[00:00:06]
LET ME PUT THIS AGENDA IN FRONT OF ME.
[CALL TO ORDER]
SO WE HAVE A QUORUM.NOW WE ARE ALL PRESENT AND ACCOUNTED FOR.
UM, LET'S GO AHEAD AND CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER, TURN MY PHONE OFF AND MOVE INTO OUR
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
FIRST AGENDA ITEM.UM, REVIEW AND APPROVE THE MEETING MINUTES FROM THE REGULAR TASK FORCE MEETING ON MARCH 5TH.
WE, YOU ARE ALL SPILLING INTO THIS MEETING HAPHAZARDLY RIGHT NOW.
SHE'S PULLING UP TO THE DAIS HERE.
ALRIGHT, UM, WE ARE DOING THE MINUTES FROM THE MARCH 5TH MEETING.
HAS EVERYONE HAD A CHANCE TO CHECK THOSE OUT? DO I, UM, DOES ANYONE WANNA MOVE APPROVAL FROM PAUL? THANK YOU.
I WAS LOOKING TO SEE IF WE WERE MISSING ANYBODY, BUT WE HAD EVERYBODY AT THE LAST MEETING.
DID ANYBODY, ANYBODY OPPOSE? OKAY.
YEP, I WAS JUST ABOUT TO DO THAT.
HANEY, UM, CAN YOU TURN YOUR CAMERA ON, UM, TO BE COUNTED PRESENT, VISIBLY PRESENT WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU WERE ABLE TO, HE MIGHT BE AWAY FROM IT 'CAUSE HE, HIS MY COUGH TOO.
[2. Update on Lower Colorado River and Highland Lakes water supply conditions]
ON, UM, WE ARE GOING TO MOVE INTO OUR REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS. WE'RE GONNA HAVE AN UPDATE ON THE COLORADO RIVER WATER SUPPLY CONDITIONS AS PER USUAL.UM, IS THAT GONNA BE YOU, MARISSA? ALRIGHT.
UM, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND BRING UP THE SLIDES FOR ITEM NUMBER TWO, OUR UPDATE ON LOWER COLORADO RIVER AND HIGHLAND LAKES WATER SUPPLY CONDITIONS.
AND YOU CAN MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
INFLOWS TO THE HIGHLAND LAKES, UM, HAVE REMAINED LOW OVER THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS.
UM, WE'VE GOT JANUARY THROUGH MARCH OF 2024 INFLOWS SHOWN IN PURPLE.
ON THIS GRAPH, YOU CAN SEE THAT THEY ARE HIGHER THAN INFLOWS IN THE CORRESPONDING MONTHS FROM 2023, BUT STILL WELL BELOW AVERAGES FROM THE ENTIRE PERIOD OF RECORD OR FROM THE LAST DROUGHT.
WE HAVE SEEN COMBINED STORAGE REMAIN AT AROUND 42%, UM, SINCE THE LAST WEEK OF OCTOBER, 2023, I BELIEVE.
UM, IN THE LAST SEVERAL, IN THE LAST WEEK, WE HAD A LITTLE BIT OF A BUMP UP, UH, IN COMBINED STORAGE TOTAL OF AROUND THREE TO 4,000, UM, ACRE FEET CUMULATIVE FROM SOME RAINS THAT WE, UH, RECEIVED WITHIN THE UPPER BASIN.
AND, UM, BUT STILL AROUND THE SAME LEVEL.
YOU CAN MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, THIS SHOWS OVERALL DROUGHT CONDITIONS WITHIN THE STATE.
UH, TEXAS, THE STATE IS FROM THE US DROUGHT MONITOR.
WE USUALLY PULL IN THE SLIDE FROM THE, UM, UH, TWDB WATER WEEKLY.
THIS IS THE SAME DATA, THE SAME INFORMATION TRAVIS COUNTY IS OUTLINED, UM, IN BLUE.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT WE, UH, HAVE WITHIN TRAVIS COUNTY ITSELF, UM, A RANGE OF CONDITIONS FROM ABNORMALLY DRY TO, UH, SEVERE DROUGHT, UM, MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS WITHIN MUCH OF THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER BASIN.
UM, THAT FEEDS INTO, UH, THE HIGHLAND LAKES NEXT SLIDE.
THIS IS SHOWING THE THREE MONTH OUTLOOK FROM NOAH FROM APRIL THROUGH JUNE.
UM, WE'VE GOT A HIGHER, UM, CHANCE OF SEEING HIGHER THAN OR ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT THREE MONTHS AND ABOUT EQUAL CHANCES, UM, OF, UM, RELATED TO PRECIPITATION.
UM, YOU KNOW, EITHER BEING NEAR NORMAL, UM, ABOVE NORMAL OR BELOW NORMAL.
SO WE'LL SEE WHAT COMES OUT OF THIS SPRING.
[00:05:01]
NOT BEEN VERY FRUITFUL FOR US, UM, HERE WITHIN CENTRAL TEXAS, UM, ESPECIALLY IN THE AREAS THAT ARE FLOWING INTO THE HIGHLAND LAKES.SO THERE IS STILL THE CHANCE THAT WE'LL GET RAIN.
UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, THAT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE'RE BANKING ON AT THIS POINT.
JUST A LITTLE BIT OF A FOLLOW UP ON THE EL NINO FORECAST OR THE ENZO FORECAST.
THIS HAS UPDATED PROBABILITIES, UM, SHOWN ON THE RIGHT FOR APRIL, UH, 11 FROM APRIL 11TH, 2024.
THERE'S ABOUT AN 85% CHANCE THAT WE TRANSITION FROM EL NINO TO ENZO NEUTRAL BY ABOUT THE APRIL, UH, WITHIN THE APRIL THROUGH JUNE, UH, 2024 TIMEFRAME.
AND THEN NOW A 60% CHANCE OF LA NINA DEVELOPING BY JUNE THROUGH AUGUST OF 2024.
UM, UH, WARMER OCEAN TEMPERATURES HAVE SHOWN THAT THERE, YOU KNOW, HAVE INDICATED THAT THERE MAY BE A MORE ACTIVE HURRICANE SEASON.
UM, BUT THERE, YOU KNOW, THAT HURRICANE, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, THOSE HURRICANE IMPACTS WOULD HAVE TO MAKE IT ALL THE WAY UP TO THE HIGHLAND LAKES WATERSHEDS.
UM, AND THERE'S A, A FAIRLY A, GENERALLY A FAIRLY LOW CHANCE THAT THAT WILL HELP AND ASSIST WITHIN THE, UM, HURRICANE SEASON THAT WE'LL FACE IN THE REST OF THE YEAR.
NEXT SIDE, UM, THIS IS AN UPDATED, UM, GRAPH SHOWING COMBINED STORAGE PROJECTIONS FOR LAKE BUCHANAN AND TRAVIS.
UM, FROM APRIL 1ST, UH, WE'VE GOT OUR DCP CITY OF AUSTIN DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN STAGES SHOWN ON THE RIGHT.
UM, WE HAVE BEEN TRACKING WITHIN THE NEXT, WITHIN THE LAST SEVERAL WEEKS ALONG THE BLUE LINE.
UM, BUT OVER THE LONGER TERM WE'VE BEEN TRACKING, UM, MORE ALONG THE ORANGE LINE, SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THE ORANGE AND THE BLUE LINE.
UM, WITHIN THIS PROJECTION, IF WE DID TRACK ALONG THE EXTREME DRY CONDITIONS, WE WOULD, UH, YOU CAN SEE ON THE GRAPH WE WOULD HIT 600,000, UM, POTENTIALLY SOMETIME BETWEEN SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER OF 2024.
AT THAT POINT, THE CITY OF AUSTIN WOULD IMPLEMENT, UM, OUR STAGE THREE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN, UM, UH, RESTRICTIONS.
WE'LL GIVE A LITTLE UPDATE LATER ON, UM, HOW THOSE DCP STAGES WILL BE CHANGING.
UM, AT THAT POINT AS WELL, LCRA WOULD IMPLEMENT PRO RATTA CURTAILMENT.
UM, AND WE HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH LCRA ON PLANNING FOR THAT, UM, POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION OF PRO RATA AS WELL, UM, OVER THE LAST WEEKS AND MONTHS.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS? ANY QUESTIONS FROM THE TASK FORCE? UM, HANEY, CAN YOU, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN HEAR ME OR NOT, BUT, UM, WE HAVE TO, YOU HAVE TO HAVE YOUR CAMERA ON TO BE COUNTED PRESENT, UM, DURING THE MEETINGS, ACCORDING TO OPEN MEETINGS RULES OF THE MEETING, IS THAT WHAT IT'S CALLED? JENNIFER? I CAN HEAR YOU.
I'M JUST HAVING PROBLEM GETTING THE CAMERA GOING.
UM, DO YOU NEED ANY HELP FROM IT FOLKS OR IS IT JUST A COMPUTER THING? UM, I'M, I'M STILL TRYING.
IF I DO, I WILL, UH, I WILL, UH, I I'LL REQUEST THAT.
WE HAVE A, WE HAVE A QUORUM, SO WE'RE GOOD.
BUT I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW.
[3. Presentation of Water Forward 2024 water management strategy characterization]
GONNA MOVE ON TO OUR PRESENTATION OF THE 2024 WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY CHARACTERIZATION.THIS IS FROM OUR PAST THAT WE DIDN'T GET TO LAST TIME, RIGHT? THAT'S CORRECT.
YOU WANNA START US OFF? MARISA, DID YOU WANNA START US OUT OR DO YOU OH, SURE.
UM, THIS IS A, A, A FOLLOW UP PRESENTATION.
WE HAD A PRESENTATION BACK, I BELIEVE IN JANUARY, UM, TO DISCUSS THE INITIAL LIST OF WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES THAT WE'LL BE CONSIDERING IN THE UPDATE TO THE, UH, WATER FORWARD 2024 PLAN.
UH, WE RECEIVED TASK FORCE FEEDBACK ON THAT INITIAL LIST AND THEN WENT THROUGH A PROCESS TO, UH, CONSOLIDATE SOME STRATEGIES.
UM, AFTER THAT STEP WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH OUR CONSULTANT PLUMBER, UM, SOME OF WHOM ARE IN ATTENDANCE TODAY, UH, BOTH IN PERSON AND THEN ALSO ON THE WEBEX.
UM, AND WE'VE, UH, BEEN WORKING TO DEVELOP, UM, COSTS AND YIELDS,
[00:10:01]
PRELIMINARY COSTS AND YIELDS THAT'LL BE USED IN THE NEXT STEP OF OPTIMIZATION MODELING TO IDENTIFY TOP PERFORMING WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES.SO THIS IS TO, UM, PROVIDE AN UPDATE ON THE WORK THAT WE'VE DONE SO FAR.
UM, SARAH EMAN ON OUR TEAM WILL BE PRESENTING THE SLIDES, UM, AND WE'LL BE, WE'LL HAVE THE REST OF THE PROJECT TEAM HERE AVAILABLE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS.
UM, CAN WE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE PLEASE? ALRIGHT.
PUTTING THE WORK INTO A LITTLE BIT OF CONTEXT, I REALIZE A LOT OF THESE ARE VERY FAMILIAR SLIDES TO THOSE OF YOU WHO'VE SEEN THESE PRESENTATIONS BEFORE.
BUT A BIG PART OF THE UPDATE FOR WATER FORWARD 2024 IS INCORPORATING UNCERTAINTY AND THEREFORE TESTING A LOT OF OUR PORTFOLIOS OR AT THIS STAGE, STRATEGIES AGAINST A BROAD RANGE OF FUTURE CONDITIONS.
AND SO WE'VE PRESENTED AND DONE A LOT OF WORK TO UNDERSTAND WHAT A REASONABLE AND USEFUL RANGE OF FUTURE CONDITIONS WOULD BE TO TEST THESE STRATEGIES AGAINST, INCLUDING THE CLIMATE CHANGE WORK THAT'S BEEN DONE.
UM, A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT REGIONAL SCENARIOS IN TERMS OF WHAT OTHER PROJECTS ARE BEING DEVELOPED REGIONALLY AND A RANGE OF POPULATIONS LEADING TO RANGE OF DEMANDS.
AND SO THE, THE STRATEGIES THAT WE'RE VIEWING NOW, THE NEXT STEP IS TO PUT THEM THROUGH THE, THE RIGORS OF ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT FUTURE SCENARIOS TO SEE WHICH GROUPINGS OF STRATEGIES OR INDEPENDENT STRATEGIES PERFORM THE BEST OVER A BROAD RANGE.
AND THAT ALLOWS US TO IDENTIFY REALLY RESILIENT GROUPINGS OF STRATEGIES AS OPPOSED TO PLANNING SPECIFICALLY TO ONE EXPECTED FUTURE, WHICH IS SORT OF THE STANDARD WAY AND THE WAY THAT HAS BEEN DONE IN THE PAST.
SO IN A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAILED TERMS, THE PLANNING METHODOLOGY, UM, WE ARE IN THIS IDENTIFY SCREEN AND CHARACTERIZE ADDITIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES MOVING OVER INTO THE USING OPTIMIZATION MODEL TO IDENTIFY TOP PERFORMING WMS, WHICH IS WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES, OVERALL SCENARIOS.
SO WHAT WE'VE DONE, UM, IS TO KIND OF PREPARE THESE STRATEGIES TO BE EVALUATED THROUGH THE ANALYSIS THAT YOU'LL HEAR MORE ABOUT FROM HELEN AND FROM THE RAND TEAM.
SO THE WAY THAT WE GOT OUR LIST OF STRATEGIES TO BE EVALUATED, UH, STARTED, WE'RE BUILDING OFF OF THE, THE BASELINE, THE WORK THAT WAS DONE IN WATER FOUR 18 AND THOSE STRATEGIES WERE REVIEWED AND CONSIDERED, AND IN SOME CASES THERE HAVE BEEN CHANGES IN CONDITIONS OR THINGS THAT WE WANTED TO TEST, LIKE PERHAPS A, A DIFFERENT OPERATIONAL SETUP OR A LARGER OR SMALLER SCALE OF SOMETHING.
UH, WE ALSO REVIEWED SORT OF ANY OF THE ONGOING PROGRAMS TO SEE IF WE CAN ACCURATELY CAPTURE THOSE AND UNDERSTAND ANY, UM, VARIABLES OR DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS WE MIGHT WANNA TEST.
AND THEN LOOKING TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY ADDITIONAL STRATEGIES THAT WEREN'T CONSIDERED IN WATER FOUR 18 OR MAYBE REVIEWING THOSE STRATEGIES THAT IN WATER FOUR 18 WERE DISCUSSED BUT NOT CHARACTERIZED IN DETAIL.
AND THEN FOR ALL OF THE, THE STRATEGIES AND THE SORT OF FINALIZED LIST, IDENTIFYING VARIABLES THAT WE COULD TEST, FOR INSTANCE, WOULD IT BE MORE USEFUL TO HAVE A LARGER OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR OR A SMALLER OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR? AND WHICH OF THOSE VARIABLES IS, ARE GOING TO BE APPROPRIATE FOR THIS TYPE OF MODELING TO TEST, TO GIVE US THE KIND OF ANSWERS THAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR.
AND, UM, WHICH OF THOSE VARIABLES ARE WE OPEN TO IN TERMS OF ALL OF THE, THE ITERATIONS OF WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES SHOULD BE THINGS THAT WE ARE, WE ARE, ARE CONSIDERING FEASIBLE AND WOULD BE WILLING TO PURSUE.
WE AREN'T TRYING TO TEST ANYTHING TOO WILD AND CRAZY JUST OPENING UP A LITTLE BIT OF A RANGE IN TERMS OF OPTIONS.
AND SO THEN SINCE THE LAST WATER FORWARD PLAN, THE COSTS OF EVERYTHING HAVE CHANGED PRETTY WILDLY.
IF ANYBODY'S BEEN FOLLOWING THE COSTS OF MAJOR WATER OR OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS OR EVEN AT THE GROCERY STORE, I THINK WE ALL UNDERSTAND THAT IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS A LOT HAS HAPPENED.
AND SO THAT WAS A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT, UM, EFFORT THAT THE TEAM OVER AT PLUMMER HAS HELPED US TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THOSE CHANGES AND COSTS WOULD LOOK LIKE.
UM, AND ANY OF THE CHARACTERIZATION UPDATES THAT WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, MAYBE WE HAVE A DIFFERENT UNDERSTANDING OF HOW, UH, A STRATEGY COULD BE LAID OUT.
SO WE'VE KIND OF GONE THROUGH EACH OF THEM PIECE BY PIECE AND, AND HAVE UPDATED CHARACTERIZATIONS.
SO THE STRATEGIES THAT WE ARE CONSIDERING IN THE WATER FORWARD PLAN INCLUDE ALL OF THE WATER SUPPLY STRATEGIES,
[00:15:01]
SO ANYTHING THAT'S PROVIDING A NEW SUPPLY, A NEW SOURCE OF WATER, OR EXPANDING AN EXISTING SOURCE OF WATER.AND THEN MANAGEMENT, DEMAND MANAGEMENT.
AND I THINK THIS IS A LITTLE BIT, IT GETS A LITTLE BIT WONKY BECAUSE WE'VE INCLUDED THE RECLAIMED AND THE REUSE STRATEGY UNDER THIS UMBRELLA CONSIDERING THOSE AS DEMAND FOR REDUCING THE DEMAND FOR POTABLE WATER.
SO IT'S, IT DOESN'T REALLY MAKE MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE IN TERMS OF THE OUTCOMES, BUT WE'LL, WE'LL DESCRIBE WHY THOSE DEMAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ARE ALL VERY INTERRELATED.
SO IT'S BEEN USEFUL FOR US TO GROUP THEM ALL TOGETHER.
AND THEN BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES, UM, LIKE OUR, UM, SOME OF OUR INITIATIVES TO PROTECT THE HEALTH OF THE COLORADO RIVER, UM, THE COLORADO RIVER LAND ANALYSIS, SOME OF THESE OTHER PROJECTS THAT WE'VE DISCUSSED IN PREVIOUS MEETINGS, WHICH WERE NOT CHARACTERIZING BECAUSE THOSE, NOT CHARACTERIZING IN THE SAME WAY BECAUSE THOSE ARE NOT BEING RUN THROUGH THE SAME ALGORITHM BECAUSE THE VALUE THAT THEY PROVIDE IS NOT, UH, NECESSARILY LIMITED TO, YOU KNOW, A YIELD AND COULDN'T BE COMPARED TO OTHER STRATEGIES ON A DOLLAR PER ACRE FOOT SORT OF LEVEL.
BUT THEY HAVE A, A VALUE THAT ALIGNS WITH A LOT OF THE OTHER PRIORITIES OF THE UTILITY AND OF THE PLANNING GROUP AND THE TASK FORCE.
SO FOR EACH OF THESE STRATEGIES, WE ARE PRESENTING RANGES BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT WE'RE ACTUALLY PROVIDING TO RAND FOR THE INITIAL ANALYSIS AND WE ARE ALLOWING FOR, UM, VARIOUS TIMINGS, FOR INSTANCE, THE DECADE THAT A STRATEGY IS PUT ONLINE OR THE DECADE THAT A STRATEGY EXPANDS, UM, TO BE SORT OF DETERMINED WITHIN THE PROCESS OF ANALYSIS.
SO IF THE, UM, AND AS I MENTIONED HELEN AND THE RAND TEAM WILL DO A MUCH BETTER JOB OF DESCRIBING THIS LATER, BUT IF THE NEEDS SCENARIO REQUIRES A LOT MORE WATER, YOU MIGHT LOOK AT THE HIGHER END OF IMPLEMENTATION.
IF THAT PARTICULAR NEEDS SCENARIO REQUIRES LESS WATER, YOU CAN LOOK AT THE LOWER END OF IMPLEMENTATION OR PUT OFF THE FIRST DECADE THAT THE STRATEGY COMES ONLINE.
AND SO WE HAVE PROVIDED SORT OF THE, THE BARRIERS, WE'VE SORT OF GIVEN THE BOOKENDS TO WHAT WE THINK A FEASIBLE STRATEGY YIELD AND FEASIBLE STRATEGY TIMING WOULD LOOK LIKE, BOTH BASED ON HOW QUICKLY DO WE THINK SOMETHING COULD BE REASONABLY IMPLEMENTED, WHAT KINDS OF STRATEGIES ARE WE WILLING TO PURSUE IN THE NEAR TERM AND WHICH STRATEGIES MAY HAVE A HIGHER RISK ASSOCIATED WITH THEM.
SO WE'D LIKE THOSE TO BE SORT OF LATER ON DOWN THE ROAD.
UM, AND WE'VE ALSO TRIED TO UNDERSTAND IN SOME CASES HOW A, A FASTER OR MAYBE, UM, A MORE EXTENSIVE IMPLEMENTATION MIGHT LEAD TO A HIGHER UNIT COST.
BUT FOR THE MOST PART, FOR THIS PHASE, WE'RE LOOKING REALLY JUST AT THE UNIT COST FOR EACH OF THESE STRATEGIES.
AND SO WE'VE REFERRED TO THE LARGEST ITERATION OF THE STRATEGY, DISTILLED THAT TO ONE UNIT COST AND THAT WAY IT KIND OF SCALES UP AND DOWN WITH THE SIZE OF THE PROJECT.
SO WE HAVE LOOKED AT THE LARGEST IMPLEMENTATION SET UP FOR A SR AND IDENTIFIED WHAT THE UNIT COST WOULD BE PER ACRE FOOT.
AND WHEN WE USE THAT IN THE SUBSEQUENT MODELING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT ASR'S PRICE IS AS COMPARED WITH OTHER STRATEGIES.
SO IT KIND OF GIVES US A LITTLE BIT MORE OF AN, AN APPLES TO APPLES AND A LITTLE BIT LESS COMPLEX.
THE OTHER IMPORTANT THING TO NOTE IS THAT THE PREFERRED PORTFOLIOS, THE PORTFOLIOS THAT ARE ALL SUCCESSFUL AT MEETING A BROAD RANGE OF SCENARIOS ARE GOING TO GO THROUGH ANOTHER SET OF REFINEMENT AND ANALYSIS IN THE FUTURE.
SO THIS IS REALLY THE MOST CRITICAL THING THAT WE WANTED TO UNDERSTAND IS SORT OF THE RELATIVE COSTS AND THE RELATIVE FEASIBLE YIELDS, UM, AND THE TIMING AND KIND OF WORK WITH ALL OF THE FOLKS THAT DO THAT KIND OF WORK WITHIN THE UTILITY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS THE MOST REASONABLE TIMING AND WHAT KIND OF EXTENT COULD FEASIBLY BE CONSTRUCTED IN A CERTAIN PERIOD OF TIME WITH ENOUGH FUNDING AND, AND USE THAT TO SET THOSE BOOKENDS.
OF COURSE, I MAY HAVE MISHEARD YOU, BUT I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE, UM, DID YOU SAY THAT YOU TAKE THE MAXIMUM YIELD AND THE COST AND THEN FIGURE OUT THE PER UNIT, PER UNIT COST AND THEN YOU CAN USE THAT PER UNIT COST BASED ON HOW BIG THE PROJECT IS.
BUT IF THE PROJECT WAS SMALLER, WOULDN'T THE PER UNIT COST BE BIGGER? IT'S OFTEN A LITTLE BIT BIGGER AND IN SOME CASES, YOU KNOW, WE EVALUATED I THINK PART OF THE, THERE IS A USUALLY SOME ECONOMY OF SCALE, THE RANGES THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT ARE NOT SO BIG.
[00:20:01]
WE'RE USING LIKE THE UNIFIED COST MODEL THAT'S USED IN THE REGIONAL WATER PLANNING, WHICH REALLY DOESN'T HELP TO IDENTIFY MUCH OF THAT ECONOMY OF SCALE.I MEAN IT'S REALLY BASED ON COST CURVES FOR, YOU KNOW, THAT ARE UNITIZED PRETTY MUCH.
SO I THINK AT THIS LEVEL OF PLANNING, IT'S A LITTLE BIT HARDER TO GET A DISTINCT, UM, ECONOMY OF SCALE FACTORED INTO IT.
BUT WHERE WE KNEW THAT THERE WOULD BE LIKE A SIGNIFICANTLY LESS EFFICIENT SETUP OR SOMETHING ALONG THOSE LINES, WE'VE DONE OUR BEST TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE AND HAVE THAT AS A DISTINCT VARIABLE WITH A DIFFERENT UNIT COST.
AND ALSO IT'S NOT ALWAYS CHEAPER TO MAKE IT BIGGER, UM, NOT RIGHT.
THE PRE-UNIT COST ISN'T ALWAYS I KNOW THAT SURE TOO, BUT JUST I WANTED TO MAKE SURE I WAS FOLLOWING YEAH.
THE CONCEPT THAT YOU WERE EXPLAINING.
YEAH, NO, IT'S A REALLY GOOD QUESTION AND I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'VE, WE'VE DEFINITELY DONE A LOT OF WORK TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND AND, AND LOOKED DISTINCTLY ALSO AT THE, THE CAPITAL COSTS AND THE OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE COSTS, TRYING TO AT LEAST TEASE OUT SOME OF THOSE DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN, UM, YOU KNOW, HOW OUR TOTAL UNIT COSTS ARE BEING DEVELOPED AND HOW THOSE CAN BETTER CAPTURE THE RANGES THAT WE'RE TRYING TO DESCRIBE.
AND UH, BECAUSE THERE MAY BE AFTER THE OPTIMIZATION ANALYSIS, ONCE WE KIND OF IDENTIFY THE OPTIMAL YIELD TIMING, UM, AND TIMING OF THE STRATEGY, THERE'LL BE A STEP WHERE WE'LL HAVE TO GO BACK AND RECONCILE, UM, BOTH THE YIELD ESTIMATES, THE, UM, TIMING FOR IMPLEMENTATION, AND THEN ULTIMATELY THE UNIT COSTS.
THAT'S WHY ALL OF THESE ARE NOTED AS LIKE PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE BECAUSE THERE'LL BE A NEXT STEP WHERE WE'RE UPDATING ALL THAT INFORMATION.
SO WHAT WE DEVELOPED, LIKE MARISA NOTED WAS LIKE A, A A MODELING CHARACTERIZATION WHICH PRESENTS THESE RANGES AND HIGH LEVEL COST ESTIMATE.
SO THEN THERE WILL BE PREFERRED PORTFOLIOS, WHICH ARE ALL FAIRLY SUCCESSFUL, WHICH ARE GROUPINGS OF THE STRATEGIES THAT HAVE, UM, PERFORMED WELL.
AND THOSE PREFERRED PORTFOLIOS WILL BE SPECIFYING A SCALE AND AN OPERATIONAL LAYOUT.
AND WITH THAT SPECIFICITY WE CAN DRIVE LIKE MUCH MORE DETAILED COST ESTIMATES.
AND WITHIN THOSE PREFERRED PORTFOLIOS THERE SHOULD STILL BE ENOUGH OPTIONS THAT IF THERE WERE ANYTHING THAT WE'D REALLY MISSED WITH THE SIMPLIFICATIONS IN THE FIRST PASS, I THINK THAT'LL BECOME VERY CLEAR.
SO LOOKING JUST AT THE SUPPLY STRATEGIES, AND THIS IS LOOKING JUST AT THE SUPPLY STRATEGIES THAT WE HAVE NOTED WOULD BE FEASIBLE TO HAVE IMPLEMENTED IN 2040.
UM, YOU CAN SEE IT'S A LITTLE BIT SMALL, THE WRITING ALONG THE BOTTOM, BUT, UM, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, A SR BRACKISH GROUNDWATER DESAL, IPR, A NEW OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR SUPPLIED BY WATER FROM THE COLORADO RIVER AND A NEW OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR SUPPLIED BY BOTH WATER FROM THE COLORADO RIVER AND RECLAIMED WATER.
AND NEITHER OF THOSE IS, UH, EXPECTED TO BE, COULD BE FEASIBLY ONLINE BY 2040.
THE NEXT IS, UH, USING DECKER LAKE AS AN OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR AS A WATER SUPPLY.
THE NEXT IS FINDING AN ADDITIONAL SUPPLY FROM LCRA OR A REGIONAL COLORADO RIVER PARTNERSHIP OR SOME SORT OF OPTIMIZATION OF WATER RIGHTS.
THE NEXT IS SEAWATER DESAL, WHICH IS ALSO NOT CONSIDERED FEASIBLY IN PLACE BY 2040 FOLLOWING THAT DIRECT POTABLE REUSE AND INTER BASIN TRANSFER.
UM, THIS IS NOT CONSIDERED FEASIBLE BY 2040 AT THE MOMENT, NEITHER OF THE, UM, RIVER BASINS THAT WE ARE ADJACENT TO, I THINK ARE IN A PLACE TO HAVE A LOT OF EXCESS WATER TO SELL.
SO THERE WOULD HAVE TO BE SOME SIGNIFICANT, IT'S NOT THAT WE COULDN'T GET WATER FROM AN ADJACENT BASIN BY 2040, BUT THEY WOULD HAVE TO HAVE A BIG PROJECT TO MAKE THAT WATER AVAILABLE IN THE FIRST PLACE.
SO THAT'S WHY IT'S NOT FEASIBLE BY 2040.
AND THEN IMPORTATION OF CONVENTIONAL GROUNDWATER IS THE LAST ONE.
SO THE GRAY BARS REPRESENT THE RANGES OF YIELDS THAT WE'RE EVALUATING AND THE BLUE DOTS ARE THE ANNUALIZED UNIT COST.
AND SO YOU CAN SEE THE SCALE FOR THE COST IS ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE AND THE LEFT IS THE COST PER ACRE FOOT.
SO THIS IS JUST A 2040 SNAPSHOT OF SORT OF WHAT THE OPTIONS ARE THAT WE ARE EVALUATING.
AND THEN I CAN FLIP OVER TO 2120 UNLESS THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ONE.
[00:25:01]
A QUESTION.UH, CAN YOU TELL US WHAT THE ANNUALIZED UNIT COSTS OF AN ACRE FOOT, UM, OR JUST A SIMILAR MEASUREMENT FOR LIKE THE CURRENT WATER SUPPLY? OH, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.
UM, AND I THINK ONE OF THE TRICKS HERE IS THAT OUR, OUR CURRENT COSTS INCLUDE LIKE THE WATER, THE WAY THAT WE TYPICALLY CALCULATE THEM INCLUDES THE COST OF WATER TREATMENT.
AND A LOT OF THESE ARE REALLY IDENTIFYING A NEW WATER SOURCE.
BUT I DON'T KNOW, MARISA AND MAYBE THERESA OR ANYBODY ELSE, KEVIN
SO FOR OUR, UH, CURRENT WATER SUPPLY, UM, WE HAVE A FIRM CONTRACT WITH LCRA FIRM WATER AGREEMENT WITH LCRA.
AND THEN WE HAVE SIGNIFICANT, UM, RUN OF RIVER RIGHTS THAT THE CITY HAS.
AND, UM, IF YOU COMBINE THOSE TOGETHER AND THINK OF THEM AS, UM, AS OUR WATER SUPPLY, WHICH WE DO, UM, THERE, THERE'S, UH, COMPONENTS TO OUR AGREEMENT THAT WE HAVE FROM 1999 WITH LCRA WHERE WE PREPAID AN AMOUNT OF A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS BACK IN 1999 FOR RESERVATION AND SOME USE PAYMENT FOR THAT WATER SUPPLY.
IT RECOGNIZES THAT, UH, THERE'S SOME SIGNIFICANT VALUE TO OUR RUN OF RIVER RIGHTS, WHICH WE'RE ABLE TO, UM, ACCESS, UH, UH, WITHOUT ADDITIONAL PAYMENT IN THE FUTURE.
UH, EVEN WHEN WE HIT A FUTURE PAYMENT TRIGGER, UM, WE WILL CONTINUE TO WITHDRAW THAT WATER FOR FREE UNDER OUR WATER RIGHTS AND THEN WE'LL PAY FOR AMOUNTS ABOVE 150,000 ACRE FEET IN THE, INTO THE FUTURE AT WHATEVER THE FUTURE WATER RATE WILL BE FROM LCRA.
RIGHT NOW, LCRA SELLS THEIR FIRM WATER AT $155 AN ACRE FOOT.
UH, BUT IN THE FUTURE WE ANTICIPATE THAT AS LCRA DOES ADDITIONAL PROJECTS INTO THE FUTURE AND, UM, NEEDS TO INCREASE THEIR RATES AS, UM, AS ESSENTIALLY IT'S LIKE A COST OF SERVICE MODEL THAT THEY WOULD USE.
THEY WOULD BE INCREASING THEIR RATES.
RIGHT NOW WE'RE NOT PAYING ANNUALLY 'CAUSE WE PREPAID, UH, FOR THE WATER THAT WE'RE USING, UH, IN AMOUNTS ABOVE 150,000.
SO, UM, BUT I WANTED TO MENTION THAT 155 CURRENT DATA POINT AND THEN THAT THOSE, THOSE RATES WILL BE GOING UP ANTICIPATED TO GO UP IN THE FUTURE AS LCRA MAKES OTHER INVESTMENTS IN PROJECTS LIKE THE ONES THAT WE'RE CONSIDERING HERE THAT THEY WOULD KIND OF PUT INTO THEIR MIX OF WATER RIGHTS THAT THEY ALREADY HAVE.
THEY'RE KIND OF IN A SIMILAR SITUATION WHERE THEY HAVE, UM, WATER RIGHTS THAT ESSENTIALLY ARE ALREADY SORT OF PAID FOR IN A WAY.
AND SO THEY'RE ABLE TO, UH, TO UH, SELL WATER AT A FAIRLY LOW RATE RIGHT NOW, BUT THAT WILL LIKELY CHANGE IN THE FUTURE AS THEY NEED TO, WILL BE NEEDING TO DO PROJECTS ON THE, UH, COST BREAKER FOOT SCALE AS SOME OF THESE, THESE COST BREAKER FOOT ARE FAIRLY CONSISTENT WITH, UM, THOSE IN THE REGIONAL WATER PLANS.
AND, UM, AND SO I JUST THINK THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, MAYBE WE COULD THINK OF THEM KIND OF AS A, UM, KIND OF FOLDED IN WITH OUR OTHER WATER RIGHTS THAT WE HAVE HAVE ACCESS TO AT A A QUITE A BIT LOWER RATE.
BUT THESE, THESE PROJECTS HAVE HIGHER UNIT COSTS, BUT UM, WILL BE PART OF AN OVERALL PORTFOLIO THAT, THOSE ARE SOME OF THE THOUGHTS I HAD.
ANY OTHER, YEAH, I THINK THAT COMPONENTS TO THAT, THAT'S A GREAT SUMMARY.
WELL I'LL JUST SAY THAT WE, WE, THERE WAS A LOT OF FORESIGHT, UM, THAT WENT INTO PREPAYING THAT A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS AS PART OF THAT 1999 AGREEMENT.
SO WE CURRENTLY HAVE A VERY GOOD DEAL.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, THIS, THESE COSTS ARE KIND OF IN LINE, LIKE THERESA SAID, WITH REGIONAL WATER PLANNING COSTS, UM, THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, ARE COMPARABLE FOR PROJECTS WITHIN CENTRAL TEXAS AND IN OTHER AREAS.
ROBERT, YOU HAVE YOUR HAND UP MAYBE? YEAH.
I THINK IN THE FUTURE IT WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL IF YOU GUYS COULD TAKE A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT HOW TO SHOW THIS RELATIVE TO, UM, I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF FACTORS AND GOT A REALLY GOOD DEAL, BUT LIKE FROM A POLICY PERSPECTIVE, LEVERAGING THE REALLY GOOD DEAL WE'VE GOT WITH THE PREPAYMENT,
[00:30:01]
UM, WOULD BE IDEAL.AND SO IF, YOU KNOW, IF, IF THERE'S PLACES WHERE WE CAN PUSH HARDER ON CONSERVATION AND EFFICIENCY TO EVEN MAXIMIZE AND WHETHER THAT PRE PAYMENT BETTER THEN WANNA HAVE INFORMATION TO DO THAT.
SO IF THERE'S ANY WAY SOME KIND OF RELATIVE COST OF THE WATER THAT WE ALREADY HAVE OR WE HAVE UNDER CONTRACT OR SOME
YEAH, THAT'S A GREAT POINT AND THAT'LL BE A PART OF THIS NEXT STEP OF THE PROCESS AS WE'RE LOOKING AT HOW WE CAN OPTIMIZE THE USE OF NOT JUST SUPPLY STRATEGIES BUT ALSO DEMAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES, INCLUDING CONSERVATION AND REUSE TO REDUCE OUR DEMANDS FOR POTABLE WATER AND BE ABLE TO CAPITALIZE ON THAT REALLY GOOD DEAL THAT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW.
AND ROBERT DID, DID YOU HAVE A QUESTION? YEAH, I DID.
UM, THE, UH, MY QUESTION CONCERNS, UM, SO 2040 IS 16 YEARS FROM NOW, SO, SO HOW, WHAT PROCESS WAS CALLED TO FIGURE OUT SOMETHING WAS GONNA TAKE MORE THAN THAT AMOUNT OF TIME, UM, FOR A STRATEGY TO NOT BE CONSIDERED VERSUS ONE THAT'S CONSIDERED, UM, I'M SORRY, YOUR, YOUR QUESTION IS THAT WHAT FED INTO THE DETERMINATION THAT SOMETHING COULDN'T BE IMPLEMENTED BY 2040? YES.
YEAH, I THINK, UM, LOOKING AT OTHER RESERVOIR PROJECTS THAT WE'VE SEEN, UM, IMPLEMENTED AROUND THE STATE, I DON'T THINK WE HAVE A LOT OF GOOD EXAMPLES OF ANYBODY BEING ABLE TO GET THAT DONE WITHIN 15, 20, 40, MAYBE MORE IN THE 60, 70 YEAR RANGE IS WHAT THAT SORT OF LOOKED LIKE IN A LOT OF CASES.
SO ALTHOUGH, ALTHOUGH OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIRS ARE A DIFFERENT BEAST, YEAH, THEY DO SEEM TO BE MOVING FASTER.
AND I THINK WE HAVE OUR BUCKLE IS AN INTERESTING EXAMPLE.
UM, AND THAT'S AN OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR THAT, YOU KNOW, HAS HAD SOME CHALLENGES AND HAS TAKEN QUITE A WHILE.
UM, AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT EXACTLY SURE HOW LONG THE, THE DESIGN PHASE AND THE DETERMINATION TO DO THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE TOOK, BUT UM, WE WOULD STILL HAVE ALL OF THAT WORK.
ALSO, LAND ACQUISITION IS A BIG THING THAT WE CONSIDERED WHEN WE WERE LOOKING AT THESE TOO.
I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE BEEN CONSIDERING THAT A LOT IN TERMS OF THE, THE AREAS AROUND AUSTIN AND I THINK THAT PRESENTS A REAL CHALLENGE IN TERMS OF BOTH, UM, COST AND JUST THE TIMING TO ACQUIRE THE SORT OF LAND THAT WOULD BE REQUIRED BOTH FOR THE RESERVOIR ITSELF AND THEN FOR ANY CONVEYANCE TO AND FROM OUR SYSTEM.
SO I THINK WE, WE DIDN'T NECESSARILY PUSH OFF ANY OF THOSE STRATEGIES LIGHTLY, BUT I THINK THERE ARE ALSO OTHER STRATEGIES THAT ARE EITHER ALREADY UNDERWAY IN TERMS OF PLANNING AND EVALUATION AND OTHER STRATEGIES THAT ARE FEASIBLE TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN A SHORTER TERM THAT I THINK WE FELT THAT IT MADE MORE SENSE TO PRIORITIZE THOSE IN THE NEAR TERM.
BUT I GUESS THAT'S ALSO WHAT THE, THE SUBSEQUENT ANALYSIS WILL BE ABLE TO SHOW US AS WELL.
BUT I'D BE INTERESTED IF THERE ARE PARTICULAR STRATEGIES THAT, SO I GUESS THE, THE OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIRS I THINK MIGHT BE SOMETHING TO LOOK INTO.
I, YEAH, I GUESS, I GUESS I'M NOT SO MUCH ARGUING WITH WITH WHERE YOU WOUND UP, BUT JUST, JUST CURIOUS YEAH.
AS TO, YOU KNOW, WHAT WENT INTO UM, THAT, IN THAT DECISION.
YEAH, I THINK IT'S SARAH'S PRETTY MUCH RIGHT ON IT'S, UH, EXAMPLES THAT WE'VE SEEN FROM OTHER AREAS.
WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF CHALLENGES WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRAND NEW OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIRS.
SEAWATER DESAL IS THE OTHER OPTION THAT'S, UM, NOT, WE CONSIDERED NOT FEASIBLE FOR IMPLEMENTATION BY, UH, 2040.
THAT WOULD BE TAKING WATER FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO.
WE'D HAVE TO HAVE CONVEYANCE INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, TREATMENT FACILITIES, ADVANCED TREATMENT FACILITIES.
UH, WE'D HAVE TO HAVE, UM, FACILITIES TO DO EITHER DEPOT INJECTION OR, UM, SOME SORT OF DISPOSAL OF, UM, THE BYPRODUCTS OF THAT TREATMENT.
THEN AS SARAH MENTIONED, THE INNER BASIN TRANSFERS BECAUSE OF THE LIMITED AVAILABILITY OF WATER FOR UM, UH, NEARBY BASINS.
I THINK IT WAS REALLY JUST DRIVEN BY, UM, EXAMPLES OF OTHER TYPES OF PROJECTS AND JUST THINKING THROUGH KIND OF THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION TIMEFRAMES AS WELL AS THE PERMITTING CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH SOME OF THESE PROJECTS.
[00:35:01]
AND PAUL, YOU HAVE YOUR HAND UP.UH, JUST WANTED TO GET THAT, THAT QUESTION ANSWERED AND I'LL SWITCH GEARS HERE A LITTLE BIT.
SO, UM, LOOKING AT ALL OF THESE SUPPLY STRATEGIES, I KNOW WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT PLANNING FOR UNCERTAINTY AND THE DETAILS WE'RE GONNA GET INTO.
BUT WHEN Y'ALL LOOK AT THIS AND YOU CONSIDER WHAT YOU EXPECT TO BE OUR DEFICIT IN 2040 IN TERMS OF, YOU KNOW, SUPPLY VERSUS DEMAND, HOW MUCH WE ACTUALLY WILL NEED, DO YOU THINK, OFF THE CUFF WE NEED TO DO, DO ALL OF THESE, SOME OF THESE, HOW MANY WOULD YOU SAY? I MEAN, HOW MANY, YOU KNOW, TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ACRE FEET ARE WE GONNA BE DOWN AND WHICH ONE, LIKE HOW MANY OF THESE WOULD WE REASONABLY NEED TO IMPLEMENT BY 2040? THAT'S A REALLY GOOD QUESTION AND THE, THE CRYSTAL BALL WOULD BE USEFUL.
UM, AND I THINK THIS ALSO BRINGS UP THAT, YOU KNOW, THE POSITION THAT WE FIND OURSELVES, WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING A LONG RANGE WATER SUPPLY PLAN, WHICH IS LOOKING AT A HUNDRED YEARS AND TRYING TO BE IN THE BEST POSITION TO BE PREPARED FOR WHATEVER MAY COME, ESPECIALLY IN THE NEXT 50 YEARS, IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE.
BUT I THINK THERE IS A LITTLE BIT OF AN IMPORTANT DISTINCTION BETWEEN THESE STRATEGIES IS RECOMMENDED IN A LONG RANGE PLAN AND WHATEVER EMERGENCY PLANNING THAT WE NEED TO BE DOING.
AT THE SAME TIME, I THINK THAT THEY'RE NOT UNRELATED, BUT THESE ARE REALLY, UM, THESE ARE LOOKING AT THE, THE LONG RANGE OF IMPLEMENTATION AND AS LIKE A SR IS CURRENTLY RECOMMENDED IN WATER FORWARD 18 WOULD BE AVAILABLE BY 2040.
AND SO THAT GIVES ME A HUGE MEASURE OF RELIEF THAT WE WOULD BE ABLE TO LIKELY MEET A MUCH BROADER RANGE OF SCENARIOS THAN THE UTILITY IS CURRENTLY ABLE TO MEET.
IF THAT'S THE CASE, IF WE HAVE A SR IN PLACE, THEN WE'LL BE, YOU KNOW, HAVE 60,000 ACRE FEET OF WATER IN STORAGE IF ALL GOES ACCORDING TO PLAN.
AND I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S REALLY, YOU KNOW, THAT THAT IS A, A VERY, UM, ASSURING SORT OF STEP IN THAT DIRECTION AND WHICH OF THESE WE WOULD NEED TO HAVE IN PLACE.
I THINK IT ALSO, YOU KNOW, WE ARE GOING TO BE MEASURING THESE STRATEGIES AGAINST HUNDREDS OF DIFFERENT FUTURE SCENARIOS REPRESENTING THE LEVEL OF UNCERTAINTY EVEN BETWEEN NOW AND 2040.
UM, SO I THINK THAT'LL HELP US TO UNDERSTAND, I MEAN WE CAN SORT OF SEE WHICH ONES ARE THE, THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE AND THIS IS JUST IN THE SUPPLY SIDE TOO, RIGHT? WE ALSO HAVE THE WHOLE TOOLBOX OF THE DEMAND REDUCTION, WHICH IS REALLY IMPORTANT TOOLBOX.
UM, AND FROM THE SUPPLY SIDE, YOU KNOW, YOU MIGHT HAVE A LOT OF PORTFOLIOS THAT ONLY HAVE AS R AS AN ADDITIONAL SUPPLY STRATEGY BETWEEN NOW AND 2040.
I THINK FOR A LOT OF SCENARIOS THAT THAT COULD BE ENOUGH TO GET YOU THERE AND FOR SOME YOU MIGHT NEED TO PULL IN SOME OF THE MORE, UM, MORE COSTLY OR, YOU KNOW, RISKIER STRATEGIES.
BUT I THINK THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO SEE HOW OFTEN THAT HAPPENS WITHIN THE RANGE OF SCENARIOS.
AND IT, IT'LL HAVE TO BE A RISK ASSESSMENT IN TERMS OF HOW MANY WE WANNA DECIDE TO HAVE ONLINE BY 2040.
YEAH, LET, LET'S KEEP MOVING 'CAUSE I'M BECOMING, UM, CONSCIOUS OF THE TIME HERE OF THE TIME AND AGENDA ITEMS, SO LET'S KEEP GOING.
AND THEN THE DEMAND PIECE IS A VERY IMPORTANT BALANCE HERE, THE DEMAND.
SO, UM, ALRIGHT, SO LET'S HOP TO THE 2120 THE NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
SO YOU START TO SEE HOW THINGS ARE CHANGING OVER TIME AND WHAT WE ANTICIPATE MIGHT BE FEASIBLE FROM OTHER STRATEGIES IN 2120 RANGE, WE'RE STARTING TO SEE A LOT MORE STRATEGIES THAT HAVE UPWARDS OF, YOU KNOW, 40,000 AND SOME UP TO 80,000 ACRE FOOT YIELDS AT THE HIGHER END.
UM, SAME STRUCTURE, THOSE COSTS, UM, THOSE UNIT COSTS ARE THERE.
AND YOU SEE SEAWATER DESALINATION DOES HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE A LOT OF WATER, BUT IT ALSO COMES AT A VERY HIGH COST.
UM, AND WE HAVE, WE HAVE A LOT OF STRATEGIES WE PROBABLY WANNA WANNA PUT OUT BEFORE THAT ONE.
SO, UM, BECAUSE IT'S NOT JUST A, A CAPITAL COST, BUT IT'S ALSO AN ONGOING COST FOR SEAWATER DESALINATION.
UM, BUT THERE ARE OTHER OPTIONS HERE THAT ARE PROVIDING SIGNIFICANT, UM, AMOUNTS OF WATER AND I THINK THAT'S SORT OF GONNA BE THE NEXT SET OF DECISIONS IS WHICH OF THESE, AND WHICH OF THESE IN COMBINATION LEADS TO THE MOST RESILIENT SET OF STRATEGIES.
BECAUSE IF YOU'RE ALL, YOU KNOW, ALL DEPENDING ON THE COLORADO RIVER WATER, THEN THAT IS A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A VULNERABILITY OR YOU START TO EXPAND AND DIVERSIFY A LITTLE BIT AND YOU HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A RESILIENT SYSTEM.
ALL RIGHT, THANKS FOR ALL OF THE SUPPLY
[00:40:01]
DISCUSSION.MOVING FORWARD TO THE DEMAND REDUCTION, UM, IT'S A LITTLE BIT TRICKIER TO DESCRIBE HOW WE DID THE DEMAND REDUCTION PATHWAYS, BUT AS I'D MENTIONED, A LOT OF THESE STRATEGIES ARE VERY INTERRELATED.
FOR INSTANCE, IF YOU HAVE A MUCH LARGER CENTRALIZED RECLAIMED SYSTEM, YOU WOULD EXPECT THERE TO BE A LITTLE BIT LOWER, UM, RATE OF ONSITE WATER REUSE BECAUSE YOU HAVE MORE PLACES THAT PEOPLE MAY CHOOSE TO CONNECT TO THE CENTRALIZED SYSTEM INSTEAD OF DOING AN ONSITE SYSTEM.
SO THINGS LIKE THAT WE TRIED TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT AND I THINK THE FIRST WATER FORWARD PLAN WAS REALLY LOOKING AT WHAT WE THOUGHT FEASIBLE TARGETS MIGHT BE.
AND THIS WE TOOK AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO REALLY GO THROUGH AND CHECK BASED ON THE OUTPUT OF ALL OF OUR DEMAND WORK, WHICH IS ALL SPATIALLY DISAGGREGATED DOWN TO WHAT KIND OF END USE FOLKS ARE USING, AND LOOKED TO SEE WHERE WE MIGHT FEASIBLY MEET SOME OF THE DEMANDS, UM, MAKE SURE THAT WE WEREN'T DOUBLE COUNTING THE SAVINGS SO YOU WEREN'T EXPERIENCING BOTH A CONSERVATION SAVINGS AND A SAVINGS DUE TO RECLAIMED.
UM, SO WE'RE JUST COUNTING ONE OF THOSE AT A TIME.
UM, ALTHOUGH RECOMMENDING BOTH RECLAIMED AND CONSERVATION ACROSS THE BOARD.
UM, AND SO WE DEVELOPED SEVEN DISTINCT PATHWAYS, UM, THAT INCLUDE DEMAND REDUCTION STRATEGIES.
SO AS I MENTIONED WITH THE SUPPLY STRATEGIES, WE HAVE A COUPLE OF, UM, IN THAT NOTES COLUMN WE HAVE A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT SORT OF VERSIONS OF EACH STRATEGY, UH, STARTING MOSTLY WITH THE, THE EXISTING REQUIREMENTS FOR ONSITE AND CENTRALIZED RECLAIMED AND THEN AND PROJECTING OUT THE YIELD FROM THOSE EXISTING REQUIREMENTS AND THEN ADDING ON IF AT SOME FUTURE POINT, UM, FOR INSTANCE, CENTRALIZED RECLAIMED WERE TO EXPAND THE DISTANCE FROM THE, UM, THE CENTRALIZED RECLAIMED PIPELINE, THAT ONE IS REQUIRED TO CONNECT OR TO LOWER THE BUILDING SIZE THRESHOLD THAT QUALIFIES, UM, A DEVELOPMENT AS A LARGE ENOUGH BUILDING THAT THEY HAVE A A, A MORE STRINGENT CONNECTION REQUIREMENT.
SO WE, WE PLAYED WITH A COUPLE OF THOSE TO COME OUT WITH A RANGE OF YIELDS, DECENTRALIZED RECLAIMED FACILITIES.
THESE ARE, UM, SMALLER WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS AROUND THE PERIMETER OF THE CITY AND SOME OF THOSE ARE MAYBE BETTER SUITED.
WE, THE FOLKS WHO WERE WORKING THROUGH THIS KIND OF GAVE US THEIR, THEIR TIER ONE AND THEIR TIER TWO OR THE PHASE ONE AND PHASE TWO OF THE DECENTRALIZED RECLAIM.
SO WE LOOKED AT EITHER IMPLEMENTING JUST THE PRIORITY OR THE FULL, THE FULL SET OF THEM AND THEN COMBINED, UM, ONE ITERATION OF EACH OF THESE STRATEGIES INTO, UH, SEVEN DIFFERENT DEMAND REDUCTION PATHWAYS.
SO THE YIELDS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH OF THOSE PATHWAYS, AND LIKE I SAID, THEY'RE, THEY'RE PRETTY INTERRELATED.
SO, UM, WE COULD GIVE SOME MORE DETAIL ON THE INDIVIDUAL STRATEGIES, BUT BECAUSE LIKE I SAID, ONE WILL DROP DOWN A LITTLE BIT AND ANOTHER WILL COMPENSATE FOR IT.
UM, WE ENDED UP WITH, UH, BETWEEN 35,000 AND JUST UNDER 40,000 ACRE FEET OF YIELD ESTIMATED IN 2040 FROM THOSE STRATEGY GROUPINGS, WHICH INCLUDE OUR, UM, WATER LOSS CONTROL STRATEGY TO REDUCE WATER LOSS IN THE UTILITY, ALL THE CONSERVATION STRATEGIES, ONSITE REUSE, UH, CENTRALIZED RECLAIMED AND DECENTRALIZED RECLAIMED.
AND THESE LOOK VERY SIMILAR, BUT THE SCALE IS DIFFERENT.
SO WE WENT FROM THE 40,000 TO BETWEEN 115,000 AND UP TO JUST A LITTLE OVER 130,000 ACRE FEET ESTIMATED YIELD IN 2120 FROM THE DIFFERENT GROUPINGS OF THOSE STRATEGIES.
AND THE, WE KIND OF WENT FROM THE, THE CURRENT, THE DEMAND REDUCTION PATHWAY, ONE IS SORT OF REPRESENTATIVE OF THE CURRENT ORDINANCES AND SEVEN IS LIKE THROWING EVERYTHING WE'VE GOT AT IT.
SO THE NEXT STEPS WILL BE TO USE THESE AS AN INPUT AND THE, UM, THE WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY ASSESSMENT AND VULNERABILITY EVALUATION, THE WAVE, AND THEN THOSE TOP PERFORMING GROUPINGS OF STRATEGIES WILL BE FOR THE REVIEWED.
SO WHEREAS WE'VE PRESENTED A RANGE NOW WE'LL HAVE IDENTIFIED A SPECIFIC YIELD AND TIMELINE, WHICH CAN THEN BE, HAVE A COST DEVELOPED FOR IT, AND, UM, THOSE WILL BE PUT THROUGH A 50 YEAR PORTFOLIO EVALUATION AND A,
[00:45:01]
UM, A, A MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION ANALYSIS.SO WE'LL START TO LOOK AT SOME OF THE OTHER IMPACTS IN ADDITION TO THE, THE COST AND YIELD.
AND I BELIEVE THAT THAT IS ALL WE HAVE.
SO I DON'T TAKE ANY MORE TIME AWAY FROM HELEN AND FROM RAND AND THE OTHER SUBSEQUENT PRESENTATIONS.
THAT'S, UH, DEFINITELY INTERESTING HOW YOU ALL HAVE TAKEN THE WATER LOSS CONSERVATION ON SITE, CENTRALIZED REUSE AND, AND GROUPED THEM.
DEFINITELY BE DIGGING IN THINKING A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT.
UM, PAUL, YOU HAVE A QUESTION? YEAH.
UM, BEFORE WE GET AWAY FROM THE WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES, I JUST WANTED TO ASK, YOU KNOW, I KNOW WE PROVIDED FEEDBACK AS TASK FORCE MEMBERS MM-HMM,
UM, AND I KNOW I'M SURE MY COLLEAGUES PROVIDED SOME VERY GOOD SUGGESTIONS.
I KNOW I ONLY PROVIDED ONE, PROBABLY WASN'T THAT USEFUL, BUT I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT OTHERS PROVIDED VERY INTERESTING SUGGESTIONS AND I WONDERED IF THOSE ARE REFLECTED SOMEWHERE OR IF THEY'VE BEEN ANALYZED SOMEHOW AND IF WE'RE GONNA SEE THE RESULTS OF THAT.
YEAH, WE HAVE THE, UM, THE COMPILED COMMENTS THAT WE RECEIVED FROM THE WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE MEMBERS, SO WE CAN SHARE THAT OUT IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE THAT.
AND ALSO, YEAH, I MEAN, ARE ARE, ARE THEY, ARE ANY OF THEM GONNA MAKE IT INTO THE MA THE CHARACTERIZATION PROCESS, THE PE THE THINGS THAT PEOPLE SUGGESTED? UM, YES, GENERALLY THE, UH, WHERE WE, UM, WERE ABLE TO CONSOLIDATE STRATEGIES FROM SOME OF THE COMMENTS, THERE WERE ONLY A FEW COMMENTS ABOUT LIKE NEW STRATEGIES OR ADJUSTMENTS TO STRATEGIES, UM, AND THE CONFIGURATION OF THE STRATEGIES.
SOME OF THE COMMENTS WERE LIKE, UM, MORE LIKE, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE'S PREFERENCES ON WHETHER OR NOT THEY DID OR DID NOT LIKE A STRATEGY.
UM, THE COMMENT, THOSE TYPES OF COMMENTS WERE GOING THROUGH THIS PROCESS JUST NOT BASED ON WHETHER OR NOT FOLKS ARE IN FAVOR OR NOT IN FAVOR OF A STRATEGY.
UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, THAT WILL BE CONSIDERED AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
WE'RE TRYING TO DO THE ANALYSIS WORK TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND KIND OF THE SUPPLY RELIABILITY AND THE COST IMPACTS.
AND THEN OVERALL THE MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK, WE DIDN'T THINK THAT IT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE TO JUST PULL A STRATEGY OUT BECAUSE AT BEFORE GOING THROUGH THAT ANALYSIS WORK, UM, JUST BASED ON THE COMMENTS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE RECEIVED FROM SEVERAL FOLKS AND LIKE THAT THEY DIDN'T LIKE THE STRATEGY.
AND I WOULD SAY ONE OTHER APPROACH THAT WE DECIDED ON WAS, INITIALLY WE HAD THOUGHT THAT WE WOULD REPLICATE KINDA THE PROCESS FROM THE PREVIOUS PLAN, WHICH WAS TO HAVE A BLUE SKY LIST OF ALL THE STRATEGIES THAT WERE FEASIBLE AND THEN ELIMINATE THOSE THAT WE CONSIDERED INFEASIBLE.
AND, AND THEN THERE WERE ONLY THOSE THAT MADE IT ON TO A FURTHER MORE DETAILED CHARACTERIZATION AND OUR, WE DECIDED THAT IT MADE A LITTLE BIT MORE SENSE TO CHARACTERIZE EVERYTHING THAT WE COULD CONCEIVABLY CONSIDER AS FEASIBLE AND SORT OF THROW IT ALL INTO THE MACHINE AND SEE WHAT COMES OUT ON THE OTHER END AS OPPOSED TO SORT OF STARTING OUT WITH SOME PREJUDICE THAT ONE WOULD NOT MAKE IT THROUGH.
IF THERE'S, IF THERE'S A WAY THAT IT COULD BE CONSIDERED FEASIBLE AND WE HAD ENOUGH INFORMATION TO CHARACTERIZE IT, THEN IT, IT MADE IT IN AND WAS EVALUATED.
SO IN SOME CASES, YEAH, THERE WAS OVERLAP AND SO WE, WE DID DO SOME CONSOLIDATION, BUT WE DID ALSO SORT OF DECIDE AGAINST THE HAVING ANOTHER LIKE THRESHOLD AND FILTERING OUT ADDITIONAL STRATEGIES THAT WEREN'T EVALUATED.
SO I THINK SOME OF THE FEEDBACK WAS LIKE, HEY, DID YOU LOOK AT THIS ONE IN A LITTLE MORE DETAIL? AND SO WE OPTED TO LOOK AT ALL OF THEM IN MORE DETAIL.
AND THESE ARE ALL OF THE STRATEGIES THAT WE HAVE.
AND JUST, OH, SORRY, PERRY HAS A QUESTION.
JUST, I'M NOT SURE THIS IS THE TIME FOR THIS OR THE PLACE TO LET ME KNOW IF I'M WRONG.
UH, I, AND PROBABLY ALL OF US RECEIVED AN EMAIL FROM A PRIVATE CITIZEN SAYING THAT WE'RE NOT PAYING ENOUGH ATTENTION TO PER CAPITA DEMAND USAGE, HOWEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT, AND THAT WE, WHATEVER WE'RE DOING ALONG THOSE LINES IS AN AN AT BEST AND THAT WE'RE NOT REALLY TRYING, I KNOW THAT'S A DIFFICULT THING TO MANAGE, BUT, UM, WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO THAT, THAT WE SHOULD BE DOING A WHOLE LOT MORE AND THEN IN THE PAST A WHOLE LOT MORE WAS BEING DONE AND NOW THAT WE SLATE GIVEN UP ON THAT METRIC, THE CAPITA USAGE.
SO ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS ON THAT? WELL, I THINK, UM, PERRY, WE ARE GONNA GO OVER THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, THE PROPOSED WATER CONSERVATION PLAN.
I'M TRYING TO PRESERVE 45 MINUTES AT THE END OF THIS MEETING.
SO WE CAN DO THAT AND HAVE A BIG DISCUSSION ON THAT.
[00:50:01]
UM, IF I CAN TAKE YOUR QUESTION AND KIND OF TURN IT INTO A LITTLE BIT OF SOMETHING ELSE TOO, IS, IS, UM, WHEN WE LOOK AT THIS, THE THE DEMAND REDUCTION PATHWAYS, WHAT ARE ASSUMPTIONS GOING INTO THAT? DO WE HAVE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF LIKE AGGRESSIVE CONSERVATION OR, YOU KNOW, STEADY AS SHE GOES, YOU KNOW, LIKE WHAT ARE, HOW ARE WE LOOKING AT, AT HOW ARE WE APPROACHING DEMAND REDUCTION ON, I GUESS THAT'S, THAT'S IT.AND I THINK THAT'LL BE, YEAH, SORRY, UM, ADDRESSED IN A LOT MORE DETAIL, UM, IN THE LATER PRESENTATION.
BUT WE DID WORK HAND IN HAND WITH THAT GROUP TO IDENTIFY WHAT APPROPRIATE, UH, GPCD GOALS WOULD BE AND TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT ADDITIONAL, UM, YOU KNOW, ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES, ADDITIONAL VEHICLES, LIKE WHAT ARE THE NUTS AND BOLTS THAT ARE REQUIRED TO GET US UP TO THE, THE SORT OF TARGETS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT.
AND THAT INCLUDES ALL OF THE PARTS OF THE PICTURE, RIGHT? WE'VE GOT THE, THE DCP, WE'VE GOT THE, YOU KNOW, OUTDOOR WATERING RESTRICTIONS AND CONSERVATION ASSOCIATED WITH THAT IMPLEMENTATION OF OUR, UM, A MI PROGRAM AND ALL OF THE OTHER ASSOCIATED, YOU KNOW, UM, INCENTIVES AND REBATES ON WATER LOSS REDUCTION FOR NON IRRIGATION ITEMS, AND THEN THE WHOLE SUITE OF IRRIGATION ITEMS, UM, AS WELL AS, YEAH, THE UTILITY SIDE, WATER LOSS CONTROL.
SO REALLY TRYING TO UNDERSTAND FROM THE FOLKS IN THE DIFFERENT GROUPS OF THE UTILITY, WHAT IS NEEDED TO MOVE THOSE PROGRAMS TO THE NEXT LEVEL THAT WE'D ALL LIKE TO BE ACHIEVING THOSE LOWER GCDS.
YEAH, AND I JUST WANTED TO THROW IN THAT IT'S, I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA TO PUT EVERYTHING IN THE MIX AND, AND SEE WHAT COMES OUT.
AND I THINK ANOTHER IMPORTANT REASON FOR DOING THAT, INCLUDING FOR STRATEGIES THAT, YOU KNOW, WE QUOTE UNQUOTE NO, WON'T BE IN THE FINAL PLAN, IS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE, WE WE'RE MAKING ASSUMPTIONS OF WHAT IN THE FUTURE DROUGHT'S GONNA LOOK LIKE AND IT COULD BE WORSE.
AND SO HAVING AN ANALYSIS OF SOME OF THESE OTHER STRATEGIES, UM, CAN BE VERY HELPFUL, UH, PARTICULARLY, PARTICULARLY LOOKING AT, YOU KNOW, HOW LONG IT TAKES FOR IMPLEMENTATION.
AND I JUST WANTED TO MENTION BRIEFLY BEFORE WE MOVE AWAY FROM THIS ITEM THAT THIS IS, UM, SARAH IMAN'S LAST WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE MEETING, UM, BECAUSE SHE IS MOVING TO NORTH CAROLINA, UM, HER LAST DAY WILL BE WEDNESDAY.
I WANTED TO EXPRESS OUR GRATITUDE, UM, FOR ALL OF HER WORK ON THIS TASK AND ALL OF THE OTHER, UH, WORK THAT SHE'S DONE BEHIND THE SCENES TO HELP ADVANCE HER WATER RESOURCES PLANNING, GET AUSTIN WATER.
UH, SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH SARAH, AND WE WILL MISS YOU.
I'LL STILL BE PRAYING FOR RAIN IN THE COLORADO RIVER BASIN, EVEN WHEN I'M SOMEWHERE COOLER AND DAMPER
WELL, YEAH, YOU'RE A BIG ASSET.
UM, LET'S KEEP, UH, LET'S KEEP MOVING.
CAN, CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? OH, YEAH, TODD, YES.
I HAD, I HAD MIC ISSUES ON MY SIDE, SO.
UM, I, I JUST WANTED TO, I, I GUESS I'LL ASK A QUESTION AND, AND MAKE A STATEMENT.
UM, THE QUESTION IS, YOU KNOW, WE, WE DID A LOT OF WORK YEARS AGO, UM, IS BACKGROUND TO PRODUCING THE ORIGINAL PLAN, AND I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE USING, UM, WHATEVER PORTIONS OF THAT WORK IS RELEVANT, THAT THE, THE THING THAT THAT STICKS OUT IN MY MIND THAT'S MOST RELEVANT, I THINK FOR US TO BE THINKING ABOUT HERE IS THAT, UM, THAT THE EFFECTS OF WHATEVER CLIMATE CHANGE ANYONE WANTS TO BELIEVE IS HAPPENING.
UM, IT IS NOT THE DIMINISHMENT OF THE TOTAL RAINFALL OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME, BUT, BUT THE, THE LIKELY, UM, FEAST AND FAMINE NATURE OF, UM, YOU KNOW, THE WATER THAT WE'RE GOING TO RECEIVE IS, AND SO AS WE'RE THINKING ABOUT STRATEGIES, UM, I, I KEEP THINKING THAT OUR, OUR PRIMARY GOAL HERE HAS TO BE ABLE TO, HAS TO BE TO MANAGE OR, OR MAXIMIZE WATER STORAGE, SUCH THAT DURING TIMES OF FEAST WE CAN, WE CAN PUT IT AWAY IN TIMES OF DAMAGE, WE CAN, WE CAN PULL IT BACK AND OBVIOUSLY THE LAKES THAT WERE PUT IN 68, 70 YEARS AGO ARE A BIG PART OF THAT.
BUT THAT, YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO DO THAT AGAIN AND, AND JUST WANNA MAKE SURE ALL OF OUR STRATEGIES THAT WE'RE CONSIDERING ARE ALL ABOUT, YOU KNOW, MAXIMIZING THE ABILITY TO SCORE WATER WHEN WE HAVE A BUDGET DELTA.
THAT'S A GREAT COMMENT AND I THINK IT LEADS US RIGHT
[00:55:01]
INTO OUR NEXT PRESENTATION AS WELL, UM, BECAUSE THAT'LL BE A BIG PIECE OF HOW WE KIND OF OPTIMIZE OUR STRATEGIES ALONG THESE DIFFERENT FUTURE CLIMATE CHANGE, UM, SCENARIOS.[4. Presentation of Water Forward 2024 plan update methodology]
OUR NEXT PRESENTATION ON THE WAVE EVALUATION.SO FOR THIS, WE HAVE HELEN GERLACH, WHO'S BEEN OUR PM ON THIS TASK, AS WELL AS OUR, UH, BRAND CONSULTING TEAM JOINING US TO PRESENT.
UH, GOOD AFTERNOON, HAPPY TO BE, UH, GETTING TO SHARE THIS PRESENTATION OR HAVING ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT ON THIS TO THE TASK FORCE.
UM, I THINK WE CAN PROBABLY JUST JUMP FORWARD A FEW SLIDES BECAUSE OUR FIRST COUPLE LOOK EXACTLY LIKE WHAT SARAH PRESENTED EARLIER SINCE THESE ARE THE SLIDES FROM LAST TIME.
SO, UM, THE NEXT STEP AFTER THE CHARACTERIZATION IS TO PERFORM THIS WAVE EVALUATION, WHICH AS YOU CAN SEE STANDS FOR WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY ASSESSMENT AND VULNERABILITY EVALUATION.
AND SO THAT'S KIND OF TWOFOLD.
THE WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY ASSESSMENT IS THE OPTIMIZATION PROCESS WHERE WE GO THROUGH AND TAKE ALL THESE WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES THAT HAVE BEEN CHARACTERIZED, RUN THEM AGAINST ALL OF THE DIFFERENT, UM, PLAUSIBLE FUTURES THAT WE'VE DEVELOPED, AND DETERMINE WHAT MIX OF THOSE STRATEGIES, UM, MEETS OUR NEEDS THE BEST IN THE FUTURE, PERFORMS WELL OVER THE GREATEST, UH, NUMBER OF SCENARIOS.
AND THEN THE SECOND HALF OF THIS IS PERFORMING THE VULNERABILITY EVALUATION.
SO IN THE LONGER TERM, AS YOU'RE GETTING OUT, YOU KNOW, TOWARDS THE END OF THE PLANNING HORIZON, WHAT ARE OUR KEY DECISION POINTS WHERE IT MIGHT PUT US ON DIFFERENT PATHWAYS AND WHAT STRATEGIES WOULD WE NEED TO BRING ON AT THAT TIME? UM, AND SO WITH THAT, I THINK WE CAN GO AHEAD AND HAND IT OVER TO OUR RAND TEAM TO INTRODUCE THEMSELF.
IF YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
AND I BELIEVE WE'VE GOT, UM, MICHELLE JOINING US, UM, VIA THE WEBEX MEETING IF WE'RE ABLE TO PULL HER UP.
I'M ROB LENERT, I'M A PRINCIPAL RESEARCHER HERE AT RAND.
LOOK FORWARD TO TALKING WITH YOU.
AND WE'RE GONNA ACTUALLY JUMP, UM, Y'ALL SAW A FEW OF THESE SLIDES ALREADY.
UM, IF YOU RECALL AT THE END OF EITHER THE LAST MEETING OR THE ONE BEFORE, ROB GAVE AN INTRODUCTION TO DECISION MAKING UNDER DEEP UNCERTAINTY.
SO SINCE Y'ALL HAVE ALREADY SEEN THOSE SLIDES, WE WON'T GO THROUGH THEM AGAIN.
UM, SO IF WE COULD JUMP TO SLIDE, I BELIEVE IT SHOULD BE 13.
UM, SO, UM, SO JUST KINDA IN A BROAD OVERVIEW, WHAT, WHAT ROB HAD INTRODUCED LAST TIME IS THAT, UM, AS BOTH SARAH AND HELEN, UM, KIND OF GAVE A NICE OVERVIEW IN BOTH OF THEIR TALKS, UM, GENERALLY WE, UM, WHEN, WHEN WE'VE DONE PLANNING IN THE PAST, WE THINK OF CREATING THE MOST OPTIMAL SET OF STRATEGIES FOR A SINGLE FUTURE.
UM, AND WE TRY OUR BEST TO BEST PREDICT THAT FUTURE AND THEN, UM, PLAN FOR IT.
UH, AND INSTEAD WHAT THIS FIELD OF DECISION MAKING UNDER DEEP UNCERTAINTY THAT WE'RE DRAWING OUR ANALYTICAL METHOD FROM DOES IS SAY, UM, WE CAN'T BEST PREDICT A SINGLE FUTURE.
UM, INSTEAD WE WANT TO TRY AND PLAN FOR A SUITE OF STRATEGIES THAT PERFORM WELL OVER THE WIDEST ARRAY OF PLAUSIBLE FUTURES.
UM, AND IN THAT WAY WE CAN REALLY PLAN FOR UNCERTAINTY.
UM, AND THAT THAT FIELD DECISION MAKING UNDER DEEP UNCERTAINTY, UM, HAS A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT ANALYTICAL METHODS.
UM, WE'RE NOT GONNA GO THROUGH ALL OF THOSE, UM, BUT THE ONE THAT WE'RE USING IN THIS WORK IS CALLED MULTI OBJECTIVE, ROBUST DECISION MAKING.
THAT'S WHAT THAT M-O-R-D-M IS HERE IN THE TITLE OF THIS SLIDE.
UM, AND WE'RE GONNA TALK THROUGH THAT ANALYTICAL PROCESS.
UM, SO WE'LL USE THIS APPROACH TO BUILD, UM, A SET OF CANDIDATE PORTFOLIOS, UM, AND OPTIMIZE THEM ACROSS A WIDE ARRAY OF PLAUSIBLE FUTURE SCENARIOS.
UM, AND THOSE PORTFOLIOS COMPRISE DIFFERENT GROUPINGS AND DIFFERENT LEVELS OF WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES.
SO, UM, THE INPUTS TO ANALYSIS WILL BE THE CHARACTERIZED, UH, WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES THAT WE JUST TALKED THROUGH.
UM, AND SO WE'LL BE USING THE PARAMETERS, UM, FOR COST FOR WHEN THESE THINGS CAN COME ONLINE FOR WHAT ARE THE FEASIBLE LEVELS OF THEM ALL PROVIDED BY THE AUSTIN WATER AND PLUMBER, UH, TEAM.
AND THAT WILL BE A KEY INPUT TO OUR ANALYSIS, UM, TO SHOW YOU THE OTHER
[01:00:01]
INPUTS AND KIND OF THE MAIN TOOLS WE'RE USING.I'LL ACTUALLY TURN TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO, UM, SO THE GOAL OF THIS ANALYSIS, THIS IS A KIND OF A COMPLICATED FLOW CHART, BUT WE'LL WALK THROUGH IT FROM LEFT TO RIGHT.
BUT JUST TO ANCHOR YOU ON, THE GOAL IS THAT DARK GREEN BOX IS TO CREATE AN OPTIMAL SET OF WATER MANAGEMENT PORTFOLIOS THAT PERFORM WELL ACROSS A WIDE ARRAY OF FUTURE CONDITIONS.
UM, SO AGAIN, THE PORTFOLIOS ARE JUST DIFFERENT GROUPINGS OF WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES AND DIFFERENT LEVELS OF THOSE STRATEGIES, UM, AND KIND OF VARIOUS DETAILS ABOUT THEM.
WE'LL GO THROUGH A LITTLE BIT OF THAT AS WELL.
UM, AND SO TO GET THAT, UM, THE INPUTS TO OUR ANALYSIS ARE, UM, STARTING FROM LEFT ON THIS FIGURE, WALKING OUR WAY TO THE RIGHT, UM, ARE, UH, AN ARRAY OF FUTURE CONDITIONS THAT WE'RE GONNA STRESS TEST THESE STRATEGIES AGAINST.
UM, AND THOSE INCLUDE FUTURE HYDROLOGIC SEQUENCES, UM, DIFFERENT, UH, STRATEGIES OF REGIONAL SUPPLY, UM, AND DIFFERENT WATER DEMAND FORECASTS.
AND THOSE WERE ALL INPUT INTO, UM, THE BIG WATER ASSESSMENT MODEL, UM, BY THE AUSTIN WATER TEAM.
UM, AND THAT MODEL PROVIDED, UM, PROJECTIONS OF FUTURE WATER DEMANDS AND FUTURE WATER SUPPLIES.
AND SO WE'RE USING THOSE AS THE INPUT TO OUR ANALYTICAL, UH, PROCESS.
UM, SO, SO THOSE ARE, UM, ESSENTIALLY USED TO, AS I MENTIONED, STRESS TEST, THE AUSTIN WATER SYSTEM.
UM, AND AUSTIN WATER DEVELOPED A VERSION OF THE BIG WATER ASSESSMENT MODEL CALLED, UM, THE MINI WHAM.
UM, HERE, THIS IS THIS KIND OF FOURTH BOX, UM, FROM AGAIN, GOING FROM LEFT TO RIGHT IN THIS FIGURE.
AND IT IS A WATER BALANCE MODEL OF THE AUSTIN WATER SYSTEM.
SO IT TAKES, FOR A GIVEN FUTURE, THE PROJECTED WATER DEMANDS, THE PROJECTED WATER SUPPLIES, AND ALLOWS US TO ADD, UM, DIFFERENT WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES TO IT AND TEST THEM UNDER THOSE FUTURES.
THAT'S KIND OF THE, THE FIRST FOUR BOXES OF THIS.
UM, WHEN WE BRING IN THE OPTIMIZATION PIECE, THIS IS THE PART OF THE ANALYTICAL APPROACH THAT ALLOWS US TO BASICALLY TEST DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS OF WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES AND DIFFERENT LEVELS OF THOSE STRATEGIES.
UM, AND SO WE'RE IN PARTICULAR USING WHAT'S CALLED A MULTI OBJECTIVE OPTIMIZATION APPROACH TO ESSENTIALLY TURN THE DIAL UP OR DOWN ON DIFFERENT STRATEGIES AND TEST DIFFERENT GROUPINGS OF THEM.
UM, AND THE WAY WE'RE TESTING THEM, WHAT ARE WE TESTING THEM AGAINST? WE'RE TESTING THEM AGAINST PERFORMANCE AND COST.
UM, SO WE'RE SEEKING TO ESSENTIALLY MAXIMIZE THE PERFORMANCE OF THE SYSTEM, UM, WHICH WOULD BE, UM, YOU KNOW, GOOD RELIABILITY, GOOD RESILIENCY, AND A LOW VULNERABILITY.
AND WE'RE SEEKING TO MINIMIZE THE COST.
AND SO THIS OPTIMIZATION FRAMEWORK, UM, THAT WE LAYER ON TOP OF THE MINI WHAM MODEL ALLOWS US TO TEST ALL THESE DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS OF WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES AND AGAIN, DIFFERENT KIND OF TWO DIFFERENT LEVELS OF THEM.
SO THAT'S THE BROAD OVERVIEW AND THEN WE'LL KIND OF GO THROUGH PIECE BY PIECE.
UM, IF YOU DON'T MIND GOING TO THE NEXT, UH, SLIDE.
SO HOW DOES OPTIMIZATION WORK? UM, AND AGAIN, THE GOAL OF THIS ANALYSIS IS NOT TO SAY THIS IS THE OPTIMAL AND SINGLE PORTFOLIO THAT IS BEST, BUT INSTEAD, UM, DETERMINE, UM, KIND OF A CANDIDATE SET OF PORTFOLIOS THAT PERFORM WELL ACROSS A WIDE RANGE OF FUTURES THAT CAN THEN BE FURTHER ASSESSED AS A PART OF THE PLANNING PROCESS.
UM, SO WHAT THE OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHM DOES IS IT ESSENTIALLY SAYS, UM, WE'RE GONNA SET, KIND OF TUNE THOSE DIALS FOR SOME SET OF WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES TO, YOU KNOW, 10,000 ACRE FEET, 20,000 ACRE FEET, AND THEN RUN THOSE LEVELS UNDER ALL OF THOSE FEATURE CONDITIONS AND THEN, UM, AND THEN ASSESS HOW IT PERFORMED AGAINST THE PERFORMANCE METRICS, AGAIN, RELIABILITY, RESILIENCY, AND VULNERABILITY AND COST.
UM, AND IT WOULD LOOK AT HOW THOSE PERFORM.
IT WOULD THEN TURN THE DIALS A LITTLE BIT MORE.
UM, LOOK AT HOW THOSE, UM, THAT KIND OF NEW LEVEL OR NEW COMBINATION OF STRATEGIES PERFORMED AGAINST THOSE SAME METRICS AND SAY, OKAY, UM, WE NEED TO MAYBE INCREASE A LITTLE BIT.
UM, AND THAT'S HOW THE IT ITERATION PROCESS MORE OR LESS WORKS.
WE DO THAT MANY, MANY, MANY TIMES OVER A LOT OF DIFFERENT KIND OF CANDIDATE LEVELS AND GROUPINGS OF STRATEGIES AND ASSESS HOW THEY ALL PERFORM, UM, THE, UH, THE WAY IN WHICH, OR I SHOULD SAY THE APPROACH AND ALGORITHM WE'RE USING TO DO THAT.
OPTIMIZATION COMES FROM A FAMILY OF ALGORITHMS CALLED, UH, MULTI OBJECTIVE EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHMS. SO THE WAY IN WHICH THEY ESSENTIALLY TURN THOSE DIALS IS, UM, THROUGH KIND OF A CONCEPTUAL PROCESS.
IT'S REALLY A NUMERICAL PROCESS, BUT TAKEN FROM THE CONCEPTS OF BIOLOGY.
SO YOU WOULD INITIALIZE A POPULATION OF SOLUTIONS, UM, AND THEN IF THEY PERFORM WELL, UM, YOU WOULD KIND OF MOVE THEM SLIGHTLY.
IF THAT NEXT KIND OF POPULATION, UM,
[01:05:01]
PERFORMS LESS WELL, MAYBE THEY WOULD GET THROWN OUT, UM, YOU WOULD HAVE SOME KIND OF RANDOM, WHAT THEY CALL MUTATION IN THE SENSE KIND OF RANDOMIZATION OF THE, OF THE KIND OF TUNING OF THE DIALS TO ALLOW US TO NOT GET STUCK IN WHAT ARE CALLED KIND OF SUBOPTIMAL SPACES.UM, THEY ALLOW CROSSOVER OF TWO MAYBE EQUALLY GOOD STRATEGIES OR EQUALLY GOOD PERFORMING STRATEGIES.
SO IT'S ESSENTIALLY A WAY TO KINDA WALK THROUGH THAT, UH, SOLUTION SPACE IN A SYSTEMATIC WAY.
UM, EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHMS ARE USED IN A WIDE ARRAY OF APPLICATIONS.
UM, THEY'VE BEEN AROUND FOR A LONG TIME, SO THEY'RE NOT, WHILE THEY'RE, THEY'RE VERY, UM, THEY PERFORM WELL, THEY'RE NOT NECESSARILY KIND OF A NEWER EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH HERE.
SO WHAT DOES OPTIMIZATION, WHAT DOES OPTIMAL MEAN HERE? UM, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE TRADE OFF BETWEEN SYSTEM PERFORMANCE, UH, AND COST.
UM, AND SO THIS OPTIMIZATION PROCESS, UM, LET'S LOOK AT THE LEFT FIGURE ON THIS SLIDE.
UM, FOR A SINGLE WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY WOULD CREATE WHAT'S CALLED AN OPTIMAL FRONT OF SOLUTIONS, BECAUSE WE'RE LOOKING AT TWO DIFFERENT, UH, METRICS, UM, PERFORMANCE VERSUS COST.
UM, THERE'S NO SINGLE GLOBAL, WHAT'S CALLED A GLOBAL OPTIMUM.
UM, IDEALLY YOU'D HAVE, UM, THE BEST PERFORMING, UM, STRATEGY AT THE LOWEST POSSIBLE COST, UM, WHICH IS WHAT THIS, UH, STAR, UM, HERE, UM, ON THE SLIDE INDICATES.
UH, THAT'S NOT ALWAYS FEASIBLE TECHNICALLY, UM, POLICY WISE FOR MANY, MANY REASONS.
UM, AND SO INSTEAD, WHAT THE KIND OF ALGORITHM WILL PROVIDE IS WHAT'S CALLED A FRONT OF OPTIMIZED SOLUTIONS.
SO EVERY PLACE ON THAT FRONT, UM, IF YOU INCREASE A UNIT OF PERFORMANCE, YOU WOULD ADD A UNIT OF COST.
SO THE ALGORITHM CAN'T DETERMINE WHICH OF THOSE CHOICES IS BETTER.
IT'S SAYING, YOU KNOW, SO, SO IF YOU PICKED A, A PART, APOLOGIES, I DON'T HAVE A POINTER RIGHT IN FRONT OF Y'ALL, AND I CAN'T DO THIS, BUT PICKED A PART IN THE KIND OF BOTTOM, UH, LEFT CORNER, UM, THAT WOULD BE A LOW COST, BUT LOW PERFORMING STRATEGY.
UM, AND THEN A DIFFERENT KIND OF CONFIGURATION OF THAT STRATEGY COULD BE A HIGHER COST, BUT BETTER PERFORMING.
AND SO THAT'S WHAT'S CALLED A KIND OF A PATO TRADE OFF FRONT.
UM, AND THOSE TRADE OFFS NEED TO BE DETERMINED NOT BY THAT ALGORITHM, BUT BY PLANNERS AND DECISION MAKERS.
UM, SO THIS PROCESS CAN REALLY JUST PROVIDE A SET OF SOLUTIONS THAT NEED TO BE FURTHER EVALUATED.
SO WE CAN DO THAT FOR, UM, KINDA THIS FIGURE, THIS, UM, CURVE ON THE LEFT FOR A SINGLE WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY.
AND THEN WE CAN DO THIS SAME THING FOR A PORTFOLIO, SO FOR A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES.
SO AS, UM, SARAH ALSO MENTIONED, UM, AT THE CLOSING OF HER PRESENTATION, UM, THE GOAL OF THE OPTIMIZATION IS NOT TO SAY HERE IS YOUR OPTIMAL SET OF PORTFOLIOS, BUT INSTEAD, HERE'S A CANDIDATE SET OF PORTFOLIOS THAT PERFORM WELL UNDER A WIDE RANGE OF FUTURE CONDITIONS.
AND THOSE PORTFOLIOS CAN THEN BE FURTHER EVALUATED USING A MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION ANALYSIS APPROACH.
UM, I'M NOT GONNA SPEND A LOT OF TIME HERE.
THIS, THIS IS WHERE KIND OF THE HANDOFF FROM OUR ANALYTICAL PROCESS GOES OVER TO THE AUSTIN WATER TEAM.
UM, BUT THESE ARE JUST SOME EXAMPLES OF ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCE MEASURES, UM, BOTH QUALITATIVE OR QUANTITATIVE THAT P COULD BE USED TO FURTHER EVALUATE THE PORTFOLIOS THAT COME OUT OF THIS PROCESS.
UM, AND THEN THIS IS MAYBE A LITTLE BIT OF TECHNICAL DETAIL.
I KNOW THERE'S LIKE A WHOLE BULLET OF OF ACRONYMS, UM, IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS SLIDE.
UM, BUT THIS IS JUST TO SAY, UM, THAT EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHM THAT WE USED TO PERFORM THE OPTIMIZATION, UH, IS COMING FROM A, UM, OPEN SOURCE PYTHON LIBRARY DEVELOPED BY RESEARCHERS CALLED RHODIUM.
UM, IT'S WIDELY USED IN A MULTI OBJECTIVE OPTIMIZATION.
IT INCLUDES A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT OPTIONS FOR US, UM, TO DO OUR ANALYSIS.
SO IT GIVES US SOME FLEXIBILITY FROM AN OPTIMIZATION STANDPOINT, UM, AND IT HAS A NUMBER OF OTHER, UM, FEATURES THAT ARE NICE FOR THE ANALYSIS.
UM, I ALSO WANNA MENTION THAT IT'S WIDELY USED IN THE FIELD OF WATER RESOURCES PLANNING.
AND SO I'M GONNA PASS, UM, PASS IT OVER TO ROB.
UM, SO ONE OF THE CHALLENGES OF THIS, UM, THIS APPROACH IS WHEN WE HAVE A WIDE RANGE OF SOLUTIONS AND A MULTI OBJECTIVE SPACE, THAT THERE'S OFTEN A LOT OF OPTIMAL SOLUTIONS.
UM, SO ROB'S GONNA TALK THROUGH, UM, AN ADDITIONAL CONCEPT THAT WE'RE GONNA LAYER ONTO THIS CALLED REGRET THAT CAN HELP US DEAL WITH THAT COMPLEXITY.
[01:10:01]
PLEASE.YEAH, SO MICHELLE WAS TALKING ABOUT HOW WE DEVELOP PORTFOLIOS, UM, A ACROSS THE, THE TRADE-OFFS BETWEEN YOUR, YOUR DIFFERENT PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES.
THEN THE OTHER THING WE NEED TO LAYER ON THAT IS LOOK HOW, LOOK AT HOW THOSE PORTFOLIOS AND THEIR PERFORMANCE VARIES OVER DIFFERENT SCENARIOS AND ASK WHAT IS A GOOD PORTFOLIO, UH, GIVEN THIS, UH, SCENARIO UNCERTAINTY.
AND THE CONCEPT WE'RE GOING TO USE TO, TO CAPTURE THAT IDEA IS, IS CALLED, CALLED REGRET.
AND SO I GIVE HERE ON THIS SLIDE A, UH, A SOMEWHAT FORMAL DEFINITION OF REGRET.
SO A P FOLIO'S REGRET IN ANY FUTURE IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ITS OUTCOME OR ITS PERFORMANCE, AS GIVEN THE MEASURES THAT MICHELLE WAS SHOWING YOU IN THAT FUTURE AND THE OUTCOME OF THE BEST PORTFOLIO IN THAT FUTURE.
IT'S SOME COMBINATION OF A PARTICULAR CLIMATE, UM, CLIMATE TRAJECTORY, WHICH MAY HAVE DROUGHTS OF A CERTAIN DEPTH AND DURATION, CERTAIN FLASHY PERIODS WHEN YOU GET INTENSE AMOUNTS OF WATER OVER CERTAIN AMOUNTS OF TIME AND SO FORTH, ALONG WITH, WITH, WITH DEMAND AND SOME OF THE OTHER FACTORS.
SO, UM, INSTEAD OF SHOWING YOU A MORE COMPLICATED GRAPHS FOR THIS IDEA, I'M GONNA JUST TAKE YOU THROUGH A VERY SIMPLE EXAMPLE OF, OF HOW ONE USES THIS IDEA, AND THEN WE'LL COME BACK TO YOU LATER, UM, WITH SOME EXAMPLES IN THIS MORE COMPLICATED SPACE.
SO I'M GONNA GIVE YOU A SUPER, UH, SIMPLE EXAMPLE OF HOW THIS CONCEPT WORKS USING, UM, A TYPE OF DECISION PROBLEM WE'VE PROBABLY ALL FACED.
UM, YOU'RE INTERESTED WHAT TO DO ON A NICE WEEKEND DAY, AND YOU NEED TO DECIDE WHETHER YOU WANNA STAY HOME OR GO FOR A PICNIC.
AND WHICH ONE OF THESE IS THE BETTER IDEA IS GONNA DEPEND ON MANY THINGS, INCLUDING WHETHER IT'S SUNNY OR RAINY.
UM, AND SO USING THIS CONCEPT OF REGRET, WE CAN TAKE OURSELVES THROUGH THIS DECISION.
SO THE, UM, THE FIRST THING WE DO IS WE LOOK AT THE OUTCOME WHERE THE PERFORMANCE OF EACH OF THESE STRATEGIES IN EACH OF THESE FUTURES.
SO, UM, IF YOU, UH, IF YOU DECIDE TO STAY HOME, UM, THAT IS A BETTER STRATEGY FOR, FOR THE RAIN.
YOU MIGHT LIKE TO SIT BY A COZY FIRE.
UM, BUT IF IT'S SUNNY, UM, YOU KNOW, IT MIGHT BE KIND OF BORING.
UM, IF YOU CHOOSE TO GO ON A PICNIC, UH, IF IT'S SUNNY, THAT MIGHT BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR HAVING LOTS OF FUN.
UM, IF IT RAINS, IT, UM, IS BAD.
SO, YOU KNOW, YOU MIGHT REALLY PREFER GOING TO A PICNIC IN THE SUN, BUT YOU ON A SUNNY DAY, BUT YOU DON'T GET TO CONTROL WHETHER IT'S SUNNY OR RAINY.
YOU ONLY GET TO CHOOSE CONTROL WHETHER YOU STAY AT HOME AND GO FOR THE PICNIC.
SO FOR WHAT DO YOU DO? AND NOW, UM, TO MATHEMATIZE THIS A LITTLE BIT, I I STUCK UTILITY FUNCTIONS, UH, WHICH IS JUST A MEASURE OF HOW MUCH YOU LIKE EACH OF THESE, UM, UNDERNEATH EACH OF THESE BOXES.
AND SO IN EACH CASE, THE, THE BOX WITH THE GREEN OUTLINE HAS MORE UTILITY THAN THE OTHER, WHICH ARE THE INEQUALITIES OVER ON THE RIGHT.
OKAY, SO NOW, UH, AS ONE WAY OF THINKING OF WHICH OF THESE STRATEGIES WE PREFER, AND THIS IS, YOU KNOW, A CLASSIC DECISION ANALYTIC APPROACH, WE CAN LOOK AT THE REGRET OF EACH STRATEGY IN EACH FUTURE.
SO THE REGRET IS THE DIFFERENCE OF THAT STRATEGY'S PERFORMANCE IN THE FUTURE, UM, LESS THE, UH, AND IT'S DIFFERENCE WITH THE BEST PERFORMANCE STRATEGY IN THAT FUTURE.
SO FOR STAYING AT HOME, UM, IT HAS ZERO REGRET WHEN IT RAINS 'CAUSE THAT'S THE BEST THING FOR YOU TO DO IF IT'S RAINING AND HAS SOME REGRET, UM, IF IT TURNS OUT TO BE SUNNY, WHICH IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE UTILITY YOU WOULD'VE HAD BY HAVING A, UH, YOU KNOW, A, A HAPPY PICNIC IN THE SUN VERSUS SITTING AT HOME, UH, FIGHTING OVER WHICH VIDEO CAME TO PLAY.
CONVERSELY, IF YOU GO FOR A PICNIC, THE REGRET OF WHEN IT'S SUNNY IS ZERO, AND THE REGRET OF, UM, SITTING IN THE RAIN IS, UM, WHATEVER IT, THE DIFFERENCE IN UTILITY IS BETWEEN HOW MUCH PLEASURE YOU WOULD'VE GOTTEN FROM SITTING IN FRONT OF THE FIRE, SUNNY, RAINY DAY, LESS THE, UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHATEVER UTILITY YOU GET FROM, FROM SITTING IN THE RAIN.
SO, UM, THIS IS HOW ONE CALCULATES THE REGRET FOR EACH STRATEGY.
AND THEN THERE'S VARIETY OF DECISION RULES YOU CAN HAVE.
[01:15:01]
OFTEN WHAT YOU DO IS YOU LOOK FOR A STRATEGY WHICH HAS THE SMALLEST REGRET OVER MANY OF THE FUTURES.AND SO THIS IS THE THINKING THAT WE WILL IMPLEMENT IN, IN THIS WAVE PROCESS.
SO HAVING FOUND SET PORTFOLIOS THAT BALANCE AMONG OBJECTIVES IN SINGLE FUTURES, THEN WE'LL SHOW YOU HOW, WHAT, WHAT OPTIONS ALLOW YOU TO HAVE SMALL REGRET OVER MANY FUTURES.
SO, UM, I GIVE YOU THE DEFINITION AND THEN WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO IS USE THE MULTI OBJECTIVE OPTIMIZATION TO DEFINE PORTFOLIOS WITH THAT SHOULD BE WITH, AS OPPOSED TO WILL WITH SMALL RELIABILITY, RESILIENCE, VULNERABILITY, AND COST REGRET OVER A WIDE RANGE OF SCENARIOS.
SO WHAT I SHOWED YOU IN THE SIMPLE EXAMPLE, THERE WAS A SINGLE MEASURE OF, YOU KNOW, THE, THE BENEFIT YOU GET FROM EACH COMBINATION OF STRATEGY AND FUTURE.
THERE'S, THERE'S FOUR, SO IT BECOMES A LITTLE BIT MORE COMPLICATED TO TO, TO MAKE THE GRAPHICS AND SHOW IT TO YOU.
BUT ESSENTIALLY WE'LL BE LOOKING FOR STRATEGIES THAT COME OUT OF THIS MULTI OBJECTIVE OPTIMIZATION PROCESS THAT THEN HAVE SMALL REGRET IN EACH OF THESE DIMENSIONS OVER THE SCENARIOS.
THIS IS, THIS IS VERY PRELIMINARY AND WE PREPARED THIS I THINK A COUPLE MONTHS AGO.
BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE ANALYTICS STEPS ARE COMPLETE, THE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE STRATEGIES, WHICH, WHICH YOU, WE ARE NOW ADV MUCH MORE ADVANCED ON.
YOU'VE SEEN THOSE, UM, INPUT THOSE IN THE MODEL, DO THE, THE CALCULATION THAT MICHELLE SUGGESTED, AND THEN MOVE ON TO THE REGRET CALCULATIONS.
UM, UH, SO SOME TENTATIVE, UH, SCHEDULING PLANS.
UM, AND THEN, UM, ONCE, UH, ONCE STRATEGIES THAT APPEAR ROBUST ACROSS MULTIPLE SCENARIOS AND OBJECTIVES COME OUT OF THIS PROCESS, THEN WE'LL TAKE THAT SMALLER NUMBER OF STRATEGIES AND DO A, UM, A MORE DETAILED STRESS TEST AND CONTINGENCY ANALYSIS PLANNING ON IT TO SAY, WELL, IF YOU TAKE THIS STRATEGY AND THINGS BEGIN ABLE TO BEGIN TO SHIFT IN A DIRECTION THAT WE, UM, UH, THAT IS ADVERSE FOR THIS STRATEGY, HOW DO WE COURSE CORRECT? SO, UM, I THINK WE'RE READY FOR QUESTIONS.
AND YEAH, NEXT SLIDE SAYS QUESTIONS.
YEAH, SO THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION AND LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR QUESTIONS.
OKAY, THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH.
IT SOUNDS LIKE THE NEXT COUPLE TASK FORCE MEETINGS, POSSIBLY AT SOME SUBCOMMITTEE MEETINGS TO DIG IN A LITTLE DEEPER.
SO WE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING ABOUT THE OPTIMIZATION AND CHARACTERIZATION AND WAVE AND ALL OF THAT.
YEAH,
I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING WHAT COMES OUT THE OTHER END.
[5. Staff update on Austin’s Drought Contingency Plan and Water Conservation Plan updates]
ON TO OUR, UM, AGENDA ITEM NUMBER FIVE, WHICH IS A STAFF UPDATE ON THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN AND WATER CONSERVATION PLAN UPDATES.UH, KEVIN, ICU KE, WELL, YOU'RE BOTH KEVIN, KOA, KEVINS.
GOOD EVENING, UH, TASK FORCE MEMBERS, KEVIN CRITTENDON, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AUSTIN WATER, IF WE CAN PULL UP THE SLIDES.
OH, AND I'LL JUST SAY TOO, FOLKS SHOULD HAVE, AND I, I SAW IT COME THROUGH THIS MORNING, I BELIEVE THE COPIES OF THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN IN ADDITION TO THE MATERIALS, THE SLIDES FOR THE MEETING, BUT THOSE, THE, THE PLANS CAME THIS MORNING.
AND ON THAT, I JUST WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND, UM, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE.
UH, WE FIND OURSELVES IN A BIT OF AN AWKWARD TIME CRUNCH BETWEEN LCRA COMPLETING THEIR DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN AND US TRYING TO GET THIS ON A COUNCIL AGENDA BEFORE THE SUMMER RECESS.
SO, UM, AGAIN, I'LL, UH, OFFER MY APOLOGIES AND WE'LL TRY TO ANSWER ANY OF YOUR QUESTIONS AS WE GO ALONG.
UH, AS THE SLIDE INDICATES, I WANNA TALK TO YOU BRIEFLY, AND ACTUALLY KEVIN WILL BE PROVIDING A LOT OF THE DETAIL HERE, BUT WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT THE, THE 2024 WATER CONSERVATION AND DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN UPDATE PROCESS.
UM, JUST BY WAY OF AGENDA, WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT JUST A QUICK OVERVIEW OF WATER SUPPLY, ALTHOUGH MANY OF YOU HAVE ALREADY HAD THAT ON A NUMBER OF OCCASIONS.
SO WE'LL TRY TO MAKE IT QUICK.
WE'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UH, WATER CONSERVATION AND DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLANNING FROM AN OVERVIEW PERSPECTIVE.
AND THEN WE'LL PROVIDE A LITTLE BIT OF DETAIL ON BOTH OUR WATER CONSERVATION PLAN PROPOSED CHANGES, AND THEN THE PROPOSED DROUGHT CONTINGENCIES PLAN
[01:20:01]
CHANGES.AND THEN WE'LL END UP WITH A DISCUSSION OF KIND OF WHAT'S NEXT.
AGAIN, THIS SLIDE YOU'VE SEEN BEFORE, IT'S A GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF OUR WATER SUPPLY.
UH, WE GET ALL OF OUR WATER FROM THE TEXAS, COLORADO RIVER.
UM, THAT WATER COMES FROM A COMBINATION OF, UH, STATE GRANTED WATER RIGHTS THAT WE GET, UM, THROUGH, UH, TEXAS COMMISSIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY.
AND IT'S ALSO BACKED UP BY A CONTRACT THAT WE HAVE WITH THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY FOR 325,000 ACRE FEET OF YEAR.
THAT PROVIDES BASICALLY THE STORAGE COMPONENT OR STORAGE ELEMENT, WHICH WE BASICALLY LACK BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE INDEPENDENT RESERVOIRS.
UM, IN ADDITION, WE'VE TALKED ALREADY TODAY ABOUT, UM, THE, UH, UM, A HUNDRED MILLION, UH, DOLLAR PAYMENT, UM, WITH LCRA TO BACK UP THAT WATER SUPPLY.
AND OF COURSE, THAT HAS EXTENDED OUR WATER SUPPLY, UM, THROUGH THIS RECENT TIME.
AND WE PROJECT WE WON'T HAVE TO PAY FOR WATER UNTIL WE GET TO THAT 200,000 ACRE FOOT, UH, UH, EXCUSE ME, WATER VOLUME.
SO, WHAT DO THESE PLANS DO AND WHY DO WE NEED THEM? UH, TCEQ OR TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY REQUIRE THAT UTILITIES, UM, PROVIDE, UH, WATER CONSERVATION PLANS AND DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLANS.
UM, THEY REQUIRE THAT THOSE PLANS BE UPDATED EVERY FIVE YEARS.
AND SO THAT'S WHY WE FIND OURSELVES HERE.
THIS IS, AT SOME LEVEL, A ROUTINE OPERATION THAT WE GO THROUGH EVERY FIVE YEARS.
UM, AND WITH THAT, I'LL JUST REMIND EVERYBODY THAT, UM, WE'LL BE HERE AGAIN FIVE YEARS FROM NOW.
SO, WHILE WE WANT TO TAKE THIS ADVANTAGE OR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO TRY TO UPDATE OUR PLANS AND OUR PLANNING, UH, TRYING TO BE MINDFUL ABOUT, UH, WHAT OUR FUTURE LOOKS LIKE, UM, WE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK, UM, AS SOON AS THIS PLAN IS DRAFTED ON WHAT THE, YOU KNOW, WHAT, UH, UPDATES OR ENHANCEMENTS WOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE PLAN AFTERWARDS.
UM, JUST SPECIFICALLY THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN REALLY IDENTIFIES PROGRAMMATIC ACTIVITIES THAT EITHER REDUCE WATER USE OR INCREASE WATER USE EFFICIENCY.
UM, THOSE ARE, YOU KNOW, BASICALLY HOW DO WE USE WATER ON A DAY IN AND DAY OUT BASIS.
THE DROUGHT, UH, CONTINGENCY PLAN, HOWEVER, REALLY JUST SETS SPECIFIC TRIGGERS IN OUR WATER SUPPLY CIRCUMSTANCE THAT WOULD, UM, ACTIVATE CERTAIN WATER USE RESTRICTIONS OR WATER USE BEHAVIORS.
SO IT'S A BIT OF A SUBTLE DIFFERENCE.
UH, PROBABLY MOST OF YOU IN HERE ARE FAMILIAR WITH THAT, BUT I DO WANNA KIND OF BRING THAT OUT 'CAUSE IT'LL, IT, IT'LL, UM, BE BECOME MORE APPARENT AS WE TALK ABOUT THE DETAILS OF EACH PLAN.
AND AGAIN, A LITTLE MORE, UM, YOU KNOW, SPECIFIC IN INPUT OR DISTINCTION.
UM, WATER CONSERVATION PLAN IS FOR ALL WEATHER CONDITIONS.
UH, SOME OF THE ELEMENTS IN THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN ITSELF INCLUDE, UH, WE PROVIDE UTILITY AND WATER USE INFORMATION IS JUST GENERALLY AROUND OUR UTILITY.
WE TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO UPDATE THAT ON A, ON A REGULAR BASIS.
UM, WE GO INTO SOME DISCUSSION OF DETAILS OF OUR WA UH, WATER CONSERVATION PROGRAMS, SO REBATES, UH, EDUCATION ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES AROUND THAT.
UH, WE TALK ABOUT OR DESCRIBE WATER LOSS REDUCTIONS.
SO WE'RE A LARGE, UH, WATER CONVEYANCE SYSTEM.
WE HAVE OVER NEARLY 4,000 LINEAR MILES OF WATER LINES THROUGHOUT OUR CITY.
SO AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, IT'S AN ONGOING EFFORT TO TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE, UM, DO THAT IN A RESPONSIBLE WAY AND CAN MAKE SURE THAT OUR, UM, SYSTEM IS AS EFFICIENT IN DELIVERING THAT WATER AS POSSIBLE.
AND THEN WE ALSO TALK IN THAT ABOUT, UM, REUSE ACTIVITIES.
AND SO I'LL JUST HARKEN BACK TO, UM, MAY THE SEVENTH.
WE, UM, AS AN EXAMPLE, PROPOSED AND COUNCIL ADOPTED SOME PRETTY EXTENSIVE, UM, WATER REUSE REQUIREMENTS.
UM, WERE ONE OF THE FEW COMMUNITIES IN THE NATION THAT ACTUALLY REQUIRE DUAL PLUMBING IN CERTAIN BUILDINGS OF CERTAIN SIZE.
UM, AND THEN WE TALK ABOUT SPECIFICALLY ON THE WATER CONSERVATION SIDE, SPECIFIC WATER CONSERVATION AND WATER LOSS GOALS.
SO, YOU KNOW, WHAT DO WE PLAN TO DO IN OUR PLANNING TO TRY TO, UM, REDUCE WATER LOSS AND IMPROVE WATER USE EFFICIENCY ON THE DROUGHT CONSERVATION SIDE, IT FOCUSES REALLY ON, AS THE TITLE WOULD INDICATE, UH, DROUGHT RESPONSE.
UM, SO, UH, SPECIFICALLY WE IDENTIFY DROUGHT TRIGGERS, SO DIFFERENT, UM, WATER SUPPLY CONDITIONS THAT WOULD RESULT IN CERTAIN WATER USE, UH, RESTRICTIONS.
UM, IN ADDITION TO THOSE, UH, WE ALSO DESCRIBE THE SPECIFIC DROUGHT USE RESTRICTIONS FOR THE SPECIFIC DROUGHT CONDITIONS.
UM, AS I MENTIONED IN THIS INTRODUCTION, UM, OUR PLAN, OUR DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN IS VERY TIGHTLY ALIGNED WITH THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITIES SINCE THEY DO OPERATE THE HIGHLAND LAKES.
[01:25:01]
DIRECTLY RELIANT ON THE CONDITIONS OF THOSE HIGHLAND LAKES.UM, AND THEN FINALLY, UM, ULTIMATELY WE'LL HAVE TO MAKE SOME CHANGES TO, UM, CHAPTER SIX OF OUR, UM, UM, LOCAL ADMINISTRATIVE CODES.
SO SPECIFICALLY, HOW DOES A REGIONAL WATER PLAN, OR HOW DOES THIS WORK REGIONALLY WITH LCRA? UM, BASICALLY IT ALIGNS WITH, UH, LCRH DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN.
OUR EXISTING, UH, PLAN DOES THAT, UM, IN THIS MOST RECENT UPDATE, LCA HAS MADE A NUMBER OF, UM, I WOULD CALL 'EM FAIRLY SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES TO THEIR PLANS.
UM, HISTORICALLY WE'VE BEEN, UM, SOME SEEN SOME MINOR CHANGES FROM LCRA, BUT THIS, PARTICULARLY THIS UPDATE, UM, L-C-R-I-A HAS DONE SOME THINGS, PARTICULARLY INCLUDING SOME DIFFERENT TRIGGER LEVELS THAT WE HAVEN'T SEEN BEFORE.
WE'LL TALK ABOUT THOSE IN A SECOND.
UM, ALSO A FEW, UM, SPECIFIC CHANGES ON, UM, INFLOW CONDITIONS.
SO HISTORICALLY, LCRA HAS JUST RELIED ON, UM, THE VOLUMETRIC STORAGE IN THE HYLAND LENGTH.
SO THEY'VE ADDED, UM, A TRIGGER LEVEL ASSOCIATED WITH INFLOWS.
UM, LCRA HAS ALSO INCLUDED SOME SPECIFIC WATER USE RESTRICTIONS ON, UM, CUSTOMERS, WHICH WE HAVEN'T SEEN BEFORE.
SO, UM, I THINK ALL OF THEM IN TOTAL REPRESENT, UH, AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT BY LCRA OF CHANGE IN WEATHER CONDITIONS AND SORT OF THE SEVERITY OF THE DROUGHT THAT WE'RE IN.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT OUR PLAN IS DEFINITELY AS, AS, UM, PROGRESSIVE AS THAT AND REFLECTS THOSE REQUIREMENTS AS WELL.
SO THAT'S A QUICK RUN THROUGH.
KEVIN'S GONNA NOW USE THESE NEXT SEVERAL SLIDES TO GET INTO SOME OF THOSE DETAILS.
AND AS WE GO THROUGH THIS, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO STOP AND ASK US ANY QUESTIONS.
SO WITH THAT, ALRIGHT, GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYONE.
IT'S GOOD TO BE WITH YOU AGAIN.
I KNOW THAT I MET WITH SOME OF YOU A WEEK OR SO AGO AT AN IMPLEMENTATION SUBCOMMITTEE AND AT THE TIME IT WAS SOMEWHAT AN, UH, SOMEWHAT OF AN AWKWARD CONVERSATION BECAUSE WE HAD PUT THE PLAN OUT THERE.
UM, SO WE COULD ONLY TALK VERY BRIEFLY ABOUT IT.
SO I'M GLAD TO BE ABLE TO TALK MORE WITH Y'ALL ABOUT THE PLANS NOW THAT WE HAVE THEM OUT.
SO THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN YOU HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU OR WAS EMAILED TO YOU EARLIER TODAY, AS KEVIN MENTIONED, REALLY DESCRIBES WHAT WE'RE DOING.
THIS IS WHAT WE'RE DOING NOW WITH SOME DISCUSSIONS ABOUT WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO IN THE FUTURE.
IT REALLY DISCUSSES PUBLIC EDUCATION, RESIDENTIAL ASSISTANCE, HOW WE'RE SPECIFICALLY HELPING CUSTOMERS, UH, INCENTIVE PROGRAMS, BOTH COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL REGULATORY PROGRAMS. WHETHER IT'S THE WATERING SCHEDULE OR OUR THREE PROGRAMS THAT WORK WITH COMMER COMMERCIAL ENTITIES TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE EFFICIENT AS THEY CAN BE.
OR AS KEVIN MENTIONED, WATER LOSS AND WATER REUSE.
THIS PLAN THAT WE HAVE HERE FOR US TODAY HAS A NUMBER OF NEW OR UPDATED COMPONENTS IN IT.
UM, SINCE THE 2019 PLAN, WE HAVE UPDATED PROGRAM ACTIVITY DESCRIPTIONS AND WATER SAVINGS.
IN THIS PARTICULAR PLAN WE TRIED TO INCLUDE HOW MUCH, HOW MANY REBATES WE'VE HAD AND HOW MUCH WE ANTICIPATE THAT THESE PROGRAMS SAVED.
WE ALSO HAD MORE DISCUSSION ABOUT THE MY ITX WATER, WHICH REALLY WASN'T A, A TOPIC IN THE LAST PLAN.
AND WE ALSO INCLUDED UPDATED CONSERVATION GOALS WITH PER PERSON WATER USE OR GPCD AS WELL AS WATER LOSS GOALS, WHICH I'LL TALK ABOUT IN THE NEXT SLIDE.
THE FIVE YEAR AND 10 YEAR GOALS FOR GPCD AND WATER LOSS.
UM, METRICS ARE ON PAGE 27 AND 28 OF THIS PLAN THAT YOU RECEIVED THIS MORNING.
UM, AND AS YOU MAY RECALL, UH, WE ARE BASING THE, THE GOALS OR FIVE AND 10 YEAR GOALS ON THE FIVE YEAR BASELINE.
THE FIVE YEAR AVERAGE THAT WE HAD FOR THE, UH, PER CAPITA WATER USE, UH, FOR TOTAL THAT WAS 127 PER PERSON PER DAY.
AND FOR RESIDENTIAL THAT WAS 64.
THE GOALS FOR THE GPCD OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS WERE, UM, ARE, ARE A DECREASE OF THE PER PERSON WATER USE BY 0.75% A YEAR.
[01:30:01]
AND THEN 1.25 IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.WE ALSO HAVE WATER LOSS GOALS AND INFRASTRUCTURE LEAKAGE INDEX GOALS IN THE PLAN.
AND ALL THESE GOALS WERE BASED ON WHAT WE THINK WE COULD DO.
UM, ONE OPTION IN SETTING GOALS TO LOOK AT IT STRICTLY FROM THE TOP DOWN ON WHAT YOU WANT THAT GOAL TO BE, WHAT YOU WANT THAT GPCD OR WHAT YOU WANT THAT WATER LOSS METRIC TO BE.
BUT THE PROCESS THAT WE TOOK IN DEVELOPING THESE GOALS WAS TO LOOK AT IT MORE FROM A BOTTOMS UP AS WELL AS A TOP DOWN, UM, IN WHICH WE LOOKED AT WHAT WE THOUGHT WE COULD DO WITH VARIOUS EXISTING AND NEW PROGRAMS, UM, AND WHAT THOSE ARE RESOLVED IN.
SO WHAT YOU SEE IN THOSE GOALS IN THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN ARE BOTH ASPIRATIONAL, BUT ONES THAT WE FEEL THAT WE CAN ACHIEVE.
SO, I'M SORRY, CAN YOU GO BACK 'CAUSE YOU DIDN'T HAVE A SLIDE WITH THE ACTUAL NUMBERS.
COULD YOU JUST REPEAT THAT AGAIN? 127 ABSOLUTELY PER PERSON PER DAY AND A 0.75% REDUCTION OFF OF THAT IS WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.
SO THE TOTAL GPCD, WHICH IS OUR TOTAL WATER USE DIVIDED BY THE POPULATION, UM, WAS 127 FOR THE BASELINE.
THAT'S THE FIVE YEAR AVERAGE FOR THE LAST FIVE YEARS.
THE 2029 GOAL IS 1 23 AND THE 2034 GOAL IS ONE 16.
SO OUR RATE OF OF DECREASE, UM, IS A LITTLE LOWER IN THOSE FIRST FIVE YEARS.
'CAUSE WE RECOGNIZE THAT SOME OF THESE, THE PROJECTS THAT REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN LOWERING THE GPCD ARE RECLAIMED WATER AND ADDRESSING WATER LOSS IN YOUR SYSTEM AND BOTH OF THOSE TYPES OF ACTIVITIES, IT CAN TAKE A WHILE TO GET GOING ON THOSE TO MAKE BIG, WHAT DID YOU SAY THE 2034 GOAL WAS? ONE 16 SARAH.
THE, UM, ATTACHMENT THAT YOU GOT SENT THIS MORNING, THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, IT'S ON PAGE 27.
WELL, UH, THANK YOU FOR THAT JENNIFER.
AND I KNOW THAT KEVIN MENTIONED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PRESENTATION THERE WAS SOME TROUBLE IN GETTING THIS, BUT I WILL SAY, YOU KNOW, TO GET SOMETHING AT 9:53 AM THE DAY OF A NOON MEETING AND THEN TO BE FOLLOWING THIS, READING THE SLIDES AND BE DIVING INTO PAGE 27 OF THE REPORT, I JUST FEEL LIKE WE'RE NOT REALLY, UM, YOU'RE NOT REALLY TRYING TO GET SORT OF THE BEST OUT OF US AS VOLUNTEERS.
UM, I MEAN, THANKS FOR YOUR EFFORT TO GET IT TO US, BUT IT'S UH, PRETTY IMPORTANT STUFF TO UNDERSTAND AND BE ABLE TO THINK ABOUT AND TALK TO STAKEHOLDERS AND IT'S HARD TO FOLLOW AND REFLECT SO JUST SO RAPIDLY.
BUT I AGREE AND I MEAN A SLIDE WITH JUST THE BASIC NUMBERS WOULD'VE BEEN PRETTY HELPFUL.
SO I DON'T HAVE TO BE LOOKING IN THE REPORT WHEN I'M TRYING TO LISTEN TO WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.
AND ALSO FOR PEOPLE FOLLOWING ALONG, THEY MAY NOT PEOPLE WATCHING ON NO, WE DON'T BROADCAST IT, DO WE? THAT'S IT IS OH, WELL HELLO EVERYBODY THAT'S OUT THERE, UM, ANYWAY, SO THEY CAN SEE THE NUMBERS.
YOU MENTIONED THAT, THAT THE RATE'S A LITTLE LOWER 'CAUSE WE'RE WAITING FOR REUSE TO COME ONLINE AND I UNDERSTAND, I, I'M INTERESTED IN HOW WE'RE ACCOUNTING REUSE AND ONSITE REUSE.
LIKE WE DON'T REALLY HAVE A WAY TO COUNT THAT AND, AND, UM, BUT, BUT WE EXPECT THE, THE PER CAPITA WATER DEMAND TO GO DOWN BASED ON THAT, WHICH IS KIND OF HOW WE WOULD BACK INTO THAT CALCULATION.
HOWEVER WE DO KNOW ON THE CENTRALIZED SYSTEM AND ARE WE INCLUDING, ARE WE SEPARATING OUT CENTRALIZED REUSE? ARE WE KIND OF COUNTING IT AS WATER CONSERVATION? I'M INTERESTED IN HOW WE'RE APPROACHING THAT IN TERM, WHEN I MENTIONED REUSE, UM, I SHOULD HAVE SAID BOTH RECLAIMED AND REUSE.
WE LOOKED AT BOTH OF THOSE, THE CENTRALIZED RECLAIM SYSTEM AS WELL AS THE NEW ONSITE WATER REUSE ACTIVITIES.
AND IN BOTH CASES WE BELIEVE THAT IT WILL TAKE SOME TIME TO GET MOVED AND PARTICULARLY THE ONSITE 'CAUSE THAT'S NEW.
YOU NEED TO GET THE BUILDINGS BUILDING BUILT, UM, BEFORE THEY CAN CONTRIBUTE THOSE SAVINGS.
BUT ALSO FOR THE RECLAIM SYSTEM, UM, NOT ONLY DO YOU NEED TO GET, UH, EXISTING CUSTOMERS TO CONVERT OVER OR EVEN NEW ONES, WE ALSO NEED TO MAKE EXPANSIONS OF OUR CENTRALIZED RECLAIM SYSTEM
[01:35:01]
TO HANDLE ALL OF THOSE AND, AND THAT THAT THE EXPANSION EVEN WILL TAKE ADDITIONAL TIME, UH, TO TAKE PLACE.YEAH, I'VE ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS A LITTLE WEIRD TO COUNT LIKE THIS CENTRALIZED REUSE SYSTEM, UM, HOW, HOW WE COUNT THAT, YOU KNOW, DO WE COUNT IT AS CONSERVATION? DO WE COUNT IT AS WATER SUPPLY? IT'S IN THAT SPACE WHERE I THINK IT'S ONE OF THESE THINGS LIKE WATER LOSS WHERE IT WOULD BE A REALLY GOOD IDEA TO ACTUALLY KIND OF SEPARATE IT OUT AND TO DAYLIGHT THAT TO SHOW WHAT PORTION OF THE WATER SUPPLY THAT THAT VERY IMPORTANT AND VALUABLE STRATEGY IS SERVING.
AND ALSO I THINK IT CAN HELP US MOVE AWAY FROM THIS NOTION THAT THAT CENTRALIZED REUSE WATER IS WATER WITHOUT BOUNDS ON IT.
I'M NOT SAYING THAT THAT'S HOW WE TREAT IT, BUT YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT IT, THAT UM, THAT IT'S NOT AS VALUABLE, UM, THAT IT'S, YOU KNOW, DROUGHT PROVE THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO FOLLOW DROUGHT CONTINGENCY WHEN WE WHEN WITH THAT WATER.
UM, I JUST THINK IT'S THAT THAT'S A LITTLE NOT HOW WE SHOULD BE THINKING ABOUT THAT WATER.
AND, AND I KNOW ORIGINALLY THAT IT WAS, BUT AS WE MOVE INTO KIND OF A MORE, YOU KNOW, ALL THESE STREAMS OF WATER ARE VITALLY IMPORTANT AND WE, WE REALLY NEED TO KIND OF UNDERSTAND WHERE THEIR ORIGIN IS AND HOW WE'RE USING THEM AND HOW WE'RE USING THEM EFFICIENTLY.
SEPARATING THAT OUT WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL FOR EDUCATION FOR FOLKS.
I THINK YOU HAVE A, A GOOD POINT.
WHILE WE HAVE A LOT OF TREATED EFFLUENT, THE VOLUME THAT WE CAN PUT INTO PIPES OR STORAGE OR THROUGH PUMPING STATIONS FOR THOSE RECLAIM SYSTEMS DOES LIMITED.
SORRY I WASN'T EVEN LOOKING TO THE
NO, I THINK WE SHOULD, TO SARAH'S POINT, I THINK WE SHOULD STAY ON THIS A LITTLE LONGER SO THAT FOLKS CAN LOOK AT THE NUMBERS A LITTLE BIT.
'CAUSE I'M, I WOULD LIKE TO ASK SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NUMBERS, UM, THE TABLES THAT WE HAVE ON PAGE 27, UH, JUST BECAUSE IF WE'RE, IF OUR GOAL IN 2029 IS TO GET BARELY TO WHERE WE WERE IN 2021, I THINK WE PROBABLY NEED TO TALK ABOUT THAT A LITTLE BIT AND WHY WE'RE SETTING THE GOAL THAT WAY AND WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN 2021 AND 2022 SUCH THAT OUR GPCD JUMPED FROM 1 24 TO 1 31 BECAUSE, I DON'T KNOW.
'CAUSE NOW WE'RE SAYING THAT WE, THE MOST BANG FOR OUR BUCK WE CAN GET IS BY THE USE OF RECLAIMED WATER AND ADDRESSING WATER LOSS.
UM, BUT I DON'T THINK THE, LIKE LACK OF RECOILING WATER OR WATER LOSS IS GONNA ACCOUNT FOR ALL OF THAT JUMP FROM 21 TO 2022.
THAT DOESN'T REALLY MAKE ANY SENSE.
SO, UM, I MEAN, I CAN THINK OF SOME STORIES THAT WE CAN TELL BASED ON SOME OF THE OTHER NUMBERS THAT ARE IN THIS, UH, DOCUMENT.
UM, LIKE MAYBE NEW INDUSTRIAL USERS THAT CAME ONLINE IN THAT TIMEFRAME AND ARE USING 7% OF OUR, UH, ENTIRE WATER SALES, WHICH WOULD BE TESLA, SEE PAGE 33.
UM, SO I'M CURIOUS ABOUT HOW, HOW WE TALK ABOUT THAT IN TERMS OF LIKE ADDING INDUSTRIAL USERS AND WHAT THAT DOES TO OUR, ARE THEY INCLUDED IN, I ASSUME THEY'RE INCLUDED IN THIS, THE, UH, GALLONS PER CAPITA PER DAY? NOT IN THE RESIDENTIAL ONE, BUT IN THE TOP ONE.
SO I FEEL LIKE THAT NEEDS TO BE A PART OF THIS CONVERSATION.
OBVIOUSLY PEOPLE MOVED HERE IN IN 20 20, 20 21.
YOU CAN SEE THAT IN THE TABLE 12.
BUT YEAH, UM, I THINK THAT JUST NEEDS TO BE TALKED ABOUT AND IT ALSO NEEDS TO BE IN CONVERSATION WITH THE CONSERVATION PLAN.
WHEN WE LOOK AT THINGS LIKE WATER BUDGETING FOR EXAMPLE, WHICH I'M NOTING NOW AS I SKIMMED THESE REPORTS AS FAST AS I CAN THAT, UH, WE'RE NOT RECOMMENDING IMPLEMENTING WATER BUDGETING WHEN THAT FEELS LIKE SOMETHING THAT COULD MAYBE HAVE LIKE A REAL IMPACT ON THE GALLONS PER CAPITA, PER PER PER DAY WATER USAGE FOR RESIDENTIAL INDUSTRIAL, FOR WHOMEVER.
IF WE PUT PENALTIES IN PLACE AFTER PEOPLE EXCEED A CERTAIN WATER USAGE, I FEEL LIKE THAT WOULD BE A STRONG INCENTIVE FOR THEM TO REDUCE.
SO I DON'T, NOT REALLY SURE WHY WE'RE NOT KIND OF, UH, PUSHING HARDER ON THAT MAYBE.
AND MAYBE IF WE COULD DISCUSS THAT, THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL.
JUST SOME THOUGHTS GO FOR, SO LEMME TRY A FEW HERE, UM, AND RECOGNIZE ALL GOOD.
UM, I GUESS FIRST OF ALL, JUST TO ORIENT YOU TO SPECIFICALLY PAGE 2027, THE, THE BOX AT THE TOP OF COURSE IS ANNUAL GPCD.
SO THE CHALLENGE IS IN ANY ONE OF THOSE YEARS THAT ALSO REFLECTS THE, UM, HYDROLOGIC CONDITIONS THAT WERE GOING ON.
[01:40:01]
TO YEAR, THAT NUMBER WILL CHANGE QUITE DRASTICALLY OR COULD CHANGE QUITE DRASTICALLY DEPENDING ON THE WEATHER CONDITIONS.SO THAT'S, THAT'S ONE ELEMENT.
SO WHILE IT'S NATURAL TO COMPARE THAT NUMBER THEN DOWN TO THE FIVE YEAR GOALS, THE FIVE YEAR GOALS AIM IS TO TRY TO DAMPEN OUT SOME OF THAT VARIABILITY.
SO I, I KNOW THAT WHEN YOU LOOK AT IT, IT CAN AGAIN KIND OF NATURALLY EVOKE THE IDEA THAT WE'RE SORT OF BACKSLIDING.
UM, I, I THINK IF YOU REALLY COMPARED SORT OF FIVE YEAR AVERAGE TO FIVE YEAR AVERAGE, YOU CAN STILL SEE THAT WE DO, WE ARE PUSHING ON THAT ENVELOPE TO TRY TO LOWER GPCD.
DID YOU, ANYTHING ELSE ON THAT? I'D JUST ADD THAT AS YOU MENTIONED BACK IN 2021, WE HIT THAT 1 24, WHICH IS A, A WET YEAR AND WHICH IS NOT UNCOMMON THAT GP CDS WILL GO DOWN IN THE WET YEARS AND BOUNCE BACK UP IN THE HOT DRY ONES SINCE SUCH AS THE LAST TWO.
UH, BUT I, I THINK THERE IS A POINT TO BE MADE WHERE BACK IN 2011 WE HAD A-G-P-C-D OF 1 62 AND WE MADE A LOT OF PROGRESS ON THE ONE DAY A WEEK WATERING AND SOME OF THE DROUGHT RESTRICTIONS TO BRING US DOWN TO THOSE MID ONE TWENTIES.
AND EVEN THOUGH IT BOUNCED UP IN THE LAST COUPLE YEARS TO ONE THIRTIES DUE TO THE DROUGHT, I THINK WE DEFINITELY RECOGNIZE THAT WHAT GOT US DOWN TO THIS POINT, UM, WILL NOT SIMPLY GET US DOWN EVEN FURTHER.
SO WE MORE HAVE MORE WORK TO DO, UH, EVEN BEYOND THOSE ONE DAY A WEEK WATERING RESTRICTIONS.
JENNIFER, MAY, MAY I ASK A QUICK QUESTION? YES, PLEASE GO AHEAD.
SORRY, I COULDN'T GET MY MIC ON.
I'M CURIOUS WHAT THE GOALS OF THIS DISCUSSION ARE.
UH, YOU KNOW, GIVEN THAT WE HAVE 15 MINUTES LEFT, IS THE GOAL TO REVIEW THIS REPORT? IS THE GOAL FOR US TO APPROVE THIS REPORT? IS THE GOAL FOR US TO ASK A BUNCH OF QUESTIONS THAT WE CAN THEN CIRCLE BACK AT OUR NEXT MEETING AND, AND, AND DO A MORE THOROUGH REVIEW? I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND THE GOALS HERE AND SO I DON'T REALLY KNOW HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PROPER WAY.
SO I THINK I STAFF CAN CERTAINLY ANSWER, BUT I REALIZE I SHOULD HAVE SAID THIS AT THE BEGINNING.
THERE IS A LETTER INCLUDED IN OUR PACKET, UM, FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE TASK FORCE AND, UM, THIS IS A DEMOCRACY, SO I'M NOT MAKING LIKE A, A SWEEPING DECISION HERE, BUT I FEEL LIKE SINCE WE JUST GOT THESE PLANS, THAT IT'S INAPPROPRIATE FOR US TO TRY TO SUBMIT, REVIEW THE PLANS ON THE FLY AND SUBMIT A WRITTEN LETTER FROM THE TASK FORCE.
SO I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT I THINK THAT'S OFF THE TABLE RIGHT NOW.
UM, AND, AND THEN THE GOAL REALLY, AND WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR TIMELINE TOO BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE ACTUALLY CAN DO AT THIS POINT.
UM, 'CAUSE I THINK THE TIMELINE IS VERY ACCELERATED AS WELL.
UM, TODD, TO YOUR QUESTION, UM, SO I MEAN THE HORSE MAY BE OUT OF THE BARN AT THIS POINT, UM, EXCEPT FOR, YOU KNOW, OUR INDIVIDUAL ABILITY TO TALK TO DECISION MAKERS OR, YOU KNOW, OR TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK TO YOU ALL OR WHATEVER.
BUT, BUT MAYBE Y'ALL CAN TELL US.
SO, UH, I MEAN I I THINK PROCEDURALLY WHERE WE ARE, UM, I THINK YOU'VE INDICATED, UM, THERE IS AN ITEM FOR VOTING WHICH WOULD BE POTENTIALLY TO VOTE FOR A LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION.
BUT I'VE HEARD, I MEAN, BASED ON YOUR FEEDBACK, CERTAINLY UNDERSTAND IF THERE'S A RELUCTANCE TO DO THAT TODAY.
UM, WHAT I MIGHT SUGGEST IS LET US FINISH THROUGH THE PRESENTATION SUCH AS IT IS, AND THEN THAT WILL INCLUDE SOME OF THE TIMEFRAMES THAT WE HAVE IN FRONT OF US.
UM, AND THAT'LL ALSO LET US FINISH OUT JUST THE LAST FEW PAGES AND THEN WE CAN, UH, TAKE UP WHAT THE, THE, UM, TASK FORCE WISHES MAY BE AFTER THAT.
SO, UH, I JUST DESCRIBED JUST A FEW THINGS IN THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND, AND JUST TO REMIND EVERYONE, THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN REALLY DISCUSSES MORE OF THE POLICY AND OUR PROCESS, WHAT WE'RE DOING, WHAT WE'RE GONNA BE DOING.
UM, SO THAT IS NOT NECESSARILY SET IN STONE FOR NEXT FIVE YEARS.
UM, SO I HOPE TO SEE THIS AS KIND OF THE BEGINNING OF THE DISCUSSION.
THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN, THAT SECOND PLAN THERE, YOU HAVE BASICALLY DISCUSSES SOURCES.
IT DISCUSSES THE DIFFERENT DROUGHT STAGES AND TRIGGERS.
[01:45:02]
SO YOU HAVE DIFFERENT STAGES OF DROUGHT BASED ON THE COMBINED STORAGE OF THE, UH, RESERVOIRS AND THEN, UH, DISCUSSES THE DIFFERENT ACTIONS BY DIFFERENT STAGES.AND IN THIS PLAN WE HAVE A NUMBER OF, UH, ITEMS THAT WE ADDED TO THE PLAN THAT AREN'T STRICTLY REGULATORY.
SO AS YOU LOOK THROUGH THIS PLAN AND YOU GO THROUGH, UH, THE DIFFERENT STAGES AND OUR ACTIVITIES, YOU'LL SEE A NUMBER OF DISCRETIONARY NON-REGULATORY ACTIONS THAT WE ARE PROPOSING.
THESE ARE THINGS THAT THE CITY AND THE WATER UTILITY CAN DO TO REDUCE WATER USE, UM, THAT NOT OF A REGULATORY NATURE.
SO JUST GOING THROUGH SOME OF THESE STAGES.
UM, STAGE ONE, UH, BEGINS AT, AT 1.4 MILLION ACRE FEET.
AS YOU MAY RECALL, 2 MILLION ACRE FEET IS FULL.
SO AS THE COMBINED STORAGE OF LAKE TRAVIS AND LAKE BUCHANAN REACH 1.4 MILLION ACRE FEET, WE GO INTO STAGE ONE.
NOW, LCRA HAS RESET THEIR STAGE TO 1.1 MILLION ACRE FEET, BUT WE ARE RECOMMENDING THAT WE KEEP OUR STAGE AT 1.4 MILLION ACRE FEET.
AND YOU SEE A NUMBER OF ACTIVITIES THERE, UM, THAT ARE ENGAGED IN STAGE ONE.
AND GENERALLY THESE ARE, UM, ITEMS THAT THE UTILITY CAN, CAN TAKE, ACTIONS THE UTILITY CAN TAKE, AS WELL AS STAGE ONE REDUCES SOME OF THE TIME THAT INDIVIDUALS CAN IRRIGATE.
STAGE TWO AT 900,000 ACRE FEET, UH, AS I MENTIONED, THERE'S A REDUCTION IN TIME FOR IRRIGATION.
AND THE SECOND BULLET THERE, REPLACE AUTOMATIC EXEMPTION FOR ATHLETIC FIELDS.
THAT IS, IS NOW IN STAGE THREE.
IT'S BEEN MOVED TO STAGE THREE THAT WE MENTIONED IN THE NEXT SLIDE.
BUT THIS PARTICULAR ACTION, AS I NOTE, INVOLVES ATHLETIC FIELDS.
CURRENTLY IN OUR PLAN, ATHLETIC FIELDS HAVE AUTOMATIC EXEMPTION THROUGH ALL STAGES, SO THEY CAN WATER WHENEVER THEY WANT, WHENEVER THEY NEED TO.
UM, BUT IN STAGE THREE YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE FOR ME.
STAGE THREE, WHICH IS A NEW STAGE OF 750,000 ACRE FEET, UM, THEY WILL NEED TO APPLY FOR A VARIANCE TO WATER WHEN THEY NEED TO.
OTHER ITEMS IN STAGE TWO OR STAGE THREE, EXCUSE ME.
UH, FURTHER REDUCTION IN ELIGIBLE TIME TO IRRIGATE, UH, VOLUNTARY WATER BUDGETING.
THIS IS AN ACTIVITY THAT WE WILL BE ENGAGING THROUGH OUR, MY TX WATER PORTAL, UM, IN WHICH THE UTILITY THROUGH MYX WATER WILL ENGAGE CUSTOMERS MORE ABOUT VOLUNTARY BUDGETING.
AND THEN THE FINAL BULLET THERE IS DURING STAGE THREE IRRIGATION CITATIONS, CURRENTLY THEY, YOU GET A WARNING AND THEN IF YOU'RE CAUGHT AGAIN, YOU GET A CITATION WITH THE PENALTY.
IN STAGE THREE, YOU'LL AUTOMATICALLY GET A PENALTY AND CITATION THE FIRST TIME YOU ARE FOUND WATERING ON THE WRONG DAY OR WRONG TIME, BUT YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DISMISS THAT, UM, PENALTY, UH, UPON COMPLETION OF AN IRRIGATION COURSE.
STAGE FOUR, THIS IS 600,000 ACRE FEET.
THIS IS LOWER THAN WE'VE EVER BEEN BEFORE, SO THIS IS A VERY DEEP TROUT STAGE.
UM, WE HAVE A NUMBER OF STRINGENT ACTIVITIES THAT WE'RE ADDING.
FIRST OF ALL, THERE WILL BE A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON ALL NEW IRRIGATION AND POOL PERMITS DURING STAGE FOUR.
AND THAT SECOND BULLET THERE IS, THERE WILL BE NO IRRIGATION OF TURF GRASS UNLESS THAT TURF GRASS IS USED FOR COMMUNITY PURPOSES.
LCRA USED THE TERM ORNAMENTAL GRASS, SO YOU CANNOT IRRIGATE ORNAMENTAL GRASS.
IN OUR IMPLEMENTATION AND IN OUR CODE, WE'RE USING THE TERM NON-FUNCTIONAL TURF GRASS.
AND THEN WE HAVE STAGE FIVE, WHICH IS FOR EMERGENCY DROUGHT.
AND THIS IS A SLIDE YOU YOU'VE SEEN BEFORE, UH, WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT THE WATER SUPPLY CONDITIONS ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE THERE, YOU SEE THE NEW STAGES.
YOU SEE, UM, CITY OF AUSTIN WILL HAVE OUR STAGE ONE AT 1.4 MILLION ACRE FEET.
LCRA STAGE ONE WILL BE AT 1.1 MILLION ACRE FEET AFTER THAT
[01:50:01]
LCRA AND THE CITY OF AUSTIN.UH, LINE UP IN TERMS OF STAGES AND WHEN THOSE STAGES KICK IN BASED ON THE COMBINED STORAGE.
THE NEXT SLIDE, ONE SLIDE, UH, DISCUSSING THE, THE PUBLIC OUTREACH FOR THESE PROPOSED UPDATES.
WE HAD A SPEAKUP AUSTIN PAGE THAT WENT UP LAST NOVEMBER AND HELD A, A VIRTUAL PUBLIC MEETING IN DECEMBER.
WE HAD TWO SURVEYS THAT WENT OUT, A SURVEY THAT WAS LINKED TO THE SPEAK UP AUSTIN PAGE.
AND THEN WE ALSO HAD A SURVEY THAT WENT OUT TO RANDOM AUSTIN WATER CUSTOMERS.
UH, WE RECEIVED 110 SURVEY RESPONSES THROUGH BOTH OF THOSE SURVEYS, AND THE RESULTS ACTUALLY WERE QUITE SIMILAR.
THE MAJORITY OF RESPONSES FROM THOSE SURVEYS FAVORED TRADITIONAL, FAVORED PROPOSED ADDITIONS TO DROUGHT REGULATIONS, UH, AS WAS MENTIONED BEFORE, FOUR.
AND THE RESULTS OF THOSE SURVEYS, UH, ARE AT THE END OF THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN.
IF YOU WANNA SEE EXACTLY THE RESPONSES THAT WE GOT FROM THOSE NEXT SLIDE.
SO JUST THE FINAL SLIDE ON THE PRESENTATION REALLY JUST DOES KIND OF IDENTIFY THE SPECIFIC TIMEFRAMES.
UM, AGAIN, MAY 2ND IS THE PROPOSED COUNCIL MEETING.
AGAIN, WE ARE, UM, OUR PLANS ARE DUE TO TCQ ACTUALLY AT THE 1ST OF MAY.
UM, SO HENCE WE ARE KIND OF CONGESTED.
UM, UM, OBVIOUSLY GIVEN THE CONDITION OF CERTAIN CONDITION DROUGHT, UH, IN THE REGION, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO WATCH FOR DROUGHT CONDITIONS.
UM, ASSUMING THIS WERE TO PASS, UM, YOU KNOW, WE WILL ALMOST IMMEDIATELY OR FAIRLY SHORTLY BE GOING INTO A STAGE THREE DROUGHT UNDER THE NEW DEFINITIONS.
UM, AND THEN WE WILL JUST BE READY TO, UM, YOU KNOW, KIND OF CONTINUE TO WATCH AND SEE IF WE, UM, HOW THE DROUGHT PROGRESSES.
SO THAT'S KIND OF IT AS FAR AS THE PRESENTATION.
THERE'S A WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN.
THERE'S A TON OF INFO IN BOTH OF 'EM.
UH, DO WE HAVE QUESTIONS FOR STAFF? SARAH, DID YOU HAVE A QUESTION? HER HANEY, I COULDN'T TELL.
WHERE'S BILL? OH, THERE'S BILL.
HOW DID I NOT SEE THAT? OKAY, BILL AND SARAH, I HAVE A QUESTION ON THE PROCEDURE.
SO IF BILL'S QUESTION IS ABOUT THE ACTUAL PLAN AND THE GOALS, I WANT HIM TO GO FIRST.
OKAY, MINE'S ABOUT THE PLANNING AND GOALS.
I THINK THE ROLLOUT OF THIS THING HAS BEEN WEIRD.
WE HAD A MEETING LAST WEEK, WE'RE SUPPOSED TO GO OVER THIS AND THE WATER DEPARTMENT WAS LIKE EVASIVE ABOUT WHERE THIS REPORT WAS AND WE DIDN'T HAVE IT READY AND ALL THIS STUFF.
AND THEN TODAY TO GET THE REPORT AT 10 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING HOPING WE'D VOTE ON A LETTER OF APPROVAL.
WE SHOULDN'T DO THINGS LIKE THIS.
WHAT WAS THE 2024 GOAL IN THE LAST WATER CONSERVATION PLAN FOR TOTAL GPCD AND RESIDENTIAL GPCD? AND I ASKED THE QUESTION VERY PURPOSEFULLY.
I'M TRYING TO SEE HOW GOOD WE ARE AT MEETING OUR GOALS.
THE 2020 IN THE LAST PLAN, THE 2024 GOAL FOR TOTAL GPCD WAS ONE 19.
AND WHAT WAS THE RESIDENTIAL GPCD 61.
OKAY, SO NOW IN 2029, WE'RE GOING ABOVE THOSE IN BOTH CASES, CORRECT? IN BOTH CASES WITH THE, THE FIVE YEAR AVERAGE IS ABOVE THE 2024 GOALS.
I I THINK THESE GOALS ARE VERY MEAGER.
SO I AGREE WITH BILL ON THE GOALS, UM, AND I DON'T THINK WE'VE HAD ENOUGH TIME TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THEY WERE SET AND YOU KNOW, WHY THEY'RE, UM, NOT AMBITIOUS.
I WAS LOOKING, YOU KNOW, I UNDERSTAND BASED ON THIS THAT YOU WANNA HAVE THIS FOR A COUNCIL VOTE ON MAY 2ND.
UM, I THINK OF ANOTHER LIKE DEFICIENCY IN THE PROCESS IS I DON'T SEE ANY OPPORTUNITIES FOR STAKEHOLDER INPUT GIVEN, I MEAN, YOU TOLD US ABOUT SOMETHING,
[01:55:01]
UH, SPEAK OF AUSTIN IN NOVEMBER OF 2023.BUT LIKE, FOR EXAMPLE, ON WHAT WAS POSTED FOR PUBLIC CONSUMPTION TODAY WAS THAT PRESENTATION THAT WE JUST SAW THAT DIDN'T HAVE THE ACTUAL GPCD NUMBERS OR ANY OF THE, THE GOAL NUMBERS OR THE REDUCTIONS.
IT JUST STATED THERE ARE GOALS, BUT LIKE YOU, YOU EMAILED US THE DRAFT PLAN, BUT IT'S NOT ON OUR WEBSITE.
UM, LIKEWISE ON APRIL 17TH, THIS IS ON THE WATER AND COMMISSION AGENDA.
UM, THE DRAFT PLANS ARE NOT ON THEIR WEBSITE.
THIS PRESENTATION ISN'T EVEN ON THEIR WEBSITE.
IT'S GOT LIKE A, JUST A SINGLE PAGE COUNCIL ACTION ITEM WITH NO DETAIL.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, THIS IS LIKE A, LIKE ONE OF THE BIGGEST ISSUES FACING OUR COMMUNITY RIGHT NOW THAT EVERYBODY'S TALKING ABOUT.
WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF LIKE THIS SEVERE DROUGHT.
IT'S THE BEST TIME YOU'VE GOT THE PUBLIC ATTENTION, BUT TO RUSH IT LIKE THIS WITH LIKE NO VALID INPUT AND DISCUSSION IS REALLY HARD TO UNDERSTAND.
UM, YOU KNOW, NOT ONLY CAN I NOT VOTE ON A LETTER TODAY, I FEEL LIKE I NEED TO WRITE MY COUNSEL PERSON AND EXPLAIN THAT THE THE PROCESS HAS BEEN TOTALLY ADEQUATE.
SO LIKE I WOULD LOVE TO BE ABLE TO DISCUSS IT MORE.
IT'S JUST, IT'S REALLY HARD TO UNDERSTAND THIS.
YEAH, AND AGAIN, WE WERE JUST CLEARED TO PRODUCE THIS INFORMATION SO WE UNDERSTAND THE FRUSTRATION AND, UH, TAKING NOTE OF IT.
YEAH, I THINK I I, I, I AGREE.
I THINK WE NEED MORE TIME TO REVIEW THIS AND, AND COMMENT IT AND, AND ALSO DIGEST IT.
IS THERE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR FEEDBACK FROM THE TASK FORCE, THE PUBLIC WATER WASTEWATER COMMISSION, WHATEVER, TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THIS PLAN? OR IS THIS PLAN ALREADY COMPLETED AND DONE? I MEAN, AT THIS POINT WE DON'T EXPLICITLY HAVE I'LL I'LL ANY MORE TIME.
MM-HMM,
I MEAN, TO THE EXTENT THAT WE COULD OFFER SOME OPPORTUNITY FOR A SPECIAL CALL TASK FORCE MEETING, IT'S TECHNICALLY POSSIBLE, PRACTICALLY VERY DIFFICULT.
AND SO THAT'S THE ONLY, UM, YOU KNOW, THING THAT I CAN SAY, I THINK AS A STAFF WE WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, IF WE COULD BREAK IT UP INTO, YOU KNOW, HAVING DIFFERENT WORK SESSIONS, BUT THAT GETS COMPLICATED AS WELL.
AND I THINK AT SOME LEVEL, ARGUABLY VIOLATES THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT.
SO WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE IF THIS PLAN IS NOT CONSIDERED BY CITY COUNCIL ON MAY 2ND AND THERE'S TIME TO DO THIS? I MEAN, LET'S, LET'S WALK THROUGH THAT SCENARIO BECAUSE I KNOW THAT THE PLAN IS DUE TO TCQ AND TO WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD.
IT'S NOT A A, UM, AS FAR AS I KNOW, AND I'VE LOOKED AT A LOT OF THESE PLANS, A REGULATORY DEADLINE.
UM, THERE'S NO FINE, THERE'S NO LIKE LOSING ACCESS TO YOUR WATER RIGHTS.
UM, IN FACT, CITIES SOMETIMES TAKE A LITTLE TIME TO, UM, GET THINGS RIGHT BEFORE THEY GET IT TURNED IN OR ELSE, OR ELSE THEY'RE JUST BEHIND SCHEDULE OR WHATEVER, YOU KNOW, THINGS HAPPEN.
UM, I, I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE IS THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PORTION AND THE DROUGHT THAT WE'RE IN.
HONESTLY, I THINK THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN IS IN BETTER SHAPE THAN THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN.
UM, BUT ANYWAY, LIKE WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? IS THAT A POSSIBILITY? I, LET ME JUST, I MEAN, I, I THINK PRACTICALLY SPEAKING, LET US GO RESEARCH THAT AND GET SOME FEEDBACK ON, ON THAT PARTICULAR TOPIC.
I, I'M NOT, AND ANNA'S COMING UP TOO.
UM, CHAIR, I'M ANNA BRIAN BOHA, AUSTIN WATERS, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS SERVICES, AND I COORDINATE OUR, UH, BUSINESS BEFORE COUNCIL MEMBERS AND, UM, COUNCIL ACTION, I SHOULD SAY, AND OUR COMMISSIONS, UM, THE, UH, PRACTICAL IMPLICATION OF NOT TAKING IT FORWARD ON, UH, MAY 2ND IS THAT THE COUNCIL AGENDAS IN THE MONTH OF MAY ARE VERY CROWDED.
UM, THEY CANCELED THEIR REGULAR MAY 16TH MEETING, UM, IN FAVOR OF TAKING ACT, DEDICATING THAT MEETING TO SOME PLANNING COMMISSION RELATED BUSINESS FOR THE HOME AMENDMENTS.
AND SO THE MAY 30TH IS THE LAST MEETING BEFORE THEY GO ON THEIR BREAK.
UM, AND SO THAT'S GOING TO BE A VERY CROWDED AGENDA WITH A LOT OF CITY BUSINESS.
[02:00:01]
SO WE, AT AUSTIN WATER, WE'RE CERTAINLY INTENT ON TRYING TO BRING THIS FORWARD TO COUNCIL BEFORE THEY START THEIR BREAK.UH, THEY'RE TYPICALLY ON BREAK THE FULL MONTH OF JUNE AND PART OF JULY.
UM, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO ECHO WHAT KEVIN HAS SAID.
WE UNDERSTAND THE CONCERN AND THE FRUSTRATION, UM, WITH, UM, THAT WE ARE HEARING FROM THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS IN THAT YOU DID NOT RECEIVE THIS SOONER.
IT HAS CERTAINLY BEEN STAFF'S INTENTION TO GET IT TO YOU AS QUICKLY AS WE COULD, UH, WORKING THROUGH REVIEW WITH OUR CHAIN OF COMMAND, WHICH INVOLVES BOTH OUR, OUR DEPARTMENT, BUT ALSO THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE.
SO, UH, AGAIN, I I ECHO KEVIN'S COMMENTS TO SAY THAT I DO APOLOGIZE TO YOU AND TO THE TASK FORCE THAT YOU DID NOT HAVE THESE ITEMS SOONER.
I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO ADD THAT, UM, TO SARAH FAUST COMMENT THAT THESE WERE NOT POSTED ON YOUR WEBSITE.
WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING THESE PLANS POSTED FOR THE UPCOMING COMMISSION MEETINGS SO THAT THEY WILL BE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE, UM, YOU KNOW, MORE THAN JUST THE POSTED ACTION ITEM AND THE SLIDE DECK.
SO, UM, I I, I UNDERSTAND THAT IT'S, Y'ALL DON'T JUST GET TO DECIDE WHEN THESE THINGS GET HANDED TO PEOPLE.
AND THERE'S OTHER FOLKS, I MEAN, I GET THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND, AND THE GOALS FOR WATER LOSS FOR, FOR WATER CONSERVATION STUFF ARE FORMING THE, THE BASELINE OF ONE OF OUR MOST WATER IMPORTANT WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES.
YOU KNOW, UM, SAY, YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT, UM, BASED ON FEEDBACK BASED ON CITY COUNCIL FEEDBACK OR COMMUNITY FEEDBACK, THAT THESE, THAT THESE GOALS, UM, ARE NOT, UM, ARE NOT PROGRESSIVE ENOUGH FOR THE COMMUNITY.
WE'D LIKE TO 'CAUSE IT, IT'S, IT LOOKS, YOU KNOW, I WAS PULLING UP THE 2019 PLAN, UM, THAT CARRY AROUND ON MY LAPTOP AND, UM, YOU KNOW, IT, IT SEEMS IT'S PRETTY FLAT.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I DON'T WANT US TO OVER PLAN FOR SOMETHING THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE AND BUILD THAT INTO OUR NEXT WATER FORWARD PLAN.
BUT ALSO, LIKE, YOU KNOW, WE WANT TO, THIS IS, THIS IS THE, USING THE WATER THAT WE ALREADY HAVE AS EFFICIENTLY AS WE CAN IS OUR EASIEST AND BEST WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY AND OUR BEST RESILIENCE TOOL.
UM, SO I JUST, WELL, I THINK THERE'S PROBABLY JUST A LOT OF FEEDBACK THAT PEOPLE WANT TO GIVE ON THIS AND JUST NOT VERY MUCH TIME TO DO IT.
AND THAT THE REPERCUSSIONS TO THAT, UM, RIPPLE OUT TO THAT, OR IT GOES INTO OUR WATER FORWARD PLAN.
IT GOES INTO THE WORK THAT PLUMBER'S GONNA BE DOING AND, AND THE WORK THAT WE'LL WE'LL BE BUILDING.
'CAUSE UH, THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE OUR CORE CORE STRATEGIES.
UM, WHAT NOW FOLKS, I GUESS IT'S GOING TO WATER WASTE WATER COMMISSION BILL, YOU HAVE YOUR HAND UP.
I, I'D LIKE TO OFFER THE, UH, UH, AN IDEA AND IT'S NOT VERY WELL REFINED BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, MY AGED MIND DOESN'T WORK AS QUICK AS MANY OF YOURS.
BUT WHY DON'T WE LET THE PROCESS PLAY OUT THE WAY AUSTIN WATER WANTS TO DO IT? UM, AND THEY SUBMIT THIS THING AND THEY STAMP IT DRAFT ON MAY 2ND.
I MEAN, THE DEADLINE IS THE FIRST, SO THEY'RE TURNING IT IN LATE AND PUT A, PUT A STAMP ON IT THAT SAYS IT'S DRAFT, AND THEN WE SPEND 90 DAYS WORKING IT OVER AND SUBMITTING A FINAL DRAFT WHEN WE'RE DONE.
WE COULD GO THROUGH A PROPER PROCESS AND SEE WHAT'S GOING ON.
BECAUSE I'M NOT UNDERSTANDING A LOT OF THE FUNDAMENTALS HERE.
WE'RE WAITING FOR PROGRAMS LIKE WATER LOSS TO KICK IN.
WE, THE WATER DEPARTMENT'S BEEN DOING WATER LOSS FOR 20 YEARS.
IT NEEDS TO BE STATE NEEDS TO START KICKING IN.
AND THEY'VE BEEN DOING WATER RECLAIMED WATER FOR A LONG TIME TOO.
AND I THINK PART OF THE PROBLEM IS WE'RE LAYING A LOT OF PIPE, BUT WE'RE NOT GETTING PEOPLE TO HOOK UP.
SO I THINK THERE'S A WAY, AND AGAIN, YOU GUYS SHOULD PROBABLY IMPROVE THIS IDEA, TURN IN TO, TO, TO MEET THE REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS OF TCQ AND TWDB, AND THEN WE REVISE THIS THING THREE MONTHS FROM NOW AND TURN INTO NEW ONE AND WE'RE JUST ASK FOR AN EXTENSION.
[02:05:01]
I MEAN, JENNIFER MENTIONED, UH, IT SEEMS LIKE SOMETHING THAT TCEQ WOULD MAYBE JUST CONSIDER GRANTING.I DON'T HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHY THAT MAY 1ST DEADLINE IS A SUPER HARD DEADLINE AND COULDN'T BE EXTENDED SLIGHTLY, BUT ALSO, LIKE, YOU MIGHT HAVE TO ASK FOR AN EXTENSION IF COUNSEL KICKS IT BACK TO YOU.
I'M NOT SAYING THEY WOULD, BUT IF THEY DON'T APPROVE THE PLAN, THEN YOU KIND OF HAVE TO GO BACK TO REVISE IT, RIGHT? SO WE, WELL WE HAVE DISCUSSED THIS WITH, UH, TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD AND TCQ STAFF ABOUT EXTENSION.
SO THAT'S CERTAINLY POSSIBLE, UM, TO, TO DO THAT.
I GUESS IT JUST DEPENDS UPON THE COUNCIL AVAILABILITY AND WHEN WE COULD GET BACK TO 'EM.
SOME THINGS, UH, THAT NEEDS TO BE KEPT IN VIEW AND, UM, IN REGARDS TO KIND OF BALANCING ALL OF THESE FACTORS IS THAT LCRA MADE SOME SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO THEIR DCP, WHICH CA HAVE KICKED IN ESSENTIALLY ALREADY.
THEY'VE ADDED A, A NEW STAGE WHICH WE'RE PROPOSING TO ADD FOR THE DCP AT 750,000 ACRE FEET.
AND THEN, UM, HAVE, UM, MADE SOME OTHER CHANGES THAT WILL GO INTO EFFECT OR ARE IN, IN EFFECT NOW AND COULD HAVE IMPACTS, UH, THIS SUMMER.
SO WE NEED TO, UM, YOU KNOW, WORK AS DILIGENTLY AS WE CAN AND UNDERSTAND WE HAVE A LOT OF CONSTRAINTS, BUT WE NEED TO KEEP THAT IN VIEW AS WELL, THAT WE NEED TO AS, UH, EXPEDITIOUSLY AS WE CAN LINE UP WITH CRA'S, UM, NEW DCP CHANGES.
AND THOSE ARE REFLECTED IN THIS PROPOSED DRAFT.
IT'S STILL ONE OTHER ITEM I WANTED TO SHARE.
UH, COMMISSIONER MORIARTY MENTIONED WATER LOSS AND AUSTIN WATER DID IN MARCH OF 23, ENGAGE AFFIRM TO DO A STUDY OF WATER LOSS AND BRING FORWARD RECOMMENDATIONS AS WE DO RECOGNIZE, UM, UH, AN OPPORTUNITY OR A HOPE TO FIND OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT IN WATER LOSS.
OUR EXECUTIVE TEAM WILL BE RECEIVING A BRIEFING ON THAT, UM, IN THE COMING WEEKS, AND WE ANTICIPATE BRIEFING THE WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION EVENTUALLY ON THAT STUDY.
AND SO WHAT COMMISSIONER MORIARTY WAS MAKING ME THINK IS THAT IF THIS WERE TO, IF THIS PLAN WERE TO PROCEED TO COUNCIL THE, THE PLANS THAT YOU ARE BEING BRIEFED ON TODAY, UM, THERE WILL BE FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES OR DISCUSSIONS AROUND CONSERVATION AND WATER LOSS AND IMPROVEMENTS THAT AUSTIN WATER WANTS TO PURSUE THAT MIGHT BRING THESE TOPICS BACK UP, UH, FOR FURTHER CONSIDERATION AND INPUT BOTH FROM THE PUBLIC AND FROM THESE COMMISSIONS.
I REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO, UH, TO HEARING, TO SEEING THE RESULTS OF THAT STUDY.
I MEAN, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE LOSING OVER 20 GALLONS PER PERSON, UM, PER DAY IN THE CITY THROUGH, THROUGH, UM, WATER LOSS.
AND ANOTHER REALLY BIG PLACE, UM, TO BUILD SOME WATER RESILIENCE.
UM, SO THERESA TO YOUR COMMENT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD SITUATIONS IN THE PAST IN AUSTIN WHERE WE HAVE GONE INTO DROUGHT STAGES.
UM, I, AND THERE PROBABLY EVEN HAS IN OUR CURRENT DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN, I'D HAVE TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT IT TO WHERE THE CITY MANAGER COULD, COULD LIKE, MAKE SOME KIND OF DROUGHT DECLARATION OUTSIDE OF WHAT'S IN THE PLAN IF THIS WASN'T ADOPTED BY THE TIME, FOR EXAMPLE, WE WENT INTO THAT EL A WENT INTO THEIR NEW STAGE THREE.
ALSO, THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN COULD BE ADOPTED ON A DIFFERENT, IT COULD BE ADOPTED AT A DIFFERENT TIME THAN THE CONSERVATION PLAN.
I USUALLY TRY TO DO 'EM TOGETHER, BUT THERE'S NO REASON YOU DON'T, YOU HAVE TO, UM, I HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK AT THIS AT ALL.
I WAS REALLY DIGGING INTO THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN.
UM, BUT I THINK WE'RE NOT, WE'RE NOT BOXED INTO ANY KIND OF ONE OUTCOME HERE.
UM, AND EVEN IF I KNOW HAVING A PLAN THAT'S ADOPTED THAT'S IN ALIGNMENT WITH LCRA AND EXPECTING THOSE THINGS TO COME ALONG DOWN THE LINE IS, IS PREFERABLE.
BUT, UM, IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE CAN'T DO SOMETHING IF THAT HAPPENS.
I MEAN, IF WE GET TO STAGE THREE, ROBERT, I WAS JUST GONNA SAY, YOU KNOW, OUTSIDE OF THE OPTIC OPTICS, I THINK THE, THE STICK ON THE DROUGHT MANAGEMENT PLAN AND THE WATER CONSERVATION
[02:10:01]
PLAN IS, YOU KNOW, IF THE CITY IS UP FOR FUNDING CONSIDERATION FROM THE WATER VOLUME BOARD, I BELIEVE THERE'S A REQUIREMENT TO HAVE BOTH OF THOSE IN PLACE FOR FUNDING TO BE CONSIDERED.YES, THAT IS, THAT'S THE RULE.
UM, BUT ALSO I THINK IF THERE'S A, AN AGREEMENT THAT IT'LL BE SUBMITTED IN 60 DAYS, THEN IT'S NOT A PROBLEM.
IT'S NOT, THEY'RE NOT REGULATORY IN NATURE, YOU KNOW, AS LONG AS THEY SEE THAT THERE'S PROGRESS HAPPENING.
I DON'T KNOW WHY I'M SAYING THIS.
IT'S A LOT OF EX BOARD EMPLOYEES HERE THAT AREN'T ME.
WELL, UM, ANY OTHER COMMENTS ON THIS FROM FOLKS? OH, MADELINE, UM, JUST ON PAGE 33 WITH THE, THE HIGHEST RETAIL CUSTOMERS AND EVERYTHING UNDER WATER CONSERVATION STRATEGIES, I DON'T SEE ANYTHING RELATING TO RETAIL AT ALL.
IS THERE ANY STRATEGIES IN THIS PLAN OR IS IT JUST ON SINGLE FAMILY HOMES TO MAKE BUSINESSES MORE EFFICIENT IN THEIR WATER USE BESIDES LIKE RESTAURANTS WITH THEIR MISTERS AND EVERYTHING? WE DO DO HAVE, UM, A COUPLE OF THINGS.
ONE, WE HAVE THREE COMMERCIAL CONSERVATION ASSESSMENT PROGRAMS FOR FACILITIES WITH COOLING TOWERS, IRRIGATION MORE THAN AN ACRE.
AND VEHICLE WASHES FACILITIES WITH ANY OF THOSE THREE HAVE TO SUBMIT ANNUAL OR BIANNUAL ASSESSMENTS THAT THEY'RE MAKING SURE THAT THEY'RE UTILIZING THE BEST PRACTICES.
AND WE ALSO HAVE COMMERCIAL INCENTIVE PROGRAMS, WHICH REALLY TOOK A, A HIT DURING THE PANDEMIC INCENTIVE PROGRAMS. BUT OVER THIS LAST FISCAL YEAR, ACTUALLY OVER THE LAST THREE OR FOUR MONTHS, WE'VE GOTTEN UH, KIND OF A SURGE RESURGE OF IN INCENTIVE PROGRAMS FROM COMMERCIAL AND MULTIFAMILY ACTIVITIES, GENERALLY DEALING WITH, UH, TOILETS OR INSIDE PLUMBING EFFICIENCY.
DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING SPECIFIC FOR SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRIAL? BECAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE OUR TOP, LIKE ALMOST OF THE TOP FOUR, ARE THOSE COMPANIES.
WE, WE DO HAVE A PERFORMANCE BASED SYSTEM.
MM-HMM
UM, SO THAT WOULD UH, APPLY TO ANY OF THESE.
I HAVE TO ADMIT, NONE OF US ARE EXPERTS ON SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSES.
UM, SO WE CAN'T PROVIDE INFORMATION OR SUGGESTIONS TO THEM.
BUT IF THEY HAVE OPPORTUNITIES OR PROJECTS THAT WILL SAVE WATER, WE'D CERTAINLY BE HAPPY TO INCENTIVIZE THEM WITH THAT PROGRAM.
I'M NOT GONNA PRESUME TO KNOW HOW Y'ALL AND YOUR LEADERSHIP ARE GONNA FIGURE OUT HOW TO DEAL WITH THIS OR YOU KNOW, HOW TO ADDRESS THIS.
UM, AND SO, UH, LET US KNOW HOW THAT, HOW THAT SHAKES OUT.
UM, SHOW OF HANDS OF WHO IS INTERESTED IN OR WILLING TO DO A SPECIALLY CALLED MEETING TO HAVE A CHANCE TO DISCUSS THIS, IF THAT COULD COME TOGETHER.
I KNOW IT'S A LOT OF LOGISTICS FOR THAT.
UM, BUT I JUST WANNA KNOW IF PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO MAKE THEMSELVES AVAILABLE TO MAKE TIME TO DISCUSS THIS AND NO PROMISES.
UM, I HAPPEN TO BE IN TOWN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS, SO I CAN DO THAT WITH NOTHING ELSE ON THE AGENDA.
OKAY, SO, UM, YOU KNOW, MAYBE WE COULD HAVE A FOCUS ON, ON THIS, AND I REALLY THINK IT'S, UNLESS I'M WRONG, THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN.
UM, UM, AND NOT SO MUCH THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN, BUT LIKE I SAID, I HAVEN'T REALLY LOOKED AT IT, I HAVEN'T LOOKED AT THAT TOO MUCH.
UM, BUT UH, YOU KNOW, SO THAT'S, THAT'S AN OPTION AS Y'ALL CONSIDER THE OPTIONS.
UM, AND, AND I KNOW THAT, UH, I APPRECIATE Y'ALL'S WORK ON THIS AND IT'S ALWAYS TOUGH TO NOT BE ENTHUSIASTICALLY IN FAVOR OF EVERYTHING THAT, THAT Y'ALL ARE DOING 'CAUSE YOU DO A LOT OF GOOD STUFF.
SO, JUST LOGISTICALLY, SINCE WE HAVE FOLKS HERE, IS THERE A DAY O OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT TWO WEEKS THAT WORKS BEST FOR FOLKS FOR A MEETING FROM, UH, AT AROUND
[02:15:01]
THIS TIME FROM 12 TO I, I'D JUST LIKE TO SAY SOMETHING.AND THEN WE SHOULD PROBABLY, I WAS GONNA SAY IF, IF WE NEED TO RUSH THE MEETING BECAUSE IF THE CITY CAN GET AN EXTENSION FROM TCQ AND PWDB, THEN WE DON'T HAVE TO DO A CRAZY FAST MEETING.
IT SEEM TO ME THAT'D BE THE FIRST QUESTION.
SOMEONE CALL OVER THERE TWO PHONE CALLS AND WE HAVE AN EXTENSION AND IF THEY SAY YES THAT WE'RE NOT IN A HURRY ANYMORE.
SO I THINK THAT THAT'S A DECISION THAT KEVIN AND HIS TEAM AND HIS LEADERSHIP HAVE TO MAKE ON WHETHER OR NOT THAT'S SOMETHING THAT THEY'RE WILLING TO PURSUE OR IF THEY THINK THAT MAY 2ND THAT THEY REALLY WANNA TRY TO STICK WITH THAT.
UM, AND SO THEY CAN ADVISE US ON KIND OF WHAT THEY FIGURE OUT, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, UM, IT'S GONNA BE A LIFT AND WE APPRECIATE THEM FOR, FOR EMILY.
AND, AND, UM, AND MARIE SAID TO SCHEDULE THIS MEETING, SO LET'S, LET'S ALSO KIND OF OPERATE ON PARALLEL PATHS IF AS, UM, SO I MEAN I HAVE GENERAL AVAILABILITY, WEIRDLY ENOUGH 'CAUSE I HAVE TONS OF TIME BLOCKED OUT TO DO AN INTERVIEW FOR A NEW STAFF PERSON.
SO, UM, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF, IF, IF, UM, IF, OR DO YOU HAVE A DAY THAT YOU'RE SUGGESTING? I DON'T WANNA TURN IT INTO CRAZINESS 'CAUSE WE ALREADY ALREADY PASSED TIME, BUT, UM, YEAH, NEXT MONDAY, UM, TUESDAY OR WEDNESDAY FROM 12 TO TWO, WOULD ANY OF THOSE DAYS WORK FOR FOLKS? NOT FOR ME.
DOES THURSDAY WORK FOR FOLKS? YEP.
BILL, WOULD THAT WORK FOR YOU? THURSDAY AFTERNOON? YES.
WHAT ABOUT FROM 12 TO TWO? I I WILL TRY.
SO WE COULD MAYBE OVERLAP WITH THAT.
WE COULD TRY TO GET SOMETHING FROM ONE TO THREE AND EMILY AND I WILL TRY TO FIND A ROOM BECAUSE YOU ALREADY HAVE, YOU KNOW.
WE GOT A FAIR NUMBER OF PEOPLE.
YOU HAVE, UH, SEVERAL PEOPLE HAVE SAID YES TO THAT.
UM, YEAH, JUST FOR THE RECORD, I'M NOT AVAILABLE THURSDAY OR FRIDAY, BUT IF YOU GUYS NEED, IF THERE'S QUORUM, YOU GUYS GO AHEAD AND DO IT.
WE'LL WORK ON NEXT THURSDAY FROM ONE TO THREE.
WE'LL SEND OUT OUTLOOK INVITES AND TRY TO GET THE LOGISTICS WORKED OUT.
AGAIN, I KNOW IT'S A LOT OF WORK.
UM, IF THERE'S SOME THINGS THAT WE CAN, IF THERE'S QUESTIONS THAT WE CAN COME UP WITH BEFOREHAND OR, OR SOME OF THE STUFF WE TALKED ABOUT THAT WE CAN ADDRESS AND KIND OF DO A COM A COMPARE IN HOW WE GOT HERE ON SOME OF IT.
LIKE I'VE JUST PULLED, I PULLED UP THE 24, THE 19 PLAN, YOU KNOW, BUT, UM, ANYWAY, JUST SOME OF THAT KINDA STUFF.
I REQUEST A COPY OF THE LAST TWO PLANS WE EMAILED TO ME THE ONE FIVE YEARS AGO AND THE ONE YEARS AGO TO GO LOOK AT THE WATER CONSERVATION SCORECARD TOO.
UM, THANKS FOR HANGING IN THERE.
UH, WE'RE ADJOURNED AND IT LOOKS LIKE WE MIGHT SEE EACH OTHER NEXT WEEK.
UM, AND, UH, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH AND, AND LET US, WE'LL, WE'LL GET AN UPDATE FROM KIND OF WHAT Y'ALL DECIDE INTERNALLY TOO.
AND YOU'LL BE AT WATER WASTEWATER THIS WEEK TOO, RIGHT? OKAY.