[CALL TO ORDER]
[00:00:05]
AND GET STARTED WITH OUR MEETING.
I HAVE THE AGENDA IN FRONT OF ME.
BILL, YOU HAVE A CONFLICT OF INTEREST FORM THAT YOU NEED TO SEND TO EMILY.
BILL, GOOD JOB ON SENDING IN YOUR CONFLICT OF INTEREST FORM.
I'M GONNA MARK THIS OFF MY AGENDA NOW.
GOLD STAR TO EVERYBODY THAT DID IT.
LET THAT BE THE HARDEST THING WE DO TODAY.
[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
OKAY.DO WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS? WELCOME.
GET UP HERE AND PRESS THE BUTTON.
UM, I WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE TANIA FROM SOS ALLIANCE.
I DO WANNA ACKNOWLEDGE THE EFFORTS THAT AUSTIN WATER TEAM HAS PUT INTO ADDRESSING OUR COMMENTS, UM, AND INCORPORATING THE VALUABLE FEEDBACK FROM THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS.
UM, AND THE PROMPT RESPONSIVENESS IS ALSO VERY MUCH APPRECIATED.
IN THE SAME BREATH, IT'S STILL VERY CONCERNING HOW MUCH CRITICAL INFORMATION MIGHT HAVE BEEN WITHHELD FROM THE PUBLIC IF STAKEHOLDERS HADN'T PUSHED FOR TRANSPARENCY.
UM, YOU KNOW, HIGH LEVELS OF, UH, THESE SUMMARIES, UH, WERE PRESENTED TO US IN THE BEGINNING.
AND THESE ARE THE DECISIONS THAT, UH, SHAPE THE FUTURE OF OUR WATER AND THIS SHOULDN'T BE THE NORM.
UM, AND SOME OF THE EXAMPLES ARE LIKE THE LAND PRESERVATION ANALYSIS, THE WATER LOSS REPORT, THE IPR INTAKE LOCATIONS.
UM, ONE OF THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS DIDN'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT THE OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR UNTIL JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO.
SO THESE ARE JUST TO NAME A FEW.
UM, SO THIS HAS BEEN VERY BLINDSIDING FOR NOT ONLY ME AS A STAKEHOLDER, BUT TO SEVERAL OF THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS, UM, WITH THE MISSING DETAILS OR, YOU KNOW, MAJOR CHANGES INTRODUCED VERY LAST MINUTE.
THAT BEING SAID, AS THESE PLANS MOVE FORWARD, AS I'M ASSUMING IT WILL, I HOPE THAT THE TASK FORCE CONTINUE TO PRESS AUSTIN WATER TO THEIR COMMITMENT TO A CULTURE OF WATER CONSERVATION AS SOS WILL CONTINUE TO AS WELL.
AND THAT Y'ALL HOLD THE DEPARTMENT ACCOUNTABLE TO THESE WATER AVAIL AVAILABILITY PROJECTIONS THAT FORM THE BACKBONE OF THESE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES.
UM, SINCE GIVEN THAT THIS IS A VERY ADAPTIVE PLAN, I THINK IT WOULD BENEFIT THE TEAM TO PRACTICE FOSTERING TRANSPARENT COMMUNICATION.
AND I VERY MUCH LOOK FORWARD TO HOPEFULLY WORKING WITH Y'ALL IN THE FUTURE.
I WILL BE ATTENDING THE NEXT FEW, UH, VOTES, BUT I HOPE THAT, YOU KNOW, THESE, THESE WORDS WEIGH HEAVY WITH Y'ALL.
UM, SOME STAKEHOLDERS ARE VERY MUCH HEAVILY INVESTED IN THE FUTURE OF OUR WATER RESOURCES.
THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE, FOR COMING TO THE MEETINGS, AND, UH, WE'LL SEE YOU AT FUTURE.
WE GOT A, WE GOT A BUNCH COMING UP.
WE'RE ALL, WE'RE ALL LEARNING A LOT VERY RAPIDLY AS WE DO THIS.
AND THANK YOU FOR, UH, COMING IN AND POINTING THINGS OUT TO US TO HELP US KNOW WHERE TO FOCUS WITH ALL THESE VOLUMES OF INFORMATION IN FRONT OF US.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
OH, HERE'S MY AGENDA.SPEAKING OF VOLUMES OF INFORMATION.
SO, UM, OUR NEXT AGENDA ITEM IS TO PROVE THE MEETING MINUTES FROM THE SPECIALLY CALLED TASK FORCE MEETING ON, ON OCTOBER 28TH, WHICH IS IN OUR PACKETS.
DO I HAVE A MOTION TO DO I HAVE A, I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES.
DO WE HAVE A SECOND? FROM HANEY? YES.
ANY OPPOSED? ANY ABSTAINING? OKAY, VANESSA, THANK, UH, WELCOME.
ALRIGHT, WE ARE GOING TO GO, WE HAVE, UM,
[2. Discussion of revisions to the Water Forward 2024 Plan, Water Conservation Plan, and Drought Contingency]
A DISCUSSION ITEM.WE'RE GONNA DISCUSS THE REVISIONS TO THE WATER 4 24 PLAN, THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN REPORTS.
UM, AND THEY'RE GONNA WALK THROUGH, THERE ARE SOME TABLES THAT WE HAVE IN OUR BACKUP THAT, THAT HAVE THE, UM, CHANGES THEY'VE MADE.
THEY'RE GONNA WALK THROUGH 'EM AND THEN WE'RE GONNA HAVE ACTION ITEMS, UM, ON EACH OF THESE ITEMS AFTER THE DISCUSSION.
[00:05:06]
OKAY.SO WE'RE GONNA GO AHEAD AND SHARE THE PDS THEMSELVES ON THE SCREEN THAT WERE POSTED AS BACKUP RATHER THAN SHARING POWERPOINT SLIDES.
OUR POWERPOINT SLIDES WERE COMING UP AS QUITE BLURRY.
UM, IS IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO ZOOM IN A LITTLE BIT? LET'S SEE.
BEAR WITH US WHILE WE JUST GET THIS IN A, LET ME ASK, GO AHEAD.
LET ME ASK A QUESTION REAL QUICK FOR THE FOLKS THAT ARE HERE.
WE HAVE ON OUR DESK HERE THE FINAL COPIES WITHOUT RED LINES.
IS THAT CORRECT? YES, THAT'S CORRECT.
AND THEN THERE'S RED LINE VERSIONS, OR THERE'S SEVERAL, THERE'S A LOT OF DOCUMENTS.
I WAS LOOKING AT THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS WEBSITE FOR ANYONE THAT'S FOLLOWING ALONG UNDER THE WATER TASK FORCE, UH, THERE'S A LOT OF ATTACHMENTS INCLUDING THE RED LINES FOR THESE DOCUMENTS AND, AND THIS THAT THEY'RE SHOWING HERE.
BUT THESE ARE THE FINAL WITHOUT RED LINES.
AND, UM, ALL OF OUR RED LINES AND FINAL VERSIONS, AS WELL AS THESE EDIT SUMMARY CHARTS ARE POSTED TO THE WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE WEBPAGE UNDER THE NOVEMBER 4TH MEETING.
SO I'M GONNA START WALKING THROUGH THE EDITS TO THE, UH, WATER FORWARD PLAN.
WITHIN THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, WE ADDED SEVERAL STAFF MEMBERS AND WE CORRECTED THE TITLES ASSOCIATED WITH, UH, SEVERAL STAFF MEMBERS.
WE CORRECTED A TABLE THAT WAS INCLUDED.
UM, THE SUMMARY OF WATER 4 20 24 STRATEGIES FROM 2030 TO 2080.
THE 3000 ACRE FEET OF YIELD ATTRIBUTED TO CAPTURE LOCAL INFLOWS HAD NOT BEEN INCLUDED IN THE SUBTOTAL AND TOTAL OF OUR WATERFORD, OF OUR WATERFORD SUPPLY STRATEGIES AND OVERALL, UM, TOTAL FROM THE STRATEGIES.
AND SO WE'VE CORRECTED THAT, UM, IN THE YEAR DECADES OF 2050 THROUGH 2080 IN CHAPTER FIVE, FUTURE WATER STRATEGIES.
AND YOU'LL NOTE WE HAVE TWO COLUMNS HERE FOR PAGE NUMBERS.
ONE IS THE PAGE IN THE RED LINE VERSION AND ONE IS THE PAGE IN THE CLEAN COPY, JUST SO FOLKS CAN NAVIGATE THAT DEPENDING ON WHICH DOCUMENT THEY'RE LOOKING AT.
SO IN CHAPTER FIVE AND FUTURE WATER STRATEGIES, UH, WE HAVE ALSO CORRECTED, UH, THAT SAME TABLE, THE SUMMARY OF WATER FORWARD, UM, STRATEGIES, ADDING THAT 3000 ACRE FEET FROM CAPTURE LOCAL INFLOWS INTO OUR SUBTOTAL AND TOTAL, UH, FOR, UH, COULD YOU SCROLL DOWN A LITTLE BIT? JUST 'CAUSE I CAN'T SEE
ALSO IN CHAPTER FIVE, UM, WE ADDED A, A RETURN BEFORE THE SENTENCE WITH THE GPCD SAVINGS AND THE DESCRIPTION OF THE UTILITY SIDE WATER LOSS CONTROL STRATEGY.
AND WE ADDED A CALL OUT BOX TO DEFINE GPCD WITHIN THAT STRATEGY DESCRIPTION.
UH, ON THE NEXT PAGE, PAGE 35, IN THE RED LINE VERSION, PAGE 33, IN THE CLEAN COPY VERSION, WE ADDED A BULLET TO THE WATER LOSS CONTROL STRATEGY, UM, IMPLEMENTATION ACTIONS TO SAY CONTINUE REPLACEMENT OF POLYBUTYLENE SERVICE LINES THROUGH THE RENEWING AUSTIN PROGRAM WITH A YEAR OF 2024.
AND THE NEXT PAGE, WE ADDED A RETURN BEFORE THE SENTENCE WITH GPCD SAVINGS AND THE CUSTOMER SIDE WATER USE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY DESCRIPTION.
AND WE ALSO CORRECTED SOME VOLUMES THAT HAD BEEN LISTED INCORRECTLY IN ANNUAL YIELD TARGETS, UH, THROUGH THE DECADES 2050 THROUGH 2080.
THOSE, UM, VOLUMES HAD BEEN INCORRECTLY LOW, SO WE, UM, CORRECTED THOSE.
UH, ALSO IN CHAPTER FIVE, FUTURE WATER STRATEGIES, UM, ON PAGE 37 IN THE RED LINE VERSION, PAGE 34 IN THE CLEAN COPY VERSION, WE ADDED A RETURN BEFORE THE SENTENCE WITH THE GPCD SAVINGS.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, UM, IN THE NATIVE AND EFFICIENT LANDSCAPE STRATEGY DESCRIPTION.
AND, UH, THEN IN CHAPTER FIVE, AGAIN, PAGE 46, RED LINE, PAGE 44, CLEAN COPY.
WE ADDED AND CAPTURE LOCAL INFLOWS TO LADYBIRD LAKE TO THE IPR HEADER.
WE ALSO UPDATED THE IPR GRAPHIC AND WE INCORPORATED EDITS FROM, UH, TASK FORCE MEMBER SARAH FO BY DELETING GWYN AVAILABLE, AND AN ADDING IN PARTICULAR FROM BARTON CREEK AND BARTON SPRINGS.
HE ALSO CORRECTED A SPELLING ERROR UNDERNEATH OUR ANNUAL YIELD TARGETS TABLE.
[00:10:01]
OKAY.NEXT CHAPTER FIVE, UH, RED LINE, PAGE 47, CLEAN COPY.
WE ADDED LANGUAGE IN THE FIVE YEAR IMPLEMENTATION ACTIONS TO SAY INCLUDE DEVELOPMENT OF PROJECT CONFIGURATION AND SIZING COMPONENTS.
UM, AND IN RESPONSE TO A, UM, SOME FEEDBACK THAT WE RECEIVED FROM TASK FORCE MEMBER, UM, MORIARTY UNDER, UH, CHAPTER FIVE FEATURE WATER STRATEGIES AS WELL.
ON PAGE 49, THE RED LINE 46 IN THE CLEAN COPY VERSION WE DELETED, THIS IS IN THE BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES.
WE DELETED A BULLET TO IMPLEMENT RECOMMENDED IMPROVEMENTS TO THE SERVICE EXTENSION REQUEST PROCESS PER AUSTIN WATER'S OCTOBER 1ST, 2024 MEMO TO MARIN COUNCIL.
AND WE ADDED A BULLET THAT SAYS, CONTINUE TO WORK WITH NEW DEVELOPMENT ON FIT FOR PURPOSE WATER USE STRATEGIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH AUSTIN WATER'S REQUIREMENTS AND INCENTIVES RELATED TO BENCHMARKING ONSITE WATER REUSE AND CONNECTIONS TO THE CENTRALIZED RECLAIMED WATER SYSTEM.
IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES TO LEVERAGE THE BENCHMARKING PROCESS TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL TRANSPARENCY RELATED TO WATER USE FOR PLAN DEVELOPMENT.
ON CHAPTER SIX IN PLAN IMPLEMENTATION AND THE RED LINE VERSION, PAGE 54 OF PAGE 51 IN THE CLEAN COPY, WE CORRECTED THE WATER.
4 20 24 100 YEAR ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT PORTFOLIOS TABLE AND AGAIN, ADDED IN THE 3000 ACRE FEET FROM CAPTURE LOCAL INFLOWS TO THE WATER SUPPLY STRATEGY, SUBTOTAL AND WATER FORWARD STRATEGIES OVERALL TOTAL FOR 2080 AND IN PORTFOLIOS A, B, AND C IN 2120.
WAIT, I'VE, I'M, I WAS DOING REAL GOOD UNTIL YOU GOT TO THAT ONE
UH, THAT WAS IN, UM, OUR ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT PORTFOLIOS TABLE.
IT'S A TABLE THAT HAS, UH, GREEN, YELLOW, AND MAGENTA.
WHAT PAGE IS IT ON? ON THE, ON THE RED LINE.
IT'S PAGE 54, OR IT SHOULD BE OKAY, 54.
UH, THEN IN THE NEXT PAGE, IN THE RED LINE VERSION, SAME PAGE IN THE CLEAN COPY VERSION ON THE RED, RED LINE, IT'S PAGE 54.
GOT MIXED UP ON OUR PAGE NUMBERS.
WE ADDED A SECTION ON FUNDING.
THIS LANGUAGE WAS COPIED FROM THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, AND THIS SENTENCE WAS ALSO ADDED TO THE LANGUAGE, UH, THAT WAS COPIED FROM THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.
AUSTIN WATER IDENTIFIES AND SUBMITS TO THESE FUNDING PROGRAMS ON AN ONGOING BASIS AND HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN SECURING THESE FUNDING SOURCES.
CHAPTER SIX, HOPEFULLY OUR PAGE NUMBERS ARE NOT TOO MIXED UP HERE ON OUT, UH, CHAPTER SIX, PLAN IMPLEMENTATION BELIEVE PAGE 57 IN THE RED LINE AND PAGE 54 IN THE CLEAN COPY.
WE REPLACED THE METRIC OF HISTORICAL ANNUAL DEMANDS COMPARED TO HISTORICAL ACTUAL ANNUAL SUPPLY WITH A METRIC OF COMBINED LAKE STORAGE.
AND WE REPLACED THE ADAPTATION TRIGGER OF DEMANDS INCREASE BEYOND BLANK PERCENT OF SUPPLIES WITH COMBINED LAKE STORAGE REMAINS BELOW 750,000 ACRE FEET FOR FOUR MONTHS OR LONGER.
THOSE ARE ALL OF THE EDITS WE MADE TO THE MAIN WATER 4 20 24 REPORT.
JUST, JUST, JUST, JUST A QUESTION.
UHHUH
AND THE TABLE ON PAGE FOUR, I'M TRYING TO, UM, UNDERSTAND WHAT PERCENTAGE OF SCENARIOS, UM, WE THINK WE'RE EXPOSED GIVEN THE IMPACT THAT WE'RE PROJECTED TO HAVE WITH NEW STRATEGIES AND THE, THE GAP, UM, CREATED BY INCREASED DEMANDS.
SO, UM, AND DO WE DO THAT MATH ANYWHERE? DO WE, UH, WE HAVE DONE THAT MATH, DID I JUST MISS IT? I'M SORRY.
WE HAVE NOT MADE THAT MATH EXPLICIT WITHIN THE PLAN, BUT YOU'RE ASKING WHAT PERCENTAGE OF SCENARIOS DO WE HAVE EXISTING REMAINING
[00:15:01]
SHORTAGES GIVEN THE WATER FORWARD STRATEGIES WE'VE CHOSEN? THE WAY I'M SEEING IT IS IT'S SOMEWHERE BETWEEN FIVE AND 15% OF THE SCENARIOS STILL HAVE A SHORTAGE.AND, AND I'M WONDERING IF WE NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT AND, UM, YOU KNOW, COMMENT AROUND THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, IF WE NEED ADDITIONAL WORK OR CREATIVE THOUGHTS OR ADDITIONAL ACTIONS OR IF WE JUST NOTED AND, AND, AND MOVE ON.
UM, I THINK THAT I'M, I'M GOING TO, UH, SAY THAT BASED ON MY RECOLLECTION WITHIN THE OVER 600 DIFFERENT SCENARIOS THAT WE CONSIDER, I, I DO BELIEVE THAT OF, UM, WE GO WITHOUT SHORTAGE IN ABOUT 85% OF THOSE SCENARIOS WITH THE WATER COURT STRATEGIES IN THE OUT YEARS.
IT'S MORE LIKE 5% STARTING IN 2045.
BUT WHEN WE GET TO KIND OF THE FURTHER OUT YEARS, 2080 AND 2120 WE'RE RESILIENT AND, UM, RELIABLE THROUGH ABOUT 85% OF THOSE SCENARIO.
AND SO WE, UM, YES, THAT COULD BE SOMETHING THAT'S ACKNOWLEDGED.
I'M JUST WONDERING IF WE SHOULD, IN THE EFFORT OF TRANSPARENCY MM-HMM,
SO WOULD WE HAVE, UM, A COMMENT LIKE THAT THAT WILL RESULT IN AN ADDITION IN LANGUAGE TO THE PLAN? WE SHOULD JUST LIKE EXPLICITLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA, SO EVERYONE KNOWS.
SO, SO WE'LL YOU'RE SAYING I SHOULD HAVE SAID THAT.
NO, I SHOULD HAVE SAID THAT EARLIER.
I MEAN, I LITERALLY SENT IT IN A RED LINE LIKE FIVE SECONDS BEFORE I DROVE HERE.
SO, UM,
SO, SO MARISA IS TYPING AND MAKING A NOTE HERE, BUT WILL YOU JUST DESCRIBED WHAT CHANGE OR ADDITION YOU WILL MAKE KNOWING THAT YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE THE EXACT WORDS? YES.
I GUESS THAT, UM, A QUESTION WOULD BE IF WE WOULD LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WITHIN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, THAT COULD BE A PLACE WHERE WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE COULD INCLUDE ON, UM, LET'S SEE, PAGE, UH, UH, YOU COULD PUT, WE COULD PUT IT AS A FOOTNOTE ON THE TABLE ON SLIDE FOUR, UHHUH FOUR IF WE WANTED IT.
I JUST THINK IT'S BEHOOVE UPON US TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE HAVEN'T SOLVED ALL OF THE PROBLEMS IN ALL OF THE SCENARIOS.
AND THAT HELPS FOR READABILITY FOR THE, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE TAKING HAVE DIFFERENT, YOU KNOW, ABILITIES TO INTERPRET THE DATA VERSUS WORDS OR PICTURES OR WHATEVER.
I PREFER ALL THE ABOVE PERSONALLY, UM, AND LOVE A, A GOOD EXPLA EXPLANATORY FOOTNOTE UNDER THIS.
SO THAT COULD BE A GOOD PLACE TO DO IT.
IS IT RAINING? YEAH, LET'S GO
THAT FEELS LIKE A GOOD OLD YEAH.
WHAT IT IS FOR MY WALLFLOWER SEEDS, AT LEAST THE VERY LEAST.
SO WHAT WAS THE DISPOSITION OF THE REGIONAL SUPPLY GROWTH COMPONENT? WHAT WAS THE DISPOSITION? WHAT WAS THE NATURE OF THEM? YEAH, OKAY.
UM, SO WITH THOSE, UH, REGIONAL SUPPLIES, WE HAD THREE DIFFERENT SCENARIOS.
UH, THEY WERE MAINLY DRIVEN, UM, UH, BY STRATEGIES THAT THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY WOULD PUT INTO PLACE.
AND, UM, AL ALMOST ALL OF THOSE STRATEGIES WERE STRATEGIES, LCRA STRATEGIES THAT ARE CONTAINED IN THE MOST RECENT VERSION OF THE REGION K PLAN.
AND IN THE HIGH REGIONAL SUPPLY SCENARIO, WE HAVE THE REGION CASE, LCA REGION CASE STRATEGIES PUT IN PLACE IN THE FIRST 50 YEARS.
AND THEN WE ESSENTIALLY HAVE LIKE A DOUBLING OF THAT WITHIN THE LATTER 50 YEARS.
SO LCA WOULD CONTINUE THAT SUPPLY DEVELOPMENT AND, AND DOUBLE THAT AMOUNT OF SUPPLY WITHIN, UM, THE LAST 50 YEARS.
I CAN, UM, WOULD WE LIKE TO HAVE FURTHER COMMENTS ON THE WATER FLOOR PLAN? OR I CAN WALK THROUGH THE EDITS THAT WERE MADE TO THE APPENDIX? THIS ONE CAN BE, UH, SOUND GOOD? OKAY.
OH, I'M SORRY, SARAH FAST HAS A COMMENT.
[00:20:02]
UM, SO BEFORE YOU GO TO THE, WELL, I GUESS I SHOULD ASK ORDER WISE, ARE WE GOING THROUGH ALL OF, ARE YOU JUST PRESENTING ON ALL OF THESE AND THEN WE'LL GO THROUGH ANY ADDITIONAL COMMENTS AT THE END? YEAH.MAYBE WE COULD WALK THROUGH ALL OF THE EDITS THAT WERE MADE AND THEN TAKE ADDITIONAL COMMENTS.
THE END OF THE WATER FORWARD PORTION, LIKE AFTER YOU GET THROUGH THE APPENDICES.
DOES THAT SOUND OKAY? THAT SOUNDS GOOD TO ME.
IS THAT OKAY WITH EVERYONE? ALL RIGHT.
SO THEN, UH, APP APPENDICES THROUGHOUT THE, UM, THE APPENDICES, WE'VE, WE'VE REFORMATTED ALL OF OUR APPENDICES, UM, TO TRY TO HAVE A, A CONSISTENT FORMATTING AND, UM, TO UPDATE THE NUMBERS ON HEADERS AND, UM, TO UPDATE FIGURE AND TABLE AND EQUATION NUMBERS.
UM, WITHIN APPENDIX A, WE, UH, UM, REFORMATTED THE TABLE THAT LISTS OUR, UM, EVENTS.
AND WE PUT THOSE EVENTS WITHIN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.
WE ALSO ADDED THE COMMUNITY AMBASSADOR GROUP MEETINGS, THE FULL COMMUNITY AMBASSADOR GROUP MEETINGS IN APPENDIX B.
THAT ONE WENT THROUGH GENERAL REFORMATTING.
AND THEN ON PAGE B FOUR, WE, UM, REPLACED A SENTENCE THAT SAID, THIS INFORMATION IS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING REFINED AND WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE NEXT DRAFT OF THE EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY ROADMAP.
WITH THIS ANALYSIS CONTINUES AND WILL BE INCLUDED IN FUTURE UPDATES TO THE EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY ROADMAP.
UH, APPENDIX C, DE, F, G, AND H WERE ALL REFORMATTED.
AND THEN IN APPENDIX H, ON PAGE H ONE, WE INCORPORATED TASKERS MEMBER FAUST EDITS, DELETING THAT MEET THOSE PROGRAMS, LAND PROTECTION PRIORITIES AND ADDED, WHICH INCLUDES PRIORITIZING THE BARTON SPRINGS EDWARDS AQUIFER RECHARGE AND CONTRIBUTING ZONES.
WHILE THE COLORADO RIVER LAND ANALYSIS FOCUSES ON WATERSHEDS UPSTREAM OF LAKE AUSTIN, PROTECTING GROUNDWATER FROM THE EDWARDS AQUIFER AND INFLOWS TO LIGHTY BIRDLIKE REMAINS CRITICAL FOR AUSTIN'S CLIMATE AND DROUGHT RESILIENT FUTURE WATER SUPPLY OPTIONS.
WITH A SITE CHANGE, WE CHANGED CRITICAL TO INTEGRAL, UM, IN THAT SUGGESTED LANGUAGE, ON PAGE H 12, WE INCORPORATED TASK FORCE MEMBER FAST EDITS ADDING, BECAUSE THIS STRATEGY DOES NOT RESULT IN PERMANENT PROTECTION OF LAND FOR WATER SUPPLY, THIS STRATEGY WOULD BE USED SPARINGLY AND ONLY WHEN OTHER MORE PERMANENT STRATEGIES ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR PROPERTIES THAT ARE DEEMED TO BE EXTREMELY CRITICAL AND PRODUCTIVE FOR WATER QUALITY AND OR WATER SUPPLY.
ON PAGE AGE 13, WE INCORPORATED TASK FORCE MEMBER FAUS EDITS, DELETING SEVERAL OF THE SUCCESSFUL PROGRAMS ACROSS THE NATION ARE SUMMARIZED IN APPENDIX H AS REFERENCED TO THESE, OH, REFERENCE TO THESE EXAMPLES WERE NOT INCLUDED IN THE APPENDIX.
IT LOOKS LIKE SOME LANGUAGE GOT MIXED UP THERE IN THE TABLE.
UH, WE ALSO INCORPORATED TASK FORCE MEMBER FAUST EDITS, ADDING PRIMARILY FROM VOTER APPROVED BONDS AND DELETING THE COLORADO RIVER LAND ANALYSIS PROVIDES A COMPELLING TARGET FOR FUTURE LAND AND PROTECT FOR FUTURE LAND PROTECTION EFFORTS FOR THE BENEFIT OF WATER, WILDLIFE, AND PEOPLE.
AND THEN WE ALSO REFORMATTED APPENDIX I AND APPENDIX J.
AND NOW I THINK WE COULD TALK ABOUT ANY ADDITIONAL COMMENTS OR EDITS.
SO, SO WE'VE GONE THROUGH THE EDITS, UM, AND WELCOME MADELINE.
UM, I SEE YOU'VE JOINED, UM, LET'S SEE, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7.
UM, SO I ALSO, HEY, UM, SO FOR PEOPLE TO BE COUNTED PRESENT, WE HAVE TO HAVE THE MIC, THE, NOT THE MIC'S ON.
BUT THE CAMERA'S ON FOR THE FOLKS THAT ARE ONLINE.
I KNOW PEOPLE ARE PROBABLY TRYING TO KEEP LUNCH AND STUFF, BUT, UM, YEP.
AND THEN, UM, SO THIS IS ALL THE EDITS TO THE WATER FORWARD PLAN, AND WE'LL GO THROUGH THE OTHER ONES, BUT LET'S GO AHEAD AND IF THERE'S SOME QUESTIONS OR DISCUSSIONS OR COMMENTS ON THIS.
UM, FIRST I WANTED TO SAY I APPRECIATED THAT INITIAL COMMENT ABOUT PUTTING IN A SENTENCE THAT HIGHLIGHTS IN THE FURTHER OUT YEARS OF THE PLAN.
THERE'S STILL, UM, YOU KNOW, NOT MEETING
[00:25:01]
THE DEMAND PROTECTIONS IN SOME PERCENTAGE OF SCENARIOS.AND SO I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT TO POINT OUT.
UM, AND PROBABLY I WOULD SAY AN ACTUAL SENTENCE, MAYBE NOT EVEN A FOOTNOTE, BECAUSE IT SOUNDS LIKE A VERY AUSPICIOUS FOOTNOTE.
UM, THE, SO THE ADDITIONAL, UM, EDIT I WANTED TO SUGGEST, I JUST MISSED IT ON THE FIRST RUN THROUGH, UH, PREVIOUSLY.
AND I SENT AN EMAIL TO EMILY AND MARISA AND JENNIFER, BUT BASICALLY IT WAS ON, UH, AGAIN, ABOUT THE COLORADO RIVER LAND ANALYSIS.
UM, I GUESS IT'S IN THE PAGE ON THE PLAN THAT HAS THE MAP AND IT SHOWS THE PURPLE AREAS THAT WERE THE PART OF THE STUDY.
AND THEN IT SHOWS THE BARTON SPRING ZONE IN GREEN, AND IT REFERS TO THE PURPLE AREAS AS HIGHER PRIORITY IN THE CAPTION OF THE MAP.
AND SO THERE WAS A SENTENCE I WANTED TO ADD TO THE CAPTION OF THE MAP THAT, UM, INDICATES THIS IS NOT A, A SITUATION WHERE YOU'RE PRIORITIZING ONE WATERSHED OVER THE OTHER.
THESE ARE BOTH HIGH PRIORITY WATERSHEDS.
SO IF I CAN FIND THE PAGE NUMBER, I'LL TELL YOU IT'S PAGE, UH, PAGE 31.
PAGE 30 ON THE, UM, ON THE CLEAN VERSION.
SO THERE WOULD BE A, UH, I WOULD REQUEST THERE BE A SENTENCE ADDED TO THE CAPTION OF THE MAP THAT SAYS, UM, AFTER THE FIRST SENTENCE, A SECOND SENTENCE THAT SAYS, AREAS SHOWN IN GREEN REFLECT THE BARTON SPRING ZONE, WHICH WILL CONTINUE TO BE AN AREA OF HIGHER PRIORITY FOR CONSERVATION FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND IT USES HIGHER PRIORITY BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT'S IN THE FIRST SENTENCE.
SO IT'S JUST MAKING THOSE, UM, TWO WATERSHEDS EQUIVALENT SINCE WE'RE NOT MAKING A POLICY CHOICE IN THIS DOCUMENT.
UM, OTHER COMMENTS ON THE WATER FORWARD PLAN THAT CHANGES THAT WE'VE GONE THROUGH? WOULD YOU PLEASE RECAP YOUR COMMENT THAT YOU SENT TO US FOR THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS? YEAH, IT'S FOR THE WATER CONATION.
YES, I WILL WHEN WE GET THERE.
TRIED TO TRICK ME TO GET OFF, GET OFF AGENDA, DIDN'T YOU? NOT GONNA WORK.
JUST TRYING TO KEEP YOU ON YOUR TOES.
UM, ANY OTHER COMMENTS ON THE WATER FORWARD PLAN RIGHT NOW? WE WILL HAVE AN ACTION ITEM LATER TO VOTE TO, UH, WHAT EXACTLY DOES IT SAY? RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE WATER FORWARD PLAN.
UM, DO, UH, SO JUST, YOU KNOW, KEEPING THAT IN MIND IN ORDER OF OPERATIONS.
ALL, LET'S, UH, GET INTO THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN NEXT.
DID MADELINE HAVE A COMMENT? MADELINE, DID YOU HAVE A COMMENT? UM, CONSERVATION PLAN.
I HAD A COMMENT ABOUT THE, THE COLORADO RIVER LAND ANALYSIS.
I KNOW THEY DISCUSSED HAVING PARTNERS FOR THAT AND STUFF, AND I WAS JUST WONDERING, I DIDN'T REALLY SEE ANY OF THAT INCORPORATED IN THE NEW APPENDICES OF, I SAW LIKE, FUNDING PARTNERS, BUT NOT LIKE MANAGEMENT PARTNERS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
I SEE PEOPLE FLIPPING THROUGH PAGES.
I AM LOOKING, I GUESS Y'ALL CAN SEE IT TOO.
ACTUALLY, ALSO, SORRY ABOUT MY VOICE.
I THINK THAT WE HAD, UM, WE DID HAVE A, A SECTION ON POSSIBLE FUNDING MECHANISMS, BUT TOWARDS THE END OF THE APPENDIX H UM, WE TALK ABOUT, UM, UH, OPPORTUNITIES TO COLLABORATE WITH OTHER GOVERNMENTAL, CIVIC AND LAND CONSERVATION PARTNERS.
WE SAY THESE PARTNERSHIPS OPEN OPPORTUNITIES TO LEVERAGE CITY RESOURCES, EXPAND THE GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE OF OUR WORK, AND MORE EFFECTIVELY PROMOTE LAND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES.
AND, UM, PART OF OUR NEXT STEPS INCLUDE WORKING WITH, UH, PARTNERS AND STAKEHOLDERS SO THAT FUTURE AUSTIN WATER INVESTMENTS LEVERAGE PARTNERSHIPS OUTSIDE FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AND OTHER OPPORTUNITIES THAT CAN MAXIMIZE LAND PROTECTION OUTCOMES.
[00:30:01]
THAT WAS OUR ATTEMPT TO REFERENCE THOSE PARTNERSHIPS AND DEVELOPMENT OF, UM, SO H PAGES, H 13 AND H 14 IS WHERE THAT IS.WOULD IT BE TOO LATE TO ADD A TABLE WITH ONE THAT WOULD ALREADY KIND OF BEEN COLLABORATED WITH? WE DO HAVE AN APPENDIX A A LIST OF ORGANIZATIONS THAT WE'VE MET WITH ON, UM, RELATED TO WATERFORD AND THE COLORADO RIVER LAND ANALYSIS.
AND SO SOME OF THOSE ARE LISTED, UM, IT'S NOT IN APPENDIX H BUT IT IS, UM, REFERENCED IN A, AN ADDITIONAL APPENDIX.
SO ON PAGE A TWO OF APPENDIX A, UM, TOWARDS THE BOTTOM OF THAT TABLE, YOU SEE WE'VE MET WITH, UH, YOU KNOW, THE HILL COUNTRY ALLIANCE, HILL COUNTRY CONSERVANCY, TEXAS HILL COUNTRY, UH, CONSERVATION NETWORK, NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION, COLORADO LAND TRUST, NATURAL RESOURCES, CONSERVATION SERVICE ENVIRONMENT, TEXAS, ET CETERA.
UM, WE COULD, UH, DUPLICATE SOME OF THOSE.
UM, HAVE A, A TABLE INCLUDED IN APPENDIX HI GUESS TO CARRY THAT OVER INTO, UM, THE RELEVANT TO CARRY THAT OUTREACH OVER INTO THE RELEVANT APPENDIX.
COULD WE, COULD I OFFER A SUGGESTION THAT WE, UM, PUT A SENTENCE IN AT THE END IN THAT PART OF APPENDIX H THAT SAYS THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT WE'VE MET WITH SO FAR, OR LISTED IN APPENDIX A? UM, WOULD THAT, I THINK THAT SUGGESTION.
'CAUSE THERE'S GONNA BE MORE PARTNERS.
THERE ARE, AND I HESITATE TO CREATE A LIST THAT APPEARS COMPREHENSIVE WHEN SOME OF THOSE ORGANIZATIONS MAY CHOOSE NOT TO MOVE FORWARD WITH US.
AND THERE MAY BE OTHERS THAT WANT TO MOVE FORWARD WITH US.
SO IF WE COULD JUST POINT FROM APPENDIX H TO APPENDIX A, UM, THAT WOULD MAKE ME FEEL COMFORTABLE.
IF THAT WOULD BE ALRIGHT WITH YOU.
SO Y'ALL ARE GONNA SEE ME DO THIS A LOT 'CAUSE I KEEP LOSING THE AGENDA.
LET'S MOVE ON TO THE WATER CONSERVATION PLANS AND DROP CONTINGENCY PLANS CHANGES.
GOOD AFTERNOON TASK FORCE MEMBERS.
MY NAME'S KEVIN KLUGE, WATER CONSERVATION DIVISION MANAGER, AND WE'LL BE GOING THROUGH THE DROUGHT AND CONSERVATION PLAN.
WHICH ONE? FIRST? IT STARTS WITH THE DC OKAY.
WE'LL START WITH, WE'LL START WITH THE WATER CONSERVATION CONSERVATION PLAN.
UM, SO THE FIRST, UH, THREE NOTED EDITS, PAGE 11, 14 AND 16.
THESE ARE MINOR CHANGES REFLECTING DETAILS IN A DESCRIPTION OF OUR CURRENT ACTIVITIES, UM, WHETHER IT'S RESIDENTIAL IRRIGATION AUDITS OR WATERWISE LANDSCAPE OR, UH, CII AUDITS.
UM, THESE CAME ABOUT BECAUSE STAFF HAD NOT BEEN IDLE OVER THE LAST THREE OR FOUR MONTHS DURING THE SUMMER AS WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS PLAN, BUT HAVE BEEN WORKING TO ADAPT THE CURRENT PROGRAMS, UH, TO MAKE THEM MORE USABLE BY AUSTIN WATER CUSTOMERS.
SO THEY'RE JUST MINOR DETAILS DESCRIBING CURRENT ACTIVITIES.
MOVING DOWN TO PAGE 30, PAGE 30, UM, IS PART OF THE SECTION THAT WE ADDED RECENTLY THAT TALKED ABOUT, UM, THE FACTORS REGARDING WATER USE OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS BETWEEN THE LAST PLAN AND THIS PLAN.
UH, PAGE 30, THERE'S A PANDEMIC IMPACTS BULLET.
UH, WE INCLUDED, UH, A NUMBER OF SENTENCES SUGGESTED BY, UH, BEST FORCE MEMBER SARAH FAUST.
UH, TOWARDS THE END OF THAT PARAGRAPH.
UM, WE, WHILE WE ALL RECOGNIZE THE IMPACT THAT CLIMATE CHANGE HAS ON PLANS AND, UH, PROJECTIONS, UM, WE, WE INCLUDED THESE TWO SENTENCES AS A WAY NOT TO EXPLODE IT TOO MUCH AND SPEND TOO MUCH TIME IN THIS PARTICULAR SECTION TALKING ABOUT PAGE 30 IMPACTS, PARTICULARLY ON PROJECTIONS.
SO THE INTENT WAS TO MENTION THAT AT THE END OF THAT PARAGRAPH.
THEN THE SECOND EDIT ON PAGE 30, TALKS ABOUT EXTREME WEATHER.
UM, BULLET, UM, I'M SORRY, I SKIPPED RIGHT OVER.
WE HAD A FEW TEXTUAL CHANGES ON THE BULLET FOR PANDEMIC IMPACTS,
[00:35:01]
UH, THAT WAS SUGGESTED BY SARAH.AND THEN THE THIRD EDIT ON THAT PAGE WAS A, AN ADDED BULLET IN PARAGRAPH REGARDING THE GROWTH OF CUSTOMERS AND WATER USE.
AT THE LAST MEETING, THERE WAS SOME DISCUSSION, UM, BY JENNIFER AND PAUL REGARDING GPCD AND THE IMPACT OF COMMERCIAL, OR CII WATER USE ON, UH, GPCD.
UM, AND WITH THIS ADDITIONAL BULLET AND AND PARAGRAPH, WE ATTEMPTED TO DISCUSS HOW GPCD IS IMPACTED BY CII AND, AND GROWTH OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS IN DIFFERENT CUSTOMER CLASSES.
THEN GOING ON TO PAGE 31, UH, THERE'S JUST, UH, IN THAT PARAGRAPH UNDER FUTURE WATER USE AND LAW SCHOOLS, UH, THERE'S, UH, A FEW TEXTUAL EDITS, UH, DELETION OF A FEW WORDS, UH, SUGGESTED BY, UM, TASK FORCE NUMBER FAUST.
AND THEN ON PAGE 32, UM, WE ADDED A MILESTONE THAT YOU'VE, YOU'VE ALREADY SEEN THAT MARISA HAD MENTIONED IN THE WATER FORWARD PLAN AND THAT MILESTONE OF CONTINUED REPLACEMENT OF POLYBUTYLENE SERVICE LINES.
SO THAT CORRESPONDS WITH THE TASK FORCE REPORT.
AND THEN PAGE 39, AND THEN THIS IS IN THE LARGER SECTION OF WHAT ARE WE GONNA BE DOING IN THE FUTURE.
UM, THIS SECTION LISTS THE DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES THAT WE'LL BE WORKING ON OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
AND THE SECTION ON PAGE 38 AND 39 INVOLVES PUBLIC OUTREACH AND MARKETING.
AND ON PAGE 39 WE ADDED SEVERAL BULLETS AND THAT'S RIGHT AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE REGARDING PROVIDING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, INFOGRAPHICS, UM, TO HELP CUSTOMERS WHO ARE APPLYING FOR INCENTIVE PROGRAMS TO GET A BETTER IDEA OF THE TIMEFRAME AND THE STEPS THAT THEY HAVE TO TAKE, UM, FOR THEIR OWN PLANNING.
AND THEN THAT FINAL BULLET, WE ADDED, UH, DISCUSS THIS CONSERVATION STAFF WORKING WITH LANDSCAPERS AND NURSERIES TO INVESTIGATE THE POTENTIAL FOR LANDSCAPER TRAININGS.
AND THEN APPENDIX G OR C THROUGH G, UH, WE ADDED MAPS OF THE WATER SYSTEM, WASTEWATER SYSTEM, PLANTS, WHAT HAVE YOU.
THESE WERE IN THE ORIGINAL PLAN.
UM, THEY WEREN'T IN THE PREVIOUS PLAN, UH, JUST TO SAVE SOME SPACE.
BUT AS WE ARE NOW NARROWING IN ON A FINAL VERSION OF THIS PLAN, UH, WE REINSERTED THOSE MAPS INTO THE PLAN AND THOSE ARE THE CHANGES IN THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN FROM THE LAST VERSION THAT YOU SAW.
SO, UM, TO HAVE SOME DISCUSSION ON THIS, THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, UM, HERE IT IS.
UM, DO OTHER, DO FOLKS HAVE COMMENTS? COMMENTS ON THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN? I'VE GOT SOME, BUT I CAN GO AFTER OTHER FOLKS.
UM, I, UH, SENT IN RIGHT BEFORE THIS MEETING.
I CAN HAND THIS OVER TO YOU AFTERWARDS, BUT I EMAILED IT TO ALL THREE OF Y'ALL.
UM, FOR THAT SECTION ON PAGE, IT'S PAGE 30 OF THE CLEAN VERSION OF THE PLAN.
AND LET ME FIND IT ON THE, THE OTHER SECTION SO FOLKS CAN FOLLOW ALONG.
PAGE 31 OF, OR YEAH, PAGE 31 OF THE, UM, RED LINE VERSION.
BUT THIS SECTION, IT'S A SECTION UNDER, UM, WHERE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT IMPACTED GPCD SUCH AS PANDEMIC AND EXTREME WEATHER AND GROWTH OF CUSTOMERS AND WATER USE.
UM, SO THE GROWTH OF CUSTOMERS AND WATER USE WAS SOMETHING I HAD, UM, ASKED TO LOOK AT AND TO JUST PROVIDE SOME CONTEXT, UM, I FELT LIKE WHAT WAS IN THE PLAN, I APPRECIATE YOU ALL ADDING THIS, BUT WAS WRITTEN IN A WAY THAT WAS CONFUSING AND A LITTLE JARGONY.
UM, WHICH, YOU KNOW, THAT'S, THAT'S EASY TO DO.
UM, AND I PRO I PROPOSED A RED LINE SORT OF REWRITE OF
[00:40:01]
THIS.UM, SO I'LL JUST READ IT AND I'VE JUST ALREADY FOUND OUT I WAS USING THE WRONG PAGE NUMBERS 'CAUSE I WAS LOOKING AT THE RED LINE VERSION, SO I UPDATED THAT.
BUT, UM, SO UNDER GROWTH OF CUSTOMERS AND WATER USE, IT SAYS THE NEW LANGUAGE I'M PROPOSING IS BETWEEN 2019 AND 2013 AUSTIN ADDED NEW RESIDENTIAL AND A PARENT, IT SAYS SINGLE FAMILY AND MULTIFAMILY AND COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS AND THE CORRESPONDING WATER USE FOR RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS INCREASED.
LIKE, JUST TRYING TO SAY VERY PLAIN AND SIMPLE.
NO NEW INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTIONAL AGRICULTURAL CUSTOMERS WERE ADDED DURING THIS TIME PERIOD.
AND I'M BASING THAT LOOKING AT THE TABLES THAT WERE REFERENCED LATER IN THE DOCUMENT.
UM, AND SO SEE NEW RETAIL CONNECTIONS TABLE ON PAGE 47 AND HISTORICAL WATER SALES TABLE ON PAGE 48.
CHANGES IN POPULATION AND WATER USE CAN IMPACT AUSTIN'S PRIMARY WATER USE METRIC GALLONS PER CAPITA PER DAY OR GPCD.
AND THEN I INCLUDE LIKE, UM, IT'S HARD TO TELL 'CAUSE IT'S RED LINE, BUT AN EQUATION, GPCD EQUALS TOTAL SYSTEM WATER USE INCLUDES ALL CUSTOMER TYPES AND I LIST THEM DIVIDED BY POPULATION SERVED.
UM, AND THEN THERE'S A LAST LITTLE PARAGRAPH.
GROWTH AND RESIDENTIAL WATER USE IS ACCOMPANIED BY A CORRESPONDING GROWTH IN POPULATION AND GENERALLY DOES NOT CAUSE MAJOR, MAJOR CHANGES IN GPCD AS LONG AS PER CAPITA WATER USE FOR THOSE NEW CUSTOMERS IS IN LINE WITH AUSTIN'S WATER USE PATTERNS GROWTH AND COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL USE HAS A GREATER IMPACT ON GPCD CALCULATIONS BECAUSE THERE IS INCREASED WATER USE, BUT NO CORRESPONDING POPULATION GROWTH.
I MEAN, I KIND OF SAY THAT AS AN ABSOLUTE STATEMENT, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE MIGHT MOVE HERE TO WORK AT THE PLACES, BUT STILL THAT'S RESIDENTIAL GROWTH.
SO I'M JUST TRYING TO MAKE THIS A LOT CLEARER.
UM, AND IT, I JUST FELT LIKE IT WAS WRITTEN KIND OF CONFUSING.
UM, SO ANYWAY, I JUST, I READ IT AND I WAS LIKE, IT WASN'T QUITE LANDING WITH ME TOO WELL, BUT, UM, SOMETHING CLOSE TO THIS I THINK WOULD BE GOOD.
YEAH, WELL IT'S, I CERTAINLY TAKE A LOOK AT 'EM.
I KNOW I'M MAKING A, UH, MAYBE NON PRECISE STATEMENT AND SAYING THAT RESIDENTIAL WATER USE, IS IT ACCOMPANIED BY CORRESPONDING GROWTH IN POPULATION AND GENERALLY DOES NOT CAUSE CHANGES IN GPCD AND I PUT, AS LONG AS THE PER CAPITA WATER USE FOR THOSE NEW CUSTOMERS IS IN LINE WITH AUSTIN'S, UM, MAYBE IT SHOULD SAY CURRENT WATER USE PATTERNS.
THAT'S KIND OF A, YOU KNOW, I'M MAKING ASSUMPTIONS THERE, BUT I THINK, YOU KNOW, I PUT ENOUGH QUALIFIERS IN THERE BECAUSE I'M JUST TRYING TO MAKE IT CLEAR AND HOW, WHAT IMPACTS GPCD AND HOW THAT, HOW THAT WORKS.
'CAUSE THAT'S AN IMPORTANT PIECE HERE.
I I THINK THAT GIVES A NICE NOD TO THE FACT THAT WHEN FOLKS MOVE HERE, THEY, WE, THEY NEED TO LEARN AND WE NEED TO TEACH THEM ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, OUR NEED AS A COMMUNITY TO CONSERVE WATER.
YEAH, WE'LL TAKE A LOOK AT THAT.
I HAVE A LITTLE CONCERN ABOUT LAND WATER USE PATTERNS AND TRENDS.
UM, BUT I'LL HAVE TO SEE IT IN PRINT.
MM-HMM,
I FEEL THE TOTAL GPC DETERMIN TOTAL WATER USE, INCLUDING ALL CUSTOMER TYPES DIVIDED BY THE POPULATION.
SO WHILE RESIDENTIAL IS ACCOMPANIED BY GROWTH IN POPULATION, THE GROWTH IN COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTIONAL HAS A GREATER IMPACT ON GCPD DUE TO NO CORRESPONDING POPULATION GROWTH.
MAYBE AN ADDITIONAL SENTENCE SAYING THAT, SO THE COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL OR INSTITUTIONAL MIGHT HAVE LARGER WATER NEEDS AS WELL, NOT JUST THE, THE POPULATION AREA.
'CAUSE YOU KNOW, SEMICONDUCTORS AND DIFFERENT TYPES OF INDUSTRIES REQUIRE WATER IN VERY DIFFERENT WAYS THAN A, A HOUSEHOLD OR A JUST BUILDING.
AND MADELINE, I WAS REALLY JUST REFERENCING WHY THE FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE CHANGE IN GPCD OVER THAT FIVE-YEAR PERIOD.
'CAUSE THAT'S KIND OF WHAT THIS SECTION IS, IS REFERENCING AND THERE WERE, UM,
[00:45:01]
NOT ANY NEW INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMERS ADDED DURING THIS TIME, TIME PERIOD ACCORDING TO THE TABLES THAT IT REFERENCES.THERE WERE NO CATEGORIZED, UM, HOWEVER THERE PROBABLY WERE CUSTOMERS, COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS THAT SOMEONE MIGHT LOOK AT AND SAY, OH, THAT LOOKS LIKE INDUSTRIAL.
WELL ALL I GOT TO GO ON IS THE ZEROS IN THE TABLE.
SO
SO, UM, I MEAN IF THAT'S THE CASE THEN YOU SHOULD EXPLAIN WHAT INDUSTRIAL MEANS AND WHAT LARGE VOLUME MEANS.
WHY THERE'S THIS PARENTHETICAL ABOUT LARGE VOLUME, WHAT IS LARGE, HOW MUCH IS LARGE.
THAT WAS ANOTHER THING THAT, UM, I WAS GONNA MENTION WHEN LOOKING AT THAT TABLE.
IF WE COULD DEFINE WHAT THOSE WATER USE CATEGORIES ARE UNDERNEATH IT, UM, THAT WOULD BE, UM, A GOOD WAY, A GOOD PLACE TO DO THAT.
UM, IT, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S THE, IT'S PROBABLY NOT THE FIRST TIME IT COMES UP, BUT, OR MAYBE THERE'S A SECTION OF PLAN WHERE WE DEFINE HOW WE CATEGORIZE WATER USERS.
BUT THAT TABLE COULD BE A GOOD SPOT BECAUSE I WAS ALSO WONDERING THE SAME THING WHEN I LOOKED AT IT.
MADELINE, DO YOU STILL HAVE A QUESTION OR IS YOUR HAND STILL UP? OKAY.
UM, THE OTHER THING WAS, UM, WAIT, HOW MUCH IS LARGE? I'M SORRY,
HOW MUCH IS LARGE? I, I DO NOT KNOW HOW MUCH IS LARGE.
UH, IF THE QUESTION IS WHERE WAS TESLA IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS, THEY'RE CATEGORIZED AS COMMERCIAL.
I JUST, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE THRESHOLD CUTOFF LINE IS OFFHAND.
IF, IF THE QUESTION IS HOW BIG IS, WAS TESLA'S USAGE 85 MILLION GALLONS? I'LL LET LARGE VOLUME THRESHOLD.
THIS ISN'T DIRECTOR OF OUR FINANCIAL SERVICES.
AND WE CATEGORIZE A, A CUSTOMER AS A LARGE VOLUME CUSTOMER IF THEY USE MORE THAN 85 MILLION GALLONS A YEAR OR WATER CONSUMPTION IN A YEAR.
AND, AND TYPICALLY THAT AMOUNT OF CONSUMPTION, UH, LEADS TO, UH, CUSTOMER SPECIFIC PRICING.
AND, AND THEN I'M LOOKING AT PAGE 45 OF THE WATER CONSERVATION PLANET.
IT HAS TESLA LISTED ABOUT 330 MILLION GALLONS A YEAR.
SO, SO TESLA, AFTER FISCAL YEAR 24, UM, MET THE CRITERIA TO BE TREATED AS A LARGE VOLUME CUSTOMER.
DO WE HAVE THE PRICING FOR THOSE LARGE VOLUME CUSTOMERS LISTED OUT ANYWHERE FOR PEOPLE TO HAVE A KNOWLEDGE ON WHAT, YOU KNOW, COST BEARING THEY MIGHT HAVE IN
UH, KEVIN NAN, UH, THE LARGE VOLUME CUSTOMER, UH, RATES ARE ACTUALLY PUBLISHED ON OUR WEBSITE.
SO THEY ARE A MATTER OF COUNSEL APPROVAL.
SO THEY ARE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC.
I WOULD ALSO NOTE THAT WE, WE CALCULATE LARGE VOLUME CUSTOMERS AS PART OF OUR COST OF SERVICE, UH, SETTING PROCESS.
AND FOR TESLA AND UT BOTH OF WHOM MEET THE CRITERIA AS LARGE VOLUME CUSTOMERS, UH, THEIR RATES, UH, WOULD BE SLIGHTLY ABOVE OUR, OUR STANDARD COMMERCIAL RATES.
UH, SO WE CHARGE, UH, THE, THE LOWER OF THE TWO, THE LOWER OF, YOU KNOW, THE IN CURRENT COMMERCIAL RATES OR THE CALCULATED COST TO SERVE, UH, A LARGE VOLUME CUSTOMER.
SO IF IT'S TO THEIR BENEFIT, WE WOULD, UH, USE THEIR, UM, CALCULATED COST SERVICE RATES BASED ON THEIR DEMANDS ON OUR SYSTEM.
SO, UM, I SEE HERE UNDER THE SECTION ON PAGE 47 OF THE CLEAN COPY, THERE ARE TABLES THAT IT SAYS SYSTEM DATA, CURRENT NUMBER OF ACTIVE RETAIL CONNECTIONS, NUMBER OF NEW RETAIL CONNECTIONS, HISTORICAL WATER SALES, ET CETERA, ALL USE THESE CATEGORIES.
SO THIS WOULD BE A GOOD PLACE TO DEFINE WHAT THOSE MEAN, UM, WHAT YOUR DIFFERENT CUSTOMER CLASSES MEAN.
UM, WOULD BE ADD A SOME MORE CONTEXT HERE, WHICH WOULD BE SUPER HELPFUL.
UM, AND I JUST PRESUMED, MAYBE I'M WRONG THAT LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, TESLA WAS NOT INCLUDED IN HERE AND I WOULD PRESUME THAT THEY WOULD BE A LARGE INDUSTRIAL
[00:50:01]
CUSTOMER, BUT THEY WEREN'T INCLUDED HERE BECAUSE THEY CAME ONLINE.'CAUSE I DON'T KNOW WHEN THEY CAME ONLINE BEFORE 2019.
THAT'S WHY I'M JUST MAKING ASSUMPTIONS.
UM, BUT NO, HE IS SAYING THEY DIDN'T USE ABOVE 85 MILLION GALLONS UNTIL 2024, WHICH I, WELL THAT'S HESITATE TO, I THINK WE NEED TO DOUBLE CHECK THAT, BUT, UH, THEY WENT FROM 85 TO 330 MILLION GALLONS IN THE SPAN OF ONE YEAR.
THEY'VE BEEN OPERATING SINCE 2021.
BUT HEY, I HAVE A BUT, BUT OKAY.
SO WOULDN'T THEY BE CLASSIFIED AS A CUSTOMER TYPE BASED ON THE WATER BUDGET OF WHAT THEY'RE GONNA BE USING, NOT ON WHAT THEY'RE USING AT THE TIME? LIKE SHOULDN'T THEY BE CLASSIFIED AS AN INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMER? AND I'M JUST, I'M NOT TRYING TO PICK ON TESLA, I'M JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND LIKE WHEN DOES SOMEBODY, IF YOU'RE GONNA BE A LARGE OR INDUSTRIAL LARGE CUST LARGE VOLUME CUSTOMER, IF YOU'RE GONNA BE ON THAT LINE, YOU SHOULD BE ON THAT LINE FROM THE VERY BEGINNING.
OR DO YOU GET PROMOTED TO THAT LINE AFTER YOU USE THAT MUCH WATER? 'CAUSE IT SHOULD, IT SHOULD.
A ONE SHOULD SHOW UP HERE IF THAT'S THE CASE, THEY DO SELL STRAIGHT OUT OF THE FACTORY
SO IN THAT SENSE, THEY'RE COMMERCIAL.
I MEAN I THINK, YOU KNOW, FROM A PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVE THAT THEY, THEY, YOU KNOW, REGARDLESS OF THEIR USAGE, THEY, THEY WERE AN INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMER.
UM, BUT FROM A RATE SETTING PERSPECTIVE, WE CONSIDER THEM LARGE VOLUME INDUSTRIAL, UH, WHEN THEY, WHEN THEY HIT THAT 85 MILLION GALLON THRESHOLD.
WELL WE NEED SOME DEFINITIONS IF Y'ALL ARE ABLE TO, ALTHOUGH IF ANYONE KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE.
'CAUSE I
SO, WHICH, WHICH GETS TO YOUR CHANGES, YOUR PROPOSED CHANGES, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, TESLA'S USE IN 2024 AMOUNTS TO ONE GALLON PER PERSON PER DAY, OR PER CAPITA PER DAY.
SAMSUNG AT 2.4 BILLION GALLONS A YEAR, AMOUNTS TO 6.7, ABOUT 6.7 GALLONS PER CAPITA PER DAY.
SO THAT, SO THOSE ARE GETTING ADDED TO THE TOTAL GPCD FOR THE FOR FOR AUSTIN.
UM, I'LL JUST, I'LL PUT MY ACADEMIC HAT ON AND JUST SAY THAT I'VE MADE A NOTE OF THIS THAT AS A, UM, YOU KNOW, MAYBE SOMETHING, PERHAPS THE STATE NEEDS TO RECONSIDER AND HOW GCDS ARE ARE CALCULATED.
'CAUSE IT DOES SEEM A BIT, UM, UNFAIR THAT, UM, AND THIS IS NOTHING AGAINST FOLKS USING WATER FOR COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL PURPOSES, BUT IT SEEMS A LITTLE UNFAIR THAT THIS THEN GETS ADDED ONTO THE TOTAL GPCD AND THAT GPCD IS USED AS A METRIC FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, HOW WE'RE DOING ON WATER CONSERVATION.
SO I HOPE, I HOPE I CAN FIND A GRADUATE STUDENT VICTIM TO FOCUS ON THIS AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE.
I MEAN, I THINK THAT GPCD IS A METRIC THAT IS TRICKY TO COMPARE ONE CITY TO THE OTHER ON AND, AND SHOULD BE USED WITH, WITH CAUTION.
I THINK GPCD AND INCLUDING ALL OF OUR WATER USE AS A COMMUNITY IS FINE IF WE'RE USING IT TO MEASURE OUR PROGRESS.
BUT WE NEED TO KNOW WHEN, WHEN THERE'S BEEN HUGE AMOUNTS OF WATER ADDED TO THE NUMERATOR OF THE EQUATION TO, TO UNDERSTAND WHERE THINGS MAY BE GOING AWRY WITH OUR GPCD OR WHATEVER TO UNDERSTAND THAT IT'S A GOOD BENCHMARK FOR US TO MEASURE PROGRESS.
AND YOU COULD ALSO DO IT WHERE YOU TAKE YOUR TOP 10 CUS YOU KNOW, WHATEV, YOU KNOW, WE'RE PROBABLY, WE ARE DEFINITELY GOING INTO THE WEEDS HERE.
UM, BUT, UH, I JUST, I WAS GONNA ARGUE WITH YOU, BUT YOU'RE, YOU'RE THE CHAIR, SO HOW DARE YOU
SO THE LA OKAY, LET ME ASK ONE QUESTION ON PAGE 48, IT SAYS HIGH VOLUME CUSTOMERS.
SO ARE THOSE ALL COMMERCIAL? ARE SOME COMMERCIAL, SOME ARE INDUSTRIAL OR WHAT IS THE CATEGORY? I DON'T WHAT PA ARE YOU ON THE RED LINE VERSION? WE'RE TRYING TO FOLLOW ALONG.
I THINK SHE MEANS 45, I THINK SO PAGE 48, ANNUAL TREATED WATER USE FOR TOP FIVE HIGHEST VOLUME RETAIL CUSTOMERS.
PAGE 45 ON THE CLEAN COPY, PAGE 45.
SORRY, WE'RE JUST TRYING TO FOLLOW ALONG.
SO, SO THIS IS, WE JUST TALKED ABOUT SOME OR CLASSIFIED AS COMMERCIAL, EVEN THOUGH YOU WOULD THINK
[00:55:01]
MAYBE THERE'S SOMETHING ELSE.SO IS, ARE THESE ALL COMMERCIAL? NO, U UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS WOULD BE INSTITUTIONAL, CORRECT? WE DEF DEFINE WELL, OKAY, GO AHEAD.
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS IS, UM, HI A HYBRID.
SO THEY, UH, YOU KNOW, ON CAMPUS THEY'RE, THEY'RE GENERALLY, YOU KNOW, TREATED AS, AS COMMERCIAL.
THEY DO HAVE MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING THAT IS CLASSIFIED UNDER MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING FROM A RATE PERSPECTIVE.
I I I DON'T WANNA GET OFF TOO FAR INTO ALL OF THAT.
I GUESS I'M STILL TRYING TO, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THE SENTENCE THAT YOU, THE, THE CHANGES THAT YOU SUGGESTED, JENNIFER YEAH.
THE RED LINE ARE CONVEYING WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO CONVEY BECAUSE IS THE POINT TO SAY THAT A LOT OF QUOTE UNQUOTE COMMERCIAL WATER HAS BEEN ADDED AND THAT IS AFFECTING THE GPCD.
SO LIKE WE'RE SKEWING TOWARDS THIS, THESE LARGE COMMERCIAL WATER SALES AND THAT'S IMPACTING HOW THE GPCD LOOKS.
IS THAT WHAT THE POINT OF THIS IS TO SAY? AND, AND, AND TO BE CLEAR, MY COMMENTS THAT I WROTE OR MY, MY EDITS WERE BASED ON THE TEXT THAT IS IN THIS PLAN.
SO THAT'S WHY I WAS MAKING IT CLEAR THAT THE GROWTH IN CUSTOMERS WAS FROM RESIDENTIAL COMMERCIAL, BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT THE PLAN SAYS.
SO IF THAT IS NOT ACCURATE, THEN WE NEED TO, UH, MAKE THAT ACCURATE.
AND IF A, A LAR, IF A CUSTOMER THAT WAS CLASSIFIED AS COMMERCIAL HAS HOPPED THE LINE INTO INDUSTRIAL DURING THIS TIME PERIOD, THAT NEEDS TO BE REFLECTED THERE.
JUST, JUST OF NOTE IN THE APPENDIX PAGE C 12, OH LORD, THERE'S SUBCATEGORIES OF COMMERCIAL WHICH INCLUDES INDUSTRIAL.
SO INDUSTRIAL MAY ALSO BE CONVERT COMMERCIAL.
I DON'T, YOU JUST THREW A WILD CARD IN.
SO THAT, THAT IS A PART THAT'S OUR CLASSIFICATION AS A PART OF OUR DISAGGREGATED DEMAND MODEL.
OH, THIS IS DIFFERENT THAN ACTUAL, WHICH IS SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT THAN THE CLASSIFICATION THAT WE SORRY, OUR, OUR FINANCIAL EXCUSE FOR NO REASON.
WELL, I MEAN IF WE'RE GONNA GET CONFUSED, IMAGINE, OKAY, JENNIFER, SO CAN I, CAN I MAKE A SUGGESTION ON THE RED LINE THAT YOU HAD? OF COURSE.
I THINK, AND MAYBE THIS, YOU DON'T HAVE TO TAKE THIS, BUT I THINK IF YOU JUST, OH, WAIT, REMOVED THE SENTENCE THAT SAYS NO NEW INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTION OR AGRICULTURE CUSTOMERS WERE ADDED DURING THIS TIME PERIOD.
YEAH, BECAUSE IT'S THAT USE OF INDUSTRIAL THAT'S LIKE TRIPPING PEOPLE UP.
AND MAYBE IF YOU JUST SAID THE FIRST SENTENCE SAYS AUSTIN ADDED NEW COMMERCIAL AND THE CORRESPONDING WATER USE FOR RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS.
AND LIKE YOU STILL SAY EVERYTHING ELSE.
I I KNOW YOU GOT IT OUT OF THE TABLE.
IT JUST, I THINK ALSO THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT WHEN YOU READ IT, YOU JUST, IN YOUR MIND YOU THINK THAT NO BIG CUSTOMERS WERE ADDED.
BECAUSE WHEN I READ IT I WAS LIKE, WAIT, AND THEN YEAH, I HAD TO LOOK ALL THAT UP.
SO I DON'T KNOW, JUST SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.
WELL I, UH, I WENT WHERE THE, THE CLUES AND THE REPORT LED ME.
SO LET'S, UH, MAKE SURE THAT, I THINK IT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL.
AGAIN, PER PAUL'S SUGGESTION, PER WHAT I WAS THINKING, WE NEED TO HAVE SOME DEFINITIONS OKAY.
ALONG WITH THOSE TABLE OF WHAT THOSE DIFFERENT CUSTOMER CLASSES ARE.
SO JUST TO CLARIFY THE ACTION ITEM THAT'S ON THE AGENDA, WE HAVE, WE HAVE THREE ACTION ITEMS THAT ARE AFTER THIS DISCUSSION ITEM AND THEY SAY TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF, AND THEN THE RELEVANT PLAN.
SO THIS ONE SAYS, RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE REVISED WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AS AN EXAMPLE.
SO WHAT I AM DOING AND, AND HAVE DONE FOR THE WATER 4 24 REPORT IS I'M TRYING TO MAKE, UM, UH, TO DOCUMENT THE SPECIFIC EDITS AND THE LANGUAGE AND THE PLACEMENT OF THOSE EDITS SO THAT THAT CAN BE INCLUDED IN, UH, THE MOTION THAT I THINK THAT Y'ALL ARE IN MAYBE INTENDING TO MAKE IN THE SUBSEQUENT ACTION ITEMS. SO IT, UM, WILL BE VERY HELPFUL FOR THE SUBSEQUENT ACTION ITEM ON THE WATER CONSERVATION
[01:00:01]
PLAN, IF WE CAN EXPLICITLY STATE, UM, WHAT THE EDITS ARE THAT WE ARE TRYING TO MAKE AS A PART OF THAT MOTION SO THAT THAT'S THEN INCLUDED IN YOUR ACTION THAT WILL GO TO, UM, COUNSEL WITHIN YOUR RECOMMENDATION.SO, UM, THIS EDIT, THIS RED LINE EDIT ON THIS PAPER IS QUITE HELPFUL BECAUSE WE CAN, UM, EXPLICITLY INCLUDE THAT LANGUAGE AND STATE THAT THAT'S A LANGUAGE THAT WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE MOTION.
UM, CAN YOU HELP ME TO IDENTIFY WHAT ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE, UM, OR EDITS WE WOULD LIKE TO MAKE RELATED TO THESE DEFINITIONS SO THAT WE CAN HAVE THAT DOCUMENTED SO YOU CAN PUT THAT IN YOUR MOTION? YEAH, I CAN, I JUST MADE THIS ONE CHANGE TO THIS RED LINE THAT SARAH SUGGESTED.
AND I CAN JUST ADD A LINE THAT SAYS ADD.
SO I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT IN THE SYSTEM DATA SECTION WHERE WE HAVE THESE THREE TABLES THAT REFER TO RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL, INSTITUTIONAL, ET CETERA, THAT WE DEFINE THE CUSTOMER CLASSES AND THE WATER AND THE SYSTEM DATA SECTION.
I DON'T KNOW IF Y'ALL USE CUSTOMER CLASSES OR CUSTOMER TYPE.
WHAT'S THE, THE CORRECT WHAT? YEAH, I, I THINK WE CAN DO THAT.
AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, UM, MAKING A DISTINCTION BETWEEN CUSTOMER CLASSES FROM A RATE SETTING PERSPECTIVE, UM, VERSUS, YOU KNOW, A A USE PERSPECTIVE, UM, I MEAN I THINK THAT IT MAKES SENSE AND, AND THAT MOST OF US WOULD CONSIDER, UH, TESLA TO BE AN INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMER, UH, BUT THEY, THEY DON'T HAVE THEIR OWN SEPARATE LARGE VOLUME RATES EVEN, EVEN TODAY.
SO ALTHOUGH THEY'RE THEIR, UH, DEMAND, YOU KNOW, IS SUFFICIENT TO, TO, TO, THEY, THEY'VE MET THE CRITERIA FOR US TO DO THE EVALUATION, WHETHER IT MAKES SENSE TO SET SEPARATE RATES FOR 'EM, I THINK WE JUST NEED TO, UM, MAYBE JUST ASTERISK THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, HAVING A LARGE VOLUME RATE.
I, I'M GONNA JUMP, I WASN'T ASKING ABOUT RATES NECESSARILY.
WE, I'M ASKING ABOUT WHAT IS A RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER, WHAT IS A COMMERCIAL CUSTOMER, ET CETERA.
SO WHEN PEOPLE ARE LOOKING AT THIS THAT THEY KNOW THAT THEY HAVE SOME CONTEXT AROUND THIS AND AREN'T MAKING ASSUMPTIONS LIKE ANY OF US WOULD, THAT WHAT AN INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMER IS VERSUS A COMMERCIAL, ET CETERA, WE CAN DO THAT.
SO I THINK WE NEED TO, UM, WE MAY NEED TO DO SOME WORK RIGHT NOW TO IDENTIFY DEFINITIONS FOR THOSE CUSTOMER CLASSES SO THAT WE CAN HAVE THE LANGUAGE THAT WE WILL INCLUDE WITHIN THIS EDITED PLAN.
ON PAGE 47 BELOW THE TABLES, I MEAN, CAN WE, DO YOU, ARE YOU SAYING WE NEED TO HAVE THE WRITEUP IN PLACE BEFORE WE VOTE THIS AFTERNOON? YES.
SO THAT'S INCLUDED WITHIN THE ACTION THAT YOU TAKE, THAT GOES TO COUNCIL.
WE CAN'T JUST SAY, AND AUSTIN AND YOU KNOW, AND AUSTIN WATER WILL ADD DEFINITIONS FOR CUSTOMER TYPES AND THE SYSTEM DATA SECTION.
I MEAN, YOU ALL HAVE YOUR DEFINITIONS.
IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE GET TO HAVE SAY OVER NECESSARILY.
I WOULD SAY THAT WE NEED TO HAVE THE LANGUAGE TO INCLUDE WITHIN THE MOTION.
AND HEATHER'S NOT HEATHER COOK IS NODDING HER HEAD BECAUSE I KNOW THIS IS UNFORTUNATE, BUT I BELIEVE THAT WE NEED TO HAVE THIS SPECIFIC LANGUAGE.
UM, YEAH, WE CAN, LET ME, LET ME PULL TOGETHER, UM, DEFINITIONS THAT ARE INCLUDED, UM, EITHER IN OUR BUDGET DOCUMENT OR SOME OTHER, UH, SOME OTHER EXISTING LANGUAGE, UM, AND SEE HOW QUICKLY I CAN GET THAT PERFECT TO MAY WE CAN TABLE THIS OR ANSWER ANY OTHER FURTHER QUESTIONS ON YES.
WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND THEN MOVE ON TO THE DROUGHT PLAN AND THEN ANY OTHER BUSINESS, AND THEN WE CAN MOVE THROUGH AND HOPEFULLY WE'LL HAVE, WE'LL HAVE HAD ENOUGH TIME TO PULL THAT LANGUAGE TOGETHER.
WHAT WAS THE THIRD ITEM THAT YOU WERE THINKING? DID, I'M, YOU SAID THERE WERE THREE ITEMS, WAS THE OTHER ONE IN THE OH, THERE WERE THREE EDITS WITHIN THE WATER.
UH, WELL, THE, THERE WERE TWO EDITS IN THE MAIN PLAN, AND THEN THERE WAS ONE EDIT IN APPENDIX H AND WE HAVE SOME SPECIFIC LANGUAGE AND I BELIEVE SOME SPECIFIC PLACEMENT FOR THAT THAT WE CAN DISCUSS IN THE, IN THE ACTION ITEM.
[01:05:01]
ALL RIGHT.UM, I'M ALMOST HESITANT TO MENTION THIS NOW, BUT, AND, UH,
UM, AND I'LL GET TO YOU ONE SECOND, PAUL.
THE, AND THE EDITS THAT SARAH FAUST SENT THE SUGGESTED EDITS, WHICH I THOUGHT WERE GREAT, UM, WE TOOK ALL OF THEM EXCEPT FOR HER VERY LAST ONE, WHICH WAS THE, ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE INDUCED EXTREME WEATHER.
I I, I REALLY LIKED HER LANGUAGE A LOT BETTER.
I JUST WANTED TO SEE IF SARAH, I MEAN, UM, AND IT WAS, LET, LET ME, LET ME, UH, LET ME FIND IT REAL QUICK.
IT WAS IN THAT SAME SECTION THAT THE EDITS WHERE THE, I HAD, UM, OH NO, HOLD ON.
UM, WHERE IT SAYS EXTREME WEATHER AND Y'ALL HAD MADE SOME CHANGES THERE, BUT THE LANGUAGE THAT, I MEAN, MAYBE I'M JUST, MAYBE THIS IS JUST DOESN'T REALLY MATTER.
SARAH, DO YOU THINK THAT THE INTENT OF YOUR LANGUAGE IS THERE? IT'S HARD TO SAY.
I THINK IT'S STILL TRIES TO POINT OUT FIVE YEARS OF EXTREME WEATHER AS IF MAYBE THAT'S NOT WHAT WE'RE NEEDING TO PLAN ON AS WE'RE JUST WHAT IT'S GONNA BE LIKE MOVING FORWARDS.
YEAH, I THINK FOR WHAT, IN OUR WAY OF THINKING AND LOOKING AT THAT WAS THAT SECTION, UM, THOSE BULLETS WERE THE DISCUSSION OF THE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCED OUR, UM, WATER USE, STAYING ABOUT THE SAME AND NOT ACHIEVING THE WATER USE REDUCTION GOALS THAT WE SET IN 2019.
AND SO IT'S REALLY BACKWARDS LOOKING IN TERMS OF EXTREME WEATHER RATHER THAN FORWARDS LOOKING FOR CLIMATE CHANGE, WHICH OF COURSE IS CAPTURED IN OUR FUTURE GOALS AND OUR, AND OUR WATER FORWARD PLAN.
AND SO THAT WAS OUR, THAT WAS, THAT WAS THE THINKING THAT WENT INTO, UM, THE WORDING THAT'S IN THE, IN THE PLAN NOW.
UM, I, I JUST, BEFORE WE CLOSE THAT OUT, I DON'T, I KNOW WE, WE THINK WE'RE GETTING SIDETRACKED OR SOMETHING AND WE WANNA MOVE ON, BUT I DON'T WANNA HAND WAVE AWAY THE ISSUE OF RATES.
UH, EVEN IF WE DON'T WANNA GET TOO MUCH INTO IT RIGHT NOW, WHEN WE WANNA SAVE THAT DISCUSSION FOR ANOTHER DAY, LIKE I DO THINK THE RATE STRUCTURE IS TIED UP WITH THE CONSUMER CLASSES.
THEY'RE LIKE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN.
SO EVEN IF WE CHOOSE NOT TO DEFINE THE CUSTOMER, IF WE WANNA CHOOSE TO DEFINE 'EM IN TERMS OF CONSUMPTION, WE DON'T WANNA MENTION THAT THEY HAVE DIFFERENT RATE CLASSES, FINE, BUT I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT WE NEED TO BE TRANSPARENT ABOUT IT IN THIS MEETING OR SOME OTHER MEETING, UM, BECAUSE THESE ARE PUBLIC RESOURCES.
AND I THINK ESPECIALLY GIVEN WHAT WE JUST LEARNED, WHICH I HAD NEVER HEARD BEFORE, THAT YOU CAN BE IN A CERTAIN CUSTOMER CLASS BUT BE PAYING THE RATE OF A DIFFERENT CUSTOMER CLASS, UH, BEFORE SOME EVALUATION IS DONE IN SOME INDETERMINATE AMOUNT OF TIME.
LIKE THAT ACTUALLY SEEMS LIKE A PRETTY SWEET DEAL FOR WHOEVER'S GETTING THAT.
SO I THINK WE NEED TO SHED SOME LIGHT ON THAT GOING FORWARD, EVEN IF IT'S NOT NECESSARILY RELEVANT FOR THIS PARTICULAR MEETING.
SO JUST WANTED TO MAKE THAT CLEAR.
AND RATES ARE A REALLY IMPORTANT PART OF OUR OVERALL, UM, ABILITY TO SHAPE WATER USE IN THE DIFFERENT CUSTOMER CLASSES.
AND AS, UM, JOSEPH MENTIONED, WE, WE JUST COMPLETED OUR COST OF SERVICE STUDY, WHICH INCLUDED A PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT COMMITTEE AND A LOT OF, UM, OF STAKEHOLDER OUTREACH AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT ON THE RATE SETTING PROCESS.
AND THOSE LARGE VOLUME CUSTOMERS, UM, WERE ADDRESSED INDIVIDUALLY IN THE COST OF SERVICE STUDY.
UM, AND SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE RATE PACKAGE THAT WAS JUST ADOPTED BY COUNCIL IN AUGUST, YOU WILL SEE THAT EACH CUSTOMER CLASS WAS ADDRESSED INDIVIDUALLY AND HAD THEIR OWN RATE INCREASES.
AND IN FACT, THE RATES FOR THE, UM, THE INDIVIDUAL CUSTOMERS WENT UP BY MORE THAN, UH, THE RATES OF OUR OTHER CUSTOMER CLASSES.
SO, UH, WE DID A LOT OF WORK OVER THE LAST YEAR TO, UM, AND WE DO IT EVERY FIVE TO SEVEN YEARS.
WE DO A COST OF SERVICE STUDY THAT REALLY DIGS INTO THOSE NUMBERS.
UM, THIS WAS THE MOST EXTENSIVE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT WE'VE EVER DONE AND THE BIGGEST PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT COMMITTEE THAT WE'VE EVER HAD.
UH, AND SO WE FEEL REALLY GOOD ABOUT THE PROCESS THAT WE WENT THROUGH TO, TO SET RATES.
SO IT SEEMS TO ME THERE IS A SECTION ON WATER RATES IN THE WATER CONSERVATION PLANS STARTING ON PAGE 27 OF THE CLEAN VERSION, BUT IT REALLY ONLY SHOWS SINGLE FAMILY
[01:10:01]
RETAIL, CUSTOMER CLASS ONE I'M LOOKING.UM, SO THERE'S A FIVE TIER BLOCK RATE FOR SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS FOR MULTIFAMILY, COMMERCIAL, AND LARGE LARGE VOLUME CUSTOMERS.
AND THAT JUST SAYS WATER CONSERVATION DURING IRRIGATION SEASON IS PROMOTED THROUGH PEAK AND OFF PEAK RATES.
I MEAN, IF THERE'S GONNA BE SOME DISCUSSION OF WHAT THE ACTUAL RATES ARE FOR NON, UM, I GUESS THIS IS SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL IN THIS TABLE NINE HERE, UM, THIS WOULD BE THE SECTION TO PUT THAT.
AND THEN IT GOES TO DROUGHT SURCHARGE.
SO SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL BEING A LARGE SLICE OF WATER USE IN AUSTIN IS DEFINITELY, YOU KNOW, I, I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW HOW COMPLICATED IT GETS AFTER YOU MOVE TO BEYOND, OH, SORRY, I TOTALLY MISSED THAT PART.
THIS IS A PEAK AND OFF PEAK PART.
UM, BUT, SO THIS IS A, A FLAT RATE AND NOT AN IN A INCLINING BLOCK RATE FOR COMMERCIAL, WHICH, WHICH PROBABLY MAKES SENSE SINCE THERE'S NOT A LOT OF, OF OUTDOOR WATERING.
SO THERE WAS A LOT OF CONVERSATION IN OUR PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT COMMITTEE AROUND COMMERCIAL RATES, UM, PARTICULARLY FOR MULTIFAMILY BECAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF FACTORS INVOLVED HERE.
BUT, UM, THAT ISSUE OF THE DIFFERENT RATES FOR COMMERCIAL AND MULTIFAMILY WAS, WAS, UM, VERY EXTENSIVELY DISCUSSED AND ADDRESSED IN THE PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT COMMITTEE FOR THE COST OF SERVICE STUDY.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS, FOLKS? PAUL? I WAS JUST SAYING I AGREE THAT WATER RATES ARE VERY IMPORTANT FACTOR HERE, AND ESPECIALLY IN ENCOURAGING CONSERVATION.
I, I KNOW A LOT LESS ABOUT RATES THAN I, THAN I SHOULD, BUT, UM, I, THERE'S, SO THERE IS A SECTION HERE ABOUT THAT.
UM, I THINK WITH THE CUSTOMER CLASSES, HOPEFULLY THEY'LL PULL STUFF TOGETHER FOR US BEFORE THE END OF THE MEETING DEFINITIONS.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S GONNA BE, UM, POSSIBLE TO DO A DEEP DIVE ON ON THOSE RATES, BUT WE CAN SET AN INTENTION AS A TASK FORCE TO TRY TO LOOK AT SOME OF THAT.
UM, MATT, YEAH, IT SOUNDS LIKE A LOT OF WORK HAS BEEN DONE IN IT THAT I JUST HAVEN'T, I NEED TO DO MY HOMEWORK ON.
WE HAVEN'T BROUGHT IT BEFORE THIS TASK FORCE, WHICH IS NOBODY'S FAULT.
JUST I HAVEN'T, I HAVEN'T READ ALL THE COST OF SERVICE STUDY MATERIALS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
SO MORE DOCUMENTS FOR ANOTHER TIME.
UH, I JUST WANTED TO ADD ON PAGE 27.
I REMEMBER SARAH FOS SAYING THAT THERE WAS LIKE A, A CHARGE THAT WAS ADDED TO THE OVERALL WATER BILL, SO THERE WASN'T A FINANCIAL BURDEN DURING, UM, DROUGHT.
AND I WAS WONDERING IF Y'ALL HAD ANY INPUT.
'CAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S STILL, LIKE NOW THERE IS STILL A SURCHARGE ON STAGE THREE, FOUR, AND FIVE FOR WATER RESTRICTIONS.
AND IF THAT COSTS, UM, DURING NON DROUGHT PERIODS IS IS STILL BEING IMPLEMENTED, OR IF IT'S JUST BOTH NOW OR, OR WHAT I'M SO GLAD JOSEPH JUST ARRIVED TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION.
SO THE, THE DROUGHT SURCHARGE A APPLIED AT THE DIFFERENT DROUGHT STAGE LEVELS, UH, IS, IS REALLY INTENDED TO OFFSET, YOU KNOW, REDUCED DEMAND, UH, DURING, YOU KNOW, EXTREME DROUGHT CONDITIONS.
SO, UH, THOSE, THOSE RATES ONLY GET IMPLEMENTED AS WE HIT THOSE STAGES.
UM, AND TO DATE WE HAVE NEVER IMPLEMENTED, YOU KNOW, A DROUGHT SURCHARGE.
AND, I'M SORRY, WHAT WAS THE OTHER PART OF YOUR QUESTION? WELL, I MEAN, WITH, IN REGARDS TO THAT, IS IT OVER THE NORMAL WATER USE, LIKE THAT CHARGE IS TO 'EM OR IS IT FOR ALL WATER CUSTOMERS ONCE WE HIT THOSE DROUGHT STAGES? BECAUSE I THINK, YOU KNOW, AS FAR AS LIKE EQUITY AND FINANCIAL BURDENS, THAT COULD PUT A LOT OF FINANCIAL ISSUES ON PEOPLE DURING A A TIME.
THAT'S PROBABLY ALREADY STRESSFUL BECAUSE OF THE DROUGHT, RIGHT? IT, IT'S FOR, FOR ALL CUSTOMERS.
UM, AND IT'S, UH, IT'S AGAIN, INTENDED TO OFFSET REDUCED DEMAND.
YOU KNOW, OUR COSTS REALLY DON'T CHANGE MUCH, YOU KNOW, IF WE'RE IN DROUGHT CONDITIONS.
AND SO WHEN CUSTOMERS USE LESS WATER, WE'RE NOT BRINGING IN ENOUGH
[01:15:01]
REVENUE TO COVER OUR COSTS.SO THE DROUGHT SURCHARGE IS INTENDED TO, UM, TO INCREASE REVENUE SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO COVER OUR COSTS.
UM, SARAH, CAN YOU SPEAK TO THAT, UM, COMMITTEE THAT YOU WERE ON THAT CAME UP WITH THE, THE THING REGARDING, YEAH, SO I MEAN, WHAT I WOULD SAY OVERALL IS THAT, UM, IT'S SOMETHING, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THESE RATE JUST TO SAY FIRST LIKE RATES AND ANY KIND OF FEE ON A WATER BILL.
AND I MEAN, THEY'RE COMPLEX STRUCTURES AND THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT OF COMMUNITY POLICY BUILT IN, BUT THEN THERE'S ALSO A LOT OF, UM, YOU KNOW, REGULATORY OVERSIGHT YOU HAVE TO MANAGE AND THEN, YOU KNOW, WATER RATES INTERACTION WITH COST OF SERVICE.
SO I'M NOT GONNA SAY TODAY, UH, YOU KNOW, ANY KIND, I WOULDN'T, I WOULD, I WOULD BE VERY HESITANT TO RECOMMEND ANYTHING.
WE DON'T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT IT.
WHAT I CAN SAY IS THE RESERVE FUND SURCHARGE, UM, WAS INITIALLY ESTABLISHED BY A TASK FORCE THAT WAS CREATED WHEN THE CITY WAS PROPOSING DROUGHT RATES TO OFFSET THEIR, UM, LOSS OF REVENUE BECAUSE OF RESTRICTIONS ON WATER USE DURING DROUGHT.
AND THE PROPOSAL AT THAT TIME WAS A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT IMPACT TO HOUSEHOLD BUDGETS.
AND SO LOOKING INTO WHY THAT WAS BEING PROPOSED AND OTHER, OTHER CONTEXTS, YEAH, THIS, WE, IT WAS ESTABLISHED THAT THE CITY, THAT THE WATER UTILITY WAS OPERATING WITHOUT A RESERVE FUND IN THAT AS IF WE HAD TO SIGNIFICANTLY RESTRICT WATER USE AND THAT WOULD IMPACT REVENUE, THERE WAS, THERE WAS NO RESERVE TO FALL ON.
SO THAT'S WHY THE RESERVE FUND SURCHARGE WAS ESTABLISHED.
AND, UM, IT, YOU KNOW, IS SUPPOSED TO BE A SMALL FEE THAT IT CONTINUES AND BUILDS UP A RESERVE FUND THAT CAN BE RELIED ON FOR TIMES OF LOSS OF REVENUE WHEN YOU'RE NOT SELLING AS MUCH WATER BECAUSE OF DROUGHT.
SO IT DOES SOUND LIKE THAT IS NOT ABLE TO FULLY COVER THEIR EXPECTED REVENUE LOSSES ANYMORE.
OR I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S SCOPE THE STATUS IS, 'CAUSE I'M NOT THAT INVOLVED AT THAT ANYMORE.
IT SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE LOOKED INTO FURTHER.
LIKE, OKAY, IF WE'RE MOVING BACK TOWARDS DROUGHT RATES, THEN MAYBE WE WANNA BE ON THAT PROGRAM AND INSTEAD OF HAVING A CONTINUAL RESERVE FUND SURCHARGE, OR MAYBE WE COULD LOWER THAT RESERVE FUND SURCHARGE.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT THE WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION COULD LOOK INTO.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT CITY COUNCIL COULD SET UP A SHORT TERM TASK FORCE TO LOOK INTO THAT HAS SOMEBODY FROM THIS COMMISSION, SOMEBODY FROM WATER WASTEWATER, YOU KNOW, SOMEBODY FROM RESOURCE MANAGEMENT.
UM, I THINK IT'S SOMETHING TO LOOK INTO FOR FURTHER STUDY.
UM, UM, I, I CAN PROVIDE A LITTLE BIT MORE CONTEXT ON THE RESERVE FUND SURCHARGE.
UH, THE RESERVE FUND SURCHARGE IS, IS CURRENTLY SET AT 5 CENTS PER THOUSAND GALLONS FOR ALL RETAIL CUSTOMERS.
UM, THAT SURCHARGE WAS SET UP AS YOU KNOW, AS YOU MENTIONED, UH, BACK IN 2013, UH, TO PROVIDE A FINANCIAL RESERVE, UH, DURING, UM, PERIODS OF BIG REVENUE SHORTFALLS.
SO, UH, YOU KNOW, RECALL THAT WE CAN EXPERIENCE REVENUE SHORTFALL DURING A WET YEAR, UH, AS, AS WELL AS, YOU KNOW, DURING, DURING DROUGHT CONDITIONS.
AND SO PRIOR TO 2013, WE DIDN'T HAVE, UH, A RESERVE SET UP TO HELP US WITHSTAND, YOU KNOW, LARGE REVENUE SHORTFALLS.
UM, THE, THE 5 CENTS PER THOUSAND GALLONS IS DESIGNED TO, UH, TO MAINTAIN A RESERVE SET AT 120 DAYS OF WATER, UH, OPERATING COST.
UH, WE ARE CURRENTLY, YOU KNOW, AROUND 119 DAYS OF, OF THAT RESERVE FUND.
SO WE'RE SLIGHTLY BELOW THE FINANCIAL POLICY LEVEL, ALTHOUGH THAT RESERVE CAN ONLY BE USED IF WE EXPERIENCE A REVENUE SHORTFALL OF, OF 10% OR, OR GREATER.
SO, UH, YOU KNOW, ON A, UH, ROUGHLY 700 MILLION, YOU KNOW, DOLLAR REVENUE BUDGET, YOU KNOW, WE'D HAVE TO HAVE A RE UH, REVENUE SHORTFALL OF 70 MILLION TO DIP INTO THE RESERVE FUND.
UM, AND THAT WOULD HELP US COVER COST.
UM, HOWEVER, IF WE USE THE RESERVE, YOU KNOW, WE, WE HAVE TO GO TO COUNCIL TO BE ABLE TO USE IT
[01:20:01]
AND WE HAVE TO REPLENISH IT WITHIN FIVE YEARS.SO IT WOULD ONLY BE USED IN EXTREME CONDITIONS, BUT IT, IT IS THERE TO PROVIDE US WITH FUNDING DURING, YOU KNOW, PERIODS OF SIGNIFICANT REVENUE SHORTFALLS.
UM, AND THAT'S A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN THE, THE DROUGHT SURCHARGE, WHICH IS JUST INTENDED TO SUPPLEMENT OUR REVENUE DURING THOSE YEARS WHERE WE ARE SEEING, YOU KNOW, UH, REDUCED DEMAND AND, AND YOU KNOW, AND CONSEQUENTLY REDUCED REVENUES TO HELP US CONTINUE TO OPERATE WITHOUT HAVING TO DIP INTO THE RESERVE FUND.
UM, I'M GONNA MOVE US ALONG BECAUSE I AM GETTING, UM, ANXIOUS THAT WE'RE NOT GONNA HAVE TIME TO ACTUALLY MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE PLANS.
'CAUSE THERE'S PROBABLY GONNA BE MORE DISCUSSION AROUND SOME OF THEM.
SO, UM, LET'S GO AHEAD AND, UM, DO THE DROP CONTINGENCY PLAN, UM, CHANGES.
THANK YOU, UH, FOR YOUR QUESTIONS ON RATES THAT, UH, TOOK ME INTO THE WAY BACK MACHINE.
I REMEMBER WHEN THAT RESERVE FUND CHARGE GOT, UH, ESTABLISHED.
ALL RIGHT, COMMISSIONERS, UH, TASK FORCE MEMBERS, SORRY, CHANGES TO THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN WERE, WERE MORE LIMITED AND GENERALLY, UH, CLEANUP CHANGES.
THE INCLUSION OF DRIP IRRIGATION RESTRICTIONS WERE MADE IN THE PREVIOUS DRAFT.
UM, SO THAT'S WHY I'M NOT LISTING THEM HERE AS CHANGES.
AS WE MENTIONED, SOMETIMES PAGES GET MIXED AROUND, UM, PARTICULARLY, UM, PAGE NUMBERS, UH, BETWEEN WHEN I PUT THIS TOGETHER AND WHEN WE SENT OUT THAT FINAL VERSION, UH, A, I GUESS A PAGE BREAK MUST HAVE PUSHED THINGS OVER.
SO LIKE ON PAGE EIGHT, IT'S ACTUALLY PAGE NINE OF THE FINAL VERSION.
UM, WE HAD A, A NUMBER OF EDITS ON PAGE EIGHT OR NINE, AND THEN PAGE 17, ACTUALLY 18.
THESE WERE TWO EDITS THAT WERE SUGGESTED BY TASK FORCE MEMBERS, UM, ADDING OR MORE TO OUR 300 MILLION GALLONS OR ADDING A SPECIFIC PAGE NUMBER TO WHERE THE DEFINITIONS OF FUNCTIONAL NON-FUNCTIONAL TURF ARE LOCATED IN THE PLAN.
THE FOURTH LINE DOWN THERE, YOU SEE PAGE 11 14, 16, 18.
UM, AND IN THE FINAL VERSION, IF YOU ADD ONE TO THAT 12 15, 17, 19, THESE ARE VERY MINOR EDITS, UH, TEXTUAL EDITS REGARDING AN EXEMPTION ON, UH, NEW LANDSCAPING TO MEET PERMIT REQUIREMENTS.
UM, WE EDITED A FEW WORDS, HOPEFULLY TO TRY TO ADD A BIT MORE CLARITY.
UM, THESE EXEMPTIONS CAN GET, UH, SOMEWHAT COMPLEX WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT WHAT IS REQUIRED FOR A PERMIT AND WHAT IS NOT.
UM, BUT WE HOPE TO CLARIFY THOSE SLIGHTLY.
UH, IN CONSERVATION STAGE, IN STAGE ONE, UH, YOU CAN USE WATER FOR LANDSCAPE IRRIGATION.
UM, AND TWO THROUGH FIVE, UH, YOU CANNOT, UNLESS YOU GET A VARIANCE.
WHICH BRINGS ME DOWN TO THE NEXT EDIT ON PAGE 18, ACTUALLY, PAGE 19, WE'RE REMOVING A VARIANCE FROM WATERING RESTRICTIONS FOR NEW LAND ZERO ESCAPE LANDSCAPES IN STAGE FOUR.
UH, TO BE CONSISTENT WITH CODE IN CODE, THERE IS NOT A VARIANCE FOR ZERO ESCAPEE LANDSCAPE ESTABLISHMENT.
THAT'S STAGE FOUR WHEN WE'RE DOWN TO 600,000 ACRE FEET.
UM, BUT THAT WAS LEFT INTO THE PLAN, SO WE'RE MAKING THAT CORRECTION.
THEN MOVING DOWN TO THE APPENDICES, UH, WE, WE ARE STARTING TO FLESH OUT THE APP DEPENDENCIES AS, AS WE'RE MOVING TOWARDS THE FINAL VERSION.
APPENDIX B, WE ADD ALL THE CURRENT CITY CODE, UM, CHAPTER TWO 13, UM, WHICH IS, IS NOT AT ALL BEING EDITED.
TWO 13, APPENDIX 16 WE'RE DE DELETING APPENDIX SIX, APPENDIX C, SORRY.
UM, WHICH PREVIOUSLY HAD RESOLUTIONS IN SUPPORT, UM, OF THE ADOPTION OF THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN.
UH, I WAS INFORMED THAT TASK FORCE AND COMMISSIONS DID NOT ACTUALLY DO RESOLUTIONS.
SO WE'RE REMOVING THAT APPENDIX AND APPENDIX F IN THE CURRENT DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN.
UH, ONE THAT WAS APPROVED ON MAY 2ND, IT HAS PUBLIC RESPONSE TO A SURVEY BACK IN NOVEMBER.
WE ARE TAKING OUT THIS APPENDIX, UH, 'CAUSE IT INDICATED PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT IN A PREVIOUS PLAN, NOT THIS VERSION OF THE PLAN.
UH, SO WE WANTED TO AVOID, UH, CONFUSIONS OF, OF THAT PUBLIC INPUT.
[01:25:01]
THOSE WERE JUST THE CHANGES IN THE DRUG CONTINGENCY PLAN BETWEEN THE LAST VERSION THAT YOU SAW ON THIS ONE.UM, ANY, UH, COMMENTS OR FEEDBACK QUESTIONS ON THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN OR SUGGESTED EDITS OR QUESTIONS? OKAY, DONE HERE.
SO WE'VE GOT THREE ACTION ITEMS, FOLKS.
[3. Recommend approval of Water Forward 2024, Austin’s Integrated Water Resource Plan]
SECTION OF OUR AGENDA.WE DON'T USUALLY HAVE THESE, SO, UM, WE HAVE, FIRST ONE IS RECOMMENDATION.
RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF WATERFORD 2024 AUSTIN'S INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES PLAN.
AND I GUESS SHOULD WE JUST GO, LIKE, ENTERTAIN A MOTION FOR THAT? LIKE, 'CAUSE WE'LL HAVE DISCUSSION IF WE NEED TO.
DO I HAVE A MOTION FOR ACTION ITEM? I'LL MAKE A MOTION ON THE WATER FORWARD 20 TO APPROVE THE WATER FORWARD.
I GET TO READ THAT, I GET TO READ THAT.
RECOMMEND I MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE WATER FORWARD 2024 AUSTIN'S INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCE PLAN WITH THE, WITH THE AMENDMENTS, UM, THAT WE DISCUSSED DURING THE DISCUSSION.
THREE EDITS, WHICH ARE, OKAY, I'M JUST DOING SOME QUICK MATH.
OKAY, JUST, UM, CAN I HAVE, HERE COMES HEATHER TOO.
SHE CAN YOU THE SPREADSHEET FOR ME? PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTINUOUS SHORTAGE.
SO, UM, THIS IS THE, UH, CONTINUOUS SHORTAGE.
MAY I SUGGEST THAT YOU MAKE A MOTION, TAKE A SECOND, THEN HAVE DISCUSSION AND THEN PUT THE AMENDMENTS THAT YOU WANT, DISCUSS THAT, AND THEN ADD THOSE AND THEN VOTE.
DOES THAT MAKE SENSE OR, WE ALREADY AGREED THAT WE'RE GONNA GO WITH THESE THREE.
WE CAN DISCUSS THE FOR MEMBERS.
I THOUGHT WE HAD ALREADY AGREED ON THOSE THREE FOR OUR CONVERSATION.
OKAY, SO YOU WANNA ADD THEM NOW? YEAH.
SO, UM, AND THEY'RE OPEN FOR DISCUSSION, SO, OKAY.
SO FIRST EDIT IS ADD AS A SENTENCE ON WATER 4 24 CLEAN COPY.
WITH THIS IS MY PROPOSAL BASED ON SOME QUICK MATH WITH WATER FORWARD 2024 STRATEGIES IN PLACE, LESS THAN 3% OF SCENARIOS, EVIDENCE OF SHORTAGE THROUGH 2060 AND APPROXIMATELY 15% OF SCENARIOS IN 2070 AND 2080.
AND FEEL FREE TO EDIT THAT, THAT'S ME TRYING TO DO MATH AND WRITE WORDS AT THE SAME TIME.
THAT WAS IN RESPONSE TO TODD'S COMMENT.
NUMBER TWO IS, UM, ADD TO THE CAPTION OF THE MAP ON WATER.
PAGE 30 AREAS SHOWN IN GREEN REFLECT THE BARTON SPRING ZONE, WHICH WILL BE CONTINUE TO BE AN AREA OF HIGHER PRIORITY FOR CONSERVATION FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND THEN THE THIRD EDIT IS, UH, ADD A SENTENCE TO WATER 4 24 APPENDIX H, CLEAN COPY PAGE H 13, PARAGRAPH FOUR.
THE ORGANIZATIONS WE HAVE MET WITH SO FAR ARE LISTED IN APPENDIX A.
THAT'S FOR THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN.
OKAY, SO WE HAVE A MOTION ON THE TABLE.
DO WE HAVE A SECOND? YES, I HAVE A SECOND.
UM, ANY DISCUSSION ON THE WATER FORWARD PLAN RECOMMENDATION? YEAH, I GUESS THIS, I'M, I'M GONNA HAVE A LITTLE DISCUSSION, NOT I, MUCH OF A DISCUSSION, JUST SOME CLOSING THOUGHTS.
UM, IT SEEMS LIKE THE PLACE FOR COMMENTS, UH, BECAUSE I WANNA GET THESE INTO THE PUBLIC RECORD, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S OTHER WAY TO DO IT.
SO, UH, YEAH, I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA VOTE TO RECOMMEND THIS OBVIOUSLY, AND I WANT TO COMMEND ALL THE AUSTIN WATER STAFF WHO HAVE WORKED REALLY HARD ON THIS.
THIS HAS BEEN A TON OF WORK AND IT'S, IT'S A REALLY GOOD PLAN FOR THE CITY.
BUT, UH, GOING FORWARD, I WANTED TO JUST REMARK A FEW LESSONS LEARNED THINGS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE US DO A LITTLE DIFFERENTLY, UM, NEXT TIME AROUND IF I'M ON THIS TASK FORCE.
FIRST, I THINK WE REALLY NEED TO BE MORE AGGRESSIVE IN TERMS OF ACTION TO DE DECREASE WATER CONSUMPTION.
EVERYONE KNOWS THAT, I KNOW WE'RE ALL ON BOARD, BUT FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, LET'S DITCH THE INCENTIVE PROGRAMS
[01:30:01]
THAT DON'T WORK AND MAKE EVERYTHING MANDATORY, ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE USERS THAT CAN AFFORD IT, BUT ARE JUST GONNA COMPLAIN ABOUT IT.TWO, WE NEED TO FIX THIS LOOPHOLE AROUND SCRS.
I KNOW IT DIDN'T FIT INTO THIS PLAN AND THE EXACT WAY THAT I WANTED IT TO.
MAYBE SOME OTHER PEOPLE WANTED IT TO, AND THAT'S FINE.
UM, I'VE TALKED TO SHAY ABOUT THIS RECENTLY AND I THINK IT, AS TRICKY AS THIS MIGHT BE, AS AS A PROBLEM TO SOLVE IT, IT IS NOT UNSOLVABLE.
AND I THINK THERE ARE SOLUTIONS OUT THERE.
WE'LL NEED TO WORK WITH OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS.
THIS TASK FORCE CAN TAKE SOME STEPS TO WORK WITH OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS ON THIS ISSUE.
AND HOPEFULLY WE CAN GET TO A POINT WHERE THESE MAJOR REQUESTS FOR WATER ON THE EAST SIDE OF AUSTIN ARE GETTING THE SAME PUBLIC SCRUTINY THAT THEY DO ON THE WEST SIDE OF AUSTIN, WHICH IS AN EQUITY ISSUE.
AND THAT'S, THAT'S MY LAST POINT.
I THINK WE NEED TO DO A POST-MORTEM ON THE EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY ANALYSIS, WHICH AS I'VE SAID BEFORE, FELT ALMOST MEANINGLESS AT THE END OF THE DAY.
WE MISSED THE FOREST FOR THE TREES.
AND GOING FORWARD, I THINK THE EQUITY OFFICE SHOULD BE INVOLVED IN HELPING US MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T MISS THE BIG PICTURE.
AND AS WE HAVE THIS VERY COMPLICATED PROCESS OF ASSIGNING A SYSTEM SCORES TO EVERY INDIVIDUAL STRATEGY, ONLY FOR THEM TO ALL END UP BEING READ LIKE ABOVE AVERAGE OR ABOUT AVERAGE.
UM, SO THOSE ARE MY THREE TAKEAWAYS.
UM, BUT GOOD WORK BY EVERYONE.
THANK YOU AGAIN, WE CAN ALWAYS IMPROVE.
UM, BUT YEAH, THOSE ARE MY COMMENTS.
ANY, ANY OTHER? SORRY, SORRY, SORRY.
OH, HANEY, CAN YOU MUTE? I THINK WE'RE GETTING AN ECHO ECHO.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION ON THE WATER FORWARD PLAN? AND HANEY, YOU CAN UNMUTE IF YOU WANNA HAVE DISCUSSION.
UM, THIS IS MY, UH, SECOND GO AROUND, ALTHOUGH I STARTED THE FIRST ONE HALFWAY THROUGH, SO YEAH, YOU CAN'T COUNT THAT.
I WAITED, I WAITED UNTIL THE FUN STUFF STARTED
I DO FEEL LIKE A VETERAN THOUGH, HAVING GONE THROUGH THIS ONCE BEFORE.
BUT THANK, THANK YOU ALL FOR, FOR THE, THE SUPPORT AND PATIENCE AND, UM, WORKING WITH US AND OUR CONCERNS.
UM, I'M GONNA CHANNEL BILL MORIARTY A LITTLE BIT HERE, UM, IN, UH, ENCOURAGING, UM, AND, AND I KNOW Y'ALL ARE GETTING AFTER IT, BUT YEAH, CONTINUE TO GET AFTER IT.
IN TERMS OF, UM, IMPLEMENTING THE STRATEGIES IN THE PLAN, YOU KNOW, AS, AS YOU ALL KNOW, THE RESERVOIRS ARE DOWN LOW AGAIN, AND I WAS DOING SOME ANALYSIS OVER THE LAST WEEK IN OUR BASELINE, UM, TEMPERATURE AVERAGE ANNUAL TEMPERATURE IN TRAVIS COUNTY IS, IS NOW, UM, EQUAL TO THE HOTTEST YEAR DURING THE DROUGHT OF THE 1950S.
SO, SO WITH THE WARMING WE ARE, WE'RE DEFINITELY SEEING, UM, WHAT I WOULD CALL IT THAT WAS SOBERING TO ME.
THAT'S, IT'S, IT'S ACTUALLY FRIGHTENING, UM, THINKING ABOUT WHAT THAT MEANS FOR RUNOFF AND RECHARGE.
UM, SO, UM, SO AGAIN, INSPIRED BY BILL MORIARTY, ENCOURAGE Y'ALL TO DO THINGS AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN.
UM, AND THANKS FOR THAT INFORMATION, ROBERT.
UM, LIKEWISE, I WANTED TO SAY, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S REALLY, I WASN'T ON THE APPROVAL OF THE INITIAL WATER FORWARD PLAN AND, UM, IT'S BEEN, YOU KNOW, REALLY INTERESTING TO BE ABLE TO LEARN ALL OF SO MUCH ABOUT IT AND TO BE INVOLVED WITH THE WATER UTILITY THAT'S SO INNOVATIVE AND I THINK AMBITIOUS ON THE WATER SUPPLY SIDE IN TERMS OF LOOKING TO BUILD THIS REALLY COMPLEX MULTI-SOURCE SYSTEM, UM, WITH THE VARIOUS ENGINEERING APPROACHES AND THINKING SO FAR FORWARDS ABOUT THEIR WATER SUPPLY PLAN.
UM, AND WE'RE GONNA GET TO IT IN A MINUTE.
UM, I KNOW THIS IS A LITTLE COUNTERINTUITIVE, BUT, AND I'M, WE'LL BE VOTING FOR THE WATER FORWARD PLAN.
UM, I'M NOT GONNA SUPPORT THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, WHICH I KNOW IS A COMPONENT, BUT, UM, OF IT, BUT REALLY JUST, IT'S BECAUSE I REALLY BELIEVE THAT WE CAN, THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO WORK AND SET OUR GOALS TOWARDS BEING, UM, AN EXTREMELY WATER EFFICIENT COMMUNITY.
[01:35:01]
WANTED TO LIVE IN AUSTIN AND HAVE IT BE THE MOST WATER EFFICIENT CITY IN THE COUNTRY.UH, MAYBE WE SHOULD BE THE MOST WATER EFFICIENT CITY IN THE STATE OR IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
UM, BUT I REALLY THINK IT'S GONNA NEED, WE'RE GONNA NEED COUNCIL AND THE COMMUNITY TO, UM, YOU KNOW, GET IN TO LEAD ON THAT.
I THINK THE UTILITY NEEDS TO HEAR THAT DIRECTION AND WILL RESPOND TO IT.
UM, BUT IT, AND IT FEELS LIKE WE'RE REALLY INNOVATIVE ON THIS SUPPLY SIDE, BUT ON THIS WATER USE SIDE, WE'RE JUST, YOU KNOW, REALLY A LITTLE BIT STUCK.
AND, UM, I THINK THAT PART IS GONNA BE SOMETHING WE CAN REALLY WORK ON IN THE FUTURE.
AND AS WELL, I WOULD LOVE IT TO SEE, I THINK HOPEFULLY FOR ME, LIKE THE NEXT ITERATION OF THIS WATER FORWARD PLAN IS GONNA INCLUDE A LOT MORE SYNERGY WITH SOME OF OUR OTHER, AND, YOU KNOW, ONE WATER TYPE THINKING, UM, YOU KNOW, WITH SOME OF OUR OTHER POLICIES AND PERMITTING THAT AFFECTS WATER USE, FOR EXAMPLE, YOU KNOW, STORM WATER AND DRAINAGE AND BEING MUCH MORE TIGHTLY CONNECTED WITH WATERSHED PROTECTION AND HOW WE'RE USING ALL OF THE WATER THAT, YOU KNOW, WILL FALL IN VERY RAPID AMOUNTS IN OUR CITY, UM, TO PROVIDE THE WATER THAT WE'RE GONNA NEED.
SO THAT, YOU KNOW, I HOPEFULLY, I THINK THE NEXT ITERATION OF THIS IS LIKE, HOW ARE WE GONNA EXECUTE ON THIS COMPLEX PLAN? HOW CAN WE INTEGRATE MORE OUR DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS AND POLICIES? AND THEN ALSO HOW CAN WE REALLY, REALLY PUSH AND INNOVATE ON THE WATER CONSERVATION SIDE, BECAUSE IN THE END, THAT'S GONNA BE THE MOST AFFORDABLE, UM, AND EQUITABLE WAY TO GET THERE.
THANKS, UM, SARAH, I, UM, REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENTS.
ALTHOUGH WATER CONSERVATION, I WAS GONNA SAVE THIS FOR THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, BUT I THINK IT, SINCE THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN IS PART OF THE WATER FORWARD PLAN, UM, AND WE'LL GET TO THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN NEXT, BUT, UM, I KNOW WE'VE HAD A LOT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND I'M JUST, UH, THE, THE REALITY MAY BE THAT WE COMPLETELY PLANNED, DIDN'T PLAN AS WELL AS WE COULD HAVE OR SHOULD HAVE WHEN WE PUT TOGETHER OUR FIVE YEARS AGO WATER CONSERVATION PLAN IN 2019.
UM, THERE'S A VARIETY OF FACTORS WHICH WE'VE DISCUSSED TODAY, UM, THAT MAYBE CONTRIBUTED TO THAT.
BUT, UM, OUR GOAL IN OUR PREVIOUS WATER CONSERVATION PLAN WAS TO BE AT ONE 19 GPCD IN 2024.
BUT INSTEAD, OUR BASELINE GPCD IS 1 27.
UM, AND BASED ON USING MATH FROM THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, THAT MEANS, YOU KNOW, THAT'S OVER 9,000 ACRE FEET OF WATER THAT WE WERE PLANNING TO CONSERVE THAT WE DIDN'T.
UM, AND I'M JUST SUPER DISAPPOINTED IN THAT AND I KNOW THAT THERE'S A LOT OF FACTORS.
I'M NOT SAYING THAT AUSTIN WATER STAFF IS NOT TRYING TO GET THERE, BUT WE'VE JUST, THIS IS A HUGE PIECE OF THIS PLAN.
UM, WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE OUR PROGRAMS ARE WORKING.
WE HAVE TO USE DATA AND INVEST IN 'EM AND, AND BENCHMARK AND CHECK THOSE PROGRAMS FREQUENTLY.
UM, OUR 2029 GOAL FROM OUR PREVIOUS PLAN WAS TO BE AT IN 2029 AT 106 GALLONS PER CAPITA PER DAY.
OUR NEW, AND THIS IS, THIS IS THE STUFF THAT OUR PREVIOUS WATER FORWARD PLAN WAS BUILT ON.
AND OUR NEW, OUR NEW GOAL, UM, FOR 2029, AND I HOPE WE MEET IT, IS 121 GALLONS PER CAPITA PER DAY.
WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A DIFFERENCE OF ABOUT 17,000 OR A LITTLE OVER 17,000 ACRE FEET.
SO OUR GOAL FOR FIVE YEARS FROM NOW FOR HOW MUCH WATER WE'RE GONNA BE SAVING IS 17,000 ACRE FEET DIFFERENT.
AND THAT'S JUST REALLY SOBERING.
UM, YOU KNOW, WATER LOSS IS A BIG PIECE OF THIS.
UM, WE'RE LOSING A LOT OF WATER PER PERSON PER DAY.
UM, BUT THAT'S ONLY A PIECE OF, OF OUR FUTURE SAVINGS.
SO WE'VE JUST, WE'VE GOT TO GET A HANDLE ON THIS.
THIS PLAN ISN'T GONNA WORK IF WE DON'T GET A HANDLE ON OUR PER CAPITA WATER USE AND USE WATER LIKE A COMMUNITY THAT, THAT IS IN THE REGION THAT, THAT WE'RE IN.
UM, SO WE'VE JUST, WE'VE GOT TO DO IT.
UM, SO MAYBE THIS IS JUST A COURSE CORRECTION AND, AND A DOSE OF REALITY IN OUR WATER CONSERVATION PLAN.
AND WE HAD IT TOTALLY WRONG IN 2019.
UM, I I HOPE THAT, UH, AUSTIN WATER IS ABLE TO
[01:40:01]
BLOW THESE NUMBERS, THESE GOALS OUT OF THE WATER AND TO FAR EXCEED 'EM, BUT IT'S, IT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN WITHOUT, UM, DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY THAN WE HAVE BEEN.UM, SO THAT, THAT IS MY BIG HOPE.
I'M, I'M GONNA VOTE TO APPROVE BOTH OF THESE PLANS, BUT JUST WITH THE CAVEAT THAT I'VE JUST DEEPLY CONCERNED ABOUT THE WATER CONSERVATION PIECE OF IT, BUT I REALIZED HOW MUCH WORK HAS GONE INTO IT AND I REALLY SUPPORT THE UTILITY IN TRYING TO MOVE THESE PROGRAMS FORWARD.
WE'VE JUST, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOTTA TAKE REALLY GOOD HARD LOOKS AT THESE PROGRAMS, UM, FREQUENTLY TO MAKE SURE THAT, UM, AND I SAY LIKE THE ROYAL, WE NOT LIKE I'M IN CHARGE OF ALL THIS, BUT UM, BUT UH, AND, AND BE RESPONSIVE TO IT AND NOT GET TO A PLACE IN FIVE YEARS WHERE WE'RE LIKE, OH BOY, WE TOTALLY DIDN'T GET THIS.
I MEAN, MAYBE Y'ALL SAW THAT COMING.
UM, SO DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR DISCUSSION OR ANY OTHER DISCUSSION ON WATER FORWARD? THE ITEM IS, WELL, WE TOOK A LITTLE JOURNEY TO WATER CONSERVATION.
IT'S PART OF THE WATER FORWARD PLAN.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION ON WATER FORWARD? OKAY, SO WE HAVE A MOTION BY ROBERT AND A SECOND BY BY HANEY WITH, UH, TO, UM, HERE IT IS TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF WATER FORWARD 24 AUSTIN'S INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCE PLAN.
AND THEN, UH, WE LISTED OUT THE THREE, THE THREE EDITS THAT ARE GONNA BE MADE TO THE PLAN.
UM, WELL, I'D ASK IF THERE'S ANYBODY OPPOSED, BUT THERE'S NO ONE LEFT
UM, IT'S BEEN A LOT OF WORK, UM, A LOT OF WORK, UM, BY EVERYBODY, MAN, THIS PROCESS.
I FEEL LIKE WE'RE GONNA HAVE SO MUCH TIME, MUCH MORE TIME IN OUR LIVES NOW.
UM, IS THIS THE LAST PLAN THEN? NO.
WE'RE LAUNCHING RIGHT INTO IMPLEMENTATION.
HAVEN'T YOU HEARD ABOUT THE DROP THAT'S COMING? UM, SO, UH, BUT REALLY THE, UM, THE AMOUNT OF WORK AND DEDICATION BY ALL PEOPLE INVOLVED, UM, IS JUST ASTOUNDING.
AND IT'S JUST LIKE, FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR COMMUNITY, UM, I'M REALLY PROUD, PROUD OF, OF ALL THE WORK AROUND THIS.
SO I WANNA THANK THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS.
THIS HAS BEEN A LOT OF WORK ON YOUR PART TO REALLY DIG INTO THIS WITH US AND ASK US HARD QUESTIONS.
AND THE PLAN IS BETTER BECAUSE OF YOUR ENGAGEMENT.
AND I'VE BEEN AROUND, THIS IS GONNA, I'M GONNA SOUND LIKE I'VE BEEN, I'VE BEEN AROUND LONG ENOUGH TO, TO SEE THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WATER UTILITY AND, AND, UM, THE PUBLIC AND STUFF EVOLVE AND CHANGE.
AND IF, LIKE I'VE TOLD PEOPLE, IF YOU WOULD'VE ASKED ME LIKE 10 YEARS AGO IF WE WOULD BE HERE ADOPTING OUR SECOND PLAN LIKE THIS, I WOULD'VE PROBABLY THROWN DOWN SOME CASH AGAINST IT.
SO, UM, I REALLY APPRECIATE WHERE WE ARE NOW AND WE HAVE TAKEN A FORK IN THE ROAD, UH, TOWARDS, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO ACHIEVE WATER RELIABILITY AND RESILIENCE FOR OUR COMMUNITY, THAT THE LANDSCAPE IS SHIFTING RAPIDLY AND, UM, WE'RE TRYING TO, UH, TO KEEP UP WITH IT, BUT,
[4. Recommend approval of the revised Water Conservation Plan]
OKAY.SO OUR NEXT AGENDA ITEM, SOMEBODY NEEDS TO LIKE, ATTACH THE AGENDA TO ME.
HERE IT'S, UM, RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE REVISED WATER CONSERVATION PLAN.
THIS IS OUR 2024 WATER CONSERVATION PLAN.
DO I HAVE A MOTION? OH WAIT, WE'VE GOT, WELL, WE'LL DO THIS OTHER STUFF IN DISCUSSION BECAUSE IT'S OKAY.
DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN? NOT ALL AT ONCE.
I'LL MAKE THE MOTION TO APPROVE THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN WITH THE, UH, A RECOMMEND APPROVAL.
UM, I RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE REVISED, OH, THAT'S WHAT I SAID.
APPROVAL OF THE REVISED WATER CONSERVATION PLAN WITH THE, UH, MEN MENTIONED REQUESTED CHANGES, WHICH I THINK THERE'S TWO MANA.
I HAVE TWO CHANGES SO FAR AND I THINK WE NEED TO TALK SOME OF THOSE.
SO YES, I KNOW WHATS HAPPENING.
[01:45:01]
IF, IF YOU COULD READ OFF THE CHANGES.SO WE, THIS SORT OF, UH, THE CHANGES WOULD INCLUDE AN EDIT TO PARAGRAPH SIX, I BELIEVE ON CLEAN COPY.
PAGE 30, UM, GROWTH OF CUSTOMERS AND WATER USE.
THIS WOULD, BETWEEN 2019 AND 2023, AUSTIN ADDED NEW RESIDENTIAL AD, SINGLE FAMILY AND MULTIFAMILY, CONTINUING ON WITH PREVIOUS LANGUAGE AND COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS.
AND THE CORRESPONDING WATER USE BY ADD FOR RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS.
PREVIOUS LANGUAGE INCREASED, NO NEW INDUSTRIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL OR AGRICULTURAL CUSTOMERS WERE ADDED DURING THIS TIME PERIOD.
TABLE ON PAGE ADD 50, PREVIOUS LANGUAGE AND HISTORICAL WATER SALES TABLE ON PAGE.
CAN I STOP YOU RIGHT THERE? I ACTUALLY EMAILED YOU UPDATED LANGUAGE 'CAUSE THERE WAS THAT ONE SENTENCE THAT WE HAD TAKEN OUT.
YEAH, I MEAN, JUST, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT THING.
THERE WAS A SENTENCE, UM, THAT WE HAD TAKEN OUT SAYING THAT NO NEW INDUSTRIAL AND CU CUSTOMERS WERE ADDED.
AND CAN I MAKE A SUGGESTION THAT RATHER THAN TRYING TO COMPARE OKAY.
OLD TO NEW, JUST READ THE NEW, JUST READ THE WHOLE THING.
I'M, YOU PROBABLY DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO CHECK YOUR EMAIL WHILE YOU WERE WRITING THIS OTHER NEW SECTION.
SO I'M GONNA READ OUT, I I'M GONNA START OVER AGAIN AND JUST READ OUT THE, THE EDITED LANGUAGE GROWTH OF NEW CUSTOMERS, GROWTH OF CUSTOMERS AND WATER USE BETWEEN 2019 AND 2023.
AUSTIN ADDED NEW RESIDENTIAL PARENTHESES, FAMILY AND MULTIFAMILY AND COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS.
AND THE CORRESPONDING WATER USE BY FOUR RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS INCREASED.
SEE NEW RETAIL CONNECTIONS TABLE ON PAGE 47 AND HISTORICAL WATER SALES TABLE ON PAGE 48.
CHANGES IN POPULATION AND WATER USE CAN IMPACT AUSTIN'S PRIMARY WATER USE METRIC GALLONS PER CAPITA PER DAY OR G-P-C-D-G-P-C-D EQUALS TOTAL SYSTEM WATER USE INCLUDES ALL CUSTOMER TYPES.
CALM, INDUSTRIAL, RESIDENTIAL, INSTITUTIONAL, DIVIDED BY POPULATION SERVED.
GROWTH IN RESIDENTIAL WATER USE IS ACCOMPANIED BY A CORRESPONDING GROWTH IN POPULATION AND GENERALLY DOES NOT CAUSE MAJOR CHANGES IN GPCD AS LONG AS THE PER CAPITA WATER USE FOR THOSE NEW CUSTOMERS IS IN LINE WITH AUSTIN'S WATER USE PATTERNS.
GROWTH IN COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL USE HAS A GREATER IMPACT ON GPCD CALCULATIONS BECAUSE THERE'S INCREASED WATER USE BUT NO CORRESPONDING POPULATION GROWTH.
THE SECOND EDIT WOULD BE TO DEFINE CUSTOMER CLASSES IN THE SYSTEM DATA SECTION.
AND I BELIEVE WE MAY STILL BE WORKING ON THE DEFINITION OF THOSE CUSTOMER CLASSES SENDING IT.
IS EMILY JUST GONNA PUT IT ON THE SCREEN? NO.
COULD YOU, COULD YOU SEND IT TO ME AND I'LL JUST READ IT OUT? SURE.
LET'S JUST STAY CONSISTENT WITH WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING.
IF IT'S TOO MUCH, THEN I MIGHT CHANGE HER MIND.
SO I'VE GOT DEFINITIONS OF THE VARIOUS CUSTOMER CLASSES.
THIS WOULD BE THE SECOND EDIT THAT WOULD BE INCLUDED.
[01:50:01]
BELOW THE TWO TABLES.UM, RESIDENTIAL AS DEFINED AS CUSTOMERS WHO LIVE IN SINGLE FAMILY DWELLINGS AND ARE SERVED BY A SINGLE DOMESTIC WATER METER.
MULTIFAMILY CUSTOMERS WHO LIVE IN MULTI DWELLING, MULTI-UNIT DWELLINGS NOT SERVED BY INDIVIDUAL DOMESTIC WATER METERS.
COMMERCIAL BUSINESS OR INSTITUTIONAL CUSTOMERS WITH WATER USE RELATED TO THE PRODUCTION SALE OR DELIVERY OF GOODS AND SERVICES.
LARGE VOLUME, LARGE BUSINESS OR INSTITUTIONAL CUSTOMERS USING 85 MILLION GALLONS, 85 MILLION OR MORE GALLONS OF WATER PER YEAR FOR THE PRODUCTION SALE OR DELIVERY OF GOODS AND SERVICES.
WHOLESALE, MUNICIPALITY OR SPECIAL DISTRICT WHO RESELLS WATER AND WASTEWATER SERVICES FOR RESELL TO CUSTOMERS WITHIN THEIR SERVICE TERRITORY.
NEED A SECOND? WHAT ABOUT, OH, GO AHEAD.
AGRICULTURE AND INSTITUTIONAL, LIKE IF YOU WERE LOOKING AT THE, THE TABLE ON PAGE 47, THERE'S OTHER WORDS ON THERE THAT AREN'T SPECIFIED AGRICULTURE.
WE COULD MODIFY THE DEFINITION OF COMMERCIAL TO INCLUDE AGRICULTURE.
SO THAT WOULD READ AS COMMERCIAL BUSINESS, UH, INSTITUTIONAL OR AGRICULTURAL CUSTOMERS WITH WATER USE RELATED TO THE PRODUCTION SALE OR DELIVERY OF GOODS AND SERVICES.
SO ARE WE ADDING THIS LANGUAGE WOULD BE ADDED TO PAGE 47 BELOW THOSE TABLES.
DID YOU SAY WE'RE ADDING AGRICULTURAL AND INSTITUTIONAL INTO COMMERCIAL? MAY I HAVE MISUNDERSTOOD THE COMMER? UH, GO AHEAD.
I THINK YES, COMMERCIAL WOULD INCLUDE INSTITUTIONAL CUSTOMERS, YOU KNOW, STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, UH, SCHOOL DISTRICTS, UH, OTHER, YOU KNOW, NON-BUSINESS CUSTOMERS.
AND JUST TO NOTE, THESE CATEGORIES ARE REQUIRED BY THE STATE AND THIS IS A STATE REQUIRED REPORT, SO THAT'S WHY WE DO HAVE THOSE CATEGORIES.
INSTITUTIONAL AGRICULTURE, WHO COULD HAVE PREDICTED THAT SUCH A SEEMINGLY SIMPLE QUESTION YES.
WOULD WREAK SO MUCH HAC IN GRAY AREA.
UM, YEAH, I THINK WE'RE REALLY LOOKING AT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STATE SPECIFIED CATEGORIES FOR OUR WATER CONSERVATION PLAN.
WE ARE REQUIRED TO DIVVY UP OUR CUSTOMERS BASED ON THOSE CATEGORIES VERSUS THE WAY WE DEAL WITH OUR CUSTOMER CLASSES AND CUSTOMER TYPES, UH, WITHIN AUSTIN WATER AND WITHIN OUR RATE STRUCTURE.
LET ME JUST SAY IN FOLLOWING ROBERT'S RULES THAT WE SHOULD GO AHEAD AND HAVE THE MOTION WITH THAT FIRST ITEM.
AND THEN LET'S HAVE DISCUSSION ON THIS OTHER ONE 'CAUSE THIS IS NOT SETTLED.
IN TERMS, SO MADELINE WOULD THEN MAKE A, UM, FRIENDLY AMENDMENT.
IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE SAYING? OR ARE WE OKAY WITH MADELINE'S SUGGESTION? NO, WE HAVE A MOTION ON THE TABLE.
AND WE NEED A SECOND TO THAT IF FOLKS ARE AMENABLE TO THAT OR IF ANYBODY WANTS TO SECOND, UH, I'LL SECOND.
ANY DISCUSSION? OR WE CAN ALSO ADD THIS OTHER AS AN AMENDMENT.
'CAUSE I FEEL LIKE IT NEEDS SOME DISCUSSION AROUND IT TOO, UM, TO FIGURE IT OUT.
SO, SO JUST SO DOES MADELINE THEN NEED TO PROPOSE AN AMENDMENT TO, UM, ALSO EXPLAIN THE INSTITUTIONAL AND AGRICULTURE KIND OF WHAT SHE WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT, WHICH I THINK WOULD BE GOOD.
YEAH, SO, UM, THE, THE AMENDMENT ON THE TABLE IS, IS THE DEFINITIONS OF, OF, UM, THE WATER CLASSES.
I DON'T KNOW THAT THE DEFINITIONS THAT HAVE BEEN PROPOSED ARE ACTUALLY HELPFUL BECAUSE I DON'T INCLUDE ALL THE CATEGORIES HERE.
MAYBE JUST LENDS TO THE CONFUSION, BUT YEAH, I I THINK, UH, AND MAYBE, MAYBE I'M CONFUSED, BUT UH, BUT IT SOUNDED LIKE BASED ON KEVIN'S
[01:55:01]
QUESTION OF MARISA, MARISA CONFIRMED THAT THE ANSWER WAS CORRECT, IN WHICH CASE, UM, IT WOULD BE GOOD TO HAVE AN EXPLANATION OF THAT UNDERNEATH THE TABLE.ON PAGE 47, PAUL HAS MM-HMM,
I MEAN, SHAY IS RIGHT, THIS IS A PROBLEM THAT IS CREATED BY THESE STATE MANDATED CATEGORIES.
SO TO BE CONSISTENT, I MEAN, WE'RE TRYING TO FIT A SQUARE PEG IN A ROUND HOLE HERE.
TO BE CONSISTENT, WE SHOULD BE DEFINING THE STATE CATEGORIES.
SO I ASKED EARLIER, WHAT IS LARGE VOLUME? WELL, LARGE VOLUME TO AUSTIN WATER TECHNICALLY ISN'T RELEVANT FOR THIS, EVEN THOUGH WE ARE IN THE AUSTIN WATER WORLD, BUT IN WATER CONSERVATION PLANNING WORLD, WE'RE, WE'RE USING THE STATE'S DEFINITIONS, RIGHT? SO WHAT ARE THOSE, WHAT ARE, HOW DO THEY DEFINE THOSE CATEGORIES? I MEAN, WE'RE JUST SAYING THAT RIGHT NOW TOO.
LIKE HOW DO WE GET THIS FAR WITH JUST, THERE IS A STATE DOCUMENT, UM, GUIDANCE DOCUMENT FROM SB 180 1 IN WHICH THEY DETAILED THE INDUSTRIAL, THE DIFFERENT USES.
I THINK THAT WOULD BE THE STATE DEFINITION OF THOSE IN DIFFERENT CATEGORIES.
BECAUSE WE SHOULDN'T HAVE THE STATE'S CATEGORIES AND THEN DEF AND THEN TRY TO DEFINE THEM USING AUSTIN WATERS.
AND WE DIDN'T MENTION THAT THEY WERE THE STATE'S CATEGORIES UNTIL JUST A FEW MINUTES AGO.
I WAS ASSUMING THEY WERE, I THINK WE'RE ALL, UM, REALIZING THE DISCONNECT HERE AT THE SAME TIME.
UM, ONE OPTION I THINK, UH, KEVIN IS LOOKING AT THE DEFINITIONS BY TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD, THE OTHER, SO WE COULD LIST THOSE UNDER THE TABLE AS YOU'VE SUGGESTED.
ANOTHER OPTION WOULD BE A SINGLE SENTENCE UNDER THESE TABLES THAT SAYS, UH, THESE, UM, CUSTOMER TYPES SHOWN IN THE TABLES ABOVE ARE DEFINED BY THE TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD AND THEIR GUIDANCE FOR THE PREPARATION OF WATER CONSERVATION PLANS.
AND WE CAN PROVIDE A LINK TO THE DOCUMENT WHERE THE, UH, DEFINITIONS ARE.
AND, AND DOES THE WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD DEFINE LARGE VOLUME? NO, IT'S INDUSTRIAL.
THE LARGE VOLUME IS AN, IS OUR TWEAK ON THAT.
BUT YOU WOULD DEFINE THAT ALSO WE COULD INCLUDE THE STATE'S INDUSTRIAL DEFINITION.
CAN YOU SAY WHAT YOU SAID ONE MORE TIME, SHEA? YEP.
UH, THE CUSTOMER TYPES AND CLASSES LISTED IN THE TABLES ABOVE ARE DEFINED BY THE TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD IN THEIR GUIDANCE FOR THE PREPARATION OF WATER CONSERVATION PLANS.
AND I WOULD SAY PER PERIOD AUSTIN WATER, YOU KNOW, HOW DO YOU SAY LIKE AUSTIN WATER USES OR CATEGORIZES OUR CUSTOMERS DIFFERENTLY, WHICH I GUESS OPENS THE QUESTION OF HOW DO THEY DO IT, BUT LIKE, WE CAN'T SOLVE THAT RIGHT NOW IN 29 MINUTES.
AUSTIN WATERS BILLING CLASSES, UH, MAY DIFFER FROM THESE DEFINITIONS.
WE ALSO HAVE A LINK ONLINE WATERS, SORRY, BILLING CATEGORIES ARE, UM, SET THROUGH THE COST OF SERVICE AND RATE SETTING PROCESS.
HOW DOES THAT FEEL TO FOLKS? I, I'M NOT EVEN SURE YOU NEED TO PUT THAT IN THERE.
JUST DELETE THE LARGE VOLUME PARENT PARENTHETICAL FOR, FORGET EVERYTHING ABOUT AUSTIN WIRE'S CATEGORIES IN THIS DOCUMENT, BUT PLEASE FOR OUR NEXT MEETING, MAYBE PUT AN AGENDA ITEM ON THERE TO DISCUSS AND GET FULL CLARITY ON THIS OTHER IMPORTANT PIECE FOR US, FOR OUR UNDERSTANDING.
UM, SO THE AMENDMENT WOULD BE, WHICH I THINK IS ATTACHED TO MADELINE, UM, IF I'M TRACKING THINGS CORRECTLY, WHICH I FEEL LIKE THIS IS GETTING A LITTLE CUCKOO.
MM-HMM,
[02:00:01]
YEAH, IT'S CLARIFYING THAT THE TABLE, THAT THE, THAT THESE CUSTOMER CLASSES LISTED IN THE TABLE ARE DEFINED BY THE TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD.WOULD IT BE GIVING THE DEFINITIONS OF THOSE, OF THOSE FROM THAT TABLE? OR JUST REFERRING PEOPLE TO THE TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD? THE LATTER PROVIDING LINK PROVIDING A LINK TO THAT SO FOLKS CAN SEE IT.
I THINK IT'D BE NICE TO HAVE THE DEFINITIONS THERE, BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW BIG IF THAT LITTLE SPACE IS, IS LARGE ENOUGH.
SO MAN, WHERE'S MY, NOW I'VE GOT MYSELF INTO ROBERT'S ROLL PICKLES PICKLE, BUT UM, DO WE NEED TO VOTE ON THE AMENDMENT BEFORE WE HAVE DISCUSSION OR DO WE HAVE ANY DISCUSSION ON THE AMENDMENT? THE, THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO ROBERT'S MOTION THAT WE ADD THE TEXT SAYING THAT, THAT THESE CUSTOMER CLASS DEFINITIONS ARE DEFINED BY TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD.
IS EVERYONE IN FAVOR OF THE AMENDMENT? YES.
SO NOW WE HAVE ANY OTHER DISCUSSION.
WELL, THAT'S WHAT I WAS ABOUT TO ASK, BUT I SEE MARISA LOOKING AT ME.
OH, NO, JUST, I THINK I'VE CAPTURED WHAT THE AMENDMENTS ARE TO THE MOTION.
WE HAVE A, A MOTION ON THE TABLE TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE REVISED WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, WHICH INCLUDES, UM, UH, THE, UH, LANGUAGE THAT I PROPOSE THAT MARISA HAS READ OUT.
AND THEN INCLUDES, UM, AN EXPLANATION THAT THE, THAT THE TABLE ON PAGE 47.
47 THAT WE INCLUDE, UM, A SENTENCE SAYING THAT, THAT THESE CUSTOMER CLASS CATEGORIES ARE DEFINED BY THE WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD, WHAT THEY LINK ON WHERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THEM.
SO THAT'S OUR MOTION ON THE TABLE.
ANY DISCUSSION? I JUST WANTED TO, UM, NOTE THAT WHEN, WHEN THESE TWO ITEMS, THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN AND THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN LANDED ON OUR DOCKET, I WAS ORIGINALLY PRETTY GRUMPY ABOUT IT.
'CAUSE 'CAUSE I'M LIKE, WAIT A MINUTE, WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING OUR PLAN.
UM, AND NOW WE GOT THESE THINGS KINDA SHOWING UP AT THE SAME TIME TO, TO COMPLICATE THINGS.
BUT, UH, BUT I HAVE TO CONFESS THAT I THINK IT WAS A, A VERY GOOD THING TO DO.
UM, IT'S, IT'S REALLY KIND OF LIGHTED A LOT OF THINGS.
UM, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF DISCUSSION.
I THINK IT'S BETTER ALL OF US KINDA LOOKING AT THIS AND MAKING SURE THAT THE, THE PLANS ALL FIT TOGETHER, UM, WITH EACH OTHER AND, AND WITH, UH, THE WATER PLAN.
SO, SO I DO THINK THAT IT'S, UM, IT'S A GOOD THING.
I MADE THE MOTION, I'M GONNA VOTE FOR THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN.
UM, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THESE PLANS COULD BE BETTER, YOU KNOW, IN MY OPINION.
BUT I, I'M NOT THE ONE THAT'S WRITING THEM.
THERE'S, THERE'S ALL OF US IN THE ROOM.
UM, WE ALL HAVE DIFFERENT, UM, VIEWPOINTS ON, ON HOW THINGS SHOULD GO FORWARD.
BUT I DO THINK BECAUSE OF OUR INVOLVEMENT WITH, WITH THIS, THIS PLAN AND, AND, AND ALL THESE PLANS, QUITE FRANKLY, THAT THEY ARE BETTER DOCUMENTS GOING FORWARD.
AND, UH, WATCHING KEVIN, YOU KNOW, BUT, BUT, UH, UM, YOU KNOW, I ALSO HAVE SOME, SOME CONCERNS THAT I'VE, I'VE MENTIONED EARLIER THIS MEETING IN PREVIOUS MEETINGS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, MAYBE SOME OF THE METRICS AREN'T AS GREAT.
YOU KNOW, I HAVE, I HAVE NOTED, 'CAUSE I'M ON A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT COMMITTEES AND I GO TO LOTS OF CONFERENCES.
I'VE NOTED THAT, UH, IT'S PRETTY TYPICAL THESE DAYS FOR COMMUNITIES TO NOT BE SHOWN AS MUCH PROGRESS, UM, IF ANY, ON REDUCING THEIR GCDS.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, PART, PART OF IT'S, THERE'S A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT REASONS FOR THAT.
BUT, BUT I ALSO THINK IN PART THAT A LOT OF, A LOT OF COMMUNITIES HAVE DONE A GOOD JOB.
WE'VE KIND OF GOTTEN THE EASY WATER TO CONSERVE PERHAPS OFF THE TABLE.
AND NOW IT'S GETTING, IT'S GETTING A BIT MORE CHALLENGING.
UM, AND SO WE'RE JUST GONNA HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, BE MORE CREATIVE, UM, AND, AND, AND MORE ACTIVE IN ACHIEVING FUTURE GOALS.
ANY MORE DISCUSSION? THANK YOU.
UM, ROBERT, UM, I I'M GONNA AGREE WITH ROBERT.
AND THERE, THERE, I, THERE IS NO PERFECT PLAN, BUT THE AMOUNT OF EFFORT THAT WAS PUT IN THIS BY, BY STAFF AND BY THE COMMITTEE IS JUST TO BE COMMENDED.
UM, YOU KNOW, UM, UH, THERE, THERE ARE A FEW THINGS THAT COULD BE DONE BETTER,
[02:05:01]
BUT OVERALL, UH, GREAT JOB.ANYONE ELSE? I, UM, ALL RIGHT.
SO WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND ON THE TABLE.
UM, SO ALL IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION.
OKAY, THAT'S 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 PEOPLE.
AND I WILL SAY THAT SARAH HAS HAD TO LEAVE 'CAUSE SHE HAD TO, SHE HAD A WORK, UM, WORK COMMITMENT AT TWO.
AND SO SHE'S NOT HERE, BUT SHE DID SAY THAT SHE WAS GONNA VOTE AGAINST IT.
SO, UM, I KNOW WE CAN'T COUNT IT, BUT JUST, YOU KNOW.
AND THEN, UM, OKAY, SO THE MOTION PASSES.
I DO, UM, I THINK I, YOU KNOW, WHO KNEW THAT THIS WAS GONNA BE LIKE THIS WATER CONSERVATION PLAN? I THINK THIS LIKE REALLY CLOSE SCRUTINY ON IT.
UM, KEVIN, THANK YOU TO YOU AND YOUR STAFF AND, AND EVERYBODY ELSE IN WATER FOR TRYING TO DIG INTO THIS.
I THINK WE UNDERSTAND, UM, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN WORKING.
HOPEFULLY, I FEEL LIKE THERE'S STILL A LOT OF WORK TO DO.
UM, I THINK THAT THIS PLAN IS MAYBE A COMBINATION OF RIGHT SIZING FROM LAST TIME, PANDEMIC IMPACTS, BUT ALSO WE'VE JUST, LIKE I SAID BEFORE, UM, IT'S SO MUCH WATER, YOU KNOW, IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S LIKE ALMOST 20,000 ACRE FEET.
LIKE WE JUST, THIS IS OUR EASIEST, I MEAN, DEFINE, I DON'T KNOW, EASY MAY NOT BE WHAT Y'ALL ARE THINKING RIGHT NOW, EVER, THE WATER CONSERVATION SECTION, BUT, BUT, UM, THIS IS THE WATER WE'VE, WE HAVE TO GET, WE HAVE TO GET IT.
UM, WE NEED TO INVEST, WE NEED TO BE INNOVATIVE.
WE NEED TO, UM, CREATE A WATER CULTURE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND I'M NOT SAYING THAT WE'RE NOT DOING ANY OF THAT.
UM, BUT THIS, THIS PLAN HAS TO WORK.
I LOOK FORWARD TO, THERE'S GONNA BE, UM, UM, SOME REALLY METRICS BASED, UM, ANNUAL KIND OF FEED, LIKE DAY LIGHTING AND TRANSPARENCY AROUND THIS, THIS TO KIND OF SEE WHERE WE ARE.
WE'RE NOT GONNA GET IN FIVE YEARS AND BE SURPRISED ABOUT WHERE THINGS ARE.
UM, SO I LOOK FORWARD TO VERY POSITIVE REPORTS AND ALSO LIKE WHERE THINGS AREN'T WORKING TO SHIFTING AND CHANGING THINGS AND BEING LIKE REALLY OPEN TO THAT.
UM, YOU KNOW, I HAVEN'T DONE Y'ALL'S JOB.
I DON'T KNOW, I JUST LOOK AT THE NUMBERS AND I'M LIKE, LET'S DO BETTER.
SO, YOU KNOW, MAYBE I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT, BUT, UM, BUT, UH, WE'RE ALL HERE TO SUPPORT Y'ALL AS YOU DO IT.
SO WE HAVE A COUPLE, WE'VE, WE'VE DONE TWO OUTTA THREE NOW.
[5. Recommend approval of the revised Drought Contingency Plan]
AND SO NOW WE HAVE RECOMMENDED APPROVAL OF THE REVISED DROP CONTINGENCY PLAN AS OUR NEXT ITEM.DO WE HAVE, UM, A MOTION FOR THAT? I WILL MAKE A MOTION.
DO WE HAVE A SECOND? SECOND, SECOND, SECOND.
I THINK PAUL GOT THE SECOND ALL THE WAY FROM ITALY.
SO ANY DISCUSSION ON THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN? UM, LET'S HOPE WE'RE NOT, UH, PLUNGING INTO THE, TO THE ALL THE STEPS IN SHORT ORDER, TEST THEM OUT.
ALL IN FAVOR OF, OF, UH, RECOMMENDING APPROVAL OF DROP CONTINGENCY PLAN.
UM, SO THAT WAS ALL OF US, SO NO OPPOSED, OKAY.
UM, YEAH, I JUST, YOU KNOW, I KNOW, I KNOW THAT, UH, WE HAVE COME IN WITH LOTS OF QUESTIONS AND LOTS OF REQUESTS TO HELP US UNDERSTAND THIS DEEPLY.
AND Y'ALL HAVE DONE A LOT OF WORK TO HELP, HELP US.
I MEAN, THIS IS A REAL ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES AND GET TO WORK COMMITTEE.
SO I WANT TO GIVE MY SINCERE AND DEEP GRATITUDE TO THE TASK FORCE,
[02:10:01]
UM, AND ALL OF, YOU KNOW, YOUR SERVICE TO OUR COMMUNITY AND HELPING TO GET THIS, THIS PLANS, UM, UM, TO HAVE INPUT ON THESE PLANS AND TO, YOU KNOW, DO THINGS MAYBE A LITTLE DIFFERENT OR BETTER OR LIKE, YOU KNOW, INSERT YOUR EXPERIENCE INTO THIS.AND THEN ALSO TO AUSTIN WATER.
UM, UH, THIS HAS BEEN A, A REAL, YOU KNOW, EXPERIENCE GOING THROUGH ALL OF THIS.
AND, AND NOW WE GET TO GO, YOU KNOW, WE'RE IN IMPLEMENTATION RIGHT NOW AND GET TO KEEP DOING THAT AND TEST SOME OF THESE ASSUMPTIONS GOING FORWARD.
CAN YOU HEAR ME? YEAH, UH, I KNOW I'VE BEEN QUIET TODAY, UH, WHICH ISN'T NORMAL FOR ME, BUT
UM, I JUST WANTED TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AND LEADERSHIP.
UH, YOU KNOW, RUNNING THE, THE TASK FORCE THIS TIME AROUND.
YOU ALWAYS IMPRESSED ME WITH LIKE HOW PREPARED YOU ARE AND JUST YOUR EXPERTISE ON ALL OF THESE ISSUES.
ARE YOU HANGING OUT FOR ROUND THREE?
I DON'T KNOW A LOT ABOUT A LOT OF THINGS, BUT I'VE ACQUIRED SOME WATER KNOWLEDGE.
UM, AND WE HAVE A VERY, VERY GOOD TASK FORCE WITH REALLY SMART PEOPLE ON IT THAT, UM, I'M LIKE, THIS GROUP OF FOLKS, UM, PARTICIPATING IN THIS ARE, ARE, UM, REALLY GREAT.
SO I APPRECIATE ALL OF YOU AND, UM, AND I'M NOT AS PREPARED AS YOU THINK I AM SOMETIMES VANESSA, SO IT'S MY LITTLE SECRET.
UM, ALRIGHT, SO I THINK UNLESS WE HAVE ANY OTHER BUSINESS OR JUST THANK, THANK YOU ALL AGAIN FOR YOUR ENGAGEMENT ON ALL THREE OF THESE PLANS.
UM, THEY ARE BETTER BECAUSE OF YOUR ENGAGEMENT.
AND AUSTIN WATER IS COMMITTED TO STRONG IMPLEMENTATION OF ALL THREE OF THESE PLANS.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
ON SOME OF THESE PA OH, HERE WE GO.SO AUSTIN WATER OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE, NOVEMBER 12TH AT ONE 30 AT CITY HALL? THAT'S CORRECT.
NOVEMBER 13TH, WATER WASTEWATER COMMISSION AT SIX O'CLOCK HERE.
AND NOVEMBER 19TH AT RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION AT SIX AT AUSTIN ENERGY.
AND THEN NOVEMBER 21ST AT CITY COUNCIL, IS THIS GONNA REQUIRE MULTIPLE MEETINGS OR ARE THEY JUST GONNA DO IT ALL IN ONE? IT SHOULD BE ALL IN ONE.
UM, THERE WILL BE THREE, FOUR, ACTUALLY FOUR SEPARATE AGENDA ITEMS. ONE FOR EACH PLAN AND ONE FOR THE CODE CHANGES RELATED TO THE DROUGHT, DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN.
UM, AND THOSE ITEMS ARE SCHEDULED TO BE ON THE NOVEMBER 21ST CITY COUNCIL AGENDA.
UM, WILL YOU, I MEAN, Y'ALL CAN KEEP US UP TO DATE IF THAT CHANGES.
UM, I ENCOURAGE FOLKS TO TALK TO YOUR CITY COUNCIL PERSON THAT, UM, THAT APPOINTED YOU AND LET THEM KNOW ABOUT THESE, UM, AND YOUR, YOUR THOUGHTS ON 'EM.
UH, THEY OF COURSE HAVE OUR, OUR RECOMMENDATION AND, UH, YOU KNOW, TO PARTICIPATE IN THESE MEETINGS.
I KNOW BILL WILL BE THERE 'CAUSE HE'S ON WATER WASTEWATER COMMISSION.
HE HAS TO BE, UH, HE GETS TO DO THIS TWICE.