[00:00:03]
[CALL TO ORDER]
UM, SO WE HAVE FOUR PEOPLE ONLINE, AND SARAH AND I HERE IN REAL LIFE AS WELL AS A BUNCH OF OTHER PEOPLE.OH, WE'VE GOT FIVE PEOPLE ONLINE.
CAN EVERYBODY HERE AND SEE NC? YES.
CAN YOU GUYS HEAR ME? YES, SIR.
UM, HONORABLE MENTION FOR PAUL WHO'S JOINING FROM ITALY.
LET'S HEAR IT FOR TECHNOLOGY AND DEDICATION TO THE CAUSE.
OKAY, SO LET'S CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER.
UM, AND WE HAVE, MADELINE IS GONNA BE JOINING US AS WELL.
SHE'S GONNA BE COMING IN, BUT SARAH AND I ARE HERE IN THE ROOM.
AND, UM, ROBERT IS OUT OF TOWN.
[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
COMMUNICATIONS? I BELIEVE WE DO.JUST SIT DOWN THERE AND YOU CAN TURN THEM ON RIGHT HERE.
UH, GOOD AFTERNOON, BILL BLIND, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WITH SAVE OUR SPRING.
UM, THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR SERVICE TO OUR COMMUNITY ON THIS VERY IMPORTANT WATER PLANNING TASK FORCE.
UH, REALLY APPRECIATE THE WORK THAT Y'ALL ARE DOING, AND IT'S, WE ARE BLESSED AS A COMMUNITY, HAVE SUCH EXPERTISE AND DEEP COMMITMENT TO THE WELLBEING OF OUR COMMUNITY THAT'S REPRESENTED BY ALL OF YOU.
UM, YOU SHOULD HAVE THE, THE THREE PAGE MEMO FROM OUR SCIENCE DIRECTOR, TANIA KAREEM.
UH, I HOPE YOU'VE HAD A CHANCE TO AT LEAST, UH, PERUSE THAT.
UM, THOSE ARE OUR BIG PICTURE POINTS, UH, IN THE MEMO THERE FOR YOU.
UH, I WON'T GO INTO THOSE TOO MUCH.
UH, I DID WANNA RAISE A, A PROCESS CONCERN THAT, UM, IT DOES SEEM LIKE THIS PROCESS IS MOVING VERY QUICKLY WITH SOME DEADLINES THAT I'M NOT SURE ARE, UH, NECESSARY, AND THAT I HOPE YOU'LL CONSIDER EXTENDING THE TIMEFRAME FOR THIS PROCESS AND DOING SOME MORE, UH, AGGRESSIVE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, UM, AND ALLOWING YOURSELVES AND THOSE OF US WHO ARE TRYING TO ENGAGE ADDITIONAL TIME TO PROVIDE BETTER INPUT.
I DO THINK THERE'S A LOT OF BEST PRACTICES THAT ARE OUT THERE, UH, FROM OTHER CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, ACROSS THE PLANET THAT WE SHOULD BE REALLY LOOKING AT AND TRYING TO INTEGRATE INTO OUR, OUR CONSERVATION AND OVERALL WATER SUPPLY PLANNING.
UM, AND I THINK TAKING SOME ADDITIONAL TIME WOULD ALLOW US TO, TO BETTER DO THAT.
UM, I DID WANNA REITERATE ON THE, THE LAND COMPONENT THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, THE ORIGINAL PLAN DID INCLUDE THE STRATEGY THAT WE WOULD RECLAIM BARTON SPRINGS, WHICH IS OUR ORIGINAL WATER SUPPLY, UH, AS A, UH, RECLAIM IT TO BE A, A COMPONENT OF OUR, OUR CITY WATER SUPPLY, UH, BY LIFTING WATER UP OVER, UM, TOM MILLER DAM FROM LAKE, UH, FROM LADY BIRD LAKE INTO LAKE AUSTIN.
UM, WHICH WOULD SORT OF BE ONE PART OF THE ONE KEY PIECE OF THE OTHER STRATEGY OF A POTENTIAL INDIRECT POTABLE RE OR, UH, NON-POTABLE REUSE, UH, OR POTABLE REUSE INDIRECT.
UM, THAT STRATEGY REALLY SHOULD HAPPEN UP CLOSE AND SOONER AND BE HIGHER PRIORITIZE, I BELIEVE MR. HOFF POWER, UH, MODELED THAT TO PROVIDE 7,000 ACRE FEET OR IN THAT RANGE, AS I RECALL FROM THE LAST EXERCISE.
UM, AND THAT FITS WITH THE LAND PROTECTION STRATEGY.
UM, THERE, THE REPORT THAT DR.
MACE DID AND HIS COLLEAGUES, UH, TELL US THAT IN FACT WE SHOULD DOUBLE DOWN ON PROTECTING MORE LAND AS WELL AS ACQUIRE PUMPING RIGHTS IN THE BARTON SPRINGS WATERSHED, UH, RATHER THAN SHIFTING TO THE PERELLA RIVER WATERSHED.
UM, AND I THINK THAT'S INCREDIBLY COMPELLING ANALYSIS THAT WAS OVERLOOKED BEFORE, UH, WHEN THIS CAME UP, UH, SOMEWHAT BEHIND THE SCENES BEFORE.
[00:05:01]
PAY ATTENTION TO THOSE.UM, THINK ABOUT TAKING SOME ADDITIONAL TIME FOR YOURSELVES AND FOR ENGAGING THE COMMUNITY IN THIS, UH, IMPORTANT PROCESS.
UM, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE REFERRING TO WHEN THE ORIGINAL PLAN INCLUDED, UM, RECLAIMING BARTON SPRINGS, WHICH WAS YOU, YOU MENTIONED PUMPING WATER FROM LADY BIRD LAKE TO LAKE AUSTIN.
I ASSUME THAT THIS IS THE INDIRECT REUSE EMERGENCY WATER SUPPLY STRATEGY THAT WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT QUITE A BIT.
AND THE, JUST TO CLARIFY THAT STRATEGY INCLUDES, UM, SEVERAL MULTI BENEFICIAL INFRASTRUCTURE COMPONENTS, AND ONE OF THEM THAT I THINK YOU'RE REFERRING TO IS A NEW INTAKE ON LADY BIRD LAKE.
AND THAT WOULD BE ACCOMPANIED BY NEW PALM STATION THAT WILL PULL WATER FROM LADY BIRD LAKE TO ULRICH WATER TREATMENT PLANT TO TREAT THAT WATER TO POTABLE DRINKING WATER STANDARDS WHEN IT'S AVAILABLE DURING, UM, MAINLY NORMAL OR AVERAGE CONDITIONS, UH, PRIMARILY OUTSIDE OF DROUGHT.
I BELIEVE THAT'S THE, UM, PIECE THAT YOU'RE REFERRING TO.
WELL, WELL, I MEAN, I THINK MY ANSWER IS DIFFERENT FROM YOURS.
I I, IT IS NOT A CO IT, IT COULD BE SERVED AS PART OF THE INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE, BUT IT WAS A FREESTANDING STRATEGY THAT THERE ARE TIMES WHEN BARTON SPRINGS IS PUTTING WATER INTO LADY BIRD LAKE, UM, WHEN DOWNSTREAM COMMITMENTS ARE BEING MET FOR INSTREAM FLOWS, SENIOR SUPERIOR DOWNSTREAM WATER RIGHTS, ET CETERA, THAT IF WE COULD, IF WE HAD THE PUMPS IN PLACE, PULLING WATER OUTTA LADY BIRD LAKE, WHICH IS FILLING UP WITH BARTON SPRINGS WATER FOR THE MOST PART, UNLESS WE'RE MOVING WATER THROUGH FROM THE HIGHLAND LAKES, UH, AND PUTTING IT UP INTO LAKE AUSTIN WHERE IT CAN BE PULLED OUT BY ULRICH AND DAVIS.
UM, AND SO THAT'S, THAT'S A FREESTANDING STRATEGY, WHICH I BELIEVE MR. HOFF POWER'S MODELING SAID THAT, UH, WE COULD GET 7,000 ACRE FEET OUT OF THAT, UH, SO THAT WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO BE PULLING WATER FROM LAKE TRAVIS TO FEED THOSE WATER PLANTS.
WE COULD BE USING THOSE BARTON SPRINGS FLOWS.
SO IT'S KIND OF LIKE A, LIKE, WELL, OKAY, SO I JUST WANNA MAKE, WE, WE DON'T NEED TO EXPLORE THIS A LOT, BUT, BUT I WANTED, I DON'T RECALL THAT BEING IN THE ADOPTED WATER FORWARD PLAN, BUT IT WAS INCLUDED AS A, A SLIGHTLY, YOU'RE CORRECT IN THAT THERE WAS AN INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE STRATEGY FOR IMPLEMENTATION DURING EMERGENCY SITUATIONS.
AND THEN THERE WAS A TIDE, BUT SEPARATE LINE ITEM FOR CAPTURE LOCAL INFLOWS.
UM, JUST TO CLARIFY THOUGH, THE WAY THAT IT WAS INCLUDED IN THE WATER FORWARD 2018 PLAN, IT, UH, WAS NOT LOOKING AT MOVING THE WATER FROM LADYBIRD LAKE TO LAKE AUSTIN.
THERE WAS JUST A NEW INTAKE FROM ULRICH TO, UH, LADYBIRD LAKE.
SO, UH, OR THE OTHER DIRECTION, THERE WAS A NEW INTAKE ON LADYBIRD LAKE THAT WOULD MOVE WATER STRAIGHT FROM LADYBIRD LAKE TO ULRICH WATER TREATMENT PLAN.
BUT, BUT THE SAME EFFECT, RIGHT? CLARIFY.
SO THERE IS AN, IN THE WATER FORWARD 2018 PLAN, THERE WAS A CAPTURE, LOCAL INFLOW STRATEGY THAT INCLUDED A NEW INTAKE, A NEW PIPE THAT WOULD GO INTO LADYBIRD LAKE, PULL WATER STRAIGHT FROM LADYBIRD LAKE, AND TAKE THAT TO ULRICH WATER TREATMENT PLANT.
SO IT COULD BE TREATED TO POTABLE DRINKING WATER STANDARDS AND WOULD GO OUT INTO OUR WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.
SO SAME CONCEPT, BUT THE, BUT THE INFRASTRUCTURE'S A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN WHAT BILL DESCRIBED, BUT SAME BASIC IDEA.
CAN I ASK ONE MORE THING? YES.
JUST 'CAUSE YOU GUYS HAD SENT THE 2018 COMPARED TO 2024 CHART YES.
AND THAT DOES HAVE A LINE ITEM.
IT SAYS INDIRECT EQUITABLE REUSE, CURRENT PARENTHESES INCLUDES CAP.
AND IS THAT WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT? THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, YES.
THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
AND I THINK WHAT BILL IS JUST SAYING IS THAT IN THE TABLES PREVIOUS IT CAPTURE LOCAL INFLOWS WAS AN A A A BOT A ROW BELOW IPR.
SO YOU COULD DO THIS CAPTURE LOCAL INFLOW STRATEGY, WHICH IN MY VIEW IS RECAPTURING BARTON SPRINGS AS A WATER SUPPLY WITHOUT DOING THE OTHER PIECE, WHICH IS TRYING TO LIFT WATER UP INTO LADY BIRD LAKE FROM THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS AT THE OTHER END OF LADY BIRD LAKE.
AND ALSO, YOU KNOW, I MADE NOTE OF YOUR OTHER COMMENTS AS WELL 'CAUSE IT WAS MORE THAN JUST THAT, BUT I WANTED TO CLARIFY THAT PIECE.
COULD YOU HAVE, CAN I JUST ADD ONE MORE THING AS THAT, AS OUR PART OF OUR CURRENT WORK, UM, RELATED TO INDIRECT PORTABLE REUSE? THAT'S, UH, THE SCOPING FOR THE NEW INTAKE AND PUMP STATION ON LADYBIRD LAKE IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE WORKING ON PUTTING TOGETHER
[00:10:01]
AND, UM, GETTING ONTO, UH, UH, AN ENGINEER, GETTING AN ENGINEER ON BOARD TO WORK ON THAT.UM, WITHIN THE NEXT MONTH OR SO, WE'RE JUST WAITING FOR THE ROTATION LIST, THE NEW, UM, LARGE DIAMETER ROTATION LIST TO BE LET OUT.
SO THAT WORK IS MOVING FORWARD.
UM, WE'LL HAVE, UH, A CONCEPTUAL PROJECT CONFIGURATION, UM, HOPEFULLY COMPLETED WITHIN THE NEXT, UM, FEW MONTHS AFTER WE GET THAT CONSULTANT ON BOARD.
AND THEN WE'LL BE MOVING INTO THE, THE NEXT STEPS OF THE PROJECT.
SO AS WE ARE CONTINUING, YOU KNOW, FULL FORCE ON IPR IMPLEMENTATION, THAT PROJECT, THAT PIECE OF THE PROJECT IS MOVING ALONG WITH IT.
AND IS THAT PROJECT, THE, THE SCOPING, THE, THE WATER COMING INTO THE PIPE THAT Y'ALL ARE BUILDING, THAT YOU'RE SCOPING? IT IS, IT IS WASTEWATER EFFLUENT FROM, FROM THE WATER TREATMENT PLANT AND LOCAL INFLOWS INTO LADY BIRD LAKE.
TO BE CLEAR, SO THAT WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE, RIGHT.
AND IT, BUT THE INFRASTRUCTURE CAN BE USED, JUST LIKE YOU HAD DESCRIBED, BILL HAD DESCRIBED THE INFRASTRUCTURE CAN BE USED DIFFERENTLY DURING DIFFERENT PERIODS OF TIME.
OF COURSE, DURING DROUGHT, IT'S, UH, LOCAL INFLOWS PLUS THAT, UM, TREATED EFFLUENT.
UM, AND THEN DURING NORMAL OR AVERAGE CONDITIONS, IT COULD JUST BE THE LOCAL INFLOWS TO LADYBIRD LINK.
UM, FINE, UM, FINE TUNING PIECE OF INFORMATION.
DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER PUBLIC COMMENTS TODAY? YEAH, COME ON UP.
I THINK YOU NEED TO PUSH THE BUTTON ON THE MIC.
UM, THANK YOU FOR RECEIVING OUR MEMOS ON THE CURRENT DRAFT OF THE PLAN.
UM, I HOPE SOME OF THE CONCERNS RESONATED WITH MANY OF YOU AND COMPELLED YOU TO PERHAPS REEVALUATE SOME OF THE COMPONENTS OF THESE PLANS.
AS THIS MAY BE THE LAST TIME TO EMPHASIZE OUR ISSUES, I WANNA URGE THE AUSTIN WATER TEAM TO EXPLORE MORE EFFECTIVE CONSERVATION AND DEMAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES BEFORE COMMITTING TO SUCH LARGE SCALE WATER SUPPLY INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.
UM, I ALSO WANTED TO NOTE THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, BILL HIRED ME TO ANALYZE THE TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF SOME OF THESE, UH, LARGE CITY PROJECTS AND PLANS.
AND I HAVEN'T PARTICULARLY SEEN AUSTIN WATER, UM, PROVIDE TRANSPARENCY IN HOW THESE MODELING RESULTS WERE, UM, DETERMINED, OR WHAT ASSUMPTIONS OR INPUTS WERE, UH, UH, USED FOR A LOT OF THESE, UH, MODELING ANALYSIS THAT ARE VERY, UM, IN A, IN A VERY HIGH LEVEL WAY, EXPLAINED IN THE WATER FORWARD PLAN AND WATER CONSERVATION PLANS.
AND I WOULD LOVE TO SEE, I THINK LAST MONTH WHEN I FIRST STARTED, I, UM, KIND OF URGED TO SHOW THE WORK OF, AND I'M NOT, YOU KNOW, DISCREDITING THE QUALIFICATIONS OF YOUR EXPERTS OR, UM, ANALYSTS, UM, BUT IT WOULD BE GREAT TO SEE THE BACKEND DATA, UM, AND TO REASSURE FROM A PUBLIC AS, UH, PERSPECTIVE THAT THESE ASSUMPTIONS, UM, AND METHODOLOGIES, UH, ARE NOT DONE IN AN UN, IN A, IN A BIASED APPROACH.
THAT BEING SAID, I DO WANNA EMPHASIZE, UM, AUSTIN WATER TO UTILIZE THE INNOVATIVE, UH, A MORE INNOVATIVE APPROACH FOR WATER CONSERVATION STRATEGIES.
UM, I THINK THAT EVEN IN THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND THE WATER FORWARD PLAN, THERE'S A LOT OF LANGUAGE THAT'S USED IN, IN A VERY DEFEATIST, UM, ATTITUDE AND TONE.
AND, UM, BEING A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER OUTSIDE OF WORK, I DEAL WITH A LOT OF DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS.
AND I THINK THAT EVEN IN A PERSONAL, UM, OPINION, AUSTIN WATER HAS NOT DONE ENOUGH IN REACHING THEIR CUSTOMERS IN A MEANINGFUL WAY.
AND ON A LIGHTER NOTE, UM, I DO WANNA GIVE AN ANECDOTE OF OUR CURRENT AND RELEVANT, UH, PRESIDENTIAL, YOU KNOW, UM, ELECTION WHERE KAMALA HAS VERY MUCH SUCCESSFULLY REACHED ALL LEVELS OF DEMOGRAPHICS IN JUST ONE MEME.
AND HER MEANING, THEIR MEANING THEIR TEAMS MEANINGFUL, UM, AND POWERFUL POTENT CAMPAIGNS HAVE REACHED PEOPLE LIKE MY 74-YEAR-OLD IMMIGRANT DAD WHO KNOWS WHAT THE TERM BRAT MEANS.
UM, AND I THINK THAT THAT LEVEL OF STRATEGY SHOULD BE APPLIED WITH AUSTIN WATER BEFORE, YOU KNOW, JUMPING TO LARGE, COSTLY AND VERY INVASIVE PROJECTS.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, UH, FOR YOUR COMMENTS AND FOR, UM, Y'ALL SENDING
[00:15:01]
IN WRITTEN COMMENTS IN ADVANCE OF THE MEETING.HOW TO Y'ALL? GOOD MORNING AND OR GOOD AFTERNOON.
I'M THE CONSERVATION CHAIR FOR THE AUSTIN REGIONAL GROUP OF THE SIERRA CLUB.
UM, AND MY WHOLE LIFE HAS BEEN FORMED AND SHAPED BY WATER, WHICH IS A STORY I WILL SPARE YOU TODAY.
UM, BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS LAKE TRAVIS, WHICH IS ONLY PART OF OUR WATER SUPPLY, UH, ON, ON SEPTEMBER 3RD WAS AT 46.6% FULL TO, IT'S AT 48.8% FULL.
I HAVE YET TO FIND A RECIPE THAT I WOULD EAT MUCH LESS SERVED TO MY GUEST FOR ST.
SO WHILE WE HAVE LUSH GREEN LAWNS HERE, OR THE CAPACITY TO BE SO, OUR FRIENDS IN ANO RECENTLY HAD A RAIN BOMB AND THEIR BUSINESSES AND THEIR HOMES WERE IMPACTED BY THE FLOODS THERE.
AND THAT'S HOW WE GOT THAT WATER INTO, INTO LAKE TRAVIS.
MEANWHILE, AT THE COAST, THERE IS ANOTHER TROPICAL STORM BREWING, PROBABLY GOING TO BE A HURRICANE THIS AFTERNOON, CURVING AWAY FROM THE TEXAS COAST.
SO WE DON'T HAVE TO PRAY THAT IT HITS, UH, AROUND CORPUS CHRISTI.
WE CAN'T KEEP HOPING FOR NATURAL DISASTERS FOR OUR NEIGHBORS SO THAT WE CAN HAVE A SOMEWHAT BETTER WATER SUPPLY.
WE HAVE TO LOOK AT CONSERVATION, WE HAVE TO LOOK AT REUSE.
LET'S GET MORE SERIOUS ABOUT OUR PURPLE PIPE PROGRAM.
NOT MAKE IT AN IDEA, AN OPTION, BUT A REQUIREMENT FOR ALL OF AUSTIN.
AND I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY LIKE BILL, AND I'M NOT A SCIENTIST LIKE TANIA, BUT I DO KNOW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WATER.
I'M GOING TO KEEP HARPING ON PURPLE PIPE UNTIL HOPEFULLY IT'S WATERING MY GRAVE SOMEDAY.
ALTHOUGH I DON'T INTEND TO BE VERY D UH, BE WASHING MY ASS.
IT WOULD WORK EITHER WAY, BUT MY ASHES DOWN THE RIVER.
OKAY, ARE WE, UH, PUBLIC COMMENTS? YEAH, I DON'T MIND.
I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO THAT, BUT IF YOU MUTE.
UM, IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO MAKE YOUR COMMENT AND I UNDERSTAND YOU'RE ONLINE.
CAN YOU HEAR ME? IS BOBBY THE 5 1 2 NUMBER? YES.
BOBBY, CAN YOU HEAR US? WE'RE READY FOR YOUR PUBLIC COMMENT.
WELL, I DON'T, WHAT DO WE DO NOW? I REQUESTED, CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? YEAH.
HELLO? BOBBY, WE CAN HEAR YOU.
SORRY I WAS MUTED AND I APOLOGIZE FOR NOT BEING THERE IN PERSON.
WE'RE UNFORTUNATELY HAVING TO, I'M SORRY, BOBBY KY SPRING LINE.
UM, WE ARE, UM, UH, RESPONDING TO ANOTHER WATER QUALITY THREAT HERE DOWN IN HAYES COUNTY.
UM, BUT UH, I JUST WANTED TO, UH, WE'VE SENT IN SOME COMMENTS ABOUT THE LA COLORADO RIVER LAND ANALYSIS.
I WANTED TO COMPLIMENT STAFF FOR TAKING SOURCE WATER PROTECTION.
THIS IS AN ISSUE THAT WE'VE ACTUALLY ADDRESSED IN THE PAST.
I KNOW BILL HAS, UH, SPOKEN ABOUT, UM, SOME OF OUR CONCERNS ABOUT THE SHIP FROM THE BARTON AND ONION CREEK WATERSHEDS TOWARDS THE PERNA.
UM, ONE THING I JUST KIND OF WANNA EMPHASIZE, AND WHAT I WAS TRYING TO DO WITH OFFERING SOME ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE WAS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT SOURCE WATER PROTECTION IS IMPORTANT AND IT IS IMPORTANT TO GET SOME POLICY DIRECTION ON HOW WE WERE INVESTING OUR FUNDS.
UM, SO I DIDN'T WANNA JUST STRIKE IT ENTIRELY FROM THE PLANTS, WHY THAT ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE IS THERE, BUT IT'S PROBABLY SOMETHING SINCE IT'S SUCH A SIGNIFICANT SHIFT AND THERE'S SO MUCH CONCERNS ABOUT IT, WE ATTENDED A MEETING WITH SEVERAL ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS THAT, UM, EXPRESSED CONCERNS AND QUESTIONING THE UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS MADE IN THE DATA ANALYSIS THAT I THINK IT MERITS, UH, QUITE A BIT MORE CONVERSATION
[00:20:01]
AND PROBABLY, UM, ENGAGING STAKEHOLDERS A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN THE, THE ONE MEETING THAT WE WERE ABLE TO HAVE ON IT.UM, THE, UH, ASSUMPTIONS THAT ARE USED KIND OF LEADS TO SOME LOGICAL RESULTS YOU'LL SEE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN WITH AS LIKE A PRIORITY FOR CONSERVATION.
THAT'S MOSTLY BECAUSE IT DOESN'T HAVE ANY FACTORS CONSIDERING THE, THE DEVELOPMENT LIKELIHOOD, UM, AND THE IMMEDIATE DANGER THAT, UH, SOME OF THE AREAS IN THE BARN SPRING ZONE TO TAKE THIS FOR DEVELOPMENT.
UM, AND ADDITIONALLY, I WANNA EMPHASIZE THAT THIS IS A GREAT STRATEGY OF WATER UTILITY IS GETTING IT BACK INVOLVED IN THE ACQUISITION OF IT THROUGH THE WATER RATES.
UM, RIGHT NOW, UM, THAT THE ONLY, UH, THE FIRST BOMB PACKAGE 98 WAS FUNDED BY THE WATER UTILITY REVENUE AFTER THAT IT WAS GENERAL FUND.
AND THE REASON WHY I'M RAISING THAT IS WE CAN'T JUST APPLY WATER UTILITY FACTORS FOR THE GEN USE OF THE GENERAL FUND BOND.
THE GEO BONDS HAVE MORE IMPORTANT, OR NOT MORE IMPORTANT, BUT OTHER IMPORTANT FACTORS THAT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED THAT AREN'T NECESSARILY FACTORED INTO THAT COLORADO RIVER LAND ANALYSIS.
AND THAT WOULD INCLUDE SPECIES PROTECTION.
SO, UM, I JUST, WE NEED TO JUST BE COGNIZANT OF THE SOURCES OF THE FUNDING THAT WE'RE USING, THE FACTORS THAT WE'RE USING, AND WE JUST NEED MORE DIALOGUE ABOUT THIS.
UM, IT, IT'S, IT'S GREAT FOR THE WATER UTILITY AS, UM, BRINGING FORWARD SOURCE WATER, UH, SOURCE SOURCE WATER PROTECTION AS A PRIORITY.
UM, I JUST, UH, THERE'S A LOT OF CONCERN ABOUT THE GENERAL SHIFT FROM, UH, BARTON AND
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR WORK AND LOOK FORWARD TO GETTING TO WORK WITH Y'ALL.
UH, AND UH, THANK YOU FOR CALLING IN TO MAKE COMMENTS WHILE YOU'RE TRYING TO DO SOME OTHER CITY WORK TOO.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS THAT WE HAVE? NO.
UM, CAN I ASK, I DON'T KNOW IF, IF WE CAN DO THIS, JUST TELL ME IF, NOT IF I'M BEING CUCKOO, BUT, UM, IS IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO SKIP AHEAD TO THE VERY LAST SLIDE, WHICH IS THE TIMELINE AND START WITH THE TIMELINE, WHICH IS OUR NEXT MEETINGS AND ACTIONS.
SO AS WE KIND OF LAUNCH INTO THE REVISED WATER CONSERVATION PLAN STUFF, WE ALSO KNOW KIND OF WHAT WE HAVE COMING AS FAR AS ENGAGEMENT.
I THINK IT'LL BE HELPFUL FOR FOLKS HERE THAT MAY NOT BE ABLE TO STAY THE WHOLE TIME TOO, BUT THEN WE COULD JUST KNOW AND THEN, THEN WE CAN JUMP INTO THE OTHER STUFF.
SO EVERYBODY, IT'S THE LAST SLIDE IN OUR PACKET OR YOUR PDF, UM, IF YOU'RE ONLINE, UM, UH, THAT'S WHAT'S NEXT TO MEETING TIMELINE AND TOPICS.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
FROM THE SPECIAL CALLED WATER TASK FORCE MEETING ON AUGUST 29TH.UM, HAS EVERYBODY HAD A CHANCE TO REVIEW THEM? THEY'RE IN OUR PACKETS PRETTY SHORT.
UM, DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES? I'LL MAKE A MOTION.
TODD, ARE YOU ABSTAINING BECAUSE YOU WEREN'T THERE AT THE MEETING OR YE YES.
I COME ABSTAIN BECAUSE I WASN'T AT THE MEETING TOO.
YOU, I JUST WAS TOLD YOU DON'T HAVE TO ABSTAIN IF YOU WEREN'T AT THE MEETING.
[Additional Item]
ABOUT THIS MEETING TIME, TIMELINE AND TOPICS.'CAUSE WE HAVE A BUSY FALL AND LOTS OF STUFF HAPPENING.
UM, IT'S GOOD TO GROUND OURSELVES AND KNOWING HOW ALL THIS IS GONNA COME TOGETHER.
SO, UM, JUST HOPPING FORWARD, UH, NEXT WEEK WE HAVE ANOTHER TASK FORCE MEETING ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19TH.
AT THAT MEETING, WE WANTED TO SHARE SOME PRELIMINARY RECOMMENDATIONS RELATED TO THE COLORADO RIVER LAND ANALYSIS, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT ALL OF THE FEEDBACK THAT WE'VE RECEIVED FROM STAKEHOLDERS AND OTHERS.
UH, WE ALSO WANTED TO DEVOTE A LARGE MAJORITY OF THE TIME TO GETTING FEEDBACK FROM THE TASK FORCE ON THE REVISED WATERFORD 24, UH, UH, ON A, UH,
[00:25:01]
WATER REVISED WATER 4 24 PLAN REPORT.AS WELL AS, UM, A FURTHER REVISED WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN.
UM, WE WILL TO BE ABLE TO FACILITATE THE TASK FORCES REVIEW OF THE PLAN REPORT DOCUMENTS, WE WERE THINKING THAT RATHER THAN HAVING A WHOLE NEW, UH, PLAN REPORT, WE WOULD EXCERPT CERTAIN SECTIONS OF THE PLAN REPORT AND SAY THAT WE WERE, YOU KNOW, POTENTIALLY GOING TO ADD IN A CERTAIN SECTION, UPDATE SOME TABLES, UM, RATHER THAN MAKING YOU DIG THROUGH THE PLAN REPORT DOCUMENT AS A WHOLE.
SO, SO YOU'RE SAYING YOU WOULD, WE HAVE THE PLAN HERE, THE DRAFT PLAN, AND YOU WILL SHOW US LIKE, WE'RE MAKING CHANGES TO THIS SECTION AND HERE'S WHAT THEY ARE VERSUS RIGHT.
HERE'S A WHOLE NEW THING TO GO THROUGH.
UM, REGARDING LIKE OTHER THIRD PARTIES THAT ARE INTERESTED, WILL YOU GUYS BE SAYING LIKE, WE COLLABORATED WITH SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO WERE TALKING ABOUT LIKE DRIP IRRIGATION AND STUFF LIKE THAT? 'CAUSE I THINK THAT'S KIND OF RELEVANT INFORMATION AS WELL TO KNOW HOW MUCH FEEDBACK HAS BEEN TAKEN IN FOR THE NEW PLAN UPDATES.
YEAH, SO I THINK BELIEVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS ARE ONGOING WHERE I KNOW THOSE CONVERSATIONS ARE HAPPENING RIGHT NOW, AND WE CAN PROVIDE REFERENCE TO KIND OF THE OUTCOME OF THOSE CONVERSATIONS AND CHANGES THAT HAVE, UH, COME ABOUT BECAUSE OF THOSE CONVERSATIONS.
SO SAME THING ON LIKE THE LAND CONSERVATION STRATEGIES.
I THINK WE'VE GOTTEN SOME GOOD FEEDBACK, UH, FROM STAKEHOLDERS, UM, EXTERNAL TO THE TASK FORCE.
AND SO I THINK THERE ARE SOME ADJUSTMENTS THAT WE CAN, CAN MAKE IN THE EXISTING SECTIONS OF THE PLAN REPORT TO TRY TO ADDRESS, UH, SOME OF THE CONCERNS THAT WERE RAISED.
OH, THANK, I WAS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE YOUR VOICE WAS COMING FROM.
UM, IT'S COMING FROM
WE HAVE NOT SEEN ANY COLORADO RIVER LAND ANALYSIS YET.
THIS IS THIS, THIS YEAR ON THE SCHEDULE.
THE NINE 19 IS WHERE WE'RE GONNA SEE IT FOR THE FIRST TIME.
SO WE HAD A PREVIOUS PRESENTATION ON THE COLORADO RIVER LAND ANALYSIS.
UM, IT WAS SOMETIME BACK, UH, WHERE WE PRESENTED THE, UM, OUTPUTS FROM THE INITIAL ROSTER ANALYSIS THAT WAS DONE.
SO THAT LIKE PURPLE MAP THAT YOU SAW IN THE PLAN REPORT MAP? UM, YEAH.
I THINK IT WAS LIKE A APRIL TASK FORCE MEETING.
I MIGHT HAVE MISSED IT ACTUALLY.
I'LL GO BACK AND LOOK AT AGO WHILE THIS JUST, THAT'S WHY I WANTED TO CHECK.
'CAUSE I THOUGHT I DON'T THINK SHE WAS ON, I DON'T, HE MIGHT HAVE LIKE JUST JOINED.
I KNOW I'VE GONE BACK AND FOUND THE RECORDING AND SHARED IT WITH SOME STAKEHOLDERS MM-HMM.
THIS IS GOOD TO KNOW BECAUSE I WAS JUST MAKING SURE THAT I WASN'T, AND I CLEARLY, I'M NOW BEHIND ON THIS, SO I'LL HAVE TO CHECK ON THAT.
AND, UM, YEAH, THANKS TO THE PUBLIC COMMENTERS FOR THEIR COMMENTS ON ALL OF THIS.
I WILL ALSO JUST SAY IN RESPONSE TO TANIA'S COMMENTS, I THINK WE CAN PROBABLY BRIDGE THE GAP THERE IN TERMS OF TRANSPARENCY, UH, ABOUT THE SORT OF BACKEND OF THE PROCESS.
BECAUSE I FEEL AS IF THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE TIME I'VE BEEN ON TASK FORCE, THE STAFF HAS BEEN VERY TRANSPARENT, UM, ABOUT HOW THEY'VE RUN THESE MODELS AND WHAT'S GONE INTO THEM AND WHATNOT.
TO THE POINT WHERE LIKE, YOU KNOW, I HAVEN'T EVEN UNDERSTOOD SOME OF THIS
SO ALL HAS TO SAY, UM, I THINK IT'S OUT THERE AND THE STAFF HAS BEEN MORE THAN WILLING AND EAGER TO SHARE IT IN THE PAST.
SO MAYBE IT'S JUST A MATTER OF, UM, FINDING, YOU KNOW, WHAT HAS BEEN PRESENTED PUBLICLY, PREVIOUSLY, UM, AND MAKING SURE IT'S STILL AVAILABLE AND ACCESSIBLE TO PEOPLE.
IS THAT CORRECT, MARISA? UH, THAT I THINK, YEAH, THAT'S YOU GUYS.
AND WE ABSOLUTELY WANNA MAKE THE INFORMATION ACCESSIBLE ON, YOU KNOW, THE, UM, WATER, UH, THE WATER MODELING THAT WAS DONE, MORE OF THE WATER AVAILABILITY MODELING THAT WAS DONE AS WELL AS THE COLORADO RIVER LAND ANALYSIS WORK THAT WAS DONE.
WE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO MEET WITH, UM, A FEW DIFFERENT FOLKS.
SO BRIAN JE FROM BARTON SPRING, UH, UH, SAVE BARTON CREEK ASSOCIATION, UH, BOBBY LEVINSKY FROM SAVE SPRINGS ALLIANCE, ROY, I BELIEVE YOU WERE IN THESE MEETINGS.
AND THEN, UM, A COUPLE OF OTHER FOLKS ARE IN THESE MEETINGS WHERE WE HAD, WE HAD TWO SEPARATE CONVERSATIONS ON THE COLORADO RIVER LAND ANALYSIS AND THEN THE WATERFORD PLAN.
SO I THINK WE JUST NEED TO SHARE SOME OF THE
[00:30:01]
INFORMATION THAT WAS, UM, THAT WE PRESENTED IN THOSE MEETINGS, UM, TO, WE ARE HAPPY TO FOLLOW UP AND SCHEDULE SOMETHING WITH YOU.THANK YOU GUYS FOR CLARIFYING.
JENNIFER, CAN I ASK A QUESTION ABOUT THE MEETING ON THE 19TH? ABSOLUTELY.
SO OF ALL THE MEETINGS LISTED ON THIS SLIDE, THERE'S ACTUALLY TWO THAT ARE WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE MEETINGS, ONE ON SEPTEMBER 19TH AND ONE ON OCTOBER 8TH.
UM, AND SO WHAT I'M WOULD LIKE TO DO IS DISCUSS WITH THE TASK FORCE, UM, WHEN WE WOULD BE TAKING ACTION AND DISCUSSING POTENTIAL REVISIONS OR AMENDMENTS TO THE PLAN AND THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLANS.
THE WAY I READ THIS, WE WOULD ONLY BE SET FOR ACTION ON OCTOBER 8TH.
IT SAYS TASK FORCE ACTION RECOMMENDATION TO COUNSEL ON WATER FORWARD 24 PLAN REPORT REVISED W-C-P-D-C-P.
UM, SO I JUST WANTED TO GET STRAIGHT, IF THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE WANNA DO, IS ONLY TAKE ACTION ON THE EIGHTH OR IF WE WOULD CONSIDER AMENDMENTS OR OTHER ACTIONS ON SEPTEMBER 19TH.
ALSO, I KNOW I'M GONNA PROPOSE SOME AMENDMENTS BASED ON WHAT I'VE SEEN SO FAR.
AND IDEALLY, THOSE, IF WE WERE ABLE TO TAKE ACTION ON THE 19TH, THOSE COULD BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT AT THE OCTOBER 8TH COUNCIL WORK SESSION.
THEY WOULD HAVE THAT FEEDBACK FROM US ALREADY.
THE WAY I READ THE SCHEDULE AT THE COUNCIL WORK SESSION, THEY'RE NOT ACTUALLY GONNA KNOW ANYTHING 'CAUSE WE'RE VOTING THE SAME, WE'RE VOTING THE SAME DAY AS THE WORK SESSION.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, TODAY WE'RE NOT POSTED FOR ACTION, WE CAN'T VOTE ON IT, WE'RE JUST GIVING OUR FEEDBACK TO THE WATER UTILITY, AND THEN THEY'RE GONNA INTERPRET IT AND PUT IT INTO THE NEXT DOCUMENTS, WHICH IS A GOOD PROCESS.
THERE MIGHT JUST BE ANOTHER LEVEL THAT WE WANNA USE, UH, COUN COUNSEL'S SCHEDULED TO, UM, ACT ON IT ON NOVEMBER 7TH.
JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT'S CLARIFICATION.
THE WORK SESSION IS A STAFF PRESENTATION, NOT NOT ACTION ON THE EIGHTH.
CORRECT? YEAH, I WAS JUST THINKING THAT AT THE STAFF PRESENTATION.
IF THEY ALREADY HAD SOME GOOD INDICATIONS FROM US VIA VOTES, THEY WOULD KNOW, THEY COULD ALSO SHARE THAT WITH THE COUNCIL THAT HERE'S WHAT THE WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE HAS DONE SO FAR.
I, I THINK THAT'S UP TO YOU ALL.
I MEAN, I THINK THE WAY THAT WE DID IT IN 2018 WAS WE ASSEMBLED ALL THE FEEDBACK AND THEN INCORPORATED INTO THE REPORT THAT THEN INTO THE PLAN THAT THEN YOU COULD VOTE ON.
UM, IF YOU WANT TO TAKE AN ACTION ON SEPTEMBER 19TH, IF THERE'S A CONSENSUS ABOUT THAT, SO THAT WE CAN TAKE THAT ACTION WITH US TO COUNCIL WORK SESSION, I THINK THAT'S FINE AS WELL.
I MEAN, HOWEVER YOU WANNA, HOWEVER YOU ALL AS A TASK FORCE WANNA DO THAT.
WE ARE OPEN TO, REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU DO, WE WILL TAKE ALL OF YOUR FEEDBACK AND MAKE EDITS TO THE, TO THE PLAN.
AND I'M NOT SAYING IT'D BE A FINAL UP OR DOWN VOTE ON THE 19TH.
I'M JUST SAYING LIKE, SAY WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE COLORADO COLORADO RIVER LAND ANALYSIS, HERE'S SOME, YOU KNOW, HERE'S AN ACTION ON SOMETHING.
WE WANT TO BE INCLUDED IN THAT PART OF THE PLAN.
AND WE JUST GET THAT DONE THAT DAY.
BUT OTHER MEMBERS MIGHT WANNA TAKE IT ALL ON THE EIGHTH.
WE COULD, WE COULD POST IT FOR POSSIBLE MAKE WHEN WE BUILD THE AGENDA, YOU KNOW, AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON, ON, UM, DEPENDING ON HOW THE AGENDA'S BUILT ON EACH OF THE ITEMS. MM-HMM.
THEY CAN BE POSTED FOR POSSIBLE ACTION.
IT MADELINE, UM, IS THE OCTOBER OR THE OCTOBER MEETING, THE ONLY MEETING, ARE WE GONNA CALL A SPECIAL MEETING THAT MONTH AS WELL? RIGHT NOW WE'RE THINKING THAT WE WOULD ONLY HAVE THE OCTOBER 8TH TASK FORCE MEETING.
UM, AND THEN THE NEXT TASK FORCE MEETING I THINK IS SCHEDULED FOR EARLY DECEMBER.
SO, SORRY, WE HAVE SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, AND THEN DECEMBER.
ROY JUST SAID THAT THEY'RE NOT DOING WORK SESSIONS WITH CITY COUNCIL ANYMORE.
IT, IT'S OUR EXPECTATION THAT WE'LL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT THIS TO A CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION.
[00:35:03]
OKAY.AM I TO UNDERSTAND, ON OCTOBER 8TH, WE'RE GONNA VOTE ON A AGGREGATE PLAN UPDATE FROM WHAT WAS DEVELOPED FIVE YEARS AGO, LIKE, UH, A FINAL THAT THIS WOULD BE A FINAL UP OR DOWN VOTE OR A RECOMMENDATION LIKE WE DID FIVE YEARS AGO FOR ALL THREE OF THESE PLANS ON OCTOBER 8TH? IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, TODD? THAT'S, THAT'S MY, THAT'S MY QUESTION.
I'M SEEING SOME NODS OVER HERE.
SO THAT'S PRETTY, SO THIS WOULD, IT'S A MONTH AWAY.
SO WE WOULD BE ASKING FOR THE TASK FORCE'S RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL ON THE WATER FORWARD PLAN, THE FINAL WATER FORWARD PLAN, AND THE FINAL WATER CONSERVATION AND DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN.
UM, I, I, I, FOR SOME REASON, I, I FEEL LESS INFORMED THAN I DID LAST TIME WE WENT THROUGH THIS PROCESS.
UM, I, I'M NOT SURE IF THAT'S MY FAULT OR IF, UM, THE INFORMATION IS BEING PRESENTED IN A DIFFERENT WAY.
UM, BUT, BUT I WOULD ENCOURAGE US TO UTILIZE SOME OF THE FORMATS THAT WE USED LAST TIME TO PRESENT BECAUSE I FELT LIKE WE ALL UNDERSTOOD WHAT WE WERE RECOMMENDING.
UH, AT LEAST BETTER THAN I UNDERSTAND AT THIS TIME AROUND.
UM, I THINK THERE'S, IT FEELS LIKE THERE'S A WHOLE LOT MORE INFORMATION THIS TIME.
PLUS WE'RE DOING A WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND A DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN CONCURRENTLY, UM, AND STILL TALKING ABOUT SOME OF THE PLAN COMPONENTS, LIKE THE LAND ANALYSIS.
UM, DEFINITELY, UH, I ENCOURAGE YOU TO, UM, I, I AGREE WITH YOU.
IT'S BEEN A LOT TO TAKE IN TO REACH OUT TO MARISA IF YOU NEED SOME HELP PUTTING ALL THE PIECES TOGETHER, BUT ALSO IF EVERYBODY'S KIND OF FEELING LIKE THAT TOO.
I KNOW THAT WE HAVE A 24, WHEN'S OUR NEXT SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING TOO? WE'RE TRYING TO DO ALL OF THIS BUSINESS THOUGH IN OUR FULL, FULL MEETING, BUT THERE MAY BE SOME CATCH UP IN THE SUBCOMMITTEE.
THE NEXT, UH, WE HAVE A WATERFORD 18 IMPLEMENTATION WORKING GROUP MEETING, UH, TOMORROW MORNING FROM 10:00 AM TO 11:00 AM OKAY.
WHO'S ON THAT GROUP? THAT ONE INCLUDES, UH, TODD, YOU ARE NOT ON THAT ONE.
THAT INCLUDES JENNIFER, PERRY, BILL, UH, HANEY AND PAUL.
AND THE NEXT 24 1 IS, LET'S SEE, I'LL HAVE TO FIND THAT.
AND I SAW BILL AND THEN PERRY AND THEN YOU WERE, I GOT A STAT GOING.
THE NEXT WATER 4 24 UPDATE MEETING IS OCTOBER 9TH.
IS OH, OCTOBER 9TH CURRENTLY SCHEDULED.
THAT ONE INCLUDES JENNIFER, ROBERT, UH, VANESSA, MADELINE, AND SARAH.
BUT IT'S AFTER WE, YEAH, JUST FOR THE RECORD.
I MEAN, AND THOSE ARE SET IN ADVANCE FOR, YOU KNOW.
JUST FOR THE RECORD, I WON'T BE ABLE TO ATTEND.
UM, BILL, YOU HAD YOUR HAND UP NEXT? YEAH, I, I DID, UH, WAS CURIOUS ABOUT THE MEETING TOMORROW, BUT THANK YOU FOR CLARIFYING.
THE ONE THING I HAD ASKED FOR IN OUR MOST RECENT MEETING WAS A SINGLE SHEET OF PAPER, SIDE BY SIDE COMPARISON OF WHAT WAS IN THE OLD PLAN VERSUS WHAT'S IN THE NEW PLAN.
AND I'M GENERALLY, UM, BEEN INFORMED THAT THERE'S VERY LITTLE THAT HAS CHANGED.
IS THAT SIDE BY SIDE COMPARISON SHEET STILL IN THE WORKS.
I THINK THAT WOULD HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE DOING.
UM, AND, UH, SO THAT'S A QUESTION UHHUH.
ALL THE COST ESTIMATES THAT ARE BEING PRESENTED IN THE PLAN, HAVE THEY BEEN UPDATED BY AN INDEPENDENT ENGINEERING FIRM? YES.
UH, THE COST ESTIMATES WERE UPDATED BY PLUMBER, WHO'S OUR, UH, CONSULTING ENGINEER THAT HELPED OUT WITH THE WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY CHARACTERIZATION, AND THEN THE SIDE BY SIDE.
AND IN GENERAL, DID YOU SEE SIGNIFICANT COST GROWTH FROM THE EIGHT 2018 PLAN TO THE CURRENT PLAN? YES.
WE, WE SAW, UM, FAIRLY SIGNIFICANT GROWTH IN COSTS FROM 2018 TO CURRENT COSTS.
UH, UH, JUST AS A NOTE PLUMBER DID USE THE UNIFIED COSTING MODEL IS A MODEL DEVELOPED BY THE TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD AND, AND USED BY TWDB AND THE REGIONAL WATER PLANNING PROCESS.
WE USE THAT FOR CONSISTENCY IN COSTING ACROSS ALL OF OUR STRATEGIES.
UM, I WOULD SAY THE, UM, COST INCREASED
[00:40:01]
ANYWHERE FROM, YOU KNOW, POTENTIALLY, UH, DOUBLE THE AMOUNT OF PREVIOUS COST.UM, WE SO YOU ARE SAYING THE COSTS INCREASED BY 100% IN SOME CASES, YES.
LET'S, LET'S, UH, I THINK THIS IS GONNA BE PART OF THE WATER FORWARD PRESENTATION, SO, BUT ANYWAY, SO LET ME GET MY LAST ANSWER ON THE SIDE BY SIDE SHEET OF PAPER.
THAT'S ALL I REALLY WANNA KNOW.
UM, SO IN THE PRESENTATION ON THE WATER FORWARD 2024 PLAN REPORT ON, I THINK IT'S SLIDE SIX, THERE IS A TABLE THAT SAYS WATER FORWARD 2018 COMPARED TO 2024.
AND THAT TABLE COMPARES OUR BUNDLED UP CONSERVATION STRATEGIES IN THE 24 PLAN, UM, TO THE WATERFORD 18 CONSERVATION STRATEGIES AND THEN OUR REUSE AND AND SUPPLY STRATEGIES.
THERE HASN'T BEEN A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN THE MAKEUP OF THE PORTFOLIO.
THERE HAVE BEEN CHANGES IN THE ESTIMATED YIELDS FROM STRATEGIES.
SO MAYBE, MAYBE IT WASN'T A GOOD IDEA TO REVERSE THE ORDER, BUT I JUST WANTED TO
UM, AND WE'LL GET INTO THE PRESENTATION IN JUST A SECOND.
UM, PERRY, DID YOU HAVE A QUESTION? AND YOU'RE MUTED IF YOU'RE TALKING.
I WAS READING YOUR LIPS, WHICH IS EASY TO DO WHEN YOU SAY NO.
UM, SARAH, YOU HAD A QUESTION? WELL, OR COMMENT TODD MENTIONED UTILIZING FORMATS FROM THE 2018 PROCESS THAT WERE HELPFUL TO UNDERSTANDING WHERE WE ARE AND WHAT WE'RE DOING.
AND I DON'T, I WASN'T HERE THEN, AND SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT FORMATS HE'S REFERRING TO.
SO THAT WOULD BE GOOD TO KNOW IF THERE'S SOMETHING WE SHOULD, WE COULD BE DOING DIFFERENTLY.
AND THEN JUST TO BRING IT BACK AROUND TO MY ORIGINAL QUESTION, ARE WE, OH, WE DECIDED POSSIBLE ACTION IS HOW WE'LL POST I I THINK SO.
IS IF THAT WORKS FOR EVERYBODY ELSE.
I JUST WANTED TO KNOW LIKE WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THOUGHT AND WERE, I MEAN, I'M NO EXPERT IN MAKING CITY AUSTIN AGENDAS.
UM, BUT, UH, BUT THEY DO CHECK IN WITH ROBERT AND I BEFORE THEY POST EACH TO SEE IF WE HAVE ANY FEEDBACK ON.
UM, AND SO I, I DO, I KNOW THAT WE USED TO PUT LIKE, AND POSSIBLE ACTION JUST, YOU KNOW, IN CASE WE WANTED TO TAKE ACTION ON THINGS.
AND I THINK WE KIND OF GOT AWAY FROM THAT PRACTICE.
BUT IF THAT'S A, AN ELEGANT SOLUTION TO THAT, THAT LEAVES US, UM, SPACE TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, WE TAKE SO LITTLE KIND OF FORMAL ACTION ON THIS COMMITTEE WHERE WE VOTE ON IT.
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW KIND OF LIKE THE PROCESS AND FORMAT FOR THAT.
MAYBE I CAN GET A LITTLE, UH, YOU KNOW, WE HAD A VERY FORMAL PROCESS LOSS ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION A HUNDRED YEARS AGO.
AND SO I JUST WANNA KNOW THAT WE'RE EQUIPPED TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT IN A, IN A WAY THAT WORKS.
WE WILL WE'LL SET UP THAT WE WILL WORK WITH YOU AND SET UP THE AGENDA IN A WAY THAT IT FOLLOWS THE CITY'S PROCESS AND ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER.
AND THEN YOU ALL WILL BE ABLE TO TAKE ACTION, UM, IF YOU WISH OR NOT.
TAKE ACTION IF YOU DECIDE NOT TO.
SO IS THAT, UM, IS THAT SUFFICIENT? YEAH.
AND THEN JUST FINAL QUESTION, WHAT'S THE PURPOSE OF THE NOVEMBER 7TH DEADLINE? LIKE WHAT'S, WHAT'S BEHIND THE DEADLINE FOR COUNCIL ACTION? I KNOW WITH THE WATER CONSERVATION PLANS, THERE WAS A DEADLINE TO TCQ AND WE FILED THE PLACEHOLDER PLANS.
BUT AS FAR AS WATER FORWARD 24, UH, IT HAS BEEN OUR, OUR GOAL AND OUR DIRECTION FROM CITY COUNCIL TO LAND THE WATER FORWARD PLAN IN 2024.
AND THAT IS, UM, THAT'S THE, UH, WE WOULD POSSIBLY COULD DO ONE LATER DATE, BUT AS WE BEGIN TO GET TOWARDS THE END OF THE YEAR, THEN WE, WE RUN THE RISK OF MISSING BEING ABLE TO LAND IT IN 2024.
AND WE'VE, I WILL SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, FOR ALL OF THE, AND I WANNA THANK EVERYBODY WHO HAS ALL OF YOU ALL WHO HAVE DIVED IN SO DEEPLY INTO THIS WORK WITH US AND TO STAFF FOR THIS TREMENDOUS LEVEL OF EFFORT, BECAUSE WE HAVE DONE A LOT OF WORK IN ORDER TO GET THESE PLANS TO YOU ALL WITH TIME TO, TO, TO MAKE CHANGES, TO HEAR YOUR FEEDBACK, TO ADJUST THEM.
UM, I REMAIN CONFIDENT THAT WE HAVE THE TIME THAT WE NEED TO LAND THIS, UM, AND WOULD LIKE, UM, YOUR SUPPORT IN, IN LANDING THEM ON NOVEMBER 7TH.
[00:45:03]
OKAY.UM, WELL, THERE'S TWO PERIES ON MY SCREEN NOW.
THAT'S, THAT'S DELIGHTFUL THOUGH.
[2. Presentation of Draft Revised Water Conservation Plan and Drought Contingency Plan]
OUR NEXT AGENDA ITEM, THE PRESENTATION ON THE REVISED WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLANTS.AND THEN WE'VE ALSO HAVE THE PRESENTATION ON THE DRAFT WATER FORWARD PLAN.
AND WE HAVE AN HOUR AND 15 MINUTES LEFT, SO I'M GONNA WORK ON THAT MATH WHILE YOU GET STARTED.
UH, HELLO, MY NAME IS KEVIN KLUGE, WATER CONSERVATION DIVISION MANAGER.
AND THIS AGENDA ITEM DISCUSSES THE CONSERVATION PLAN AND DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN, SPECIFICALLY WHAT WAS ADDED TO THE PLAN AND WHAT YOU SAW IN THE DRAFT, UH, THAT YOU RECEIVED ABOUT A WEEK AGO.
SO, UH, BEING COGNIZANT OF THE TIME, I'M GONNA TRY TO MOVE THROUGH AND DESCRIBE WHAT HAS BEEN CHANGED.
UM, BUT FEEL FREE TO INTERRUPT ME IF, IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION OR COMMENT OR IF YOU WANT ME TO GO BACK.
BUT I'LL BE TRYING TO MOVE THROUGH.
SO YOU, UH, TIME TO DISCUSS THE WATER FORWARD PLAN, IF I CAN ADVANCE THE SLIDES.
UM, AGAIN, THE BASICS, JUST TO PUT THIS SLIDE IN FOR PEOPLE WHO MIGHT BE JOINING US, UH, LATER IN THE PROCESS.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CONSERVATION PLAN AND THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN, BOTH ARE REQUIRED TO BE REVISED EVERY FIVE YEARS BY THE STATE.
THE CONSERVATION PLAN REALLY DEALS WITH THE ACTIVITIES THAT SAVE WATER DAY IN, DAY OUT, WHETHER WE'RE IN DROUGHT OR OUTSIDE OF DROUGHT.
THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN REALLY FOCUSES ON, UH, INCREASED ACTIVITIES, UH, WHEN THE RESERVOIRS ARE GOING DOWN AND WHEN WE ARE DIFFERENT STAGES IN DROUGHT.
I'M GONNA TAKE THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN FIRST.
THERE, THERE WEREN'T A LOT OF CHANGES IN THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN AS COMPARED TO THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, PARTICULARLY.
THERE ARE TWO SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES IN THIS DROUGHT PLAN.
FIRST OF ALL, THERE'S THE CLARIFICATION OF THE STAGE FOUR DROUGHT, UM, RESTRICTIONS FOR FUNCTIONAL NON-FUNCTIONAL TURF THAT WASN'T AS CLEAR AS IT COULD HAVE BEEN IN THE INITIAL DRAFT.
UM, AS YOU MAY REMEMBER, IN STAGE FOUR, AND THAT'S WHEN THE RESERVOIRS ARE DOWN TO 600,000 ACRE FEET, UH, AS REQUIRED BY THE LCRA DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN.
UM, THERE IS NO IRRIGATION OF NON-FUNCTIONAL TURF.
UH, AND THAT'S ESSENTIALLY PEOPLE'S YARDS.
UM, ANY AREA THAT IS NOT, UM, COMMUNALLY USED FOR ORGANIZED ACTIVITIES.
SO IN THIS NEW, UH, VERSION OF THE PLAN ON PAGE 17, IT CLARIFIES THAT I TRY TO MAKE IT VERY CLEAR IN THAT TABLE THAT THERE IS NO IRRIGATION OF NON-FUNCTIONAL TURF.
AND WE ADDED THE DEFINITIONS OF THOSE DIFFERENT TERMS THAT ARE IN CODE.
UH, SECONDLY, UH, REGULATION OF THE USE OF DRIP IRRIGATION.
WE HEARD THIS LAST, AT THE LAST MEETING, A NUMBER OF MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC COMMENTING ON THIS ADDITION.
I'LL GO TO THE SLIDE TO GO A BIT FURTHER INTO THIS USE OF DRIP IRRIGATION AND RESTRICTING DRIP IRRIGATION.
UM, THE QUESTION ALWAYS IS WHY DO WE WANT TO REGULATE DRIP? UH, FIRST OF ALL, ESSENTIALLY BECAUSE THERE ARE NO CURRENT RESTRICTIONS AT THIS POINT.
DRIP IRRIGATION CAN BE USED ANYTIME, ANY HOUR WITH, WITH NO LIMITS ON DRIP IRRIGATION.
UH, SECONDLY, LCRA RESTRICTS DRIP IN STAGE FOUR.
SO WE NEED TO MAKE THAT CHANGE IN OUR DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN.
AND THE AUTHORITY ALSO RECOMMENDS RESTRICTING DRIP TO DIFFERING LEVELS IN OTHER STAGES.
AND THIRD, IT SAVES MONEY, UH, FOR OVERRUN AND POORLY MAINTAINED DRIP SYSTEMS WITH LI LIMITED VISIBILITY.
WE CERTAINLY HAVE SEEN QUITE A FEW, UH, INSTANCES OF, OF POOR DRIP SYSTEMS, UH, IN OUR WATER, IN OUR IRRIGATION AUDITS.
UM, SO ANECDOTALLY, WE KNOW THAT DRIP SYSTEMS CAN BE RUN INEFFICIENTLY, PARTICULARLY IF THEY'RE RUN MULTIPLE TIMES A WEEK.
AND THEN THE FINAL BULLET THERE ON WHY WE'RE REGULATING DRIP REALLY IS TRYING TO GET AHEAD OF A PROBLEM.
UH, WE'RE PROACTIVELY LESSENING THE INCENTIVE, UM,
[00:50:01]
TO SENSE TO SIDESTEP WATERING RESTRICTIONS BY LAYING OUT LARGE FIELDS OF IRRIGATION UNDER TURF DRIP IRRIGATION RATHER UNDER TURF.UM, SO IT COULD BE USED TO WATER TURF ANYTIME ANY DAY.
SO WE'VE ONLY STARTED TO SEE THAT PRACTICE, UM, IS BEING UNDERTAKEN IN OTHER COMMUNITIES.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO GET AHEAD OF THAT, UM, PRACTICE.
UM, WITH THE NEW SMART METERING SYSTEM, ARE Y'ALL ABLE TO LIKE DIFFERENTIATE IRRIGATION WATER USE VERSUS LIKE HOUSEHOLD WATER USE? LIKE DOWN TO THE, THE BASE LEVEL WITH THE MY A TX WATER SYSTEM, WE CAN DIFFERENTIATE, UM, TIMED IRRIGATION AND I GUESS DOMESTIC USE, UH, FOR RESIDENTIAL.
WOULD THERE BE LIKE A WATER THRESHOLD OF LIKE AN EFFICIENT IRRIGATION SYSTEM VERSUS AN INEFFICIENT THAT COULD BE THE PARAMETER INSTEAD OF THE OVERALL BAND? SO LIKE LOOKING AT, IF YOU DO HAVE A VERY EFFICIENT SYSTEM, IT'S NOT TRIPPING A LOT OF THE IRRIGATION WATER USE BECAUSE IT, IT'S BEING A LOT MORE EFFICIENT.
AND THAT WOULD ACTUALLY PROMOTE THE INSTALLATION OF MORE EFFICIENT SYSTEMS COMPARED TO AN OVERALL, WHICH WILL KIND OF GET PEOPLE GOING TO MORE TRADITIONAL THAT MIGHT BE LESS EXPENSIVE IN, IN EVERYTHING 'CAUSE IT'S A BIT MORE COMPLEX AND JUST LIKE GOOD AND, AND BAD DRIP.
UM, IT IS A POSSIBILITY IN THE FUTURE.
YOU KNOW, CURRENTLY THE SYSTEM JUST MEASURES THE AMOUNT OF FLOW, UM, AND IT CAN, IT'S SENSITIVE ENOUGH TO SEE WHAT IS IRRIGATION VERSUS REGULAR USE IN TERMS OF FLOW.
UM, BUT THE QUESTION OF CAN YOU MAKE A DETERMINATION OF WHETHER IT'S AN EFFICIENT SYSTEM OR INEFFICIENT SYSTEM, UH, WOULD REALLY REQUIRE A KNOWLEDGE OF HOW BIG THE LOT IS, HOW MUCH OF THAT LANDSCAPE AREA THEY ARE IRRIGATING, HOW MANY DIFFERENT STATIONS.
UM, AND SOME AREAS IN CALIFORNIA ARE WORKING TOWARDS HAVING LANDSCAPE IRRIGATION BUDGETS, UM, BASED ON AERIAL, UM, ANALYSIS OF THE LANDSCAPE OF EVERY, EVERY SINGLE HOME'S, UM, UH, LOT.
UM, BUT THAT'S, THAT, THAT WOULD BE A NUMBER OF YEARS OUT IN THE FUTURE.
DID I ANSWER, SO LIKE QUESTION, IF THERE IS AN INEFFICIENT SYSTEM, WOULDN'T IT USE JUST SIGNIFICANTLY MORE WATER? WOULDN'T IT BE EASY TO KIND OF PEG THEM AS A INEFFICIENT SYSTEM? I THINK RIGHT NOW THE, THE GRANULARITY OF THE DATA THAT WE HAVE, LIKE WE DON'T KNOW HOW BIG THEIR YARD IS, RIGHT? AND SO IT'S DIFFICULT FOR US TO SAY YOU'RE AN INEFFICIENT SYSTEM VERSUS YOU'RE A LARGER AREA THAT YOU'RE IRRIGATING.
UM, BUT TO KEVIN'S POINT, UM, YOU KNOW THAT AS WE, LIKE, BY THE END OF THIS YEAR, WE WILL HAVE ALL OF OUR A MI METERS INSTALLED AND WE'RE ALREADY COLLECTING THE DATA AND COMMUNICATING WITH OUR CUSTOMERS AND WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OUR STRATEGIES FOR ANALYZING THAT DATA TO BE ABLE TO GET MORE GRANULAR IN, IN, IN THE AREA OF IRRIGATION.
SO RIGHT NOW, I THINK WHERE WE ARE IS, YOU KNOW, WE, WE WANT TO, UM, ADDRESS IRRIGATION OVERALL, AND TO DO THAT WE NEED TO INCLUDE DRIP.
AND THEN AS WE MOVE FORWARD INTO TIME, WE'LL BE ABLE TO GET MORE, UM, NUANCED IN HOW WE, IN HOW WE DO THAT.
UM, THEN ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE SLIDE, YOU SEE OUR PROPOSED AT THIS POINT, UM, WAS, UH, IS RESTRICTING DRIP, LIKE AUTOMATIC IRRIGATION ONE DAY PER WEEK IN ALL STAGES.
UH, AS WE'VE DISCUSSED AT THE LAST MEETING AND THEN A BIT EARLIER, WE ARE IN CONVERSATIONS WITH INTERESTED STAKEHOLDERS.
UH, WE JUST HAD A MEETING YESTERDAY, WE TALKED TO THE ARBORIST, CITY ARBORIST, UH, LAST WEEK.
SO WE ARE HAVING VARIOUS DIFFERENT DISCUSSIONS AND I THINK WE WILL BE ABLE TO COME BACK WITH YOU, UH, WITH A LITTLE MORE, UM, A NUANCED PROPOSAL THAT WILL ADDRESS SOME OF THE CONCERNS IN THAT IN THE NEXT MEETING, PERHAPS WE'LL SEE ABOUT THE TIMING.
UM, AND AS, AS NA ADELINE POINTED OUT IN THIS, IN THE NEXT DROUGHT PLAN, WE WILL INCLUDE THOSE DISCUSSIONS IN THERE AS STAKEHOLDER INPUT.
HEY, REAL QUICK, I, I DON'T WANNA GET BOGGED DOWN ON THIS, BUT JUST BECAUSE WE'RE, I SAW THIS THE TREE ESTABLISHMENT PIECE ON THAT LAST SLIDE, UM,
[00:55:01]
MAYBE THIS CAN, WE CAN BRING THIS UP IN A FUTURE MEETING OR YOU CAN SHARE INFO WITH ME OFFLINE, BUT I GUESS I'VE READ THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN AND THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN.NOW THERE'S SEVERAL ITERATIONS OF IT.
AND WHEN I SEE THINGS LIKE, AND I'M SEEING THE NUMBERS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE INCREASE IN IRRIGATION THAT HAPPENS DURING THE DROUGHTS AND OVER THE SUMMERS, UM, I JUST, I DON'T HAVE A GOOD GRASP ON HOW MUCH OF THAT IS ATTRIBUTABLE TO LIKE, LIKE YOU HAVE THEIR TREE ESTABLISHMENT, WHICH SEEMS LIKE AS SOMETHING GOOD SOME WE'VE TALKED ABOUT BEFORE AS LIKE IMPORTANT FOR AUSTIN TO MAINTAIN VERSUS HOW MUCH OF THAT IS SOMETHING THAT I MIGHT CONSIDER LIKE MORE WASTEFUL.
OR ROY, EARLIER WE HEARD HIS COMMENT ABOUT ST.
AUGUSTINE GRASS, LIKE HOW MUCH OF THAT INCREASE IN IRRIGATION DURING A DROUGHT OR HOT SUMMER MONTHS GENERALLY, UM, IS SOMETHING LIKE WORTH CONTINUING OR RATHER REALLY WORTH CUTTING BACK ON.
THAT'S THAT, THAT LIKE BREAKDOWN, I DON'T HAVE A GOOD HANDLE ON DESPITE SEEING SOME OF THESE NUMBERS AND READING THESE PLANS.
SO I JUST WANTED TO FLAG THAT 'CAUSE IT'S SOMETHING THAT I THINK ABOUT WHEN I READ THE, READ THE PLANS.
WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, UH, THERE WERE MORE CHANGES IN THIS WATER CONSERVATION PLAN.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WAS INCLUDED.
UM, THAT WAS JUST RIPENING LAST SPRING WHEN WE WERE PUTTING THIS PLAN TOGETHER.
UH, WE INCLUDED A DISCUSSION OF HISTORICAL GOALS, UM, WATER SAVING ACTIVITIES AND YIELDS.
AND I'LL HAVE MORE DETAILED SLIDES OF THIS AFTER THIS.
AND THEN WE REVISED THE 29, 20 29 AND 2034 GOALS.
AND, UH, WE TOUCH ON ENHANCED REPORTING ACTIVITIES.
SO GOING INTO A LITTLE MORE DETAIL ON EACH ONE OF THOSE.
WE HAVE A SECTION THAT WAS ADDED IN THE VERSION THAT YOU RECEIVED LAST WEEK DISCUSSING THE HISTORICAL GOALS FROM THE 2019 PLAN AND SOME OF THE FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTED TO NOT NECESSARILY NOT MEETING THOSE GOALS.
UH, WE TRIED TO KEEP IT SOMEWHAT BRIEF, UM, BUT TRIED TO PROVIDE SOME INFORMATION IN THE PLAN REGARDING THOSE PREVIOUS GOALS.
WE ALSO INCLUDED A SECTION ON ACTIVITIES WITH YIELDS AND MILESTONES.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS I INTENDED TO NOTE EARLIER IN THIS PRESENTATION, BUT I FORGOT, WAS THAT THIS IS INDEED A DRAFT THAT YOU HAVE BEFORE YOU NOT ALL OF THE IDEAS THAT YOU'VE MENTIONED TO US AND WE'RE TRYING TO IMPLEMENT THOSE IDEAS WE ARE ABLE TO FLESH OUT IN THIS PARTICULAR DRAFT.
SO WE ARE STILL WORKING ON THIS AS WE GO ALONG.
AND YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THAT IN TABLE 13, UM, THIS IS AN INTENT TO TRY TO, UH, MEET ONE OF THE INTERESTS THAT, THAT, UH, TASK FORCE MEMBERS HAVE HAD OF INCLUDING YIELDS FOR THE INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITIES.
SO OUR INTENT IS TO FLESH OUT THAT TABLE AND WE ARE WORKING ON THAT RIGHT NOW.
PART OF THE, UH, PART OF THE TASK IS ALSO IS TO COORDINATING WITH THE WATER FORWARD STRATEGIES TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE IN SYNC.
THE NUMBERS WE HAVE IN THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN ARE IN SYNC WITH THE STRATEGY YIELDS IN THE, UH, WATER FORWARD PLAN.
WHAT'S THE, THE TIMELINE FOR THAT AND EVERYTHING IF WE'RE TRYING TO, TO GET IT APPROVED BY LIKE NOVEMBER, WOULD YOU GUYS HAVE THAT STUFF KIND OF FLUSHED OUT BEFORE THEN? OR IS IT GONNA BE IN THE NEXT PLAN FIVE YEARS FROM NOW? LIKE WHAT ARE THE, THE THOUGHTS BEHIND? SO
UH, SO THAT YOU'LL HAVE THAT IN ADVANCE OF, UM, THE 19TH WITH ENOUGH TIME TO REVIEW OVER THE WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK.
SO THAT'S WHY THEY'RE LOOKING AT ME BECAUSE I'M MAKING THEM DO LOTS OF THINGS
UM, AND WE ALSO ADDED IMPLEMENTATION MILESTONES SIMILAR TO WHAT'S IN THE 20, UM, IN THE 2024 WATER FORWARD PLAN.
JUST GOING THROUGH THESE VARIOUS ACTIVITIES, AND AGAIN, I'LL TRY NOT TO SPEND TOO MUCH TIME ON THEM, UM, BUT FEEL FREE TO, TO STOP ME IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS.
UH, WE INCLUDED A SECTION ABOUT WATER LOSS, A BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT WHAT WE ARE DOING TO ADDRESS WATER LOSS.
[01:00:01]
IDEAS, UH, FROM DRAFTS OF A DRAFT OF THE BLACK AND VEATCH REPORT, UM, THAT ARE STILL ONGOING, UM, BUT SHOULD BE COMPLETED IN THE FALL.AND THAT'S ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE SCREEN.
WE HAVE A NUMBER OF IMPLEMENTATION ACTIVITY MILESTONES ON THE RIGHT FOR ALL OF THESE MILESTONE TABLES.
WE'RE STILL WORKING TO COORDINATE THE MILESTONES WITH THE PROGRAM AREA STAFF.
UM, I'LL BE, I'M TALKING TO THEM AND WE'LL BE TALKING TO THEM GOING FORWARD ABOUT THE ACTIVITY MILESTONES AND THE FISCAL YEAR TARGET.
AND WE'RE REALLY TRYING TO REFINE THIS TARGET YEAR AS THE TARGET THAT WE'RE GOING TO BEGIN THESE ACTIVITIES.
SO YOU MAY SEE CHANGES IN THE NEXT DRAFT OR IN THE NEXT EXCERPT THAT YOU GET REGARDING TARGETS IN MILESTONES.
AND YOU CAN SEE IT IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE.
THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT ARE ONGOING, SOME THINGS THAT ARE GONNA BE STARTING QUITE SOON, SUCH AS THAT SECOND ITEM LAUNCH A CROSS-FUNCTIONAL WATER LOSS TEAM.
UM, BUT THEN A GOOD NUMBER OF THESE YOU'LL SEE WILL BE IN 2025 AND 2026.
SINGLE FAMILY LANDSCAPE TRANSFORMATION, YOU'VE HEARD ABOUT THIS QUITE A BIT OVER THE LAST YEAR.
UM, THIS IS ONE OF THOSE ACTIVITIES REALLY GOING TO BE TAKING PLACE IN 2025 IN TERMS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF UNIFORM PLUMBING, CO UNIFORM, PLUMBING CODE REQUIREMENTS, AND AS WELL AS INSPECTIONS.
REALLY KINDA GETTING THOSE INSPECTIONS STARTED SOON, UM, OVER THE NEXT MONTH OR TWO, PROBABLY OCTOBER, BUT THEY'RE REALLY GONNA COME INTO THEIR OWN, UH, IN 2025 COMMERCIAL CONSERVATION INCENTIVES ACTIVITIES.
UM, AS YOU PROBABLY RECALL IN THE INITIAL WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, THIS WAS AN ACTIVITY THAT HAD REALLY SEEN VERY LITTLE RESPONSE OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS, BUT THIS YEAR WE HAVE SEEN A GREAT RESURGENCE OF THAT AND REALLY THINK THAT WE HAVE FOUND SOME OF THE, UH, KEYS TO ENGAGING COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS AND INCENTIVIZING THEM TO REPLACE FIXTURES OR INSTALL FIXTURES OR APPLIANCES THAT ARE ABOVE CODE AND CAN CREATE SOME SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS.
SO THAT'LL REALLY BE ROLLING THIS YEAR AND INTO NEXT YEAR.
RECLAIMED AND REUSE, SPECIFICALLY CENTRALIZED REUSE, UM, WE HAVE A NUMBER OF MILESTONES GOING ON, A NUMBER OF THAT ARE ONGOING, UM, IN NEW PROJECTS FOR THE PRO, FOR THE CENTRALIZED RECLAIMED SYSTEM, AS WELL AS CONDUCTING BENCHMARKING FOR ALL NEW COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMERS TO SEE WHERE THEY MIGHT UTILIZE RECLAIMED WATER.
OF COURSE, GO PURPLE TOOK PLACE THIS LAST SPRING.
AND FURTHER INTO THE IMPLEMENTATION MILESTONES, WE'RE GONNA BE COMPLETING THE CORE AT THE CIRCULAR CORE OF THE RECLAIMED SYSTEM OVER THE NEXT COUPLE YEARS AND TO BE DETERMINED AS A LONG RANGE RECLAIMED PLAN D DECENTRALIZED REUSE IS REALLY USING THE SATELLITE WASTEWATER PLANTS FOR NON-POTABLE, UH, REUSE, UH, ONGOING COLLABORATING WITH NEW DEVELOPMENTS, COMPLETE, UH, LONG RANGE PLAN AS MENTIONED BEFORE, AND DEVELOP INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING AND DESIGN GUIDANCE, HOW TO USE THAT RECLAIMED WATER IN THOSE DECENTRALIZED AREAS.
AND EVEN BEYOND THESE, THIS PRESENTATION AS WE GO THROUGH, THROUGH THESE SLIDES.
IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS, PLEASE LET US KNOW.
AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS, SO WE WANT TO ADDRESS THOSE AS WE CAN AS WE GO ALONG.
AND THEN ONSITE WATER REUSE, OF COURSE, THE GO PURPLE.
UM, A NUMBER OF THINGS GOING ON IN TERMS OF ACTIVITY MILESTONES BEYOND WHAT WAS PUT IN PLACE THIS LAST SPRING.
WE'LL BE LOOKING AT THE FEASIBILITY OF SUBSIDIZING, UH, THE, UH, DEEPLY AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECTS IN THIS NEXT FISCAL YEAR IN 2025.
AND THEN LOOKING AT ONSITE REUSE REQUIREMENTS FOR MEDIUM SIZED DEVELOPMENTS.
MY ETX WATER, WE'VE TALKED A LOT ABOUT MY ETX WATER AND THE POTENTIAL THAT IT HAS IN TERMS OF WATER CONSERVATION AND WORKING WITH
[01:05:01]
CUSTOMERS TO SAVE WATER.UH, WE ARE LOOKING, GOING FORWARD IN THE NEXT SEVERAL FISCAL YEARS, 25 AND 26, LOOKING FOR WAYS TO FURTHER ENGAGE AND EDUCATE CUSTOMERS AND HAVE THEM UTILIZE MORE FULLY THE DIFFERENT LEAK ALERTS AND THE USE OF THE PORTAL.
WE REALLY WANNA LEAN INTO THE COMMERCIAL CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT AND WE FEEL THAT THAT HAS A LOT OF POTENTIAL ON HELPING COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS ACCESS THE PORTAL.
AND WE ALSO WANT TO ENGAGE, UH, WITH OUR CUSTOMERS WHO IRRIGATE WHETHER RESIDENTIAL OR COMMERCIAL, UM, BUT WE FEEL THERE'S GREAT WAYS TO WORK WITH THEM, ENGAGE WITH THEM TO REDUCE THEIR IRRIGATION LANDSCAPE USE.
AND THEN WHY DON'T USE BENCHMARKING AND BUDGETING? UM, WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING ON THIS STARTING THIS NEXT FISCAL YEAR, AND THIS WILL REALLY CONTINUE OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL FISCAL YEARS.
UH, BENCHMARKING REALLY DEALS WITH GATHERING INFORMATION ON DIFFERENT CUSTOMERS, RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL, INSTITUTIONAL IN A, IN ATTEMPT TO DETERMINE WHAT IS A GOOD BENCHMARK FOR THOSE DIFFERENT CUSTOMERS.
AND WITH THAT YOU'LL BE ABLE TO DETERMINE WHICH CUSTOMERS ARE DOING A REALLY GOOD JOB WITH THEIR WATER USE AND WHICH ONES MIGHT NEED SOME ADDITIONAL WORK WITH THEIR WATER USE.
AND THE FURTHERANCE OF THAT BENCHMARKING ONCE YOU KINDA HAVE THAT DOWN IS, UH, UTILIZING BUDGETING, WHETHER IT'S MANDATORY BUDGETING OR, UH, VOL OR VOLUNTARY BUDGETING OR MANDATORY BUDGETING, UM, AT DEEPER STAGES OF DROUGHT.
SO ONCE YOU KNOW KIND OF HOW MUCH DIFFERENT CUSTOMERS MIGHT USE, THEN, THEN YOU CAN REALLY LEAN MORE INTO THE BUDGETING OF, OF WHAT, HOW MUCH THEY SHOULD USE.
SO THOSE ARE THE ACTIVITIES WE'VE INCLUDED, UM, IN THE CURRENT VERSION THAT YOU RECEIVED LAST WEEK.
UH, WE ARE STILL WORKING TO FLESH THOSE OUT IN TERMS OF DESCRIBING THE ACTIVITIES, DESCRIBING THE MILESTONES, AND DESCRIBING THE YIELDS OF THOSE DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES.
SO WE WELCOME ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS AS WE GO ALONG AND BE INCORPORATING THEM, YOU KNOW, WE'LL SEE WHAT WE CAN DO BEFORE THE NEXT MEETING, BUT CERTAINLY, UM, BEFORE OCTOBER 1ST, AS WAS MENTIONED BEFORE, WE HAVE REVISED 2029 AND 2034 GOALS IN TERMS OF TOTAL GPC, RESIDENTIAL WATER LOSS, UM, AND INFRASTRUCTURE LEAKAGE INDEX.
AND THEN FINALLY, WE, WE ADDED SOME ADDITIONAL TEXT IN THE CURRENT PLAN JUST TO DESCRIBE OUR INTEREST IN PROVIDING ENHANCED REPORTING ACTIVITIES, QUARTERLY REPORTS.
UM, WE CURRENTLY DO THOSE TO THE RMC RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION, UM, AND ARE LOOKING AT WAYS TO MAKE THOSE REPORTS MORE VALUABLE AND TO EXPAND THEM TO OTHER COMMISSIONS FOR THE PUBLIC.
AND THEN FINALLY, A, UH, CONCISE ANNUAL REPORT, UM, THAT CAN DESCRIBE WHAT WE'VE DONE OVER THE LAST YEAR IN TERMS OF LEADING MEASURES, UM, OF THE DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES AND PRO PROGRAMS. THANK YOU FOR THE REPORT.
I THINK THAT IT WAS A, A PRETTY GOOD OVERVIEW.
UM, AS FAR AS REBATES FOR INDIVIDUALS AND STUFF, WHAT KINDS OF THINGS ARE YOU GONNA DO TO KIND OF EDUCATE AND SPREAD AWARENESS ABOUT THOSE SINCE THERE WAS SUCH LOW PARTICIPATION IN THE PAST? I SEE THAT COMMERCIAL HAS THE INCREASED REBATE AND AUDITS.
IS THERE SOMETHING ELSE THAT Y'ALL ARE PLANNING? I FEEL LIKE THERE'S A, A MESSAGE THAT IS GETTING KIND OF MISSED AND I DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING IN HERE FOR WATER CONSERVATION ON THAT KIND OF MARKETING OF CHANGING PEOPLE'S ATTITUDES AND METHODOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF THEIR WATER USE.
WE CERTAINLY ARE, WE'LL BE WORKING MORE WITH MARKETING AS WE GO ALONG.
AND WE ADDED A DIFFERENT SECTION ABOUT MARKETING IN THOSE ACT IN THAT ACTIVITY SECTION.
AND BEYOND ADDITIONAL MARKETING, THERE ARE THINGS THAT WE ARE WORKING ON TO INCREASE, UM, APPLICATIONS AND INVOLVEMENT IN THAT, FOR INSTANCE, THE WATERWISE LANDSCAPE PROGRAM.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT IS TO REDUCE THE MINIMUM SIZE, UM, WHICH IS CURRENTLY 500 SQUARE FEET, WHICH IF YOU'RE A DO IT YOURSELFER, THAT'S
[01:10:01]
A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT DO IT YOURSELF PROJECT.UM, SO WE'RE LOOKING TO REDUCE THAT MINIMUM THRESHOLD TO 200 SQUARE FEET WITH THE HOPE THAT THEY CAN EITHER, YOU KNOW, BE ABLE TO COMMIT THAT AMOUNT OF TIME TO DO THAT AS A DO IT YOURSELF OR, UH, BE ABLE TO AFFORD THAT.
'CAUSE THAT'S ALSO ANOTHER THING WE'RE LOOKING AT ALSO.
SO THERE ARE A NUMBER OF THINGS WE'RE LOOKING AT PROGRAMMATICALLY TO INCREASE THAT EVEN BEYOND THE ADDITIONAL MARKETING.
BUT LIKE THOSE WOULD BE GOOD THINGS TO ADD ALSO.
WHAT'S NEXT POINT? DON'T THAT OUT,
AND THAT'S REALLY KIND OF WHAT WE DESCRIBED BEFORE, UM RIGHT, RIGHT.
UM, AS WE DISCUSSED BEFORE, WE'RE GONNA BE TAKING A WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND GOT PLAN IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE WATER COURT AND THOSE MEETINGS DISCUSSED.
OH, YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR MICROPHONE.
JUST AS WE DESCRIBED BEFORE, WE'RE GONNA BE TAKING THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN ALONG WITH THE WATER FORWARD PLAN TO ALL THE MEETINGS THAT WE HAD DISCUSSED BEFORE.
UH, IN TERMS OF RECEIVING COMMENT AND PRESENTING THAT FINAL REPORT BEFORE THE OCTOBER 8TH, THAT MEETING, I, I'D JUST LIKE TO ADD ON THE, ON THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THESE ACTIVITIES THAT WE'VE NOW INCLUDED IN THE PLAN, UM, I HOPE THAT THEY DEMONSTRATE, UM, TO YOU ALL AND TO ALL OUR STAKEHOLDERS.
JUST THE TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF EFFORT AND ACTIVITY THAT'S GOING ON AT AUSTIN WATER RELATED TO WATER CONSERVATION, UH, AND HOW HEAVILY INVESTED WE ARE IN, IN MEETING OUR WATER CONSERVATION GOALS.
UM, AND I'M, I'M EXCITED ABOUT OUR REPORTING.
I THINK THAT'S GONNA BE A REALLY VALUABLE ADD, UM, TO THIS.
AND WE WILL ALLOW US TO CHECK IN WITH ALL OF OUR STAKEHOLDERS ON A MORE REGULAR BASIS ABOUT MEETING OUR GOALS, BECAUSE I THINK THAT'S AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE BACK TO OUR CUSTOMERS, UM, IS, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S WORKING, WHAT'S AVAILABLE TO THEM, HOW CAN THEY PARTICIPATE, HOW CAN THEY DO THEIR PART? AND SO I'M, I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS PLAN.
I THINK IT'S GONNA BE, UM, I THINK IT'S GONNA BE A POWERFUL PUBLIC CONVERSATION.
DO WE HAVE ANY, UM, OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ON THIS? THANK YOU FOR THIS.
I KNOW WE'VE SPENT A LOT OF TIME ON THESE, UM, AS WE SHOULD.
UM, AND THERE'S A, SOME MORE UPDATES COMING AND WE WILL DISCUSS THESE AT OUR MEETING THAT'S NEXT WEEK.
BUT, UM, ANY OTHER, ANY THOUGHTS AT THIS MOMENT? UM, WE HAVE, IT'S ONE 14 TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE TIME FOR WATER FORWARD PLAN TWO.
I DO, I DID SOMEBODY HAVE THEIR HAND UP THAT I DON'T SEE? WHAT WERE YOU POINT OUT SARAH? UH, I HAD A COMMENT.
UM, SO WITH CONSIDERATION FOR ALL OF THE WORK THAT HAS BEEN DONE SINCE APRIL AND MAY, WHEN WE WERE REALLY TALKING HEAVILY ABOUT THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, UM, AT THIS TIME, I WILL NOT BE SUPPORTING THIS PLAN BECAUSE OF THE OVERALL GOALS.
AND I JUST DON'T THINK THAT THEY ARE REPRESENTATIVE OF WHAT WE COULD BE DOING WITH SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT INTO WATER CONSERVATION AND ALL OF THESE STRATEGIES.
UM, I THINK WE COULD BE DOING BETTER.
I STILL THINK IT'S OUR MOST AFFORDABLE SOURCE OF WATER IN THAT, UM, THE GOALS HAVE BEEN ADJUSTED SLIGHTLY.
I UNDERSTAND THAT IT LOOKS LIKE THEY'RE ABOUT FROM WHERE THEY WERE IN APRIL, BUT THEY'RE STILL SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT FROM WHERE WE THOUGHT WE COULD GET JUST FIVE YEARS AGO.
UM, SO ON ALL ACCOUNTS TOTAL GPCD, UM, YOU KNOW, FOR 2029, I THINK WE PREVIOUSLY HAD 106 GALLONS PER CAP PER DAY.
UM, AND YEAH, I JUST, I, I CAN'T SU SUPPORT THIS AS A, OUR, OUR BEST ATTEMPT AT, UH, WATER CONSERVATION PLANNING AND ALSO ON THE WATER LOSS,
[01:15:01]
GPCD.I'M NOT UNDERSTANDING WHY WE'RE CHANGING THAT SO SIGNIFICANTLY UPWARDS.
I DON'T FEEL LIKE THAT'S BEEN SUFFICIENTLY EXPLAINED IN TERMS OF, UM, WHAT COULD BE DONE TO DOING BETTER ON THAT.
'CAUSE THAT'S A BIG, BIG PERCENTAGE OF IT ALL.
UM, THE SUGGESTIONS AND THE THAT WE MADE AND THE ANALYSIS.
I JUST DON'T THINK IT'S GETTING US THERE.
LIKE I SAID, I WOULD LOVE TO SEE LIKE A LITTLE BIT MORE, I MEAN, YOU MENTIONED THERE'S A LOT OF ENERGY AND I'M GLAD, BUT ENERGY AND INVESTMENT MAYBE, YOU KNOW, ALONG WITH ALL OF THE NEW INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS THAT WE'RE WORKING ON, AS MUCH ENERGY AND INVESTMENT INTO THIS, I THINK IS WHAT WE NEED.
WATER CONSERVATION IS OUR HIGHEST VALUE WATER SUPPLY STRATEGY.
AND WE'RE, WE ARE ABSOLUTELY INVESTED IN PUTTING THE TIME, RESOURCES AND PEOPLE AND ARE ALREADY, UH, STAFFED UP TO DO THAT ON WATER CONSERVATION AND PUBLIC INFORMATION AND REALLY EXPECT TO HIT OUR STRIDE IN, IN COMPLETING THESE STRATEGIES IN THE COMING YEARS.
UM, I WAS, I WAS WONDERING, UM, AS THE PRESENTATION WAS HAPPENING AND, AND BASED ON SARAH'S CONVERSATION COMMENTS TOO, UM, WOULD IT BE APPROPRIATE TO PUT IN THIS PLAN OR MAYBE JUST TO PULL SOMETHING TOGETHER FOR THE NEXT MEETING THAT KIND OF, I KNOW, I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS THAT AUSTIN WATER'S INVESTING IN, BUT THE KIND OF LIKE INVESTMENT IN OUR CONSERVATION PROGRAMS, I THINK THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL ON JUST ON A, LOOKING AT THE BOTTOM LINE KIND OF BASIS.
UM, AND I KNOW THAT IT'S NOT JUST, UM, IN A VACUUM BECAUSE YOU HAVE A LIMITED AMOUNT OF DOLLARS AND YOU'RE HAVING TO PRIORITIZE DIFFERENT PROGRAMS AND DIFFERENT THINGS AND YOU KNOW, THERE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S BEEN SOME CATASTROPHIC WATER THINGS HAPPENED LATELY THAT YOU MAYBE HAVE HAD TO INVEST IN.
UM, SO, UH, YOU KNOW, KNOW THAT THERE'S A LOT OF CONTEXT AROUND THAT.
BUT, BUT MAYBE JUST 'CAUSE I THINK THAT IS A MISSING PIECE TOO, OF, OF KIND OF LIKE WHAT, LIKE REALLY CLEARLY ARTICULATING WHAT ROLE DOES CONSERVATION PLAY IN THE FUTURE WATER SUPPLIES FOR AUSTIN? LIKE, YOU KNOW, WE, AND I KNOW IT'S, IT, IT TOOK ME IN THE EARLY DAYS OF A LONG TIME TO KINDA GET MY HEAD AROUND WATER CONSERVATION AS A WATER SUPPLY BECAUSE YOU'RE LIKE, YOU'RE USING LESS, WHAT IS THIS? BUT, BUT IT REALLY IS LIKE, YOU KNOW, YOU COUNT IT LIKE AS A WATER SUPPLY STRATEGY AND IT'S A QUANTIFIED AMOUNT.
UM, AND THEN ALSO HOW MUCH THE, THE INVESTMENT IS.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT ISN'T KIND OF LIKE, OH YEAH, YOU KNOW, WE CAN PULL TOGETHER SOMETHING.
OR IF IT'S A REALLY DIFFICULT QUESTION.
I'M NOT TRYING TO MAKE WORK FOR Y'ALL.
BUT, UM, BUT THOSE MIGHT BE SOME HELPFUL LIKE, CONTEXT TYPE QUESTIONS JUST BECAUSE IN THE SCHEME OF THINGS, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT THE TABLES AND WATER FOR IT AND STUFF, AND YOU CAN DO THE MATH.
BUT IF IT IS LIKE, YOU KNOW, OUR PRIMARY, YOU KNOW, 15% OF OUR FUTURE WATER SUPPLY IS GONNA COME FROM WATER CONSERVATION.
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT AND WE'RE INVESTING THIS MUCH AND WE, YOU KNOW, WE'LL CONTINUE TO INVEST THIS MUCH, IT IS LOWER COST ON A PER GALLON BASIS THAN SAY, SOME OF THESE OTHER STRATEGIES WE'RE DOING.
SO, LIKE, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT THE NUMBER OF DOLLARS, YOU KNOW, MAYBE WE'RE INVESTING MORE IN BUILDING OUT OUR PURPLE PIPELINE, BUT THAT'S MARKEDLY MORE EXPENSIVE FOR EVERY GALLON.
BUT WE HAVE TO INVEST IN ALL DIFFERENT KINDS OF STRATEGIES.
SO I DON'T WANNA TRY TO COMPARE IT IN THAT WAY ON A PER, PER PER GALLONS, PER DOLLARS, PER GALLONS INVESTMENT.
BUT IT IS, WOULD BE GOOD TO KIND OF SEE SOME OF THAT.
I I THINK WE CAN PUT SOMETHING TOGETHER THAT ADDRESSES THAT.
I MEAN, I THINK, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE DOLLARS THAT WE SPEND ON INFRASTRUCTURE VERSUS THE DOLLARS THAT WE SPEND ON CONSERVATION REBATES, LIKE, THOSE DON'T NECESSARILY COMPARE, BUT WE CAN TALK TO YOU ABOUT THE STAFF RESOURCES AND TIME THAT WE'RE PUTTING INTO IT.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, KEVIN'S, UH, TEAM, HE HAS A LARGE TEAM THAT REPRESENTS A BIG INVESTMENT OF HUMAN CAPITAL THAT ARE FOCUSED ON WATER CONSERVATION.
SO I THINK THERE MAY BE SOME WAYS FOR US TO DRAW THAT UP FOR YOU THAT ILLUSTRATES OUR COMMITMENT TO WATER CONSERVATION.
AND I WOULDN'T EXPECT THE LIKE, MAGNITUDE OF INVESTMENT CONSERVATION RIGHT.
TO BE THE SAME AS THE OTHER ONE.
'CAUSE YOU KNOW, DIGGING UP STREETS AND REPLACING WATER LINES TO REDUCE WATER LOSS IS HUGELY EXPENSIVE.
AND THE, YOU KNOW, THE OTHER THING I'LL SAY IS THAT, UM, AND ALSO NOT ALL OF OUR WATER LOSS STRATEGIES ARE GONNA BE CAPITAL INVESTMENTS EITHER.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE, UM, WE HAVE, OUR GOAL IS TO HAVE ALL OF THESE THINGS MOVING AT THE SAME TIME.
AND WHILE WE DO HAVE TO BE, YOU KNOW, FISCALLY,
[01:20:01]
UM, UH, WHAT'S THE WORD I'M LOOKING FOR? CARE RESPONSIBLE.UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE FOCUS ON IN EVERY AREA OF AUSTIN WATER IS WHERE IS OUR MONEY? WHERE'S OUR CUSTOMER'S MONEY BEST SPENT TO REDUCE OUR RISK? AND, AND SO WHILE I APPRECIATE THAT, THAT OUR STAKEHOLDERS ARE AWARE OF THE FACT THAT WE HAVE COMPETING PRIORITIES, UM, WE ARE ALWAYS LOOKING AT THOSE PRIORITIES IN THE LENS OF HOW DO WE BEST REDUCE OUR RISK? AND THAT'S BOTH VERY NEAR TERM RISKS OF WATER MAIN BREAKS, ALL THE WAY TO VERY LONG TERM RISKS OF WATER SUPPLY, WATER AVAILABILITY.
AND SO, UM, FINDING THE MONEY FOR CONSERVATION IS NOT AT THE TOP OF MY LIST OF THINGS I'M WORRIED ABOUT.
WE WILL, WE WILL FUND THESE PROGRAMS AS NEEDED TO MAKE THEM SUCCESSFUL.
SO FUNDING IS IMPORTANT AND THEN LIKE HOW THE FUNDS GET USED IS ALSO IMPORTANT.
HOW THE FUNDS GET USED IS, IS THE MOST IMPORTANT.
UM, BECAUSE WE, WE WILL FIND THE MONEY TO, WE WILL FUND THE PROGRAMS THAT REDUCE OUR RISK THE MOST.
FIRST, UM, ON THE WATER LOSS SIDE, YOU SAID YOU'RE WAITING ON THE REPORT FROM THE CONSULTANT AND YOU SAID IT'LL BE COMING ON THIS FALL.
WILL IT BE AVAILABLE BEFORE WE GIVE OUR, YOU KNOW, STAMP OF APPROVAL AND SEND IT TO COUNCIL? 'CAUSE I FEEL LIKE THAT'S IMPORTANT DATA WHEN ANALYZING ALL THIS.
THANK YEAH, THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THAT UP.
AND, UM, SO, UH, I WAS TALKING TO THE TEAM, UM, LAST WEEK AND EARLIER THIS WEEK ABOUT THE PLAN FOR LANDING THE WATER LOSS REPORT.
UH, WHAT I THINK THAT IS GONNA LOOK LIKE IS THE REPORT PLUS AN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, UM, THAT WE WILL, UH, PLUS A COVER MEMO THAT IT, YOU KNOW, DESCRIBES WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO AND, AND THE FIND GENERAL FINDINGS OF THE REPORT, THE TIMING OF THAT.
UM, I, I NEED TO, UM, WORK WITH THE TEAM TO SEE IF WE CAN AT LEAST GET YOU A PREVIEW OF THAT BEFORE THE EIGHTH, UM, SO THAT YOU HAVE SOME, UM, VISIBILITY INTO, UM, INTO OUR PLANS THERE TO GIVE YOU SOME CONFIDENCE THAT WE'RE GONNA DO ALL THE THINGS THAT WE NEED TO DO.
UM, I DON'T THINK THAT THAT WILL BE TOTALLY BUTTONED UP, UM, AND READY FOR PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION BEFORE OCTOBER THE EIGHTH, BUT WE'LL, UH, LET ME, LET ME GO BACK AND THINK ABOUT HOW WE CAN GET YOU SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN HAVE SOME CONFIDENCE IN.
UM, ONE OTHER QUESTION KIND OF RELATING TO WATER CONSERVATION IS, I'M NOT SURE IF THIS IS POSSIBLE, BUT HAVE Y'ALL THOUGHT ABOUT FUNDING LIKE A FELLOWSHIP AT UT OR A, A GRADUATE SCHOOL SO THAT SOMEBODY IN ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY OR SOMETHING COULD STUDY WATER BEHAVIOR AND SEE DIFFERENT, YOU KNOW, STRATEGIES FOR THAT? BECAUSE THAT MIGHT BE A REALLY EFFECTIVE WAY TO SEE LOCALLY HOW PEOPLE'S ATTITUDES ARE AND WAYS TO CHANGE THOSE ATTITUDES USING LIKE, YOU KNOW, COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY OR, YEAH, I LOVE THAT IDEA.
UM, AND WE, YOU KNOW, THE CITY AND, UH, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HAVE A, UM, A MASTER AGREEMENT THAT ALLOWS US TO DO RESEARCH PROJECTS LIKE THAT.
UM, THERE'S A, I WON'T GO INTO ALL THE ONES THAT WE'VE USED IT FOR 'CAUSE OF TIME, BUT, UM, AUSTIN WATER HAS USED THAT SEVERAL TIMES ALREADY.
AND SO I THINK THAT MIGHT BE A GREAT AVENUE TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
AND IT COULD BE VALUABLE RESEARCH FOR THE STUDENT AND, YOU KNOW, SOMEBODY GET THEIR, GET THEIR MASTER'S DEGREE OFF OF THAT.
AND THEN, UM, VALUABLE INFORMATION FOR US.
SO, UM, WE'LL, I'LL TAKE THAT.
YEAH, WE, I'LL JUST MENTION WE USED IT, UH, WE USED THE INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT TO DEVELOP OUR CLIMATE AND HYDROLOGY, UM, FOR THE WATER FLOOR PLAN.
KEVIN GR AND AUSTIN WATER TO REINFORCE, UH, THE DIRECTOR'S, UM, YOU KNOW, AFFIRMATION THAT WATER CONSERVATION CONTINUES TO BE, YOU KNOW, ON TOP OF OUR LIST I WAS REMINDED BY OUR CFO THAT, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR GO PURPLE FUND IS IN OUR WATER CONSERVATION, UM, AREA.
SO THAT'S AN EXAMPLE OF $4 MILLION ANNUALLY THAT WE ARE PUTTING ASIDE TO ADVANCE ONSITE REUSE AS AN EXAMPLE.
SO LET US WORK ON SOME INFORMATION THAT MAYBE BETTER ILLUSTRATES, YOU KNOW, THE UTILITIES FINANCIAL COMMITMENT TO WARD THAT END.
AND CERTAINLY, UM, I THINK THERE ARE, YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE ARE OTHER OPPORTUNITIES THAT WILL COME UP AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO PURSUE THOSE.
DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING ELSE TO FOLLOW UP, SARAH? YOUR MIC'S ON? NO.
SO THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING WILLING TO GET SOME INFORMATION.
UM, SARAH, THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS ON THIS.
[01:25:01]
I, UH, IT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.IT'S, IT'S A BIG CHANGE FROM LAST YEAR AND IT, I MEAN, FIVE YEARS AGO, AND IT'S A MATTER OF
[3. Presentation of Draft Water Forward 2024 Plan Report ]
MOVE ON TO THE DRAFT WATER FORWARD PLAN.WE'LL JUST GIVE IT A MINUTE FOR THE SLIDES TO COME UP.
AND PERRY, I KNOW THAT YOU HAVE TO HOP OFF AT ONE 30, BUT WE ARE FLUSH WITH PEOPLE, SO, UM, AND HAVE FOLKS FOR QUORUM.
SO JUST DROP OFF WHENEVER YOU NEED TO AND THANKS FOR BEING HERE.
SO OUR, EMILY GAVE ME THE TIP.
THERE'S QUITE A LAG HERE WITH THE CLICKER AND THE MOVEMENT OF THE SLIDES.
SO I'M GOING TO PAUSE FOR THREE SECONDS AFTER I CLICK THE BUTTON JUST IN CASE YOU'RE WONDERING,
SO OUR AGENDA FOR THIS PRESENTATION, WE WANTED TO PROVIDE AN ORIENTATION TO THE DRAFT PLAN, REPORT DOCUMENT, TALK ABOUT THE REPORT LAYOUT, THE WATERFORD STRATEGIES THAT ARE INCLUDED IN THE PLAN AND HOW THEY'RE DESCRIBED, AS WELL AS THE IMPLEMENTATION PLANNING IN THE REPORT.
WE THEN WANTED TO TALK ABOUT NEXT STEPS.
I FEEL LIKE WE CAN REVISIT THAT CONVERSATION, WHAT WE HAVE, UM, DISCUSSED TO A CERTAIN EXTENT ALREADY, WHAT IS COMING UP IN THE NEXT MEETINGS, AND THEN, UM, IF WE HAVE TIME, SOME QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION.
ALTHOUGH WE ARE WANTING TO USE A GOOD AMOUNT OF TIME NEXT MEETING FOR QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION.
SO JUST KNOW IF WE DON'T GET ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS IN TODAY, THAT'S WHAT NEXT THURSDAY'S MEETING IS FOR.
DO WE NEED TO CONSIDER A LITTLE ADDITIONAL TIME SINCE WE HAVE A LOT OF CONTENT TO COVER NEXT WEEK AND, AND, UM, AND, YOU KNOW, I WOULD LIKE TO GET IT COVERED IN TWO HOURS.
I CAN STOP TRYING TO FIND WORDS.
THE REALLY NICE THING ABOUT USING THIS ROOM IS THAT WE GET FIRST PRIORITY, SO YEAH.
AND SO THE DIRECTOR SAYS WE GET FIRST PRIORITY, SO THE MEETING ROOM IS NOT AN ISSUE.
I GUESS IT WOULD JUST BE MORE IF THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS HAVE AVAILABILITY TO STAY FOR LONGER.
AND I'M CERTAINLY NOT SUGGESTING THAT WE HAVE A MORE THAN TWO HOUR MEETING.
BUT WE'RE DOWN TO THE WIRE HERE AND IF WE NEED MORE TIME TO DISCUSS, I WAS JUST WONDERING IF WE HAVE THE YEP.
I SHOULD LOOK AT MY CALENDAR, BUT STILL.
STAFF IS AVAILABLE AND THE ROOM IS AVAILABLE.
SO, UM, OUR DRAFT PLAN REPORT DOCUMENT, UH, IS, UH, INCLUDES A TABLE OF CONTENTS THAT LISTS OUT THE VARIOUS CHAPTERS.
UM, THERE WILL BE APPENDICES ACCOMPANYING THIS PLAN REPORT.
THE PURPOSE OF THIS SHORTER REPORT WAS TO TRY TO CREATE A REPORT THAT IS MORE ACCESSIBLE, UH, THAN THE PLAN APPENDICES.
AND THEN THE PREVIOUS PLAN, THE PREVIOUS PLAN, THE BODY OF THE PLAN REPORT WAS ABOUT 150 PAGES.
I THINK OVERALL WITH THE APPENDICES, IT'S OVER 500 PAGES.
WE WERE AIMING FOR A SHORT REPORT THAT IS WITHIN 40 TO 60 PAGES, AND THEN INCLUDING MORE DETAIL IN THE APPENDICES.
THE APPENDICES, I ESTIMATE RIGHT NOW WILL BE AT ANOTHER 300 TO 400 PAGES.
UM, BUT WE WANTED TO GET OUT THE SHORT REPORT TO Y'ALL AND REALLY HAVE THAT BE THE FOCUS, BECAUSE WE DO WANT THIS TO BE ACCESSIBLE FOR PEOPLE TO READ AND UNDERSTAND WHAT'S IN THE PLAN.
SO I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND SKIP AHEAD A FEW CHAPTERS TO CHAPTER FIVE.
THE PREVIOUS CHAPTERS ARE MORE HOW WE CREATED THE PLAN, SOME BACKGROUND AND INFORMATION ABOUT AUSTIN AND AUSTIN WATER.
UM, THE, UH, MAIN CONTENT OF THE PLAN IS IN CHAPTER FIVE AND CHAPTER SIX.
CHAPTER FIVE IS A SUMMARY OF FUTURE WATER STRATEGIES.
[01:30:01]
IT INCLUDES THE, THE CONSERVATION, REUSE AND SUPPLY STRATEGIES IN THE PREFERRED PORTFOLIO, AS WELL AS A LISTING OF BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES, PRIMARILY DERIVED FROM TASK FORCE INPUT.AND, UH, IT INCLUDES A, A, A HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW OF POTENTIAL LAND CONSERVATION STRATEGIES FOR THE SUPPLY, REUSE AND CONSERVATION STRATEGIES.
EACH OF THE STRATEGIES INCLUDES A HIGH LEVEL DESCRIPTION, A TABLE WITH ANNUAL DEAL TARGETS PER DECADE, A TABLE SHOWING TOTAL CAPITAL COSTS AND ANNUAL COSTS THAT INCLUDE OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE AND DEBT SERVICE, AND A TABLE OF FIVE-YEAR IMPLEMENTATION ACTIONS.
NOT ALL OF THE STRATEGIES ARE INTENDED TO BE IMPLEMENTED WITHIN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, BUT THERE IS A GOOD DEAL OF WORK TO BE DONE TO SET THE STAGE FOR EVEN THOSE STRATEGIES THAT ARE INTENDED TO BE IMPLEMENTED FAR OUT INTO THE FUTURE.
THIS IS A SUMMARY OF THE WATER FORWARD 2024 STRATEGIES.
ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE TABLE, THERE ARE GROUPINGS OF STRATEGIES IN TERMS OF CONSERVATION, NON-POTABLE WATER REUSE, AND POTABLE WATER SUPPLY.
THE, AT THE BOTTOM OF EACH GROUPING, THERE IS A SUBTOTAL, AND THEN THE OVERALL TOTAL IS RIGHT ON TOP OF THE LAST BLUE BAR THAT YOU SEE IN THE TABLE.
CURRENT SUPPLIES JUST REFERS TO THE CURRENT PORTFOLIO OF OF WATER SUPPLIES THAT, UM, AUSTIN WATER HAS.
IN TERMS OF OUR COLORADO RIVER AND HIGHLAND LAKE SUPPLIES AND THE CURRENT YIELD FROM OUR DECENTRALIZED AND CENTRALIZED RECLAIM WATER SYSTEMS. THE, UH, YIELDS HERE ARE SHOWN AN ACRE FEET PER YEAR, AND THEY'RE INTENDED TO SHOW THE SAVE, UH, THE SAVINGS OR SUPPLY AS A SNAPSHOT WITHIN THAT YEAR.
SO HOW MUCH SAVINGS OR SUPPLY EACH OF THE STRATEGIES PROVIDES WITHIN THAT YEAR, UM, RATHER THAN A CUMULATIVE TOTAL THAT BUILDS UP OVER THE, THE 50 YEARS.
UM, THE FURTHEST RIGHT COLUMN OF THIS TABLE IS THE TOTAL ANNUAL COMMUNITY COST IN TERMS OF DOLLARS PER ACRE, FOOT OF WATER PER YEAR.
THERE'S A NOTE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TABLE THAT CLARIFIES THAT WE HAVE INCLUDED BOTH THE UTILITY COST AS WELL AS THE CUSTOMER COST.
SO AS AN EXAMPLE, THAT UTILITY COSTS COULD INCLUDE, UH, CAPITAL DOLLARS THAT ARE SPENT, UM, OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE, UH, DOLLARS THAT ARE REQUIRED.
AND THE CUSTOMER COST COULD INCLUDE THE COST, FOR EXAMPLE, UH, TO REPLACE, UM, TURF WITH NATIVE OR EFFICIENT LANDSCAPES.
WE RECEIVED FEEDBACK IN THE LAST PLANNING PROCESS THAT WE DIDN'T, UH, THAT WE WANTED TO INCLUDE THAT COST THAT WAS BORN ON THE CUSTOMER SIDE AS WELL, TO HAVE A FULL PICTURE OF THE COST, UM, FOR LIKE ACCESSIBILITY PURPOSES, ACRE FOOT PER YEAR.
'CAUSE I'VE HEARD IT A LOT AND I UNDERSTAND IT.
BUT LIKE, IF I WERE TO SHOW MY FRIENDS THIS AND HAVE THEM, UM, GO ONTO THE WEBSITE AND LOOK AT THIS, THEY'D PROBABLY BE A LITTLE LOST.
DO YOU GUYS HAVE A, A DEFINITION OF THAT AND HOW THAT KIND OF FALLS IN ANYWHERE? THAT WOULD BE EASILY FOUND.
I KNOW THAT MUST HAVE BEEN A LOT OF WORK.
I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
LOOKS LIKE BILL HAS HIS HAND OUT.
OH, I'M SORRY, BILL, GO AHEAD.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO BUY WATER FROM LCRA TODAY? I BELIEVE IT'S $155 PER ACRE FOOT.
UM, IS, SHOULD WE BE CONSIDERING A, A STRATEGY OF BUYING MORE WATER RIGHTS IN THE HIGHLAND LAKES?
[01:35:02]
SO, KEVIN CRIT, LET ME, UM, I JUST WANNA CLARIFY.SO RA'S CURRENT RAW WATER RATE IS AROUND 150, $160 AN ACRE FOOT.
THE CITY OF AUSTIN DOES NOT PAY WE PREPAID FOR OUR WATER SUPPLY, UM, BACK IN THE 1999 TIMEFRAME.
UM, SO I JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY THAT PARTICULAR POINT.
I MEAN, IT, IT'S, IT'S PROBABLY A GOOD COMPARISON FOR WHAT IT WOULD COST TO BUY WATER.
SO THAT MAY BE WHERE YOU'RE HEADED.
I JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY THAT LAST STATEMENT.
YEAH, I'M JUST SEEING THESE THOUSANDS PER ACRE FOOT, WHICH IS PRETTY EXPENSIVE IN MY WORLD, AND I REALIZE THAT WE'RE NOWHERE NEAR USING OUR ANNUAL ALLOTMENT OUT OF LCRA, BUT EVERY DAY THESE OTHER COMMUNITIES AROUND THESE LAKES ARE BUYING UP THAT WATER.
UH, SHOULD AND, AND I REALIZE, SO IT WOULD BE A FUTURE, A FUTURE ACQUISITION, SO TO SPEAK.
BUT I GUESS WOULD WE BE, UM, ILL-ADVISED NOT TO CONSIDER SECURING MORE, UM, MORE RESERVATION CONTRACTS IN THE HIGHLAND LAKES.
I MEAN, WE, I DON'T THINK WE EVER TALKED ABOUT THIS BEFORE.
I THOUGHT JUST KIND OF ASKING BILL ONE OF THE THINGS TOO, UM, AND I'VE JUST BEEN TOLD THIS BY LCRA, BUT, UH, I, AND I KNOW $155 PER ACRE FOOT SOUNDS LOW TOO.
AND, BUT WHEN, WHEN, UH, OUR BUCKLE COMES ONLINE, THE DOWNSTREAM OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR, WATER RATES ARE GOING TO GO UP QUITE A BIT.
YOU KNOW, MAYBE, YOU KNOW, ALMOST DOUBLE, MAYBE DOUBLE.
IT'S STILL, YOU KNOW, COMPARED TO THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS PER ACRE FOOT.
BUT, UM, JUST LIKE AUSTIN, THE NEW SOURCES OF WATER FOR LCRA ARE GOING TO BE QUITE A BIT MORE EXPENSIVE.
UM, AND I THINK ONE OF THE, UH, YOU KNOW, ONE OF OUR GOALS WITH THIS PLAN IS DIVERSIFYING OUR WATER SUPPLY.
BUT IT'S TO MY POINT, RIGHT? UH, IF THERE'S WATER THAT BE HAD, UM, WOULD WE AT LEAST BE WISE TO CONSIDER IT AS PART OF THIS PLAN? UM, I'M TRYING TO FIND A REASON NOT TO DO THIS.
WHY WE NEVER BROUGHT THIS UP BEFORE.
SO THIS IS LIKE THAT SPIDER-MAN THING THAT, OKAY.
WELL, YEAH, WE, WE DID, IT WAS ONE OF THE ITEMS ON, YOU KNOW, IT WAS ONE OF THE, THE, UM, OPTIONS ON THE LIST OF STRATEGIES THAT WERE CONSIDERED.
BUT WITH THIS COMBINATION WITH THE DIVERSIFICATION THAT WE HAVE IN THE CONSERVATION AND REUSE AND OTHER SUPPLIES, WE DON'T REACH THE, THE, UH, 325,000 ACRE FEET AMOUNT AT LEAST THROUGH 2080, I BELIEVE.
AND THAT'S THE, THE TIMEFRAME WHERE WE WERE GOING INTO THE SPECIFICS OF THE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE PLAN.
SO MARISA, YOU WANNA ADD TO THAT, BUT BASICALLY WE DID INCLUDE THAT ON THE LIST AND, AND WE AS A COMMITTEE TOLD YOU TO FORGET IT.
NO, I MEAN, NO, IT WAS JUST PART OF THE, THE ANALYSIS DIDN'T SOMETHING, YOU KNOW, WE DIDN'T TRIGGER A POINT WHERE WE WENT BEYOND THE 325,000 ACRE FOOT SUPPLY THAT WE HAVE THROUGH THAT 2080 TIMEFRAME.
I THINK MAYBE BILL, UH, YOU'RE THINKING THAT IF THERE'S WATER TO BE HAD AND LCRA MIGHT BE SELLING IT TO OTHER PEOPLE, SHOULD WE BE THINKING ABOUT PURCHASING THAT WATER? IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE THINKING? THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I'M THINKING.
DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU'RE SAYING? YEAH.
WELL, LIKE IN ADDITION AS A BUFFER, RIGHT? YEAH.
AND I, YEAH, I MEAN, IF WE'RE SPENDING MONEY THOUSANDS OF, UH, OF DOLLARS AN ACRE ON DIFFERENT STRATEGIES AND THIS STRATEGY IS SITTING IN OUR LAP, UM, IF FOR NO OTHER REASON, IT SORT OF IMPOSES WATER CONSERVATION ON THE REGION A LITTLE BIT.
I HAVE TO THINK THAT THROUGH A LITTLE BIT MORE, BUT ALL I'M SAYING IS, SHOULDN'T WE THINK ABOUT THAT? AND EVEN THOUGH IT WAS ON THE LIST BEFORE, I'D LIKE TO PUT IT BACK ON THE LIST.
I'D LIKE SOMEONE WHO'S A LOT SMARTER THAN ME TO EXPLAIN TO ME WHY WE'RE NOT DOING IT.
SO KEVIN CRITTENTON, AUSTIN WATER.
UM, SO YEAH, BILL, LET US, I THINK WE CAN GET YOU SOME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO PROBABLY EXPLAIN THIS A LITTLE BETTER.
PART OF THE PROBLEM IS IT'S A BIT CIRCULAR, RIGHT? I MEAN, WE'RE, WE'RE BUYING WATER OUT OF THE SYSTEM THAT WE RELY ON AND, YOU KNOW, THAT WOULD IMPACT JUST OVERALL WATER AVAILABILITY.
LCRI ALSO DOESN'T HAVE A LOT OF EXCESS WATER SITTING AROUND, SO, I MEAN, I THINK WE'RE ONLY, I DON'T KNOW, WE'RE PROBABLY ONLY TALKING 5,000
[01:40:01]
ACRE FEET.SO PLEASE, I I WOULD JUST ASK US, LET US GET US SOME INFORMATION.
WE HAVE LOOKED AT IT AND WE HAVE CONSENT.
LET US GO BACK AND MAKE SURE THAT THE NUANCE OF SORT OF TAKING IT OFF THE MARKET.
I DON'T KNOW THAT WE LOOKED AT THAT ELEMENT.
SO THE, WE GOT A LITTLE HOMEWORK.
UM, I HATE TO BE A TASK MASTER, BUT WE HAVE ABOUT 18 MINUTES LEFT.
AND WE NEED TO, I, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE GET THROUGH THE SLIDES ON THE WATER FORWARD PLAN.
UM, AND, UH, YEAH, LET'S ROLL.
UM, SO, UH, WE WERE ALSO ASKED TO PREPARE A SLIDE SHOWING HOW THE 2018 PLAN COMPARES TO THE 2024 PLAN.
UH, THIS IS A SLIDE ATTEMPTING TO DO THAT.
THE WATERFORD 2018 YIELDS ARE SHOWN IN THE PURPLE COLUMNS AND THE WATER FOR 2024 YIELDS ARE SHOWN IN THE TEAL COLUMNS, UH, THAT WE'VE PULLED OUT 2040 AND 2070 D AS KIND OF KEY, UM, TIME STEPS FOR COMPARISON.
THE TWO, UH, UH, STRATEGIES IN THE CONSERVATION BUCKET, UH, THAT, UM, HAVE SOME NUMBERS NEXT TO 'EM ARE ROLLED UP, UH, VERSIONS OF SOME STRATEGIES THAT WERE IN THE 2018 PLAN.
AND THERE ARE NOTES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TABLE TO INDICATE WHICH STRATEGIES WERE, UM, WERE ROLLED UP.
IN THE COMPARISON, YOU'LL SEE THAT, UM, THERE ARE DIFFERENCES IN THE RELATIVE YIELDS FROM THE STRATEGIES.
THERE ARE FEWER DIFFERENCES IN THE MAKEUP OF THE PORTFOLIO.
THE ONE MAJOR CHANGE IN THE MAKEUP OF THE PORTFOLIO IS THAT, UM, RATHER THAN INCLUDING A NEW, THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR, WE'VE INCLUDED USE OF LAKE WALTER E. LONG AS AN OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR TO SUPPLY, UH, POTABLE WATER TO MEET CUSTOMER DEMANDS.
THERE'S ALSO SOME SLIGHT CHANGES IN TIMING OF, UH, SOME OF THE STRATEGIES.
THE, UH, USE OF LIKE LONG AS AN OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR AND BRINGING ON INDIRECT PORTABLE REUSE.
ALTHOUGH IPR IS INDICATED AS AN EMERGENCY STRATEGY THAT COULD BE BROUGHT ON EARLIER AS NEEDED.
I'LL GO AHEAD AND ADDRESS UP FRONT THAT.
UM, ON THE CUSTOMER SIDE, WATER USE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY AND FOR BOTH THE 2040 AND 2070 YIELDS OF A SIGNIFICANT COMPONENT OF THAT STRATEGY IN THE 2018 PLAN WAS THE WATER USE BUDGETING STRATEGY.
AND, UM, I BELIEVE THAT THERE WAS A FAIR AMOUNT OF DOUBLE COUNTING IN THE YIELD FOR THAT STRATEGY.
UM, WATER USE BUDGETING IS SETTING BUDGETS FOR CUSTOMERS TO STAY WITHIN IN TERMS OF THEIR, UM, WATER USAGE.
UH, THE TOOLS THAT THEY WOULD USE TO STAY WITHIN THAT WATER BUDGET INCLUDE OTHER ITEMS THAT, AND OTHER CONSERVATION STRATEGIES THAT WE HAVE INCLUDED HERE.
SO THINGS LIKE CONVERTING TO NATIVE AND EFFICIENT LANDSCAPES, THINGS LIKE USING ONSITE REUSE OR CONNECTING TO OUR CENTRALIZED RECLAIM SYSTEM.
THINGS LIKE, UM, MOVING TO MORE EFFICIENT FIXTURES.
SO I BELIEVE THAT IN THE LAST PLAN THERE, UM, WAS SOME SIGNIFICANT DOUBLE COUNTING ATTRIBUTING SAVINGS THAT, UH, TO THE WATER USE BUDGETING STRATEGY THAT WERE ALSO ATTRIBUTED TO INDIVIDUAL, UH, CONSERVATION AND REUSE STRATEGIES.
UM, THERE STILL THOUGH IS SOME, UH, THERE STILL ARE OTHER CHANGES IN YIELDS BETWEEN 2018 AND 2024.
THESE ARE BASED ON UPDATED INPUT FROM STAFF ON, UH, THE YIELDS THAT WE THINK ARE FEASIBLE TO ACHIEVE, AS WELL AS UPDATES, UH, TO OUR PROJECTIONS OF, UM, DEMAND.
UH, THERE IS A, A REDUCTION IN THE ANNUAL YIELD FROM THE A SR STRATEGY.
UM, AND FROM, UH, OUR, UH, OTHER SUPPLY STRATEGIES AS WELL.
UM, OUTSIDE OF BRACKISH GROUNDWATER DESAL, THE REDUCTION IN ANNUAL YIELD FROM A SR IS NOT A REDUCTION IN THE TOTAL STORAGE SO MUCH AS IT IS A REDUCTION IN THE AMOUNT OF WATER TO BE SUPPLIED TO THE CITY ON A PER YEAR BASIS.
UM, ONE ADVANTAGE IN HAVING A, UH, A LOWER ANNUAL YIELD FOR THE A SR STRATEGY IS THAT IT ACTUALLY STRETCHES OUT THE AMOUNT OF, UM, WATER THAT YOU HAVE AVAILABLE TO YOU DURING A A DROUGHT PERIOD BECAUSE YOU'RE USING UP THAT STORAGE EVERY YEAR THAT YOU'RE
[01:45:01]
PULLING, UH, FROM THE A SR FACILITY.UH, SO IN THE UPDATED WATER SUPPLY MODELING THAT WE DID, WE FOUND THAT, UM, KIND OF A, A MORE OPTIMAL WAY TO USE THAT A SR FACILITY WOULD BE TO PULL A LITTLE BIT LESS WATER ANNUALLY AND STRETCH OUT THAT BUBBLE.
UM, AS WE'VE NOTED BEFORE, UH, THE MAJORITY OF OUR WATER SUPPLY STRATEGIES STRETCH OUR COLORADO RIVER AND HIGHLAND LAKE SUPPLIES.
THEY ARE, UM, EITHER STORAGE OR REUSE STRATEGIES, WHETHER THAT BE NON POTABLE REUSE OR POTABLE.
THE ONE ADDITIONAL SUPPLY STRATEGY THAT IS SEPARATE FROM THE COLORADO RIVER AND HIGHLAND LAKES, UM, SYSTEM IS THE BRACKISH GROUNDWATER DESAL STRATEGY, WHICH IS, UH, SUPPLYING IN THIS PORTFOLIO 20,000 ACRE FEET IN 2070.
UM, IS THERE A, A GRAPH WITH ALL THE STRATEGIES AND COSTS ANYWHERE, I KNOW NOT IN THIS MATERIAL, BUT LIKE FROM THE LAST ONE, WOULD I BE ABLE TO FIND THAT OR FROM THE 2018 PLAN? NO, NO.
JUST LIKE WE WENT OVER LIKE, UM, DIRECT PORTABLE REUSE AND OTHER STRATEGIES THAT AREN'T LISTED IN THIS PORTFOLIO.
AND I WAS WONDERING IF THERE'S JUST LIKE A COST ANALYSIS.
SO THOSE ARE, THAT THE COSTING FOR ALL OF THOSE OTHER STRATEGIES INCLUDE, IS THIS INCLUDED IN THE WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY CHARACTERIZATION SHEETS, UM, THAT I THINK WE PROVIDED BACK IN JULY, BUT WE CAN SEND YOU A LINK TO THAT.
UM, SO JUST, UH, TO KIND OF REITERATE THE WATER, 4 24 STRATEGIES ARE GROUPINGS OF SEVERAL DISTINCT ACTIVITIES INCLUDED IN THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN.
I FEEL LIKE WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS, SO I'M GONNA KEEP ROLLING ALONG.
THE REUSE STRATEGIES ARE ONE TO ONE BETWEEN BOTH OF THESE PLANS.
UM, UH, AND THEN AS I MENTIONED, WITHIN A, UH, FOR ALL OF OUR ASRS, UH, FOR ALL OF OUR SUPPLY STRATEGIES, WE HAVE, UM, THIS LEVEL OF INFORMATION YIELD, TAR ANNUAL, UH, DECATAL YIELD TARGETS.
UM, WE'VE ALSO GOT FOR STORAGE STRATEGIES, ANNUAL DECATAL STORAGE TARGETS, OUR COST INFORMATION, AND THEN FIVE YEAR IMPLEMENTATION ACTIONS FOR A SR.
SO I'M GONNA KIND OF WALK THROUGH THESE IMPLEMENTATION ACTIONS QUICKLY.
BUT THE, FOR A SR, UM, WE WOULD BE COMPLETING OUR PHASE ONE A DESKTOP ANALYSIS AND THEN MOVING INTO THE NEXT PHASE OF FIELD TESTING, UM, FOR, UM, TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR OUR PILOT PROJECT PILOTING, UM, WOULD BEGIN IN THE LATE 2020S SO THAT WE CAN, UM, HIT OUR TARGETS TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS AND BEGIN OUR PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING FOR A FULL SCALE A SR PROJECT IN, IN 2029.
THAT, UM, IS WE HAVE TO KEEP MOVING ON THAT TIMEFRAME IN ORDER, AND WE'VE ALREADY BEGUN THAT WORK SO THAT WE CAN, UM, HIT OUR TARGET OF HAVING A, A COMPLETED A SR PROJECT BY 2035 SO THAT WE CAN BEGIN STORING WATER AND, UM, HIT OUR STORAGE TARGET OF 60,000 ACRE FEET BY 2040.
THESE BIG PROJECTS DO TAKE SOME TIME.
UM, WHAT WATER BODY IS THE WATER COMING FROM FOR THE A SR MM-HMM.
SO WE WOULD BE DIVERTING WATER FROM THE COLORADO RIVER WHEN IT'S AVAILABLE TO US.
SO IT COULD BE A RUN OF RIVER RIGHTS.
UM, WE WOULD TREAT THAT TO POTABLE DRINKING WATER STANDARDS AT ONE OF OUR WATER TREATMENT PLANTS.
AND WE WOULD CONVEY THAT WATER TO AN A SR WELL FIELD VIA A LARGE TRANSMISSION MAIN AND AN, UH, AN INJECT IT UNDERGROUND.
THEN THE NEXT STRATEGY IS, UM, USING LAKE WALTER ELONG AS AN OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR.
UM, THESE GRAPHICS WERE PULLED FROM THE LAST PLAN, AND SO THEY'RE CURRENTLY BEING UPDATED BY OUR, UH, IN-HOUSE GRAPHIC DESIGNERS.
UM, THIS STRATEGY WOULD, UH, STORE WATER AGAIN FROM OUR COLORADO RIVER AND HIGHLAND LAKES SUPPLIES.
UH, WE WOULD BE OPERATING THE RESERVOIR SO THAT FOR, UH, NON DROUGHT PERIODS, THE WATER WOULD BE AT A, A MORE, UM, UH, CONSTANT LEVEL DURING DROUGHT PERIODS.
THE LAKE LEVEL WOULD FLUCTUATE WITHIN A
[01:50:01]
FIVE FOOT OPERATING RANGE.UM, YOU CAN SEE THE ANNUAL YIELD TARGETS, STORAGE TARGETS FOR THIS STRATEGY, UM, AND COST.
AND, UH, TO MOVE THIS STRATEGY FORWARD OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, WE WOULD COMPLETE A FEAS, UH, UM, A FEASIBILITY REPORT OR CONCEPTUAL PROJECT REPORT TO EVALUATE DIFFERENT OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR CONFIGURATIONS, BEGIN WATER QUALITY SAMPLING OF LAKE WALT STREET, UH, COMPLETE PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING, UM, OF THE INFRAS OF THE PREFERRED CONCEPTUAL PROJECT LAYOUT.
AND THEN, UM, DEVELOP, UH, KIND OF ALL OF THE INFORMATION NECESSARY FOR THE INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIRED FOR THIS STRATEGY.
CAN WE ASK QUESTIONS? DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION? WELL, I WAS JUST GONNA, IT'S 1 52, SO ARE WE GONNA HAVE TIME FOR QUESTIONS BEFORE THE MEETING'S OVER? DO YOU WANT ME TO KEEP I CAN JUST, MAYBE YOU COULD KEEP, IF ANYBODY HAS QUESTIONS ON, WANTS YOU TO TALK ABOUT SPECIFIC STRATEGIES OR SOMETHING.
I, I MEAN, I GUESS I'LL JUST ISSUE THE CALL AND, UH, PLEASE JUST SPEAK UP 'CAUSE IT'S KIND OF HARD SOMETIMES TO SEE WHO HAS THEIR HAND RAISED.
DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, SIR? I DO.
I WANNA GET THROUGH THE STRATEGIES, BUT I DIDN'T KNOW IF WE WERE GONNA TALK ABOUT IT AT ALL.
I HAVE A FEELING WE HAVE A HARD STOP AT TWO TODAY.
WE DON'T HAVE A HARD STOP AT TWO SO MUCH AS IF WE, Y'ALL HAVE A HARD STOP.
LET'S, LET'S, WE'LL GET TO THE STRATEGIES.
AND DIRECT PORTABLE REUSE, UM, IN THIS STRATEGY DOES INCLUDE THE INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIRED FOR THE CAPTURE, UM, LOCAL INFLOWS TO LADY BIRD LAKE STRATEGY OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
YOU'D BE COMPLETING OUR, UM, UH, DESIGN, UH, SCHEMATIC DESIGN, BEGINNING A DESIGN BUILD PROCUREMENT PROCESS, AND THEN ISSUING A DESIGN BUILD CONTRACT.
AND, UM, WE HAVE SOME IN AN INITIAL TARGET FOR SUBSTANTIAL COMPLETION IN THE LATE 2020S, UH, BRACKISH GROUNDWATER DESAL IS INCLUDED AS A 2070 STRATEGY.
UM, SO OUR FIVE YEAR ACTIONS WOULD JUST INCLUDE A SCOPING FOR A DESKTOP ANALYSIS TO IDENTIFY FAVORABLE LOCATIONS, UM, FOR BRACKISH GROUNDWATER DESAL.
THESE, UM, UH, BEST MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES THAT WERE INCLUDED IN THE PLAN REPORT WERE PRIMARILY DERIVED FROM TASKFORCE FEEDBACK THAT WE RECEIVED OVER THE COURSE OF THE SUMMER.
UH, WE'RE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT FOLKS MIGHT HAVE ABOUT THOSE.
I'M GONNA KEEP ROLLING THROUGH SO THAT WE CAN GET TO QUESTIONS.
UH, THE LAND CONSERVATION STRATEGIES, WE'VE TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THIS.
UM, SHERRY COOL IS HERE AS WELL.
SHE'S, UM, OUR, UM, UH, AUSTIN WATERS ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICER AND ALSO OVER THE WQPL AND BCP PROGRAMS. THE INTENT OF THIS ANALYSIS IS TO, UM, UH, PROTECT DRINKING WATER QUANTITY AND QUALITY FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
WE'VE LISTED IN THE REPORT SEVERAL DIFFERENT STRATEGIES THAT COULD BE USED TO DO THAT, BUT THESE STRATEGIES ARE NOT DE-EMPHASIZING THE CURRENT WORK AND ONGOING WORK OF OUR AUSTIN WATER WILDLANDS PROGRAM.
RATHER, THEY WOULD BE IN ADDITION THAT WORK.
UH, THE PLAN IMPLEMENTATION CHAPTER OUTLINES A FEW KEY ELEMENTS ARE ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT APPROACH APPROACHES TO MITIGATE INEQUITABLE IMPACTS THAT WERE IDENTIFIED AS PART OF THE EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY ANALYSIS, DIFFERENT METRICS TO MONITOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN AND REPORTING AND COMMUNICATION PRACTICES.
UM, WE ARE WANTING TO CONTINUE, UH, UH, UPDATING THIS PLAN ON A FIVE-YEAR CYCLE.
WE WOULD BE ACTING IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE FIVE-YEAR IMPLEMENTATION ACTIONS AND THEN, UH, EVALUATING OUR, UM, STRATEGIES EFFECTIVENESS AT IRREGULAR INTERVALS.
KEVIN HAS ALSO TALKED ABOUT SOME OF THE PUBLIC REPORTING THAT WOULD BE DONE, UM, AS A PART OF THAT ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT APPROACH.
I WILL LEAVE THIS IN CASE FOLKS HAVE QUESTIONS BUT NOT GO THROUGH IT.
AS I MENTIONED, THESE ARE, UM, DIFFERENT APPROACHES THAT WERE IDENTIFIED, UH, AS A PART OF OUR EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIES.
I HATE TO RUSH THROUGH THIS, UM, BUT JUST WANNA MAKE SURE WE HAVE AT LEAST A FEW MINUTES FOR QUESTIONS.
THIS TABLE IS INCLUDED AS A, IN THE REPORT AS WELL AS, UM, TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENT METRICS AND TRIGGERS THAT WE COULD USE, UM, AS WELL AS POSSIBLE ADAPTATION ACTIONS.
SO AS PART OF LIKE OUR ONGOING AND EVERGREEN UM, UH, ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT PROCESS, YOU KNOW, HOW COULD WE POTENTIALLY ADAPT OUR, UH, STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION OR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE, UM, MEETING TARGETS AND MILESTONES AND MAINTAINING THEIR EFFECTIVENESS.
AND THEN, UH, AGAIN, JUST UH, UH, REITERATING KIND OF OUR, UH, GOAL TO HAVE QUARTERLY AS WELL
[01:55:01]
AS ANNUAL REPORTING ON ALL OF THE STRATEGIES.UH, WE WILL BE MAKING FURTHER REVISIONS TO THE DRAFT REPORT.
UM, WE, UH, HAVE A FEW ITEMS THAT WERE INCLUDED IN THIS PRESENTATION ALREADY THAT WE'RE GONNA BE ADDING TO THE REPORT.
UM, AND, UH, WE'LL BE PROVIDING EXCERPTS OF, UH, KEY UPDATES, UM, TO Y'ALL, UH, OVER THE COMING DAYS.
I KNOW THAT'S NOT IDEAL TO DELIVER AT THAT RATE.
SARAH, QUESTION YOU WERE FIRST IN THE QUEUE.
UM, JUST TO THE COMMENT AT THE START OF THE MEETING, THERE'S A SLIDE ON INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE DROUGHT EMERGENCY STRATEGY, UM, AND THAT THAT YIELD TARGET OF 22,400 IS WHAT'S SHOWN IN THE CHART, THE TOTAL CHART, I THINK.
SO I'M NOT UNDERSTANDING HOW THAT JIVES WITH THE EXPLANATION ABOUT DOING ANOTHER INTAKE AND LADY BIRD LAKE AND MOVING THAT WATER TO ULRICH DURING NON DROUGHT.
SO MAYBE YOU DON'T NEED TO ADDRESS IT RIGHT NOW, BUT MAYBE GET SOME MORE DETAIL ON IF THAT STILL IS HIS STRATEGY, WHY ISN'T IT ACCOUNTED FOR HERE AND INCLUDED, UM, TO FOLLOW UP ON THAT COMMENT AND THEN A LITTLE BIT, UH, JUST SPURRED BY BILL'S PREVIOUS QUESTION.
I MEAN, THIS IS A, A COMPLEX WATER SUPPLY STRATEGY AS YOU GUYS KNOW.
AND, UH, TRANSITIONING FROM A WE'RE SINGLE SOURCE UTILITY FOR A REALLY LONG TIME.
WE'VE BEEN RUNNING THE RECLAIMED UTILITY FOR QUITE A WHILE NOW.
BUT, UM, WE'VE GOT THESE, THE TOTAL ANNUAL COMMUNITY COST PER ACRE FOOT PER YEAR.
SO I WAS JUST KINDA WONDERING, I MEAN, WHEN I THINK ABOUT RUNNING AN A SR RUNNING THIS DECKER LAKE, WHICH WOULD HAVE, I THINK, I THINK IT'S GOT A TREATMENT PLANT INVOLVED AND THEN INTO THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, POSSIBLY ADDING GROUNDWATER INTO A DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.
I MEAN, THAT IS, THAT IS COMPLEX.
AND SO I I I GUESS MY QUESTION IS KIND OF LIKE, YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH IT'S ALL GONNA COST, LIKE FOR REAL, BUT THIS IS A, I MEAN, HOW, HOW COMFORTABLE ARE YOU WITH THE ESTIMATES? 'CAUSE IT JUST SEEMS TO ME LIKE JUST THE KIND OF THE MANAGEMENT AND THE STAFF OF THIS LIKE MULTI-SOURCE, YOU KNOW, INTAKES IN FOUR DIFFERENT WATER BODIES OR WHATEVER IT IS, IS JUST SO DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WE'VE, IT IS REALLY DIFFERENT AND YOU KNOW, I THINK YOU CAN, UM, YOU CAN LOOK TO SAN ANTONIO AS AN EXAMPLE OF A UTILITY THAT'S BEEN THROUGH THIS DIVERSIFICATION OF WATER SUPPLY.
WHEN I GREW UP THERE, IT WAS ALL EDWARDS AQUIFER WATER.
UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, THE, THE PROCESS THAT WE WILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH WILL BE STEPWISE, UM, YOU KNOW, WORKING THE STRATEGIES, UNDERSTANDING WHAT IT'S GONNA TAKE TO IMPLEMENT THEM SUCCESSFULLY, REALLY BEING VERY, UM, AWARE OF THE WATER QUALITY AND BLENDING OF ALL OF THESE STRATEGIES AND THE STAFFING REQUIRED TO, TO RUN THEM ALL EFFECTIVELY.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE, UH, WE ARE NOT ALONE.
THERE ARE UTILITIES ALL OVER THE COUNTRY THAT ARE GOING THROUGH THESE EFFORTS AS WELL.
AND WE'RE IN, IN CONTACT WITH, WITH, WITH MANY OF THEM.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE GOOD NEWS IS THIS IS AN ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT PLAN AND THAT WE HAVE THE TIME, UH, TO DO THESE, THE, UM, THE, THE EFFORT THAT WE WILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH IN ORDER TO GET TO THAT POINT IS AS, AS YOU SAY, COMPLEX AND CHALLENGING.
UM, BUT WE'LL, WE'LL TAKE IT, UH, ONE STEP AT A TIME AND MAKE SURE WE DO IT RIGHT.
I THINK, YEAH, I THINK WHAT I'M THINKING ABOUT IS LIKE, I DON'T WANNA LEAVE ANYBODY WITH AN IMPRESSION THAT BECAUSE THIS IS A PER, WE'VE GOT A PER ACRE FOOT WATER COST HERE, THAT OUR OVERALL COSTS OF PROVIDING THAT WATER TO A CUSTOMER ARE GONNA BE THE SAME.
I MEAN IT'S, I THINK IT'S JUST A WHOLE DIFFERENT STRUCTURE.
AND I I WOULD JUST SAY FOR THE SUPPLY STRATEGIES AT LEAST, UM, THE, UH, DECKER IPR AND UM, BRACKISH, I WOULD CLASSIFY THOSE AS PLANNING LEVEL COSTS.
I WOULD SAY THAT WE HAVE LESS CERTAINTY IN THOSE COSTS AND THERE'S STEPS IN HERE TO GET THROUGH, UM, FEASIBILITY REPORTS, CONCEPTUAL, UM, PROJECT REPORTS AND FEES AND PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING THAT WILL IMPROVE THOSE COSTS.
FOR THE A SR PROJECT, I HAVE A LITTLE BIT HIGHER, UM,
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CONFIDENCE IN THOSE COSTS.WE HAVE, UM, HDR ON BOARD AS OUR CONSULTANT WORKING ON THE, THIS FIRST PHASE OF PILOT AND PROGRAM MANAGEMENT, UM, PART OF THE A SR PROJECT.
AND THEY'VE, THROUGH THOSE COSTS, UH, WITH A, A MORE, UH, DETAILED ANALYSIS AND THOSE COSTS HAVE INCREASED PRETTY SIGNIFICANTLY FROM THE LAST, UM, PLAN.
THERE WILL BE JUST BUILDING THEIR, THEIR PER STRATEGY AND THEN THERE'S, THERE'S ADDITIONAL COSTS JUST TO MANAGING YES, A UTILITY, A MULTI-SOURCE UTILITY THAT WE'RE NOT ABSOLUTELY ABLE TO EVEN TALK ABOUT RIGHT NOW.
YEAH, THERE'S GONNA NOT, NOT IN, THERE'S SOME LEVEL OF O AND M COST INCLUDED IN HERE, BUT WE ARE ABSOLUTELY ALREADY THINKING AND TALKING TO SAAS AS AS UM, SHAY MENTIONED ABOUT THE ADDITIONAL STAFFING THAT'LL BE REQUIRED, ALL OF THE POSITIONS THAT'LL BE REQUIRED IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE UTILITY.
UM, AND THEN YEAH, HOW WE MANAGE UM, KIND OF STAFF LOCATED IN THESE DIFFERENT AREAS.
DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM FOLKS? I, PAUL AND HANEY, I HAVE QUESTIONS BUT I THINK I'VE BEEN WRITING THEM DOWN.
THAT'S PROBABLY THE MOST EFFICIENT TO DO THIS.
I KNOW MARISSA'S GONNA LOVE THAT, GETTING A LONG EMAIL FROM YOU WITH A BUNCH OF QUESTIONS, BUT I THINK THAT'S PROBABLY THE BEST WAY TO DO THIS.
AND THEN WE CAN DISCUSS RESPONSES TO THOSE QUESTIONS AT THE NEXT MEETING.
PAUL, YOU'RE GONNA MAKE HER DAY.
UM, ANYTHING ELSE? ALL RIGHT, WELL SINCE WE DON'T HAVE A QUORUM ANYMORE, WE MIGHT AS WELL ADJOURN.
'CAUSE I JUST SAW SOME PEOPLE DROP OFF RIGHT AT TWO.