[00:00:03]
[CALL TO ORDER]
AND RIGHT NOW IS 6 0 4 AND WE WILL START REGULAR MEETING OF THE WATER AND THE WESTWATER COMMISSION.AND WE ARE SHOWING THAT WE HAVE COMMISSIONAL PAN NAV, MS. SHIRLEY CASTLEBERRY ATTEND, AND COMMISSIONER MA GROVE BY REMOTE.
SO WE HAVE A COLUMN AND WE WILL MOVE TO THE NEXT ITEM IS PUBLIC
[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
COMMUNICATION.AND WE HAVE JIM AT THE COOK, A POLICE APPROACH HERE.
AND YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES TO PRESENT, UH, TO PRESENT IT.
AND JUST REMIND THE COMMISSIONER THAT WE ONLY, WE CANNOT ENGAGE IN THE DISCUSSION.
WE CAN ONLY TRY TO UNDERSTAND HIS CONCERNS ONLY FOR CLARIFICATION ONLY, BUT NOT ENGAGED IN THE DISCUSSION.
I LIVE IN PHASE TWO OF BRATTON HILL CONDOMINIUMS IN PHASE ONE, THE HOUSES ARE INDIVIDUALLY METERED AND BILLED DIRECTLY BY THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
PHASE TWO HAS AN AUSTIN WATER MULTIFAMILY MASTER METER WITH SUB METERS AND BUILDING THROUGH A THIRD PARTY.
IN BOTH PHASES, HOMEOWNERS HAVE INDIVIDUAL SPRINKLER SYSTEMS INSTALLED AND ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR WATERING THEIR OWN LAWNS.
UNTIL JUNE, OUR NEIGHBORHOOD, BOTH PHASES WAS BEING BILLED USING WASTEWATER AVERAGING STARTING IN JULY, PHASE TWO BEGAN BEING CHARGED WASTEWATER ON A GALLON FOR GALLON BASIS RATHER THAN USING THE WASTEWATER ESTIMATES DETERMINED BY THE WASTEWATER AVERAGING BILLING FOR PHASE ONE WAS UNCHANGED.
AFTER MULTIPLE INQUIRIES, WE LEARNED THAT THE REASON WE WERE NO LONGER BEING CORRECTLY CHARGED FOR WASTEWATER USAGE WAS THAT THE METER FOR THE HOA IRRIGATION SYSTEM, WHICH WAS USED SOLELY FOR WATERING THE COMMON AREAS OF BOTH PHASE ONE AND PHASE TWO JUST HAPPENED TO HAVE THE SAME STREET ADDRESS AS THE MULTIFAMILY MASTER METER FOR PHASE TWO.
TO BE CLEAR, THE COMMON AREAS, UH, SERVED BY THE IRRIGATION METER ONLY CONSIST OF AREAS SUCH AS THE EASEMENT OUTSIDE OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD FENCE AND NOT FOR INDIVIDUAL HOMES.
AGAIN, EACH HOMEOWNER, WHETHER THEY ARE IN PHASE ONE OR PHASE TWO, IS RESPONSIBLE FOR IRRIGATION OF THEIR OWN PROPERTY.
APPARENTLY, WHEN THERE IS AN IRRIGATION METER AT THE SAME ADDRESS AS A MASTER METER WASTEWATER AVERAGING IS NOT PERMITTED ON THE MASTER METER.
I UNDERSTAND THE PURPOSE OF THIS RULE REGARDING THE CO-LOCATION OF IRRIGATION AND MASTER METERS.
TYPICALLY IN MULTI-FAMILY UNITS, THE COMMUNITY IRRIGATION SYSTEM IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL OF THE PROPERTY IRRIGATION.
IN THOSE TYPICAL CIRCUMSTANCES, THE RULE MAKES PERFECT SENSE.
ALL THE IRRIGATION FOR THE PROPERTY IS BEING DONE ON THE IRRIGATION METER AND NONE IS BEING DONE ON THE MASTER METER.
SO EVERY DROP MEASURED ON THE MASTER METER IS LIKELY TO RETURN THROUGH THE WASTEWATER SYSTEM.
HOWEVER, OUR CONDOMINIUM NEIGHBORHOOD IS NOT TYPICAL, SO ENFORCING THE REGULATION DOES NOT MEET THE INTENT OF THE CITY'S WASTEWATER OR BILLING POLICIES.
THE BILLING POLICY IS DESIGNED TO ONLY BILL FOR WASTEWATER USED AND WHEN WASTE AND WHEN RESIDENTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN IRRIGATION BUT ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF WASTEWATER AVERAGING, THEY ARE BEING CHARGED FOR WASTEWATER USAGE THAT DOESN'T EXIST.
THE 108 HOMES IN THE BRADON HILL PHASE TWO ARE BEING CHARGED FOR WASTEWATER USAGE THAT DOESN'T EXIST.
WHEN I ASKED, UH, FOR THE MASTER METER TO BE RETURNED USING WASTEWATER AVERAGING, I WAS TOLD BY A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE CITY THAT THIS COULD NOT BE DONE.
SHE SAID THAT THIS IS CLEARLY UNFAIR, BUT THERE IS NOTHING THAT COULD BE DONE BECAUSE OF THE WAY THE REGULATIONS ARE WRITTEN.
I KNOW THE CITY DOES NOT INTEND FOR RESIDENTS TO BE CHARGED UNFAIRLY BEING BILLED WASTEWATER RATES FOR NON WASTEWATER GENERATING USAGE.
IN A JULY, 2022, POSTING ON AUSTIN TEXAS.GOV WEBSITE REGARDING THE 2022 AFFORDABILITY METRICS REPORT, INTERIM DIRECTOR ROBERT GOOD WAS QUOTED AS SAYING AFFORDABILITY IS A GUIDING PRINCIPLE BEHIND WHAT WE DO FOR RESIDENTS OF BRATTON HILL.
THE WASTEWATER BILLING POLICY SEVERELY COMPROMISES OUR ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE UTILITIES.
WHEN WASTEWATER CHARGES ALONE ARE $150 PER MONTH FOR A FAMILY OF ONE.
WE ARE NOT MEETING THE AUSTIN WASTEWATER AFFORDABILITY TARGET OF 1.5% OF MEDIUM HOUSEHOLD INCOME OR LESS.
SOMETHING MUST BE DONE TO CORRECT THIS IN EXCEPTION TO THE RULE THAT PREVENTS WASTEWATER AVERAGING ON A MASTER METER IN THE PRESENCE OF AN IRRIGATION METER SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED WHEN THAT MASTER METER AS IS IN THIS CASE, REFLECTS NON WASTEWATER GENERATING USAGE AS WELL.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ITEM.APPROVAL OF MINUTES, APPROVAL MINUTES FROM SEPTEMBER 14TH, 2022.
COMMISSIONERS GOT ANY MOTION OR ANY QUESTION? CHAIR? I'VE READ THROUGH THE MINUTES.
I MOVED TO APPROVE MOTION MADE BY COMMISSIONER MS. CHAIR, IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND MOTION MADE BY VICE CHAIR CASTLEBERRY OR IN FAVOR? PLEASE RAISE YOUR
[00:05:01]
HANDS AND SEE ALL PRESENT APPROVE LY INCLUDING COMMISSIONER MASS GROVE AT REMOTE.OKAY, LET'S MOVE ON TO DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION
[DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL]
ITEMS. AND WE WILL GO AROUND THE TABLE AND ASK A COMMISSIONER IF ANY QUESTIONS OR RECUSAL AND IF THERE'S RECUSAL, PLEASE STATE THE REASON WHY YOU ARE RECUSAL ON IT.AND WE WILL START WITH COMMISSIONER NUMBER.
COMMISSIONER PAN PEN, NO QUESTIONS.
I HAVE RECUSAL ON ITEMS THREE, FOUR, AND FIVE.
MY FIRM IS A SUB CONSULTANT IN THE DESIGN PHASE OF THESE PROJECTS.
AND I DON'T HAVE ANY QUESTION OR REFUSAL.
COMMISSIONER MICHELLE, QUESTION ON ITEM FOUR, UH, RECUSAL ON ITEM THREE WERE THE, UH, DESIGN ENGINEER FOR THAT PROJECT.
COMMISSIONER MA GROVE? NO QUESTIONS.
SO THE CONSENT ITEMS ARE ITEM TWO AND ITEM SIX.
SO WE WILL IN ATTEND A MOTION CHAIR.
I MOVE TO APPROVE MOTION MADE BY COMMISSIONER MICHELLE AND I.
VICE CHAIR BERRY OWEN, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND SHOWING APPROVED AND STY.
[3. Recommend approval to award and execute a construction contract with M. A. Smith Contracting Co., Inc., for the Zilker Water and Wastewater Pipeline Renewal Rebid project in the amount of $9,105,250.25 plus a $910,525.03 contingency, for a total contract amount not to exceed $10,015,775.28. (District 5).]
RECOMMEND APPROVAL TO AWARD AND EXECUTE A CONTRACTION CONTRACT WITH MA SMITH CONTRACTING COMPANY, INC.FOR THE VEHICLE WATER AND WASTEWATER PIPELINE RENEWAL.
REPEAT, REPEAT PROJECT IN A MONTH OF 9 MILLION HUNDRED AND $5,250 AND 25 CENTS PLUS A $910,525 AND 3 CENTS CONTINGENCY FOR A TOTAL COUNTRY AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $10,015,775 AND A 28 CENTS.
AND THAT'S IN DISTRICT NUMBER FIVE AND I BELIEVE WE GOT COMMISSIONER PAYING AND THE COMMISSIONER MICHELLE FOR THE QAL.
IS THERE ANY OTHER QUESTION OR ANY MOTION? I'LL MOVE TO APPROVE MOTION MADE BY VICE CHAIR CASTLEBERRY AND I WILL SECOND IT.
IN FAVOR PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND.
SHOW HIM NA LEE CASTLEBERRY AND MA GRO.
AND WE GOT, UH, PEN AND MICHELLE WE KILL.
THAT THAT'S FOUR THE OH, WE CAN, WE DON'T HAVE, WE DON'T HAVE A QUORUM TO A RECOMMEND SORRY.
RECOMMEND APPROVAL TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE A COST PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT WITH BLACKBURN GROUP LLC FOR, FOR THE CD TO REIMBURSER DEVELOPER FOR AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $2,412,000 FOR COST ASSOCIATE WITH THE DESIGN AND CONTRACTION OF AN OVERSIZED GRAVITY WITH WATER MAN.
AND AM I READING THIS DISTURB? NO, I GOT ONE.
[4. Recommend approval to award and execute a construction contract with MWH Constructors, Inc., for the South Austin Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant Trains A & B Improvements project in the amount of $116,000,852.00, plus a $11,600,085.20 contingency, for a total contract amount not to exceed $127,600,937.20. (District 2).]
APPROVAL AWARD IS Q A CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT WITH M W H CONSTRUCTORS INC.FOR THE SOUTH AUSTIN REGIONAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLAN TRENDS A AND B IMPROVEMENT PROJECT IN AMOUNT OF 116,000,500, I'M SORRY, $852 PLUS A $11,000,685 AND 20 CENTS CONTINGENCY FOR A TOTAL COUNTRY AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $127,600,937 AND
[00:10:01]
20 CENTS.THAT'S IN DISTRICT NUMBER TWO.
AND WE HAVE COMMISSIONER PAN, WE QSO AND COMMISSIONER MICHELLE GOT A QUESTION PLEASE? YES.
UM, I'D LIKE STAFF TO, I KNOW WE'VE HAD PRESENTATIONS ON THIS PROJECT IN THE PAST.
UM, I THINK IT WOULD BE HELPFUL JUST BASED ON THE SHEER MAGNITUDE OF THE CONTRACT IF, UH, STAFF COULD JUST PROVIDE A HIGH LEVEL SUMMARY OF THE IMPROVEMENTS THAT WERE ACCOMPLISHING UNDER THIS CONTRACT.
CHARLES SORO AUSTIN WATER FACILITY ENGINEERING.
UH, THIS, UH, CONTRACT INVOLVES TWO OF THE THREE TRAINS THAT ARE AT SOUTH AUSTIN REGIONAL.
UH, EACH TRAIN'S 25 MILLION GALLONS PER DAY.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE BASICALLY REHABBING 50 MILLION GALLONS PER DAY WORTH OF, OF, UH, PLANT CAPACITY.
THEY WERE BOTH BUILT IN 88 AND OH 86 FOR A 88 FOR TRAIN B.
SO THEY'RE ABOUT 35 YEARS OLD PLUS.
AND UH, A LOT OF THE PARTS ARE STARTING TO WEAR DOWN.
SO WE ARE, UM, TRYING TO BRING THE PLANT BACK TO RESILIENCY OF A 75 MILLION HOUR PER DAY CAPACITY PLANT.
AND WE FEEL WE NEED TO REHAB THE, THE MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE WITHIN CHAIN A AND B TO GET THAT DONE.
SO STARTING AT THE FRONT WITH THE PRELIMINARY, UM, UH, BUILDINGS UP FRONT, UH, PRIMARY BUILDINGS PUMP, THE BAR SCREENS, GRID CLASSIFIERS, GRIT PUMPS, UH, WE HAVE ACTUALLY HAVE, UM, A GRIP BLOWERS TOO AS WELL FOR THAT.
THE PRIMARY CLARIFIERS, ALL THE MECHANISMS INSIDE ARE GONNA BE REPLACED.
THE TROUGHS, WHICH KIND OF OVERHANG FROM THE MAIN UM, UH, BASIN, UM, ARE LEAKING.
UH, SO WE'RE GONNA ACTUALLY TEAR ALL THE TROUGHS OUT AND REBUILD THE TROUGHS.
THE PRIMARIES HAVE A THREE REAR SYSTEM.
WE'RE GONNA GO BACK DOWN TO ONE, SIMILAR TO TRAINED SEAT.
UH, HOPEFULLY WE HAVE BETTER FLOW DATA, UH, IN THE AERATION BASIN AND WE HAVE CRACK REPAIR THAT WE NEED TO DO.
SOME OF THE CONSTRUCTION JOINTS ARE ABOUT ABOUT TO THIS BIG.
AND, UH, THEY USE SLIDE GATES BACK THEN TO DO THE CONTROLS.
THEY'RE CAST IRON, THEY'RE ALMOST RUSTED SHUT, SO WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO REPLACE THOSE.
UM, AND THEN THE FINAL CLARIFIER, SAME THING.
WE'RE GONNA RIP OUT ALL THE GUTS, PUT A NEW GUTS IN.
THE TROUGHS ARE OKAY, BUT WE'LL HAVE TO REPLACE THE WES, THE CHLORINE CONTACT BASINS ARE, UM, OR CLARIFIERS KIND OF UNIQUE SITUATION.
WE'RE GONNA TAKE OUT THE GUTS INSTEAD OF PUTTING THE CLARIFIERS MECHANISM BACK IN.
AND WE'RE GONNA PUT SOME BAFFLING IN THERE TO HELP US WITH CHLORINE CONTACT TIME.
THE ONE OF THE LARGE COST IS ELECTRICAL AND UM, THE ELECTRICALS IS BASICALLY HOUSED WITHIN THE PROCESS UNIT AREAS.
AND, UM, WE CAN'T REMOVE AND REPLACE WHERE THEY ARE MAINLY CUZ WE, WE WILL NEVER MEET CODE ANYMORE CAUSE OF SPACE REQUIREMENTS.
SO THE PROJECT IS GONNA PUT IN FOUR NEW ELECTRICAL BUILDINGS, UM, AT THE PRIMARY BUILDINGS AT EACH FOR TRAIN A, B AND THE SECONDARY FREE TRAIN B.
AND WE'RE GONNA REDO BASICALLY THE WHOLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM FOR ALL CHAIN A AND B UH, CONTROLS.
AS WELL AS THE, UH, FIBER OPTICS IS THE OLD MULTI MO FIBER WE'RE GONNA GO TO BACK TO SINGLE MODE, WHICH IS THE MORE, UH, ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AND WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO RE STRINGING ALL THAT.
SO THAT IS THE HIGH LEVEL WHAT WE'RE DOING.
SO IT'S BASICALLY ALL THE MECHANICAL, THERE'S A FEW THINGS I DIDN'T MENTION CAUSE WE ALREADY HAD PICKED HIM UP WITH SOME OTHER PROJECTS, BUT IN GENERAL IT IS, UH, IT'S REDOING ALL THE MECHANICALS AND REPLACING THE ELECTRICAL AND THE TRAIN A AND B.
THANKS FOR THAT SUMMARY, CHARLES.
UM, I BELIEVE THE CONSTRUCTION DURATION IS FOUR PLUS YEARS, IS THAT CORRECT? THAT'S CORRECT.
YOU KNOW, WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF ESCALATION IN THE MARKET, UM, IN TERMS OF MATERIALS, PRICING, LABOR COSTS, UM, CONTRACTUALLY, DO WE HAVE ANY, UM, ANYTHING IN THE CONTRACT THAT KIND OF LOCKS IN OUR PRICING OR, UM, OR WE JUST GONNA HAVE TO CROSS THAT BRIDGE WHEN WE WHEN WE GET THERE? NO, IT, THE, THE CONTRACT'S CONTRACT, THAT'S THE PRICE.
AND SO THE CONTRACTORS, WHATEVER RISK I GUESS THEY HAVE IN THIS, CUZ IS, IT SHOULD BE FACTORED IN.
I GOT A ONE CURIOUS QUESTION WHY WE DON'T BEAT IT OUT.
LIKE ORDER TO NUMBER FOUR WITH THE CONTRACTOR AT RISK APPROACH INSTEAD OF USING TRADITIONAL, UH, PROCUREMENT.
I GUESS IT DIDN'T COME UP DURING THE CONVERSATION OR AS WE WERE, WE WERE PUTTING THE PROJECT TOGETHER.
I DO KNOW THAT IT'S REPLACEMENT OF LATER REPEATED PARTS.
YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT FOUR PRIMARY CLARIFIERS, EIGHT FINAL CLARIFIERS.
[00:15:01]
IS A LARGE PROJECT, BUT WE'RE, WE'RE RINSING AND REPEATING I GUESS THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AGAIN.SO THE, THE, IT'S, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO GO THROUGH IT CAREFULLY, BUT I DIDN'T SEE ANY CONSTRUCTABILITY ISSUES THAT WE HAD IN THIS PARTICULAR, UH, WE HAVE A DESIGN WHERE WE CAN TAKE OUT THE WHOLE TRAIN AND EACH TRAIN ACTUALLY HAS AN A SIDE AND B SIDE OR EVEN JUST TAKE OUT A SIDE OR B SIDE.
SO WE FELT THAT WE HAD A PREPOSITION THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE A LARGE CONSTRUCTABILITY ISSUES AT THIS TIME.
SO WE DIDN'T THINK IT WARRANTED ANY, ANY ADVANCED, UH, I GUESS CONVERSATION WITH THE CONTRACTOR.
ANY MORE QUESTIONS? NO, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
I MOVE TO APPROVE MOTION MADE BY COMMISSIONER MICHELLE ALL SECOND.
MOTION MADE BY COMMISSIONER CHAIR IN THE SECOND BY VICE CHAIR CASTLEBERRY.
ALL IN FAVOR, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND.
HOLY CASTLEBERRY, BERRY, MICHELLE AND MAROW AND COMMISSIONER.
THE COMMISSIONER PAIN, UH, RECUSES ON IT AND THERE'S NO RECOMMENDATION TO THE COUNCIL BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE A QUARTER.
OKAY, LET'S MOVE ON TO ITEM NUMBER
[5. Recommend approval to negotiate and execute an amendment to the professional services agreement with CP&Y, Inc., for professional engineering services for the South Austin Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant Trains A & B Improvements project in the amount of $12,628,994.86 for a total contract amount not to exceed $20,578,994.86. (District 2).]
FIVE.RECOMMEND APPROVAL TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE AN AMENDMENT TO THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH C AND Y INC.
FOR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR SOUTH AUSTIN REGIONAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT TRANS A AND B IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT IN AMOUNT OF $12,626,994 AND 86 CENTS FOR A TOTAL CONTRACT AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $20,578,994 AND 86 CENTS.
AND JUST IN DISTRICT NUMBER TWO, AND I BELIEVE THAT COMMISSIONER PENN NEED TO RECUSE IT.
SO IS THERE A QUESTION? IS THERE ANY QUESTION FOR THE STAFF? JUST A CORRECTION.
I THINK THE VALUE WAS, UH, 12,000,628.
I THINK IT WAS A SIX THAT YOU SAID.
OH, JUST WANTED TO CORRECT THAT.
SO IS MY, MY READING WRONG, NOT THE TYPING WRONG, CORRECT.
IS THERE A MOTION I'LL MOVE TO APPROVE.
MOTION MADE BY VICE CHAIR CASTLEBERRY AND SECOND.
SECOND BY COMMISSIONER MICHELLE.
OH, IN WEBER, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND AND SHOWING COMMISSIONER NUMBER CASTLEBERRY MICHELLE AND THE MASS GROVE.
AND SO WE DON'T HAVE A RECOMMENDATION CAUSE WE GOT, WE WE ARE DECK OF A QUARTER.
[7. Discussion of Water and Wastewater Commission 2023 Meeting Schedule.]
NUMBER SEVEN, DISCUSSION OF WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION 2023 MEETINGS, SCHEDULE AND COMMISSIONERS.YOU SHOULD HAVE THE PROPOSED SCHEDULE IN YOUR PACKET.
AND MY UNDERSTANDING IS ALL MEETINGS GOING TO BE HERE, RIGHT? BECAUSE WE ARE STILL, THEY STILL WORKING ON THE REMODELING OF THE, THE OFFICE.
SO COMMISSIONERS GOT ANY QUESTIONS? WANNA CHANGE IT? YES.
I JUST WANTED TO NOTE, UM, YOU KNOW, I USUALLY GO THROUGH THE LIST AND SEE WHAT CONFLICTS I HAVE AND IF I HAVE A PERSONAL CONFLICT, I'M NOT WORRIED ABOUT IT.
BUT APRIL 12TH IS DURING THE TEXAS WATER CONFERENCE, WHICH WILL BE IN HOUSTON.
AND I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE I KNOW MYSELF, I WILL NOT BE HERE.
AND I WOULD GUESS THAT QUITE A FEW OTHERS, THE POTENTIAL AND MANY OF STAFF WON'T BE HERE.
SO I WOULD RECOMMEND SWITCHING THAT TO THE FIFTH OR THE 19TH.
SO, SO YOUR RECOMMENDATION IS TO MOVE TO THE FIRST WEDNESDAY OR THE THIRD WEDNESDAY, AM I CORRECT? CORRECT.
I WILL CHECK, UH, ON THE AVAILABILITY TO MAKE, UH, SURE THAT IT, IT WILL COINCIDE WITH
[00:20:01]
A COUNCIL AGENDA AND I'LL FOLLOW UP WITH, UH, ALL MEMBERS INDIVIDUALLY TO SEE IF, UH, UH, THERE'S AN ALTERNATE DATE THAT WORKS BETTER.SO BEYOND THAT, IS THERE ANY OTHER SCHEDULE THAT A COMMISSIONER WANT TO CHANGE? IF NOT, WE WILL APPROVE IT EXCEPT APRIL IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
SO WE WILL LET YOU SCHEDULE THE, THE UPCOMING EVENTS.
AND WE WILL SKIP ITEM NUMBER EIGHT BECAUSE COMMISSIONER MONTI IS NOT HERE TODAY.
[9. Staff briefing on MyATX Water program update]
NUMBER NINE, STAFF BRIEFING ON MY ATX WATER PROGRAM UPDATE.HI, GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.
RANDY JENKINS, AUSTIN WATER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, AND I'LL WAIT FOR BLANCA TO GET THE PRESENTATION LOADED.
ALL RIGHT, SO I'M HERE THIS EVENING TO, UH, PROVIDE A PROGRAMMATIC UPDATE ON MY ATX WATER.
UM, I'LL START OFF RIGHT OFF THE BAT TO LET YOU KNOW THAT ALTHOUGH OUR SLIDE DEPICTS THAT RICK CORONADO WILL BE JOINING ME IN THIS PRESENTATION, HE IS NOT WITH US THIS EVENING, SO I WILL BE PROVIDING BOTH SECTIONS OF CONTENT FOR OUR UPDATE TO YOU.
WHERE DO I POINT THIS UP? OH, IT'S NOT ON, SORRY.
SO THE AGENDA FOR THIS EVENING, I WANNA PROVIDE AN UPDATE ON WHERE WE ARE WITH DEPLOYMENT AND GIVE YOU THAT PROGRESS AS WELL AS AN OVERVIEW OF LESSONS LEARNED THUS FAR.
SO, JUMPING INTO DEPLOYMENT PROGRESS.
SO RIGHT NOW, AS OF THE END OF SEPTEMBER, WE HAVE SUCCESSFULLY INSTALLED 74,241 METERS.
UM, I CAN LET YOU KNOW THAT THROUGH OCTOBER, THAT NUMBER HAS CLIMBED A LITTLE BIT.
UM, ONE OF THE ASTONISHING NUMBERS THAT, UM, I DEFINITELY WANNA SHARE WITH ALL OF YOU, YOU KNOW, AS, AS ONE OF THE PERKS AND REALLY, UM, REASONS FOR INITIATING THIS PROJECT WAS CONSERVATION.
AND I KNOW THAT AS A TIME SUCH AS NOW WHERE WE'RE EXPERIENCING, YOU KNOW, CONTINUED DROUGHT IN OUR AREA, IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT.
AND SO TO DATE OUR, UM, CUSTOMER PORTAL ESTIMATES THAT WE'VE PROVIDED 43.2 MILLION GALLONS OF, OF WATER SAVINGS JUST THROUGH OUR LEAK ALERT SYSTEM.
SO THAT'S NOT ONLY BURST LEAKS, BUT ALSO, UM, LEAKS UNDERGROUND.
UM, ANYTIME THE PORTAL, UM, YOU KNOW, CALCULATES THAT THERE IS A LEAK ON A CUSTOMER SIDE, AGAIN, WHETHER THAT BE A BURST OR CONTINUOUS USAGE, LET'S SAY THEY'VE LEFT A HOSE BIB ON OUTBACK, UM, THE PORTAL IS ESTIMATING ALL OF THOSE GALLONS SAVED THROUGH THE LEAK NOTIFICATION, UM, THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO PREVENT CONTINUED CONTINUOUS WATER LOSS.
SO, UM, THAT IS JUST TO DATE THROUGH, YOU KNOW, SINCE OUR PROJECT LAUNCHED.
SO, YOU KNOW, THAT'LL BE A NUMBER THAT WE'LL CONTINUE TO REPORT OUT ON, BUT WE CERTAINLY WILL, UM, SEE IT CLIMB OVER TIME.
SO JUMPING INTO LESSONS LEARNED, UM, TO PROVIDE, UH, WHAT WOULD NORMALLY BE PROVIDED BY RICK, UM, OUR INFRASTRUCTURE AND TECHNOLOGY LESSONS LEARNED.
SO, UM, PRE-INSTALL SURVEYS, THE FIRST BULLET THERE LISTED ON THE POWERPOINT SLIDE.
WE, BEFORE THE, THE PROJECT LAUNCHED, AND MAYBE EVEN IN A STEP BACK A LITTLE BIT IN TIME, EVEN BEFORE WE WENT THROUGH PROCUREMENT AND, UH, SECURED THE CONTRACT WITH ACLARA, UM, TO, UM, MOVE FORWARD WITH OUR AMI UM, INFRASTRUCTURE EXCHANGE.
WE ACTUALLY SPENT SEVERAL YEARS, UM, ON THE GROUND EVALUATING THE THINGS THAT WE WANTED TO GARNER OUT OF THIS PROJECT.
AND, UM, ALSO PROCURED, UH, A PROJECT MANAGEMENT FIRM THAT HELPED US GET TO THAT STAGE AND, AND DO A LOT OF THE BUSINESS CASE REVIEW TO MAKE SURE THAT WHEN WE STARTED THE PROJECT, SUCH A LARGE UNDERTAKING THAT WE HAD ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE MADE SURE THAT WERE, IT WAS PART OF THE CONTRACT, UM, WITH A CLARA TO PERFORM THE INFRASTRUCTURE EXCHANGE AND ALL OF THE METERS OUT IN THE FIELD, WAS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE GETTING THE BEST VALUE OUT OF THAT EXCHANGE.
UM, SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT, THAT, THAT IS PERFORMED IS A PRE-INSTALL FILLED SURVEY.
SO THE CONTRACTOR, A CLAIRE, THEY GO OUT, THEY LOOK AT ALL OF THE METER BOXES BEFORE, UM, THE CREW MEMBER IS ACTUALLY THERE TO
[00:25:01]
EXCHANGE THE METER.THEY'RE LOOKING TO LOOK FOR ANY ISSUES THAT MAY BE, UM, IS THERE, DO WE NEED A NEW BOX? IS THERE SOMETHING ELSE GOING ON WITH THAT SETUP THAT WE NEED TO ADDRESS IN ADVANCE OF THE METER EXCHANGE? BECAUSE THE, THE INDIVIDUAL THAT'S COMING TO DO THE EXCHANGE IS REALLY JUST THERE WITH THOSE TOOLS.
UM, SO WE DIDN'T WANT TO HAVE TO GET THERE, LET THE CUSTOMER KNOW WE WERE COMING AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN HAVE TO PULL OFF THAT JOB AND COME BACK AND CIRCLE BACK AGAIN.
SO THESE FIELD SURVEYS, UM, WERE CERTAINLY SOMETHING THAT, UM, WE, YOU KNOW, SET OUT AND EMBARKED TO DO, BUT IT'S CERTAINLY PROVING OUT TO BE SUCCESSFUL AND, AND DEFINITELY A VALUE.
SO WHILE IT MAYBE IS, WAS PERFORMED IN ADVANCE, WE ARE SEEING THE FRUITS OF THAT, OF THAT LABOR.
UM, SO THE FIELD SURVEYS AND THEN ALSO CLEANING OUT THE METER BOXES.
SO IN ADDITION TO JUST THE SURVEYS AND PUTTING EYES ON THE BOXES OUT IN THE FIELD, UM, WE'RE ALSO GOING THROUGH AND CLEANING OUT, YOU KNOW, IF THERE'S MUD OR DEBRIS OR YOU KNOW, BRANCHES, UM, ROOTS, ET CETERA, THAT MIGHT BE INFILTRATING THAT BOX.
THEY'RE DOING THE THINGS THAT THEY NEED TO DO TO GET IT CLEANED OUT SO THAT AGAIN, THE INSTALLER WHEN THEY ARRIVE, UM, IT'S READY TO GO.
SO THAT IS MAKING US REALLY EFFICIENT.
AND THEN I THINK WE'VE SEEN THE NUMBERS CLIMB ON WHERE WE ARE WITH OUR INSTALL RATE AND, AND THOSE THINGS ARE PROVEN SUCCESSFUL.
UM, DCU INSTALLATION, UM, IN TERMS OF LESSONS LEARNED, UM, YOU KNOW, WE ORIGINALLY, WHEN WE WERE ORIGINALLY LOOKING, I BELIEVE THE NUMBER WAS NEAR REALLY 200 DCUS THAT WE WERE PLANNING TO, UM, ROLL OUT IN OUR SERVICE AREA, UM, THROUGH A LOT OF, UM, DETAILED ANALYSIS AND WORK, UM, THE AMI PROJECT TEAM, THEY LOOKED AT THAT AND WERE ABLE TO CUT THAT NUMBER BACK.
SO THAT CERTAINLY A LESSON LEARNED THAT WE WERE ABLE TO, YOU KNOW, REDUCE THAT NUMBER, THAT OVERALL COUNT, WHICH IN FUTURE YEARS REDUCES OUR, YOU KNOW, MAINTENANCE COST AND, AND YOU KNOW, JUST UPDATING THAT INFRASTRUCTURE ALONG THE WAY.
IN ADDITION TO JUST THE COUNT OF DCUS, WE ALSO, UM, MADE SURE THAT WE WERE BEING PROACTIVE IN PLACING THOSE DCUS ON, UM, CITY OWNED INFRASTRUCTURE, CERTAINLY ON AUSTIN WATER INFRASTRUCTURE WHEN WE COULD.
UM, BUT, BUT YOU KNOW, PARTNERING WITH OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS LIKE THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, UM, YOU KNOW, COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT, CTM, ET CETERA, WHERE WE COULD PUT OUR DCU ON AN EXISTING POLE OR AT AUSTIN ENERGY WITH ELECTRIC PULSES.
SO THAT IS AGAIN, ANOTHER LESSON LEARNED.
UM, AND CERTAINLY A VALUE THAT WE GOT OUT OF WHERE WE ARE AT THE, IN THE STAGE OF THE PROJECT.
AND I'LL LET YOU KNOW THAT OUR DCUS, I BELIEVE WE ONLY HAVE A HANDFUL LEFT TO INSTALL, SO YOU KNOW, MAYBE ABOUT 10% OF THE PROJECT LEFT TO GO FOR DCU DEPLOYMENT.
AND, UM, AND THAT ASSURES US THAT EACH METER HAS THREE DCUS THAT CAN BE CONNECTED TO IT.
SO THERE IS REDUNDANCY AND RESILIENCY IN IN THAT EFFORT AS WELL.
WHAT'S THE DCU? OH SORRY, DCU.
YES, I SHOULD, I SHOULD PROVIDE THAT.
UM, A DCU IS A DATA COLLECTION UNIT.
IT IS ACTUALLY WHAT IS INSTALLED ON, UM, AS I MENTIONED, OUR INFRASTRUCTURE OR AN ELECTRIC POLE.
THAT IS ACTUALLY THE UNIT THAT IS COLLECTING THE READS FROM THE METERS THAT IT'S ASSIGNED TO READ, COLLECT FOR READS FROM, AND THEN THAT UNIT SENDS THE INFORMATION TO THE BACK END AND THE HEAD END SYSTEM THAT THEN SUPPLIES IT TO OUR BILLING SYSTEM.
UM, SO ON THE NEXT BULLET THERE, EQUIPMENT PERFORMANCE UNDER EXTREME WEATHER.
SO I THINK, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE WERE ABLE TO, UM, WHILE WINTER STORM UY WAS BRUTAL IN SO MANY WAYS, UM, ONE OF THE GOOD THINGS THAT WE GOT OUT OF IT WAS, YOU KNOW, WE WERE IN OUR PILOT STAGE AT THAT TIME WHERE WE WERE INSTALLING 5,000 METERS, I BELIEVE, UM, DURING WINTER STORM YEARY, WE HAD INSTALLED ABOUT 3,500 METERS WHEN IT ACTUALLY HIT.
AND SO WHAT WE WERE ABLE TO DO IS TEST, UM, NOT ONLY OUR DCUS BUT ALSO THE METERS THEMSELVES AND THE BATTERIES FOR, UM, EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS.
WE WERE STILL GETTING RES, UM, ALL THE WAY THROUGH THAT EVENT.
SO I THINK, YOU KNOW, THAT CERTAINLY IS A LESSON LEARNED THAT WE HAVE CHECKED THAT BOX ON EXTREME COLD WEATHER.
AND THEN LIKEWISE THIS SUMMER, YOU KNOW, UM, WE RUN TRIPLE DIGITS FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE SUMMER WITH LITTLE TO NO RAIN.
AND SO AGAIN, UM, WE HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED ANY KIND OF, YOU KNOW, HEAT RELATED FAILURES ON OUR METERING SYSTEM OR OUR DCUS OR THE BATTERY LIFE.
UM, LIKEWISE OUR DUAL DATA CENTER FELL SAFE.
SO, UM, FOLLOWING WINTER STORM URY, THE WINTER STORM WORKING GROUP FOR THOSE OF YOU, UM, THAT, THAT JOINED US IN THAT EFFORT, UM, MAY RECALL THAT WE WERE WORKING THROUGH, UM, DISASTER AND RECOVERY ON OUR NETWORK FOR, UM, THE AMI SYSTEM.
AND SO WE HAVE THAT DUAL REDUNDANT BACKUP SYSTEM IN PLACE.
SO MEANING IF, UM, WHERE OUR SERVERS EXIST, IF FOR ANY REASON THAT LOCATION EXPERIENCED A NATURAL DISASTER, UM, WITHIN TWO HOURS, THEY WOULD
[00:30:01]
HAVE AN ALTERNATE SITE, UM, BACKED UP ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTRY WHERE WE COULD TURN THAT SWITCH ON AND NOT, UM, AND REALLY PREVENT, YOU KNOW, A BILLING FAILURE OR ANY, ANYTHING OF THAT NATURE.SO, UH, WE HAVE THAT DUAL DATA CENTER FELL SAFE IN PLACE AND IT IS WORKING.
WE HAVE TESTED IT AND WE'RE ACTUALLY COMING UP ON, ON A SECOND TEST OF THAT SYSTEM JUST TO MAKE SURE, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A TEST OF THE AMERICAN BROADCAST SYSTEM KIND OF LIKE THAT, WHERE WE GO THROUGH OUR TESTING EFFORTS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ALL GOOD.
SO OUR LAST TEST WENT WELL AND WE'RE EXPECTING THE NEXT ONE TO DO THE SAME.
SO THAT HAS CERTAINLY BEEN A LESSON LEARNED.
UM, EVENT MANAGEMENT, UM, THAT'S RELATIVELY A BROAD TERM, BUT WHAT WE MEAN BY THAT IS, IS, UM, THAT WE ARE MANAGING THE EVENTS THAT ARE OCCURRING THROUGHOUT THE SYSTEM OF THE 75,000 METERS THAT ARE INSTALLED, WE HAVE SET UP DIFFERENT ALARMS, UM, INCLUDING OUR BATTERY ALARMS. I KNOW THAT WAS A QUESTION AT LAST MONTH'S COMMISSION MEETING WAS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT LESSONS LEARNED HAVE WE LEARNED FROM THE BATTERY LIFE? AND WE DO HAVE LOW LEVEL ALARMS THAT WILL TRIGGER US IN THE EVENT OF A, OF A BATTERY GETTING LOW AND THEN CERTAINLY IN A BATTERY, UM, GOING OUT.
SO THAT IS ALREADY IN PLACE AND WE'RE CERTAINLY WORKING THROUGH ADDITIONAL EVENT MANAGEMENT AS WE CONTINUE TO BUILD OUT THE SYSTEM.
UM, BUT WE HAVE A STRONG PARTNERSHIP WITH, UM, OUR VENDOR AND ALSO WITH THE STAFF THAT'S WORKING.
AND WE HAVE BEEFED UP OUR STAFFING PLAN THAT YOU HAVE HELPED US SUPPORT, UM, THROUGHOUT THE LAST FEW YEARS.
AND, UM, WE CERTAINLY HAVE A GREAT IT TEAM THAT'S WORKING BEHIND THE SCENES TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL OF THE DATA AND THE ANALYTICS ARE THERE IN PLACE AND WE'RE WATCHING THOSE ALL THE TIME.
SO, YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY A LESSON LEARNED.
AND I'LL JUST ADD, UM, ALTHOUGH, UH, COMMISSIONER FISHER'S NOT HERE, I WOULD ADD THAT, UM, I KNOW, YOU KNOW, HIS SINGLE QUESTION WAS ABOUT BATTERIES.
AND I'LL JUST SAY LARGELY THAT OF THE 75,000 METERS THAT ARE INSTALLED, WE'VE HAD VERY FEW, UM, BATTERY RELATED, UM, ALARM SIGNAL AT THIS POINT.
UM, AND THOSE ARE STILL BEING, YOU KNOW, DETERMINED WHETHER THAT'S REALLY TRULY A BATTERY ISSUE OR WAS IT JUST A BATCH THAT WE GOT THAT HAD A FEW, UM, METERS THAT HAD POOR BATTERIES.
UM, BUT WE HAVE NOT SEEN A, A GLOBAL, UM, IMPACT TO OUR METERING SYSTEM SO FAR.
SO WE'RE, WE HAVE A VERY CLOSE EYE ON ALL OF THAT.
SO MOVING INTO LESSONS LEARNED FOR CUSTOMERS SERVICE, UM, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, AND I THINK THIS IS KIND OF BEATING THE SAME DRUM THAT I HAVE, UM, OVER TIME THAT I'VE REPORTED OUT ON OUR AMI PROJECT, BUT, UH, UTILIZING THE REALTIME DATA TO ADDRESS MA METERING ISSUES IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST, NOT AHA.
I THINK WE KNEW WE WOULD GET THAT OUT OF IT, BUT CERTAINLY, YOU KNOW, WE ARE IN THE STAGES OF REALIZING, YOU KNOW, ALL THE, OF, YOU KNOW, THE ELIMINATION OF POST BILLING REPORTS AND ALL THE MANUAL ANALYSIS THAT STAFF HAS HAD TO DO OVER TIME, UM, WHERE WE DON'T HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL A BILLING CYCLE TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WE NEED TO DO NEXT.
WE NOW HAVE ROLL TIME, UM, SOLUTIONS THAT WE CAN, UM, INTERVENE BEFORE A CUSTOMER GETS A HIGH BILL OR WE CAN SEE THE LEAK COMING THROUGH AND WE CAN GO AHEAD AND ADJUST THAT BILL FOR THAT LEAK, UM, AS OPPOSED TO WAITING FOR THEM.
UM, WE'RE, UM, ALSO UNDERGOING OUR SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT REVIEW WITH AUSTIN ENERGY RIGHT NOW AS A PART OF THEIR MANAGEMENT OF THE BILLING SYSTEM.
AND, UM, WE ARE REVIEWING THOSE SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS FOR WHAT ADJUSTMENTS DO WE NEED TO MAKE NOW THAT WE HAVE AMI IN PLACE, HOW DOES IT CHANGE THEIR ROLE, HOW DOES IT CHANGE OUR ROLE AND HOW DO WE WORK BEST TOGETHER TO GET THE BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE, UM, FOR OUR END USERS? SO THAT'S GOING WELL AND WE ARE TAKING ALL OF THOSE THINGS INTO ACCOUNT.
UM, EMERGENCY NOTIFICATIONS, I THINK WE'VE, WE'VE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ABLE TO STAND UP THE EMERGENCY NOTIFICATIONS WHEN WE WERE IN THE PILOT DURING WINTER STORM U WE CERTAINLY UTILIZED THOSE AGAIN, UM, IN FEBRUARY OF 2022.
WE'VE ALSO UTILIZED THEM IN A FEW, UM, ONE OFF AND ONE OFF BASIS WHERE WE'VE HAD, UM, YOU KNOW, KIND OF SITES SPECIFIC ISSUES TO, YOU KNOW, A CERTAIN STREET WHERE THERE WAS A MAIN BREAK OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO DEPLOY, UM, YOU KNOW, NOTIFICATIONS TO THOSE CUSTOMERS IN THAT AREA.
SO, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, THAT SYSTEM IS PROVING OUT.
UM, AND THEN BILLING AND LINK NOTIFICATIONS, I'VE TALKED A LOT ABOUT THAT.
YOU KNOW, I BELIEVE WE'VE ISSUED OVER 40,000 LINK NOTIFICATIONS IN THE SYSTEM, UM, TO OUR CUSTOMER BASE.
AND, AND, UM, THE OTHER THING WE HAVE THAT'S KIND OF UNHEARD OF AND KIND OF ON THE LESSONS LEARNED FRONT, YOU KNOW, RIGHT NOW WE HAVE 20, ALMOST 23,000 REGISTERED USERS OF OUR PORTAL, MEANING THEY ARE LOGGING IN AND USING OUR PORTAL.
UM, THAT SAID, THAT DOESN'T RE, THERE'S NO SIGNUP REQUIRED TO GET EMERGENCY NOTIFICATIONS.
SO WE'RE STILL ABLE TO PUSH OUT INFORMATION TO OUR CUSTOMERS, WHETHER THEY'RE, THEY ARE, UM, ACTIVE IN LOGGING IN ON A ROUTINE BASIS TO OUR PORTAL.
SO, YOU KNOW, UM, WHILE NOT A LESSONS LEARNED, IT IS, YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY A,
[00:35:01]
UH, A BENEFIT TO BE ABLE TO STILL GET INFORMATION OUT, EVEN IF THEY'RE NOT UTILIZING.BUT I WOULD SAY INDUSTRYWIDE, UM, ON AVERAGE WHAT WE'VE SEEN IN OTHER CITIES AND OTHER UTILITIES WITH CUSTOMER PORTALS, THEY HAVE ABOUT AN EIGHT TO 10% ADOPTION RATE RIGHT NOW WITH, YOU KNOW, NEARLY 20.
I MEAN, WE'RE, WE'RE RIGHT AT 25% OF THE 75,000 METERS THAT WE'VE EXCHANGED AND INSTALLED.
SO I THINK WE'RE CERTAINLY, UM, GETTING NUMBERS THAT ARE FAR EXCEEDING WHAT, UM, THE INDUSTRY IS, IS GETTING OUT OF THEIR PORTAL.
AND I THINK OUR COMMUNICATIONS HAVE BEEN A LARGE PART OF THAT.
UM, BUT CERTAINLY I THINK THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY EMBRACING, YOU KNOW, WANTING TO KNOW AND BE ACTIVE AND, UM, SO I THINK, YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST BEEN A GREAT PARTNERSHIP FOR WHAT THE COMMUNITY NEEDS AND THEN WHAT WE'RE ABLE TO PROVIDE AT THIS POINT.
SO MOVING INTO COMMUNICATIONS, UM, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE LESSONS LEARNED EARLY ON IN THIS, IN THIS PROJECT, YOU KNOW, WE, WE RECEIVED COUNCIL APPROVAL IN MARCH OF 2020, RIGHT AT THE ONSET OF, OF THE PANDEMIC.
AND SO WE CERTAINLY HAD TO PIVOT IMMEDIATELY, AS DID THE REST OF THE WORLD, BUT WE HAD TO PIVOT TO, YOU KNOW, PROVIDE VIRTUAL COMMUNICATIONS.
UM, WHEN WE REALLY HADN'T ENVISIONED US DOING THAT RIGHT AWAY, WE THOUGHT THAT WE WOULD PROVIDE A VIEW A FEW VIRTUAL, UM, YOU KNOW, SETUPS, BUT NOT AS MANY AS WE THEN HAD TO PIVOT TO.
SO I THINK ALL IN ALL WHAT THAT DID WAS, UM, YOU KNOW, PROVIDE ADDITIONAL WAYS TO REACH THE COMMUNITY THAT WE HADN'T BEFORE.
YOU KNOW, NORMALLY WE WOULD GO TO NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGS AND, YOU KNOW, THOSE THAT WOULD COME WOULD GET THE INFORMATION, BUT IT WOULDN'T NECESSARILY SPREAD THE WAY THAT IT, THAT IT HAS.
SO, UM, IT ACTUALLY, ALTHOUGH, YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY A TRYING TIME FOR EVERYONE DURING THE PANDEMIC, BUT, UM, THAT PROVED SUCCESSFUL.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, WE USED THE, THE PILOT DURING THE FIRST 5,000, UM, METERS THAT WE INSTALLED TO REALLY MAKE SURE THAT WE HAD A ROBUST COMMUNICATION PLAN THAT WOULD, YOU KNOW, SURVIVE THE LIFE OF, OF THE PROJECT.
AND, UM, WE DID DO SOME SURVEYS AND SOME FOCUS GROUPS WHERE WE, UM, DID MODIFY, UH, SOME OF OUR COMMUNICATION EFFORTS.
AND THE MOST SUCCESSFUL ONE, AND I CAN'T, I BELIEVE IT MIGHT BE ON THE NEXT SLIDE, BUT THE MOST SUCCESSFUL ASPECT OF THE MODIFICATION THAT WE MADE TO OUR COMMUNICATION PLAN, UM, THE FEEDBACK THAT WE GOT FROM THE SURVEY WAS THAT THEY REALLY WANTED AN ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION.
SO WE STARTED USING THE PORTAL TO PERFORM THAT ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION AS PART OF OUR ROLLOUT.
SO WE WERE SAYING, HEY, IN THE NEXT WEEK WE'RE GONNA BE INSTALLING YOUR METER, AND THEY WOULD GET THAT EMAIL AND, UM, THAT REALLY HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL.
UM, SO WE WERE REALLY PROUD OF THAT AND, AND THE ABILITY THAT, YOU KNOW, WE GOT THAT, THAT FOCUS GROUP AND SURVEY INFORMATION BACK FROM OUR CUSTOMERS THAT HAD PILOTED AND BEEN PART OF THAT FIRST 5,000.
AND SO, UM, I THINK ONE OF THE, YOU KNOW, THE LAST THINGS THAT I'LL HIT ON, ON THE COMMUNICATIONS IS THAT WHAT WE FOUND IS THAT REALLY WHEN THE COMMUNICATION PLAN IS FOLLOWED BY ALL PARTIES, YOU KNOW, WE'RE MANAGING NOT ONLY WHAT OUR STAFF IS COMMUNICATING AND OUR PROJECT TEAM IS COMMUNICATING, BUT ALSO A THIRD PARTY VENDOR.
AND SO MAKING SURE THAT THEY'RE DOING THE THINGS THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY'VE COMMITTED CONTRACTUALLY TO DO SO, BUT WE'VE FOUND THAT PRIMARILY THEY ARE DOING THOSE THINGS IN ALMOST EVERY, UM, SITUATION.
UM, AND WHEN IT'S FOLLOWED TO A T WE DON'T HAVE COMMUNICATION ISSUES OR COMPLAINTS COMING BACK TO US.
UM, UH, ANOTHER, UM, SUCCESSFUL COMPONENT, AND I THINK THIS MIGHT BE ATTRIBUTING TO SOME OF OUR SUCCESS ON THE PILOT, I MEAN ON, I'M SORRY, ON THE PORTAL ADOPTION FRONT OF THAT 25% OF THOSE THAT ARE SIGNING UP FOR IT IS ONCE THEY DO RECEIVE THEIR METER AND WE KNOW THAT THAT METER'S BEEN EXCHANGED, WE SEND AN ADDITIONAL EMAIL TO REMIND THEM, HEY, WE'VE EXCHANGED YOUR METER, DON'T FORGET ABOUT US.
MAKE SURE YOU GO AND CHECK OUT THE PORTAL AND SIGN UP AND, UM, GET YOUR SETTINGS AND ALL OF THOSE THINGS, ALL OF THE BENEFITS OUT OF IT.
AND I THINK, UM, THE LAST THING I'LL HIT ON AND, UM, SO I, I JOINED THE UTILITY IN THIS ROLE AND RIGHT BEFORE THE PANDEMIC HIT, SO I WAS IN THE SEAT FOR A COUPLE MONTHS BEFORE THE PANDEMIC, AND SO RIGHT BEFORE COUNCIL APPROVED, UM, THIS CONTRACT.
AND I, I THINK MAKING SURE THAT WE KEEP A CUSTOMER FOCUS HAS BEEN KEY.
AND SO REALLY, YOU KNOW, PROVIDING SOME CHANGE MANAGEMENT, UM, INTERNAL TO THE UTILITY AND CERTAINLY AS PART OF OUR COMMUNICATIONS PLAN TO MAKING SURE THAT WHEN WE'RE REVIEWING ISSUES, YOU KNOW, I KNOW WE HAVE A UTILITY RUN AND, AND WE CERTAINLY DO AND WE KNOW HOW TO DO THAT WELL, BUT MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE ALWAYS KEEPING OUR CUSTOMERS POINT OF VIEW AND, AND AT THE FOREFRONT OF OUR DECISION MAKING AND MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE CONSIDERING THEM.
I MEAN, THAT'S EVEN BEEN A MAJOR PART OF OUR DATA COLLECTION UNIT, OUR DCU COVERAGE, YOU KNOW, WHERE ARE WE PLACING THOSE POLES, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE BEING MINDFUL ABOUT IT'S PLACEMENT, UM, SO THAT WE'RE NOT DISTURBING SOMEONE'S VIEW OUT OF THEIR, YOU KNOW, KITCHEN WINDOW OR WHAT, WHATEVER THE CASE MAY BE.
BUT MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE BEING MINDFUL ALL ALONG THE WAY, ALBEIT MAY BE SMALL, UM, IT,
[00:40:01]
IT USUALLY MAKES A BIG IMPACT.SO WE'VE SEEN THAT BE SUCCESSFUL AS WELL.
AND WITH THAT, I'LL OPEN IT UP TO ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE.
UM, OVER WHAT PERIOD OF TIME THIS ESTIMATED WATER SAVINGS MM-HMM.
GOSH, I WISH DANIEL, WHEN DID WE INSTALL OUR FIRST METER? SEPTEMBER OF 2020.
SO WE DIDN'T GET A, THE PILOTS WEREN'T, THE PILOT REALLY DIDN'T HAVE TO FINISH UNTIL THAT SUMMER, THAT SPRING OF 2021, FULL, FULL IMPLEMENTATION STARTED MAY, SO IT'S REALLY PROBABLY FROM MAY, 2021 TO NOW SEEING THE, THE SAVINGS MADE ME THINK ABOUT HOW HELPFUL IT'S GOING TO BE TO TRACK THOSE LEAK LOSSES FOR THE WATER BOARD REPORTING STUFF.
AND I'M SORRY, I'M GONNA INTERJECT.
I KNOW, UM, COMMISSIONER MUSK GROVE COULDN'T HEAR THAT CUZ I KNOW DANIEL WASN'T ON THE MIC, BUT JUST TO MAKE SURE SHE HEARD, WE INSTALLED OUR FIRST METER IN SEPTEMBER OF 2020 AND THAT WAS THROUGH THE PILOT.
UM, AND THE PILOT CONCLUDED IN LATE SPRING, EARLY SUMMER OF 2021.
UM, SO THAT DATA ACTUALLY COMES FROM OUR CUSTOMER PORTAL AND SO IT WOULD'VE STARTED TRACKING AT THE ONSET OF THAT FIRST, UM, METER INSTALL.
UM, AND WE PROBABLY ANSWERED THIS, THE, THE BATTERY LIFE IS SUPER LONG.
I, I THOUGHT I RECALL IS IT, AS LONG AS THE LIFE IS THE METER ITSELF, IT'S NOT AS LONG AS THE LIFE OF THE METER.
IT IS, UM, EXPECTED THAT WE WILL GET 10 YEARS OF LIFE OUT OF THE BATTERY.
UM, SO YOU KNOW, THAT'LL BE PART OF, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE PROVE OUT AND, AND WE ARE UNDER WARRANTY FOR THAT 10 YEARS.
IS THAT CORRECT, DANIEL? CORRECT.
SO THE, THE, ACTUALLY THE BATTERY LIFE IS SUPPOSED TO LAST 20 YEARS, BUT IT, THEY SAY IT TAPERS OFF AFTER ABOUT 12 AND THEN THEY START, IT'S LIKE YOUR CAR BATTERY, THEY START PRORATING IT.
SO WE PAID EXTRA TO GET A FULL PRO RATING.
WE GET FULL WARRANTY UP AT 15 YEARS AND THEN IT PRO RATES THERE.
SO WE PAID A FEW DOLLARS EXTRA TO COVER BATTERIES CUZ THEY SAY THEY, THEY START DIVING AROUND YEAR 12.
SO I GUESS I WAS JUST IMAGINING ALL THESE METERS BEING PLACED IN IT ONCE AND THEN ALL THESE ALARMS GOING OFF AT, YOU KNOW, IF THEY'RE ALL AT THE SAME TIME.
I'M GUESSING THAT WE HAVE A PROACTIVE PROGRAM TO KIND OF GO AROUND AND START AS WE START SEEING GAUGING HOW LONG THEY'RE ACTUALLY LOT LASTING.
IT'S KIND OF LIKE A METER REPLACEMENT PROGRAM OR SOMETHING, RIGHT? IT'LL BE, IT'LL BE ROLLED IN THE, YOU KNOW, OUR CONTINUING ON AND M YOU KNOW, METER REPLACEMENT THAT WE DO TODAY, YOU KNOW, JUST DOESN'T RIGHT NOW DOESN'T INCLUDE A BATTERY.
UM, AND SO THAT WAS PART OF THE ALARM, UM, SYSTEM THAT I WAS MENTIONING, UM, DURING THAT PART OF THE PRESENTATION WHERE THE ALARMS WILL START LETTING US KNOW, HEY, I HAVE A LOW BATTERY HERE.
UM, AND THEN HEY, I HAVE MY BATTERY'S COMPLETELY DEAD NOW THE GOOD THING, I DID GET THIS QUESTION EARLIER, SO I'LL ADD THIS, UM, IN AN EARLIER PRESENTATION I HAD SOMEONE ASK ME, DOES THAT MEAN, AND I'M SURE YOU ALL KNOW THIS, BUT ANYONE THAT MAY BE WATCHING THIS VIDEO BACK, THEY ASKED, UM, DOES THAT MEAN THE WATER TURNS OFF? SO IF THE BATTERY GOES OUT, UM, THE WATER WILL STILL FLOW THROUGH THE REGISTER.
YOU KNOW, THE MECHANICAL METER IS STILL THE, YOU KNOW, KIND OF THE SAME MECHANICAL METER WE'VE ALWAYS HAD IN BADGER, BUT THE BATTERY ITSELF THAT IS HELPING TO GET THE SIGNAL OUT, YOU KNOW, TO THE DCU THAT GOES TO THE BACK END, THAT GOES TO THE BILLING SYSTEM.
THAT WOULD BE WHERE WE WOULD SEE PROBLEMS. BUT THE CUSTOMERS, UM, UNLESS THEY WERE CHECKING THEIR PORTAL, WOULD NOT NECESSARILY KNOW THAT THAT BATTERY WAS GOING LOW.
BUT WE WILL HAVE ALARMS THAT ARE GOING OFF FOR US TO DO OUR MAINTENANCE AND, AND CHECKING ON THOSE AND REPLACING THE BATTERIES WHEN NEEDED.
AND LAST QUESTION BECAUSE, UM, THIS WASN'T REALLY ADDRESSED, BUT I'M REALLY CURIOUS THE DYNAMICS OF, AND I KNOW I'VE ASKED THIS BEFORE, WHEN WE EXPECT THE METERS TO BE MORE ACCURATE, SO WHEN THEY'RE STARTED, ARE YOU GETTING KIND OF A, A BLOWBACK ON HOW MUCH THEY'RE BEING CHARGED? IS THERE A DIFFERENCE AND ARE YOU SEEING PEOPLE'S, ARE YOU SEEING AN OVERALL, CUZ WITH 75,000, THAT'S A LOT.
ARE YOU SEEING A LOT OF, OF PEOPLE DROPPING THEIR USAGE ONCE THEY'RE MORE AWARE OF WHAT THEY'RE, THEY'RE ACTUALLY USING? SO, UM, WE ARE, WE ARE TRACKING THAT, UM, SEVERAL MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE TEAM AND OTHER, UM, THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, LOOKING INTO THAT NUMBER AS WELL AS OUR FINANCE TEAM ARE, ARE EVALUATING THAT.
SO WHAT IT, WHAT THE DATA IS SHOWING WITH ABOUT 75,000 METERS IN THE GROUND IS THAT ABOUT HALF OF OUR CUSTOMERS ARE SEEING A DECREASED USAGE AND THE OTHER HALF ARE
[00:45:01]
KIND OF RIGHT THERE IN THE MIDDLE, KIND OF, YOU KNOW, SEEING THE SAME WITH A FEW OUTLIERS THAT DO HAVE AN INCREASED CONSUMPTION.UM, WHETHER THAT'S DUE TO THE OVERALL, YOU KNOW, INCREASED ACCURACY OR I THINK IT'S REALLY INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE, THAT ARE SEEING THE DECREASE ARE MONITORING THEIR USAGE BECAUSE THEY HAVE ACCESS TO THE DATA NOW.
UM, BUT WE ARE, WE ARE EVALUATING IT, WE'RE WATCHING, WE'RE SEEING WHAT WE MIGHT, YOU KNOW, NEED TO DO.
WE ARE TWEAKING OUR COMMUNICATIONS TO HELP REMIND PEOPLE, HEY, YOU KNOW, LOOK AT THIS INFORMATION SO IT WILL HELP YOU SAVE ON YOUR BILL.
UM, AND THEN I THINK THE OTHER PART THAT WE DON'T KNOW YET, YOU KNOW, IT'S STILL, IT'S BEEN HOT AND DRY, SO WE'RE KIND OF WAITING FOR THAT TO LEVEL OUT.
WE'RE, WE'RE EVALUATING THAT DATA AGAINST A ONE YEAR AREA AND THEN ALSO A FIVE YEAR, YOU KNOW, OVERVIEW.
SO THAT WAY WE CAN KIND OF NORMALIZE THE WEATHER PATTERNS THAT WE HAVE.
BUT WE ARE, WE ARE LOOKING AT IT.
GOT ANY QUESTIONS? COMMISSION, MARO, YOU GOT A QUESTION COMMISSION? MARO, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTION? NO, I'M FINE, THANK YOU.
I GOT A SHORT STORY I WANT TO TELL
OH, I GOT A EX EX EMPLOYEE, HE BOUGHT A NEW HOUSE, SO HE MOVED OUT AND HE GOT HIS OLD HOUSE SITTING THERE FOR TWO MONTHS.
IN THE MEANWHILE THE AUSTIN WINDOW OVER AND REPLACED THE METER AND THEN, YOU KNOW, HE WIDGET HIS OLD HOUSE EVERY NOW AND THEN, AND THEN NOW THE REGION AGENT BRIDGE THE HOUSE AND SAY, HEY, YOU GOT WATER LEAK, PRESUMABLY BECAUSE WHEN THE CONTRACTOR REPLACE THE METERS IT'S GOT LEAK.
SO HE WENT THROUGH THE HOOPS, TRIED TO TALK WITH ALL SUDDEN WATER AND THEY GET STUFF THERE AND JUST KIND OF, HE TOLD ME THAT HE'S ALMOST GOING TO BE EXHAUSTED WITH HIS EFFORT BECAUSE THEY DON'T, YOU KNOW, SHUFFLING HIM NAME AROUND.
SO I DON'T KNOW, I THINK WE NEED TO BE CAREFUL, UM, MAKE SURE THAT THE CONTRACTOR IS DOING A GOOD JOB, ESPECIALLY CUTTING UP AND MAYBE SOME FOLLOW UP ON IT, MAKE SURE THE CUSTOMERS ARE HAPPY AND SATISFIED.
AND, AND TO THAT POINT, UM, WE DO HAVE, UH, OUR VENDOR ACTUALLY HAS A CALL CENTER AVAILABLE FOR THOSE TYPES OF CLAIMS, UM, THAT THEY SHOULD, SHOULD HAVE BEEN ROUTED TO.
UM, AND WE CAN CERTAINLY FOLLOW UP IF YOU CAN SEND, UM, THE ADDRESS AND, AND UM, THE CUSTOMER'S INFORMATION.
I'LL LOOK INTO THAT APPRECIATE.
YEAH, MOST OF THE, UH, CHALLENGING LEAKS LIKE THAT ARE FROM VACANT HOUSES.
WE'VE HAD OTHERS THAT SOMEBODY'S DOESN'T LIVE THERE, THEY'RE NOT THERE, AND THEN THEY COME AROUND, YOU KNOW, IT'S A VACANT HOUSE AND, AND THEY, THEY THEY'VE HAD A LEAK AND THEY'RE LIKE, HEY, THE LEAK WAS GOING ON, BUT THEY HAVEN'T SEEN IT FOR MONTHS.
SO THAT'S NOT UNCOMMON WHEN A HOUSE IS EMPTY.
BUT WE, I WE SEE ABOUT OUT OUT OF ABOUT A HUNDRED INSTALLS, MAYBE ONE LEAK, WHICH, UH, THERE'S PLUMBERS ON STAFF WHO ARE FIXING LEAKS EVERY DAY.
SO THERE'S A, I'M NOT SAYING THERE'S A BUNCH, BUT WE HAVE KEEPING TWO, TWO PLUMBERS FULL-TIME, BUSY FIXING LEAKS AND MOST OF 'EM ARE GETTING ADDRESSED RIGHT THEN AND THERE.
CHANCES ARE THEY JUST DID, THEY JUST GOT DOWN THE WRONG PHONE TREE CUZ IF, IF THEY GET AHOLD OF OUR CONTRACTOR THAT WE, WE'VE BEEN ACTIVELY TAKING CARE OF THEM.
OKAY, LET'S MOVE ON TO THE NEXT AND
[10. Staff briefing on Water Forward update.]
THE LAST ITEM, STAFF BRIEFING AND WATER FORWARD UPDATES.MS. VOZ, GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS, KEVIN CRI AND AUSTIN WATER.
UM, WE'RE HAPPY TO BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU OUR REPORT THIS EVENING ON WATER FORWARD.
UM, YOU MAY RECALL THAT IT'S JUST BEEN, UH, A FEW SHORT YEARS AGO WHEN COUNCIL ADOPTED OUR WATER FORWARD, WHAT WE CALL 2018.
IT'S BEEN A VERY BUSY TIME SINCE THAT, UH, THAT ADOPTION.
WE'VE BEEN ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN A LOT OF, UH, NOT ON EDUCATION, BUT ALSO A LOT OF PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION.
UM, AND I THINK YOU'VE HEARD ABOUT A LOT OF THAT ALONG THE WAY.
TONIGHT WE'RE GONNA PROVIDE YOU WITH A BIT OF A, A DEEPER DIVE ON KIND OF WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING ON THE, THE IMPLEMENTATION SIDE OF IT IS AND, UH, AS WE BREATHE, UM, THEN WE'LL BE LOOKING TO START 24, UH, WATER FORWARD 2024.
AND SO THOSE ACTIVE ACTIVITIES HAVE BEGUN AS WELL.
AND SO MARISA WILL BE KIND OF WALKING THROUGH KIND OF SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE DONE ON WATER FOUR 18 AND THEN KIND GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF AN OVERVIEW TO ON WHAT, WHAT WE'VE DONE ON 24 AND THEN
[00:50:01]
KIND OF WHAT TO LOOK FORWARD.SO WITH THAT, UH, YOU ALL KNOW MARISA FLORES GONZALEZ, SHE'S OUR, UM, PROGRAM MANAGER OVER OUR WATER SUPPLY PLANNING GROUP.
AND, UH, JUST TURN IT OVER TO HER.
I'M MARISSA FLOTUS GONZALEZ AND I'M THE SUPERVISOR OF THE WATER RESOURCES TEAM AND I HAVE THE HAPPY TASK OF SHARING ALL OF THE PROGRESS WE'VE BEEN MAKING ON WATER FORWARD.
THIS WORK IS THE CULMINATION OF EFFORTS FROM MANY DIFFERENT WORK GROUPS ACROSS THE UTILITY, WORKING IN COLLABORATION WITH MANY DIFFERENT CITY DEPARTMENTS.
SO WATER FORWARD IS AUSTIN'S 100 YEAR INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCE PLAN TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT DIVERSE WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES TO ADAPT TO GROWTH, DROUGHT AND CLIMATE CHANGE, AND TO ENSURE A SUSTAINABLE, RESILIENT, EQUITABLE AND AFFORDABLE WATER FUTURE FOR OUR COMMUNITY FOR THE NEXT 100 YEARS.
THAT'S OUR ELEVATOR SPEECH
UM, THE PLAN DRIVERS, UM, THE, THE IDEA FOR THIS PLAN GREW OUT OF THE LAST DROUGHT THAT WE EXPERIENCED IN CENTRAL TEXAS FROM 2008 TO 2016.
THIS DROUGHT IS NOW CONSIDERED THE, UM, DROUGHT OF RECORD HERE IN OUR REGION.
THE CITY HAS ALSO EXPERIENCED STRONG POPULATION GROWTH HISTORICALLY IN THE PAST, AND WE EXPECT THAT GROWTH WILL CONTINUE IN OUR CITY.
WE ALSO KNOW OF, BASED ON OUR WORK WITH CLIMATE SCIENTISTS, INCLUDING DR.
CATHERINE HA HO, AS WELL AS CLIMATE SCIENTISTS AT UT THAT OUR SURFACE WATER SUPPLIES AND OUR CITY AS A WHOLE WILL CONTINUE TO BE IMPACTED BY CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE FUTURE.
SO THE WATER FORWARD 2018 PLAN WAS DEVELOPED BY AUSTIN WATER, WORKING VERY CLOSELY WITH THE COUNCIL APPOINTED WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE.
UH, COMMISSIONER MOTY IS NOT HERE TONIGHT, BUT HE HAS BEEN A KEY, UM, UH, STAKEHOLDER AND LEADER IN DEVELOPING THIS PLAN.
WE ALSO GATHERED A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF COMMUNITY INPUT AT OVER 100 COMMUNITY EVENTS OVER THE COURSE OF THREE AND A HALF YEARS, UM, TO INCORPORATE OUR COMMUNITY'S VALUES INTO THE PLAN.
THE TECHNICAL WORK FOR THE PLAN WAS SUPPORTED BY A VARIETY OF ENGINEERING, CLIMATE SCIENCE AND HYDROLOGY CONSULTANTS.
AND ULTIMATELY THE PLAN WAS UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED BY COUNCIL IN NOVEMBER OF 2018.
THE GRAPHIC TO THE RIGHT SUMMARIZES THE METHODOLOGY THAT WE USED TO DEVELOP THE PLAN THAT INCLUDED LAYING OUT THE GROUND RULES FOR THE PLAN DEVELOPMENT PROCESS, DEVELOPING DEMAND SIDE AND SUPPLY SIDE OPTION OPTIONS, CHARACTERIZING THOSE OPTIONS IN TERMS OF COST, YIELD, AND OTHER CHARACTERISTICS ABOUT THE STRATEG STRATEGIES INTO A VARIETY OF PORTFOLIOS.
WE SCORED THOSE PORTFOLIOS AGAINST CRITERIA LIKE SUPPLY, RELIABILITY, ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS, SOCIAL BENEFITS, IMPLEMENTATION, FEASIBILITY, AND OTHER CRITERIA.
AND THAT LED US TO DEVELOPING OUR FINAL PLAN RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND THE STRATEGIES, UH, THAT ARE INCLUDED IN THE WATER FOUR 18 PLAN, UH, CAN BE GROUPED INTO FOUR DIFFERENT CATEGORIES.
AND THOSE CATEGORIES ARE BUILT ON A FOUNDATION OF CONTINUED COMMUNITY AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT.
UH, THOSE CATEGORIES INCLUDE REDUCING DEMAND, THEN THAT INCLUDES STRATEGIES LIKE BENCHMARKING.
UM, RIGHT NOW WE ARE ACCEPTING BENCHMARKING APPLICATIONS FROM EVERY NEW, EVERY NEW SITE PLAN THAT SUBMITTED, UM, ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE.
YOU JUST HEARD THE WHOLE PRESENTATION ABOUT OUR MY ATX WATER PROGRAM, UH, WATER LOSS CONTROL, AS WELL AS OTHER CONSERVATION ORDINANCES AND INCENTIVES.
AND IN TERMS OF MOVING REUSE FORWARD FOR US, THAT MEANS EVERYTHING FROM ONSITE REUSE STRATEGIES LIKE RAINWATER HARVESTING GRAY WATER HARVESTING, STORM WATER HARVESTING, OR OTHER ONSITE UH, SOURCES OF WATER TO UTILIZING CENTRALIZED AND DECENTRALIZED RECLAIMED UH, SYSTEMS TO BE ABLE TO MEET NON-POTABLE DEMANDS.
WE'RE ALSO CONTINUING TO WORK WITH OUR REGIONAL PARTNERS TO PROTECT OUR CORE COLORADO RIVER SUPPLIES, AS WELL AS BUILDING RESILIENCY TO DROUGHT AND CLIMATE CHANGE THROUGH STRATEGIES LIKE AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY, AND OUR EMERGENCY STRATEGY AND DIRECT PORTABLE REUSE.
THIS IS A RECAP FOR MOST OF Y'ALL, BUT WITH THESE, UM, STRATEGIES IN THE PLANT IMPLEMENTED, LOOKING OUT INTO THE FUTURE, WE SEE THAT OUR DEMANDS ARE REDUCED TO BELOW 300,000 ACRE FEET PER YEAR IN 2115.
UM, IF YOU RECALL, WE HAVE ACCESS TO UP TO 325,000 ACRE FEET PER YEAR OF SUPPLY FROM OUR COMBINATION OF RENT RIVER RIGHTS, AS WELL AS OUR LONG TERM FIRM CONTRACT FOR WATER WITH THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY.
EVEN THOUGH, UH, THOSE FUTURE DEMANDS ARE BELOW THE CURRENT AMOUNT OF AVAILABLE SUPPLY, WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE TO PLAN FOR THOSE TIMES WHEN THAT SUPPLY, UM, MAY BE REDUCED, FOR EXAMPLE, DURING DROUGHT.
UM, THAT'S EXACERBATED BY CLIMATE CHANGE AND THAT'S
[00:55:01]
WHY STRATEGIES, STORAGE STRATEGIES LIKE AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY ARE SO IMPORTANT FOR US.JUST TO SUMMARIZE THE PROGRESS THAT WE'VE MADE SINCE WATER FORWARD WAS APPROVED BY COUNCIL IN 2018.
IN 2020 AS WAS MENTIONED, THE MY ATX WATER ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT BEGAN FIRST WITH PILOTING AND THEN WITH THE FULL SCALE PROJECT BEGINNING IN 2021.
UM, ALSO IN 2020, OUR STAFF BROUGHT BEFORE COUNCIL AND RECEIVED COUNCIL APPROVAL OF AN ONSITE WATER RE SYSTEM REGULATORY FRAMEWORK, AS WELL AS AN INCENTIVE TO ENCOURAGE DEVELOPERS TO INSTALL PROJECTS, PILOT PROJECTS WITHIN, UM, THEIR FACILITIES.
WE ALSO EXECUTED, UH, CONSULTANT CONTRACT, UM, TO SUPPORT THE AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY PILOT AND PROGRAM MANAGEMENT PROJECT.
UM, IN 2021, WE UH, RECEIVED COUNCIL APPROVAL OF WATER BENCHMARKING, ONSITE WATER REUSE AND OTHER RECLAIM WATER CONNECTION REQUIREMENTS.
UM, ALSO IN 2021, OUR CONSERVATION DIVISION LAUNCHED A NEW VOLUNTARY WATER CONNECTION INCENTIVE.
AND IN 2021, THE REGION K WATER PLAN WAS ADOPTED BY TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD.
AND AS YOU'RE AWARE, THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS A, A VERY ACTIVE PLAYER IN THE REGION K PLANNING PROCESS.
IN 2022, WE MADE FURTHER PROGRESS ON OUR ASR PILOT PROJECT GOING THROUGH OUR PRELIMINARY STORAGE ZONE SCREENING AND IDENTIFYING AQUIFERS IN TRAVIS BAS DROP AS WELL AS LEE COUNTY FOR DETAILED STUDY.
UM, THIS NUMBER IS A LITTLE BIT OUTDATED, BUT BY, UH, CURRENT ESTIMATES, UH, THAT RANDY SHARED FOR THE MY ATX WATER PROGRAM WE'RE AT INSTALLATION OF 75,000 METERS, AND ALSO IN EARLY 2022, WE BEGAN THE PROCESS TO UPDATE OUR WATER FORWARD PLAN.
AND JUST TO GET INTO A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL ABOUT OUR IMPLEMENTATION EFFORTS, UM, OUR CONSERVATION IS CURRENTLY IN THE STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT PHASE OF DEVELOPING AN IRRIGATION AND LANDSCAPE ORDINANCE.
THIS IS AN ORDINANCE THAT WILL APPLY TO NEW SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCES AND THAT ORDINANCE WILL SET REQUIREMENTS FOR CONSERVING WATER AND IRRIGATION SYSTEMS AND LANDSCAPES.
WHILE WE DON'T HAVE A SPECIFIC ORDINANCE LANGUAGE YET, UM, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THE CONSERVATION DIVISION WILL BE BRINGING THAT BEFORE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS AND COUNCIL IN SPRING OF 2023.
I ALSO HAVE THE LINK TO THE SPEAK OF BOSTON PAGE ON THE SLIDE IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT THAT STRATEGY.
MENTIONED WATER USE BENCHMARKING.
UM, OUR UTILITY DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DIVISION AND ONSITE WATER REUSE TEAM DEVELOPED A WATER USE BENCHMARKING CALCULATOR AND APPLICATION PROCESS SO THAT EVERY SITE PLAN THAT'S SUBMITTED, UH, TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN MUST ALSO SUBMIT A WATER USE BENCHMARKING CALCULATOR.
UM, THAT CALCULATOR IS, UM, ABLE TO DEVELOP ESTIMATES OF INDOOR AND OUTDOOR WATER USAGE AND BREAKS THOSE ESTIMATES DOWN TO POTABLE AND NON-POTABLE WATER USES, UM, DEVELOPMENTS WITH A TOTAL GROSS FLOOR AREA GREATER THAN 250,000 SQUARE FEET.
ALSO HAVE TO MEET WITH CITY OF AUSTIN STAFF, WHERE AUSTIN WATER STAFF TO DISCUSS CONSERVATION PROGRAMS THAT THEY CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IN OPPORTUNITIES FOR REUSE, INCLUDING ONSITE REUSE.
ALL RIGHT, OUR, UH, IN 2022, OUR ONSITE WATER REUSE TEAM ALSO COMPLETED COMMISSIONING OF THE OSCAR AND CLARA PILOT PROJECT AT THE CITY'S NEW PERMITTING AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER.
THE PROJECT IS ANTICIPATED TO REDUCE THE BUILDING'S POTABLE WATER USAGE BY 75%.
UH, THAT PROJECT INCLUDES AN ONSITE BLACK WATER RADIO SYSTEM THAT COLLECTS WASTE WATER FROM THE BUILDING, TREATS IT USING AN ADVANCED MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY, AND THEN RECYCLES THAT CLEAN WATER BACK INTO THE BUILDING.
SO IT CAN BE USED FOR TOILET FLUSHING AND URINAL FLUSHING.
THE WATER CAN BE USED REPEATEDLY ON SITE AND THE PILOT ALSO HARVEST RAINWATER AND COLLECTS AND REUSES AIR CONDITIONING CONDENSATE.
THIS PILOT IS A DEMONSTRATION PROJECT THAT'S, UM, VERY PROMINENTLY, UH, THAT INCLUDES VERY PROMINENT SIGNAGE THROUGHOUT THE BUILDING SO THAT DEVELOPERS AND OTHER, UH, FOLKS IN THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY CAN COME TO THAT BUILDING AND LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT AND HOW IT'S INCORPORATED INTO THE BUILDING.
AND OUR ONSITE, UM, WATER REUSE TEAM ALSO, UM, UH, LAUNCHED OUR ONSITE WATER RADIO SYSTEM PROGRAM.
PHASE ONE BEGAN IN DECEMBER, 2020 AS A VOLUNTARY PROGRAM.
UM, SO NEW THOSE NEW REGULATIONS, UH, THAT ESTABLISHED THE ONSITE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK, UH, GOVERNED THE DESIGN PERMITTING OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF MULTIFAMILY AND COMMERCIAL SYSTEMS.
[01:00:01]
AND BEGINNING IN DECEMBER, 2023, THE MANDATORY ONSITE WATER R SYSTEM PROGRAM WILL BEGIN AND THAT, UM, REQUIREMENT WILL, UH, UH, MANDATE INSTALLATION OF ONSITE SYSTEMS FOR COMMERCIAL AND MULTI-FAMILY DEVELOPMENTS GREATER THAN 250,000 SQUARE FEET.UM, WE ARE, UH, STAFF ARE CONTINUING TO WORK ON DETAILS OF THAT PROGRAM AND WE'LL HAVE MORE INFORMATION FOR Y'ALL IN THE FUTURE.
AND OUR STAFF ARE ALSO CONTINUING TO BUILD OUT OUR CENTRALIZED RECLAIM SYSTEM.
WE'RE WORKING BOTH ON EXPANSION OF THE SYSTEM AS WELL AS CONTINUING TO CONNECT CUSTOMERS TO THE RECLAIMED SYSTEM SO THAT WE CAN, UH, FURTHER, UM, OFFSET POTABLE WATER USAGE WITH NON-POTABLE WATER.
WE COMPLETED CONSTRUCTION OF THE RECLAIMED RESERVOIR AND PUMP STATION AT MONAS.
THAT'LL IMPROVE RELIABILITY OF THE RECLAIMED SYSTEM FOR CUSTOMERS IN EAST AUSTIN, UM, BY 2040.
OUR GOALS FOR THIS SYSTEM ARE TO INCREASE THE LENGTH OF MAINE IN THE SYSTEM FROM 73 TO 96 MILES.
AND OUR ANNUAL CUSTOMER DEMAND IS EXPECTED TO GROW FROM 1.35 BILLION GALLONS, UM, CURRENTLY TO ABOUT 5.8 BILLION GALLONS IN 2040.
OH, I SHOULD MENTION JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE EXTENSION OF THE RECLAIM CONNECTION REQUIREMENTS.
OUR PREVIOUS REQUIREMENT, UM, STATED THAT BUILDINGS THAT ARE WITHIN 250 FEET OF A RECLAIMING HAD TO CONNECT AND USE, UH, RECLAIM WATER.
UM, THE EXTENSION OF THOSE REQUIREMENTS NOW SAYS THAT BUILDINGS THAT ARE GREATER THAN 250,000 SQUARE FEET, UM, THAT ARE WITHIN 500 FEET OF A RECLAIMING.
SO BIG BUILDINGS THAT ARE FURTHER AWAY STILL HAVE TO CONNECT TO THE RECLAIM WATER SYSTEM AND USE THAT WATER FOR A SIGNIFICANT NON-POTABLE PURPOSES INSIDE AS WELL AS OUTSIDE OF THE BUILDING.
AND THEN AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY.
UM, AUSTIN WATER IS CURRENTLY IN THE EARLY DESKTOP ANALYSIS PHASE OF AN ASR PILOT AND PROGRAM MANAGEMENT PROJECT.
ASR IS A STRATEGY THAT WILL ALLOW US TO, WHEN SUPPLIES ARE PLENTIFUL, TAKE AVAILABLE WATER FROM OUR DRINKING WATER SYSTEM.
UH, TREAT THAT, UM, WELL, IT WOULD BE TREATED TO PORTABLE DRINKING WATER STANDARDS.
WE'D CONVEY THAT VIA TRANSMISSION MAIN TO A WELL FIELD, AND THEN THAT WATER WOULD BE PUMPED INTO A NATURALLY OCCURRING AQUIFER UNDERGROUND WHERE IT WOULD BE SAFE FROM EVAPORATION.
UM, WE WOULD THEN BE ABLE TO, TO MAKE USE OF THAT WATER IN A DROUGHT CONDITION OR OTHER EMERGENCY SITUATION THAT STORED WATER, AS IS MENTIONED ON THE SLIDE, WOULD BE TESTED AND TREATED BEFORE IT'S DELIVERED TO CUSTOMERS TO BE ABLE TO MEET POTABLE DRINKING WATER DEMANDS.
AND THIS TIMELINE SHOWS THE NEXT STEPS FOR AUSTIN'S ASR PROJECT.
WE ARE ON THE LEFT OF THE SLIDE CURRENTLY IDENTIFYING LOCATIONS FOR FIELD TESTING AND FOR POSSIBLE PILOT PROJECTS.
UM, LIKE I MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY, WE'RE CURRENTLY LOOKING AT AQUIFERS IN TRAVIS BA AND LEE COUNTIES AND WE ACTUALLY HAVE A SERIES OF COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS COMING UP.
THERE'LL BE THREE IN-PERSON WORKSHOPS EACH IN, UM, TRAVIS BA AND LEE COUNTIES NEXT WEEK IN THE EVENING.
UM, AND WE'LL ALSO HAVE TWO VIRTUAL WORKSHOPS THE FOLLOWING WEEK.
YOU SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED THE INVITES FOR THOSE, AND IF YOU HAVEN'T, I'LL BE HAPPY TO SHARE THOSE.
UM, UH, ON THE TIMELINE, AFTER WE GET THROUGH THIS STEP OF THE PROCESS TO IDENTIFY A PILOT LOCATION, WE'LL BE GOING INTO ACTUAL PILOTING, UM, THROUGH THE MID 2020S, AND THEN WE HOPE TO BEGIN DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF A FULL SCALE ASR PROJECT IN THE LATE 2020S WITH CONSTRUCTION ANTICIPATED TO BE CL COMPLETED IN 2035.
OUR GOAL IS THEN TO BEGIN FILL AND REFILL CYCLES OF THE ASR PROJECT SO THAT WE CAN ACHIEVE OUR GOAL OF STORING 60,000 ACRE FEET IN THE ASR, UM, UH, BY 2040.
AND THEN I MENTIONED THAT WE'RE ALSO UPDATING THE WATER FORWARD PLAN, SO, UH, THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THE OLD PLAN, IT'S JUST THAT WE SAID THAT WE WOULD UPDATE THE PLAN ON A FIVE YEAR CYCLE SIMILAR TO HOW WE UPDATE OUR REGIONAL WATER PLAN ON A FIVE YEAR CYCLE.
UM, SO IN 2022, WE KICKED OFF OUR FIRST PLAN UPDATE.
UH, THIS, UH, SLIDE SUMMARIZES THE TASKS THAT ARE INCLUDED IN THE PLAN UPDATE PROCESS.
WE'RE GONNA BE REFINING OR WE HAVE REFINED OUR PLANNING METHODOLOGY.
WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON DEVELOPING PROJECTIONS OF POPULATION AND EMPLOYMENT TO DEVELOP OUR BASELINE FORECASTED WATER DEMANDS.
WE ARE WORKING WITH UT RIGHT NOW TO UPDATE OUR CLIMATE AND HYDROLOGY ANALYSIS, AND THAT INFORMATION WILL GO INTO OUR IDENTIFICATION OF WATER RESOURCE NEEDS.
FROM THAT IDENTIFICATION OF WATER RESOURCE NEEDS, WE'LL BE TAKING ANOTHER LOOK AT OUR
[01:05:01]
WATER 4 20 18 STRATEGIES AND BUILDING ON THOSE STRATEGIES.WE WILL UPDATE THE SCREENING CHARACTERIZATION, UM, AND DEVELOPMENT OF PORTFOLIO STRATEGIES AND PORTFOLIOS FOR, TO DEVELOP A 50 YEAR PLAN AS WELL AS A FULL 100 YEAR ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT PLAN.
WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH OUR WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE, AS WELL AS OUR, UH, COMMUNITY AMBASSADORS GROUP, WHICH HAS BEEN NEWLY DEVELOPED FOR THIS PLAN UPDATE PROCESS TO UPDATE OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES.
SOME OF THE KEY GUIDING PRINCIPLES, UH, FOR THE WATER 4 20 24 PLAN INCLUDE CREATING A PLAN THAT'S RESILIENT TO GROWTH, DROUGHT AND CLIMATE CHANGE, USING AN EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY LENS TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT THE PLAN, AS WELL AS FOCUSING ON LOCALLY AVAILABLE WATER SUPPLIES.
AND SOME OF THE KEY CHANGES FROM WATER FORWARD 2018 ARE LISTED HERE ON THIS SLIDE.
I'LL JUST CALL OUT A FEW OF THEM.
UM, WE ARE TRYING TO BETTER DESCRIBE WATER FORWARD'S RELATIONSHIP TO OTHERS AUSTIN WATER AND CITY OF AUSTIN EFFORTS THAT ARE, UM, RELATED TO RESILIENCE, SUSTAINABILITY, UM, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, AND PROTECTING THE HEALTH OF OUR COMMUNITY.
WE ARE TRYING TO BETTER ALIGN WITH THE REGIONAL WATER PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS, AND WE'RE DEVELOPING AN EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY ROADMAP AS WELL AS A TOOL THAT'LL HELP US TO UNDERSTAND, UM, THE EQUITY CONSIDERATIONS IN OUR PLANNING PROCESS.
AND WE'RE ALSO DEVELOPING A MORE ROBUST APPROACH TO ADDRESSING FUTURE RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES, ESPECIALLY THOSE RELATED TO CLIMATE CHANGE.
JUST TO TALK ABOUT THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE IN, UH, PLANNING FOR UNCERTAINTY IN WITHIN WATER 4 20 24, WE ARE NOW DEVELOPING A RANGE OF DIFFERENT FEATURES TO PLAN FOR.
UM, IN, UH, THE, UH, GRAPHIC ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE, YOU CAN SEE A BOX THAT SAYS MODELING SCENARIOS.
AND SO WE'RE LOOKING AT A RANGE OF FUTURE PROJECTED DEMANDS, A RANGE OF POSSIBLE CLIMATE FUTURES, WORKING WITH CLIMATE SCIENTISTS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT COULD CLIMATE TRENDS LOOK LIKE IN THE FUTURE.
WE'RE LOOKING AT A SELECTION OF DROUGHTS WORSE THAN THE DROUGHT OF RECORD, AS WELL AS A RANGE OF REGIONAL SUPPLY TRENDS SCENARIOS.
AND THIS WILL SET A RANGE OF PLAUSIBLE FUTURE WATER NEEDS.
WE ARE HOPING WITH THIS PLAN TO FIND COMMON NEAR TERM STRATEGIES THAT WORK FOR THIS BROAD RANGE OF FUTURES, RATHER THAN TRYING TO PREDICT WHAT THE FUTURE COULD LOOK LIKE, WE'RE TRYING TO DEVELOP A PLAN AND APPROACH THAT'S GONNA BE SUSTAINABLE THROUGH A VARIETY OF POSSIBLE FUTURES.
UM, WITH THIS APPROACH, WE'LL BE DEVELOPING AN ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR THE FULL 100 YEAR PLANNING HORIZON WITH KEY DECISION POINTS WHERE WE WOULD REEVALUATE OUR STRATEGY AND ADJUST AS NECESSARY.
AND THIS SLIDE JUST SUMMARIZES SOME OF THE WORK THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING WITH UT TO UNDERSTAND PROJECTED HIGH LEVEL CLIMATE TRENDS WITHIN THE BASIN.
UM, WE HAVE BEEN DOING A LOT OF WORK TO UNDERSTAND WHICH GLOBAL CLIMATE MODELS ARE BEST TO USE WITHIN THIS REGION TO TAKE THE OUTPUTS OF THOSE GLOBAL CLIMATE MODELS AND DOWNSCALE THEM SO THAT THEY ARE APPROPRIATE TO USE WITHIN THE COLORADO RIVER BASIN AND FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND FROM THAT, UH, DATA, WE'RE ABLE TO PULL OUT TRENDS IN TERMS OF PRECI TEMPERATURE AND, AND DRY DAYS.
UM, SO ON THE SLIDE YOU CAN SEE OVER TIME, OVER THE FULL A HUNDRED YEAR PLANNING CRIES, AND WE SEE THAT ANNUAL MEAN TEMPERATURES ARE PROJECTED TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF HOT DAYS WITH TEMPERATURES ABOVE A HUNDRED DEGREES FAHRENHEIT ARE ALSO PROJECTED TO INCREASE.
WE NOTICE RELATED TO PRECIPITATION THAT THE DISTRIBUTION OF RAINFALL IS PROJECTED TO CHANGE.
IT'S LIKELY THAT WE WILL HAVE LESS FREQUENT AND MORE INTENSE RAINFALL EVENTS IN THE FUTURE.
AND THEN WE NOTICE THAT THE NUMBER OF DRY DAYS WITH PRECIPITATION BELOW 0.01 INCHES ARE PROJECTED TO INCREASE.
SO SIMILAR TO WHAT WE HAVE, UH, BEEN EXPECTING THAT WE'LL SEE LONGER PERIODS OF DROUGHT PUNCTUATED BY MORE INTENSE RAIN AND FLOODING EVENTS.
AND I ALSO MENTIONED THAT, UM, NEW TO THIS PLANNING PROCESS, WE ARE TRYING TO DEVELOP THE PLAN USING EQUITY LENS.
UM, STARTING ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THIS SLIDE, WE'RE TRYING TO, TO SUMMARIZE, WE'RE TRYING TO TAKE INPUT FROM OUR COMMUNITY, FROM A COMMUNITY AMBASSADORS GROUP THAT WE'VE DEVELOPED SPECIFICALLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF DEVELOPING AN EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY ROADMAP FOR THE PLAN, AS WELL AS WITH OUR TASK FORCE AND WITH OUR STAFF TO GATHER INPUT ON WHAT KINDS OF EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY CONSIDERATIONS WE SHOULD BE THINKING ABOUT WHEN WE'RE DEVELOPING THE WATER FORWARD PLAN.
THAT GOES INTO THE, THE ROADMAP.
AND THE ROADMAP WILL PROVIDE US WITH RECOMMENDATIONS ON
[01:10:01]
HOW WE CAN MAKE OUR EDUCATION AND ENGAGEMENT PROCESS MORE EQUITABLE, AS WELL AS HOW WE CAN DEVELOP AN EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY TOOL.THAT EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY TOOL WILL ALLOW US TO ASK QUESTIONS OF OUR STRATEGIES AS WELL AS OUR PORTFOLIOS OF OPTIONS LIKE, UM, THAT WILL HELP US TO UNDERSTAND THE DISTRIBUTION OF BENEFITS AND BURDENS FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION OF OUR PLAN, ESPECIALLY ON VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES.
AND WE'LL TAKE ALL OF THAT INFORMATION INCORPORATED INTO OUR WATER FORWARD PLAN.
WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THAT DISTRIBUTION OF BENEFITS AND BURDENS IS EQUITABLE.
SO IF WE SEE A DISPROPORTIONATE BURDEN PLACED ON VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES, FOR EXAMPLE, PEOPLE OF COLOR OR LOW INCOME PEOPLE, THEN WE WANT TO DEVELOP MITIGATION STRATEGIES OR ADJUSTER STRATEGIES TO AMELIORATE THAT, UM, THAT ISSUE.
UM, IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT THE WATER FORWARD UPDATE, YOU CAN VISIT OUR WEBPAGE@SPEAKUPBOSTON.ORG SLASH WATER 2024.
IT'S EASIEST IF YOU JUST GOOGLE IT, YOU CAN FIND IT THAT WAY.
UM, WE'RE HAPPY TO MAKE PRESENTATIONS AT A COMMUNITY EVENT OR A MEETING.
WE CAN DO FAIRLY SHORT PRESENTATIONS AS WELL, AND YOU CAN SIGN UP FOR OUR WATER FORWARD NEWSLETTER, UM, TO RECEIVE MORE INFORMATION.
I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS Y'ALL MIGHT HAVE.
COMMISSIONERS GOT ANY QUESTION FOR MISS, UH, FORES? GOZA, UH, COMMISSIONER MICHELLE.
UH, I HAVE A QUESTION ON THE FUNNEL SLIDE HERE.
ARE Y'ALL USING, UH, MONEY CAR SIMULATIONS, OR HOW ARE Y'ALL EVALUATING ALL THOSE DIFFERENT PARAMETERS INTO THOSE FUTURE PROJECTIONS? YEAH, THAT IS A GREAT, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
UM, WE ARE USING A MONOLO MARKOFF CHAIN METHODOLOGY TO DEVELOP, UM, DROUGHTS ST TO STALLY DEVELOP, UM, HYDROLOGY SEQUENCES FROM WHICH, UM, WE IDENTIFY DROUGHTS AND WE CHARACTERIZE THOSE DROUGHTS IN, IN TERMS OF THEIR, UM, PROBABILITY OF RECURRENCE.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, WE COMPARE THE, THAT PROBABILITY OF RECURRENCE AGAINST THE DROUGHT OF RECORD, OUR DROUGHT OF RECORD HERE IN THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER BASIN.
AND WE SAY IF IT'S, IF IT'S WORSE, THEN THE DROUGHT OF RECORD, THEN WE PULL THOSE OUT.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING TO TEST OUR, UH, WATERFORD STRATEGIES AGAINST.
WE ARE NOT USING A MONTE CARLO APPROACH WITH THE DEMANDS, BUT THAT COULD BE SOMETHING THAT WE INCORPORATE INTO FUTURE PLANNING PROCESSES.
WHAT WE ARE DOING IS WE ARE WORKING WITH OUR, UM, UH, OUR TEAM AND AUSTIN WATER AS WELL AS OUR CITY DEMOGRAPHER TO DEVELOP, UM, SEVERAL DIFFERENT PROJECTIONS.
RIGHT NOW WE'RE WORKING ON THREE PROJECTIONS OF POPULATION AND EMPLOYMENT, AND THOSE THREE PROJECTIONS OF POP AND EMP WILL CREATE THREE DIFFERENT, UH, BASELINE PROJECTIONS OF DEMAND.
SO WE'VE GOT KIND OF AN AVERAGE, A LITTLE BIT LESS THAN AVERAGE AND THEN A HIGHER PROJECTION RIGHT NOW.
WHAT WE, UH, OH, SO WE HAVE TO LIMIT SOMETHING.
WE HAVE THE MOST VARIABILITY WHEN IT COMES TO THE HYDROLOGIC SEQUENCES.
UM, BUT WHEN WE MULTIPLY ALL OF THESE SEQUENCES, UH, THESE DIFFERENT KIND OF COMPONENTS OF THE SCENARIOS TOGETHER, WE COME UP WITH, LIKE RIGHT NOW WE'VE GOT OVER 600 SCENARIOS, SO WE HAVE TO, IF WE HAD TOO MANY SCENARIOS OF DEMANDS, SURE WE WOULD HAVE AN UNMANAGEABLE NUMBER OF SCENARIOS TO TEST AGAINST.
I WAS CURIOUS ON THE INDIRECT POTABLE USE REUSE, AND THAT WAS KIND OF IN THE BUILDING CATEGORY.
I WAS, IF, ARE THERE ANY IDEAS OR STRATEGIES MAYBE NOT QUITE DIRECT POTABLE REUSE, BUT IN THAT, IN THAT AREA COMING DOWN IN THE FUTURE OR THAT ARE MAYBE ALREADY BEING TALKED ABOUT? YEAH, SO IT, I P IS AN EMERGENCY STRATEGY FROM THE LAST WATER FOUR PLAN, WHICH I'LL PROBABLY REMEMBER.
IT WOULDN'T BE TRIGGERED UNTIL COMBINED STORAGE AT THE HIGHLAND LAKES WAS AT 400,000 ACRE FEET.
THE, AN EMERGENCY LEVEL OF COMBINED STORAGE IS 600,000 ACRE FEET.
SO THIS IS LIKE ALARM BELLS GOING OFF AND WE ARE NEEDING SOME, AN ADDITIONAL WATER SUPPLY STRATEGY, UM, IN THE FUTURE IN THE UPDATE TO THE WATER FORWARD PLAN.
I THINK IT'S VALUABLE AND IT MERITS, UM, YOU KNOW, FURTHER ANALYSIS TO LOOK AT OTHER, UH, CONFIGURATIONS OF, UM, INDIRECT AND, AND POTENTIALLY DIRECT POTABLES AT LEAST TO SEND THOSE THROUGH THE SCREENING PROCESS AGAIN, UM, AND TO TAKE A LOOK AT AND SEE IF SOME OF THOSE COULD BE VALUABLE STRATEGIES FOR US.
YOU, I GUESS I WILL ADD TO THAT.
I MEAN, OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA HAVE, BE WALKING THROUGH THIS PROCESS, TAKE ALL THIS NEW INFORMATION, THESE NEW APPROACHES, AND TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE
[01:15:01]
CONTINUE TO ADVANCE THE STRATEGIES THAT WE'VE HAD IN OUR PREVIOUS PLAN, BUT THEN TO CONTINUE TO TEST THOSE AGAINST CHANGE CONDITIONS THAT WE DON'T KNOW ABOUT.AND SO, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, WHAT, LIKE MARI SAID, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'LL KIND OF SEE AS WE GO THROUGH SCREENING AND RESCREENING, IF THERE ARE CHANGE CONDITIONS THAT WARRANT THAT.
THE, THE BIG CHALLENGE OF COURSE IS A HUNDRED YEAR PLANNING HORIZON IS AN AMBITIOUS ONE.
UM, AND REALLY WE WANT TO BE FOCUSED MORE ON SORT OF AN ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT APPROACH SO THAT WE CAN KIND OF BALANCE OUT THAT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE BALANCING THOSE DIFFERENT STRATEGIES IN A WAY THAT ALLOW US KIND OF ON RAMPS AND OFF RAMPS.
AS THINGS CHANGE, I DON'T THINK ANY OF US WILL SIT HERE AND TELL YOU THAT WE KNOW WHAT THE FUTURE'S GOING TO LOOK LIKE IN, IN A HUNDRED YEARS, WHETHER IT BE ON THE DEMAND SIDE OR THE SUPPLY SIDE.
I THINK WHAT'S MOST IMPORTANT IS THAT WE START TO INVEST IN CERTAIN STRATEGIES, UH, THAT WE MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T INVEST IN WRONG STRATEGIES AND THAT WE CONTINUE TO TEST OUR PROCESS AND OUR HYPOTHESES SO THAT WE CAN HAVE A STRONG PLAN AS THINGS CHANGE.
I WAS JUST CURIOUS WHAT THE CURRENT THINKING IS, AND THAT CERTAINLY FRAMED IT FOR ME, SO THANK YOU.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
DISCUSSION OF FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. COMMISSIONERS GOT ANY ITEMS THAT WANT TO BE CONSIDERED FOR PRESENTATION OR DISCUSSION? I THINK WE, WE HAD JUST THE ITEMS THAT WE HAD ALREADY MENTIONED IN THE PAST, THEY'RE PROBABLY ALREADY STILL ON THE LIST.NOW THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE NOVEMBER THE NINTH.
WEDNESDAY IS GOING TO BE SAME TIME HERE.
AND THEN MS. BRCA WILL CHECK FOR US ON THE NEXT YEAR APRIL'S MEETING SCHEDULE TO SEE IF WE NEED TO CHANGE IT OR NOT.
ANYTHING ELSE THAT WE NEED TO, HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS. IF NOT, THE MEETING IS ADJOURNED AT 7 21.