[CALL TO ORDER ]
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CELL FROM THE TASK FORCE HERE, AS WELL AS MARISA, EMILY, KEVIN, KEVIN, AND THERESA, UH, AND HELEN AND SARAH.
BUT Y'ALL CAN SEE IN THE ROOM AND HI, KATHLEEN ONLINE.
I DON'T, I'M, I'M STILL WORKING THE VIDEO THING, BUT HELLO.
I DON'T THINK THAT IT'S CRUCIAL FOR YOU TO HAVE YOUR CAMERA ON.
IT'S JUST FOR THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS, ALTHOUGH, OKAY.
YOU KNOW, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO TURN IT ON IF YOU WOULD LIKE.
LOOK, WE HAVE ALMOST A FULL HOUSE TODAY.
WE'RE ONLY MISSING SARAH FAUST.
AND HERE COMES SOME MORE FOLKS.
ALRIGHT, UM, HERE'S MY AGENDA.
SO I'M GONNA CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER AT 1205, AND DO WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS? NO.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES ]
THE FIRST ITEM OF BUSINESS IS TO REVIEW AND APPROVE THE MEETING MINUTES FROM THE REGULAR, FROM THE SEPTEMBER WAIT, DO WE HAVE SEPTEMBER AND APRIL IN HERE? THIS IS APRIL.SEPTEMBER 12TH, TASK FORCE MEETINGS.
BUT I'VE, SO, UM, HAVE PEOPLE REVIEWED THE MINUTES? I'D SEE A CHANGE RIGHT NOW WITH DATES THAT WE NEED TO MAKE.
DO YOU SEE THAT, MARISA? OKAY.
UH, THAT'S WHY I WAS CONFUSED.
UM, DO WE HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES? I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES WITH, UH, CHANGE IN THE, THE DATE FROM APRIL 11TH, 2023 TO SEPTEMBER 12TH, 2023 SECOND.
UM, ANY DISCUSSION? ALL IN FAVOR, AYE.
IT'S UNANIMOUS TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS, Y'ALL.
SO WE HAVE FOUR AGENDA ITEMS TODAY, AND EVERYBODY GOT YOUR MATERIALS, UM, VIA EMAIL FROM EMILY.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR VERY CLEAR EMAILS WITH ALL THE INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TO GET ONLINE, EMILY.
[2. Water supply outlook and drought response activities ]
SO LET'S, UM, JUMP INTO THE FIRST ONE, WATER SUPPLY OUTLOOK AND DROUGHT RESPONSE ACTIVITIES.TODAY WE HAVE, UM, A FEW DIFFERENT ITEMS NESTED WITHIN, OR A FEW DIFFERENT PRESENTERS WHO WILL BE, UH, PRESENTING CONTENT WITHIN THIS ITEM.
UM, WE'LL START OFF WITH THE WATER SUPPLY OUTLOOK PORTION AND, UH, DR. RICHARD HOFF POWER IS JOINING US TODAY, AND HE WILL BE PRESENTING THOSE SLIDES.
THE WATER SUPPLY OUTLOOK SLIDES.
YEAH, SO HERE WE HAVE THE, THE HIGHLAND LAKES INFLOWS, THE CHART SORT OF YEAR TO DATE.
UH, THE, THIS CHART WAS UPDATED IN OCTOBER, SO TOMORROW WE'LL HAVE A PURPLE BAR THERE FOR NOVEMBER, AND IT'LL BE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 19 AND 20,000 ACRE FEET.
SO IT'S, IT'S NOT GONNA BE A VERY BIG PURPLE BAR THERE FOR NOVEMBER.
OUR, SO FAR, OUR BIGGEST INFLOW OF THIS YEAR HAS BEEN IN OCTOBER.
WE GOT ABOUT 68,000 ACRE FEET.
AND SORT OF THE INFLOW WE DID GET IN NOVEMBER IS RESIDUAL WATER COMING INTO THE LAKES FROM THAT RAIN THAT HAPPENED RIGHT AT THE END OF OCTOBER.
SO CONDITIONS ARE STILL FAIRLY DRY OTHER THAN THAT, UM, ONE EVENT THERE AT THE END OF OCTOBER.
THIS IS THE, UH, COMBINED STORAGE, UH, SINCE THE 2010S DROUGHT TO PRESENT.
UH, THIS GRAPH AGAIN, WAS UPDATED AT THE END OF OCTOBER, SO IT'S DATED NOVEMBER 1ST.
BASICALLY, THE LAKES HAVE BEEN FLAT FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER.
WE STARTED OUT, UM, I THINK IT WAS 8 42 IN COMBINED STORAGE, 842,000, AND WE'RE ABOUT THE SAME POSITION TODAY, SO IT'S WENT HORIZONTALLY OVER TO THE LEFT ON THAT GRAPH.
SO, UH, WHAT'S INDICATED THERE, THIS IS THE LOWEST
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LEVEL OF DROUGHT SINCE AUGUST ACROSS THE STATE, ALTHOUGH YOU CAN SEE THERE'S STILL A LOT OF, OF, UH, TAN AND AND RED COLOR OUT THERE ON THE DROUGHT MONITOR MAP, UNFORTUNATELY, THAT THAT RED, THAT BIG CLUSTER OF RED IS SORT OF STRADDLING RIGHT ACROSS THE HIGHLAND LAKES WATERSHED.SO, UH, CONDITIONS ARE STILL FAIRLY DRY ACROSS THE WATERSHED.
IT'S, IT'LL JUST TAKE TIME TO WORK THAT OFF.
WHICH BRINGS US TO SOME GOOD NEWS.
EL NINO CONDITIONS ARE STILL IN PLACE, AND THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER STILL GIVING US A FAVORABLE OUTLOOK FOR PRECIPITATION OVER THE NEXT THREE MONTHS.
SO, UH, DECEMBER, JANUARY, FEBRUARY AREN'T NECESSARILY THE MOST, UH, RAINIEST MONTHS OF THE YEAR, BUT, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE BIGGEST FLOODS ON RECORD, IT HAPPENED, UH, CHRISTMAS OF 1991, SO YOU NEVER KNOW.
UM, YEAH, I THINK THAT'S THE END OF THE WATER SUPPLY OUTLOOK.
UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OH, THERE IS.
UH, THIS IS RA'S, UH, STORAGE CONTENT PROJECTION FOR THE NEXT SIX MONTHS.
UM, SO THIS ONE WAS UPDATED AT, UH, THE BEGINNING OF THIS MONTH, AND THE NEW ONE WILL COME OUT NEXT WEEK.
GENERALLY, RIGHT NOW, THE STORAGE IS RIGHT THERE IN BETWEEN THE BLUE AND THE ORANGE LINE.
SO KIND OF BETWEEN MEDIAN AND IN THAT 90TH PERCENTILE DRY LINE, THAT'S WHERE THE ACTUAL STORAGE IS GONE FOR THIS MONTH.
UM, YOU'LL NOTICE SORT OF THE, THE DRIEST CONDITIONS.
THEY JUST RELATIVELY STAY FLAT OVER THE NEXT SIX MONTHS INDICATING, UH, YOU KNOW, LACK OF DOWNSTREAM IRRIGATION DEMAND, AND, UH, HOPEFULLY SOME CONSERVATION MEASURES FROM EVERYBODY IN THE BASINS PITCHING IN TO, TO KEEP THE RESERVOIRS SORT OF STABLE.
AND, UM, ANY QUESTIONS? GOOD? OKAY, THANKS.
YOU CAN MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
DOES ANYONE HAVE QUESTIONS WHILE YOU'RE UP HERE FOR ROBERT? I MEAN, FOR RICHARD.
WE'LL MOVE ON TO JOT CONTINGENCY PLAN IMPLEMENTATION.
I'M THE MANAGER OF THE WATER CONSERVATION DIVISION.
AND OVER THE NEXT SIX SLIDES, I'M GONNA GIVE YOU AN UPDATE ON THE, UH, RECENT STAGE TWO DROUGHT ACTIVITIES, UM, ALSO THE NEXT ITERATION OF OUR DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN.
AND THEN, UH, A BRIEF DESCRIPTION ON OF WHAT WE'RE DOING TO IMPLEMENT THE LANDSCAPE TRANSFORMATION ORDINANCE STRATEGY.
SO ON STAGE TWO, AS YOU KNOW, BACK IN AUGUST, AUGUST 15TH, WE WENT INTO DROUGHT STAGE TWO, WHEN THE RESERVOIRS REACHED A COMBINED STORAGE OF 900,000 ACRE FEET, OR ABOUT 46% OF THEIR TOTAL STORAGE.
UH, SOON AFTER THE ANNOUNCEMENT ON THE FRIDAY BEFORE, UH, WE STARTED TO RECEIVE A SURGE OF, OF CALLS AND EMAILS FROM THE PUBLIC REGARDING DROUGHT RESTRICTIONS THAT ARE GONNA BE IN PLACE IN STAGE TWO, AS WELL AS AN INCREASED NUMBER OF, UH, SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF 3 1 1 REPORTS, UH, FROM THE PUBLIC.
UH, SOME OF THE ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES THAT WE HAD PLANNED AND HAD UNDERTAKEN WHEN WE DECLARED STAGE TWO INCLUDED, UM, MORE, MORE MEDIA MESSAGES, AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE.
AND HOPEFULLY YOU HEARD, UH, WE HAD MORE PATROLS, UH, GOING OUT IN THE EVENINGS, WEEKENDS, AND EARLY MORNINGS, AND WE BROUGHT ON TEMPORARY STAFF.
WE TRIED TO DISTRIBUTE YARD SIGNS AS WELL AS TRYING TO REACH OUT TO RESTAURANTS, UM, SIT DOWN RESTAURANTS THAT SERVED, UH, WATER TO THEIR PATRONS.
THIS NEXT SLIDE, UH, PROVIDES A GRAPHICAL ILLUSTRATION OF, OF WHAT HAPPENED AFTER STAGE TWO DECLARATION IN AUGUST.
ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE, THAT GRAFT, UM, THE GREEN LINE, THE DARK GREEN LINE IS THE NUMBER OF 3 1 1 REPORTS THAT WE RECEIVED FROM THE PUBLIC.
YOU CAN SEE WHERE IT POINTS OUT THERE.
STAGE ONE NOTIFICATION, THERE WAS A SHARP INCREASE, A LOT OF PEOPLE CALLING IN, REPORTING WATER WATERING, AND I GUESS THEY, IT SHOULDN'T HAVE
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BEEN.UM, SO A BIG SURGE OF THAT TO RESPOND TO.
THERE'S A, A GREEN DOTTED LINE, UH, JUST BELOW THAT, THAT, UH, SHOWS THE NUMBER OF 3 0 1 POSTCARDS THAT WE SEND OUT.
SO WHEN PEOPLE REPORT TO US WATERING VIOLATIONS, WE INITIALLY SEND OUT A POSTCARD TO THE HOME TO JUST LET THEM KNOW, UH, THAT IT'S BEEN REPORTED, THAT THEY ARE WATERING ON THE WRONG DAY, FOR INSTANCE.
ALSO ON THAT GRAPH ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE ARE, ARE BLUE LINES.
THE BLUE, THE SOLID BLUE LINE SHOWS THE NUMBER OF PATROL INVESTIGATIONS, UH, THAT TOOK PLACE OVER THAT TIME PERIOD.
UM, THESE ARE OUR PATROL STAFF GOING OUT AND WHEN THEY SEE SOMEONE WATERING ON THE WRONG DAY OR WRONG TIME, THAT'S AN INVESTIGATION.
UH, THAT DID NOT HAVE THE BIG SPIKE THAT WE SAW IN THAT STAGE TWO NOTIFICATION, BUT RATHER A NUMBER OF SPIKES THROUGHOUT THE JULY THROUGH SEPTEMBER TIME PERIOD WHEN PEOPLE WERE, WERE REALLY WATERING A LOT.
AND WHEN WE HAD INCREASED PATROLS ON THE RIGHT THERE, IT SHOWS THE, UM, DAILY WATER USE FOR THE WATER UTILITY.
THE GREEN LINE IS THE VOLUME OF AVERAGE DAILY USE AS WE WENT ACROSS THE YEAR AND ACROSS THE SUMMER.
THE PINK LINE FOR REFERENCE IS 2011 VOLUMES OF AVERAGE DAILY USE.
SO YOU COULD SEE AS WE GO FROM LEFT TO RIGHT ON THAT DAILY USE CHART, UM, STARTING INTO JULY IN AUGUST PEAKED.
BUT EVEN WHEN A STAGE TWO DOW DROUGHT WAS DECLARED, THERE WAS NO MAGIC DROP IN, UM, WATER USE.
UH, IT WAS STILL VERY HOT AND DRY AND, AND PEOPLE, UH, CONTINUED TO TRY TO TO WATER THEIR LAWNS.
SO THAT CONTINUED FOR ANOTHER MONTH OR SO.
UH, SO OUR EFFORTS, OUR BEST EFFORTS DID NOT PUSH WATER USE DOWN, BUT WE KNOW THAT IT SAVES WATER.
SO WE ARE IMAGINING THAT IT TAMPED DOWN THAT SPIKE.
THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN NEXT SLIDE, UM, RECORD.
BEFORE YOU MOVE ON TO THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN, IF FOLKS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SUMMER DROUGHT RESPONSE, WOULD THAT BE OKAY? SOUNDS GOOD.
ANY, ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS INFORMATION PRESENTED ON THE DROUGHT RESPONSE THIS SUMMER? UM, I HAVE A QUESTION.
IS THERE ANY DATA ON, UM, LIKE SINGLE FAMILY HOMES VERSUS APARTMENT COMPLEXES IN BIGGER FACILITIES, OR IS IT JUST ALL KIND OF GROUPED TOGETHER IN, IN TERMS OF WATER USE? YEAH, AND REPORTS ON WATER MISUSE.
UH, IT, IT, WE DO HAVE DATA ON AND WE, IT COULD BE SUMMED FOR SINGLE FAMILY HOMES, UM, VERSUS MUL FOR MULTI-FAMILY DEVELOPMENTS.
UM, BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE THAT IN OUR, MY MY AT TX WATER, A MI SYSTEMS, SOME OF IT WOULD BE ONLY MONTHLY.
SOME OF IT WOULD BE, UH, DAILY.
UM, SO IT'D BE KIND OF CHALLENGING TO PARSE THAT OUT ON AN AVERAGE DAILY USE FOR MULTI-FAMILY AND SINGLE FAMILY HOMES UNTIL WE GET A FULL DISTRIBUTION OF OUR MI A TX WATER SYSTEM ARE SINGLE FAMILY AND MULTIFAMILY, UM, PUT INTO THE BILLING SYSTEM WITH LIKE DIFFERENT CODES.
LIKE YOU COULD LAY, LOOK AND SEE IF THERE'S LIKE, YOU KNOW, AT LEAST THE WATER USE TRENDS FOR SINGLE FAMILY VERSUS MULTIFAMILY.
AND I KNOW THERE'S A LARGE DISPARITY IN SIZES FOR MULTIFAMILY, SO IT MIGHT BE A LITTLE WEIRD, BUT JUST TO, I DON'T KNOW.
YES, THERE ARE DIFFERENT BILLING CODES FOR THAT.
UM, SO IT'S A, IT'S A NOT EASY TO PULL THAT OUT OF A BILLING SYSTEM.
IT'S EASY FOR ME TO SAY AS AN IDEA.
I THAT PRACTICALITY OF DOING IT, IT IS A WHOLE OTHER THING.
JUST PULL IT OUT, JUST SEARCH, JUST DO A CONTROL F AND FIND IT.
DID I ANSWER THE EARLIER QUESTION? MADELINE, YOU GOOD? OKAY.
UM, SO LET ME JUST ON THAT, I'LL JUST POINT OUT A FEW THINGS JUST YEAH, CORRECT ME.
BUT, UM, JUST A COUPLE THINGS.
FIRST OF ALL, OUR, MY A TX WATER PROGRAM RIGHT NOW IT'S FOCUSED ON, UM, IMPLEMENT IMPLEMENTATION OR SETTING OUT METERS FIRST IN A SINGLE FAMILY SCENARIO.
AND WHILE THAT'S THE BIGGEST NUMBER OF METERS, UM, MOVING TO ACTUALLY GETTING METERS IN MULTIFAMILY UNITS IS, YOU KNOW, KIND OF DOWN THE ROAD.
SO WE DON'T HAVE THAT LEVEL OF DATA, UM, AS FAR AS TIMELINESS, RIGHT? MM-HMM.
SO JUST WANTED TO POINT THAT OUT.
AND OF COURSE, ANOTHER BIG DRIVER OF WATER USE JUST TO REMIND EVERYBODY, UH, IS OUTDOOR WATER USE.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTS TYPICALLY
[00:15:01]
USE LESS WATER THAN SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTS JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT PART OF THE, THE LAWN CHASING KIND OF ACTIVITY.SO JUST A GENTLE REMINDER AROUND SORT OF SOME OF THAT DATA.
WE DO, HOWEVER, EXPECT THAT AS WE GET MORE FULLY IMPLEMENTED WITH OUR MY A TX WATER PROGRAM, UM, IT'S GONNA GIVE US A LOT MORE INSIGHT, UM, TO A LOT OF THESE NUANCES.
SO JUST WANTED TO THROW THAT OUT THERE.
WELL, IF THE, UH, THE PRESENCE OF A PLASTIC MANHOLE COVER VERSUS A METAL IS ANY INDICATION, Y'ALL ARE WITHIN A BLOCK OF MY HOUSE AND I'M VERY EXCITED
UM, SO, 'CAUSE EVERYONE AROUND ME HAS SOME, SO, UM, I HAVE A QUESTION HERE ABOUT THE POSTCARDS THAT WERE SENT.
OH, THESE MICS ARE VERY SENSITIVE TODAY.
SO YOU ALL SENT A POSTCARD FOR EVERY 3 1 1 CALL THAT YOU GOT OUT TO THE HOME, OR MAYBE NOT EVERY BUT THE ONES YOU COULD.
AND YOU NOTICE IN THAT GRAPH THAT THAT DASH LINE IS, IS IN SOME CASES SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN THE NUMBER OF REPORTS.
UM, THAT'S DUE TO A NUMBER OF REASONS.
SOME OF THOSE REPORTS ARE DUPLICATE REPORTS WHERE YOU MAY GET FIVE PEOPLE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD REPORTING ONE HOUSE.
UM, IN SOME CASES, UM, IF THERE'S INSIGNIFICANT, INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION, WE CAN'T SEND A POSTCARD OUT.
SOMETIMES IT'S WRONGLY REPORTED.
THEY MAY SAY, THIS PERSON IS WATERING ON THE WRONG DAY.
AND WHEN WE LOOK, THAT IS THE RIGHT DAY.
UH, SO THERE'S A NUMBER OF REASONS THAT POSTCARDS CAN'T GO OUT.
AND I THINK WHEN THERE'S THAT RUSH ON THAT, IN THAT STAGE TWO, UH, NOTIFICATION, THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE REPORTING MORE OF THOSE REASONS CAME INTO PLAY.
SO IS THAT THE ACTION WHEN A 3 1 1 REPORT HAPPENS? OR DO YOU ALL TRY TO SEND A PATROL OUT? I KNOW IT'S NOT IN REAL TIME AND THE SPRINKLER'S PROBABLY NOT RUNNING FOR 48 HOURS OR WHATEVER RESPONSE TIME YOU MAY HAVE FOR THOSE TO TRICKLE THROUGH 3 1 1 TO YOUR PATROLS.
BUT YOU KNOW, IF THERE'S REPEATED REPORTS OF SOMETHING, DO YOU ALL DO DRIVE-BYS OR LIKE WHAT'S THE FOLLOW-UP FOR THAT? SO WHEN WE FIRST RECEIVE A 3 0 1 REPORT, UH, WE'LL SEND OUT A POSTCARD TO THE RESIDENTS.
UM, WE WON'T SEND ANOTHER POSTCARD OUT FOR 10 DAYS, GIVING THEM AN OPPORTUNITY TO CHECK THEIR WATER IRRIGATION SYSTEM MM-HMM.
IF WE RECEIVE ANOTHER 3 0 1 REPORT AFTER THOSE 10 DAYS, WE'LL SEND A SECOND POSTCARD AND GIVE THEM TIME TO CHANGE IT.
AND IF WE GET A THIRD REPORT, THEN WE SEND SOMEONE OUT TO ACTUALLY INVESTIGATE ON THAT REPORTED TIME AND DAY OF THE WEEK.
I WANT BET PEOPLE AREN'T TOO PLEASED TO GET A REPORTS CARD SAYING THAT THEY'VE BEEN REPORTED FOR OUTDOOR WATERING, BUT I WA I SEEMS LIKE IT WOULD BE PRETTY EFFECTIVE.
OR I'LL START SOME, SOME BAD BLOOD IN NEIGHBORHOODS.
IT'S ANONYMOUS, RIGHT? IT'S ANONYMOUS.
ROBERT WANTS TO KNOW IF IT'S ANONYMOUS 'CAUSE HE'S CALLED ANONYMOUS.
BUT JUST TO JENNIFER, CAN I FOLLOW UP ON THAT? YEAH.
SO JUST BUT BEYOND THE POSTCARDS IN THE PATROL, THERE IS NOT ANOTHER LEVEL OF ENFORCEMENT, AS IN YOU WOULDN'T, THERE'S NO OTHER ACTION THAT AUSTIN WATER WOULD TAKE TO RESTRICT THE WATER USE OF A SOMEONE WHO'S VIOLATING CITY CODE BY WATERING ON THE WRONG DAYS.
'CAUSE THIS IS A CODE VIOLATION, RIGHT? IT'S IT IS A VIOLATION OF ORDINANCE, CORRECT? YES.
SO WE HAVE THE 3 0 1 REPORTS, AND THEN WE HAVE OUR STAFF GOING OUT AND DOING PATROLS AND, AND THEY, IF THEY WITNESS, UH, VIOLATIONS AND THEY GIVE ONE WARNING, UM, AND THEN THE SECOND TIME IF THEY'RE WITNESSED VIOLATING, THEN THEY GIVE 'EM A CITATION WITH A PENALTY.
WHAT'S THE PENALTY? OH, UH, IT, IT CHANGES AT DIFFERENT STAGES.
UM, IT MAY BE, I THINK IT MAY BE THE, THE MINIMUM MAY BE 75 FOR A RESIDENTIAL FOR THE SECOND STAGE, BUT THERE'S A RANGE THAT THE COUNSEL HAS SET.
SO IT'S BETWEEN, I APOLOGIZE FOR NOT KNOWING THIS OFFHAND, BUT LIKE 75 AND 300 OR SO.
UM, AND IT GOES UP FOR THE NUMBER OF VIOLATIONS IT GOES UP.
IT INCREASES BY THE STAGE, IT INCREASES BY THE NUMBER OF VIOLATIONS, THE RANGES INCREASE, UM, BUT ALSO WITHIN THOSE RANGES, IT GOES UP BY THE AMOUNT OF THEIR HISTORICAL WATER USE.
UH, AND I CAN PROVIDE YOU MUCH BETTER INFORMATION.
UH, NUMBER REASON THAT WOULD BE NUMBER OF REASONS WOULD BE TO SEE JUST, UM,
[00:20:01]
BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, IN SOME CITIES ARE DOING THINGS LIKE PUTTING FLOW RESTRICTORS ON FOLKS THAT HAVE MULTIPLE VIOLATIONS OR CHANGING THEIR WATER RATES OR DIFFERENT, YOU KNOW, ANYWAY.BECAUSE IF WE'RE NOT, THERE'S LOT, THERE'S A, A RANGE OF APPROACHES THAT ARE BEING PUT IN AS WATER BECOMES MORE SCARCE.
IF WE'RE NOT MOVING THE NEEDLE ON REDUCING THE USAGE IN THE WORST DROUGHT WE'VE HAD IN A VERY LONG TIME.
I MEAN, I UNDERSTAND YOUR POINT ABOUT AVOIDING THE SPIKE, UH, HYPOTHETICALLY, BUT, YOU KNOW, UM, I I'M JUST IMAGINING MAYBE YOU MIGHT NEED A STRONGER TOOL IN THE TOOLBOX FOR GETTING THE WORST OFFENDERS TO REDUCE THEIR WATER USAGE, WATERING THEIR LAWNS IN A TIME WHEN WE REALLY CAN'T AFFORD TO DO THAT.
SO I, I THINK IT'D BE GREAT TO SEE THE DATA ON, UM, THOSE, THOSE FINAL STAGE ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS, THE PENALTIES THAT ARE ASSESSED.
UH, AND I DON'T, UH, THERE'S PROBABLY SOME ISSUES WITH MAYBE WE CAN JUST REDACT THAT DATA IN SOME WAY, BUT LIKE, WHERE ARE THOSE USERS, YOU KNOW, LIKE ARE THEY LIKE MADELINE'S POINT EARLIER? ARE THEY SINGLE FAMILY HOMES? WHAT, JUST A LITTLE MORE FLESHING OUT OF, UM, THAT DATA WOULD BE HELPFUL TO SEE.
I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS TOO, THAT'S IMPORTANT CONTEXT IN THE NEXT SLIDE IS ABOUT THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN THAT WHICH HAD NEEDS TO BE UPDATED MAY, 2024 AND IT'S UPDATED EVERY FIVE YEARS, IS WHAT AUSTIN'S PLANNING TO DO ON THAT.
AND, AND EVERYONE ACROSS THE STATE HAS TO, HAS TO UPDATE THEIR DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLANS, WHICH SPELLS OUT DROUGHT STAGES AND, AND AMOUNT OF REDUCTION AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
BUT, BUT ALSO JUST FOR CONTEXT, ONE OF THE REASONS, YOU KNOW, I WANTED US TO TALK ABOUT THIS BESIDES THE FACT THAT WHEN WE SET THIS AGENDA, IT REALLY HADN'T BEEN RAINING TOO MUCH.
AND LIKE, WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO IF IT DOESN'T RAIN? BUT HOW WE, HOW WE APPROACH CONSERVATION AND DROUGHT RESPONSE IN AUSTIN, UM, REALLY IS, YOU KNOW, ONE OF OUR MOST IMPORTANT WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES.
WE'VE GOT OTHER THINGS THAT ARE LIKE, YOU KNOW, WORLD ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE MORE COMPLEX AND ARE SUPER IMPORTANT, SUCH AS THE ONSITE REUSE ORDINANCE AND EVERYTHING.
BUT, BUT IF, BUT, BUT HOW WE USE WATER ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS AND, AND HOW EFFICIENT WE ARE, AND THEN HOW WE RESPOND TO DROUGHTS REALLY DRIVES A LOT OF THE WATER SUPPLY DECISIONS.
SO IT'S VERY IMPORTANT, Y'ALL KNOW THAT I'M JUST TELLING YOU THINGS, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE WELCOME.
A LOT OF EXCELLENT POINTS HERE.
AND, AND I, I WOULD SAY FIRST, YOU KNOW, LET US SHARE WITH YOU SORT OF THE, THE, THE RUBRIC OR THE MATRIX OF OUR, OUR CURRENT FINE PROCESS JUST SO THAT YOU'RE AWARE OF IT.
UM, YOU KNOW, AND I MEAN, GREAT OBSERVATIONS ALL THE WAY ACROSS AND CERTAINLY A LOT TO CONSIDER HERE.
OUR CHALLENGE, AND I'M JUST REFLECTING BACK TO WHEN WE ADOPTED THE MOST RECENT FINE STRUCTURE, THERE'S A LOT TO CONSIDER THERE.
I MEAN, THE IDEA OF MOVING FROM FAIRLY MODEST FINES TO MUCH MORE SIGNIFICANT FINES, THINKING ABOUT THE FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS ON THOSE FINES RELATIVE TO CERTAIN COMMUNITIES.
SO I MEAN, IT'S A VERY COMPLICATED SET OF, UM, CONSIDERATIONS THAT WE HAVE TO TAKE INTO THE CASE, WHICH IS NOT TO SHY AWAY FROM THE FACT THAT ULTIMATELY WE TRY TO PUT IN PLACE THE RIGHT TYPES OF TECHNIQUES TO CHANGE BEHAVIOR.
AND THAT'S REALLY A LOT OF WHAT THIS CONVERSATION IS ABOUT.
CERTAINLY A LOT OF WHAT OUR WATER CONSERVATION TEAM IS DOING, CERTAINLY BROADLY, YOU KNOW, WATER FORWARD IS LOOKING AT REALLY CHANGING PEOPLE'S ATTITUDES ABOUT WATER USE AND WATER NEEDS.
SO ABSOLUTELY GREAT INFORMATION.
I THINK, UM, FUNDAMENTALLY WE DO RE RELY ON VOLUNTARY, YOU KNOW, COMPLIANCE THAT IS OUR STRONGEST TOOL.
SO KNOWLEDGE IS POWER AND THAT'S KIND OF WHERE WE, WHERE WE WANT TO KIND OF CONTINUE TO FOCUS AS WE EVOLVE IN DATA AVAILABILITY AND SORT OF THE ABILITY TO KIND OF THINK ABOUT PROGRAMS DIFFERENTLY.
TODD, WE'RE GETTING YOU CHANGED FROM A PARTICIPANT TO ATTENDING THE MEETING.
SO JUST HOLD TIGHT, JUST SAW YOUR MESSAGE ABOUT, ABOUT THAT.
I THINK KEVIN'S GONNA MOVE FORWARD IN HIS PRESENTATION.
WE JUST WANTED TO DO A LITTLE BIT OF A TIME CHECK.
WE, UM, I THINK WE'LL NEED TO END THIS OVERALL ITEM, INCLUDING THE IPR PRESENTATION BY ABOUT 1250 TO HAVE TIME TO GET TO THE REST OF OUR ITEMS. UM, BUT WE'VE MADE NOTES ABOUT THE, UM, DATA AND INFORMATION THAT TASK FORCE MEMBERS ARE INTERESTED IN SEEING, AND WE'LL WORK WITH CONSERVATION TO FOLLOW UP ON THOSE REQUESTS.
SO AS JENNIFER ALLUDED TO, UH, IF YOU DON'T LIKE THIS DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN, JUST HOLD ON BECAUSE WE'RE MAKING UP A NEW ONE.
[00:25:01]
JUST ON THE RIGHT THERE YOU SEE A FEW OF THE MAJOR COMPONENTS OF A DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN INCLUDES THE DIFFERENT STAGES, UM, IT INCLUDES THE DEMAND MANAGEMENT MEASURES, VARIANCES ENFORCEMENT AND PUBLIC EDUCATION EARLIER THIS MONTH, UH, NOVEMBER 6TH ACTUALLY, UH, SPEAK UP AUSTIN PAGE WAS CREATED FOR THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN, UH, TO SOLICIT INFORMATION ON WHAT WE SHOULD INCLUDE IN THE NEXT PLAN.AND WE'LL HAVE A PUBLIC MEETING ON DECEMBER 12TH, UM, TO RECEIVE FEEDBACK AND, AND TO DISCUSS THE NEXT DRUG CONTINGENCY PLAN.
CAN YOU MAKE SURE THAT THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS ARE INVITED TO THE PUBLIC MEETING? WE'VE BEEN HAVING A REAL ISSUE WITH NOT OF HEARING ABOUT MEETINGS AFTER THEY HAPPEN, THESE KINDS OF THINGS.
AND I KNOW THAT GETTING PEOPLE ON LISTS AND DATA MANAGEMENT IS A PROBLEM.
I'M NOT CASTING BLAME, BUT, BUT I WOULD JUST LIKE THIS.
NO, IT'S WEEK AFTER NEXT, BUT JUST SO FOLKS CAN BE THERE TO GET A DEEPER DIVE FOR THE FOLKS THAT WANT TO YEAH, THANK YOU.
AND RATHER THAN RELYING ON EMAIL LISTS TO ACCOMPLISH THAT, UM, WE'LL WORK WITH KEVIN SO THAT AN EMAIL COMES OUT DIRECTLY FROM EMILY TO TASK FORCE MEMBERS.
UH, THIS IS JUST, UH, SOME OF THE MAJOR MILESTONES IN GETTING BETWEEN NOW AND, UH, TURNING IN THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN ON MAY 1ST.
UM, NOVEMBER, WE PUT A SPEAK UP AUSTIN PAGE UP THIS MONTH, DECEMBER WE'LL HAVE A PUBLIC MEETING.
UM, AND THEN WE'LL BE BACK HERE IN FEBRUARY.
THE PLAN IS FOR THE TO THE WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE, UH, PRESENTING THE DRAFT DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN.
UH, WE'LL ALSO GO TO SEVERAL OTHER BODIES AND THEN MARCH WATER AND WASTEWATER IN APRIL CITY COUNCIL.
SO IT WILL BE A, A QUICK MARCH TO THE COUNCIL, UM, AFTER THE NEW YEAR WITH THE NEW DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN.
AND I ALSO LIST UP THERE, UH, THAT THIS IS THE SAME FOR A NEW WATER CONSERVATION PLAN.
NEXT SLIDE, WHICH IS ALSO DUE MAY 1ST OF NEXT YEAR.
UH, THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN DESCRIBES THE VARIOUS STRATEGIES THAT WE UTILIZE, NOT JUST IN DROUGHT, BUT ALL THE TIME, UH, TO ENCOURAGE WATER EFFICIENCY AND, AND DECREASE WATER LOSS AND INCREASE THE REUSE OF WATER.
UH, THE TIMELINE FOR THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN WILL BE ALMOST EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN.
THEY'LL BE GOING IN PARALLEL TO THE DIFFERENT BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, AND THEN THE COUNCIL NEXT SLIDE.
AND FINALLY, I WANTED TO GIVE YOU A QUICK UPDATE ON THE LANDSCAPE TRANSFORMATION STRATEGY THAT IS IN THE CURRENT WATER FORWARD PLAN.
AS YOU MAY RECALL, THIS WAS A STRATEGY FROM THE LAST PLAN FOR NEW SINGLE FAMILY HOMES TO HELP, UH, TRANSFORM THEIR LANDSCAPES INTO ONE THAT USES ONES THAT USE LESS DRINKING WATER TO WATER THEIR LANDSCAPE.
UH, WE'RE APPROACHING THIS NOT WITH JUST ONE SINGLE ORDINANCE, BUT A BUNDLE OF DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES YOU SEE UP THERE.
EIGHT DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES PRIMARILY, UH, BETTER SOIL AND PLANTS, MORE EFFICIENT IRRIGATION SYSTEMS, AND THEN OFFERING SUBSTITUTES FOR DRINKING WATER ON YOUR LANDSCAPE.
AND THOSE ARE THE DIFFERENT, UH, MILESTONES AND IMPLEMENTATION.
WE ALREADY HAD ACHIEVED ONE, UH, UP AT THE TOP THERE.
UM, BUT THEY'LL BE GO, MANY OF THEM WILL BE GOING ON THROUGHOUT THE NEXT SPRING.
AND THEN, UH, THE LAST ONES WILL BE A PLUMBING CODE UPDATE IN THAT WILL TAKE EFFECT IN JANUARY OF 2025.
SO THAT'S HOW WE'RE MOVING ALONG WITH THE LANDSCAPE TRANSFORMATION.
AND THAT'S THE END OF MY SLIDES, UNLESS THERE ARE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS.
[Items 3 & 4 (Part 1 of 3) ]
DOING IPR.WE HAVE SARAH EATON JOINING US TO PROVIDE AN UPDATE ON IPR.
I'M HOPING SHE BROUGHT WATER SAMPLES.
UM, I'M GONNA BE TALKING ABOUT THE WORK THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING ON OUR INDIRECT PORTABLE REUSE PLANNING.
UM, WE'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE CONDITIONS IN WHICH IPR WOULD BE IMPLEMENTED, JUST AS SORT OF A REMINDER, THE OVERALL PROJECT CONFIGURATION, UM, THE IMPLEMENTA IMPLEMENTATION PATHWAYS, ALONG WITH THE DRAWDOWN
[00:30:01]
TIME ESTIMATES.SO THOSE ARE PRETTY INTERRELATED.
AND, UM, A TIMELINE OF THE WORK THAT WE'VE DONE SO FAR AND THAT WE'RE PLANNING TO DO.
SO THIS HIGHLIGHT WAS A REMINDER ON THE CURRENT STORAGE TO UPDATE THAT, AND WE ARE, AS OF NOW, AT 840,248 ACRE FEET OF COMBINED STORAGE BETWEEN TRAVIS AND BUCHANAN.
SO, DROPPED A LITTLE BIT SINCE WHEN WE PUT THE SLIDE TOGETHER.
UM, THIS IS A REMINDER OF THE CONTEXT IN WHICH IPR WOULD BE IMPLEMENTED.
IT'S AN EMERGENCY WATER SUPPLY STRATEGY THAT WOULD ONLY COME ONLINE IN A DROUGHT SIGNIFICANTLY WORSE THAN THE WORST WE'VE EXPERIENCED.
UH, THE LOWEST WE'VE EVER HAD.
THE LAKES IS 639,000 ACRE FEET, I THINK.
AND MARISA, DID YOU WANNA I SAID ABOUT RIGHT? YEAH.
UM, AND YOU CAN SORT OF SEE THIS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF OUR CURRENT DCP STAGES.
WE'LL HAVE TO UPDATE THE SLIDE ONCE WE GET THOSE NEW DCPS IN PLACE.
UM, BUT THIS IS A STRATEGY THAT WOULD BE IN PLACE FOR AS SHORT A TIME AS POSSIBLE IN ORDER TO MAKE UP, UM, WATER SO THAT WE HAVE SUFFICIENT WATER IN THE SYSTEM.
THE STRATEGY CAME OUT OF THE WATER FOUR 18 PLAN AND WITHIN THE WATER FOUR 18 PLAN.
UM, IT WAS BASED ON WATER AVAILABILITY MODELING TO BE IN PLACE BY 2040.
AND THERE WERE NOT ANY MODELED EVENTS PRIOR TO 2040 THAT WOULD'VE, UM, THAT WOULD'VE HAD IPR COMING ONLINE.
THAT BEING SAID, WE LIVE IN A WORLD OF UNPRECEDENTED YEARS COMING AFTER OTHER UNPRECEDENTED YEARS, SO WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT A LITTLE BIT IN THE IMPLEMENTATION PATHWAYS DISCUSSION.
UM, SO WE KIND OF HAVE A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION PATHWAYS, AND WE HAVE A COUPLE OF SORT OF PLANNING THAT WE'RE DOING FOR IPR AND WAYS THAT WE'RE ADDRESSING SOME OF THE KEY QUESTIONS.
SO, MORE SPECIFICALLY WITH OUR NOVEMBER, UH, COMBINED STORAGE OUTLOOK, WE CAN SEE WHERE THE IPR IMPLEMENTATION LIES ON, UH, THE SIX MONTH PROJECTIONS FROM LCRA.
UM, THIS SHOWS THAT WITHIN THE NEXT SIX MONTHS, WE WOULDN'T GET ANYWHERE CLOSE TO THE 400,000 ACRE FEET, BUT IT ALSO SHOWS THAT THERE'S A GOOD POTENTIAL THAT WE WOULD STAY AT THESE LOW LEVELS OF STORAGE, WHICH, UM, WE KIND OF ARE LOOKING AT A SEASONAL IMPLEMENT, YOU KNOW, COMPONENT TO OUR TRIGGERING DISCUSSIONS IN TERMS OF AN EMERGENCY IMPLEMENTATION.
BUT IF WE DO ENTER NEXT SUMMER AT THIS LIKE 700 TO 800,000 ACRE FOOT OF STORAGE AREA, WE HAVE CERTAINLY PLENTY OF CAUSE FOR CONCERN.
SO JUST A QUICK REFRESHER ON THE PROJECT LAYOUT.
THE CONCEPT IS THAT WATER, HIGHLY TREATED WATER WOULD BE CONVEYED THROUGH OUR, UM, RECLAIM SYSTEM FROM ONE OF OUR WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS UP TO THE EAST END OF LADY BIRD.
LAKE WATER WOULD THEN BE A NEW INTAKE WOULD BE BUILT FOR ULRICH WATER TREATMENT PLANT, WHICH CURRENTLY DRAWS OFF OF LAKE AUSTIN SO THAT WE WOULD BE ABLE TO SUPPLY, UM, THAT FROM, FROM LADYBIRD LAKE.
SO WE'D HAVE A NEW, A NEW SOURCE FOR THE ULRICH WATER TREATMENT PLANT, WHICH WOULD BE PULLING, UM, THE, THE NATIVE WATER OF LADYBIRD LAKE AS WELL AS POTENTIALLY SOME OF THE BARTON SPRINGS FLOWS BASED ON THE HYDRAULIC MODELING THAT WE'VE DONE THUS FAR.
IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THERE WOULD BE VERY MUCH OF THE EFFLUENT ACTUALLY MAKING IT UP TO THE INTAKE, BUT THAT OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, IF THERE WERE NO FLOWS COMING THROUGH, THAT COULD BE SLIGHTLY ADJUSTED.
AND SO WE'RE REVISITING THAT MODEL WITH A CONSULTANT RIGHT NOW TO UNDERSTAND WITH UPDATED WATER QUALITY AND SORT OF FLOW CONDITIONS INFORMATION, UM, HOW WE MIGHT BETTER SET SOME SCENARIOS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT BOTH THE, THE DYNAMICS AND THE WATER QUALITY IMPACTS COULD BE OF HAVING IPR ONLINE.
SO YOU'LL SEE THAT RIGHT NOW THERE ARE TWO POTENTIAL SOURCES OF EFFLUENT, AND PART OF THIS COMES FROM THE DESIRE TO EVENTUALLY HAVE AN INTEGRATED, UH, CENTRALIZED RECLAIMED SYSTEM, WHICH IS FEEDING FROM BOTH WALNUT CREEK, UM, WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT AND SOUTH AUSTIN REGIONAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT.
UM, AND IT'S ALSO A PART OF OUR PROCESS RIGHT NOW TO UNDERSTAND AND MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THE BEST ALTERNATIVE AND REVIEWING THE WATER QUALITY AND THE CONSTITUENTS COMING FROM EACH OF THOSE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS TO
[00:35:01]
SEE, UM, WHICH WOULD BE BOTH IN AN EMERGENCY IMPLEMENTATION SCENARIO AND UNDER, UM, THE THE LONGER TERM IMPLEMENTATION SCENARIO, WHICH ONE WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, EXPEDIENT AND EFFECTIVE AND SAFE.SO AS I'VE ALLUDED TO, WE SORT OF HAVE SOME PARALLEL PATHWAYS RIGHT NOW, THE 2040, WHICH HAS AN ASTERISK IN LATER SLIDES BECAUSE IT'S 2040 OR AS SOON AS WE CAN GET IT DONE THROUGH THE TRADITIONAL IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS.
UM, AND THE EMERGENCY IMPLEMENTATION PATHWAY.
UM, THE 2040 IMPLEMENTATION PATHWAY IS LOOKING RIGHT NOW WITH THE CHARACTERIZATION OF IPR OPTIONS THROUGH THE WATER FORWARD PROCESS AND EVALUATING SOME OF THOSE TRADE-OFFS, LOOKING AT THE COSTS AND THE YIELDS, UM, ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS THROUGH THAT WATER QUALITY MODELING PROCESS AND COMPARING THIS AGAINST OTHER POTENTIAL EMERGENCY WATER SUPPLIES.
IF WE START TO GET TO, UM, TO A POINT WHERE SOME OTHER, SOME OTHER STRATEGIES MIGHT LOOK COMPETITIVE AS COMPARED WITH IPR FOR A STRATEGY, THE EMERGENCY IMPLEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PATHWAY IS LOOKING A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT.
OF COURSE, THE MORE THAT'S ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH THE 2040 IMPLEMENTATION PATHWAY, THE EASIER THE EMERGENCY IMPLEMENTATION PATHWAY GETS.
BUT AS WE'RE SORT OF APPROACHING THIS PERIOD WHERE WE COULD POTENTIALLY BE TRIGGERING MORE ACCELERATED CONSTRUCTION, IF THIS DROUGHT CONTINUES, WE'RE DOING A LOT OF COORDINATION ACROSS THE UTILITY AND ACROSS THE CITY.
WE HAVE PLANNED, UM, YOU KNOW, WORKSHOPS BECAUSE THE IDEA THERE IS THAT WE'RE REALLY GONNA HAVE TO PULL FOLKS FROM EVERY DEPARTMENT IN ORDER TO MOBILIZE AND IDENTIFY THE BEST PATH FORWARD AND GET THAT, UM, GET THAT PROJECT IN PLACE SO THAT WE HAVE A RESILIENT WATER SUPPLY.
SO ONE OF THE COMPONENTS THAT APPLIES TO BOTH THE EMERGENCY IMPLEMENTATION AND THE 2040 IMPLEMENTATION PATHWAY IS, UH, THE REGULATORY, UH, CIRCUMSTANCES AND REQUIREMENTS.
UM, LADYBIRD LAKE HAS BEEN LISTED AS IMPAIRED FOR ALGAE.
SO THE, THE EFFLUENT, UM, OR THE REQUIREMENT, THE DISCHARGE PERMIT REQUIREMENTS THAT WE WOULD BE ANTICIPATING OF DISCHARGING INTO LADYBIRD LAKE ARE A LOT MORE STRINGENT WHEN WE ARE FIR THEN WHEN WE WERE FIRST LOOKING AT THIS STRATEGY.
UH, SO THAT'S SOMETHING WE'RE EXPLORING TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO BE ABLE TO, YOU KNOW, BE COMPLIANT AND NOT HAVE NEGATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS WHILE STILL BALANCING THAT WITH THE NEED FOR AN EMERGENCY WATER SUPPLY.
UM, AS A RESULT OF THAT, WE'RE, WE'RE DOING THIS MODELING WITH, UM, OUR CONSULTANT AND LOOKING THEN USING THE MODELING TO INFORM WHAT SORT OF ADDITIONAL WATER TREATMENT MAY BE REQUIRED AND WHAT'S THE BEST CONFIGURATION AND SET UP, UM, REVIEWING BOTH WALNUT CREEK AND SOUTH AUSTIN REGIONAL AS POTENTIAL SOURCES GIVEN THAT INFORMATION.
SO THIS IS REQUIRING SOME COORDINATION WITH OUR CONSULTANT WITH VARIOUS, YOU KNOW, PARTS OF OUR AUSTIN WATER STAFF AND TCQ TO LOOK AT, UH, WHAT SORT OF, IT'S, IT'S, WE HAVE THE ALGAE, UM, IMPAIRMENT IS A RELATIVELY NEW IMPAIRMENT.
SO THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT TCEQ IS SUPER USED TO WORKING THROUGH A DISCHARGE PERMIT INTO AN ALGAE IMPAIRED WATER BODY.
SO, UH, THAT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO TAKE A LITTLE BIT MORE TIME AND HAVE A LITTLE BIT HIGHER SCRUTINY THAN NORMAL.
UM, ADDITIONALLY, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT, WE'VE GOT, IT'S AN UNUSUAL KIND OF PROJECT TO ONLY HAVE SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE ONLINE FOR BRIEF PERIODS OF TIME.
SO THERE'S PERMITTING COMPLEXITIES THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THAT.
AND AS AN EMERGENCY WATER SUPPLY, WE'RE HOPING THAT THERE MIGHT BE SOME SORT OF UNDERSTANDING THAT OUR, OUR IMPACTS WOULD BE VERY DIFFERENT FROM AN OUTFALL THAT WOULD BE CONTINUOUSLY DISCHARGING.
SO LOOKING THROUGH A LOT OF THOSE DIFFERENT PATHWAYS.
SO WHAT ABOUT THE, UM, VOLUME ISSUE? I MEAN, DO YOU NEED A BEN BANKS PERMIT FROM TCQ TO THEN USE THIS WATER TO DEFER USING RESERVOIR WATER? SO WE ALREADY HAVE THE RIGHT TO WITHDRAW WATER FROM LADYBIRD LAKE, AND I THINK UNLESS WE HAD SOME REASON TO BELIEVE THAT THE WATER THAT WE WERE DISCHARGING TO LADY BIRD LAKE MIGHT BE USED BY SOMEONE ELSE, I DON'T THINK WE NECESSARILY NEED A BED AND BANKS PERMIT BECAUSE WHAT WE WOULD NEED IS THE PERMIT FOR THE DISCHARGE.
THAT'S THE ONE KIND OF BIG PERMITTING PIECE THAT ISN'T THERE.
UM, BUT BECAUSE WE ALREADY HAVE THE ABILITY TO WITHDRAW, EVEN THOUGH WE'RE NOT CURRENTLY DOING IT, HAD THE ABILITY TO DRAW WITHDRAW FROM LADYBIRD LAKE.
I THINK WE TALKED THROUGH WHETHER THAT'S NECESSARY AND THAT'S CERTAINLY AN ONGOING CONSIDERATION
[00:40:01]
IF ANYTHING ELSE COMES UP.BUT I THINK THE WAY THAT WE'VE SORT OF LOOKED AT IT THUS FAR, OUR EXPECTATION WOULD BE THAT WE WOULDN'T NEED A VEN BANKS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? YEAH, I HAVE A, I HAVE A MORE RUDIMENTARY QUESTION.
UM, WHERE WOULD THE DISCHARGE FROM THESE TREATMENT FACILITIES NORMALLY GO INTO THE COLORADO RIVER BELOW LONGHORN DAM? SO HOW DOES PUMPING IT BACK INTO LADY BIRD LAKE HELP US? BECAUSE WE CAN WITHDRAW WATER FROM LADY BIRD LAKE TO USE THAT AS A WATER SUPPLY.
SO WE'RE GONNA PUT WATER IN AND, BUT WE'RE STILL WITHDRAWING UPSTREAM.
SO WHEN YOU'RE SAYING THAT, UM, WE HAVE A, UM, WE ARE ABLE TO TAKE WATER FROM LADY PER LAKE, IS THAT BECAUSE OF THE, OUR PERMIT, UM, FOR THE DECOMMISSIONED GREEN WATER PLANT? I BELIEVE THAT THAT'S THE ORIGIN OF THAT.
I BELIEVE THAT THAT'S CORRECT AS WELL.
AND WE ALSO HAVE RICHARD HERE WHO COULD HAVE ALL THE PEOPLE THAT COULD ANSWER THAT BEST SITTING AT THIS TABLE.
WE USED TO USE, UM, UH, THE GREEN WATER TREATMENT PLANT TO WITHDRAW FROM LADY BIRD LAKE, AND WE STILL HAVE THAT, THAT RIGHT.
TO WITHDRAW WATER FROM LADY BIRD LAKE FROM, SO THAT WAS THE 42 MGD MAX, UM, PLANT.
SO IS, DO YOU STILL HAVE THE RIGHT TO WITHDRAW 42 MGD? RIGHT.
BUT I, I THINK THE PERMIT IS WRITTEN IN SUCH A WAY THAT THERE, I DON'T THINK THERE'S A LIMITATION OF THAT AMOUNT, UH, FOR WITHDRAWALS OUT OF LADY BIRD LAKE.
UM, I THINK IT'S, IT'S A LARGER AMOUNT THAT WE POTENTIALLY COULD, BUT THAT'S HOW MUCH THE, THE PLAN AT THAT TIME WAS DOING.
RICHARD, YOU, UM, DO YOU RECOLLECT HOW MUCH, IS THERE A LIMITATION FOR THAT? YEAH, YOU'RE, YOU'RE CORRECT.
THE, THE WATER RIGHT ITSELF IS NOT LIMITED ON WITHDRAWAL RATE AND THE IPR, UM, WOULD BE A 20 MGD PROJECT AS IT'S CURRENTLY CONCEIVED OF.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? YEAH, YEAH.
WHEN YOU, YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT ALGAE, ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT CYTOTOXIN OF COURSE.
OR WHAT ARE YOU SPECIFICALLY WORRIED ABOUT? AND I MEAN, THE REUSE, UH, YOU, YOU'RE, YOU'RE, YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT THAT LADY BIRD LAKE THAT WHAT'S, WHAT'S COMING INTO OR WOULD BE COMING OUT, UH, FROM DECKER LAKE TO LADY BIRD LAKE WILL HAVE, UH, EXISTING ALGAE OR CYTOTOXIN.
IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE CONCERNED ABOUT? I THINK THERE ARE A COUPLE OF COMPONENTS THERE.
AND TO CLARIFY, IT WOULDN'T BE COMING FROM YEAH.
IT WOULD JUST BE, UM, PUMPED FROM THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT THROUGH ADVANCED TREATMENT TO, UM, LADYBIRD LAKE AND THEN FROM LADYBIRD LAKE TO ULRICH, UH, WATER TREATMENT PLANT.
BUT I THINK THERE ARE CONCERNS AT BOTH ENDS.
ONE OF THEM IS NOT, YOU KNOW, IF AS AN IMPAIRED WATERWAY, WHICH IS A TCQ OR AN NEPA CLEAN WATERS DESIGNATION, WE WOULD NOT NECESSARILY BE ABLE TO GET A PERMIT IF OUR DISCHARGE WERE TO NEGATIVELY IMPACT THAT, UM, IMPAIRMENT.
SO IN THIS CASE, THE ALGAE THAT WE'VE EXPERIENCED ON LADY BIRD LAKE, IF OUR DISCHARGE WERE TO NEGATIVELY IMPACT THAT SITUATION, WE WOULD NOT NECESSARILY BE ALLOWED TO DISCHARGE.
AND THEN OF COURSE, THERE'S, YOU KNOW, NUMEROUS OTHER, THE PUBLIC HEALTH CONSIDERATION THAT LADY BIRD LAKE IS, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING THAT'S, THAT'S, UH, HAS A, A LOT OF RECREATION AND WE'VE HAD THE DOGS, YOU KNOW, HAVING THE CYTOTOXIN POISONING AND WHATNOT.
UM, AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE, FROM THE WATER TREATMENT PLANT PERSPECTIVE, CONCERNS ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE WATER THAT WOULD BE COMING INTO OUR DRINKING WATER SYSTEM.
UM, IF, AND THIS IS OF COURSE LOOKING AT WATER QUALITY IN A WATER BODY UNDER CONDITIONS THAT WE'VE NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE.
SO UNDERSTANDING AND PLANNING FOR AN APPROPRIATE LEVEL OF TREATMENT SUCH THAT THIS PROJECT WOULDN'T NEGATIVELY, NEGATIVELY IMPACT, YOU KNOW, HEALTH AND SAFETY IS REALLY CRITICAL.
SO UNDERSTANDING WE HAVE A CURRENT, YOU KNOW, ANO TOIN RESPONSE PLAN FOR THE WATER TREATMENT PLANT.
UM, BUT I THINK THAT THIS CERTAINLY IS REQUIRING, YOU KNOW, THAT WE, WE REVISIT
[00:45:01]
THAT LOOKING AT A DIFFERENT SOURCE OF WATER AND WHAT KIND OF ISSUES MIGHT ARISE IN A, A DROUGHT SO MUCH WORSE THAN WHAT WE'VE EXPERIENCED.SO YOU'RE SAYING THAT THERE'S, THERE COULD BE A LOT OF RED FLAGS.
THERE'S A NUMBER OF THINGS THAT WE'LL BE EVALUATING AS PART OF BOTH THE WATER QUALITY MODELING AND IN THE LEAD UP AS PART OF THE PERMITTING DISCUSSIONS.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN MIND THAT THIS STRATEGY WOULD BE USED DURING VERY SEVERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS.
AND SO WE'RE NOT SURE WHAT INFLOWS INTO LADY BIRD LAKE WOULD LOOK LIKE WITHOUT THE ADDITION OF, UM, HIGHLY TREATED RECLAIMED WATER.
SO WE'VE HAD SOME INITIAL CONVERSATIONS WITH WATERSHED PROTECTION TO UNDERSTAND WHAT, UM, THAT COULD MEAN IN THE SEVERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS WITHOUT ADDITIONAL WATER, UH, WATER, UH, LADY BIRD LAKE COULD, WOULD LIKELY BE VERY STAGNANT.
THE WATER WOULD LIKELY ALSO BE WARMER.
AND SO THAT CAN BE A CONDITION THAT EXACERBATES THE, THE PROLIFERATION OF ALGAE.
UM, AND POTENTIALLY, UH, HAVE THOSE CYTOTOXIN KIND OF IMPACTS IF WE ARE ADDING WATER.
THAT IS SOME, THIS WOULD BE KIND OF AN UNKNOWN SITUATION.
SO WE'VE HAD SOME OF THOSE INITIAL CONVERSATIONS WITH WATERSHED TO SAVE.
COULD THIS ACTUALLY BE, UM, HELPING IN, UH, ONE KIND OF SENSE BY ADDING SOME ADDITIONAL VOLUME MIXING AND MOVEMENT WITHIN THAT WATER BODY.
BUT AGAIN, ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE THINGS THAT WE WOULD NEED TO DO FURTHER, UM, MODELING STUDY, UM, AND OF COURSE BE TALKING TO TCEQ TO EVALUATE.
I THINK MADELINE HAS HER HAND UP AS WELL.
ASK A QUESTION MADELINE, VANESSA.
AND THEN WE SHOULD PROBABLY KEEP GOING 'CAUSE I THINK WE'RE GONNA CRUNCH SOME OTHER AGENDA ITEMS. I THINK VANESSA HAD HER HAND UP FIRST IF SHE'D LIKE TO GO.
UM, YEAH, I MEAN I DEFINITELY HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT THE STRATEGY.
I UNDERSTAND Y'ALL ARE STILL, UH, UH, EXPLORING IT AND THERE'S A LOT MORE TO BE STUDIED, BUT I KNOW THE CITY OF BOSTON HAS ALSO, UH, PROTESTED EFFORTS TO DISCHARGE TREATED EFFLUENT AND TO RIVERS IN THE HILL COUNTRY BECAUSE OF THE IMPACT THAT WOULD HAVE ON, UM, ON THE LAKE AND OR THE, YOU KNOW, LADY BIRD LAKE.
SO I THINK, YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST A LOT TO CONSIDER AND IT MAKES ME WONDER WHY WE, BEFORE WE EXPLORE IPR AS AN ALTERNATIVE DURING AN EMERGENCY, WHY AREN'T WE FIRST LOOKING AT DIRECT CODEABLE REUSE, WHICH, UM, PERHAPS IS MORE EXPENSIVE, I DON'T KNOW, BUT WOULD AVOID ALL OF THESE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES THAT I THINK ARE GOING TO BE REAL WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO IT.
AND I THINK ESPECIALLY THAT, YOU KNOW, ONCE WE HAVE THE RESULTS OF THIS WATER QUALITY MODELING, WE'LL BE IN A REALLY GOOD POSITION TO UNDERSTAND WHAT EXTENT OF TREATMENT WOULD BE REQUIRED SUCH THAT IPR WOULDN'T HAVE NEGATIVE IMPACTS ON THE WATER, YOU KNOW, ON THE WATER BODY.
AND THEN WE CAN COMPARE THE COST OF THOSE.
AND THE FEASIBILITY OF IPR VERSUS DPR.
THERE'S CERTAINLY, I MEAN, THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT, UM, BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS ON BOTH OF THEM.
I THINK FOR ONE, THE TREATMENT THAT'S TYPICALLY USED FOR DPR IS REVERSE OSMOSIS, WHICH DOESN'T DO WELL AT SCALING UP AND DOWN.
YOU CAN'T REALLY TURN IT OFF FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME.
SO AS THIS IS CONCEIVED AS AN EMERGENCY WATER SUPPLY, YOU WOULD REALLY HAVE TO KIND OF RETHINK THE ROLE OF THIS PROJECT WITHIN THE OVERALL WATER FORWARD STRATEGY.
UM, ADDITIONALLY, YOU KNOW, THERE'S, THERE ARE A LOT OF, YOU KNOW, PUBLIC HEALTH, PUBLIC ACCEPTANCE AND CONCERN.
UM, BUT THEN AGAIN INTRODUCING A A, A NATURAL BUFFER, I'M SORRY, A NATURAL BUFFER LIKE A WATER BODY, UM, INTRODUCING A NATURAL BUFFER LIKE LADY BIRD LAKE INTRODUCES THE CYTOTOXIN CONCERNS AND SOME OTHERS.
SO THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT OF TRADE-OFFS THAT WE'RE CONSIDERING AT THIS POINT.
AND I THINK WE ARE RIGHT NOW, HOPEFULLY GETTING SUFFICIENT INFORMATION THAT WE CAN STEP BACK AND GIVE A REALLY, YOU KNOW, THOROUGH EVALUATION OF WHICH OF THESE STRATEGIES IS GONNA BE THE MOST EFFECTIVE AT MEETING OUR NEEDS AND MAKING SURE THAT WE DO HAVE AN EMERGENCY WATER SUPPLY.
IT'S NOBODY'S FAVORITE STRATEGY
NOBODY REALLY WANTS TO EVER HAVE TO TURN IT ON, BUT WE CERTAINLY WILL WANNA HAVE IT THERE.
IF WE GET INTO THE CIRCUMSTANCE WHERE WE HAVE, WE'RE APPROACHING 400,000 ACRE FEET OF WATER, AS MARISA NOTED, THAT'S GOING TO BE PRETTY ENVIRONMENTALLY DIRE PRIOR TO EVEN IPR PLAYING A PART IN THE OVERALL SYSTEM.
AND JUST TO MENTION VERY QUICKLY, AND WE, I KNOW WE HAVE TWO MORE QUESTIONS, SO I WANNA GET THOSE QUICKLY THROUGH, UM, QUICKLY TOO.
[00:50:01]
IPR WAS INCLUDED AS A RECOMMENDED STRATEGY WITHIN THE WATER FORWARD PLAN, UM, RECOMMENDED BY THE TASK FORCE AND, AND APPROVED BY COUNCIL DIRECT POTABLE REUSE, UM, FELL OUT AS A STRATEGY FROM THE 2018 PLAN.SO THAT DID NOT MAKE IT THROUGH THE SCREENING OR EVALUATION PROCESSES AND, UM, WAS NOT INCLUDED AS RECOMMENDED, WHICH IS WHY WE'VE BEEN MOVING FORWARD IN ALIGNMENT WITH THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS TO EVALUATE IPR AS A NEAR TERM EMERGENCY SUPPLY STRATEGY.
BUT OF COURSE, IT'S SOMETHING WE CAN CERTAINLY RECONSIDER AS WE'RE PLANNING FOR POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION AND UPDATING OUR WATER FORWARD PLAN.
UH, MADELINE AND THEN BILL, UM, ARE YOU GUYS TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE EVAPORATION LOSS THAT THE WATER WOULD HAVE WHEN GOING, UM, TO THE IPR VERSUS THE DPR? 'CAUSE I FEEL LIKE DURING A SEVERE DROUGHT CONDITION AND PROBABLY THE HEAT ASSOCIATED WITH THAT, THERE WOULD BE A LOT MORE WATER LOSS OVERALL RATHER THAN, THAT'S A REALLY GOOD POINT.
UM, YEAH, I THINK, I MEAN THERE ARE WATER LOSSES JUST ASSOCIATED WITH THE TREATMENT OF DPR, BUT THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE CAN DEFINITELY MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE CONSIDERING.
SORRY, BILL, I'M NOT GONNA ASK A QUESTION.
UM, I MEAN, DO YOU STILL HAVE A QUESTION? I'LL, OH, SORRY.
WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT AFTERWARDS.
AND I HAVE A COUPLE MORE SLIDES, MAYBE I'LL ANSWER IT.
CAN WE MOVE ON? YEAH, THERE WE GO.
SO AS WE, I MEAN WE SORT OF TOUCHED ON THIS, I CAN BREEZE THROUGH THESE HOPEFULLY, BUT LET ME KNOW IF THERE'S ANYTHING ELSE WE NEED TO, UM, TALK ABOUT IN ANY MORE DETAIL.
THE, THE 2040 IMPLEMENTATION PATHWAY IS USING IS PLANNING TO USE OUR, YOU KNOW, TYPICAL, UH, CIP PLANNING PROCESS.
AND, UM, AND THIS WOULD BE PRIOR TO 2040.
THAT'S THE, THE ASTERISK THERE IS UNDER OUR SORT OF NORMAL PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION STRUCTURES.
HOW, HOW QUICKLY DO WE THINK WE CAN GET THIS REASONABLY IN PLACE, UM, BEFORE 2040.
AND SO THAT'S LOOKING, UH, AT THE OUTCOMES OF THAT REGULATORY DISCUSSION, COORDINATING WITH OUR CENTRALIZED RECLAIM SYSTEM AND OUR WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE CAN MAKE ANY OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WE'RE BUILDING MULTI BENEFICIAL, WHICH IS REALLY IMPORTANT IN A STRATEGY LIKE THIS THAT IDEALLY WILL NOT BE USED VERY OFTEN.
SO HOPING THAT'S JUST NOT STRANDED INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO, UM, TRYING TO COORDINATE AND BE REALLY STRATEGIC WITH THOSE OTHER GROUPS WITHIN THE UTILITY.
UM, WE'VE GOT PLANNING LEVEL COST ESTIMATES AND THAT WE'RE REVISITING WITH THE HELP OF THE CONSULTANT IN OUR WATER FORWARD UPDATE.
AND, UM, WE'VE BEEN WORKING THROUGH HOW TO ACCELERATE THE, THOSE SORT OF RELATED PROJECTS THAT ARE MAYBE ALSO BENEFITING THE CENTRALIZED RECLAIM SYSTEM AND MOVE THOSE UP A LITTLE BIT SOONER WITHIN OUR CIP PROCESS SO THAT WE COULD BE READY PRIOR TO 2040.
SO THE OTHER SIDE OF COIN AND THE OTHER PATHWAY THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING THROUGH IS THIS EMERGENCY IMPLEMENTATION PATHWAY.
UM, THIS IS CONTINGENCY PLANNING AT THIS POINT.
WE'VE BEEN EVALUATING ALL OF THESE ITEMS THAT ARE LISTED THERE ON THE, ON THE LIST ON THE LEFT AND, AND TRYING TO FIT THEM WITHIN THESE SORT OF EMERGENCY PHASES, WHICH WE'VE BEEN, YOU KNOW, DOING THE LOW HANGING FRUIT TYPE OF PRE-PLANNING, ONGOING, MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE COORDINATION ACROSS THE GROUPS AND MAKING SURE THAT FOLKS ARE AWARE OF THE STRATEGY AND ARE THINKING ABOUT IT.
UM, AND THEN HINGING THESE ADDITIONAL PHASES OFF OF THE COMBINED STORAGE AND THE COMBINED STORAGE OUTLOOK AND MAYBE SOME OF THAT INFLOW INFORMATION AND ENZO CONDITIONS AND ANYTHING THAT WE CAN USE TO, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE, UM, WE HAVE SUFFICIENT TIME TO GET A STRATEGY ON THE GROUND AS WE APPROACH THOSE REALLY LOW STORAGE VOLUMES.
UM, BUT ALSO TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE CONDITIONS AS WELL AS WE CAN SO THAT WE AREN'T, YOU KNOW, AREN'T STARTING THROUGH AN EMERGENCY IMPLEMENTATION, UM, WHEN WE COULD, WHEN MAYBE LIKE THOSE EXTRA COST AND THE, YOU KNOW, THAT COULD BE AVOIDED IF WE KNOW THAT WE ARE GONNA BE IN A BETTER STORAGE CONDITION THAN PREDICTED.
[00:55:01]
THAT IS, UM, A BEAUTIFUL GRAPH LIKE THIS.I GET TO HAND IT OVER TO DR. RICHARD HAUER AGAIN, BUT WE WANTED TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT EMERGENCY PLANNING STRUCTURE WHERE WE'RE HINGING THE, THE DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES OFF OF COMBINED STORAGE LEVELS.
AND THE AMOUNT OF TIME THAT WE'RE ASSOCIATING WITH EACH OF THOSE PHASES IS NOT JUST BASED ON HOW MUCH TIME WE THINK WE NEED, BUT THIS IS COMING FROM, UH, DRAWDOWN MODELING THAT RICHARD HAS PERFORMED BY BY SORT OF LOOKING AT, UM, ADDITIONAL HYDROLOGY, HISTORICAL HYDROLOGY INFORMATION, UM, WHICH I WILL LET HIM EXPLAIN.
UM, SO THIS, THIS GRAPH, UM, THINK BACK TO THOSE OTHER OTHER TWO GRAPHS.
WE'D SEEN THE LCRA STORAGE PROJECTION GRAPHS.
THEY HAVE SOME NICE SMOOTH LINES LIKE 90TH PERCENTILE, MEDIAN.
SO WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT HERE IS LONGER TERM.
SO IT'S NOT SIX MONTHS, THIS IS GOING OUT SEVERAL YEARS.
AND THIS IS ALL THE RAW TRACES.
SO THIS ISN'T DISTILLED DOWN INTO A FEW STATISTICAL LINES.
WHAT WE HAVE HERE, YOU CAN SEE ON THE LEFT SIDE THERE'S A BLACK LINE THAT'S THE ACTUAL STORAGE OF TRAVIS AND BUCHANAN UP UNTIL, UH, DECEMBER.
SO IT'S PROJECTED FOR TOMORROW.
AND THEN AT THAT POINT, A WHAM, A WATER AVAILABILITY MODEL IS RUN AND IT'S GOT THE CURRENT DEMANDS FOR ALL THE BASIN CUSTOMERS IN, IN THE MODEL AND THE HYDROLOGIC SEQUENCES ARE TAKEN FROM THE HISTORICAL RECORDS.
SO EVERY LINE THERE IS MARKED WITH A YEAR, AND THAT'S THE STARTING YEAR OF THE SIMULATION.
SO LIKE 1940, THAT STARTS OUT DECEMBER STARTS OUT WITH 1940, AND THEN THE NEXT MONTH IS 1941, AND THEN YOU GO FORWARD INTO 42 43.
SO THE, THE EXERCISE HERE IS TO LOOK AT THE SORT OF THE WORST OUTCOMES THAT THAT BOTTOM RUNG OF SIMULATIONS AND SEE WHAT THE TIMING IS, UH, AS IT APPROACHES, UH, LEVELS THAT MIGHT TRIGGER IPR, UH, NEXT SLIDE.
AND SO THAT'S WHAT IT'S SHOWN HERE.
THE, THE SIMULATIONS THAT REACH THE LOWEST LEVELS AND WHAT'S BEING SHOWN.
AGAIN, THAT'S THE ACTUAL STORAGE UP UNTIL TOMORROW, DECEMBER 30, UH, DECEMBER 1ST, 2023.
AND THEN LET'S PICK ONE THE LINES LIKE THE LOWEST ONE THERE.
IT'S, UH, MAGENTA COLORED LABELED 2010.
SO IT, WHAT'S BEING SIMULATED THERE IS IF 2024 WERE LIKE 2011 AND THAT WOULD CUT OUR RESERVOIR STORAGE IN THIS SIMULATION FROM LIKE THE CURRENT LEVELS AROUND 840,000 DOWN TO 450 BY THE END OF THE YEAR.
SO THAT, THAT SORT OF WORST CASE SCENARIO SCENARIO FROM THE HISTORICAL RECORD WOULD BRING US INTO IPR RANGE SORT OF BY THE END OF NEXT YEAR.
HOWEVER, MORE, IF YOU GO OUT ACROSS TIME, MORE OF THE SIMULATIONS THEN START TO GET DOWN TO LOWER LEVELS.
SO IT KIND OF WORST CASE SCENARIO OUT TO, UH, SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, MIGHT TAKE SEVERAL YEARS TO DEVELOP.
AND AGAIN, THESE, THESE WOULD BE DROUGHTS WORSE THAN THE 2010S DROUGHT.
SO WE'RE ALREADY IN A DROUGHT STATE AND THIS IS ADDING ON MORE DROUGHT TO THAT.
SO ON MAYBE ON A MORE POSITIVE NOTE, UH, OR LESS STRESSFUL NOTE, UM, I LOOK BACK IN THE LAST 30 YEARS, PICKED OUT ALL THE TRACES WHERE WE TRANSITIONED OUT OF SORT OF LA NINA OR NEUTRAL AND TRANSITIONED INTO EL NINO AND SAW, UH, OR PLOTTED UP WHAT THOSE TRACES LOOK LIKE.
AND SO WHAT WE CAN SEE THERE IS SORT OF A TYPICAL EL NINO SCENARIO IS THAT WE WOULD GET SOME RELIEF SOMETIME IN THE WINTER OR IN THE SPRING, UH, THOSE DOTTED LINES ON THE STORAGE TRACES, THOSE ARE ONES WHERE EL NINO PRODUCED A LOT OF INFLOW IN THE SPRING, UH, LATE WINTER, EARLY SPRING.
AND THE REST OF THEM SORT OF, UH, GAINED INFLOW DURING THE WINTER AND THAT WOULD TAKE US OUT OF THE, THE IPR RANGE IN THE NEAR TERM.
SO RICHARD, YES, THESE ARE REALLY COOL AND INTERESTING, UH, GRAPHS.
SO THIS EL NINO TRANSITIONS ONE.
UM, AND ALSO MAN, THAT 91 CHRISTMAS FLOOD REALLY JUST, YEAH, THERE'S THE CHRISTMAS FLOOD REALLY JUST, IT'S RIGHT THERE ON ALL OF THEM.
UM, BUT THIS IS JUST TAKING SAY THE 91 HYDROLOGY AND RUNNING IT OUT, WHAT IS THIS, FIVE YEARS TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS ON EACH OF THESE.
[01:00:01]
WELL LET'S HOPE THAT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, IN ONE OF THESE NICE MIDDLE ONES WITHOUT FLOODING, BUT WITH FULL LAKES.THE, UM, THE IPR STRATEGY THEN YOU'RE SAYING WOULD BE POTENTIALLY IMPLEMENTED DURING SOME OF THESE WORST CASE SCENARIOS BASED ON, UM, YOU KNOW, STORAGE AND THE RESERVOIRS, BUT HOW, YOU KNOW, I KNOW WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT, UH, DEVELOPING THIS AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY FACILITY WHICH WOULD PROVIDE ADDITIONAL SUPPLY.
SO IS IT, DO WE OR IS IT CORRECT TO THINK ABOUT USING IPR BASED ON UM, SORT OF THE CONDITION OF THE
UM, OR ARE WE STILL TOO FAR OFF FROM DEVELOPING THAT TO REALLY HAVE IT, UH, BE SOMETHING WE CAN, UH, FIRMLY DEPEND ON? YEAH, I THINK, UH, A SR IS TARGETED TO BE ONLINE AND HAVE 60,000 ACRE FEET OF WATER STORED BY 2040.
SO IPR IS REALLY OUR KEY DROUGHT EMERGENCY SUPPLY STRATEGY.
IF AS WE MOVE FORWARD AND ONCE A SR IS ONLINE, THEN OF COURSE WE WOULD RE-LOOK AT THE TRIGGERS AND THRESHOLDS THAT WOULD POTENTIALLY, UM, TRIGGER US TO USE IPR.
ALTHOUGH CURRENTLY IN THE 2018 PLAN, IPR IS INTENDED TO BE, YOU KNOW, READY FOR IMPLEMENTATION, READY FOR USE BY 2040 UNLESS THAT CHANGES AS A PART OF THIS 2024 UPDATE.
DOES THAT HELP ANSWER THE QUESTION? AND I THINK WE'VE ALSO BEEN THINKING ABOUT IT AS THOUGH A SR WOULD COME ON MUCH EARLIER.
A SR IS NOT ONLY TO BE USED IN THESE DEEP EMERGENCY SITUATIONS, BUT THAT A SR STORAGE MAY NOT LAST US THROUGH THE FULL DURATION.
SO THE ABILITY TO LAYER FIRST A SR WITH LATER IPR IS HOW WE'D THOUGHT ABOUT THOSE FURTHER OUT, UM, EXTREME DROUGHTS WHEN WE HAVE BOTH OF THOSE STRATEGIES AVAILABLE TO US.
IF THERE AREN'T ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, I'LL MOVE FORWARD THROUGH THE NEXT COUPLE SLIDES QUICKLY AND MAYBE WE CAN CHECK BACK FOR ANY QUESTIONS.
SO AS WE'VE NOTED, UM, THERE ARE STILL A LOT OF KEY QUESTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH IPR IMPLEMENTATION IN EITHER THE EMERGENCY IMPLEMENTATION OR THE MORE THE 2040 IMPLEMENTATION PATHWAY.
UM, PART OF THAT IS UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE DISCHARGE LIMITS ARE AND WHAT KIND OF TREATMENT WOULD BE REQUIRED.
UM, ANY ADDITIONAL OUTFALL FROM OUR WASTEWATER SYSTEM AND OUR RECLAIM SYSTEM WOULD REQUIRE A MAJOR AMENDMENT.
SO WE HAVE TO WORK THROUGH THAT PERMITTING PROCESS WITH TCUQ AND OUR REGULATORY TEAM WITHIN AUSTIN WATER.
UM, LOOKING AT THE POTENTIAL FOR WATER QUALITY IMPACTS AT ELRICH AND BEING PREPARED TO HANDLE WHATEVER THE WATER QUALITY OF LADYBIRD LAKE, UM, AS WELL AS UNDERSTANDING HOW THIS, WHAT'S INTENDED TO BE A MULTI BENEFICIAL INFRASTRUCTURE.
THE, THE DUAL USE OF THE CENTRALIZED RECLAIM SYSTEM TO DELIVER RECLAIMED WATER AS WELL AS IPR WATER SUCH THAT WE HAVE ACTUALLY MULTI BENEFICIAL AND WE AREN'T HINDERING THE RECLAIMED SYSTEM DURING THEIR NORMAL OPERATIONS.
SO SOME OF THE, THE TIMELINE OF THIS SORT OF PRE-PLANNING EFFORT, UM, THAT REGULATORY CONSIDERATIONS AND TASK ARE ONGOING.
WE HAVE OUR WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY CONSULTANT UPDATING THE MODELING, WHICH IS KIND OF FALLING THROUGH MAYBE FALL AND WINTER OF 2023.
UM, AND USING THAT TO INFORM DISCHARGE PERMIT AMENDMENTS AND UM, AND TREATMENT CONSIDERATIONS.
UH, THOSE, THE DISCHARGE PERMITS FOR BOTH OF THOSE, UH, WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS ARE DUE FOR RENEWAL NEXT SUMMER AND EARLY FALL.
UM, WE HAVE OUR PROJECT UPDATE WITH THE CONSULTANT, WHICH IS