[00:00:04]
HOW'S IT GOING? OKAY, WE HAVE A QUORUM AND, UM, WE'RE READY TO GET THIS PARTY STARTED.
[CALL TO ORDER]
UM, SO LET'S CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER.AND THE FIRST ITEM ON THE AGENDA
[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
IS, UH, PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS.DO WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS? ALRIGHT, DID Y'ALL DID, IS THERE LIKE CARD? DO WE HAVE TO FILL OUT ANYTHING OR, OKAY.
WHO WANTS TO COME FIRST? YOU HAVE TO COME SIT RIGHT HERE BY ME AND PRESS THIS BUTTON.
YOU HAVE TO COME SIT HERE BY ME AND PRESS THIS BUTTON FOR YOUR PUBLIC COMMENTS.
UH, I'M BILL BUNCH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WITH SAVE OUR SPRINGS ALLIANCE.
WE WERE VERY MUCH INVOLVED IN THE INITIAL WATER FORWARD PLANNING TASK FORCE BACK SOME YEARS AGO AND, AND ADDRESSING THE 20 11 20 20 15 DROUGHT.
WE HAVE NOT BEEN ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN THIS PROCESS, UH, UNTIL TODAY, AND WE INTEND TO BE VERY ACTIVELY INVOLVED AS THIS PROCESS GOES FORWARD.
AND AS YOU'VE MAPPED IT OUT, AS I UNDERSTAND BETWEEN NOW AND GOING BACK TO COUNCIL WITH THE GOAL OF NOVEMBER, UM, I WANTED TO INTRODUCE OUR NEW SCIENCE DIRECTOR AT SAVE OUR SPRINGS.
TANIA KAREEM, UH, SHE WILL BE OUR POINT PERSON ON THIS EFFORT.
UM, SHE'S WORKING TO IMMERSE HERSELF IN THE INFORMATION AND, AND GET UP TO SPEED ON THESE ISSUES AND CERTAINLY HELP THE TASK FORCE AND STAFF WILL HELP HER DO THAT.
UM, I JUST WANT TO START BY SAYING I WAS TRULY SHOCKED TO SEE THE WATER UTILITY GO BACKWARDS ON OUR WATER CONSERVATION GOALS.
UM, THAT JUST IS NOT ACCEPTABLE, ESPECIALLY GIVEN WHAT Y'ALL KNOW AND WHAT WE ARE STARTING TO FIND OUT ABOUT THE FUTURE REDUCED, ALMOST CERTAINLY REDUCED FLOWS INTO THE HIGHLAND LAKES AND, UH, RELIABLE YIELD OF THE HIGHLAND LAKES, UM, IN THE FACE OF, YOU KNOW, THE BOOMING GROWTH.
UM, THAT'S NOW NOT SO MUCH BOOMING INSIDE AUSTIN AT THE MOMENT, BUT IN THE REGION.
AND THAT MEANS, UH, COMPETITORS DRAWING FROM THE HIGHLAND LAKES AND THE OTHER LOCAL SOURCES.
UM, AND AS Y'ALL ARE CLEARLY AWARE, OUR CONTRACT SAYS ANY SHORTAGES ARE CUT BACK ON A, UH, PRO-RATA BASIS.
SO WE HAVE NO GUARANTEED WATER FROM OUR CONTRACT.
UM, HAD Y'ALL NOT SUSPENDED THE RAY BENSON JINGLES,
WHAT I UNDERSTOOD Y'ALL WERE TEED UP TO DO IS LIKE ENLIST OTHER AUSTIN CELEBRITIES TO MAKE SIMILAR, UM, UH, MESSAGES.
UM, WE WOULD HAVE A CULTURE OF WATER CONSERVATION.
IT WOULD BE PART OF THE, THE WARPING WOLF, THE FABRIC OF AUSTIN COMMUNITY TO, TO THIS DAY, UH, JUST AS LIVE MUSIC IS.
UM, AND YOU, Y'ALL SAW THE RESULTS.
THEY WERE AGGRESSIVELY RESPONDING TO THAT MESSAGE.
NOW WHAT WE'VE HAD IS INCREDIBLY BORING TEXT, HEAVY, UH, TERRIBLE MESSAGING.
AND AND YOU'RE BLAMING YOUR CUSTOMERS FOR NOT RESPONDING TO THAT.
UH, WE NEED TO PROMOTE A CULTURE OF CONSERVATION.
WE NEED AGGRESSIVE WATER BUDGETS, UH, FOR BIG, BIG USERS AND LARGE USERS AND, AND, AND, AND JOINING THIS EFFORT WITH OUR CLIMATE EFFORTS AND HAVING PEOPLE SWITCH TO NATIVE PLANT LANDSCAPING, DROUGHT RESISTANT, HEAT RESISTANT LANDSCAPING AND, AND GETTING RID OF, UH, THESE IN INCREDIBLY WATER WASTING, UH, LANDSCAPING, UH, THAT WE'RE SEEING, YOU KNOW, WAY, WAY TOO MUCH AND, AND, AND STILL BEING INSTALLED AS A, AS A MATTER OF, UH, STANDARD DEVELOPMENT ON SINGLE FAMILY HOUSING AND AT, UH, COMMERCIAL FACILITIES AS WELL.
SO WE NEED TO GET BACK TO KEEPING OUR TOTAL WATER USE FLAT AND MATCHING POPULATION GROWTH WITH OUR, UH, WATER SAVINGS.
UM, AND THERE'S NO REASON WE CAN'T CONTINUE TO DO IT FOR AT LEAST ANOTHER 20 OR 30.
WE'RE NOWHERE NEAR WHERE OTHER EFFICIENT CITIES WHERE WE'RE LIKE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE MAXED OUT, WE SHOULD BE BELOW A HUNDRED GALLONS PER CAPITA PER DAY, UM, WATER USE.
[00:05:01]
THAT AND IT CAN BE MORE AFFORDABLE.Y'ALL ARE SPENDING BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO EXPAND WATER AND SEWER FACILITIES ACROSS THE CITY WITH THE ASSUMPTION THAT YOU'RE GONNA KEEP GOING UP AND WE'RE GONNA HAVE THE WATER TO PUMP, HAVE THE WATER TO CONVERT INTO SEWAGE.
UM, THAT, THAT IS SLEEPWALKING INTO A DISASTER.
UM, GIVEN WHAT Y'ALL KNOW ABOUT THE WATER AVAILABILITY FUTURE AND, AND WHAT THIS TASK FORCE IS DOING.
SO I WANNA CHALLENGE THE STAFF, CHALLENGE THE, THE, THE, UH, THE TASK FORCE TO, TO BE BLUNTLY HONEST AND AGGRESSIVE IN GETTING ALL THE INFORMATION ON THE TABLE AND LOOKING AT THE SPENDING THAT'S GOING ON AND PARALLEL TO THIS PROCESS WHERE WE SHOULD BE TAKING EVERY STEP WE POSSIBLY CAN TO AVOID THAT ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF SPENDING, WHAT THAT DOES TO OUR RATE PAYERS AND HOW IT DISPLACES THE RESOURCES THAT SHOULD BE DIRECTED AT INCREASING OUR EFFICIENCY AND REUSE.
SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR GOOD TIME.
UM, DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR BILL
ANY QUESTIONS FOR BILL? ANY FOLLOW UP? ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU.
I'M THE CONSERVATION CHAIR FOR THE AUSTIN REGIONAL GROUP OF THE SIERRA CLUB.
AND I WILL START OUT WITH Y'ALL THE SAME WAY I DO WITH CITY COUNCIL.
I KNOW THAT'S ONLY LAKE TRAVIS.
THAT'S NOT OUR WHOLE WATER SUPPLY, BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THAT AS OUR SAVINGS ACCOUNT, AS OUR BANK ACCOUNT OF THE WATER THAT'S AVAILABLE TO US, NO ONE'S COMFORTABLE HAVING LESS THAN 50% OF WHAT YOU NEED WHEN YOU HAVE THE WATER BILLS THAT WE HAVE.
AND THE BAD NEWS IS IT'S A JOINT ACCOUNT.
WE'RE NOT THE ONLY ONES THAT GET TO WITHDRAW FROM THAT WATER SOURCE.
SO AGAIN, I WANT TO THANK THIS BODY AND EVERYONE, UH, ADJOINING US REMOTELY FOR THE WORK THAT YOU HAVE DONE.
UM, SIERRA CLUB, REALLY, WE SEE THIS AS GETTING OUR MONEY BACK.
IF YOU COULD GET MONEY BACK AS A REBATE FROM WHAT YOU'VE SPENT ON OTHER THINGS, YOU WOULD DO THAT.
WELL, WE CAN DO THAT WITH OUR WATER.
WE CAN USE IT ONCE WITH THE PURPLE PIPE SYSTEM.
WE CAN USE IT AGAIN AND WE CAN STRETCH OUR WATER BUDGET THAT WAY.
SO PLEASE CONTINUE TO ADVOCATE FOR THE PURPLE PIPE.
AND MY FRIEND DAVID FOSTER AND I, UM, HE WAS THE, UH, PREVIOUS CHAIR OF THE CLEAN WATER ACTION GROUP HERE IN TEXAS.
WE'VE MET WITH DIFFERENT COUNCIL STAFF AND MEMBERS ABOUT THIS, AND MOST OF THEM ARE VERY OPEN TO THIS.
SO PLEASE, PLEASE KEEP ADVOCATING.
SO IT'S NOT US ON THE OUTSIDE, IT'S Y'ALL SAYING THIS.
ALSO, UM, WE, WE CERTAINLY, UM, WHEN WE LOOK AT THE FORECAST, UM, YOU KNOW, I'M KIND OF OLD SCHOOL TOO.
I DON'T READ THE PAPER, UH, UNLESS I FIND IT SOMEWHERE
UH, BUT WE, WE, UH, OUR, OUR METEOROLOGISTS KEEP SAYING RINSE AND REPEAT.
WE'RE GOING TO HAVE OUR WATER EVAPORATING.
WE'RE NOT GOING TO HAVE THE WATER THAT WE HAVE NOW TOMORROW.
AND, AND SO YES, WE NEED TO PROMOTE CONSERVATION, WE NEED TO RAISE PUBLIC AWARENESS.
WE ABSOLUTELY NEED TO PUT IT OUT IN AS MANY VENUES AS POSSIBLE.
THAT SAID, I'M VERY WELCOME, WELCOMING TO EVERYONE.
IF YOU WANT TO, UH, PRESENT YOUR INFORMATION THROUGH THE SIERRA CLUB NEWSLETTER, OUR LOCAL NEWSLETTER, PLEASE CONTACT ME AND OR BRUCE MELTON AND THAT WAY WE CAN HAVE A WATER UPDATE EVERY MONTH IN OUR, IN OUR NEWSLETTER THAT GOES OUT TO NOT ONLY OUR 5,000 PLUS MEMBERSHIP HERE IN THE AUSTIN REGIONAL GROUP, UM, BUT ALSO PEOPLE THAT JUST, THEY'RE, THEY'RE ON THE MAILING LIST.
THEY GET IT, THEY READ IT TOO.
SO PLEASE KEEP CASTING THE NUT AS WIDE AND FAR AS
[00:10:01]
POSSIBLE.AND I'M A LITTLE DRY, I'M A LITTLE THIRSTY.
I DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH WATER THIS MORNING.
I'M GONNA GO SHUT DOWN AND BE QUIET NOW.
ANY QUESTIONS FOR ROY? EXCUSE ME.
YEAH, WHY CAN'T I GET UP?
IT'S A WHOLE NEW SYSTEM, SO DON'T MAKE ANY SUDDEN MOVEMENTS.
UM, ANY OTHER, ANY OTHER COMMENTS? COME ON UP? IS IT TANIA? TANIA.
I'M THE NEW SO UH, SCIENCE DIRECTOR OF SOS AS BILL HAD INTRODUCED ME EARLIER, UM, I FEEL LIKE BAD COP, GOOD COP,
I, UM, I WANT TO ADD ON TO WHAT BILL WAS SAYING ABOUT IMPLEMENTING MORE STRINGENT, UM, CONSERVATION, UH, METHODS.
I KNOW THAT HE MENTIONED IN THE PAST THAT THIS WAS A SUCCESSFUL APPROACH.
UM, THE RESEARCH THAT I'VE DONE, IT WAS ACTUALLY OFFERED BY THE CITY OF AUSTIN, UM, ALL OF THIS INFORMATION WHERE THE 1975 COMPREHENSIVE MASTER PLAN, THEY PROJECTED THAT OUR, UH, POPULATION WOULD INCREASE TO 865 AND THE, UM, THE FLOW WOULD INCREASE TO 413 IN 2005.
AND IF YOU FAST FORWARD IN 2005, THEY WERE SPOT ON WITH THE POPULATION, BUT THEIR, UH, PROJECTION FOR OUR DE PEAK DEMAND WAS MORE THAN HALF OF THAT.
AND I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW WE CAN'T IMPLEMENT, IMPLEMENT THOSE CONSERVATION, UH, METHODS ONCE AGAIN WHEN THE PROOF OF CONCEPT HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE AND READY TO GO, UM, WITH THESE MORE LIBERAL REBATES, UM, YOU KNOW, FUN CAMPAIGNS.
I THINK MY PEOPLE, MY GENERATION, OLDER AND YOUNGER ARE READY TO, UM, YOU KNOW, HELP CONSERVE WATER AND, UH, ACTUALLY BE INVOLVED IN THESE PROGRAMS AND, UM, AND, YOU KNOW, IMPLEMENTING MORE ENFORCED, UM, YOU KNOW, STRICTER ENFORCEMENTS FOR COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENTS AS WELL.
UM, THAT BEING SAID, I'M SURE YOU KNOW, I'M, I'M, YOU KNOW, I'VE BEEN WATCHING, I'VE BEEN GETTING UP TO SPEED ON THE PLAN THAT Y'ALL HAVE BEEN WORKING SO HARD ON AND, UM, VERY MUCH APPRECIATE THE, THE FACT THAT THE TAX TASK FORCE TEAM AND THE AUSTIN WATER TEAM HAVE BEEN VERY THOROUGH AND ATTENTIVE TO PUBLIC COMMENTS AND CONCERNS AND HAVE BEEN INCORPORATING THAT INTO Y'ALL'S PLANS.
UM, IF, YOU KNOW, SOSS RECOMMENDATIONS ARE GONE, GONE UNNOTICED BY NOVEMBER WHERE Y'ALL ARE GOING TO PRESENT THIS IN, UM, FRONT OF THE CITY COUNCIL, I DO WANT TO TOUCH ON THE FACT THAT THE, UM, THE WAVE UPDATES ARE A LITTLE LESS TRANSPARENT THAT I'D HOPE IT WOULD BE.
UM, AND I RECOGNIZE THAT THE, THE EFFORTS THAT AUSTIN WATER IS RUNNING THIS COMPREHENSIVE MODEL COMBINING 18 DIFFERENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES, UM, EVALUATING 2 MILLION SCENARIOS.
BUT WHAT I'M INTERESTED MORE IN IS, UM, HOW Y'ALL ARE CREATING THAT WORST CASE SCENARIO.
I, I DON'T THINK THAT'S VERY CLEAR AND I THINK THE TASK FORCE IS ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS AND I VERY MUCH APPRECIATE THEM FOR THAT.
BUT AUSTIN WATER KIND OF, UM, APPROACHES IT VERY, UM, IN A HIGH LEVEL, UM, APPROACH.
AND, AND, AND I, AND, AND AS WE'RE GETTING CLOSER TO NOVEMBER AND Y'ALL ARE GOING TO CHOOSE, UM, MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR THE PUBLIC TO UNDERSTAND HOW, SO LAST MONTH, UM, AT Y'ALL Y'ALL'S MEETING, I THINK IT WAS PAUL WHO ASKED, HOW ARE YOU ACTUALLY, UM, GETTING TO THESE EXTREME SEVERE DROUGHT STRESS TESTS? AND MARISSA HAD SAID, YOU KNOW, WE ARE INCORPORATING CLIMATE CHANGE, UH, DROUGHTS WORSE THAN THE DROUGHT ON RECORD AND OTHER POTENTIAL FUTURES.
UM, AND I REALLY WANNA KNOW WHAT THESE OTHER POTENTIAL FUTURES ARE.
UM, AND DEVELOPING THESE WORST CASE SCENARIOS AND THESE STRESS TESTS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND IF THESE STRATEGIES ARE ACTUALLY WORKING.
UM, I THINK TRANSPARENCY ON THAT FRONT IS LACKING AND IT'S DIFFICULT TO FULLY TRUST THE PERFORMANCE OF THESE SCORES OR THE PERFORMANCE SCORES, UM, THAT ARE BEING ASSESSED AND THAT ARE GONNA BE PRESENTED IN A COUPLE OF MONTHS.
UM, AND IF WE'RE NOT PROVIDED THESE, AND IF YOU HAVE PROVIDED THEM AND I MISSED IT FOR SOME REASON IT WAS PRESENTED IN A PAST MEETING, I WOULD BE HAPPY TO DISCUSS THAT AFTERWARDS, UM, WITH THE TEAM.
UM, BUT I DO THINK IT SHOULD BE MADE MORE CLEAR AND MORE ACCESSIBLE IF Y'ALL ARE GOING TO FOLLOW THROUGH WITH THIS GIGANTIC, UNNECESSARY, EXCESSIVE PLAN.
UM, AND, UM, I LOOK FORWARD TO SPEAKING TO Y'ALL MORE IN THE FUTURE.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS, TANIA.
AND, AND, UM, AND I THINK THAT IF YOU, WELL, FIRST OFF, DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR FOLLOW UP? OH, SORRY.
I, FOR, I NEED TO LOOK THIS WAY
[00:15:01]
TOO.I APPRECIATE, UM, THE PUBLIC SPEAKERS VERY MUCH AND I JUST WANTED TO, UM, TO SAY TO THE, THE ANY STAKEHOLDERS, INCLUDING THE PEOPLE THAT CAME AND SPOKE TODAY, UM, WE HAVE A LOT OF, YOU KNOW, MEETINGS AND ACTIONS COMING UP, OBVIOUSLY OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS.
AND TO THE EXTENT YOU ARE AT ALL ABLE TO, UM, REVIEW ANY TASK FORCE MATERIALS AND PROVIDE, UM, SORT OF LIKE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS THAT YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT IN ADVANCE, UM, OF THE MEETING.
I KNOW TO MYSELF, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT OTHER TASK FORCE MEMBERS THAT CAN BE REALLY HELPFUL IN TERMS OF, UM, ME BEING ABLE TO PROCESS THAT INFORMATION AND UNDERSTAND HOW I COULD USE IT OR QUESTIONS I COULD ASK DURING THE MEETING.
UM, LIKE YOU SAW, THE PACKETS FOR TODAY'S MEETINGS ARE LIKE REALLY EXTENSIVE AND SO TO LIKE HEAR SOMEBODY HAS A QUESTION AND LIKE FIGURE OUT HOW TO PROCESS THAT AND WORK GET IT INTO THE MEETING IS LIKE CHALLENGING FOR ME.
SO JUST FOR MY OWN SELF, AS WE HAVE SO MUCH COMING UP, ANYBODY THAT DOES HAVE INPUT, WE APPRECIATE IT, WE WANT IT, UM, ALL THE STAKEHOLDERS WE NEED IT AND ANYTHING THAT YOU CAN PROVIDE IN ADVANCE AS FAR AS QUESTIONS WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL.
AND THAT BRINGS ME TO JUST ANOTHER THING I WANNA BRING UP, WHICH I DON'T THINK IS ON THE AGENDA, WE NEED TO PUT A PIN IN IT, BUT WE HAD TALKED AT ONE OF THESE MEETINGS, JENNIFER, YOU WEREN'T AT THE MEETING, UM, BUT IT CAME UP, WHAT IS THE EMAIL SYSTEM FOR THE TASK FORCE? MY, WE SORT OF TALKED ABOUT DOES EVERYBODY HERE HAVE A BOARDING COMMISSION EMAIL ADDRESS OR NOT? DO WE USE PERSONAL EMAIL ADDRESSES? HOW SHOULD THE PUBLIC BE PROVIDING US WITH THEIR INFORMATION OR ARE RE YOU KNOW, WITH, WITH MOST BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, YOU, EVERYBODY HAS A BC EMAIL ADDRESS AND IT'S AVAILABLE ON THE WEBSITE.
AND I JUST, WE TALKED ABOUT THIS, BUT I NEVER HEARD ANY FOLLOW UP OR WHAT THE PLAN IS.
SO I JUST WANTED TO RAISE THAT AGAIN AS WE WOULD BE EXPECTING TO GET WRITTEN COMMENTS AS WE'RE MOVING INTO THIS NEXT PHASE.
AND IT WOULD BE GREAT IF STAKEHOLDERS WERE ABLE TO, YOU KNOW, ONE WAY SEND IN, KNOW, JUST KNOW HOW TO REACH US ELECTRONICALLY, HOW TO, HOW TO EMAIL PEOPLE.
UM, AND WE DON'T WANNA BE REPLY, YOU KNOW, NOT, NOT INDICATING THERE'D BEING ANY CONVERSATION AMONGST THE, THE TASK FORCE ON THE EMAIL, BUT JUST HOW ARE PEOPLE SUPPOSED TO REACH US, IS ALL WE TALKED ABOUT AND I DIDN'T HEAR WHAT HAPPENED.
THEY'RE, UM, WORKING ON SOME AV STUFF HERE SO I CAN'T SEE IF ANYONE ELSE ELSE THERE WE GOT BEHIND ME.
UM, SARAH, THANK YOU FOR THAT AND WE'LL GET CLARIFICATION ON THE EMAIL.
SO, UM, MARISA FLOES GONZALEZ FROM AUSTIN WATER AND WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON GETTING BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, EMAIL ADDRESSES FOR UH, THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS.
AND, UM, UNTIL WE CAN GET THOSE, UH, UH, FIGURED OUT AND GET EACH OF THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS THEIR OWN BC ADDRESS, UH, AT THIS POINT FOLKS COULD EMAIL, UH, COMMENTS TO EMILY AND EMILY COULD DISTRIBUTE THAT OUT TO THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS IS OKAY.
I WOULD SAY IF YOU CAN PUT THAT ON THE WEBSITE, THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL SO THAT PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, THAT ANY COMMENTS CAN BE SENT TO EMILY AND SHE CAN SEND IT.
'CAUSE ANYBODY WHO'S NOT LISTENING TO THIS MEETING WOULDN'T KNOW THAT.
AND THEN I'D ALSO JUST SAY, KEEPING IN MIND THAT I'M NOT FOR SURE, BUT THERE'S USUALLY A LOT OF TRAININGS WITH THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS ONBOARDING PROCESS.
AND SO I WOULDN'T ASSUME THAT YOU CAN JUST GET THE EMAIL ADDRESSES AND THEN EVERYBODY CAN ACCESS THEM WITHOUT THERE BEING SOME AMOUNT OF TRAINING INVOLVED.
AND SO JUST NOTING IT MAY NOT BE AN IMMEDIATE PROCESS THAT THOSE CAN BE PUT IN PLACE, BUT I, I DON'T KNOW FOR SURE.
UM, WELL, WE'LL LOOK THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE TO HELP THE TASK FORCE UNDERSTAND WHAT THE REQUIREMENTS ARE YES.
FOR THE OPEN MEETING ACT REQUIREMENTS NOTED.
AND, UM, WE'LL WORK WITH THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE 'CAUSE THEY MANAGE THE, UM, TASK FORCE'S WEBPAGE.
WE'LL WORK WITH THEM TO MAKE UPDATES TO THE WEBPAGE TO PUT EMILY'S EMAIL ADDRESS ON THERE.
EMILY'S EMAIL ADDRESS IS ALSO INCLUDED ON EACH OF THE AGENDAS THAT WE PUT OUT BECAUSE WE PREPARED THOSE AGENDAS.
UM, BUT YES, WE'LL FOLLOW UP WITH WHAT TRAININGS MIGHT BE REQUIRED FOR USE OF THE EMAIL ADDRESS, DIDN'T THEY, UM, HAVE SOMETHING ABOUT THE EMAIL ADDRESSES AND THE TRAINING THAT WE DID? YEAH, SO I WENT THROUGH THE PROCESS AND IT WASN'T SUPER COMPLEX.
THE TRAININGS WERE ONLINE AND THEN ONCE YOU DO THAT, IT'S PRETTY EASY TO GET IT.
SO I THINK I ALREADY HAVE ONE, PAUL, IF YOU WANNA LIST OURS AS WELL.
I DON'T KNOW HOW TO ACCESS IT, BUT I DO HAVE ONE.
YEAH, BECAUSE WE DID THE TRAINING.
[00:20:01]
DID THE TRAINING TOGETHER.MADELINE AND I JUST RECENT, I'M GONNA SAY RECENTLY.
BUT, AND SO LIKE IF YOU WANNA LIST OUR EMAILS ON THE WEBPAGE AS WELL, JUST SO THAT THE PUBLIC CAN REACH US.
'CAUSE I'VE HEARD FEEDBACK FROM PEOPLE IN DISTRICT 10 THAT THEY HAD NO IDEA HOW TO CONTACT ME AND I WOULD LIKE THEM TO BE ABLE TO FIND THAT INFORMATION.
I THINK SOME OF THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS KIND OF ROLLED ON IN A DIFFERENT TIME WHEN THE PROCESS FOR ONBOARDING NEW COMMISSION MEMBERS WAS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT.
UM, SO AT LEAST THE WAY THAT THEY HAD DEALT WITH THE WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE MEMBERS, UM, IN THE PAST.
BUT WE'LL DO A SURVEY OF EVERYBODY, I GUESS, AND SEE KIND OF WHO HAS, UH, BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS EMAIL ADDRESS, WHO DOESN'T, AND WE'LL PROBABLY WANNA UNDERSTAND WHO HAS HAD WHAT TRAINING.
I THINK ALSO JUST AS FAR AS TIMELINE, SINCE WE DO HAVE A LOT OF IMPORTANT MEETINGS COMING UP, IF WE COULD KIND OF EXPEDITE THIS SO THAT WE COULD HAVE THAT PUBLIC COMMENT FROM OUR DISTRICTS, IT WOULD BE PRETTY HELPFUL.
WE'LL, WE'LL CONTINUE TO WORK WITH THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE TO TRY TO GET THAT TO HAPPEN.
UM, WAS THERE ANY OTHER PUBLIC COMMENT? OKAY.
THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING TO, WERE Y'ALL, DID EVERYBODY, DOES EVERYBODY HAVE ACCESS TO THE MEETING PACKET? LIKE A PRINTED COPY IF THEY WANT IT? WE HAVE EXTRAS.
UM, THANK YOU FOR COMING TODAY.
UM, SHAY I BELIEVE YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE SOME COMMENTS.
I'M THE DIRECTOR OF AUSTIN WATER AND I WANTED TO, UH, JUST WELCOME YOU ALL TO, UH, THIS MEETING AND THE NEXT SEVERAL, UH, KIND OF HEAVY LIFTING MEETINGS THAT WE HAVE COMING UP AS WE, UH, WORK THROUGH, UM, THE, THE, UH, THE WORK AHEAD OF US.
UM, I WANNA THANK THE FOLKS THAT CAME AND GAVE THEIR PUBLIC, UH, COMMENTS.
THE, AND I WANNA THANK ALL OF THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS FOR YOUR ENGAGEMENT AND OUR AUSTIN WATER STAFF OVER THE SUMMER.
IT'S BEEN A LOT OF WORK TO TAKE ALL OF THE COMMENTS, UM, REALLY PUT THEM THROUGH THE PROCESS TO DETERMINE, UM, THEIR VIABILITY AND POTENTIAL YIELD AND THEN BE ABLE TO INCORPORATE THAT INTO THE PROPOSED PLAN.
AND I WANNA STRESS THAT THIS, UH, THE WORK THAT WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT TODAY WITH BOTH THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND THE WATER FORWARD 24, UM, SCENARIO AND STRATEGIES, UH, IS A, IS A CONVERSATION STARTER WITH YOU ALL AS WE, AS WE HONE IN, HONE IN ON, UH, ON THE PLAN FOR WATER FORWARD 24.
SO REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS WORK.
AND, UM, I THINK WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, SET ASIDE, UM, AS YOU ALL MENTIONED, SEVERAL MEETINGS, UH, A GOOD AMOUNT OF TIME TO, TO REALLY DIG INTO IT AND WORK THROUGH IT AND BE SURE THAT WE GET ALL THAT INPUT FROM OUR STAKEHOLDERS SO THAT THIS IS, UH, UH, A WELL, UM, ROUNDED AND, UH, AND THOUGHTFUL PLAN THAT WE MOVE FORWARD WITH.
SO THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE.
WE APPRECIATE, UM, YOU COMING TODAY AND, UM, LET'S DIVE INTO OUR AGENDA.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
UM, SO WE HAVE REVIEW AND APPROVE THE MEETING MINUTES FROM THE TASK FORCE MEETING ON JULY 15TH.FOLKS HAVE A CHANCE TO REVIEW THESE.
AND DO I HAVE A MOTION, MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM THE LAST MEETING? THANK YOU.
UM, ANY DISCUSSION? ALL IN FAVOR, SARAH, YOU IN FAVOR OF THE MINUTES? OKAY, THANK YOU.
[2. Update on Water Conservation Plan and Drought Contingency Plan – Water Forward Revisions]
AGENDA ITEM, THE UPDATE ON THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN.UM, THIS IS THE BIG OLD PACKETS, SO LET'S DIVE IN.
ALRIGHT, WELL GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYONE.
MY NAME IS KEVIN CLUEY, THE MANAGER OF THE WATER CONSERVATION DIVISION AT AUSTIN WATER.
AND THIS AGENDA ITEM IS AN UPDATE FOR Y'ALL REGARDING THE REVIEW AND REVISION OF THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE COMPLETION OF YOUR WATER FORWARD PLAN.
NOW, LAST SPRING, AFTER SEEING THE CURRENT WATER CONSERVATION PLANS USE NUMBERS OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS.
AND OUR GOAL IS THERE'S A NUMBER OF TASK FORCE MEMBERS WHO ESSENTIALLY ASK WHAT HAPPENED? WHY DIDN'T THE PER PERSON WATER USE GO DOWN? WHAT CAN AUSTIN WATER DO TO DECREASE THE PER PERSON WATER USE EVEN FURTHER.
[00:25:05]
HANG TIGHT.EMILY'S UM, FIGURING OUT HOW TO DRIVE THE SPACESHIP HERE WITH, OKAY.
IT'S A LITTLE MULTIMEDIA EXTRAVAGANZA IN HERE.
I DON'T KNOW ANYONE THAT, THAT'S, UH, JOINING REMOTELY TOO.
UM, IF YOU CAN APPEAR LARGER THAN LIFE ON THIS GIANT SCREEN IN HERE TOO, JUST SO YOU KNOW, JUST PACK, PACK THAT.
OH, I WAS JUST SAYING WHILE SHE GETS THIS SET UP THAT ANYONE THAT'S ON THE SCREEN KNOW THAT YOU CAN APPEAR MUCH LARGER THAN LIFE ON THE SCREEN.
UM, IF THEY MAKE YOUR PICTURE THE MAIN ONE, MAKE SURE YOUR HAIR'S BRUSHED.
CAN WE GO BACK? CAN WE GO BACK ONE, ONE MORE SLIDE.
UM, SO, UH, THE AGENDA TODAY IS OUR ATTEMPT TO START THAT ANSWER TO THOSE QUESTIONS, UH, REGARDING, UH, WHAT HAPPENED, UM, SINCE THE LAST FIVE YEARS.
UH, FIRST OF ALL, THE FIRST PART OF THE PRESENTATION WE'LL TALK ABOUT WHY HAS BASELINE GPCD INCREASED.
AS YOU MAY RECALL, WHEN WE PRESENTED THIS SLIDE TO YOU BA LAST SPRING, THE FIVE YEAR BASELINE AVERAGE WAS 1 27.
AND IN THE PREVIOUS PLAN THAT FIVE YEAR BASELINE WAS 1 26.
AND THEN THE SECOND SUB-QUESTION THERE, HOW HAVE CONSERVATION REUSE STRATEGIES PERFORMED? WE'LL TALK ABOUT THOSE FROM THE LAST WATER FORWARD PLAN.
AND THEN THE SECOND SECTION, WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? UM, WHAT ARE THE UPDATED DEMANDS? WHAT SAVINGS CAN WE GET FROM STRATEGIES GPCD GOALS? AND THEN MEASURING, UH, AND REPORTING WATER SAVINGS IN THE FUTURE.
UM, IN TERMS OF DISCUSSING GPCD, THAT'S AN ACRONYM WE'RE GONNA BE USING A LOT IN THIS PRESENTATION.
AND WHILE MANY OF YOU, I GUESS ALL OF YOU ON THE TASK FORCE KNOW, A-G-P-C-D, I WANTED TO PAUSE JUST ONE MOMENT FOR THOSE WATCHING REMOTELY OR MAYBE IN THE AUDIENCE AND TALK ABOUT GPCD.
THE ACRONYM FOR GALLONS PER CAPITA DAILY, ESSENTIALLY PER PERSON WATER USE, UH, THAT'S CALCULATED BY TAKING THE WATER PUMPED.
AND THAT'S THE VOLUME OF WATER PUMPED OUT OF OUR THREE WATER TREATMENT PLANTS.
IT'S THE VOLUME OF WATER USED BY CUSTOMERS SENT TO WHOLESALE UTILITIES AND EVEN LOST TO LEAKS OR SOMEHOW UNACCOUNTED FOR WATER.
AND THAT WATER PUMP IS DIVIDED BY POPULATION POP, ANNUAL POPULATION ESTIMATE AND THEN DIVIDED BY DAYS.
SO TO REDUCE GPCD, THE CITY ESSENTIALLY NEEDS TO REDUCE THAT VOLUME PUMPED.
UM, OR IN THE CASE OF GROWING CITIES LIKE AUSTIN, WHEN THE POPULATION IS GOING UP, THAT WATER PUMPED CAN GO UP, BUT IT HAS TO GO UP LESS THAN THE POPULATION GROWTH.
SO THAT'S IN A NUTSHELL GPCD AND WE'LL BE TALKING A LOT ABOUT THAT GOING FORWARD.
SO THE FIRST QUESTION ON THE AGENDA, WHY HAS THE BASELINE GPCD INCREASED? WE HAVE A NUMBER OF KEY POINTS HERE THAT WE'LL GO INTO FURTHER IN THE SUBSEQUENT SLIDES.
UH, BUT IN A NUTSHELL, FIRST OF ALL, EXPECTATIONS MAY HAVE BEEN HIGHER THAN WHAT EVENTUALLY CAME ABOUT, UM, IN ONE POINT BECAUSE THE WATER FORWARD, UM, GCDS AND THE 2019 WATER CONSERVATION PLAN GPCS WERE LIKELY BASED ON UNDER PROJECTED DEMANDS.
UM, THEY'RE BASED ON THREE YEARS OF DATA, 20 13, 20 14, AND 2015.
THE SECOND POINT THERE, RECENT YEARS OF HOT AND DRY WEATHER CONTRIBUTED TO AN INCREASED DEMAND.
AND WHILE NOT, WE'RE NOT SAYING THAT'S THE REASON THAT GPT THE SOLE REASON GCDS WERE HIGHER, WHERE THE BASELINE WAS, THAT WAS A FACTOR.
AND THE THIRD POINT, UH, POST PANDEMIC CHANGES IN CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR
[00:30:01]
CONTRIBUTED TO INCREASED DEMANDS, ESPECIALLY FOR SINGLE FAMILY.AS YOU RECALL, DURING THE PANDEMIC, A LOT OF PEOPLE WENT HOME AND LIKE MANY WATER UTILITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, AUSTIN SAW AN INCREASE IN THE WATER DEMAND FROM SINGLE FAMILY HOMES.
UM, OFTENTIMES I WAS OFFSET BY A DECREASE IN COMMERCIAL, WHICH IS TRUE.
UM, BUT IN AUSTIN'S CASE, UH, SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL USE WENT UP IN 2020, CAME DOWN A LITTLE IN 2022, BUT THEN AGAIN HIT THAT 2022 IN 23 HOT DRY YEARS AND CONTINUED TO GO UP.
SO THAT DID HAVE SOME IMPACT ON THE FIVE YEAR AVERAGE.
AND THEN FINALLY, KEY WATER FORWARD WATER CONSERVATION AND REUSE STRATEGIES DIDN'T ACHIEVE THE PROJECTED SAVINGS.
SO THOSE ARE THE KEY, THE KEY POINTS AND WE'LL GO INTO, CAN I ASK A QUESTION REAL QUICK? UM, YOU SAID THAT WATER FOR 2018 AND THE 2019 WATER CONSERVATION BASELINE GCDS WERE CAL WERE LIKELY BASED ON UNDER PROJECTED DEMANDS.
AND THEN YOU SAID 20 13, 14 AND 15.
AND WHEN YOU SAY UNDER PROJECTED DEMANDS, DO YOU MEAN MAYBE LIKE YEAR, BECAUSE THOSE, THOSE WERE SOME DRY YEARS.
UM, 15 NOT, BUT 13 AND 14, RIGHT.
UM, WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY UNDER PROJECTED DEMANDS IF YOU'RE BASING ON ACTUAL DATA? RIGHT.
SO, WE'LL, WE'LL SEE IN A FEW SLIDES FROM NOW.
UM, BUT YOU HAD 13 AND 14, THEY WERE ON THE BOTTOM END OF THAT BIG SLOPE FROM 2011 IN WHICH WE HAD A GPC OF 1 62.
UM, THEN YOU HAD 12 AND THEN 13 AND 14 AND 14 WERE KIND OF AT THE BOTTOM THERE.
SO THEY WERE, THAT WAS A TIME PERIOD WHERE THERE'S A LOT OF PUBLIC, UH, KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE DROUGHT.
IT WAS A BIG FOCUS AND WE HAD THE REAL RESTRICTIONS REALLY BITING IN, IN 13 AND 14 AND THEN 15 WAS ONE OF THE WETTEST YEARS IN TEXAS HISTORY.
UM, SO AGAIN, YOU HAD LESS DEMAND BECAUSE PEOPLE WERE NOT WATERING THEIR LAWNS 'CAUSE IT WAS RAINING SO DARN MUCH IN 2015.
SO THE DEMANDS WERE BASED ON THOSE JUST THREE YEARS RATHER TO THE ABNORMAL THREE YEARS, THE FINAL TWO YEARS OF DROUGHT AND DROUGHT RESTRICTIONS AND THEN A WET YEAR AT THE END.
AND THOSE THREE YEARS REALLY SET A TREND GOING DOWN.
SO PER CAPITA USE TO SAY IT ANOTHER WAY DURING THOSE THREE YEARS WAS LOWER THAN AVERAGE.
AND SO, UM, AND THEN YOU COULD DEBATE KINDA WHAT OUR AVERAGE IS OR SHOULD BE, BUT THAT'S OKAY.
JUST WANNA MAKE SURE I UNDERSTOOD THAT AND WE'LL HAVE ANOTHER SLIDE.
WE CAN HOPEFULLY SEE IT A LITTLE.
SORRY, I'VE, TELL ME, TELL ME IF THAT'S ON ANOTHER SLIDE AND LET'S KEEP MOVING.
YES, ROBERT, I'VE GOT A QUESTION ALSO.
SO, UM, DO YOU KNOW IF AUSTIN IS A, LIKE, DOES AUSTIN'S DAILY POPULATION INCREASE, YOU KNOW, DUE TO FOLKS COMMUTING IN OR WE AN A NET EXPORTER OF, OF WORKERS? I, I'M TRYING TO UNDERS TRYING TO UNDERSTAND LIKE WHY IT WOULD BE AN OVERALL LIKE, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW.
I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION.
MY, MY PRESUMPTION IS THAT WE PROBABLY GAIN PEOPLE DURING THE DAY, YOU KNOW, SAY PRE COVID TIMES, WE GAIN PEOPLE DURING THE DAY, UM, AND THEN, UM, YOU KNOW, THEN LOSE THEM AT NIGHT.
BUT WHILE THOSE PEOPLE ARE HERE, THEY'RE USING WATER.
UM, WHEREAS AT, AT THE PANDEMIC PEOPLE ARE STAYING AT HOME.
I MEAN, THEY'RE, THEY'RE I GUESS USING MORE WATER AT HOME, BUT THEY STILL WOULD'VE BEEN GOING TO THE BATHROOM IN THE OFFICE IF THEY'RE WORKING IN AUSTIN.
SO, I MEAN, SO OVERALL DID, DID YOU SEE IN OVERALL TOTAL WATER USE AN INCREASE OF WATER USE DUE TO THE PANDEMIC? THERE WAS CERTAINLY AN INCREASE IN SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL USE THAT REALLY BUMPED UP.
UM, I BELIEVE THAT, BUT, BUT THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN CANCELED OUT BY DECREASE IN INSTITUTIONAL, RIGHT? THAT REALLY, UM, USE YES, UH, LARGELY OFFSET, BUT IT WENT UP IN, IN SINGLE FAMILY 2021.
IT DID GO DOWN A LITTLE BIT AS THE PANDEMIC WANED.
UM, BUT THEN WE HAD 2022 AND 23 AND THAT SHOT RIGHT BACK UP.
SO, UM, I, I THINK IT'S EASY TO IMAGINE OR TO VISUALIZE THAT IT WENT UP AND IT REALLY NEVER CAME BACK DOWN IN THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS.
AND I GUESS MY QUESTION IS, IS IT, IT DOESN'T LIKE THE OVERALL GPCD ISN'T SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL, IT'S THE TOTAL USE OF THE CITY.
SO DOES IT MATTER THAT IT WENT UP OR DOWN IF IT WAS OFFSET BY, YOU KNOW, LOSS OR GAIN OF USE, YOU KNOW, IN THE OFFICE OR IN IN RESTAURANTS OR WHATEVER? CORRECT.
[00:35:01]
ONE YEAR, ESSENTIALLY ONE YEAR.UM, AND THEN INTO 21, 22 COMMERCIAL DID REBOUND SO IT CAME BACK UP AND THEN SINGLE FAMILY WAS ALREADY UP IN COMMERCIAL.
CII CAME BACK UP ALSO PUSHING EVERYTHING UP.
THE WATER FORWARD BASELINE DEMANDS WERE BASED ON 20 13 20 15.
AS I MENTIONED, 1314 WAS THE BOTTOM END OF THAT SLOPE OF COMING DOWN, UH, DROUGHT WHILE WE WERE IN DROUGHT.
AND 15 WAS A, A VERY, UH, WET YEAR, UM, WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO LOWER G PCDS.
UM, NEXT SLIDE ALSO TIES INTO THAT THERE'S THE QUESTION OF HOW CUSTOMER USAGE CHANGED OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS AND OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS.
UM, BUT ON THIS SLIDE YOU CAN SEE ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE THERE YOU SEE THREE BARS, THREE YEARS WITH YELLOW BORDER AROUND HIM.
UM, SO THAT'S, YOU SEE IN 1314, PARTICULARLY COMING DOWN FROM THAT SLOPE FROM ONE OVER ONE 60 IN 2011.
AND THEN YOU SEE THE REST OF THE YEARS WATER USE OUT THROUGH 2023.
UH, FOR THOSE OF YOU IN THE AUDIENCE WHO MAY NOT BE ABLE TO SEE THE LEGEND DOWN THERE AT THE BOTTOM, UH, THE STACKED BARS YOU HAVE ON THE BOTTOM A SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL AND LIGHT BLUE.
AND THEN IN I GUESS MEDIUM BLUE YOU HAVE, UM, MULTIFAMILY RESIDENTIAL AND THE BLUE GREEN ABOVE THAT IS COMMERCIAL, UH, AND LARGE VOLUME USERS IS IN GREEN.
ABOVE THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN, IT'S JUST A VERY SMALL BAR.
AND THEN YOU HAVE WHOLESALE WATER USE IN THE GRAY AND THEN IT TOPPED OFF WITH NON-REVENUE WATER.
UM, I HAVE A COMMENT ABOUT THIS.
IT'S MORE CLEAR ON THE SCREEN, BUT ON OUR UH, PRINTED OUT VERSIONS, WOULD YOU GUYS MIND CHOOSING MORE CONTRASTING COLORS? YES.
BECAUSE IT'S KIND OF HARD TO TELL EXACTLY WHERE THE LINES ARE AND SEE THAT.
YEAH, I'M SEEING IT FOR THE FIRST TIME HERE.
YEAH, THERE'S A MILLION GALLONS PER DAY WHERE YOU SEE THAT VERTICAL AXIS.
SO OVER THE 10 YEARS YOU CAN SEE THAT WATER USE HAS INCREASED OVER THE 10 YEARS.
UM, BUT THERE WAS A LOT OF FOCUS FROM TASK FORCE MEMBERS, PARTICULARLY ON THE LAST FIVE YEARS ON WHY, UH, WATER USE INCREASED OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS AND WHO INCREASED IN TERMS OF WATER USE OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS.
AND I PARTICULARLY IF IT'S HARD TO READ ON YOUR PAPER, I KNOW IT'LL PROBABLY BE REALLY HARD TO DISCERN, UM, IN TERMS OF DIFFERENT CATEGORIES.
BUT BETWEEN 2019 AND 2023 LAST FIVE YEARS, WHO INCREASED THE MOST SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL INCREASE? THE MOST VOLUMETRICALLY BY 6.6 MGD OR A MILLION GALLONS PER DAY, OR 4.16 OR 4.1% RATHER, MULTIFAMILY INCREASED BY VOLUME.
THE SECOND LARGEST 4.4 MILLION GALLONS PER DAY, UM, I'M SORRY, 5.6.
SO SINGLE FAMILY INCREASED THE MOST BY 6.6 MILLION GALLONS PER DAY.
MULTIFAMILY INCREASED THE SECOND MOST BY 5.6 MILLION GALLONS PER DAY, BUT IT INCREASED THE MOST BY PERCENTAGE.
4.9% COMMERCIAL INCREASED ABOUT 4%.
WHOLESALE WATER SALES INCREASED BY 3%.
AND NON-REVENUE WATER INCREASED ABOUT 1% BETWEEN 2019 AND 2023.
SO THE BIG CRE INCREASE BETWEEN 2019 AND 2023 WAS IN SINGLE FAMILY AND MULTIFAMILY CUSTOMERS.
UH, SARAH, DID YOU HAVE A QUESTION? YEAH, CAN YOU REPEAT WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT, I GOT MIXED UP? 'CAUSE YOU SAID MULTI-FAMILY INCREASED BY VOLUME.
THEY WERE THE SECOND LARGEST INCREASE.
RIGHT? BUT THEN THE MOST BY PERCENTAGE.
RIGHT? UH, SO SINGLE FAMILY INCREASED THE MOST VOLUMETRICALLY BETWEEN 19 20 19
[00:40:01]
AND 2023 AND INCREASED BY 6.6 MILLION GALLONS PER DAY.MULTIFAMILY INCREASED THE SECOND MOST AMOUNT AT 5.6 MILLION GALLONS PER DAY, BUT IT DID INCREASE THE MOST PERCENTAGE WISE, IT INCREASED 4.9% BETWEEN 2019 AND 2023.
AND THEN I GUESS KIND OF WHAT WE'RE SAYING IS LIKE THIS IS WHAT THE ACTUAL NUMBERS WERE WITHOUT REALLY AN OVERLAY OF WHAT EXACTLY WAS HAPPENING AS FAR AS WATER CONSERVATION MESSAGING, LIKE TYPE METHODOLOGY OUTREACH.
WE'VE TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE BUDGET, BUT WHETHER OR NOT THAT'S BEING UTILIZED AND HOW'S A DIFFERENT QUESTION.
THIS IS JUST VOLUMES WHO USED, WHERE DID VOLUMES INCREASE OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS? QUESTION.
I GUESS JUST TO ADD ONTO THIS, SO COUNTERFACTUAL, WE'RE LOOKING AT THIS KEY, I'M LOOKING AT THIS KEY POINT SLIDE WHERE WE SAY KEY WATER FORWARD CONSERV WATER CONSERVATION AND REUSE STRATEGIES DIDN'T ACHIEVE PROJECTED SAVINGS.
AND SO MAYBE IF IN THAT FIVE YEAR TIMEFRAME, 2019 TO 20 TO 23, GIVEN THE INCREASE IN SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL AND MULTIFAMILY RESIDENTIAL, IF WE HAD HAD IN PLACE THE ORDINANCES THAT WE'VE NOW BEEN PUSHING THIS PAST YEAR TO FINALLY GET OVER THE FINISH LINE, BUT WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE IN PLACE A LONG TIME AGO, MAYBE THAT WOULD'VE HAD AN IMPACT ON THOSE NUMBERS.
IS THAT KIND OF WHAT THE ARGUMENT WE'RE MAKING? IT WOULD'VE HAD A LARGE IMPACT ON THOSE NUMBERS? DO WE THINK THAT THAT COULD BE, UM, I GUESS I'M NOT, I DON'T HAVE AN ARGUMENT SO MUCH AS PRESENTING HOW WATER USAGE CHANGED OVER THE LAST FIVE AND 10 YEARS.
THE QUESTION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE STRATEGIES.
YEAH, I'LL, I'LL DISCUSS IN JUST A, A LITTLE BIT.
I'M JUST TALKING ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY MISSED.
WE WANNA REALLY UNDERSTAND THAT.
SO WHAT THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO SO THAT WE CAN REALLY UNDERSTAND THAT, UM, THE USAGE IS, THE USAGE IS WHERE WE ARE.
AND THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS WE COULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY.
RAY BENSON COULD HAVE BEEN SINGING THE SONG THE WHOLE TIME AND THINGS WOULD BE DIFFERENT.
UM, BUT HOPEFULLY, SO, UM, SO LIKE, LET'S, LET'S, LET'S UNDERSTAND THIS AND THEN SEE, I MEAN, I THINK, I THINK THERE'S A LOT TO DIG INTO HERE ABOUT THE PROGRAMS AND LIKE THE PROGRAMS WE HAVE IN PLACE, THE PROGRAMS WE COULD HAVE HAD IN PLACE, HOW EFFECTIVE, LIKE HOW MANY PEOPLE USE 'EM, HOW MUCH WE'RE INVESTING, ALL OF THAT, UM, IS DEFINITELY FOOD FOR THOUGHT ON THIS.
SO I THINK, UM, AND WE ARE, WE'VE GOTTEN THREE PAGES INTO THIS, BUT I MEAN, I I WOULD OFFER ONE COMMENT, IT'S NOT SPECIFIC AND IT'S NOT QUANTITATIVE PER SE, BUT CERTAINLY, I MEAN, JUST BY THE DATA THAT KEVIN'S PRESENTED, UM, AGAIN, SOME OF THE LARGER AREAS OF WATER USE INCREASE WAS IN MULTIFAMILY.
AND CERTAINLY SOME OF OUR FOCUS ON ONSITE REUSE AND RECLAIMED WATER USE WAS ALSO ON MULTIFAMILY LARGE BUILDINGS.
SO IT FOLLOWS SOMEWHAT, BUT I DON'T KNOW THAT WE HAVE GOOD INFORMATION ABOUT QUANTITATIVELY WHAT THOSE IMPACTS WERE AND HOW THAT WOULD'VE ALL KIND OF IMPACTED IN A RETROSPECT, SIR.
I MEAN, I THINK, YOU KNOW, AND I JUST GO AHEAD ROBERT.
I'M JUST GONNA SAY, I MEAN, I DRIVE PAST MY SISTER'S MULTIFAMILY AND THERE'S A RIVER OF WATER GOING DOWN THE STREET EVERY SINGLE DAY AND IT HASN'T BEEN FIXED FOR MONTHS AND MONTHS.
AND SO, LIKE, YOU KNOW THAT THAT'S, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO STOP THAT BESIDES ME COMPLAINING TO THEM, WHICH I DO GIVE US THAT ADDRESS.
SORRY, I I WILL GIVE YOU THE ADDRESS.
UM, BUT JENNIFER, CAN CAN WE INTERRUPT A SECOND? WE'RE, I'M HAVING A REALLY HARD TIME HEARING AND I WANNA KNOW IF OTHER PEOPLE ONLINE ARE, 'CAUSE BOTH KEVIN AND JENNIFER'S MICROPHONES HAVE GONE WEIRD HEARING, I'M HEARING PERFECTLY.
I'M HERE, I'M HEARING Y'ALL IS FINE.
UM, SARAH, CAN YOU HEAR ME BETTER? I'M JUST, I'M A LITTLE CLOSER TO THE MICROPHONE NOW.
[00:45:01]
LEMME TURN IT OFF AND ON.JUST I KNOW I'M YELLING QUICKLY.
WANTED TO MAKE A POINT THAT, UM, UH, AND I'M STILL SEEING THE HOW CUSTOMER USAGE CHANGE OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS.
BUT, BUT LIKE THE, THE 20 13, 20 14, 20 15 WAS ON THE END OF THE DROUGHT, YOU KNOW, REAL SERIOUS DROUGHT.
AND, AND THEN COMING OUT OF THAT DROUGHT, AUSTIN WENT, IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, FROM, YOU KNOW, TWICE A WEEK WATERING, UM, TO KIND OF YEAR ROUND, ONCE A WEEK WATERING.
SO THERE'S SOME, THERE'S SOME DEMAND HARDENING THERE.
UM, AND THEN A POINT IT MADE BEFORE, IT'S LIKE, IT JUST, IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE THIS CURRENT DROUGHT HAS HAD QUITE THE, UM, IMPACT ON, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, RESIDENTS BEING AS, AS, UH, CONCERNED ABOUT MINIMIZING USAGE.
IT MIGHT JUST BE BECAUSE WE'RE ALREADY IN ONCE A WEEK WATERING, SO THERE'S, YOU KNOW, THERE'S NOT AS MUCH, UM, YOU LOST ITY IN THE USE WITH, UH, DROUGHT RESTRICTIONS AS THERE WAS BACK BEFORE.
SO THOSE THREE BARS SURROUNDED BY YELLOW, YOU KNOW, WOULD BE, UM, A LOT HIGHER I GUESS, OR THE BARS WOULD BE HIGHER TODAY.
UM, YOU KNOW, GIVEN THE DROUGHT RESTRICTIONS WE HAD BACK THEN.
I ALSO THINK IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO SEE LIKE, CLEARLY THE POPULATION HAS GONE UP DURING THIS TIME AND THERE'S MORE PEOPLE USING WATER ON OUR PER CAPITA BASIS.
OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS, RECLAIM WATER HAS BEEN FLAT.
YEAH, I GUESS WHERE I WAS GOING WITH MY COMMENTS AND BILL JUST SPOKE TO A LITTLE BIT TOO, IT'S JUST, UM, YOU KNOW, IT GETS TO THIS POINT ABOUT CARROTS AND STICKS THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT BEFORE, AND I KNOW Y'ALL KNOW THIS, BUT THE POINT BEING, IF WE DON'T DO ANYTHING, LIKE WE DON'T, WE CAN'T JUST LIKE HOPE FOR THE BEST.
LIKE YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DON'T GET THE ORDINANCES IN PLACE AND WE DON'T REQUIRE THINGS OF BUILDERS AND DEVELOPERS, LIKE THEY'RE JUST GONNA NOT BUILD RESIDENCES WITH EFFICIENT LANDSCAPES AND WITH ALL THE RE THE REUSE REQUIREMENTS THAT WE WANT.
LIKE, THAT IS JUST NOT GONNA HAPPEN BY DEFAULT.
AND SO I'M GLAD WE'RE GETTING ON IT NOW, BUT YOU LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN IT, IT'S NOT REQUIRED.
AND I'LL, I'LL TRY TO MOVE THROUGH THE SLIDES A LITTLE QUICKER PACE, UH, NOT TO, YOU KNOW, CUT ANYONE OFF OR, UM, AVOID ANY QUESTIONS.
WE CERTAINLY ENJOY TALKING ABOUT THIS AND ANSWERING ANY QUESTIONS, BUT AS JENNIFER POINTED OUT, UH, WE GOT A LONG WAY TO GO, UM, IN TERMS OF THE SLIDES AND ANOTHER PRESENTATION.
SO THE LAST SLIDE SHOWED JUST VOLUMES OF WATER USED A MILLION GALLONS PER DAY.
AND THIS SLIDE SHOWS THE GPCD FOR THE PAST 10 YEARS.
AGAIN, 20 13, 14 15 WAS A DECLINE, UH, PARTICULARLY FROM THE, THE LAST ROUTE, UH, WITH THEIR RESTRICTIONS AND AWARENESS INTO 15 WITH THE WET YEAR.
AND THEN THOSE MID-CENTURY YEARS OR MIDDLE OF A DECADE, SORRY, UH, REALLY KIND OF BOUNCED AROUND IN THE MID ONE TWENTIES AND IT JUMPED UP AGAIN IN 2022 AND 23.
SO, SO THIS SHOWS ME RIGHT HERE BECAUSE IT'S KIND OF A FLIP BECAUSE IT'S HIGHER GPCD AND 2013 ET CETERA.
AND IT'S, IT'S ACTUALLY A LITTLE, YOU KNOW, IT'S A LITTLE WOBBLY, BUT LIKE THE POPULATION FACTOR IS, YOU KNOW, SO I I I THINK THESE ARE GOOD TABLES.
IT'D BE GOOD TO LIKE OVERLAY A POPULATION CHANGE LINE ON IT JUST SO WE CAN KIND OF SEE.
'CAUSE THAT'S A, THAT'S THE DENOMINATOR, YOU KNOW, AND THAT'S IMPORTANT.
WE ALWAYS WANT MORE, JUST MORE.
SO THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED IN TERMS OF TOTAL VOLUME AND, UH, PER PERSON WATER USE.
IN THIS NEXT SLIDE, UH, ATTEMPT TO RESPOND TO SOME QUESTIONS WE HAD FROM TASK FORCE MEMBERS.
WELL, HOW DO WE COMPARE TO OTHER CITIES ON THIS TABLE HERE, UH, SHOWS THE AVERAGE DATA SUBMITTED TO THE TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD, UH, BETWEEN 2019 AND 2022.
22 IS THE MOST RECENT YEAR THEY HAVE ON THEIR WEBSITES AND IS SUBMITTED BY NEARLY ALL WATER UTILITIES ACROSS THE STATE.
BUT WE CHOSE THE SIX THAT WERE MOST COMPARABLE TO AUSTIN.
AND YOU SEE THAT, UH, IN TERMS OF TOTAL GPCD, UH, AUSTIN, UH, RANKS.
THIRD FOR RESIDENTIAL GPCD, WE RANK FOURTH AT 67.
[00:50:01]
TWO SECOND HIGHEST OR LOWEST IN THAT REGARD.AND, UH, THIRD FOR THE INFRASTRUCTURE LEAKAGE INDEX.
SO, UH, IN MANY RESPECTS WE'RE KIND OF IN THE MIDDLE OR EVEN AT THE, THE BETTER END OF THE SCALE.
DID YOU SAY THAT THIS WAS, DID YOU SAY THAT THIS WAS PER CAPITA PER CONNECTION PER DAY FOR WATER LOSS? THAT'S PER CAPITA.
AND THESE ARE THE AVERAGE OF 2019 THROUGH 2022.
I MEAN, JUST LOSING 18 GALLONS PER PERSON IN AUSTIN PER DAY IN OUR INFRASTRUCTURE IS JUST ASTOUNDING.
I MEAN, WE'RE NOT THE ONLY ONES, BUT YEAH.
SO THAT'S HOW WE COMPARE TO OUR, OUR PURE CITIES.
UM, AND, UH, WE WILL, AS ROBERT MAC, UM, POINTED OUT IN ONE MEETING BEFORE, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES YOU, YOU SHOULD BE CAREFUL COMPARING CITIES 'CAUSE YOU HAVE DIFFERENT POPULATION YEP.
UM, SO THAT CAN CONTRIBUTE TO DIFFERENCES IN PER PERSON WATER USE.
UM, BUT WE'LL, WE'LL LOOK AT POTENTIALLY ADDING THIS TO THE CONSERVATION PLAN AS A, AN EXPLANATION OF, OF DIFFERENCES.
ALRIGHT, THESE NEXT SEVERAL SLIDES REALLY FOCUS ON THE STRATEGIES IN THE 2018 WATER FORWARD PLAN.
THERE WERE SIX STRATEGIES IN THE DEMAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN THE WATER FORWARD 2018 PLAN THAT HAD A YIELD IN 2020.
SO IN THE LAST PLAN, I GUESS IT'S THE CURRENT PLAN REALLY, UM, THERE ARE SIX STRATEGIES THAT WE EXPECT TO START ON DAY ONE IN 2020 AND HAVE YIELDS IN 2020.
IN ORANGE ON THAT PIE CHART IS THE UTILITY SIDE.
WATER LOSS CONTROL, THAT'S ALMOST 40%, NOT QUITE HALF, BUT UH, DEFINITELY A LARGE PART OF THAT PIE.
UH, DIRECT NON-POTABLE REUSE WAS EXPECTED TO CONTRIBUTE OVER A QUARTER TO THIS SAVINGS YIELDS A MI OR MYX WATER.
IT WAS 13% AND THE OTHER FOUR WERE LESS, UH, SMALLER PIECES OF THE PIE.
BUT ALL IN ALL, IN 2020 THE PLAN EXPECTED US TO SAVE 5,300 ACRE FEET OF WATER.
SO A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF WATER EVEN IN IN 2020.
THIS SLIDE AND THE NEXT SLIDE, I'M JUST GOING TO BRIEFLY TOUCH ON THE DIFFERENT STRATEGIES.
WE CAN CERTAINLY TALK MORE ABOUT THE STRATEGIES AND, AND BRING IN THE NUMBERS.
UM, FOR, BUT FOR SIMPLICITY'S SAKE IN THIS PRESENTATION, WE'RE JUST HAVING, HAVING A FEW DISCUSSION POINTS ABOUT THE DIFFERENT STRATEGIES IN THAT 2018 PLAN.
THE FIRST ONE, ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE.
THIS IS REALLY BEING FULFILLED WITH MYX WATER AND WAS ASSUMED TO ACCOUNT FOR 13% OF THE STRATEGY YIELDS.
AS IT POINTS UP THERE, THE, THE YIELDS NOT ACHIEVED IN THE EXPECTED TIMEFRAME, UH, PRIMARILY DUE TO THE DATE OF THE PILOT PROJECT AND OFFICIAL DEPLOYMENT.
WE ARE JUST THIS YEAR FINISHING UP THE INSTALLATION OF ALL OUR, OUR METERS.
SO A LOT OF THAT ANTICIPATED SAVINGS IS JUST BEING PUSHED BACK.
UM, UTILITY SIDE WATER LOSS CONTROL.
I THINK WE CAN ALL AGREE AND WE CERTAINLY AGREE AT AUSTIN, WATER WATER LOSS IS SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO FOCUS ON.
AND IT WAS A BIG PART OF THOSE SAVINGS IN THE 18 PLAN.
THE THIRD BULLET DOWN THERE, COMMERCIAL INSTITUTIONAL INDUSTRIAL ORDINANCES IN THE PLAN.
THIS WAS REALLY FOCUSING ON GETTING A COOLING TOWER ORDINANCE IMPLEMENTED.
IT WAS ADOPTED AND IMPLEMENTED AND WE HAVE, UH, THREE CII ORDINANCES, ONE FOR COOLING TOWER, ONE FOR VEHICLE WASHES AND ONE FOR COMMERCIAL IRRIGATION.
THEY ARE CURRENTLY BEING IMPLEMENTED, UM, AND WE'RE GE GETTING US, UH, SAVING YIELD ABOUT 75% OF WHAT WAS PROJECTED.
SO I THINK THOSE ARE GOING WELL, EVEN IF IT WASN'T A HUNDRED PERCENT OF WHAT WAS PROJECTED.
THE LAST ONE, IRRIGATION EFFICIENCY SAVINGS.
THIS WAS A STRATEGY THAT REALLY FOCUSED ON THE DEPLOYMENT AND THE INCENTIVIZATION OF, UH, SMART IRRIGATION CONTROLLERS.
THAT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN PURSUING, UM, FOR, FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS.
AND WE ARE NOT GOING TO PURSUE THAT INTO THE FUTURE, UM, FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS WE CAN GET INTO THAT.
UM, BUT THAT WAS ACTUALLY VERY SMALL, 1% OF THAT TOTAL YIELD.
[00:55:01]
SLIDE, KEVIN? YES.SO FOR THE WATER LOSS CONTROL, THAT'S A HUGE PART OF, OF, UM, I'M TRYING TO RECONCILE THESE, BUT 44% OF OUR TARGETS OF CHOOSING OUR TARGETS WAS FROM WATER LOSS.
AND IT JUST SAYS SAVINGS YIELD'S NOT ACHIEVED.
UM, I KNOW IT'S A SLIDE AND YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO PULL A LOT OF WORDS ON IT.
UM, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO UNDERSTAND THAT MORE.
AND MAYBE IN ONE OF OUR SUBCOMMITTEE MEETINGS WE COULD DIG INTO THAT BECAUSE THERE'S HUGE AMOUNTS OF RESOURCES OUT THERE AND A BIG FOCUS ON IT.
AND, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT STRATEGIES THAT WE CAN DO IS NOT LOSE THE WATER THAT WE'RE ALREADY SPENDING MANPOWER AND ENERGY AND CHEMICALS TO TREAT, NOT LOSE IT THROUGH OUR INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEM.
AND I KNOW THAT SOME OF THESE INTERVENTIONS ARE PRETTY EXPENSIVE.
AND THEN THE OTHER THING IS, IS USE OF WATER THAT WE ALREADY HAVE AS EFFICIENTLY AS POSSIBLE.
AND IF WE REALLY ARE GOING TO LIKE, KIND OF LIVE WITHIN THE AVAILABLE WATER FOOTPRINT THAT WE HAVE IN OUR COMMUNITY, LIKE WE'VE GOTTA GET A HANDLE ON THOSE.
UM, AND THERE'S LOTS OF REASONS THAT THE YIELDS COULD NOT BE ACHIEVED OR, UM, BUT I, I REMEMBER, AND THIS WAS YEARS AGO AND UM, WE'VE BEEN TOGETHER A LONG TIME, BUT UH, WHERE WE TALKED ABOUT WATER LOSS AND THE PROGRAMS AND REALLY LAID IT OUT, THERESA TALKED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WE'VE DONE AN ASSESSMENT OF ALL OF OUR PIPES IN THE CITY AND WE'RE GETTING TO THESE ONES THAT WE KNOW THAT ARE THE PIPE CARE.
YOU KNOW, WE KNOW THE PIPE MATERIAL ACROSS THE CITY OF ALL OF OUR INFRASTRUCTURE AND WE KNOW THAT THESE ONES BREAK IF THE MORE REGULARITY IN THE GEOGRAPHY HERE.
AND THIS IS OUR PLAN AND WE'RE GONNA REPLACE NINE MILES OF PIPE PER YEAR AND WE'RE GONNA, I'M MAKING NUMBERS UP AND WE'RE GOING TO, UM, INVEST THIS MUCH YEAR OVER YEAR.
BUT I DO THINK, LIKE I HAVEN'T HEARD LIKE KINDA LIKE A COMPREHENSIVE KIND OF LIKE, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO ON THAT LATELY.
'CAUSE I DO THINK, 'CAUSE IT IS SUCH A REALLY, REALLY BIG PIECE OF THIS AND NOT JUST 'CAUSE I'M PERSONALLY OBSESSED WITH WATER LOSS, BUT UM, THAT, THAT, THAT WOULD BE REALLY GOOD FOR US TO LEARN ABOUT.
AND I GUESS MY OTHER COMMENT TOO, WITH THESE THINGS THAT, THAT KIND OF, THAT WE KNOW THAT WE'RE LEARNING DON'T WORK, LIKE GO BACK AND WE, WE UNDERSTAND WHY THEY DON'T WORK AND HOW WE CAN MAKE THEM BETTER.
AND IF WE NEED TO BE LIKE, ALL RIGHT NEXT OR IF THERE'S SOMETHING THAT WE COULD HAVE DONE OR THAT WE CAN'T DO IN THE FUTURE TO MAKE 'EM WORK.
YEAH, I MEAN I I HESITATE TO TELL Y'ALL HOW TO DO YOUR JOBS.
UM, BUT WE, UH, I'LL COMMENT BRIEFLY ON WATER LOSS, UM, AND ALL OF THOSE THINGS THAT YOU MENTIONED.
THE, THE STRATEGIES THAT WE'RE EMPLOYING ON WATER LOSS, WE ARE, WE ARE DOING ALL THE BEST PRACTICES ON WATER LOSS AND NOT SEEING THE RESULTS THAT WE WANT AND THAT WE NEED AS A COMMUNITY.
SO, UM, WE RECENTLY FINISHED, UH, A, A REVIEW OF OUR WATER LOSS PROGRAM.
UM, THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE UNDER REVIEW NOW.
AND SO WE WILL BE COMING TO WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION AND WE CAN COME HERE TOO WITH A, UM, PRESENTATION ON THAT.
BUT WE'RE STANDING UP A, A CROSSED, I MEAN WE ALREADY HAVE PEOPLE ACROSS OUR ORGANIZATION WHOSE DAY-TO-DAY JOB IS ASSOCIATED WITH REDUCING WATER LOSS.
BUT WE ARE RECOGNIZING THAT WE'VE GOT TO EMPLOY SOME ADDITIONAL STRATEGIES TO REALLY MAKE SURE ALL THOSE PIECES ARE WORKING TOGETHER, UM, TO TO, TO TACKLE THIS.
I MEAN THIS ABSOLUTELY HAS TO BE DONE.
THIS IS A BLACK AND VEATCH THAT'S RIGHT.
INVESTIGATION OR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR OKAY.
AND CAN I JUST MENTION THAT, I MEAN, VERY BRIEFLY, YOU'RE RIGHT.
AND THAT WATER LOSS WAS SAVINGS FROM WATER LOSS CONTROL WAS A HUGE PART OF HOW WE WERE PLANNING TO ACHIEVE THESE TARGETS.
IT WAS ABOUT HALF OF THE SAVINGS WE WERE HOPING TO ACHIEVE.
WE DIDN'T GET THAT HALF AND PLUS WATER LOSS INCREASED.
WELL, AND I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO BE REALISTIC ABOUT, YOU KNOW, TO MAKE PLANS AND IF YOU DON'T ACHIEVE 'EM, WE HAVE TO BE REALISTIC 'CAUSE WE MIGHT NEED TO SWITCH.
LIKE THIS IS AN ADAPTIVE PLAN LIKE WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THE WHOLE TIME AND WE MAY NOT LIKE THE RESULTS THAT WE'RE SEEING, BUT I THINK LIKE THIS EXERCISE OF US SPENDING TIME KIND OF TRYING TO DIG INTO AND UNDERSTAND, OKAY, WE DON'T LIKE THE NUMBERS, BUT LIKE WHY AND IF WE CAN KIND OF ALL UNDERSTAND IT AND THEN MOVE FORWARD I THINK IS GOOD.
I MEAN, I KNOW WE ALL, EVERYBODY WANTS TO MOVE FORWARD.
I KNOW THAT I, I FEEL REALLY BAD THAT I'M COMPLAINING AT Y'ALL, BUT UM, 'CAUSE I KNOW THAT YOU'RE WORKING HARD ON THESE THINGS, SO, UM, BUT I THINK, YOU KNOW, YOU MAKE THE BEST PLANS YOU CAN AND IF THEY DON'T WORK YOU ADJUST.
UM, BUT, BUT THE CORE, YOU KNOW, WE SAY THAT OUR CORE SUPPLIES TO COLORADO RIVER AND IT IS, BUT OUR, OUR OTHER CORE SUPPLY IS, YOU KNOW, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE OPERATING WELL AND EFFICIENTLY.
UM, I WAS JUST GONNA ADD, I THINK
[01:00:01]
THAT BECAUSE THIS WAS SUCH AN IMPORTANT PART THAT I THINK INSTEAD OF HAVING IT IN THE WORKING GROUPS, HAVING IT WHERE THE YEAH.OTHER STAKEHOLDERS WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN THIS INFORMATION HAVE ACCESS TO IT.
ALRIGHT, UH, NEXT SLIDE AND WE'LL, WELL, WE ACTUALLY HAVE ONE MORE SLIDE ON WATER LOSS.
UM, FURTHER INTO THE PRESENTATION.
UH, THE OTHER TWO OF THE SIX, UM, STRATEGIES, AIR CONDITIONING, CONDENSATE REUSE, THIS REALLY MESHES IN WITH THE, UH, GO PURPLE TO ONSITE WATER REUSE AND THE GO PURPLE.
UM, WE HAD A NUMBER OF YEARS OF, OF VOLUNTARY REBATES FOR ONSITE WATER REUSE, WHICH REALLY DIDN'T, UH, PRODUCE A LOT OF YIELDS, UH, OR PROJECTS.
UM, AND THEN WE JUST HAD THE MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS THAT TOOK EFFECT BACK IN 2024.
TRACK NON-POTABLE REUSE, UH, RECLAIMED SYSTEMS DID NOT INCREASE AS MUCH AS PROJECTED.
UM, AND THEN AGAIN, THE SPRING WITH GO PURPLE WE HAD EXPANDED MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS.
SO FOR MANY OF THOSE SIX STRATEGIES, IT REALLY KIND OF CAME DOWN TO THE STRATEGIES NOT DEVELOPING OR RIPENING AS QUICKLY AS WE ARE ANTICIPATING IN THE PLAN.
BUT WE ALSO DO HAVE A NUMBER OF OTHER STRATEGIES THAT DIDN'T HAVE 2020 YIELDS, UM, BUT ARE STARTING TO BE IMPLEMENTED.
THE WATER USE, BENCHMARKING AND BUDGETING.
UM, NOW FOR NEW DEVELOPMENTS HAVE TO FILL OUT THE WATER USE SURVEY, UM, WHICH IDENTIFIES POTENTIAL AREAS FOR CONSERVATION OR REUSE.
AND AS I'VE MENTIONED, UH, PRESENTED TO YOU BEFORE, LANDSCAPE TRANSFORMATION IS GONNA KICK OFF IN 2025.
OKAY, SO THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE NUMBER OF THE STRATEGIES FROM THE 2018 WATER FORWARD PLAN.
AND THE NEXT PART IS HERE, WHERE DO WE GO FOR FROM HERE? UM, FIRST POINT AUSTIN HAS DEVELOPED UPDATED BASELINE DEMAND PROJECTIONS.
UH, THE SECOND POINT THERE AND WE'LL GO FURTHER INTO THESE IN THE NEXT SEVERAL SLIDES.
UM, THE PLUMBER, THE CONSULTANTS IN AUSTIN WATER HAVE EVALUATED POTENTIAL SAVINGS, UH, FROM WATER FORWARD 24 WORK AND TASK FORCE SUGGESTED CONSERVATION AND REUSE SAVINGS AS WELL AS ADDITIONAL SAVINGS THAT STAFF HAVE DISCUSSED, UM, OVER THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS.
AND THEN WE'LL DISCUSS RESULTING DECREASED DEMANDS, UM, ARE THE BASIS FOR RECOMMENDED REVISIONS OF THE GPCV GOALS.
ALRIGHT, UPDATED PROJECTED BASELINE DEMANDS.
AS I MENTIONED ON THE LAST SLIDE.
THE FIRST NEXT STEP IS THE UPDATING OF PROJECTED WATER DEMANDS BASED ON THE YEARS 2015 AND 2020.
WHILE PREVIOUSLY WE USED 2013 TO 2015, NOW WE'RE USING THE MORE RECENT 2015 TO 2020 PLANS.
ON THE CHART TO THE LEFT, YOU SEE VERTICAL BARS, UM, WITH STACKINGS OF, OF CUSTOMER USES.
ON THE VERY BOTTOM YOU SEE A VERY SMALL SLIVER BLUE, THAT'S THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UH, ORANGE YOU SEE COMMERCIAL USAGE, DEMAND PROJECTIONS RATHER ORANGE.
YOU SEE MULTIFAMILY DEMAND PROJECTIONS, LIGHT BLUE, SINGLE FAMILY.
AND THEN AT THE TOP YOU HAVE GREEN FOR WHOLESALE.
SO THOSE ARE UPDATED DEMAND PROJECTIONS.
THAT PURPLE LINE SHOWS THE 2018 PROJECTED DEMANDS IN THE NEAR TERM.
ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE THERE, YOU SEE OUR DEMANDS ARE A LITTLE LESS THAN WHAT IS IN THE 2018 PLAN.
IN THE THE MIDDLE, YOU HAVE A LITTLE HIGHER AND THEN CERTAINLY LESS GOING OUT INTO 2021.
AND ONE THING TO NOTE WITH THESE BASELINE DEMANDS THAT YOU'LL SEE MORE OF GOING FORWARD, THE UPDATED POPULATION PROJECTIONS ARE LOWER, UM, BASED ON CENSUS DATA.
UH, SO WHILE THE DEMANDS MAY BE A BIT LOWER IN THAT SHORT TERM, THE GPCD IS A BIT HIGHER IN THE MODEL DUE TO THE POPULATION, UH, UPDATES.
HEY KEVIN, JUST REAL QUICK FOR CONSISTENCY, WHERE DID THE LARGE VOLUME USERS GET LUMPED INTO HERE? IF THEY ARE LUMPED IN? I BELIEVE IT'S IN COMMERCIAL, WOULD THAT BE CORRECT? OKAY, GOOD QUESTION.
WHAT SAVINGS CAN WE ACHIEVE FROM CONSERVATION AND REUSE STRATEGIES? SO WHILE AUSTIN STAFF, FOR INSTANCE, PARTICULARLY MY STAFF IN THE WATER CONSERVATION DIVISION, WE WORK WITH SPECIFIC PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS.
[01:05:01]
HAVE TO BE BUNDLED UP, UM, TOGETHER TO FIT INTO THE WATER FORWARD FRAMEWORK.AND THIS SLIDE SHOWS THE BUNDLING OF THESE DIFFERENT DEMAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES.
UH, YOU SEE THOSE ILLUSTRATED THERE ON THE LEFT WITH VERTICAL BARS OF THE YIELDS, UH, IN YEARS, WELL, DECADES RATHER, 20 30, 20 40, 20 50, AND SO FORTH OUT TO 2080 FROM THE DIFFERENT DEMAND MANAGEMENT.
AND THESE ARE THE, UM, PARTICULARLY IN 2030, THE, THE MAXIMUM YIELDS THAT STAFF BELIEVE THAT WE CAN ACHIEVE.
UM, IN 2030 NOW TO 2040 AND THEY ARE GONNA BE INCLUDED IN ALL THE PORTFOLIOS THAT YOU'RE GONNA HEAR OF NEXT.
PRELIMINARY WATER LOSS RECOMMENDATIONS.
THIS, UH, TOUCHES ON, AND I WON'T GO REALLY INTO IT.
UM, BUT THIS TOUCHES ON THAT BLACK AND BEACH REPORT THAT WAS MENTIONED EARLIER.
THESE ARE SOME OF THE INITIAL, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS COMING OUT OF THE BLACK AND BEACH, UM, REPORT AS, AS, AS SHAY MENTIONED, AND SOME OF THE THINGS WE'RE GONNA BE LOOKING AT WORKING ON.
CAN I ASK YOU A QUESTION REAL QUICK? YES.
I'M DOING THREE THINGS AT ONCE.
UM, THE, UH, WHAT SAVINGS CAN WE ACHIEVE? THIS IS WATERFORD 24, CONSERVATION AND REUSE SAVINGS.
I DON'T HAVE ALL THE WATERFORD 18 SAVINGS RECOMMENDED.
HOW DOES THIS COMPARE? HAVE WE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED OUR CONSERVATION AND REUSE SAVINGS FROM WATER FOUR 18? UH, THEY HAVE REDUCED, UM, FROM THE WATER FOUR 18 SAVINGS.
UH, IF I, I DON'T HAVE THE NUMBERS RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, BUT IF YOU GIMME A SECOND, I COULD PROBABLY LATER IN THE PRESENTATION, I THINK WE'RE GONNA LOOK AT THOSE.
WE HAVE THE WATER 40 18, UH, IN THE PORTFOLIO STRATEGIES PRESENTATION, WE HAVE THE, THE YIELDS FROM THEM ON, UH, SLIDE.
50 AND THE DETAILED BACKUP TOWARDS THE END OF THE, OKAY.
GOLD STAR FOR GOLD PACK READING ALL THE PACK MATERIAL.
SO THAT'S THE BLACK AND VEATCH INFORMATION.
AND AGAIN, WE, WE CAN COME BACK AND TALK MORE ABOUT THAT.
WHAT MORE CAN WE DO? THE ITEMS ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THIS SLIDE, CURRENT AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES, THESE WERE THE ACTIVITIES BACK IN JANUARY THAT WE WERE CONSIDERING AND ESTIMATED SAVINGS FROM WHEN WE PRODUCED THE PLAN THAT YOU EVENTUALLY SAW AND THE DIFFERENT GOALS IN 2024 AND 20, I'M SORRY, 2029 AND 2034 ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE.
THESE ARE ACTIVITIES THAT HAVE DEVELOPED OR RIPENED SINCE THAT JANUARY TIME WHEN WE WERE, UH, CONSIDERING WHAT WE COULD DO.
THERE HAVE BEEN A LOT OF THINGS HAPPENING IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS.
UM, FIRST OF ALL, YOU, YOU HAVE, UH, THE, UH, BLACK AND BEACH REPORT COMING OUT.
WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING MORE ON WATER USE BENCHMARKING, UM, INCREASING COMMERCIAL ENGAGEMENT WITH MYX WATER.
AND THE TOP BULLET UP THERE, I WANTED TO MENTION, ONE OF THE THINGS WE ARE PROPOSING IS TO RESTRICT, UH, DRIP IRRIGATION AS AUTOMATIC IRRIGATION.
UM, NOT JUST IN STAGE FOUR WHERE LCRA IS REQUIRING THAT, UM, THE RESTRICTION OF DRIP, BUT THROUGHOUT THE DIFFERENT STAGES AS A WATER SAVINGS MEASURE.
AND THEN ON THAT LAST BULLET, THAT LAST DROP RATHER, UM, I, I JUMPED OVER, UH, WE ARE GOING THROUGH A RATE INCREASE AND IT'S PRETTY WELL DOCUMENTED THAT INCREASED RATES REDUCE WATER USE TO A CERTAIN DEGREE.
SO LOOKING AT ALL THOSE ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES, UH, THAT REALLY HAVE DEVELOPED A RIPEN SINCE JANUARY, WE DO FEEL, UH, THAT THERE WILL BE INCREASED OR REDUCED REDUCTION IN DEMANDS AND WE CAN, UM, GO BACK AND REVISE THE GOALS.
UM, KEVIN, IS IT SAFE TO SAY THAT WE HAVEN'T REALLY STARTED TO UTILIZE THE DATA FROM A MI YET? 'CAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF, I MEAN, WE WERE BOTH JUST IN CHICAGO AT THE ALLIANCE WATER EFFICIENCY CONSERVATION SYMPOSIUM.
THERE'S A LOT OF TALK ABOUT A MI AND THINGS THAT FOLKS ARE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH WITH THAT, INCLUDING, YOU KNOW, THAT THEY'RE FINDING THAT LEAK ALERTS ARE EFFECTIVE, BUT ACTUALLY COMMUNICATING WITH PEOPLE ABOUT VIOLATING THE WATERING RESTRICTIONS AND LETTING THEM KNOW THAT WAS MORE EFFECTIVE FOR SAVINGS.
UM, AND DIFFERENT THINGS LIKE THAT.
LIKE, I DON'T SEE THAT WE ARE, I DON'T
[01:10:01]
HAVE A METER YET, BUT, BUT I'M NOT SEEING, OR MY UNDERSTANDING IS, IS THAT WE ARE NOT UTILIZING THAT DATA YET.AND THEY, I KNOW Y'ALL SAID IN A PREVIOUS MEETING DOING SOME LIKE CALIBRATING AND STUFF LIKE THAT, BUT, BUT WE NEED TO START USING THAT DATA AND START COMMUNICATING WITH CUSTOMERS AND START SAVING WATER.
NOW, ARE THERE PLANS? SO WE'RE DOING A, WE ARE USING THE DATA NOW AND WE ARE COMMUNICATING WITH CUSTOMERS ABOUT, UM, X ABOUT WATER USE THAT EXCEEDS THEIR, LIKE I GET AN ALERT, UM, WHEN MY KID COMES HOME AND WASHES HIS LAUNDRY THAT I'VE USED MORE WATER THAT DAY THAN I DID THE DAY BEFORE.
SO WE HAVE THOSE KINDS OF ALERTS ARE SET UP.
UM, BUT, UH, WE ARE ALSO, AS YOU SAID, YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR METER YET.
WE ARE STILL FINISHING THE METER ROLLOUT.
UH, THAT SHOULD BE COMPLETE BY THE END OF THE CALENDAR YEAR.
AND THEN THAT'S GONNA GIVE US, UH, UH, THE ABILITY TO, UM, REALLY BEGIN TO USE THAT DATA FOR ALL OF OUR CUSTOMERS.
UM, AND I THINK THE WATER BENCHMARKING ON THE COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL SIDE WILL HELP AS WELL AS WE AS THOSE, AS NEW DEVELOPMENTS COME IN AND THEY DO WATER BENCHMARKING WITH US, THAT'S GONNA GIVE US THE ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE WITH THEM ABOUT WHEN THEIR WATER USE SUCCEEDS THEIR PLAN ALSO.
SO THERE'S LOTS OF OPPORTUNITIES IN, IN THE NEAR TERM TO REALLY, UM, UH, RAMP UP OUR COMMUNICATION WITH OUR CUSTOMERS ABOUT THEIR WATER USE.
SO ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE, THOSE ARE THINGS WE THINK WE CAN DO MORE OF AND WE'LL CONTRIBUTE TO GREATER SAVINGS AND, AND LOWER GOALS.
THIS NEXT SLIDE, THIS SLIDE AND THE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, UH, REALLY FOCUSED ON, UH, 11 OF THE, I THINK SEVEN OVER 70 COMMENTS THAT THE TASK FORCE PROVIDED US.
THERE WERE A LOT OF COMMENTS, A LOT OF GOOD COMMENTS.
UM, WE TOOK THOSE 74, COMPILED THEM TO DO KIND OF COMBINED COMMENTS WHEN THEIR, UH, SIMILARITIES.
AND FOR 11 WE LOOKED AT THE, UH, SAVINGS AND, AND COST OF THOSE IDEAS AND SUGGESTIONS.
I BELIEVE YOU HAVE THAT INFORMATION IN ANOTHER DOCUMENT.
UM, UH, IN THE INTEREST OF TIME, I WOULD SUGGEST THAT WE JUST, UM, MOVE THROUGH THESE TWO SLIDES BECAUSE THERE'S A LOT WE COULD TALK ABOUT HERE.
AND WHILE WE'RE HAPPY TO TALK ABOUT IT, I WANT TO GIVE THERESA AT LISA A SLIVER OF TIME.
AND AT THE NEXT, UH, TASK FORCE MEETING THAT WE'RE PLANNING ON AUGUST 29TH, I BELIEVE IT IS, WE ARE NOT PLANNING TO PRESENT NEW CONTENT.
WE WANTED TO HOLD THAT MEETING AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE FURTHER DISCUSSION OF THE CONTENT THAT WAS PRESENTED IN TODAY'S MEETING.
SO TO BUILD OFF, AS I JUST DISCUSSED, THE ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES AND ADDITIONAL SAVINGS WE THINK WE CAN ACHIEVE, WE ARE PROPOSING TO REVISE THE TOTAL GPCD GOALS, UH, DOWN BY, BY TWO GALLONS PER CAPITA DAILY.
AND, AND WHILE TWO MAY NOT SOUND LIKE A LOT, IT'S JUST TWO, UH, MOVING FROM 1 23 TO 1 21 IN 2029, THAT WILL REQUIRE SAVING ABOUT 700 MILLION GALLONS MORE A YEAR.
SO IT'S NOT JUST TWO, IT'S 700 MILLION GALLONS OF ADDITIONAL SAVINGS.
AND TO PUT THAT INTO CONTEXT, 700 MILLION GALLONS IS ABOUT TWICE ALL THE QUANTIFIABLE SAVINGS THAT MY CONSERVATION DIVISION WAS ABLE TO SAVE LAST YEAR.
AND 700 MILLION GALLONS IS ALMOST AS MUCH AS THE WHOLE CITY OF AUSTIN USED LAST YEAR.
ALSO, THEY USED ABOUT 800, JUST OVER 800 MILLION GALLONS.
SO, UM, WE, WE THINK WE CAN ACHIEVE THESE, UH, NEW GOALS AND WE, WE THINK THEY'RE, THERE CAN BE SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS THERE.
AND SO THOSE WERE GPCD, SO WE'RE GONNA PULL OUT A LITTLE BIT.
HOW DO POTABLE DEMANDS REDUCE CONSERVATION AND REUSE SAVINGS? THIS CHART SHOWS THE 2040 SECTOR DEMANDS AFTER CONSERVATION AND SAVINGS.
UM, SO THE DARK BLUE IN THE BARS, YOU SEE THE DARK BLUE AND THE LIGHT BLUE.
THOSE ARE THE INDOOR DEMANDS AND THE OUTDOOR DEMANDS FOR SINGLE FAMILY ON THE LEFT.
AND THEN MULTIFAMILY COMMERCIAL.
AND THEN CITY OF AUSTIN, AT THE TOP OF THE BARS, YOU SEE HATCH HATCHED, UM, HATCHED, UH, PARTS.
UH, ON THE RED PART, UH, THE RED IS OUTDOOR SAVINGS AND THE YELLOW IS INDOOR SAVINGS.
SO FOR SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL IN THE 2040, YOU
[01:15:01]
SEE THAT IT'S MOSTLY OUTDOOR SAVINGS.MULTIFAMILY IS ABOUT HALF AND HALF OUTDOOR INDOOR.
AND IN COMMERCIAL MOST OF IT WILL COME FROM INDOOR SAVINGS.
REALLY TAKING THAT RECLAIMED WATER INTO THE BUILDINGS TO BE USED FOR NON-POTABLE UH, USES.
SO OVER THE LAST HOUR OR SO, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT HOW WE HAVE BEEN USING WATER.
WE'VE TALKED ABOUT HOW WE PLAN TO BE SAVING WATER GOING INTO THE FUTURE.
UM, BUT EVEN AS IMPORTANT THAT IS LOOKING BACK AND LOOKING FORWARD, IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT TO KEEPING OUR EYES ON THE IMPLEMENTATION IN THE NEAR TERM.
UM, I THINK BILL HAD MENTIONED AT, AT ONE POINT EARLY ON THAT, UM, WE ONLY SEE THESE PLANS ONCE EVERY FIVE YEARS AND HE THOUGHT WE SHOULD REALLY SEE THIS INFORMATION MORE THAN ONCE EVERY FIVE YEARS.
AND THESE ARE SEVERAL IDEAS THAT US WATER IS LOOKING AT QUARTERLY REPORTS QUARTERLY WE SEND A WATER CONSERVATION REPORT TO THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION, AND THAT COULD BE DELIVERED TO TASK FORCE OR OTHERS, UH, IN AN ANNUAL REPORT.
MAY ALSO BE SOMETHING WE WANT TO PURSUE.
AN EXAMPLE, FORT COLLINS, COLORADO.
THEY HAVE RECENTLY STARTED PRODUCING A THREE PAGE, JUST A THREE PAGE CON ANNUAL REPORT.
NOT A LOT OF TEXTS, BUT A LOT OF INFOGRAPHICS AND CHARTS TO PROVIDE THAT INFORMATION.
NEXT STEPS TODAY, RECEIVE FEEDBACK, ANSWER QUESTIONS.
UM, THEN AS MENTIONED BEFORE, WE HAVE ANOTHER MEETING ON THE 29TH, FURTHER DISCUSSION OF THE PLAN AND DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN.
SO WE'RE NOT DONE DISCUSSING THIS.
UM, BUT BY THE 10TH WE'LL HAVE ANOTHER MEETING, UM, WHICH WILL PRESENT THE REVISED PLANS AND YOU'LL RECEIVE THOSE, I BELIEVE IT'S THE THIRD IS WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT A MONTH, A WEEK OUT, A WEEK BEFORE, A WEEK BEFORE.
UM, AND HOPEFULLY GET YOUR BUY OFF ON THE 10TH.
UH, GET YOUR SUPPORT TO MOVE THOSE PLANS FORWARD.
AND WITH THAT, THE NEXT SLIDE IS QUESTIONS.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS BEFORE SHIFTING TO MAR'S PRESENTATION ON THE PORTFOLIO.
UM, COULD WE WAIT TILL THE 29TH OR DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANYTHING? ALRIGHT,
[3. Presentation of Water Forward 2024 Preliminary Portfolio Evaluation Results]
MARISA, SOUNDS GOOD.AND LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE ON DECK.
AND I WILL JUST MENTION, SO SIMILAR TO THE COMMENT THAT SARAH FELS MADE, IT IS HELPFUL IF YOU DO HAVE QUESTIONS AFTER THIS MEETING, UH, IT WOULD BE SUPER HELPFUL IF Y'ALL COULD WANTED TO SEND THOSE TO US IN WRITING SO THAT WE COULD BE PREPARED TO ANSWER THOSE AT THE AUGUST 29TH MEETING.
UM, OKAY, SO NOW WE'VE GOT A FEW MINUTES HERE, ABOUT HALF AN HOUR TO TALK ABOUT OUR PRELIMINARY PORTFOLIO EVALUATION RESULTS FOR THE WATERFORD 2024 PLAN.
AND LIKE I MENTIONED BEFORE, WE WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO FURTHER DISCUSS THESE RESULTS AND ANSWER QUESTIONS AT THE NEXT MEETING.
AS A PART OF THIS PRESENTATION, AND IN RESPONSE TO SOME COMMENTS THAT WE HAD HEARD FROM THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS, WE WANTED TO WALK THROUGH THE PROCESS THAT WE HAVE GONE THROUGH TO GET TO THIS POINT.
THEN WE WANTED TO SHARE THE PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM OUR PORTFOLIO EVALUATION AND THEN TALK ABOUT NEXT STEPS.
SO I KNOW Y'ALL ARE PRETTY FAMILIAR WITH THIS ON THE TASK FORCE, BUT THIS IS MORE FOR CONTEXT FOR OTHER FOLKS WHO MAY BE TUNING INTO THIS PRESENTATION.
AUSTIN WATER GETS ITS WATER SUPPLY FROM THE COLORADO RIVER AND HIGHLAND LAKES.
WE HAVE A COMBINATION OF STATE GRANTED WATER RIGHTS, AS WELL AS A LONG-TERM CONTRACT WITH THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY TO GET ACCESS TO STORED WATER.
AND THE COMBINATION OF BOTH OF THOSE SOURCES OF SUPPLY GIVE US ACCESS TO UP TO 325,000 ACRE FEET PER YEAR.
THIS, UM, SLIDE IS AT A HIGH LEVEL OUTLINING THE FOUR GENERAL STEPS THAT WE'VE TAKEN TO UPDATE THE WATER FORWARD PLAN.
THIS IS A SIMPLIFICATION, OF COURSE, THERE'S A LOT WITHIN HERE.
AND WE'LL WALK THROUGH KIND OF EACH OF THE TASKS THAT HAVE BEEN BUNDLED UP INTO EACH OF THESE STEPS.
SO AT THE BEGINNING, WE DEFINED OUR VALUES AND DEFINED FUTURE WATER SUPPLY NEEDS,
[01:20:01]
AND THEN WE IDENTIFIED AND CHARACTERIZED POTENTIAL STRATEGIES.AND BY CHARACTERIZE I MEAN THAT WE DEVELOPED INFORMATION ABOUT THE STRATEGIES, LIKE HOW MUCH THEY WOULD COST, AND HOW MUCH EITHER SAVINGS OR ADDITIONAL SUPPLY THEY WOULD YIELD.
THEN WE DEVELOPED AND EVALUATED PORTFOLIOS OF STRATEGIES.
UH, WE DEVELOPED THOSE PORTFOLIOS TO INCLUDE A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT STRATEGIES AND VARIOUS COMBINATIONS SO THAT WE COULD TEST THOSE AGAINST DIFFERENT SCENARIOS OF FUTURE CONDITIONS AND ALSO EVALUATE THOSE AGAINST OUR MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION MAKING FRAMEWORK.
AND NOW WE'RE AT THE POINT IN THE PROCESS WE, WHERE WE ARE SELECTING THE BEST PORTFOLIO AS WELL AS IMPLEMENTATION APPROACH FOR THAT PORTFOLIO.
TOWARDS THE BEGINNING OF THIS PROCESS, WE UPDATED THE MISSION STATEMENT OF THE WATER FORWARD PLAN.
THE PREVIOUS, UH, UH, STATEMENT OF PURPOSE FROM THE WATER FORWARD PLAN IS INCLUDED WITHIN THE DETAILED BACKUP.
SO THE, THERE'S A PRESENTATION SLIDES THAT WERE PROVIDED WITHIN THE MATERIALS, AND THEN ABOUT HALFWAY DOWN, UH, THIS PRESENTATION, THERE'S SOME DETAILED BACKUP THAT INCLUDES KEY INFORMATION FROM, UH, EITHER WATER 40 18 KEY INFORMATION FROM THE WATER 4 20 24 PLAN, AS WELL AS LINKS TO PREVIOUS PRESENTATION MATERIALS AND THE DATES OF WHEN THESE, UH, PREVIOUS ITEMS WERE DISCUSSED IN, UH, OUR TASK FORCE MEETINGS.
HOPEFULLY THAT WAS HELPFUL OR WILL BE HELPFUL AS FOLKS ARE TRYING TO, UH, WALK THROUGH THIS CONTENT.
IN UPDATING OUR MISSION STATEMENT, WE, UH, REINFORCED HOW IMPORTANT IT IS AS A PART OF THIS PROCESS TO IMPLEMENT DIVERSE AND ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES TO ADAPT TO GROWTH, DROUGHT AND CLIMATE CHANGE FOR THE NEXT 100 YEARS.
WE ALSO UPDATED THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR WATER FORWARD 2024 ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SCREEN.
AS SHOWN THE WATER 4 20 18 GUIDING PRINCIPLES.
THEY'RE, UM, PUT INTO DIFFERENT COLORS TO SHOW GENERALLY HOW THEY RELATE TO THE WATER.
SEE WHAT WE DID THERE IS REALLY GOOD.
UM, TRYING TO SHOW HOW THERE'S SOME CARRYOVER BETWEEN, UH, THE DIFFERENT SETS OF GUIDING PRINCIPLES.
UM, WE ALSO SOUGHT TO BETTER ALIGN THE WATER FORWARD TWIN 24 GUIDING PRINCIPLES WITH THE OBJECTIVES AND ULTIMATELY PERFORMANCE MEASURES THAT WE, UH, USED TO EVALUATE THE PORTFOLIOS.
SO THIS IS A SUMMARY OF THE UPDATED OBJECTIVES THAT, UH, WE HAVE USED TO EVALUATE THE PORTFOLIOS.
ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SLIDE ARE THE WATER FORWARD 18 OBJECTIVES.
ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE SLIDE ARE WATER FORWARD 2024 OBJECTIVES, UH, GROUPED INTO SIMILAR CATEGORIES AS THE WATER FORWARD 2018 OBJECTIVES.
SO WE HAVE WATER SUPPLY BENEFITS, ECONOMIC BENEFITS, EQUITY BENEFITS, WHICH IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT FROM HOW WE CHARACTERIZE THAT, UH, IN WATER 4 20 18.
EQUITY BENEFITS IS, UH, WE'RE PROPOSING AN OBJECTIVE WEIGHT OF 8% AS OPPOSED TO, UH, 4% THAT WAS INCLUDED IN WATERFORD 2018.
UH, CONTINUING DOWN THE LIST, UH, FOR 2024, WE HAVE ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS AND THEN IMPLEMENTATION BENEFITS.
AND BY IMPLEMENTATION BENEFITS, WE REALLY MEAN LIKE HOW EASY OR HARD, UM, IT MAY BE TO IMPLEMENT THE STRATEGIES AND WHAT KIND OF BENEFIT THOSE STRATEGIES HAVE FOR OUR WATER DISTRIBUTION, WASTEWATER COLLECTION SYSTEM RESILIENCY, UM, AND OVERALL SUPPLY RESILIENCY WITH BEING A, A LOCAL RESOURCE THAT WE WOULD HAVE LOCAL CONTROL OVER.
WE ALSO DEVELOPED AN EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY ROADMAP WORKING WITH A, A GROUP OF, UH, COMMUNITY, UH, UH, UH, AMBASSADORS.
AND THESE AMBASSADORS HELPED US TO IDENTIFY KEY THEMES THAT WE NEEDED TO, UM, ADDRESS AS PART OF OUR EVALUATION OF STRATEGIES AND PORTFOLIOS.
AND THOSE INCLUDED, UH, HAVING A RELIABLE WATER SUPPLY, PROTECTING PUBLIC HEALTH, MAINTAINING ACCOUNTABILITY ON THE PART OF THE UTILITY TO THE COMMUNITY AND MAINTAINING AFFORDABILITY.
[01:25:01]
AND THESE, UH, FOUR THEMES WERE ASSOCIATED WITH, UH, GUIDING QUESTIONS THAT, UM, WE DEVELOPED TO, UM, UH, EVALUATE EACH OF OUR STRATEGIES FROM AN EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY PERSPECTIVE.THE FULL EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY FRAMEWORK IS ALSO INCLUDED WITHIN THE DETAILED BACKUP.
AND, UM, WE HAVE INCLUDED ALSO IN THE PACKET THE, UH, PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF STAFF'S EVALUATION OF EACH OF THE INDIVIDUAL STRATEGIES, UM, USING THAT FRAMEWORK AND ANSWERING THOSE QUESTIONS.
UH, WE ALSO DEFINED THE MODELING SCENARIOS THAT WE WOULD USE TO, UH, EVALUATE THE STRATEGIES PERFORMANCE IN TERMS OF WATER SUPPLY RELIABILITY.
OUR MODELING SCENARIOS INCLUDED A RANGE OF POSSIBLE FUTURE WATER DEMANDS.
THERE ARE THREE, UH, SCENARIOS OF DEMAND, A LOW, A MEDIUM, AND A HIGH.
WE ALSO INCLUDED SEVERAL DIFFERENT POSSIBLE CLIMATE FUTURES.
UH, THOSE CLIMATE FUTURES, UH, INCLUDED A, UM, LOW SEVERITY CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIO, A MIDDLE OF THE ROAD SCENARIO, AND THEN A HIGH SEVERITY CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIO.
WE, UH, USE DROUGHTS WORSE THAN THE DROUGHT OF RECORD AS WELL, THAT WERE SIMULATED DROUGHTS TO TEST OUR WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES AGAINST.
AND THEN WE EVALUATED THREE DIFFERENT SCENARIOS OF FUTURE REGIONAL SUPPLY.
THAT MEANS HOW MUCH ADDITIONAL SUPPLY THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY MAY DEVELOP IN THE FUTURE, WHICH COULD PROVIDE A WATER RELIABILITY BENEFIT TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN, AS WELL AS OTHER USERS IN THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER, UH, BASIN.
REALLY QUICK INTERRUPTION HERE.
TELL ME IF YOU'RE GONNA ADDRESS THIS LATER, BUT IF I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THE EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY ROADMAP AND THE RESULTS THAT WE HAVE IN THE PACKET, ARE WE GONNA, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WE'RE GONNA GET TO TODAY? I THINK WE PROBABLY WON'T HAVE TIME TODAY, BUT I THINK THAT WE WILL HAVE, SINCE NEXT MEETING IS DISCUSSION AND QUESTIONS.
NEXT MEETING MIGHT BE THE PLACE TO DIVE INTO THAT ON THE 29TH.
AGAIN, IF YOU HAVE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS THOUGH, OR SPECIFIC COMMENTS AND YOU WANNA SHARE THOSE EITHER IN WRITING OR IF YOU HAVE BRIEF COMMENTS, UM, THAT YOU WANTED TO MAKE TODAY, THAT WILL BE MOST WELCOME.
WELL JUST, I'LL, I'LL FLAG THIS THEN FOR NEXT TIME.
EVEN JUST LOOKING AT THE PROCESS HERE, IS THE ROADMAP RESULTS, ARE THEY INCLUDED IN THE PORTFOLIO EVALUATION? YES, THEY ARE.
SO THEY'RE PART OF THE, THEY'RE FACTORED IN THERE AND WE CAN TALK ABOUT HOW LATER, UH, JUST TO MAKE THAT CLEAR.
UM, MY QUESTION FOR Y'ALL THAT MAYBE WE CAN TALK ABOUT NEXT TIME IS AS I REVIEWED THEM, YOU KNOW, IT SEEMED LIKE THEY'RE, THE RESULTS ARE, THEY'RE KIND OF CLUSTERED, YOU KNOW, IT'S LIKE, OH, 2.7 TO 3.1 OR 3.2, LIKE, IT'S NOT ENORMOUS DIFFERENCES AMONG THE RESULTS.
AND I JUST WONDERED IF YOU EVEN FOUND THAT EXERCISE SUPER MEANINGFUL IN TERMS OF DISTINGUISHING AMONG THE STRATEGIES IS LIKE WHAT IS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT IN TERMS OF A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 2.8 AND 2.9 MM-HMM.
SO SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT LATER.
WE CAN, WE CAN KIND OF DIVE INTO HOW THAT SCORING WORKED OUT AND HOW THEY WERE KIND OF STRETCHED ACROSS LIKE A ONE TO FIVE RANGE.
UM, BUT THEN ALSO I WILL JUST SAY PERSONALLY, I THINK THAT, UH, IN GOING THROUGH THAT PROCESS, A BIG PART OF THE PROCESS WAS NOT JUST IDENTIFYING KIND OF THE IMPACTS, BUT ALSO WHAT ARE THE POTENTIAL MITIGATION STRATEGIES THAT WE WOULD NEED TO EMPLOY TO OFFSET THOSE IMPACTS.
I, I THINK THAT'S AN IMPORTANT DISCUSSION, UH, FOR US.
UH, WE ALSO, AS THIS MENTIONED IN THE PREVIOUS PRESENTATION, UPDATED OUR PROJECTED BASELINE WATER DEMANDS.
OUR, UH, NEW UPDATED WATER DEMANDS ARE BASED OFF OF A, UH, A, UH, ARE UPDATED, EXCUSE ME, ARE BASED OFF OF WATER USAGE, UH, FROM 2015 TO 2020, AND ALSO INCLUDE AN UPDATED PROJECTION OF FUTURE POPULATION AND EMPLOYMENT BASED ON INPUT FROM THE CITY DEMOGRAPHER.
UH, SO THE DEMANDS ARE FAIRLY CONSISTENT WITH WATER 40 18 THROUGH 2080 AND THEN, UM, ARE, UH, FAIRLY ARE LOWER THAN THE, UH, WATERFORD 18 DEMANDS IN 2120.
CAN I ASK A QUICK QUESTION? YES.
SO FIRST OF ALL, IS THIS THE SAME DEMAND SLIDE THAT'S IN THE OTHER PRESENTATION, THE WATER CONSERVATION PRESENTATION WHERE IT SHOWS THE 2018 LINE OR, YES.
AND THEN, SO, AND THEN I, I JUST WANTED TO ASK ABOUT 2015
[01:30:02]
TO 2020, UM, BECAUSE, AND, AND I'M NOT EXACTLY SURE, BUT AREN'T THOSE WET TO AVERAGE YEARS? AND THEN, I MEAN, WHAT THE DROUGHT WE'RE, WHAT ARE WE, WHAT ARE WE COUNTING THIS PARTICULAR PERIOD AS 21, 22, 23? I'M JUST WONDERING IF THAT'S NOT CAPTURING SOME EXCEPTIONALLY DRY HOT YEARS.I MEAN, I'M NOT, I'M NOT THE PERSON TO DETERMINE THAT.
UM, 20, THIS IS NOT, THESE BASELINE DEMANDS ARE NOT CAPTURING 22 AND, UH, 23, MAINLY BECAUSE WE DIDN'T HAVE THE DATA AT THE TIME WHEN WE WERE GENERATING, UH, THESE DEMANDS.
UM, OR WHEN WE HAD BEGUN THE PROCESS TO GENERATE THESE BASELINE WATER DEMANDS, THOSE WERE EXCEPTIONALLY HOT AND DRY YEARS.
UM, WHAT WE HAVE DONE IS WHEN WE PAIR OUR DEMAND PROJECTIONS WITH, LET'S SAY, LIKE A HIGH, UH, UH, A WORSE SEVERITY CLIMATE SCENARIO, THE, OUR CLIMATE ADJUSTED, UH, SCENARIO OF HYDROLOGY, THERE IS A MULTIPLIER THAT GOES ON TO THE, THESE AVERAGE DEMANDS TO, UM, REFLECT HOT AND DRY DEMANDS, KIND OF SIMILAR TO HOW, UM, UH, WE DID IT IN THE LAST WATER FORWARD PLAN.
I'M JUST THINKING ABOUT LIKE, OUR, OUR OTHER CONVERSATION WAS, YOU KNOW, OH, WELL IT WAS HOT AND DRY IN THESE YEARS AND WE DIDN'T, THAT'S NOT HOW IT WAS IN THE YEARS WE USED TO PROJECT DEMANDS.
AND SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE SAME YEARS.
I THINK THAT, YEAH, THE, THE, I THINK HAVING THAT MULTIPLIER IS, UH, TRYING TO SEEK TO ADDRESS, UM, THAT ISSUE TO REFLECT A MORE HOT AND DRY, UM, TYPE DEMAND YEAR MM-HMM.
BUT IT WOULD ALSO MAYBE HELP TO INCLUDE THOSE YEARS IN YOUR DATA, YOUR HISTORICAL DATA, BUT BE SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.
AND AS YOU KNOW, WE UPDATE OUR DEMAND PROJECTIONS.
IT'S A FAIRLY LABOR INTENSIVE PROCESS BECAUSE WE DO USE BILLING DATA TO, UM, INCLUDE IN OUR DEMAND PROJECTIONS.
SO THEY'RE BUILT OFF OF VERY GRANULAR DATA SETS, UH, THAT ARE SPATIALLY ALLOCATED.
AND WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH A-Q-A-Q-C PROCESS TO BE ABLE TO USE THAT BILLING DATA IN THE DISAGGREGATED DEMAND MODEL.
UH, BUT IN FUTURE YEARS, WE ABSOLUTELY WILL, UH, BE INCLUDING THE MORE RECENT YEARS IN OUR DEMAND PROJECTIONS.
SO, WORKING WITH, UH, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AS WELL AS DR. RICHARD HOFF POWER, WHO IS OUR, UM, UH, UH, HYDROLOGIST.
UM, WE DEVELOPED CLIMATE AND STREAM FLOW PROJECTIONS.
ON THE SCREEN IS SHOWN WHAT'S CALLED A BOX AND WHISKER PLOT THAT SHOWS MONTHLY STREAM FLOW AT A PARTICULAR RIVER GAUGE AT THE COLORADO RIVER AT AUSTIN.
UM, THIS IS SHOWING, UH, MONTHLY STREAM FLOWS FOR A PERIOD OF TIME FROM 2081 TO 2100.
AND THE GENERAL TAKEAWAY FROM THIS SLIDE IS THAT AS WE LOOK AT DIFFERENT SEVERITIES, UH, OF CLIMATE CHANGE, AS WE GO FROM A LOW SEVERITY CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIO TO A HIGHER SEVERITY CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIO, WE SEE THAT FLOW IN THE COLORADO RIVER DOES DECREASE IN MORE SEVERE CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIOS.
UM, THAT MIDDLE LINE IN THE, UH, IN THE CENTER OF EACH OF THOSE BOXES IS SHOWING THE MEDIAN RIVER FLOW.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT THAT MEDIAN RIVER FLOW DECREASES AS YOU GET INTO MORE SEVERE CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIOS DECREASING FROM THE BLUE BOX ON THE LEFT, WHICH IS A REPEAT OF HISTORICAL RIVER FLOWS, THE LINES ON THE BOTTOM AND THE TOP OF THOSE, UH, OF EACH OF THOSE BARS ACTUALLY SHOW THE, UH, UM, THE VARIABILITY IN FLOWS.
SO THE LOWER VARIABILITY BEING ESSENTIALLY ZERO, AND THEN THE HIGHER END SHOWING HOW HIGH, UH, WE MIGHT, UH, HOW HIGH FLOWS MIGHT GO, UM, WITHIN THOSE DIFFERENT CLIMATE SCENARIOS.
UM, YOU CAN SEE THAT WE EVEN START TO LOSE OUT ON THE HIGHER FLOW EVENTS, UH, IN THE 2080 TO 2100 PERIOD WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT HIGH SEVERITY CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIOS.
USING ALL OF THAT DATA, WE THEN MODELED OUR FUTURE SUPPLY NEEDS.
[01:35:01]
GRAPH IS SHOWING THE BREAKDOWN OF UNMET CITY OF AUSTIN CUSTOMER DEMAND DUE TO US NOT HAVING ANY WATER IN THE COM IN THE HIGHLAND LAKES.SO THIS IS SHOWING WHEN THERE IS NO WATER WITHIN THE HIGHLAND LAKES, HOW, UH, WHAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT, UH, KIND OF UNMET DEMAND DO WE EXPERIENCE.
SO IN 2030, THE PERCENTAGE OF SCENARIOS WHERE WE HAVE AN UNMET AUSTIN DEMAND DUE TO NO WATER IN THE LAKES IS, UM, VERY LOW.
THAT'S AS OPPOSED TO LET'S SAY 2080.
IN 2080, WE HAVE, UH, BETWEEN 60 AND 70% OF SCENARIOS WHERE THERE IS, UM, SOME, AT LEAST SOME UNMET AUSTIN DEMAND DUE TO THERE BEING NO WATER IN THE HIGHLAND LAKES.
THE, UM, DARKER BLUE, THE TEAL AND THE GREEN.
AND WE WILL ABSOLUTELY PICK DIFFERENT COLORS FOR THESE GRAPHS IN THE FUTURE.
UM, ARE SHOWING THE RANGE OF THAT UNMET DEMAND.
DARKER BLUE SHOWING UNMET AUSTIN DEMAND LESS THAN 100,000 ACRE FEET.
THE TEAL SHOWING UNMET AUSTIN DEMAND LESS THAN 200,000 ACRE FEET, AND THE GREEN SHOWING UNMET AUSTIN DEMAND LESS THAN 300,000 ACRE FEET.
SO, UM, THIS IS HELPING US TO UNDERSTAND AS WE LOOK AT THE VARIOUS SCENARIOS THAT WE IDENTIFIED, WHAT KIND OF RANGE OF DEMANDS UNMET, UH, NEEDS MAY WE HAVE OUT INTO THE FUTURE THAT WE NEED TO ADDRESS WITH STRATEGIES LIKE CONSERVATION, REUSE, AND SUPPLY? OKAY.
SO WHEN THE LAKES, WHEN THERE'S ZERO LAKE STORAGE, SO IN OTHER WORDS, THE LAKES ARE EFFECTIVELY DRY.
IS THAT, IS THAT WHAT THAT MEANS? YES.
SO, SO IN 2030, IF THE LAKES WENT DRY, WE STILL MEET 95% OF OUR DEMANDS.
IS THAT WHAT THAT PLOT SAYS? THIS IS MEANS THAT IN ACROSS THE 666 DIFFERENT SCENARIOS THAT WE MODELED, OKAY.
LESS THAN 10% OF THOSE SCENARIOS SHOWED US HAVING AN UNMET AUSTIN DEMAND DUE TO ZERO LAKE STORAGE IN 2030.
IT, IT DOES SEEM, SEEMS, SEEMS ODD THOUGH.
I MEAN, UM, 'CAUSE LIKE, WHAT, WHAT CAN WE DO BETWEEN NOW, LIKE RIGHT NOW, IF THE LAKES WENT DRY MM-HMM.
WHERE'S, WHERE ELSE DOES THE WATER COME FROM? RIGHT? UM, AND SO, SO I GUESS THAT'S WHAT I'M CONFUSED ABOUT WHEN I SAID ZERO LAKE STORAGE.
DOES THAT MEAN, LIKE, IS THIS THE CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECTED YIELD OF THE RESERVOIR? YES.
EITHER CLIMATE CHANGE ADJUSTED SCENARIOS, UH, HYDROLOGY.
OR IT WOULD BE, UM, UH, STOCHASTIC DROUGHTS, AND THAT JUST MEANS DROUGHTS THAT HAVE BEEN GENERATED BY A COMPUTER, UM, BY, UH, BY CHANGING THE ORDER OF, UM, HYDROLOGY AND, AND WHEN WE GET INFLOWS AT A DIFFERENT PERIOD OF TIME TO KIND OF GENERATE A SIMULATED, UM, OR SYNTHETIC DROUGHT, THAT WOULD BE WORSE THAN THE DROUGHT OF RECORD.
MM-HMM,
I'M STILL NOT QUITE SURE I UNDERSTAND LIKE WHY THAT'S CALLED ZERO LAKE STORAGE, BUT TO ME, ZERO LAKE STORAGE MEANS SAY 2030 LAKES GO COMPLETELY DRY.
HERE'S, YOU KNOW, HERE'S WHERE WE'RE AT WITH, I GUESS WITH ALL THOSE STRATEGIES.
UM, AND IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE THOSE STRATEGIES OF EMPLOYED WOULD MEET 95% OF OUR NEEDS IF THE LAKES WENT COMPLETELY DRY.
UM, BUT ANYWAYS, SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.
SO IF I'M GONNA GIVE BILL A CHANCE TO ASK HIS QUESTION FIRST, ACTUALLY I SEE HIS HAND IS UP.
I WOULD JUST LIKE TO POINT OUT WHEN THE LAKES GO DRY, WE WILL LOSE OUR FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEM FOR THE CITY AND THERE'LL BE A LOT OF OTHER BAD THINGS THAT WILL HAPPEN.
SO I THINK A KEY TAKEAWAY FROM THIS
[01:40:01]
GRAPH IS THAT OUR MODELING SHOWS THAT IT'S VERY UNLIKELY THAT WE WILL EXPERIENCE A SCENARIO WHERE THE LAKES GO DRY IN 2030.ANOTHER I'M GONNA, I JUST REPHRASE.
YEAH, I WOULD, I WOULD RE BECAUSE THAT'S, YEAH, I WOULD REPHRASE, I INTERPRET INTERPRETED THE SAME ZERO LAKE STORAGE.
WE CAN DEFINITELY, THAT'S NOT WHAT, THAT'S NOT WHAT, THAT'S NOT WHAT I THINK WHEN I SEE ZERO LAKE STORAGE, BECAUSE I'M LIKE, OKAY, LAKES GO DRY.
HERE'S HOW WE'RE GONNA DO, IT'S KIND OF WHAT, WHAT I'M INTERPRETING BY THAT TITLE.
SO I AM GONNA TRY ONE MORE TIME AND THEN WE'RE GONNA LEAVE THIS.
UM, SO IN 2030, WHAT THIS IS SHOWING IS THAT LET'S SAY WE RAN 666 DIFFERENT SCENARIOS.
WE MODELED THOSE, THIS IS BEFORE ANY ADDITIONAL CONSERVATION REUSE AND SUPPLY STRATEGIES COME ONLINE.
AND IN MODELING THOSE 666 SCENARIOS, WE SAW THAT IN THAT MAYBE LESS THAN 30 OF THOSE SCENARIOS SHOWED THE LAKES GOING DRY BY 2030.
AND THAT'S HOW WE GET THAT LESS THAN 10%.
DOES THAT, IS THAT A LITTLE CLEAR THAT, THAT YEP.
THAT, YEAH, THAT, THAT WAS CLEAR FOR ME.
SO THEN AFTER MODELING OUR FUTURE SUPPLY NEEDS, WE IDENTIFIED STRATEGIES TO HELP US TO MEET THOSE NEEDS.
UH, ON THIS SLIDE, CONSERVATION STRATEGIES ARE SHOWN IN YELLOW, REUSE STRATEGIES ARE SHOWN IN THE PURPLE, AND THEN ADDITIONAL SUPPLY STRATEGIES ARE SHOWN IN BLUE.
AND THESE ARE JUST KIND OF GENERALIZED CATEGORIES OF CONSERVATION, REUSE, AND SUPPLY.
THEN WE IDENTIFIED AND DEVELOPED STRATEGY COSTS AND YIELDS.
THIS IS SHOWING THE, UH, YIELD, POTENTIAL YIELD OF THE DIFFERENT CONSERVATION AND REUSE STRATEGIES.
UM, AND, AND THE BAR, THE HEIGHT OF THE BAR IS INDICATING THE YIELD.
AND THE BLUE DOT ON THE GRAPH IS SHOWING THE ANNUAL UNIT COST FOR EACH OF THESE STRATEGIES.
SO HOW MUCH DOES IT COST, UM, PER YEAR, UM, DIVIDED BY THE AMOUNT OF YIELD THAT IT PROVIDES IN TERMS OF WATER SAVINGS.
THE YIELD RANGE IS ON THE Y-AXIS ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE GRAPH.
AND THE UNIT COST RANGE IS ON THE Y-AXIS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE GRAPH.
THIS IS A SIMILAR GRAPH TO SHOW THE STRATEGY COST AND YIELDS FOR THE SUPPLY STRATEGIES FOR THE CONSERVATION AND REUSE STRATEGIES.
AS HAD BEEN MENTIONED IN THE PREVIOUS PRESENTATION, WE INCLUDED THE MOST AGGRESSIVE PATHWAY OF CONSERVATION AND REUSE IN EACH PORTFOLIO.
THAT'S AS OPPOSED TO OUR SUPPLY STRATEGIES WHERE WE TESTED A RANGE OF DIFFERENT YIELDS FROM THE STRATEGIES.
SO THAT'S WHY THESE BARS ARE SHOWN AS ABOVE ZERO.
THE BOTTOM PART IS ABOVE ZERO BECAUSE IT'S TESTING, FOR EXAMPLE, FROM AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY, GETTING BACK BETWEEN 6,000 TO 84,000 ACRE FEET FROM A POTENTIAL A SR PROJECT, UM, WITHIN, UH, ONE YEAR.
THAT IS, UH, FOR ESPECIALLY THE STORAGE STRATEGIES LIKE A SR AN OFF CHANNEL, UH, OR AN OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR.
UM, THAT YIELD RANGE IS SEPARATE FROM THE AMOUNT OF STORAGE THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE.
THAT THAT YIELD RANGE IS HOW MUCH WOULD BE DELIVERED FROM THE STORAGE FACILITY TO, UM, AUSTIN TO HELP MEET CUSTOMER DEMANDS.
BUT JUST 'CAUSE YOU SAID THAT NOW I HAVE TO ASK, UM, SORRY, JUST TO CLARIFY THAT, SO YOU'RE SAYING THE STORAGE NUMBER DOESN'T CHANGE.
WE KNOW HOW MUCH THE A SR PROJECT IS GONNA STORE.
THAT'S PRETTY MUCH GUARANTEED.
WE'RE NOT SAYING THAT IT MIGHT ONLY STORE 6,000 ACRE FEET, IT'S JUST THAT WE MAY ONLY HAVE 6,000 ACRE FEET OF DEMAND THAT NEEDS TO BE MET BY THE AS SR PROJECT IN ANY GIVEN YEAR.
UM, SO THEN YOU
[01:45:01]
ALL OF THAT INFORMATION, UM, TO DEVELOP OUR PORTFOLIOS, PORTFOLIOS FOR EVALUATION USING OUR MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION MAKING FRAMEWORK.WERE IDENTIFIED BASED ON US TRYING TO ACHIEVE THE HIGHEST WATER SUPPLY RELIABILITY POSSIBLE FOR A RANGE OF COSTS THAT ARE SHOWN HERE ON THIS CURVE.
YOU CAN THINK ABOUT IT LIKE, YOU KNOW, FOR THE AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT WE PUT INTO IDENTIFYING SOLUTIONS, THERE'S A, A A POINT AT WHICH YOU START TO GET DIMINISHING RETURNS OR DIMINISHING AMOUNTS OF RELIABILITY FOR THAT ADDITIONAL COST.
AND SO WE USED THIS ANALYSIS, THE WAVE ANALYSIS, TO HELP US IDENTIFY KIND OF WHERE CAN WE FIND, UH, YOU KNOW, A SET OF PORTFOLIOS, HOW CAN WE FIND A SET OF PORTFOLIOS THAT HELP US TO MAXIMIZE THAT WATER SUPPLY RELI TO BE FOR THAT LEVEL OF COST.
UM, WE'VE IDENTIFIED ON THIS SLIDE THREE PORTFOLIOS THAT WE'RE GONNA KEEP COMING BACK TO IN THE FOLLOWING SLIDES.
PORTFOLIO ONE IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS GRAPH.
UM, IT'S SHOWING THAT RELATIVE TO OTHER PORTFOLIOS, IT HAS A, THE, THE LOWEST COST, UM, BUT IT ALSO HAS A LOWER PERFORMANCE IN TERMS OF WATER SUPPLY, RELIABILITY, VULNERABILITY, AND RESILIENCY.
UM, PORTFOLIO 10 IS ON THE HIGHEST PART OF THE GRAPH.
SO IT HAS, UH, OR A HIGHER PART OF THE GRAPH.
IT HAS ONE OF THE HIGHER COSTS IN TERMS OF THE PORTFOLIOS.
IT ALSO HAS A HIGHER PERFORMANCE SCORE FOR WATER SUPPLY, RELIABILITY, RESILIENCY, AND VULNERABILITY.
AND PORTFOLIO SIX IS KIND OF AT THE KNEE OF THE CURVE.
IT'S KIND OF IN THE MIDDLE WHEN IT COMES TO BOTH THE COST AND THEN THE PERFORMANCE SCORE.
THOSE ARE THE MAGENTA DOTS THAT WERE SHOWN ON THE PREVIOUS SLIDE.
AND THE MAKEUP OF EACH OF THOSE PORTFOLIOS ARE SHOWN HERE IN THIS TABLE.
WE'VE HIGHLIGHTED IN BLUE THE COLUMNS, UH, SHOWING THE MAKEUP OF PORTFOLIOS ONE, SIX AND 10.
AND WHERE THERE'S AN X JUST MEANS THAT THESE ARE THE STRATEGIES THAT ARE INCLUDED IN THE PORTFOLIO.
THE DETAILS ON THE, UM, YIELD AMOUNTS FROM EACH OF THESE STRATEGIES ARE ALSO INCLUDED IN THE DETAILED BACKUP SLIDES TOWARDS THE END.
UM, ALL OF THEM INCLUDE THE SAME CONSERVATION AND REUSE STRATEGIES.
IN ADDITION TO THAT PORTFOLIO, ONE INCLUDES A, UM, AN A SR STRATEGY, A SMALLER A SR STRATEGY, AND, UH, USING DECKER LAKE AS AN OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR USING THAT, UH, LAKE AS AN OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR WOULD HAVE A, UH, MORE LIMITED, UM, OPERATING RANGE OF UP TO FIVE FEET.
PORTFOLIO SIX, SAME CONSERVATION AND REUSE STRATEGIES.
A LARGER ANNUAL YIELD FROM A SR USING DECKER LAKE AS AN OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR.
INDIRECT PORTABLE REUSE THROUGH LADY BIRD LAKE, AS WELL AS BRACKISH GROUNDWATER DESALINATION AND PORTFOLIO 10, SAME CONSERVATION AND REUSE STRATEGIES AND AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY PROJECT USING DIRECT POTABLE REUSE.
SO THAT'S A STRATEGY WHERE YOU TAKE TREATED WASTEWATER, EFFLUENT,
IT ALSO INCLUDES INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE THROUGH LADY BIRD LAKE BRACKISH, GROUNDWATER DESALINATION, SEAWATER DESALINATION, AND INTER BASIN TRANSFER AND CONVENTIONAL GROUNDWATER.
SO THIS IS A, A BIG PORTFOLIO WITH LOTS OF STRATEGIES IN IT.
AND JUST ONE MORE THING TO NOTE IS THAT ALL OF THESE STRATEGIES WERE, UM, ARE FOR THE 2080 TIMEFRAME AND WERE EVALUATED AT THAT 2080 TIMESTAMP.
WHAT'S THE REASONING BEHIND NOT USING LIKE, MULTIPLE OF ONE STRATEGY, LIKE MULTIPLE DIRECT POTABLE WATER IN RUNNING KIND OF THOSE TYPES OF SCENARIOS AS WELL? BECAUSE IF ONE HAS A DECENT AMOUNT YIELD AND COST, I WE'RE THINKING A WORKING GROUP MEETING, YOU SAID THAT THEY'RE NOT LOOKING AT USING MULTIPLE ONLY ONE FACILITY THAT DOES DIRECT POTABLE WATER.
WOULDN'T IT MAKE SENSE TO SEE TOTAL RESILIENCY AND EVERYTHING ELSE WITH USING MULTIPLE OF THE SAME STRATEGY IF POSSIBLE AND LOOKING AT THAT COST AND YIELD ANALYSIS AS WELL? UM, DO YOU MEAN LIKE DOING MULTIPLE DIRECT PORTABLE REUSE FACILITIES, LIKE HAVING MULTIPLE FACILITIES SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE CITY? YES.
UM, WE HAD NOT CONSIDERED THAT MAINLY BECAUSE IT, IT KIND OF MADE SENSE TO US THAT WE WOULD BE CONVEYING THAT WATER FROM ONE OF OUR CENTRALIZED WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS TO A CENTRALIZED, DIRECT PORTABLE RE
[01:50:01]
FACILITY BECAUSE OF THE ADVANCED LEVEL OF TREATMENT THAT'S INVOLVED, PLUS ALSO THE COST INVOLVED IN CREATING A NEW TREATMENT FACILITY LIKE THAT.UM, THERE ARE SOME, UH, ECONOMIES OF SCALE THAT ARE POSSIBLE WITH HAVING A, A CENTRALIZED FACILITY TO DO THAT, TO PERFORM THAT TREATMENT AT.
BUT, UM, AND I'M GONNA KEEP ROLLING THROUGH 'CAUSE WE HAVE FIVE MINUTES, BUT I HOPE FOLKS CAN STAY THROUGH FOR THE END.
ONE OF THE CRITERIA THAT WE'RE USING TO EVALUATE OUR PORTFOLIOS INCLUDES THE WATER SUPPLY BENEFITS THAT THAT PORTFOLIO PROVIDES.
AND SO WHAT WE DO IS WE RUN THE PORTFOLIO, WE INCLUDE THE PORTFOLIO OF STRATEGIES IN A MODEL THAT, UH, EVALUATES THE WATER THAT'S AVAILABLE TO MEET THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S DEMANDS.
THIS SLIDE IS SHOWING THE RESULTS FROM ONE OF THOSE MODEL RUNS, EVALUATING PORTFOLIO ONE IN 2080 IN A MEDIUM SEVERITY CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIO WITH A, UM, A MEDIUM RANGE OF, UH, REGIONAL SUPPLY DEVELOPS.
SO L THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY BASICALLY IMPLEMENTS THE STRATEGIES THAT THEY SAY THEY'RE GOING TO IMPLEMENT IN THEIR REGION K WATER PLAN.
AND WE ARE IN A CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIO THAT EQUATES TO KIND OF A MIDDLE OF THE ROAD SCENARIO.
UM, WE, UH, WHAT'S SHOWN ON THE GRAPH HERE AT THE BLACK LINE SHOWS COMBINED STORAGE OF THE HIGHLAND LAKES, LAKE TRAVIS AND BUCHANAN.
THE PEAKS, UH, THAT ARE SHOWN IN KIND OF TAN AND BROWN ARE THE, UH, OUR ANNUAL, OUR, OUR DEMANDS CITY OF AUSTIN DEMAND.
THE REASON THAT YOU CAN SEE THE, UM, KIND OF TAN AND BROWN IS BECAUSE WE'VE GOT THE TAN SHOWING OUR CONSERVATION SAVINGS, OUR, UM, SAVINGS FROM, UH, UH, CONSERVATION AND REUSE STRATEGIES.
THE GRAY IS SHOWING THE SAVINGS FROM DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN IMPLEMENTATION DURING THE DROUGHT.
AS THAT BLACK LINE GOES DOWN, WE START IMPLEMENTING OUR DCP STAGES.
AND SO YOU SEE MORE AND MORE GRAY AS WE ARE LOWERING OUR DEMAND.
THEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS SLIDE, YOU CAN SEE SOME LITTLE PORTIONS OF KIND OF BROWN AND GREEN, AND THOSE ARE SUPPLIES COMING ONLINE FROM USE OF DECKER AS AN OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR, AS WELL AS YIELD FROM A SMALLER AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY PROJECT THAT'S HELPING TO MEET CITY OF AUSTIN DEMANDS.
BECAUSE THE BLUE THAT'S UNDERNEATH THAT, THE LIGHTER BLUE IS SHOWING THE AMOUNT OF WATER WE CAN JUST GET PULLING STRAIGHT FROM THE COLORADO RIVER.
AND THE DARK BLUE IS SHOWING THE AMOUNT OF WATER THAT WE CAN GET PULLING FROM THE HIGHLAND LAKES STORED WATER IN ABOUT, UH, WHAT'S SHOWN ON HERE AS LIKE 2015.
YOU CAN SEE THAT HIGHLAND LAKES START, IT EMPTIES OUT AND SO THE MAGENTA POPS UP.
THAT MAGENTA IS SHOWING A SHORTAGE WHERE WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH WATER TO BE ABLE TO MEET CUSTOMER DEMAND.
NOW I'LL JUST MAKE A NOTE ABOUT THE TIMESCALE THAT'S ON THE BOTTOM OF THIS GRAPH.
THE REASON IT SAYS 2007 TO 2023, AND YET WE'RE SAYING THIS IS A 2080 SCENARIO, IS BECAUSE WHAT WE DO IN THE MODEL IS WE ADJUST THE HISTORICAL HYDROLOGY TO REFLECT THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE FUTURE.
SO WE TAKE ALL OF OUR CLIMATE DATA AND WE USE THAT DATA TO SAY, OKAY, HERE'S HOW MUCH WORSE THE HISTORICAL HYDROLOGY WOULD BE IF WE WERE TO EXPERIENCE THIS MEDIUM SEVERITY FUTURE CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIO.
SO PORTFOLIO ONE, JUST THE A SR AND DEGRA OCR AS ADDITIONAL SUPPLY STRATEGIES AND THE SAME AMOUNT OF CONSERVATION AND REUSE AS OUR OTHER PORTFOLIOS, WE DO EXPERIENCE A SHORTAGE IN THIS CLIMATE ADJUSTED DROUGHT.
SO THIS IS SHOWING OUR MODELING RESULTS FOR PORTFOLIO SIX.
SO THIS IS PORTFOLIO SIX IN 2080 AND A MEDIUM SEVERITY CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIO.
PORTFOLIO SIX INCLUDES AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY IN A LARGER AMOUNT USING DECKER LAKE AS AN OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR AND DIRECT PORTABLE REUSE THROUGH LADYBIRD LAKE AS WELL AS BRACKISH GROUNDWATER DECEL.
AND YOU SEE THAT THE, THERE THESE DARKER COLORS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SLIDE THAT COME ONLINE AS COMBINED STORAGE STARTS TO DROP.
THAT IS OUR ADDITIONAL SUPPLIES FROM THOSE, UM, UH, THOSE ADDITIONAL PORTFOLIO STRATEGIES COMING ONLINE TO HELP MEET CUSTOMER DEMANDS DURING THIS WORST PART
[01:55:01]
OF THE DROUGHT.WE HAVE NO MAGENTA THAT POPS UP BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH COMBINED STORAGE, THAT BLACK LINE GOES VERY LOW, WE DON'T SEE THE HIGHLAND LEGS BOTTOMING OUT IN THIS MODELING SCENARIO.
WHAT ISN'T THE BOTTOM OUT? IF IT'S THE SAME MEDIUM SEVERITY, I'LL ASK IT NEXT TIME.
IT'S BECAUSE, UM, OUR REDUCTION IN DEMAND IN OUR USE OF THESE ADDITIONAL SUPPLY SCENARIOS HELPS TO KEEP THE HIGHLAND LAKES A LITTLE BIT HIGHER.
NOW THIS IS PORTFOLIO 10 AGAIN IN 2080, MEDIUM SEVERITY CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIO.
THIS WAS EVERYTHING IN THE KITCHEN SINK IN TERMS OF THESE ADDITIONAL SUPPLY STRATEGIES ON TOP OF THE CONSERVATION AND REUSE PORTFOLIO THAT'S BEEN INCLUDED IN EVERY PORTFOLIO, AND WE DO SEE THAT AS COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS SLIDE AND PORTFOLIO SIX CLI, UH, THE HIGHLAND LAKE STORAGE STAYS UP HIGHER THROUGHOUT THE, UM, DURATION OF THIS DROUGHT.
THAT THOUGH IS JUST ONE WAY OF COMPARING THE PERFORMANCE OF THE PORTFOLIOS BECAUSE WHEN WE LOOK AT THE OTHER ASPECTS OF THE PORTFOLIOS AND EVALUATE THEM AGAINST THESE CRITERIA THAT WE HAVE IDENTIFIED ARE IMPORTANT TO US AS A COMMUNITY THAT, UM, PORTFOLIO ONE AND 10 SHOW THAT THEY HAVE, UM, LESSER OVERALL BENEFITS THAN PORTFOLIO SIX.
SO ON THIS SLIDE WE HAVE WATER SUPPLY BENEFITS SHOWN IN YELLOW AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAR PORTFOLIO ONE, WE SAW THOSE.
UM, WHAT HAPPENS IN PORTFOLIO ONE YOU SAW IN THE MEDIUM SEVERITY SCENARIO, WE GOT SOME SHORTAGE POPPING UP.
PORTFOLIO SIX HAS A TALLER PORTION OF THAT WATER SUPPLY BENEFITS BAR BECAUSE IT DOES BETTER.
IT, WE DON'T SEE AS MANY SHORTAGES POPPING UP FOR PORTFOLIO SIX ACROSS THE RANGE OF SCENARIOS THAT WE MODELED.
PORTFOLIO 10 HAS THE HIGHEST, UH, TALLEST YELLOW PORTION OF THE BAR.
THE WATER SUPPLY BENEFITS BECAUSE WITH ALL OF THOSE SUPPLY STRATEGIES, IT'S ABLE TO HELP KEEP COMBINED STORAGE UP AND MAINTAIN, UM, OUR SUPPLY TO MEET CUSTOMER DEMANDS THROUGH A LARGER RANGE OF DIFFERENT SCENARIOS.
BUT THEN WE HAVE ECONOMIC BENEFITS SHOWN IN GREEN THAT'S RIGHT ON TOP OF THE YELLOW PORTION OF THE BAR.
THAT INCLUDES THE COST OF THE PORTFOLIO AND THE COST OF THE PORTFOLIO.
UM, CAN, UH, YOU KNOW, HAS AN IMPACT, UH, AS WELL ON HOW WE EVALUATE THE TRADE-OFFS BETWEEN THOSE PORTFOLIOS.
PORTFOLIO 10 IS, UH, QUITE EXPENSIVE AND SO IT HAS A LOWER PORTION OF THAT, UH, THAT GREEN BAR.
UM, THE, UH, UH, ALSO AND, AND WHEN WE'RE WALKING THROUGH THESE, I'M RUNNING OUTTA TIME.
UH, WE LOOK AT THE EQUITY BENEFITS.
SO RIGHT ON TOP OF THAT GREEN BAR, THERE'S KIND OF LIKE A GRAYISH I'LL USE BETTER COLORS NEXT TIME.
A GRAYISH PORTION OF THE BAR THAT'S SHOWING THE RELATIVE EQUITY BENEFITS THAT ARE PROVIDED, UM, BY THE, UH, STRATEGIES THAT ARE INCLUDED WITHIN THE PORTFOLIO.
THOSE, UM, BENEFITS, UH, CAN BE LARGER OR SMALLER.
SO WHEN IT COMES TO EQUITY PORTFOLIO, ONE HAS IS MADE UP OF STRATEGIES THAT TEND TO, UM, SCORE HIGHER IN THAT EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY, UH, FRAMEWORK EVALUATION.
UM, PORTFOLIO 10 HAS A SMALLER PORTION OF THE BAR, UM, FOR EQUITY BENEFITS.
UM, ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS IS KIND OF THAT, UH, LIGHT BLUE PORTION OF, UH, THE BAR SECOND FROM THE TOP.
PORTFOLIO ONE, UM, HAS A HIGHER OR A TALLER PORTION OF THE BAR FOR ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS AS OPPOSED TO PORTFOLIO 10.
THOSE STRATEGIES, UM, CAN, ESPECIALLY THE BIG IMPORT STRATEGIES CAN HAVE SOME MORE, UH, UH, CAN HAVE SOME WORSE IMPACTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT.
AND THEN THE VERY, UH, TOP PORTION OF THE BAR IS IMPLEMENTATION BENEFITS AND HOW EASY OR HARD IT WILL BE TO IMPLEMENT, UH, THE STRATEGIES, HOW, UM, THE LOCAL CONTROL ASPECT OF THE STRATEGIES AS WELL.
UM, SO WHEN WE GO THROUGH, WE HAVE INCLUDED THE KIND OF RAW SCORES AS WELL FOR OUR EVALUATION OF THE PORTFOLIOS OF STRATEGIES AND THE DETAILED BACKUP KIND OF TOWARDS THE, UM, BACK OF THAT UH, MATERIAL.
WE'VE, UM, TAKEN THAT, THOSE RAW SCORES AND WE NORMALIZE THEM, UM, KIND OF A ONE TO FIVE SCALE TO BE ABLE TO COMPARE ACROSS THOSE DIFFERENT CRITERIA PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND TO BE ABLE TO HAVE SCORES THAT WE COULD COMPARE ACROSS PORTFOLIOS.
[02:00:02]
OKAY.WHAT DO YOU WANNA DO? ARE YOU GONNA KEEP TRYING TO GET YOUR ARM? I'M GONNA, I'M GOING TO SHARE THIS NEXT SLIDE AND THEN WE'RE GONNA CALL IT.
UM, YOU'RE DOING AN EXCELLENT JOB ON THIS, BY THE WAY.
UM, I PRACTICED IN FRONT OF MY MOM, UH,
UM, SHE'S A TOUGH, SHE ASKED THE TOUGH QUESTIONS.
SO THEN HERE WE'VE GOT OUR, UH, RECOMMENDED PORTFOLIO.
OVERALL, THIS IS PORTFOLIO SIX.
SO ON THE PREVIOUS SLIDE YOU SAW THAT THAT WAS THE TALLEST BAR WHEN WE DID THE MULTI-CRITERIA EVALUATION.
THE RECOMMENDED PORTFOLIO INCLUDES, UH, UTILITY SIDE WATER LOSS CONTROL, CUSTOMER SIDE WATER USE MANAGEMENT, WHICH TO, TO JUST INTERPRET THAT MEANS USE OF A MI AND USE OF SMART METER, UH, DATA TO BE ABLE TO, UM, UH, ADDRESS, UM, LEAKS AND ALSO DO ADDITIONAL EDUCATION AND OUTREACH AND ALSO FOR WATER USE BUDGETING.
UM, IT ALSO INCLUDES, UM, CONVERSION TO NATIVE AND EFFICIENT LANDSCAPES.
UM, AND THEN NON PORTABLE REUSE THROUGH ONSITE WATER REUSE, DECENTRALIZED RECLAIMED, AND CENTRALIZED RECLAIMED.
UH, THE DETAILS ON HOW MUCH YIELD WOULD BE ACHIEVED FROM EACH OF THESE STRATEGIES IS INCLUDED IN THE SUBSEQUENT THREE SLIDES.
THIS PORTFOLIO ALSO INCLUDES WATER SUPPLY STORAGE STRATEGIES LIKE AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY, AND USING DECKER LAKE AS AN OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR WITH A LIMITED OPERATING RANGE, AS WELL AS USE OF INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE THROUGH LADYBIRD LAKE.
ALL THREE OF THOSE STRATEGIES I WANT TO NOTE ARE STRATEGIES THAT ARE RELIANT ON OUR CURRENT COLORADO RIVER AND HIGHLAND LAKES SUPPLIES, STRETCHING THOSE SUPPLIES SO WE CAN MAKE BEST USE OF THEM.
WE ALSO HAVE, UM, AS THE ADDITIONAL NEW WATER SUPPLY STRATEGY, A USE OF BRACKISH GROUNDWATER DESALINATION.
SO BRACKISH GROUNDWATER IS, IS GROUNDWATER THAT'S LOWER IN THE AQUIFER IN AN AQUIFER AND IS, HAS KIND OF A HIGHER SALT CONCENTRATION SALTIER WATER THAT NEEDS ADDITIONAL TREATMENT TO BE ABLE TO BE USED.
THIS IS OUR STAFF RECOMMENDATION FOR THE, UM, PORTFOLIO TO MOVE FORWARD WITH FOR WATER 4 24.
IT IS PRETTY SIMILAR TO THE PORTFOLIO THAT, UH, WAS INCLUDED WITHIN WATER FOUR 18.
HOWEVER, WATER FOUR 18, UH, RATHER THAN INCLUDING DECKER LAKE AS AN OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR MAKING USE OF AN EXISTING RESERVOIR INCLUDED CONSTRUCTING AN ENTIRELY NEW RESERVOIR, UM, IN 2070.
AND SO WE'VE GOT A LOT OF DETAILED BACKUP IN HERE AND WE'LL HAVE OPPORTUNITY FOR MORE QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION AND THE NEXT MEETING, BUT IF WE COULD GO FORWARD A COUPLE OF SLIDES TO WHAT'S NEXT ONE? OH, ALMOST THERE.
AND EMILY HAS DONE JUST A GREAT JOB OF, OF DRIVING US THROUGH ALL OF THIS, SO THANK YOU EMILY.
UM, THIS IS SHOWING KIND OF OUR TIMELINE AND TOPICS THAT WE HOPE TO UM, DISCUSS AT EACH OF OUR SUBSEQUENT MEETINGS.
WE ARE PREPARING FOR PUBLIC OPEN HOUSES ON AUGUST 27TH AND 28TH WHERE WE WOULD LIKE TO PRESENT AND GET FEEDBACK ON OUR RECOMMENDED WATER FORWARD 24 PORTFOLIO THAT WE JUST PRESENTED ON AUGUST 29TH.
WE ARE NOT PLANNING TO PRESENT NEW CONTENT ON THESE TOPICS.
WE ARE PLANNING TO HAVE FURTHER DISCUSSION OF THE TOPICS THAT WERE PRESENTED HERE.
UM, AT THAT TIME, UH, WE COULD, UH, WE ARE ALSO WANTING TO TARGET PRESENTING PRELIMINARY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE COLORADO RIVER LAND ANALYSIS.
UM, I THINK WE SHOULD THINK ABOUT THAT AND THE AMOUNT OF TIME THAT WE WANT TO ALLOW FOR TASK FORCE DISCUSSION.
UM, AND SO WE MAY WANT TO MOVE THAT TO THE SEPTEMBER 10TH MEETING ON SEPTEMBER 10TH.
WE WOULD BE TARGETING PRESENTING THE DRAFT WATER FORWARD PLAN REPORT AND A REVISED WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN WE'D BE PRESENTING AT THAT TIME, BUT WE'D BE PLANNING TO GET THOSE MATERIALS OUT TO THE TASK FORCE ON SEPTEMBER 3RD.
UM, SEPTEMBER 26TH HAS SOME ASTERISKS BY IT BECAUSE WE'RE STILL KIND OF LOOKING AT THE DATES AND WHAT WE CAN MAKE WORK, BUT THAT WOULD BE AN ADDITIONAL MEETING FOR SOLELY KIND OF DISCUSSION AND QUESTIONS ON THE PLAN REPORTS.
UM, TEN EIGHT, UH, WOULD BE A COUNCIL WORK SESSION, UH, WHERE WE ARE SCHEDULED TO PRESENT ON THE, UM, PLAN REPORT, UM, THE WATER 4 24 PLAN REPORT AND THE REVISED WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN.
AND UM, ALSO ON THAT DATE WE HAVE SCHEDULED A TASK FORCE MEETING WHERE WE WOULD BE REQUESTING, UM, TASK FORCE ACTION ON
[02:05:01]
A RECOMMENDATION TO COUNSEL ON BOTH ITEMS OR ON ALL THREE ITEMS, THE PLAN REPORT AND THE REVISED WCP AND DCP.UM, THEN THAT WOULD BE GOING TO WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION ON OCTOBER 9TH.
THE MATERIALS OBVIOUSLY WOULD HAVE GONE TO THEM EARLIER THAN THAT.
AND THEN, UM, ON NOVEMBER 7TH IS A COUNCIL MEETING THAT WE ARE TARGETING FOR POTENTIAL COUNCIL CONSIDERATION OF THE PLAN.
MADELINE, UM, FOR THE PUBLIC FEEDBACK AND RECOMMENDATIONS, DO YOU GUYS HAVE PRICE POINTS AND ANY KIND OF FINANCIAL STUFF ON HOW IT WOULD AFFECT CUSTOMERS OR ANYTHING? LIKE WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU PRESENTING TO THE PUBLIC AND WHAT INFORMATION DO THEY HAVE TO KIND OF MAKE THEIR BEST EDUCATED? SO RIGHT NOW WHAT WE HAVE IS, UH, LARGELY THIS CONTENT KIND OF HOW DID WE GET HERE AND WHAT STRATEGIES ARE WE LOOKING AT AS WELL AS SOME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, NOT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, BUT PRESENTING THE INFORMATION THAT IS IN YOUR PACKETS FOR HOW THE PORTFOLIOS, UM, SCORE RELATIVE TO ONE ANOTHER AND THESE DIFFERENT OBJECTIVES.
UH, THE QUESTION THAT YOU RAISE ABOUT AFFORDABILITY IMPACTS, SO IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE STILL WORKING THROUGH WITH OUR FINANCE TEAM ON, UH, POTENTIAL RATE IMPACTS FROM IMPLEMENTATION OF THESE STRATEGIES.
WOULD YOU GUYS HAVE THAT READY BY THE, THE PUBLIC? IS THIS THE ONLY PUBLIC FEEDBACK WITH BEFORE IT'S UPDATED AND EVERYTHING? OR IS THERE ANOTHER TIME WHEN THEY COULD ACTUALLY HAVE THAT INFORMATION? THIS WOULD BE, UM, OUR, UH, LAST SET OF PUBLIC OPEN HOUSES.
UM, AND THEN WE WOULD HAVE THE SUBSEQUENT PUBLIC TASK FORCE MEETINGS, UM, COUNCIL WORK SESSION COMMISSION AND COUNCIL MEETING.
UM, BUT UH, WE WILL BE WORKING AS HARD AS WE CAN TO GENERATE THAT TYPE OF INFORMATION AS YOU CAN IMAGINE.
IT'S JUST, WE'VE BEEN KIND OF TRYING TO PUSH QUITE A BIT TO GET ALL THIS TOGETHER.
AND I GUESS MY OTHER QUESTION IS HOW ARE YOU GUYS GETTING THIS OUT TO THE PUBLIC? LIKE, HAVE YOU CONTACTED SIERRA CLUB? HAVE YOU CONTACTED OTHER STAKEHOLDERS THAT SEND OUT NEWSLETTERS SO THAT YOU CAN REALLY ACCESS AS MANY OF BOSTON RESIDENTS AS POSSIBLE? OR IS IT JUST THROUGH YOUR PORTALS? SO, UH, SO FAR WE'VE HAD KIND OF, UM, WORRIED LEFT, BUT WE HAVE HAD, UH, MORE ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS WITH ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THE SIERRA CLUB AND SAVER SPRINGS, ET CETERA.
UM, BUT WE WILL BE ALSO SHARING INFORMATION ABOUT THE PUBLIC OPEN HOUSES AND, UM, THE KIND OF STATUS OF THE WATER FORWARD PLAN THROUGH OUR NEWSLETTER AND THROUGH STAKEHOLDER LISTS THAT WILL INCLUDE EMAILS TO ALL OF THOSE ORGANIZATIONS THAT, UM, LIKE SIERRA CLUB, SOSA NUMBER OF DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS THAT WORK WITH MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES, UM, COUNCIL, UH, NEWSLETTERS, SO DISTRICT NEWSLETTERS AND UH, OTHER, UM, ASPECTS LIKE THAT.
WE HAVE KIND OF A BIG LONG LIST OF ORGANIZATIONS THAT WE SEND, UM, INVITATIONS FOR THE PUBLIC OPEN HOUSES TO AS WELL AS OTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE PLAN.
HOW FAR AHEAD OF TIME, BECAUSE IT'S ALREADY KIND OF CREEPING UP.
SO WE, UM, WE'LL BE SENDING OUT OUR, UM, ANNOUNCEMENTS ABOUT THOSE PUBLIC OPEN HOUSES IN THIS WEEK.
UM, YEAH, JUST KIND OF A COMMENT.
UM, THANKS SO MUCH FOR PROVIDING THIS SCHEDULE AND I KNOW, UM, EMILY'S BEEN WORKING REALLY HARD ON GETTING THESE MEETINGS SET.
I COMMUNICATED WITH Y'ALL ON EMAIL, BUT I JUST WANTED TO REITERATE, UM, ON THE ORIGINAL MEETING SCHEDULE, THERE WAS TWO TASK FORCE, FULL TASK FORCE MEETINGS WHERE THERE WAS A NOTE THAT SAID AT ONE OF THESE MEETINGS, YOU KNOW, WE JUST HAVE MINIMUM QUORUM HAS SAID YEAH, SAID THEY CAN BE THERE AT ANOTHER, I THINK IT WAS MINIMUM PLUS ONE.
AND PERSONALLY, I DON'T THINK WE SHOULD BE SCHEDULING FULL TASK FORCE MEETINGS IF WE KNOW IN ADVANCE THAT AT THIS STAGE IN THE PROCESS WE'RE BARELY MAKING QUORUM.
BECAUSE I THINK PART OF WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE IS LIKE DISCUSSING WITH EACH OTHER AND LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER AND CREATING THE RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON THAT DISCUSSION.
AND SO IF FOR TWO OF OUR MAIN MEETINGS ABOUT PLAN REVIEW, RECOMMENDATIONS, APPROVAL, WE'RE SORT OF ADMITTING HALF THE PEOPLE WON'T BE HERE, WE'RE NOT GONNA BENEFIT FROM WHATEVER THEY HAVE TO SAY.
UM, THAT'S, THAT DOESN'T FEEL LIKE A ROBUST, HEALTHY PROCESS.
AND SO I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE WORKING HARD TO RESCHEDULE AND LOOK MORE, AND I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF CALENDAR LIMITATIONS.
I JUST WANNA FLAG, LIKE PUBLICLY, I'M VERY CONCERNED ABOUT SETTING FULL SCHEDULING FULL TASK FORCE MEETINGS FOR DATES AND TIMES WHEN WE, WE KNOW WE WILL HAVE A MINIMUM NUMBER OF PEOPLE THERE.
UM, 'CAUSE WE SHOULD BE GOING FOR DATES WHERE WE CAN GET
[02:10:01]
BENEFIT FROM, FROM HEARING FROM EACH OTHER ON THE MEETING.I MEAN, I AGREE THAT THAT'S THE IDEAL.
UM, I THINK THE REALITY OF PEOPLE'S SCHEDULES MAY MEAN THAT WE'RE NOT ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH THAT, BUT I, I DO, I MEAN I THINK THAT, THAT WE SHOULD WORK TOWARDS THAT.
UM, JUST RIGHT UP UNTIL THE POINT THAT EMILY LOSES HER MIND, SENDING US EMAIL, UM, ASKING ABOUT HER SCHEDULES.
I MEAN, I THINK I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU THAT, THAT, UM, THE MORE PEOPLE PARTICIPATING IN THIS, THE POSS BUT THE BEST, I DON'T KNOW HOW ELSE, I MEAN, I KNOW I'M KIND OF LIKE WORKING TO MAKE MY SCHEDULE WORK WITH THIS, UM, AND PRIORITIZING THIS AND I KNOW THAT EVERYBODY ELSE IS AS MUCH AS I CAN, BUT IT'S, IT'S, UM, I DON'T KNOW.
WE MIGHT NOT, WE JUST MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO DO IT, BUT MAYBE WE CAN GET MORE, WE, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO GET EVERYBODY HERE.
WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO GET, YOU KNOW, NINE PEOPLE INSTEAD OF SIX.
BUT, UH, I, I THINK THAT THERE'S SOME DATES THAT YOU SENT OUT, RIGHT? EMILY? SEPTEMBER 6TH INSTEAD OF SIXTH.
'CAUSE I CAN'T DO THE 26TH, BUT I COULD DO THE OTHER ONES.
I'M ONE OF THE PEOPLE THAT COULDN'T DO THE 26TH.
I DON'T THINK WE'VE EVER HAD 10 PEOPLE.
SO YEAH, THIS GUY'S GONNA CALL HIM FROM ITALY, SO, YOU KNOW.
IT'S LIKE A NINE HOUR DIFFERENCE, RIGHT? WHAT IT'S LIKE A NINE HOUR DIFFERENCE OR SOMETHING.
IT'S PROBABLY SEVEN OR EIGHT, ACTUALLY.
SO, UM, THAT IS THE END OF OUR PRESENTATION.
WE REALLY, REALLY APPRECIATE Y'ALL STAYING OVER, UM, A FEW MINUTES, UH, 16 MINUTES.
AND WE APPRECIATE ALL OF YOUR, UM, PARTICIPATION IN TODAY'S MEETING.
LIKE WE SAID, NEXT MEETING WILL BE PRIMARILY DISCUSSION AND QUESTIONS.
AND AGAIN, IF THERE ARE ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS THAT YOU, UH, WOULD LIKE TO SEND US IN ADVANCE, THAT WOULD BE GREAT SO WE CAN BE PREPARED TO HAVE RESPONSES.