT OF DATA BEING COLLECTED.
AND WE'RE LOOKING AT LEVERAGING THAT WITH, UM, PRESSURE SENSORS AND LEAK SENSORS OUT IN THE SYSTEM TO, TO, UH, CATCH ISSUES ON OUR SYSTEM AS WELL.
AND SO GOING TO LEVERAGE THAT ANOTHER WAY WE CAN LEVERAGE, UH, ALL THE DATA THAT WE'LL BE GETTING THROUGH AMI IS, UM, SOMETHING CALLED VIRTUAL DMS DISTRICT, METERED AREAS AND DISTRICT METERED AREAS.
IT'S BASICALLY JUST LOOKING, CUTTING DOWN SMALLER AND SMALLER PARTS OF A SYSTEM, AND ESSENTIALLY LIKE DOING AN ILI, YOU KNOW, SUMMING WHAT'S COMING IN, WHAT'S GOING OUT AND SEEING WHAT'S LOST IN A SYSTEM AS BIG AS OURS, AND AS INTERLINKED AS OURS, IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO DO THAT.
AND THAT'S COMMON AMONGST UTILITIES AS BEING TOUGH TO DO WITH AMI.
WE CAN LEVERAGE DOING WHAT'S VIRTUAL DNAS AND LOOKING AT SMALLER AREAS WITHOUT, UH, A HUGE CIP INVESTMENT OF PUTTING IN ADDITIONAL METER VAULT, UH, AND OR CLOSING VALVES AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO, UM, AMI IS GOING TO DO A LOT OF THINGS.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS WE'LL BE, UH, IN A NUMBER OF WAYS, HELPING US CONTROL OUR WATER LOSSES.
AND THEN OBVIOUSLY, MAYBE ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS THAT COMES TO MIND WHEN WE TALK ABOUT CONTROLLING WATER LOSS AND MINIMIZING WATER LOSS IS PROACTIVE, LEAK DETECTION AND PREVENTION.
UM, AND SO WE'VE GOT A FEW CONTRACTS, UH, WHERE WE MOVE IN THAT DIRECTION WHERE WE DO THAT WORK.
WE DO ABOUT 500 TO 700 MILES OF THE SYSTEM OF MANNED LEAK DETECTION THAT SOMEONE GOING OUT AND LISTENING TO VALVES AND HYDRANTS AND EVERYTHING.
SO THAT'S A FIVE TO SIX YEAR TIME PERIOD.
WE GET THROUGH THE WHOLE SYSTEM.
OUR TRANSMISSION MAINS ARE LARGE LINES THAT THAT KIND OF LEAK DETECTION IS NOT GOING TO IDENTIFY THOSE LEAKS.
IT TAKES DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGY, IT'S DIFFERENT, UH, FREQUENCIES THAT THE, THAT THE SOUND MAKES.
AND SO WE'VE GOT A SEPARATE CONTRACT FOR THAT.
UH, AND WE GET ABOUT 10 MILES OF LEAK DETECTION ON THE TRANSMISSION MAINS A YEAR AND FIVE TO 10 MILES OF CONDITION ASSESSMENT.
THE PICTURE TO THE RIGHT THERE IS A PICTURE OF IT KIND OF IN THE MIDDLE THERE IN THE ORANGE SHIRT IS, UH, KIRK OPES.
ONE OF OUR EMPLOYEES THAT RUNS OUR LARGE DIAMETER CONTRACT, UH, AND THAT TOOL IS CALLED A PIPE DIVER.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE UTILIZE TO DO CONDITION ASSESSMENT ON OUR PRE-STRESSED CONCRETE CYLINDER PIPE, A PIPE THAT'S, PARTICULARLY WHEN IT FAILS.
IT TENDS TO FAIL CATASTROPHICAL.
YOU LOSE A LOT OF WATER WHEN THEY FAIL IN THIS HOUSE.
AND I'LL TALK ABOUT THAT IN MORE DETAIL ON, ON THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, OF NOTE HERE, YOU CAN SEE THE SMILES BECAUSE THIS PICTURE WAS TAKEN PRE COVID.
UM, SO EVERYBODY'S BEING SAFE THERE.
UM, BUT SO I'LL TALK ABOUT THAT SOME MORE ON OUR NEXT SLIDE, BUT ADDITIONALLY, YOU KNOW, WE'RE DOING THIS LEAK DETECTION IN THIS CONDITION ASSESSMENT, BUT, YOU KNOW, WATER IS, UH, UH, MORE AND MORE VALUABLE COMMODITY EVERY YEAR AND THAT THE INDUSTRY IS DEVELOPING QUITE A BIT.
AND SO WE'RE INVOLVED IN, WHAT'S CALLED A TECHNOLOGY ADVOCACY GROUP, AND WE FOLLOW UP WITH NUMBER OF NEW AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES, BOTH LOOKING AT DOING PILOTS WITH THEM AND HELPING THEM DEVELOP THEIR TECHNOLOGIES, LOOKING
[01:15:01]
AT HOW TO OPTIMIZE WHAT WE'RE DOING, NOT JUST CONTINUING WHAT WE'RE DOING, BUT LOOKING TO DO IT EVEN BETTER.AND ALONG THOSE SAME LINES, WE'RE COLLABORATING WITH UT THERE'S A PROFESSOR AT UT, UH, THAT'S, UH, PUT OUT, UH, ABOUT A DOZEN, UH, UH, HIGH RATE HIGH-FREQUENCY PRESSURE SENSORS OUT IN OUR SYSTEM.
SOME OF THEM HAVE LEAK DETECTION ON THEM AS WELL.
UM, AND SHE'S DOING STUDIES AND THEY'RE LOOKING AT CREATING ALGORITHMS FOR PREDICTIVE LEAK IDENTIFICATION, AS WELL AS IDENTIFYING THINGS, YOU KNOW, BEFORE THEY SURFACE KIND OF DEAL.
AND SO WORKING WITH THEM AND LOOKING AT EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AGAIN, I THINK WE'RE DOING GOOD, BUT WE WANT TO OPTIMIZE WHAT WE'RE DOING AND, AND GET EVEN BETTER.
UM, AND SO I THINK I HAVE TO POINT THIS.
UM, I MENTIONED, I'D TALK SOME MORE ABOUT OUR CONDITION ASSESSMENT.
UM, I'VE GOT TWO PROJECTS HIGHLIGHTED HERE ON THE LEFT.
UH, IT'S TWO PICTURES OF OUR ALRICK HIGH SERVICE TRANSMISSION MAIN, WHICH RUNS DOWN WEST GATE, UH, NEAR WILLIAM CANNON.
UM, AND THIS IS A LINE THAT WAS NOT NECESSARILY A PROBLEM LINE, BUT, UH, WAS A VERY IMPORTANT LINE.
SO THE TOOL THAT WAS ON THE LAST SLIDE WENT THROUGH THIS LINE, IDENTIFIED AN AREA WHERE THERE WERE A BUNCH OF WIRE BREAKS.
THE WIRES ARE WHAT HOLD THIS PIPE TOGETHER.
YOU CAN SEE THERE IN THAT LEFT PICTURE.
THAT'S WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE WHEN WE UNCOVERED IT.
THIS WAS A PIPE THAT WAS GETTING READY TO, TO FAIL.
UH, IT WASN'T FAR FROM FAILURE.
AND OBVIOUSLY WITH THE 48 INCH LINE, THAT'S GOING TO BE A MAJOR WATER LOSS SEMINAR LEAKED TO THE RIGHT IS OUR DAVIS HIGH SERVICE TRANSMISSION MAIN RUNS ALONG MOPAC.
UM, AGAIN, NO INDICATION THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE LINE UNTIL WE DID THE SURVEY, BUT IT'S AN IMPORTANT LINE.
SOME WIRE BREAKS, DUG IT UP AND THE REST OF THE LINE WAS IN GOOD SHAPE, BUT THIS PIPE SURE ENOUGH, WE UNCOVER IT AND IT'S, UH, IT'S COMING APART.
SO I, YOU KNOW, VERY HAPPY WITH THESE TWO RESULTS.
WE WERE ABLE TO AVOID A COUPLE OF POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC FAILURES WITH OUR, UH, WITH OUR PROACTIVE WORK.
SO SUMMARIZING, JUST, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GOING TO COMPLETE THE ACTION ITEMS FROM OUR PRODUCTION METER VALIDATION PROJECT, AND KEEP WORKING ON GETTING THOSE NUMBERS MORE ACCURATE, MORE PRECISE.
WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE RESPONDING QUICKLY TO LEAKS, CONTINUE OUR LEAK DETECTION, WORK, GOING TO LEVERAGE WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH AMI.
UH, AND, UH, WE'RE GOING TO BRING IN, UH, UH, UH, PUT OUT A REQUEST TO BRING IN A WATER LOSS EXPERT, TO LOOK AT WHAT WE'RE DOING, THINK WE'RE DOING WELL.
UH, BUT WE'VE THINK IT'S WORTHWHILE TO HAVE, YOU KNOW, AN EXPERT, UH, IN THE AREA TO LOOK AT WHAT WE'RE DOING, GIVE US ANY POINTERS THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE OF WHAT WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO DO BETTER.
ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS UH, THAT'S RIGHT, RIGHT.
WELL, YES, THERE IS, YOU KNOW, IN THE HEAT OF SUMMER.
AND IF, IF WE HAVE OTHER LINES DOWN, IT GETS TO BE MORE DIFFICULT.
WE, WE SPEND A LOT OF TIME WHENEVER WE'RE GOING TO DO WORK ON LINES, LOOKING AT THAT, THAT KIND OF STUFF, THE LINE TO THE LEFT, CLOSER UP TO THE PLANT.
UM, IT HAS A LITTLE LESS REDUNDANCY THAN, THAN WE TYPICALLY HAVE THROUGHOUT OUR SYSTEM.
SO YES, TYPICALLY WE CAN, UH, MANAGE A FAILURE LIKE THAT AND KEEP THE SYSTEM RUNNING FOR SOME PERIOD OF TIME AS A PERCENT BASIS.
WHAT'S THE CITY'S WATER LOSS, I GUESS, REAL WATER LOSS, TURN YOUR MICROPHONE ON ROBERT COMING FROM THE WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD.
ONCE UPON A TIME, I WOULD EXPECT THAT YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT WE DON'T TALK ABOUT PERCENTAGES AND WATER LOSS BIT, BUT, YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHAT THE PEOPLE I COULD GIVE A BALLPARK NUMBER.
THE PROBLEM WITH GIVING A, EVEN A BALLPARK NUMBER IS BALLPARK NUMBERS FOR WATER LOSS ARE MISLEADING AT BEST.
IF I LOSE A HUNDRED MILLION GALLONS THIS YEAR AND LOSE A HUNDRED MILLION GALLONS NEXT YEAR, WILL MY PERCENTAGE BE THE SAME? WILL IT GO UP OR GO DOWN? YOU DON'T KNOW, BECAUSE IT'S ALL DEPENDENT UPON WHAT YOUR OVERALL DEMAND IS.
UH, WE REALLY DISCOURAGED AND THE AWW WAY HAS TAKEN A VERY FIRM STANCE SAYING PERCENTAGE IS TALKING PERCENTAGES OF WATER LOSS IS FOR THAT REASON MISLEADING.
UM, JOSH AND I UNDERSTAND THAT, BUT YEAH, I WOULD, WHENEVER I TALK WITH THE PUBLIC ABOUT WATER LOSS, PERCENTAGE LOSS OFTEN COMES UP AND I LOVE TO TALK WITH PEOPLE AND TELL THEM, EXPLAIN TO THEM WHY IT IS A BAD NUMBER.
[01:20:02]
IT MAKES PEOPLE THINK THAT LOOKING AT THAT YEAR TO YEAR, GIVE SOME AN IDEA OF WHAT TRULY THE TREND IS.AND IT REALLY DOESN'T PARTICULARLY HERE IN AUSTIN, WHERE WE GET SUCH HUGE SWINGS FROM YEAR TO YEAR ON OVERALL WATER USE, WHETHER IT'S A HOT DRY YEAR, A WET YEAR, THAT IT REALLY WREAKS HAVOC WITH A PERCENTAGE NUMBER.
ALL RIGHT, LET'S PLAY GOOD COP BAD COP.
I MEAN, I THINK OUR WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD SUBMISSIONS COULD BE USED TO CALCULATE THAT, RIGHT, WHEN ACTUALLY THE WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD AS OF THIS YEAR HAS REMOVED THE PERCENTAGE LOSS FURTHER, A LOT OF LOSS ON IT REPORTED KEEP MOVING.
UM, BUT I WILL, I WILL SAY, UM, THE METRICS FOR COMMUNICATING ABOUT WATER LOSS NEED ATTENTION BECAUSE, UM, FOLKS IN THIS ROOM CAN PROBABLY BARELY UNDERSTAND THEM ARE MILLIMETERS MYSELF AND, AND ILI IS, YOU KNOW, UH, ONLY A PRECIOUS FEW FOLKS ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT IS.
SO, UM, IT'S, IT'S A VERY IMPORTANT, UM, SOURCE OF WATER ADDRESSING WATER LOSS.
SO WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT IT IN TERMS THAT, UM, THAT MERE MORTALS CAN UNDERSTAND.
SO, UM, DEFINITELY SOMETHING I KNOW, I KNOW THAT I'M SPEAKING ABOUT IT ANNUALLY TOO, IS ALSO PROBLEMATIC BECAUSE THESE SYSTEMS, UM, ARE UNDERGROUND AND TAKE BIG EFFORTS TO, TO MAINTAIN YOUR, TO YOUR EVERYTHING.
UM, IF I MAY, I DIDN'T INTRODUCE MYSELF, I'M DAN STRUVE I'M WITH THE WATER LOSS PROGRAM AND ALSO AMI OPERATIONS WITH AND WATER.
I DIDN'T RECOGNIZE YOU UNDERNEATH THE MASK.
SO THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH, UM, FOR BRINGING THIS, UM, I WISH WE HAD MORE TIME FOR, FOR DISCUSSION ON THIS.
UM, BUT, UH, BUT I FEEL LIKE I KNOW MORE, UM, THERE, I DO REMEMBER THERE WAS A MAP A WHILE BACK THAT, THAT YOU ALL SHARED MANY, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT CONTEXT THIS WAS THAT, UH, YOU ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT PARTS OF THE CITY THAT YOU THINK LEAKS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN, AND YOU HAVE A REPAIR AND REPLACE PROGRAM.
LIKE THERE WAS SOME MAPS ABOUT THAT.
UM, IF YOU COULD SHARE OR PULL SOME OF THAT AND SHARE ANY OF THAT WITH THE TASK FORCE, THAT MAY BE REALLY INTERESTING JUST TO KIND OF SHOW WHAT KIND OF FUTURE FORWARD STUFF Y'ALL DOING TO ME.
I THOUGHT THAT WAS REALLY INTERESTING WHEN I SAW THEM WHENEVER THAT WAS.
AND I CAN, WE CAN CAUCUS MORE ABOUT KIND OF WHAT THAT IS, BUT JUST SOME FOLLOW UP JUST TO SHOW LIKE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S, YOU'VE IDENTIFIED, I THINK WITH ISSUE LIKE WHERE THE CAST IRON PIPE IS AND DIFFERENT THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO, AND I'LL NOTE THAT THIS CONVERSATION IS GOING TO BE A CONTINUED CONVERSATION BECAUSE IT'S WATER LOSS IS A KEY STRATEGY IN THE WATERFORD PLAN.
AND WE'RE STARTING TO SPIN UP THESE CONVERSATIONS INTERNALLY TO LOOK AT OUR PROGRESS THAT, YOU KNOW, IN THE CONTEXT OF OUR ANNUAL REPORT AND THEN IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PLAN UPDATE.
SO, UM, VOC, MATT AND DAN AGAIN, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TALKING ABOUT THIS.
AND SO OUR NEXT AGENDA ITEM IS THE, UM, UH, TASKFORCE, SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS AND ADVISORY GROUP.
UM, SO WE'RE NOT GOING TO HAVE TIME FOR THAT, BUT IN THE, IN THE AGENDA AND THE MEETING MATERIALS HERE, THERE ARE JUST LIKE THE LAST TIME THEY MET FOR EACH SUBCOMMITTEE AND, AND, UM, WHAT WAS DISCUSSED AND IF THERE'S A NEXT MEETING COMING UP.
SO I ENCOURAGE FOLKS TO TAKE A LOOK AT THAT, UM, SUPER HELPFUL, UM, AND WE WILL MAKE SURE WE HAVE TIME FOR THAT NEXT TIME.
THERE WILL BE SOME TASKFORCE MEETINGS IN BETWEEN THIS ONE AND OUR NOVEMBER MEETING.
SO, UM, IF YOU'RE ON ONE OF THOSE TASK FORCE, UM, YOU KNOW, PUT IT, MAKE SURE IT'S ON YOUR CALENDAR.
JANE L HAS SET OUT APPOINTMENTS FOR A LOT OF THAT.
SO THANK YOU FOR KEEPING US ORGANIZED.
AND, UM, OUR NEXT MEETING IS ON NOVEMBER 2ND, THE FULL TASK FORCE IS THAT CORRECT? AND WE NEED TO, UM, JUST TAKE A QUICK CALENDAR CHECK FOLKS, UM, WHILE WE'RE HERE TO LOOK AT, UM, OUR AVAILABILITY AND WITH CHANGING THAT TO BE MORE COMMON THAN, YEAH.
SO REALLY A 12:00 PM OR A 5:00 PM MEETING WOULD BE IDEAL SO THAT WE HAVE A WHOLE BLOCK.
UM, WE'D HAVE MORE LIKE A, A FIVE-HOUR BLOCK TO WORK WITHIN IT.
WE'VE LISTED UP QUITE A FEW ITEMS FOR THE NEXT MEETING.
SURELY CAN I PUT IN A COMMENT MAYBE ON BEHALF OF ALL THE PEOPLE WITH LITTLE KIDS, WHICH IS THAT A NOON WOULD PROBABLY BE FAR BETTER FOR THOSE WHO HAVE CHILDCARE, UM, CONSIDERATIONS, IF IT'S TENABLE FOR OTHER, WHAT ABOUT, UM, HANEY AND SARAH NOON OR AFTER FIVE, ANY PREFERENCE ON THE SECOND? I'M FINE WITH EITHER PERSONALLY, I'M PROBABLY FINE WITH EITHER.
[01:25:01]
TO REMIND EVERYONE THAT THAT'S ALSO ELECTION DAY.SO IF YOU DON'T VOTE EARLY, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO VOTE AND ATTEND THE MEETING.
WELL, UM, WE MIGHT NEED TO SEND OUT A POLL FOR ANOTHER DAY THEN, AND I APOLOGIZE THAT THAT WASN'T, IT WASN'T ON MY RADAR, BUT CAN WE SAFELY SAY THAT MAYBE 12 NOON WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO HOLD A MEETING FOR FOLKS? VERY, WE TRY TO TARGET THAT TIME.
SO IF YOU'RE PICKING THEM UP FROM SCHOOL, YOU'RE JUST OUT FOR THE DAY, LIKE, YO, WHAT TIME DOES A NOON MEETING END IS IF WE HAVE A NEW MEETING, WE'D HAVE, UH, I BELIEVE WE'D HAVE, UM, ABOUT A FOUR AND A HALF HOUR BLOCK IN WHICH TO HOLD THE MEETING BECAUSE WE'D HAVE, UNTIL THE NEXT MEETING WOULD START AT FIVE, THE ROOMS ARE BLOCKED OUT FROM LIKE NOON TIP TO FOUR 30 AND THEN FROM LIKE FIVE UNTIL YOU KNOW, THE REST OF THE EVENING.
SO I'D SAY TWO HOURS, TWO AND A HALF HOURS, THEIR HOURS WOULD BE A GOOD, YEAH, WE COULD DO IT AT ONE.
AT ONE SCHOOL GETS OUT AT THREE.
SO IF, IF PEOPLE HAVING NOON, YEAH, IT WOULD JUST GIVE PEOPLE MORE FLEXIBILITY.
AND WE'LL JUST DO SOME WORK TO CONFIRM WITH FOLKS THE DATE.
WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE A REALLY SOLID QUORUM FOR THE DATE.
IT'S CAUSE THESE LIGHTS, OH MY GOD.
DO WE, DO WE NEED TO DO A MOTION TO ADJOURN? IS THAT HOW IT WORKS? NORMALLY, CAN WE GET PARKING TICKETS CERTIFIED OR YES.
DO WE HAVE A MOTION TO ADJOURN SOMEBODY? YEAH.