* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:02] YES. [CALL TO ORDER ] OKAY, EVERYBODY, WE OFFICIALLY HAVE A QUORUM. CAN EVERYBODY SEE AND HEAR US? OH, THERE WAS HANEY FOR A SECOND. WAS THAT HANEY? THE THANK YOU. YEAH. CAN YOU GUYS SEE ME? NO. YOUR SQUARE KEEPS LIGHTING UP AND GOING AWAY. CAN YOU GUYS SEE ME? NO. NOT YET. NO, WE CAN'T SEE IT. WE CANNOT. DO YOU WANNA LOG OUT AND LOG BACK IN? THAT'S THE ONLY THING I KNOW HOW TO DO TO FIX ANY PROBLEMS WITH THIS, WITH THIS, WITH TEAMS , I HAVE SKILLS FOR OTHER, OTHER AREAS OF PROBLEMS. I HOPE EVERYBODY HAD A NICE HOLIDAY. MADELINE, PLEASE SUMMON SOME TROPICAL BIRDS TO FLY INTO THE FRAME WITH YOU WHILE WE'RE HERE. IT LOOKS DELIGHTFUL. SHE IN LUBBOCK, WHERE I SURROUND BY SOME TROPICAL BIRDS RIGHT NOW, ACTUALLY, THEY'RE A BIT DISTRACTING. THERE'S SO MANY BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL COLORS. NICE. OKAY, SO WE HAVE TWO INTERNATIONAL TASK FORCE MEMBERS. THIS IS VERY EXCITING. OUR, WE'RE, THIS IS, WE'RE GETTING COOLER ALL THE TIME. OKAY, I'M GONNA CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER. I FORGOT TO DO THAT PART. I'VE BEEN ON BREAK FOR A WEEK, SO I DON'T, FORGETTING HOW EVERYTHING WORKS. OKAY. THANKS FOR BEING HERE, EVERYBODY. UM, [APPROVAL OF MINUTES ] LET'S GO AHEAD AND APPROVE THE MEETING MINUTES FROM THE TASK FORCE MEETING ON NOVEMBER 4TH. REMEMBER THAT? THIS SEEMS SO LONG AGO. OKAY, THIS ONE HAS SOME RECORD VOTES ON IT AND STUFF. SO, SEE HERE THAT ROBERT MACE VOTED AGAINST EVERYTHING. . JUST KIDDING. WHAT? DO WE HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES? I MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES. ALL RIGHT. DO WE HAVE A SECOND? ALL RIGHT. FROM PERRY . WELL, THAT'S A VERY ENTHUSIASTIC SECOND. . ANY DISCUSSION? I LIKE, I LIKE THOSE BALLOONS. YEAH. DID YOU JUST DO THAT WITH YOUR MIND? HOW'D THAT WORK? WELL, I DON'T, I DID NOTHING. ALRIGHT, WELL, MOVING ON. ANY DISCUSSION? ALL IN FAVOR? AYE. AYE. AYE. OKAY. PERRY'S NOT GONNA DO THE THIS AGAIN IN CASE THE BALLOONS COME. . OKAY. UM, BACK TO MY, WHOOPS. NO, THAT'S, HERE'S MY AGENDA. OKAY. [2. Report out on Water Forward 2024 Plan, Water Conservation Plan and Drought Contingency Plan Council consideration outcomes ] SO FOR ONCE WE DON'T HAVE A 500 PAGE PACKET, LOTS OF NEW DOCUMENTS TO REVIEW, UM, BECAUSE WE'VE HIT A BIG MILESTONE. CONGRATULATIONS EVERYBODY. CONGRATULATIONS. AUSTIN WATER AND TASK FORCE. WE'VE GOT A LOT OF APPROVED PLANS AND SO WE'RE GONNA LEARN KIND OF ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED, TALK ABOUT OUR PROCESS, AND THEN WE'RE GONNA LAUNCH RIGHT INTO IMPLEMENTATION WITHOUT SKIPPING A BEAT. MAYBE, MAYBE WE'LL HAVE HOLIDAY BREAK. FIRST, . UM, SO WE HAVE THE REPORT OUT ON THE WATER, 4 20 24 PLAN, WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN OUTCOMES. AND I JUST WANNA SAY, UM, YOU KNOW, SORRY, I'M GETTING MY PAPERS STRAIGHT. THANK YOU TO EVERYBODY. I KNOW WE'VE KIND OF TALKED ABOUT IT BEFORE, BUT FOR ALL YOUR TIME, WE HAVE BEEN MEETING A LOT AND PUTTING A LOT OF TIME INTO THIS, UH, BECAUSE THERE'S NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN OUR WATER SUPPLY AND HOW WE'RE GONNA GONNA, UM, YOU KNOW, PROCURE THAT IN THE FUTURE OF AUSTIN. WE'VE GOT OPTIONS. I, I'M HAPPY WITH THE OPTIONS THAT WE'VE CHOSE AND IT'S GONNA BE A LOT OF WORK TO ACHIEVE THAT. UM, SO I REALLY AM DEEPLY APPRECIATIVE TO ALL THE FOLKS ON THE TASK FORCE THAT KEEP SHOWING UP. WE'VE HAD A LOT OF MEETINGS. YOU'RE ALL SO SMART AND WONDERFUL AND ARE BRINGING A LOT TO THIS PROCESS. AND TO THE AUSTIN WATER STAFF, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH. THIS IS A REALLY, REALLY STRONG AND GOOD COLLABORATIVE WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH EVERYBODY, YOU KNOW, BRINGING THEIR IDEAS TO THE TABLE. NOT ALWAYS AGREEING, BUT WORKING TOWARDS THE BEST SOLUTION. SO I REALLY JUST, UM, WANNA GIVE MY APPRECIATIONS SO THE PROCESS AND REALLY, YOU KNOW, HONOR THIS LIKE, MILESTONE THAT WE'VE HIT. 'CAUSE THIS IS A BIG DEAL. AND, UM, AND I WASN'T ABLE TO GO TO CITY COUNCIL LAST WEEK. SO IT, IT WAS JUST LIKE READING ABOUT IT WAS LIKE, YOU KNOW, LIKE, THIS IS GREAT, BUT I JUST WANTED, I WAS ALL TO LIKE, YOU KNOW, TAKE A MOMENT. THERE'S BEEN A [00:05:01] LOT OF WORK LEADING UP TO THIS. UM, AND A LOT OF MILESTONES THIS YEAR, NOT ONLY WITH THE ONSITE WATER ORDINANCE AND THEN THE WATER, THE WATER FORWARD PLAN, AND THE WORKING THROUGH THE CONSERVATION PLAN AND DROUGHT CONTINGENCY. SO, UM, REALLY GREAT JOB, EVERYBODY AFTER THIS MEETING, YOU CAN JUST TAKE THE REST OF THE YEAR OFF . OKAY. I I JUST WANNA ECHO ALL OF YOUR SENTIMENTS. I COULDN'T SAY IT ANY BETTER THAN THAT. THANK YOU. AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP CHAIR. YOU, YOU'VE BEEN EXCELLENT IN HELPING SHEPHERD US THROUGH THIS PROCESS AND AND APPRECIATE YOUR EXPERTISE THAT YOU BROUGHT TO THESE PLANS AS WELL. ABSOLUTELY. IT DEFINITELY, UM, COULDN'T BE DONE WITHOUT, WITHOUT EVERYBODY IN THIS ROOM, SO THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT. WELL, LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENED. 'CAUSE IT CHANGED EVERYTHING. . NO, . ALL RIGHT. WE'VE GOT SOME SLIDES JUST TO REPORT OUT ON THE, UM, ACTIONS THAT WERE TAKEN AS THESE PLANS MOVED THROUGH, UM, BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, AND THEN, UH, COMMITTEES OF COUNCIL AND THEN COUNCIL. SO IF WE GO ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE, THE OVERALL SUMMARY, UM, FOR THIS PRESENTATION IS THAT ULTIMATELY THE WATER 4 20 24 WATER CONSERVATION AND DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLANS WERE ALL, UM, RECOMMENDED FOR COUNCIL APPROVAL BY THE WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE, THE AUSTIN WATER OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION. UH, THE PLANS WERE THEN APPROVED BY COUNCIL ON NOVEMBER 21ST, 2024. AND WE HAVE SLIDES THAT'LL GO THROUGH, UM, EACH OF THOSE MEETINGS OR THE, THE VARIOUS, UH, BODIES THAT CONSIDER THESE PLANS. SO WE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE. AND, UM, JUST TO RECAP, ON NOVEMBER 4TH, THE WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE MET AND, UM, RECOMMENDED THESE PLANS FOR, UH, COUNCIL APPROVAL. UM, WE'VE DOCUMENTED HERE, JUST SO THAT EVERYBODY CAN REMEMBER HOW, UM, UH, THE PLANS WERE VOTED ON, UM, BY THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS. UH, THE EDITS THAT WERE, UM, INCLUDED IN THE, UM, UH, MOTIONS BY THE TASK FORCE WITHIN THEIR RECOMMENDATION TO APPROVE THE PLAN ARE NOTED IN THE MEETING MINUTES. SO THE MINUTES THAT WERE JUST APPROVED BY THE WATERFORD TASK FORCE, IN CASE ANYBODY WHO'S WATCHING, UM, WOULD LIKE TO SEE WHAT THOSE SPECIFIC EDITS WERE. AND I AM MOVING ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE. UM, ON NOVEMBER 12TH AT THE AUSTIN WATER OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL MEETING, ALL THREE PLANS WERE RECOMMENDED, UH, BY THAT COMMITTEE ON A, UH, THREE ZERO VOTE WITH MAYOR WATSON ABSENT. SO, UM, IT WAS COUNCIL MEMBERS, UH, POOL, UH, RYAN ALTER AND ALLISON ALTER WHO RECOMMENDED TO, UH, COUNCIL THAT THEY APPROVE ALL THREE PLANS. AND NEXT SLIDE WAS, WAS THERE, JUST, IF IT'S OKAY, IF I COULD JUST PAUSE. GO AHEAD. WAS THERE ANY DISCUSSION OF, OF THE PLANS WHEN THEY WERE UP AND FOR CONSIDERATION, THE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE? UM, AT THAT MEETING, I BELIEVE THERE WERE SOME QUESTIONS THAT WERE ASKED, UM, REGARDING KIND OF VERY, LIKE THE, THE GOALS THAT WERE SET, UM, THERE, THE COST, UM, ASSOCIATED WITH THE STRATEGIES. AND WE PROVIDED FOLLOW UP INFORMATION, UM, TO, UH, COUNCIL IN ADVANCE OF THEIR FULL MEETING ON NOVEMBER 21ST, ESPECIALLY AS RELATES TO THE COST. AND THEN THERE WERE SOME OTHER QUESTIONS RELATED TO CONSERVATION PROGRAMS AS WELL. AND THOSE, UM, QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WERE DOCUMENTED IN THE COUNCIL Q AND A. MM-HMM, , THAT'S AVAILABLE ON THE COUNCIL WEBPAGE. OKAY, COOL. THANK YOU. MM-HMM. ON NOVEMBER 13TH AT THE WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION MEETING. UM, THE, THE VOTES ARE THE SAME ALL THE WAY DOWN FOR ALL THREE PLANS. UH, THEY WERE ALL THREE PLANS WERE RECOMMENDED ON A SEVEN OH VOTE, UM, WITH COMMISSIONERS MUSGROVE MORIARTY AND VICE CHAIR MAXWELL GAINES ABSENT, UM, THE QUESTIONS THAT WERE ASKED THERE, I'M, I'M TRYING TO REMEMBER. I'M SORRY. IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME, SINCE THAT MEETING. UM, I, THERE WAS, UM, GOOD DISCUSSION AT THAT MEETING. UH, I DON'T THINK THERE WERE KIND OF OUTSTANDING QUESTIONS THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT WE FOLLOWED UP ON AFTERWARDS. YEAH. YEAH. BUT IT WAS A GOOD PRODUCTIVE DISCUSSION. YEP. AND ALL OF THESE MEETINGS ARE ALL, ARE ALSO, UM, VIDEOTAPED AND ARE AVAILABLE ON A TX. AND IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO GO BACK AND SEE THOSE ITEMS. AND NEXT SLIDE. NEXT, UH, KEVIN KLUGE AND, UM, OTHER AUSTIN WATER [00:10:01] LEADERSHIP, UM, PRESENTED ON THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN AT RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION. AND BOTH OF THOSE PLANS WERE ALSO RECOMMENDED BY RMC ON AN EIGHT ZERO VOTE WITH CHAIR STONE AND COMMISSIONER SILVERSTEIN ABSENT. OKAY. AND NEXT SLIDE. AND THEN WE COME TO THE NOVEMBER 21ST COUNCIL MEETING WHERE WE HAD, UH, FOUR ITEMS ON THE COUNCIL AGENDA. UM, I'VE PUT THE ITEM NUMBERS, UH, HERE AS THEY WERE LISTED ON THE COUNCIL AGENDA. SO ITEM THREE WAS THE WATER 4 20 24 PLAN. UM, ITEM FOUR, WATER CONSERVATION PLAN. ITEM FIVE WAS THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN. AND ITEM SIX WAS THE CHAPTER SIX FOUR WATER CONSERVATION CODE CHANGES THAT ACCOMPANIED, UM, CHANGES THAT WERE IN ENVISIONED AND LISTED OUT WITHIN THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN. ALL, UH, FOUR OF THOSE ITEMS WERE APPROVED ON AN 11 ZERO VOTE, AND ITEM FOUR WAS APPROVED AS AMENDED. AND WE HAVE LISTED ON THE NEXT SLIDE, THE AMENDMENTS THAT WERE MADE TO THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN. SO HERE, SORRY, IT'S A LITTLE BIT SMALL, BUT I DID WANNA PUT IT ALL ON ONE SLIDE. UM, THESE ARE THE AMENDMENTS THAT WERE MADE, UM, BY COUNCIL, UH, ON TO THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, SO THAT WE'RE GONNA GO DOWN IN KIND OF A CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER. UH, THESE, THERE ARE ALSO LINKS IN THE PDF THAT WILL BE POSTED ON THE BOARDS AND COMMISSION SITE, SO YOU CAN GO AND VIEW THE MOTION SHEETS AS WELL. UM, UH, THE FIRST MOTION WAS FROM COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN ALTER, AND HE, HIS MOTION AMENDED THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN GPCD GOALS TO 119 IN 2029 AND 112 IN 2034. UM, WE'VE INCLUDED A TABLE JUST TO KIND OF VISUALLY REPRESENT WHAT THOSE CHANGES, UM, LOOK LIKE, AND, UM, WE'VE INCLUDED PAGE NUMBERS TO SHOW WHERE THOSE CHANGES WILL BE REFLECTED WITHIN THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN. UH, THE VOTE TO APPROVE COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN ALTER'S MOTION PASSED NINE TO TWO WITH MAYOR PRO TEMP POOL AND MAYOR WATSON VOTING NO. THE SECOND MOTION. YES. DID THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBER POOL, UM, WHAT DID THEY SAY ABOUT THE NO VOTE? I DON'T THINK YOUR MIC WAS ON. OH, SORRY. THANK YOU. YOU ARE RIGHT. UM, FOR, FOR THIS ONE, FOR MOTION ONE, UM, WHAT WAS THE DISCUSSION ABOUT SINCE THERE WAS A, A SPLIT OR, YOU KNOW, TWO DISSENTING VOTES, UM, CAN YOU SHARE SOME OF THE FEEDBACK ABOUT, ABOUT WHY MAYOR, THE MAYOR AND, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER POOL OR MAYOR PROTIME POOL VOTED NO ON THAT ONE? UM, MAYOR PROTIME POOL ASKED US SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT, UM, THE IMPACT ON, UM, SPECIFICALLY ON HOW MUCH OF A STRETCH GOAL THE 1 21 ALREADY WAS, AND THEN HOW MUCH MORE OF A STRETCH GOAL THE ONE 19 WOULD BE. AND THEN, UM, ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, POTENTIAL IMPACTS TO OUR COMMUNITY IF THESE, IF THESE GOALS ARE NOT MET. UM, IN TERMS OF, UM, MY, MY RESPONSE WAS, YOU KNOW, THAT THE, THE RISK WE RUN IF WE DON'T MEET OUR GOALS IS OUR COMMUNITY BECOMING DISCOURAGED WITH THEIR ABILITY TO MEET THE GOALS. MM-HMM. . UM, AND, UM, AND SHE ALSO, UH, ASKED A QUESTION AROUND, YOU KNOW, WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY IS IT TO MEET THESE GOALS? AND, AND MY RESPONSE TO THAT, I TALKED ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS IS, THESE ARE NOT GOALS THAT WE CAN JUST PUT ENOUGH MONEY AND RESOURCES FROM AUSTIN WATER INTO TO ACHIEVE THESE, UM, GOALS. IT HAS TO BE A WHOLE COMMUNITY EFFORT. EVERYONE. WE CERTAINLY, I TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE KINDS OF THINGS THAT WE'RE GONNA DO TO DO OUR PART, LIKE REDUCING OUR WATER LOSS, BUT WE CERTAINLY HAVE TO HAVE THE ENGAGEMENT AND PARTICIPATION OF OUR COMMUNITY IN ORDER TO MEET THESE GOALS. SO THAT'S, THAT'S KIND OF A, A NUTSHELL OF, OF THE DISCUSSION AROUND THIS ITEM. OKAY. UM, BUT IT WAS A GOOD, UM, UM, THERE WERE, THERE WAS A BIT OF DISCUSSION LED BY MAYOR PRO TEM THAT IF ANYONE WANTS TO GO WATCH THE VIDEO, I THINK IT'S IN INFORMATIVE. OKAY. THAT'S, THAT'S HELPFUL. THAT'S GOOD CONTEXT. UM, YEAH, THEY'RE NOT WRONG, BUT, UH, YEAH. IT'S ALSO, WE WANNA BE AS ASPIRATIONAL AS WE CAN, BUT ALSO, YES. I MEAN, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IT AND HERE A LOT, A LOT WE HAVE. AND, AND YOU KNOW, I SAID THE SAME THINGS, UM, TO THE COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IN THIS ROOM AS WELL AROUND, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA DO EVERYTHING. UM, WE'RE, WE'RE [00:15:01] TOTALLY COMMITTED TO MEETING THESE GOALS, AND I REITERATED THAT AS WELL. OKAY. THANK YOU. SO THE NEXT MOTION WAS MADE BY, UM, MAYOR WATSON. UM, THIS MOTION PROVIDES STAFF DIRECTION, BUT DOES NOT, UH, INDICATE A CHANGE TO THE LANGUAGE WITHIN THE PLAN. UH, THAT THE LANGUAGE FROM THAT MOTION IN PRETTY MUCH IN ITS ENTIRETY IS INCLUDED. UM, ON THE SLIDE THAT AUSTIN WATER WILL UTILIZE A QUARTERLY REPORT TO SHARE ITS PROGRESS AND THE PROGRESS OF OUR COMMUNITY WATER SAVINGS, INCLUDING GALLONS PER CAPITA PER DAY, GPCD BY RESIDENTIAL, INDUSTRIAL, AND COMMERCIAL CUSTOMER CLASSES. UM, THAT, UM, MOTION WAS APPROVED, UM, UH, 11 2 0. AND THEN THE NEXT MOTION WAS ANOTHER MOTION FROM COUNCIL MEMBER BRIAN ALTER, UH, THIS AGAIN, INCLUDED CHANGES TO THE PLAN LANGUAGE THAT ADDS IN A STATEMENT REGARDING, UH, IRRIGATION. AND MY A TX WATER NOTICES ON PAGE 36 OF THE PLAN. THAT MOTION SAID THAT AUSTIN WATER WILL WORK WITH THE MY A TX, UH, WATER SOFTWARE VENDOR TO DEVELOP, IDENTIFY CUSTOMERS WITH OUTSIDE OF THE MANDATORY WATERING SCHEDULE, AND DELIVER COURTESY NOTICES TO THOSE CUSTOMERS. AUSTIN WATER WILL SEEK TO USE THE SYSTEM IN ADVANCE OF PURSUING THE ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS ALLOWED UNDER ARTICLE FIVE OF THE CITY CODE CHAPTER SIX FOUR. AND, UM, COUNSEL VOTED TO APPROVE THAT MOTION AS WELL, 11 TO ZERO. SO THE FINAL VOTE TAKEN BY COUNSEL ON APPROVAL OF ITEM FOUR, INCORPORATED THOSE THREE MOTIONS, WHICH HAD BEEN APPROVED. AND THAT FINAL VOTE, UM, APPROVED ITEM FOUR AS AMENDED 11 TO ZERO. UM, I HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS ABOUT MOTION TWO, BUT I WOULD, IF ANYBODY ELSE HAS QUESTIONS, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO JUMP IN. I DON'T WANNA DOMINATE THE CONVERSATION. OKAY. UM, SO THIS ONE IS INTERESTING, AND I NEED TO GO BACK AND WATCH THE TAPE AND SEE KIND OF WHAT THE DISCUSSION WAS ABOUT THIS. UM, BECAUSE I PRESUME THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S GONNA HAPPEN WITH THAT, THAT IS LIKE AN INTENDED THING TO HAPPEN WITH MY A TX. DOES THIS LIKE MOVE UP THE TIMELINE OR THE, LIKE, WHAT CHANGE IS THIS HAPPENING AND KIND OF WHEN ARE WE, I GUESS WHEN AND UNDER WHAT CONDITIONS? I MEAN, SURELY YOU HAVE IT ALL FIGURED OUT SINCE A LITTLE OVER A WEEK AGO, BUT, UM, , BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, HOW DOES THIS, HOW DOES THIS CHANGE THINGS, UM, ON USING THAT INFORMATION? WELL, UM, KEVIN KLUGE CAN PROBABLY TALK TO THIS A LITTLE MORE, BUT WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT IN THE COUNCIL MEETING WAS THAT THE, THERE, THERE'S WORK TO BE DONE TO SET UP THE SYSTEM IN ORDER TO PROVIDE THE REPORTING THAT WE WOULD NEED TO IDENTIFY WHEN PEOPLE ARE IRRIGATING OUTSIDE OF THE MANDATORY WATERING SCHEDULE. UM, AND THE COUNCIL MEMBER INDICATED THAT HIS INTENT AROUND DOING THIS WAS BASICALLY TO USE EVERY TOOL IN OUR TOOLBOX, UM, TO, YOU KNOW, EMPOWER AUSTIN WATER TO, UM, TO DO THAT AND TO, TO USE THESE, THE TOOLS AVAILABLE IN THE MY A TX WATER TO, UM, ENHANCE COMMUNICATION AND, UM, UH, ENFORCEMENT. SO DOES IT KIND OF CHANGE THE TIME SCALE WITHIN WHICH THAT IS GOING TO BE RAMPED UP? AND I, I DON'T KNOW THAT IT DOES, BECAUSE I THINK WE'RE ALREADY IN THE PROCESS OF, OF, OF DOING THIS WORK. YOU KNOW, WE'VE, WE, WE ARE NOT YET COMPLETELY ROLLED OUT WITH OUR, MY TATX WATER METERS. WE'RE VERY, VERY CLOSE. WE'RE DOWN TO THE LAST FEW THOUSAND, BUT WE, THIS IS NOT SOMETHING WE WOULD INITIATE UNTIL EVERYONE HAS THEIR METERS, BECAUSE WE WOULDN'T WANT TO APPLY THIS, UM, YOU KNOW, ONLY TO THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE THESE METERS, RIGHT. AND THEN THERE'S A WHOLE BUNCH OF OTHER PEOPLE THAT DON'T HAVE THEM. UM, SO IT'S SORT OF BECOMING TIMELY NOW. AND THEN, UM, AS I MENTIONED, THERE'S WORK TO BE DONE TO ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO IMPLEMENT THIS. UM, AND TO ME, AND AGAIN, I'LL, I'LL, I SHOULD STOP TALKING AND LET KEVIN TALK, BUT TO ME, THE REALLY IMPORTANT PART ABOUT THIS IS THE VALUE THAT WE'VE SEEN IN THE MY A TX PORTAL AND BEING ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH OUR CUSTOMERS ABOUT THEIR WATER USE, UM, AND, AND TO BE ABLE TO ENCOURAGE THEM TO BE MORE AWARE OF THEIR WATER USE. AND SO I THINK JUST THE AWARENESS PIECE OF THIS WILL BE POWERFUL. UH, KEVIN CLEARY, AUSTIN WATER CONSERVATION DIVISION MANAGER, AND JUST AS SHEA MENTIONED, UM, [00:20:01] WHILE THIS WAS VERY SUPPORTIVE LANGUAGE, IT DOESN'T, WON'T SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGE THE TIMEFRAME OF IT, IT HAS BEEN ON OUR, OUR GAME PLAN FOR A WHILE NOW TO WORK THROUGH THIS. BUT AS SHE MENTIONED, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF TECHNICAL THINGS THAT NEED TO BE DONE TO, TO UTILIZE THE DATA IN ADDITION TO THE ROLLOUT OF THE ENTIRE SYSTEM. UH, THERE ARE TECHNICAL ASPECTS TO BE WORKED OUT TO USE THE DATA, BUT THEN ALSO, UH, WE, WE NEED TO HAVE, UH, A PILOTING PERIOD ON LEARNING HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH OUR CUSTOMERS IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAYS. UM, EVEN THE LEADERS IN USING A MI, UM, FOR THIS COMMUNICATION WITH IRRIGATORS, THE, THE LAS VEGAS MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT, UM, THEY, THEY TOOK A NUMBER OF YEARS TO FIND THE RIGHT MESSAGING AND FIND THE RIGHT PROGRAMMING AND CODING. WE'RE NOT INTENDING TO TAKE YEARS NOW. WE ARE, UH, GONNA BE WORKING ON THIS, UM, IN 2025, UH, STARTING THERE. SO WE'RE, WE'RE JUMPING RIGHT ON THIS, BUT IT WILL TAKE TIME THAT, THAT CAN'T BE REALLY SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGED. OKAY. I MEAN, WE'RE CERTAINLY GOING TO, IT LOOKS LIKE, HAVE A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO, TO FOR OUTDOOR WATERING, UM, FOR EDUCATING PEOPLE ABOUT WHEN THEIR WATERING TIMES IS, WHEN THEY'RE WATERING OUTSIDE OF IT. UM, AND IT SEEMS LIKE, YOU KNOW, OUR TWO BIGGEST SAVINGS OPTIONS IN THE CITY ARE, YOU KNOW, ADDRESSING WATER LOSS AND, AND OUTDOOR, YOU KNOW, MAKING SURE THAT OUTDOOR WATERING CONFORMS TO THE REGULATIONS. SO THIS IS GONNA BE SUPER HELPFUL WITH ACHIEVING THESE GOALS. OKAY. ANYTHING ELSE, FOLKS? ANY OTHER COMMENTS? I JUST, ROBERT, I JUST GOT, GOT ONE ON, UM, THE ALTER MOTION ONE. UM, SO HE, HE PROPOSED AND THE COUNCIL APPROVED THE CHANGES ON THE TOTAL GPCD. SO, SO I GUESS THAT CHANGE KIND OF CAUSES SOME CHANGES THROUGHOUT THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN. UM, I DON'T KNOW IF HE IN INTENDED THIS OR NOT, BUT IT'S LIKE THE CHANGES WERE JUST ON THE TOTAL GPCD. SO ARE OTHER CHANGES GONNA BE MADE TO THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, UM, TO, TO ACHIEVE THOSE GOALS? SO, FOR EXAMPLE, THE RESIDENTIAL GPCD GOALS REMAIN THE SAME. UM, SO I'M JUST KIND OF WONDERING IF THERE'S ANY KINDA HARMONIZING THAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN WITHIN THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN. AND THEN, AND THEN ALSO WITH THE, UM, UM, CURRENT CURRENT WATER PLAN SINCE HE, THERE'S SOME INCREASED THERE, THERE'S A STRETCH, STRETCH GOAL AS, AS IT WAS CALLED DURING THE COUNCIL MEETING. WELL, I, I WAS JUST GONNA SAY, I, SINCE HE'S THE AMENDMENTS WERE SPECIFICALLY TO THAT LANGUAGE AND TO THAT TABLE, I DON'T THINK WE WOULD ENVISION MAKING OTHER AMENDMENTS TO THE PLAN BECAUSE THEY, THEY, IT'S NOW BEEN APPROVED MM-HMM. AS IT WAS AMENDED. SO THE PROCESS IS QUITE STRICT ABOUT HOW, UM, YOU KNOW, WE INCORPORATE EDITS TO THOSE PLANS. THAT WOULD BE MY INITIAL RESPONSE. SAME THING FOR THE WATER FORWARD PLAN. IT WAS APPROVED AS, AS IT WAS PRESENTED TO COUNCIL. UM, SO WE WOULDN'T ENVISION CHANGING, UM, ANYTHING WITHIN THE WATER FORWARD PLAN EITHER. OKAY. THANKS. UH, JUST ADD IN TERMS OF ACTIVITIES THAT ARE LISTED IN THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, THERE'S NO ANTICIPATED CHANGES OF THOSE. AS SHEA HAS MENTIONED BEFORE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT HOLDING ANYTHING BACK ON THIS. WE'RE NOT GONNA DIAL BACK A RESIDENTIAL OR, OR COMMERCIAL RATHER ONLY BECAUSE THEY DON'T CHANGE ONE THING OR THE OTHER. SO WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE GOING FORWARD WITH ALL THOSE ACTIVITIES. I GUESS THE HOPE IS THAT BY IMPLEMENTING THESE ACTIVITIES, YOU KNOW, AND BY PUTTING OUR ALL INTO THEM, THAT WE'RE ABLE TO SEE SAVINGS GREATER THAN WE HAD INITIALLY ESTIMATED. AND I THINK IN COMBINATION WITH THE REPORTING THAT WE'LL BE DOING, UH, QUARTERLY AND ANNUAL REPORTS, UM, WE'LL, WE'LL BE TRACKING, YOU KNOW, HOW WE'RE DOING WITH THESE GOALS. AND THEN OF COURSE WE HAVE OUR, YOU KNOW, IN, IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS WE'LL BE UPDATING THESE PLANS AGAIN. AND SO WE'LL INCORPORATE WHAT WE'VE LEARNED FROM, FROM THIS TIME OF THIS REALLY FOCUSED EFFORT, UH, ON MEETING THESE GOALS. UM, WE'LL, WE'LL INCORPORATE THOSE LESSONS LEARNED IN THE NEXT ITERATION. MM-HMM. , IT'S GONNA BE TRICKY TO, UH, SHOW PROGRESS ON THE, THE METRICS LIKE THE TOTAL GPCD ON A QUARTERLY BASIS. SO OF COURSE THERE'S OTHER METRICS TO TRACK, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, THE THINGS THAT YOU'RE DOING, THE PEOPLE THAT YOU'RE REACHING, THE PROGRAMS [00:25:01] THAT YOU'RE DOING. BUT IT'S, IT'S A, IT'S A PRETTY FREQUENT REPORTING. YEAH, I WAS JUST THINKING THE SAME. I WAS JUST THINKING THE SAME THING. IT'S LIKE THE FIRST QUARTER WILL LOOK GREAT, YOU KNOW, THEN THE SECOND QUARTER WILL PROBABLY LOOK OKAY, THIRD QUARTER'S GONNA LOOK TERRIBLE. , , LIKE LOGISTICALLY, THEN EVERYONE WILL BE BORED OF IT. WELL, YEAH, SAME THING EVERY QUARTER. YEAH. LOGISTICALLY IT COME, LIKE THERE ARE QUESTIONS ABOUT LIKE, WHAT POPULATION DO WE USE? WHAT POPULATION DO WE, DO WE USE AN ESTIMATED POPULATION FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR? DO WE ESTIMATE A POPULATION FOR EACH QUARTER? WE DON'T HAVE DATA THAT'S GRANULAR. NO ONE HAS DATA GRANULAR ENOUGH TO ESTIMATE A SERVICE POPULATION FOR AUSTIN WATER ON A QUARTERLY BASIS RIGHT NOW. WE WOULD. SO WE'LL HAVE TO COME UP WITH A METHOD TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THAT IS. AND AS POPULATION CHANGES OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR, THAT'LL CHANGE YOUR CALCULATION OF YOUR GPC MM-HMM. , IT'LL BE INTERESTING AS WE GO THROUGH THIS REPORTING PROCESS. WE'LL, LIKE ALL LEARN TOGETHER. MM-HMM. . AND I THINK AS YOU SAID, UM, ROBERT, THE TRACKING THE ACTIVITIES AND THE REACH, YOU KNOW, HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE ENGAGING WITH THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING. UM, BECAUSE THAT'S THE, THAT'S LIKE IN TERMS OF WHAT WE WILL BE DOING, IT'S THE ACTIVITIES WE WILL BE DOING. AND SO BEING ABLE TO REPORT OUT ON THOSE AND THEN SEEING THE RESULTING CHANGES IN WATER USE MM-HMM. , UM, IS WHAT WE WILL BE TRYING TO DEMONSTRATE IN THIS REPORTING. AND I AGREE THAT IT'S GONNA TAKE SOME, WE'RE GONNA, YOU'RE PROBABLY GONNA SEE THE FORMATTING OF THESE REPORTS CHANGE AND MATURE OVER THE COMING YEAR. MM-HMM. AS WE GAIN EXPERIENCE WITH IT. MM-HMM. , YEAH. WILL BE INTERESTING. YEAH. OKAY. WHAT'S NEXT? I THINK THAT WAS OUR LAST SLIDE. SORRY, I THINK THAT WAS OUR LAST SLIDE FOR THIS ITEM. UM, SO IS THERE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS OR DISCUSSION ON THIS ITEM? OUR NEXT ITEM WAS ON THE, UH, WAS TO REVIEW AND APPROVE THE 2025 WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE MEETING SCHEDULE, AND THEN FUTURE AGENDA HOLD ITEMS. HOLD ON SECOND. SO IF THERE ARE FURTHER DISCUSSION OR QUESTIONS THAT WE WOULD WANNA HAVE ON THIS TOPIC, I THINK NOW WOULD BE THE TIME. YEAH. YEAH. I THINK THAT, THAT WE WANTED TO, UM, HAVE A DISCUSSION BEFORE WE GET INTO ITEM THREE WITH THE TASK FORCE ABOUT, JUST 'CAUSE WE DON'T EVER HAVE CHANCE TO TAKE A MINUTE TO HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT, ABOUT THE PROCESS, UM, HOW WE'RE DOING THINGS LIKE THIS IS A GOOD TIME FOR US TO KIND OF, UM, IN THE SPIRIT OF THESE THREE PLANS ALL BEING APPROVED AND THE VERY RIGOROUS PROCESS. I FEEL LIKE THAT WE WENT THROUGH, GOD, IT WAS SO HARD FOR US. I CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE HOW HARD IT WAS FOR Y'ALL, UM, . UM, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, I THINK I WANNA OPEN THE FLOOR TO, TO HAVING TO TALKING ABOUT, ABOUT THAT, YOU KNOW, UM, WE'RE GONNA BE MOVING INTO A DIFFERENT, DIFFERENT, UM, DIFFERENT PHASE HERE. IT'S GONNA BE MOVING BACK INTO MORE OF AN IMPLEMENTATION. THERE'S SEVERAL IMPLEMENTATION ITEMS HAPPENING. THE WATER FORWARD PLAN IS NOT SUBSTANTIALLY DIFFERENT. UM, I FEEL LIKE WATER CONSERVATION IS GONNA BE, AND WATER LOSS MITIGATION IS GONNA BE A REALLY BIG, YOU KNOW, A BIG KIND OF, I'M GONNA SAY NEW FOCUS. I'M NOT SAYING THAT WE HAVEN'T BEEN FOCUSED ON IT, BUT, YOU KNOW, DEFINITELY A FOCUS AT LEAST QUARTERLY ON IT. AND, UM, AND THAT, BUT THERE'S LOTS OF OTHER IMPLEMENT IMPLEMENTATION ACTIVITIES HAPPENING. I MEAN, WE'VE GOT A SR WE'VE GOT THE, UM, THE, THE GO PURPLE ORDINANCE, THE ONSITE WATER REUSE. WE'VE GOT THE INDIRECT NON POTABLE REUSE. POTABLE REUSE, YEAH. . IT'S LIKE WORD SALAD . UM, SO THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS HAPPENING. YOU KNOW, WHAT WE'RE THINKING IS, IS MEETING EVERY OTHER MONTH, UM, PULLING BACK ON THE SCHEDULE THAT WE'VE BEEN MEETING ON, AND THEN, UM, HAVING, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT, UH, WE MIGHT WANNA REVISIT OUR COMMITTEES, YOU KNOW, 'CAUSE WE, WE HAD TWO COMMITTEES, ONE FOR WATER FORWARD 24 DEVELOPMENT, AND THEN ONE FOR IMPLEMENTATION. AND MAYBE WE JUST HAVE THE COMMITTEE MEETINGS, UH, IN BETWEEN OR MAYBE WE DON'T NEED 'EM. BUT ANYWAY, I JUST WANTED TO OPEN THE, THE FLOOR TO KIND OF TALK ABOUT AND REFLECT ON THE PROCESS THAT WE'VE DONE AND, AND IF, IF, UH, ANY, IF WE HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT THAT. BILL, I HAVE A COUPLE THOUGHTS. UM, I'M WONDERING IF WE NEED TO UPDATE THE WATER FORWARD PLAN EVERY FIVE YEARS. UM, [00:30:01] AND I, I, AND MY THINKING IS, IS WE'VE DONE IT NOW TWICE OVER THE LAST 10 OR 11 YEARS. AND WOULD WE BE BETTER DIRECTING, FOCUSING THE WATER DEPARTMENT ON WHAT YOU JUST SAID, IMPLEMENTING? UH, I'M CONCERNED THAT SOME OF THE CRITICAL PROJECTS, UH, THE INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE AND THE A SR ARE SLIPPING. AND IT SEEMED TO ME THAT WE OUGHT TO START EVERY ONE OF OUR MEETINGS WITH A, A PROGRESS REPORT ON THOSE THINGS. I THROW THAT OUT FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION. SO RATHER THAN THE STAFF AT AUSTIN WATER REDOING THIS PLAN ON A FIVE YEAR CYCLE, LET'S POUR THOSE HUMAN RESOURCES IN GETTING THESE JOBS DONE AND GETTING THIS STUFF DONE. SECOND, WITH THE RECENT ANNOUNCEMENT THAT LCRA IS GOING TO PURSUE A SR IN BASTROP COUNTY. AND I FOUND THAT KIND OF STUNNING, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE WE SPENT SEVERAL YEARS FIGURING OUT BASTROP COUNTY WAS THE BEST PLACE TO HAVE A SR AND THEY SEEMED TO FIGURE IT OUT A LOT QUICKER. MAYBE THEY JUST TOOK OUR REPORT. . HAS THERE BEEN ANY CONSIDERATION TO JOINING FORCES WITH LCRA? AND IN MY MIND, I COULD SEE A LOT OF BENEFITS TO MAKING A LARGE REGIONAL A SR FACILITY. AND I WANNA SAY OVER THE YEARS, AND OF COURSE MY MIND IS, IT'S KIND OF SLOW. UM, I THINK I BROUGHT THIS UP ONCE AND EVERYBODY WAS AGAINST IT. AND OBVIOUSLY THERE WAS NO PLEDGED EFFORT BY ANOTHER REGIONAL WATER GROUP. BUT I ASKED THE QUESTION IN LIGHT OF THAT RECENT ANNOUNCEMENT THAT TO, UM, PLAY CAT AND MOUSE WITH LCRA IN THE GAME IS GONNA MAKE YOUR JOB A LOT HARDER. UH, AND, AND I CAN SEE A LOT OF REASONS WHY JOINING FORCES, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, MAYBE YOU DON'T WANNA DO THAT. THOSE ARE KIND OF MY TWO THINGS, 10 YEAR CYCLE, LET'S GET THE WORK DONE. AND SECONDLY, WHAT ABOUT JOINING FORCES WITH LCRA? THANKS, BILL. DO OTHER FOLKS HAVE SOME CON HANEY, I SEE YOU COMING OFF. YEAH, SO I, I, I LIKE THE IDEA OF HAVING A MEETING EVERY, UH, EVERY OTHER MONTH BECAUSE AS YOU MENTIONED, UM, THAT, UH, THIS IS, TAKES A LOT OF OIL AND, AND, AND EFFORT AND WE ARE IN A DIFFERENT PHASE. DEFINITELY NEED TO, UH, CONCENTRATE, UH, ON IMPLEMENTATION. AND MY, MY CONCERN HAS BEEN, UH, THE, THE WATER LOSS AND WHAT, UH, THE UTILITY CAN, CAN DO, UH, TO MINIMIZE THE WAR LOSS BY, UH, FIXING SOME OF THE OLD MAINS AND, AND REPLACING SOME OF THE PIPES AND, AND, AND HAVING THE FUNDS TO DO THAT. SO IMPLEMENTATION REALLY IS WHAT'S IN MY MIND FOR THE NEXT PHASE. YEAH. YEAH. THANKS, PAUL. PERRY, MADELINE, ANYONE, YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY ANYTHING, BUT I INVITE YOU TO IF YOU WANT. GO AHEAD, PAUL. WELL, MADELINE, YOU GO AHEAD MADELINE. I, I HAVE THOUGHTS, BUT, UH, I MEAN GO AHEAD MADELINE. GO AHEAD MADELINE. UM, I WAS JUST GOING TO AGREE WITH HANGING ON THE, THE WATER LOSS AND THE FUNDS FOR THAT. IT'S SPECIFICALLY WITH LIKE THE POLYBUTYLENE PIPING, YOU KNOW, WE KNOW IT'S BAD. THERE'S STILL 20,000 OF THEM OUT THERE. WE SHOULD PROACTIVELY BE FINDING FUNDING AND NOT TAKING IT FROM MAIN REPAIR FUNDING AREAS. LIKE WE SHOULD FIND SEPARATE FUNDING FOR IT SO THAT WE CAN REALLY REDUCE THAT WATER LOSS. AND THAT HAVING MEETINGS A LITTLE MORE STAGGERED AT THIS STAGE WOULDN'T BE TERRIBLE. THANK YOU, PAUL. YEAH. UM, BECAUSE YOU'VE OPENED IT UP FOR DISCUSSION, I, I HAVE SOME SUBSTANTIVE THINGS THAT I'M SURE WE'LL GET TO IN FUTURE MEETINGS. BUT IF WE'RE JUST DOING A POSTMORTEM ON THE PROCESS OF WATER, 4 24 MM-HMM. , I THINK TWO THINGS COME TO MIND. UM, THE FIRST, WHICH I'VE TALKED ABOUT BEFORE IS THE EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY ANALYSIS, WHICH WAS A NEW THING THIS TIME AROUND. AND I DON'T THINK WE'D HIT THE MARK AS WELL AS WE COULD HAVE. I THINK IT WAS A WORTHY EFFORT. I DON'T, TO ME IT NEVER FELT LIKE IT MADE AN IMPACT ON THE DECISION MAKING [00:35:01] OF THE SELECTION OF THE STRATEGIES THAT ULTIMATELY WERE INCLUDED IN WATER FORWARD 24. AND I THINK THERE ARE SOME REASONS FOR THAT, MAYBE IN THE DESIGN OF THE ANALYSIS ITSELF. SO I JUST, I WANT THAT TO BE ON THE TABLE IF, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, IT'S NOT GONNA BE A COUPLE YEARS BEFORE WE DO THIS AGAIN IN EARNEST, BUT THAT BOTHERED ME. AND, UM, I THINK WE CAN DO BETTER. I THINK WE SHOULD DO BETTER. AND MY ADDENDUM TO THAT IS THAT IT MIGHT'VE HELPED IF SOMEBODY FROM THE EQUITY OFFICE OF THE CITY OF BOSTON WAS INVOLVED IN THAT PROCESS. THERE'S A REASON THAT THEY'RE THERE. AND, UM, MAYBE THEY COULD HAVE ASSISTED AND ADVISED ON THAT PROCESS. MAYBE THEY DID ACTUALLY. I'M NOT AWARE IF YOU, IF THEY DID CORRECT ME, BUT I DON'T THINK THAT THEY'RE OFFICIALLY INVOLVED. UM, WHICH GETS FROM MY OTHER POINT ABOUT GENERAL PROCESS, ABOUT THESE MEETINGS AND STUFF. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE SOME OF THE OTHER EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS SHOW UP FROM TIME TO TIME. THERE WAS THAT ONE MEETING WHERE WE HAD A STAFF MEMBER FROM WATERSHED PROTECTION, AND I THOUGHT THAT WAS LIKE A NICE THING TO HAVE. UM, I KNOW AGAIN, IT'S A LOT TO ASK. MAYBE IF WE'RE ONLY MEETING ONCE EVERY TWO MONTHS, IT'S NOT AS MUCH. BUT, UM, YEAH. AND I, I NOTICED ON OUR, ON OUR LIST OF EX OF MEMBERS, THERE'S NOT SOMEBODY FROM THE EQUITY OFFICE. AND SO IF WE WANTED TO ADD SOMEONE, I GUESS THAT WOULD BE A BYLAWS CHANGE, PROBABLY, WHICH WE COULD DO. UM, BUT YEAH, SO THOSE ARE MY TWO THINGS. SOMEONE FROM THE EQUITY OFFICE SHOULD BE INVOLVED EITHER ON A REGULAR BASIS AS AN EX OFFICIO, NON-VOTING MEMBER, LIKE THESE OTHER PEOPLE THAT ARE FROM THE CITY THAT ARE LISTED. UH, OR IF NOT THAT THEN AT LEAST INTEGRALLY INVOLVED IN THE, UM, EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY ANALYSIS NEXT TIME WE RUN IT. THANKS . THANKS PAUL. YEAH, I AGREE ABOUT THE EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY ANALYSIS. I AM, I, UH, I THINK THAT THAT WAS A VERY NOBLE EFFORT AND I HAVE SHARED IT WITH OTHER CITIES AND I'M SUPER PROUD THAT WE DID THAT. UM, I THINK AND ALL THE HUBB OF GETTING ALL THE THINGS DONE THAT MAYBE THAT DIDN'T HAVE THE IMPACT THAT WE WANTED, OR MAYBE IT WASN'T SUPER VISIBLE. I MEAN, WE HAD FROM EACH OF OUR GOALS AROUND EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY AS SET OF QUESTIONS THAT WE ASKED OF EACH STRATEGY. AND SO MAYBE THERE WAS A VERY KIND OF, YOU KNOW, RIGOROUS EFFORT AROUND THAT IN WHICH JUST LIKE, AND ALL OF THE THINGS THAT WE WERE DOING, 'CAUSE WE, EVERYBODY, EVERYBODY HAD A LOT ON THEIR PLATE IN TRYING TO KEEP TRACK OF ALL THIS. AND THEN, YOU KNOW, THE FOLKS HERE WITH THEIR OTHER DAY JOBS THAT THEY'RE DUE, THAT THEY DO IN THE PROCESS OF THAT. SO IT MIGHT HAVE JUST BEEN SOMETHING THAT WE MISSED. BUT, UM, I, I READ THE EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY REPORT AND DID THAT FIRST PART EVER GET DONE ABOUT, ABOUT THE, THE CONTEXT OF AUSTIN AND, AND DISINVESTMENT AND DIFF CERTAIN PARTS OF THE COMMUNITY AND STUFF. THE EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY ROADMAP WAS COMPLETED, LIKE THE FRAMEWORK THAT WE USED FOR EVALUATING THE STRATEGIES. MM-HMM. . AND THAT FRAMEWORK WE HAD, WE HAD SHARED THE ROADMAP AND THAT FRAMEWORK AND THE PROCESS THAT WE WERE PLANNING TO USE WITH THE EQUITY OFFICE. AND WE MET WITH THEM SEVERAL TIMES TO GET THEIR FEEDBACK ON, ON THAT. UM, BUT I CAN SEE, YOU KNOW, PAUL'S POINT ABOUT HAVING MAYBE GREATER INVOLVEMENT. I THINK, YOU KNOW, IN THE FUTURE WHEN WE HAVE POTENTIALLY MORE TIME TO EXECUTE THAT PORTION OF THE PLANNING PROCESS, THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE MORE FEASIBLE. YEAH. I MEAN, DEVELOPING THAT, THERE WAS A LOT OF TIME THAT WE SPENT, I MEAN, WE DID TRAININGS TOGETHER. THERE WAS THE CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE. THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS THAT HAPPENED LEADING UP TO THAT. UM, AND IT MIGHT HAVE JUST BECOME LESS VISIBLE WITH ALL THE OTHER THINGS BUBBLING UP BECAUSE WHEN THAT STARTED, WE WERE ABLE TO FOCUS ON IT IN A BIGGER WAY. AND WE HAD A LOT OF TOUCH POINTS, UM, THROUGH, THROUGH OUR MEETINGS AND STUFF. SO, MM-HMM. , UM, I GUESS THAT'S ALL FAIR. I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT Y'ALL HAD MET WITH THEM. AND SO MAYBE THAT'S NOT THE, THE SOLUTION. I'M TRYING TO JUST THINK OF STUFF THAT WOULD MAYBE IMPROVE IT. BUT WHAT, WHAT I SAW WAS REALLY KIND OF THE RESULT, WHICH WAS LIKE, AT THE END OF THE DAY, I CAN GO THROUGH ALL THE STRATEGIES AND I DID, I WROTE DOWN ALL OF THE STRATEGIES AND THE SCORE THAT THEY RECEIVED AT, IN THE ULTIMATE EQUITY ANALYSIS. AND THEY RANGED BASICALLY BETWEEN 2.7 AND 3.6, MOST OF THEM BEING LIKE AROUND THREE, WHICH IS JUST KIND OF LIKE NEUTRAL ON EQUITY IMPACT. UM, AND THERE WERE JUST THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WERE SO MARGINAL AND, BUT IT DID SEEM LIKE A LOT OF WORK WENT INTO IT. SO I, I, THAT'S WHY I SAID IT. I DESCRIBED THIS AS MISSING THE FOREST FOR THE TREES BECAUSE WE HAVE LIKE SO MANY TREES THERE. BUT [00:40:01] MAYBE WE SHOULD HAVE LIKE, ANALYZED THE EQUITY IMPACT OF THE ENTIRE PLAN OVERALL. LIKE WE DIDN'T, I I DIDN'T SEE THE DISCUSSION OF THAT NECESSARILY, LIKE THAT, THAT FEELS LIKE WHAT SHOULD BE SUBJECTED TO AN EQUITY ANALYSIS AS WELL IS LIKE THE WHOLE PLAN, NOT JUST LIKE LOOKING AT THE LITTLE INDIVIDUAL STRATEGIES AND GIVING 'EM A SCORE AND THEN SAYING, LOOK, WE DID THE EQUITY ANALYSIS. I DON'T KNOW. UM, THANK YOU FOR THAT, PAUL. UM, I, I THINK THAT, UH, LIKE THAT, THAT IS ONE OF THE IMPORTANT PIECES OF THE PLAN. AND SO REALLY UNDERSTANDING HOW IT LANDED MM-HMM. , UM, YOU KNOW, AND DIGGING INTO THAT, LIKE, DID SCORES CHANGE WITH OR WITHOUT IT, YOU KNOW, SO WE CAN JUST KIND OF FIGURE THAT OUT. OH, LOOKS LIKE WE LOST MADELINE, BUT WE STILL HAVE A QUORUM. SO. YEAH. SHE GOT CARRIED OFF BY THIS. SO, ANN HANEY, DO YOU, DID YOU STILL HAVE A COMMENT OR WOULD YOU END UP BEFORE OKAY. YEAH, I JUST WANNA, WANNA ADD THAT I, I AGREE WITH BILL, UM, THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO GET, UM, AN UPDATE, UM, E EVERY TIME WE MEET, HOPEFULLY IN EVERY COUPLE OF MONTHS ON THE, UH, A SR AND THE IPR, BUT I ALSO WOULD LIKE TO ADD THE WAR LOSS, UM, TO, TO THAT AGENDA SO WE CAN, UM, KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON, UH, WITH THESE PARTICULARLY THREE VERY IMPORTANT ITEMS. MM-HMM, . OKAY. NOTED. ALRIGHT. UM, PERRY, DO YOU WANNA ADD ANYTHING? BECAUSE YOU HAVE, WE CERTAINLY WELCOME IT. NO, I, I WAS INTERESTED, WAS COVERED ON THE EQUITY DISCUSSION, SO NO, I'M, I'M GOOD. THANK YOU. ALRIGHT, ROBERT. AND THEN I JUST HAVE A FEW ADDITIONS I GUESS ON THE 10 YEAR VERSUS FIVE YEAR. I KNOW THAT WAS SOMETHING WE DEBATED A LOT WHEN I WAS AT THE WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD AND KEVIN PROBABLY HAS A MORE RECENT EXPERIENCE WITH THAT THAN I HAVE. BUT, UM, MY UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE WATER VELMA BOARD DOES IT IS LIKE THERE'S A MORE SERIOUS EFFORT AFTER THE CENSUS COMES OUT, WHETHER WHERE THE POPULATION DATA IS, UM, MORE DEFINITIVE. MM-HMM. AND THEN THERE'S, THERE'S THE PLANS THAT COME OUT EVERY, YOU KNOW, THE FIVE YEARS AFTER THAT, THAT'S NOT AS RIGOROUS, I GUESS AS THE PLANS IT'S MORE OF A, MAYBE MORE OF AN UPDATE AND REVISITING. YEAH. THERE'S STILL A PLANNING PROCESS GOING ON. I KNOW WHEN I WAS THERE AND DISCUSSIONS, IT WAS A CONCERN THAT 10 YEARS WAS LIKE TOO LONG. MM-HMM. AND THAT YOU WOULD LOSE THE, YOU KNOW, ATTENTION OF, OF STAKEHOLDERS ON, ON THE PROCESS. I'M NOT ADVOCATING ONE WAY OR THE OTHER IN FIVE YEAR TENURE, BUT, BUT MAYBE A LIGHTER PLANNING PROCESS. IT'S MORE OF A, MORE OF A KIND OF A, A REVIEW, MAYBE ENHANCE SOME THINGS, LIKE SOME OF THE STUFF THAT WE'VE HEARD, UM, ALREADY ON THIS, ON THIS ITEM. UM, THE, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, WE GOT IT ALL DONE AND IT'S ALL GREAT, SO DON'T TAKE THIS THE WRONG WAY, BUT IT'S LIKE THINGS GOT JAMMED UP AT THE END AND THAT HAP YOU KNOW, THAT HAPPENS WITH ALL OF MY PROJECTS, RIGHT? YOU, YOU, YOU PLAN AND THINGS THAT GET L GET LATE AND IT JUST JAMS THINGS UP. BUT THINGS WERE, WE'RE PRETTY JAMMED UP, UM, AT THE END. SO YOU MAYBE IF THERE'S A FRONT LOADING, MAYBE SOME MORE OF THE HARDCORE WORK THAT WOULD THEN ALLOW US TO SPEND MORE TIME ON THE, ON THE STRATEGY STUFF. 'CAUSE THAT DID SEEM TO GO BY PRETTY QUICK AT THE END. UM, IT WAS ALSO, YOU KNOW, IT WAS A SURPRISE TO ME AT LEAST, MAYBE I WASN'T PAYING ATTENTION, WHICH IS CERTAINLY A POSSIBILITY ABOUT THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLANS, YOU KNOW, POPPING UP, UM, ON OUR TABLES. UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, WE KNOW NOW, SO GOING FORWARD WE'LL BE THINKING ABOUT ALL THREE OF THOSE, THOSE PLANS. BUT, BUT FOR THE NEXT ROUND, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE ALL GONNA BE PRESUMABLY DUE AT THE SAME TIME. SO, WE'LL, WE'LL STILL HAVE SOME, SOME THINGS GETTING JAMMED UP, BUT MAYBE SOME OF THESE THINGS CAN, YOU KNOW, GET HANDLED EARLIER, LIKE THE DROUGHT MANAGEMENT PLAN PERHAPS. UM, AND, AND THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN. UM, SO JUST, JUST ENCOURAGE YOU TO TAKE A, YOU KNOW, HARDER LOOK AT THE SCHEDULE. UM, AND THEN, UM, UM, AND THEN THE THIRD, THIRD SUGGESTION IS THAT, UM, YEAH, REALLY, UM, LIKED HOW THE PLAN, YOU KNOW, LOOKS AT THINGS IN A STOCHASTIC OR PROBABILISTIC WAY. AND, AND ALSO THAT, UM, THE, THE PLAN MAKES IT CLEAR THERE'S NOT AN ABSOLUTE GUARANTEE OF WATER SUPPLY GOING FORWARD. AND SO I WONDER ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE HAVE A GREAT PLAN, WE HAVE A GOOD PLAN, BUT, BUT SHOULD WE BE ALSO THINKING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE UNTHINKABLE HAPPENS? MM-HMM. , YOU KNOW, NOT SAYING [00:45:01] THAT STUFF SHOULD BE BUILT. UM, BUT, BUT JUST TO GO THROUGH THE EXERCISE OF WHAT WOULD THE CITY DO IF WE FIND OURSELVES IN THE OUTLIER CASE OF, OF, OF SEVERE WATER RESTRICTIONS. UM, I KNOW THAT'S POTENTIALLY POLITICAL TO, TO DO THAT. UM, AS AN ACCIDENTAL STOIC THOUGH, I FEEL LIKE, UM, IT'S SOMETHING THAT'S VALUABLE TO DO AND THINK ABOUT. UM, AND MAYBE THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT ARE DONE, YOU KNOW, SOONER RATHER THAN LATER. MM-HMM. . UM, AND MAYBE, MAYBE EVEN THAT HELPS INFORM SOME OF THE STUFF, SOME OF THE CONCERNS THAT THAT BILL MORIARTY HAS ABOUT, UM, GETTING PROJECTS IN PLACE TO MAYBE MINIMIZE SOME OF THOSE UNCERTAINTIES. BUT, SO THAT'S, THOSE ARE MY SUGGESTIONS. THANK YOU. UM, YEAH, I THINK THESE ARE ALL GOOD COMMENTS. UM, YOU KNOW, MY SENSE IS THAT , THIS PLANNING EFFORT, AND THIS IS KIND OF MORE LIKE WHAT I OBSERVED FOR YOU ALL, BUT IT, IT TRICKLED TO THE TASK FORCE, OF COURSE, WAS IT FELT LIKE WAY BIGGER IN SCOPE ALMOST THEN DEVELOPING THE FIRST WATER FORWARD PLAN, WHICH ISN'T QUITE RIGHT 'CAUSE WE TOOK A LONG TIME WITH THAT. BUT JUST LIKE, IT JUST KIND OF STARTED TO BUILD INTO THIS LIKE, ALL CONSUMING PROJECT. I'M SURE Y'ALL WERE DOING OTHER THINGS WHEN AT NIGHT. I DON'T KNOW WHEN. BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, UM, THAT, AND THAT, YOU KNOW, MARISA, YOU AND I TALKED ABOUT THIS LIKE PROBABLY OVER A YEAR AGO, THAT THAT PART OF DOING THIS PLAN TOO WAS, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE DID THE WATER FORWARD 2018 PLAN, IT REALLY WAS, IT WAS THE FIRST TIME AUSTIN HAD DONE A PLAN LIKE THAT. THERE WEREN'T LIKE THAT MANY PLANS OUT THERE. SO IT WAS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE AND THAT THIS REALLY WAS A TIME FOR US TO GO BACK AND KIND OF LIKE, BASED ON HINDSIGHT MM-HMM. BE ABLE TO, FOR EXAMPLE, THE CLIMATE ANALYSIS, BE ABLE TO REALLY REDO THAT. AND LIKE THAT WAS DONE IN A VERY ROBUST WAY COMPARED TO WHAT WE DID THE FIRST ROUND. AND THERE WERE A COUPLE INSTANCES OF THAT. SO, SO THAT IT KIND OF LIKE TURNED INTO THIS BIG THING. AND THEN OF COURSE, THE WATER CONSERVATION DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLANS AND THE, UM, WANTING TO TAKE A DEEPER LOOK AT THAT CONCURRENTLY WITH ALL OF THAT. I MEAN, HONESTLY, IT'S GOOD THAT IT LINED UP THAT THEY ALL THREE WERE AT THE SAME TIME, SO THAT THEY COULD INFORM IN REAL TIME EACH OTHER'S PLANS. BUT IT JUST, IT WAS BIG, IT WAS BIG IN SCOPE DOING THIS, AND IT REALLY KIND OF TOOK UP A LOT OF THE TIME AND SPACE, WHICH IS TOTALLY OUR ROLE AND Y'ALL'S ROLE IN DOING REALLY GOOD RIGOROUS AND COMPLETE WATER SUPPLY PLANNING IS A VERY SMART THING TO DO. BUT, UM, I, I FEEL LIKE THE NEXT TIME AROUND IT WON'T BE LIKE THAT BECAUSE YOU DON'T, SOME OF THE THINGS ARE, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT LIKE IT'S STATIC AND ONCE YOU FIGURE IT OUT, IT'S FIGURED OUT FOREVER. BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, LIKE, LIKE WE'VE DONE THE BIG CLIMATE MM-HMM. , UM, ANALYSIS AND, YOU KNOW, THINGS MAY CHANGE OR SHIFT, BUT LIKE, NOT LIKE THIS IS OUR BASELINE NOW. RIGHT. I THINK TOO, LIKE SOME OF THE TECHNICAL TASKS, SOMETHING THAT I LEARNED IN THIS PROCESS IS SOME OF THE TECHNICAL TASKS, UM, LIKE THE DEMAND PROJECTIONS, WHICH, YOU KNOW, THIS TIME AROUND WE WERE DELAYED BY A YEAR BECAUSE THE DELAY IN CENSUS DATA MM-HMM. . AND WE, WE JUST DIDN'T HAVE THE DATA THAT WE NEEDED TO DEVELOP OUR VERY DETAILED DEMAND PROJECTIONS. UM, SO, YOU KNOW, THAT HOPEFULLY, WE'LL, YOU KNOW, WE WON'T HAVE THAT DELAY BECAUSE WE'LL BE, WE WON'T HAVE THE CENSUS DATA RELEASED UNTIL, YOU KNOW, A COUPLE YEARS, A YEAR AFTER 2030. UM, NEXT TIME I THINK IT WILL BE A LIGHTER LIFT BECAUSE WE'RE BUILDING OFF OF A LOT OF THE, THE STRONG WORK THAT WE DID THIS TIME. BUT LIKE, LIKE I WAS SAYING, THE TECHNICAL TEST, LIKE DEGRADE DEMAND PROJECTIONS, THE CLIMATE AND HYDROLOGY ANALYSIS, THE PRELIMINARY NEEDS ANALYSIS, UM, SOME OF THAT, I THINK IT MIGHT BE BETTER FOR US TO DO THAT MORE ON THE BACKEND, POTENTIALLY WORKING WITH THE, UH, TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP AND THEN TO KIND OF REPORT OUT ON THE PROGRESS OF THAT, UM, TO THE TASK FORCE AND THEN TO WORK WITH THE TASK FORCE ON SOME OF THE ITEMS THAT THE TASK FORCE IS MORE INTERESTED IN, LIKE THE STRATEGIES AND KIND OF OVERALL EVALUATIONS OF, UM, YOU KNOW, PORTFOLIO PERFORMANCE, THINGS LIKE THAT. UM, I THINK THAT WAS ONE THING THAT I TOOK AWAY FROM THIS PROCESS. AND THEN TO JUST THE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE SCHEDULE. OF COURSE. YEAH. SORRY ABOUT THAT. WE GOT MUSHED UP IN THE END. WE HAD SOME DELAYS, WE HAD SOME STAFF TURNOVER. I HAD A BABY. I SPENT ABOUT TWO WEEKS WITH THAT BABY, AND THEN I CAME BACK TO WORK SO THAT WE COULD FINISH ON TIME. SO, YOU KNOW, WE'LL KEEP WORKING ON THAT. YEAH. WELL, I THINK THERE HAVE BEEN SOME REALLY BIG IMPROVEMENTS IN THE WAYS, YOU KNOW, LIKE GETTING THINGS [00:50:01] IN ADVANCE AND MM-HMM. AND Y'ALL WORKING REALLY HARD TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN AND, YOU KNOW, AND DOING THE BEST WE COULD WITH THE VOLUME OF INFORMATION THAT WE HAD. ABSOLUTELY. UM, SO THERE'S DEFINITELY, WE PUT SOME PROCESSES IN PLACE THAT WERE, WERE HELPFUL FOR SURE. YEAH. UM, YOU KNOW, I DON'T, WE DON'T NEED TO GO ON AND ON ABOUT THIS, BUT I ALSO WANT TO OPEN IT UP TO ANYBODY ELSE THAT IS LIKE, YOU KNOW, WANTS TO HAVE ANY, JUST, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK WE SO RARELY TAKE TIME TO REFLECT ON KIND OF HOW THE PROCESS WENT AND IT'S LIKE, OH, WE MADE IT THROUGH IT. THE PLANS ARE APPROVED, LET'S TAKE A BEAT BEFORE THE HOLIDAYS, BEFORE WE COME IN, READY FOR IMPLEMENTATION AND HOPEFULLY NOT, YOU KNOW, BAD DROUGHT THIS YEAR. BUT, UM, ANYTHING ELSE FOLKS WANNA OH, THAT'S RIGHT. WE ALSO HAD A HORRIFIC DROUGHT, UM, DURING THE COURSE OF THIS WHOLE THING. YEAH. IT'S IN JUST A TERRIBLE COUPLE OF YEARS. YEAH. YEAH. UM, WELL IT REMINDS YOU WHY YOU'RE DOING WATER SUPPLY PLANNING. KEEPS VERY, I FEEL VERY VISCERAL. NOT NEEDED. YEAH. . YEAH. UM, WELL, UM, I GUESS, YEAH, AND, AND, AND THEN JUST, JUST THE, THE YIN THE YANG OF REFLECTION. UM, UM, IT'S KIND OF HARD, I GUESS WHEN WE'RE NOSES OUR NOSES ARE TO THE GRINDSTONE, BUT THIS IS A TRULY A REMARKABLE EFFORT. IT'S THE ONLY COMMUNITY IN TEXAS THAT I'M AWARE OF THAT IS PLANNING, ACTIVELY PLANNING FOR CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON WATER SUPPLIES. SO, SO AUSTIN HAS, YOU KNOW, FIGURING THIS OUT. YOU ALL ARE FIGURING THIS OUT, UM, HAVE DONE, UM, UM, I THINK AN AMAZING JOB OF, OF TAKING THIS ON. UM, F YOU KNOW, FIGURING OUT, THERE'S LOTS OF CHALLENGES, FIGURING HOW TO, YOU KNOW, FIT, FIT THE SQUARE PEG OF THIS PLANNING INTO THE ROUND HOLE OF STATE WATER PLANNING. Y'ALL HAVE DONE THAT. UM, THE, THE STAFF IS EXTREMELY PROFESSIONAL AND, UM, AND, AND PATIENT. UM, AND I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT AND, AND, AND KNOWLEDGEABLE AND, UM, I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S BEEN GREAT ALSO. SO JUST WANNA SHARE THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A, YOU KNOW, A REMARKABLE EFFORT. UM, YOU KNOW, KIND OF HOPING THAT OTHER COMMUNITIES IN THIS STATE WILL LOOK TO THIS EFFORT AS, AS SOMETHING TO, TO USE IN THEIR OWN, UM, PLANNING GOING FORWARD. UM, AND IT'S GREAT THAT AUSTIN'S, YOU KNOW, AHEAD OF, OF, OF WHAT'S COMING. SO THANK, THANK YOU ALL. THANKS. CITY STAFF AND, AND THE CONSULTANTS AND EVERYBODY THAT'S BEEN PART OF THIS, THIS PROCESS. YEAH, I THINK THAT, UM, ALSO THE WAY THAT WE WORK WITH THE TASK FORCE, WITH ALL THE, THESE FOLKS THAT ARE ON THE TASK FORCE AND THE CITY WORKING ACTUALLY REALLY CLOSELY. AND, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT THE THE TASK FORCE, THE DECIDERS ON ANYTHING, BUT YOU REALLY DO TAKE OUR INPUT AND SEEK OUR INPUT. AND IT REALLY IS A COLLABORATIVE PROCESS AT THE END. IT'S AUSTIN WATER DEVELOPING THE PLAN. BUT, YOU KNOW, I'VE SERVED ON OTHER BODIES BEFORE WHERE IT'S JUST LIKE, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT THAT WAY. UM, AND I THINK THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS THAT WE ALL COME IN AND SPEND SO MUCH TIME WORKING WITH YOU ALL TOO. 'CAUSE IT IS A COLLABORATIVE PROCESS AND THE THINGS THAT, THAT WE, YOU KNOW, THE IDEAS THAT WE COME WITH AND STUFF CAN REALLY LAND IN THE PLAN IF IT MAKES SENSE. YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES WE HAVE IDEAS THAT AREN'T GREAT, BUT IT IS, IT IS. UM, YOU KNOW, AND THERE'S REALLY SMART PEOPLE ABOUT WATER ON THIS GROUP AT, AT THIS TASK FORCE AS WELL AS AT AUSTIN WATERS. SO, SO THE COLLABORATIVE NATURE OF THIS IS A MODEL THAT I ALSO DON'T SEE IN OTHER COMMUNITIES. SO I JUST, YOU KNOW, THAT Y'ALL DON'T HAVE TO WORK WITH US IN THE WAY THAT YOU DO SOMETIMES. THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN AT THE CITY. UM, SO, SO THANK YOU FOR THAT. UM, ALL RIGHT. AND, AND I THINK THE ONE LAST THING, SORRY. YEAH. IS, UH, I MEAN, YOU AND I ARE OLD TIMERS AT THIS POINT, UM, ME AT THIS PRO THIS PROCESS. SO, SO I THINK IT'S ALSO GREAT THAT WE GET NEW MEMBERS, UM, ON THE TASK FORCE AND GET THAT, THAT NEW PERSPECTIVE, UM, MM-HMM. . AND SO, YOU KNOW, DEEPLY APPRECIATE OF, OF THE, THE, UH, NEWER MEMBERS THAT WE HAVE AND SHARING, SHARING Y'ALL'S PERSPECTIVES AND IDEAS. UM, KIND OF FORCING, FORCING EVEN ME, YOU KNOW, THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX. YEAH. MADELINE IS IN COSTA RICA GATHERING. THAT'S ALL VAPOR WATER. GONNA BRING IT BACK IN BOTTLES , JUST LIKE SHE PROPOSED TO US. SHE'S GONE SOMEWHERE WITH MORE, WITH MORE WATER IN THE AIR. . SHE HAS ME LOOKING AT VAPOR WATER UHHUH IN MORE DETAIL NOW. SO , SEE, SHE'S CONVINCED ME. WELL, I WANNA THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR REMARKS AND FOR YOUR ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT IN THIS PROCESS. AND, AND JUST TO ECHO WHAT, UM, WHAT BOTH OF YOU HAVE SAID ABOUT, UH, YOUR ENGAGEMENT AND YOUR EXPERTISE MADE THESE PLANS BETTER. UM, AND [00:55:01] I ALSO REALLY APPRECIATE THE RECOGNITION OF JUST THE WORLD CLASS STAFF THAT WE HAVE AT AUSTIN WATER. UM, I'M AMAZED EVERY DAY AT THE TECHNICAL, UM, EXCELLENCE AND PROFESSIONALISM OF THIS TEAM. AND I ESPECIALLY WANNA CALL OUT THE LEADERSHIP OF MARISA FLORES GONZALEZ AND KEVIN KLUGE AND JUST RECOGNIZE THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS WAS AN IN INCRE, LIKE THE WORK, THE HIGH CALIBER WORK THAT WENT INTO THIS PLAN OVER THE COURSE OF TIME THAT WE GOT IT DONE WAS, UH, AN INCREDIBLE EFFORT. AND THAT THESE TWO LEADERS DRUG THESE PLANS ACROSS THE FINISH LINE THROUGH SHEER FORCE OF WILL. UM, AND THAT'S WHAT IT TAKES. THAT'S THAT OVER THE COURSE OF MY PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE, I'VE SEEN IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN. IT TAKES THE LEADERSHIP OF ONE OR TWO DEDICATED INDIVIDUALS TO MAKE, UM, THIS LEVEL OF WORK AND PLANNING COME TO FRUITION. AND I, I JUST COULD NOT BE MORE PROUD OF YOU. YOU'RE HERE. OKAY. SO, UM, WITH THAT, WE SHOULD GO TO OUR [3. Review and approve the 2025 Water Forward Task Force meeting schedule ] NEXT AGENDA ITEM ABOUT 20 20 25 INTO THE FUTURE. OKAY. SO, UM, EMILY HAS PUT TOGETHER SOME DATES, UH, FOR A 2025 PROPOSED MEETING SCHEDULE. UH, WE ARE PROPOSING TO MEET, AS JENNIFER MENTIONED, EVERY OTHER MONTH, UH, WITHIN, UH, THE NEXT YEAR. UM, THE DATES ARE NOW LISTED ON THE SCREEN. ALL OF THESE MEETINGS WOULD BE SCHEDULED ON TUESDAYS FROM 12:00 PM TO 2:00 PM AT WALLER CREEK CENTER. BUT OF COURSE WE'LL CONTINUE TO HAVE THE HYBRID OPTION AVAILABLE. UM, I GUESS THE, THIS IS LISTED FOR ACTION AND WE NEED TO VOTE ON THIS CALENDAR OR A CALENDAR, UM, AN AMENDED CALENDAR, UH, SO THAT WE CAN HAVE OUR CALENDAR IN PLACE NEXT YEAR. OKAY. WONDERFUL. WONDERFUL. AND I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS TOO TO FLAG IS THAT WE HAVE THREE NEW COUNCIL MEMBERS, UM, WELL WE DON'T KNOW WHO ONE OF THEM IS, BUT FOR, FOR D FOR DD SIX, MCKENZIE KELLY IS LEAVING D 10 ALLISON ALTER, D SEVEN LESLIE POOL. SO YOU'RE LESLIE POOLS APPOINTEE. I DON'T KNOW WHO, UM, ALLISON ALTER'S. APPOINTEE IS IS. OKAY. MADELINE, AND THEN THAT'S ME. YEAH. OKAY. AND THEN MACKENZIE KELLY'S APPOINTEE. I THINK THAT THAT IS, UM, LET ME LOOK AT MY LIST. IS THAT TODD BARTEE? YEAH, I THINK IT'S TODD. SO, YOU KNOW, WHEN THEY, YOU DON'T LIKE GET KICKED OFF THE TASK FORCE, YOU TAKE OFFICE, BUT IT IS GOOD TO REACH OUT TO GET REAPPOINTED, UM, YOU KNOW, THINKING ABOUT 2025 OF COURSE. UM, SO, UM, THAT IS ONE OF THE THINGS I WANTED TO MENTION IN THE CONTEXT OF THIS. MM-HMM. . BUT IS EVERY, IF WE WANNA MOVE APPROVAL OF THESE MEETING DATES, I'LL MOVE APPROVAL OF THE, UH, 2025 PROPOSED MEETING DATES. DO I HAVE A SECOND? SECOND BY PERRY. OH, THERE GOES THE BALLOONS AGAIN. OH, THAT'S NEAT. UNTIL YOU GUYS GET BALLOONS. HOW DOES HE, HOW DOES HE DO THAT? HOW DOES HE DO THAT? , I THINK EVERY TIME HE PUTS UP THE PEACE SIGN. I THINK THAT'S WHAT IT'S, IT'S BALLOONS. TRY IT AGAIN, PERRY. NOW WE'RE JUST PLAYING. BUT NO, THAT'S, I DUNNO. I LIKE IT. YEAH, I LIKE IT TOO. , WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND. UM, ANY OTHER DISCUSSION ON THE PROPOSED MEETING DATES? ALL IN FAVOR? AYE. AYE. OKAY. 2025. WELL, WE GET, UH, CALENDAR INVITES OR DO WE NEED TO HOST THESE? YES. UH, EMILY WILL SEND OUT OUTLOOK INVITATIONS TO EVERYONE AND THEN YOU'LL GET, YOU KNOW, OTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE MEETINGS AS THEY GET CLOSER. COOL. GREAT. THANK YOU. GREAT. AND DOES, ARE WE GOING TO BE HAVING, OR MAYBE THIS IS AN AGENDA ITEM FOR FEBRUARY, UM, SUBCOMMITTEE MEETINGS. 'CAUSE LIKE I WAS SAYING EARLIER, I DON'T KNOW IF WE NEED TO HAVE, WE HAD TWO SUBCOMMITTEES WATER, 4 24 AND WATERFORD, UM, 18. SO IMPLEMENTATION AND THEN PLAN DEVELOPMENT. YES. UM, AND SO WE CAN ONLY HAVE FIVE PEOPLE ON A SUBCOMMITTEE, BUT THERE MAY BE PEOPLE THAT WANNA DIG IN DEEPER MM-HMM. TO SOME OF THE IMPLEMENTATION MM-HMM. STUFF. AND, AND IT, AND IF WE'RE GONNA HAVE, IF WE'RE GONNA HAVE THAT LIKE ON THE, THE MONTH THAT WE DON'T HAVE THE FULL TASK FORCE MEETING. YES. [01:00:01] THAT'S HOW WE HAVE BEEN DOING IT IN THE PAST. YEAH. THE MONTH WE DON'T HAVE THE TASK FORCE MEETING, WE'LL HAVE THE WORKING GROUP MEETING AND UM, I THINK WE COULD TRY, UH, KEEP GOING WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION WORKING GROUP AND THEN JUST PUT THE UPDATE WORKING GROUP ON PAUSE. YEAH, THAT SOUNDS GREAT. OKAY. AND MAYBE WE WON'T START THAT TILL MARCH. YES. I MEAN, WE CAN JUST HAVE AN AGENDA ITEM IN FEBRUARY JUST TO, SO EVERYBODY KNOWS THE PROCESS. MM-HMM. AND WHO'S ON THE COMMITTEE? I HAVE A STICKY NOTE ON MY DESK WITH WHO'S ON THE COMMITTEE, BUT I DIDN'T BRING IT WITH ME. . OKAY. SO WE'LL [FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ] GO AHEAD AND, AND SET SOME DATES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION WORKING GROUP AND EMILY CAN SEND OUT AN EMAIL WITH JUST, UH, THE, THE DATES OF THOSE, SOME MEETING INVITATIONS, THAT KIND SOME INFORMATION FOR THOSE MEMBERS. OKAY. OKAY. AND TO, UM, PAUL AND OTHER PEOPLE'S POINTS ABOUT THE EXOFFICIO MEMBERS WE HAVE IN THE PAST HAD PRETTY GOOD INVOLVEMENT WITH THE EXOFFICIO MEMBERS, BUT IT HAS KIND OF NOT BEEN SO GREAT LATELY. AND THEN SOME PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ON, ON SCREEN AND STUFF AND IT'S A LITTLE HARD TO KEEP TRACK WITH, WITH WHO ALL'S THERE. BUT, UM, BUT MAYBE, UM, IT MIGHT BE WORTH JUST REACHING OUT TO EACH OF THESE FOLKS JUST SAYING LIKE, WE HOPE THAT YOU CAN JOIN US. I'M HAPPY TO SEND IT OUT TO FOLKS. UM, OR MAYBE, UM, SHAY AND I COULD SEND OUT LIKE A LITTLE JOINT LIKE INVITATION OR SOMETHING JUST SAYING, HEY, WE'VE SET OUR SCHEDULE FOR 2025, WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW PLANS. HERE THEY ARE. WE REALLY HOPE YOU CAN JOIN US. UM, AND WHAT WE SEE IS THE ROLE, THE EX OFFICIO MEMBERS. 'CAUSE THE WAY WE HAVE OPERATED, I REMEMBER WE USED TO MEET BACK IN THIS ROOM. MM-HMM. IS EVERYBODY SAT AT THE TABLE TOGETHER AND EVERYBODY COULD PARTICIPATE IN IT. IT'S NOT LIKE, HEY, YOU KNOW, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY COME AND SIT IN THE AUDIENCE AND, YOU KNOW, COME UP TO THE DIOCESE WHENEVER YOU WANNA SPEAK. YOU CAN PARTICIPATE AS A FULL, YOU KNOW, MEMBER OF THIS BODY, YOU KNOW, JUST NOT VOTING MEMBER. SO I REALLY, THE INTENTION IS SINCE THIS IS LIKE AN INTEGRATED WATER PLAN, UM, TO HAVE THE DEPARTMENTS AND THE PEOPLE THAT, THAT IT IMPACTS AND THAT WOULD HAVE A ROLE IN IMPLEMENTING IT, EVEN IF IT'S NOT LIKE DIRECTLY IMPLEMENTING, BUT TO BE PART OF IT AND HAVE OWNERSHIP IN IT. SO, UM, I THINK MAYBE ONE OF THE THINGS WE COULD DO AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR IS JUST TO EXTEND AN INVITATION, UM, AND LET FOLKS KNOW LIKE IT'S, IT'S NOT, UM, IT'S WORTH YOUR TIME TO COME AND YOU CAN PARTICIPATE IF YOU WANT OR JUST LISTEN AND CHECK YOUR EMAIL IN THE BACKGROUND OR SOMETHING. BUT I THINK THAT'S A GREAT IDEA. I'D BE HAPPY TO YOU AND I CAN DO THAT TOGETHER. OKAY, PAUL? YEAH, OF COURSE. I, I AGREE WITH THAT. I LIKE THAT IDEA. AND, UH, THE OTHER OFFICE THAT I JUST REMEMBERED, 'CAUSE I, I DIDN'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW HOW NEW THIS OFFICE IS, BUT THERE IS, I JUST LOOKED THIS UP, A CITY OFFICE OF RESILIENCE AND TO YEAH. ROBERT'S POINT EARLIER ABOUT SORT OF WORST CASE SCENARIOS AND, AND PLANNING FOR THAT. UM, THAT WOULD BE A RELEVANT ONE TO INCLUDE IN SOME OF THESE CONVERSATIONS. SO EQUITY OFFICE, OFFICE OF RESILIENCE, UM, THERE'S OFFICE, THERE IS A CURRENT EX MEMBER FROM THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY, WHICH I THINK IS PROBABLY THE OFFICE THAT SORT OF SHEPHERDS THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN. IT IS. AND THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT, OKAY. IT IS, YEAH. THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT, UH, I WAS KIND OF CURIOUS ABOUT THROUGHOUT THIS PROCESS. WE DIDN'T HAVE THE TIME OR BANDWIDTH TO BRING THAT INTO THE CONVERSATIONS WE WERE HAVING DURING OUR SEVERAL HOURS LONG MEETINGS. BUT, UM, I DID WANNA KNOW HOW THESE PLANS TALK TO EACH OTHER, IF AT ALL. UM, THEY DO, BECAUSE YEAH, THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN SEEMED LIKE A PRETTY BIG MILESTONE. I KNOW THERE'S BEEN CONVERSATION AMONG DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDERS WITHIN THE CITY ABOUT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THAT PLAN. UH, BUT IT FEELS LIKE A RELEVANT DOCUMENT, UM, TO HAVE IN THE MIX HERE IN THIS ROOM TOO. YEAH, THERE'S, THERE'S SOME SIGNIFICANT WORK THAT GOES ON BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE PLANS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE ALIGNED AND TALKING TO EACH OTHER, AND THAT WE KNOW WHAT'S IN THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN AND THEY KNOW WHAT'S IN THE WATER FORWARD PLAN. AND SO, SO KEVIN KLUGE AS AN EXAMPLE, KEVIN KLUGE AND I HAVE MET RECENTLY. WE, WELL, FIRST OF ALL, AUSTIN WATER, MYSELF, HEATHER PEL, A FEW OTHER FOLKS WITHIN AUSTIN WATER PARTICIPATED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN. IT'S PRIMARILY A CLIMATE MITIGATION PLAN, WHICH MEANS THAT ITS FOCUS IS ON REDUCING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND REACHING NET ZERO IN TERMS OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS BY 20 30, 20 40. AND, UM, SO THAT, THAT'S PRIMARILY THE FOCUS. THERE'S CROSS CONNECTIVITY THERE IN THAT WE'VE INCORPORATED A WATER GOAL IN THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN THAT ALIGNED WITH THE PREVIOUS 2018 WATER FORWARD OVERALL DEMAND GOAL. THAT CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN IS GONNA BE UPDATED OR REFRESHED, UH, IS MY UNDERSTANDING. AND THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO INCORPORATE, [01:05:01] UM, YOU KNOW, UH, UPDATED GOALS FROM WATER FORWARD AND THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND THAT CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN. WE ALSO MEET ON A REGULAR BASIS WITH THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY AND THE OFFICE OF RESILIENCE AS WELL AS THE EQUITY OFFICE. THE OFFICE OF RESILIENCE WAS CREATED, UM, UH, VERY RECENTLY. WITHIN THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS. LAURA PATINO WAS HIRED AS THE CHIEF RESILIENCY OFFICER. SHE'S SINCE LEFT HER POST AND HAS BECOME THE CHIEF RESILIENCY OFFICER AT THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO. AND THEY HAVEN'T FOUND A REPLACEMENT FOR HER YET. MARK CORDELL WAS WORKING FOR HI HER AND HE CURRENTLY WORKS AND KIND OF FULFILLS A, A FUNCTION AS A PART OF THAT OFFICE OF RESILIENCE AND IS WORKING FOR ZACH BAUMER, WHO IS OUR CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER. SO YOU CAN THINK OF THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY AND OFFICE OF RESILIENCE AS KIND OF BEING TOGETHER. UM, THEY ALSO ARE HEADING UP THE CLIMATE COLLAB, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, THE, A A FAIRLY NEW COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS. AND IT'S KIND OF PROMPTED BY A LOT OF THE PAST BREAKING WORK THAT WE DID TO WORK WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS TO DEVELOP CLIMATE PROJECTIONS FOR THE WATER FORWARD PLAN. SO WE'RE CONTINUING TO WORK WITH UT WE'RE CONTINUING TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CLIMATE COLAB, THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, IMPLEMENTATION AND UPDATE PROCESSES AS WELL AS ADDITIONAL RESILIENCY WORK WITH THE OFFICE OF RESILIENCE. BUT I THINK IT'S A GOOD IDEA MAYBE TO MAKE MORE VISIBLE SOME OF THE WORK THAT HAPPENS IN THE BACKGROUND, BUT, UM, BETWEEN OUR DEPARTMENTS AND OFFICES. OH YEAH, THAT'S EXTREMELY HELPFUL, MARISSA. AND THAT'S USUALLY YOUR MILES AHEAD OF ME, SO THANK YOU. UM, YEAH, THE OTHER THING I JUST THOUGHT OF ALSO, 'CAUSE WHILE WE WERE SHOUTING PEOPLE OUT, I DIDN'T WANNA LEAVE OUT EMILY BECAUSE SHE'S DONE AMAZING WORK. JUST KEEPING THE TRAINS MOVING, , UH, WHATEVER THAT EXPRESSION IS, KEEPING THE TRAINS RUNNING ON TIME. I DON'T THINK I, I'VE NEVER RECEIVED LIKE AN EMAIL AND ERROR OR ANY SORT OF TYPO IN AN EMAIL. LIKE IT'S INCREDIBLE THE AMOUNT OF ORGANIZATIONAL SKILL THAT SHE'S PUT INTO THIS. SO KUDOS TO EMILY. EMILY IS ALSO A PRO IN THIS ROOM. YES. UH, THIS, THIS TASK FORCE BEING THE FIRST ONE TO USE THIS ROOM REGULARLY. WHEN WE STARTED USING IT FOR WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION, EMILY CAME ON HER OWN TIME TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT MEETING RAN SMOOTHLY. , SHE'S SITTING BEHIND A LIKE CONTROL PANEL OVER HERE RIGHT NOW. LIKE, BUT YEAH, EMILY, YOU REALLY, REALLY ARE AN ESSENTIAL COG IN THE MACHINERY. AND SHE'S NOT ONLY THE LIAISON FOR THE WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE, SHE'S ALSO THE COMMUNICATIONS LIAISON FOR REGION K, THE REGIONAL WATER PLANNING PROCESS FOR THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER BASIN. SO SHE'S ALSO HELPING TO COORDINATE AND KEEP THE TRAINS RUN ON TIME FOR THAT PLANNING GROUP FOR, UH, ALL OF US WITHIN THE BASIN. YEAH. GREAT. SHOUT OUT PAUL. H HOW ARE EXOFFICIO MEMBERS DECIDED? WAS THAT SOMETHING THAT THE CITY COUNCIL DEFINED? YES. OR IS THAT OKAY, SO THAT WAS SET BY CITY COUNCIL AND THEIR RESOLUTION, CREATING THE TASK FORCE. OKAY. SO, SO LIKE TO DO PAUL'S IDEA, WHICH I THINK IS A GOOD ONE, IF THOSE FOLKS ARE INTERESTED, I GUESS WE CAN'T JUST PUT THEM ON THERE WITHOUT TALKING TO THEM, BUT IT WOULD HAVE TO GO TO CITY COUNCIL TO AMEND. I DON'T KNOW IF IT WOULD HAVE TO GO TO CITY COUNCIL. . WE'RE FINE. WE SHOULD, WE SHOULD PROBABLY FIGURE OUT THE CORRECT PROCESS TO ALIGN. OKAY. YEAH, I I DO THINK IT MAKES SENSE BECAUSE THERE HAVE BEEN SOME CHANGES ON THE CITY SIDE IN TERMS OF THE DEPARTMENTS AND HOW THEY'RE STRUCTURED AND ALIGNED. THE WAY MARISA WAS DESCRIBING THAT IT PROBABLY DOES MAKE SENSE FOR US TO LOOK AT THESE EXOFFICIO MEMBERS AND OUR GOVERNING DOCUMENTS FOR THIS TASK FORCE, UM, TO DETERMINE IF IT MAKES SENSE TO MAKE ANY CHANGES AND IF IT DOES, HOW THAT PROCESS WOULD WORK. OKAY. OKAY. THANKS. AND WHEN WE REACH OUT TO THESE FOLKS, UM, SHAY WE SHOULD ALSO SAY, IS THE RIGHT PERSON, UM, INDICATED AS THE POINT OF CONTACT TOO? 'CAUSE SOMETIMES THEY CHANGE. ALL RIGHT. ANYTHING ELSE? WELL, FOR ONCE IN OUR LIVES, LET'S ADJOURN EARLY AND EVERYBODY HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY. I'M GONNA MISS SEEING YOU ALL ON THE LITTLE SCREEN UP HERE. UM, BUT WE'LL SEE YOU IN IN 2025 OR IF NOT SOONER. AND, UH, ALL RIGHT, HAVE A GREAT DAY EVERYBODY. THANK YOU ALL. THANK YOU. HAPPY HOLIDAYS. HAPPY HOLIDAYS. HAPPY HOLIDAYS. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.