[00:00:03]
AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'VE DONE WITH THE SCREENS UP HERE, BUT EVERYBODY'S JUST LOOKING AMAZING.
HOPEFULLY THERE'S NOT A GIANT PICTURE OF ME ON THE SCREEN BEHIND ME.
[CALL TO ORDER]
WELL, I'M GONNA CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER ENOUGH OF THE SILLINESS.UM, I, I GOTTA TURN TO THE AGENDA.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
ARE GONNA APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM OUR FEBRUARY 11TH TASK FORCE MEETING.I, I, I MOVE TO APPROVE THE MINUTES.
UM, DO WE HAVE ANY DISCUSSION? OKAY.
ANY OPPOSED? WELL, THERE'S NO ONE LEFT TO OPPOSE IT.
I FEEL LIKE A HEATER'S BLOWING ON ME.
IT'S THAT, IT'S THAT IN BETWEEN TIME OF THE YEAR.
[2. Ex Officio Member introductions]
OFFICIO MEMBER INTRODUCTIONS.UH, SO WE, UM, UH, HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO MEET WITH SOME OF OUR, UM, TASK FORCE EXOFFICIO MEMBERS AND THE PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS GREAT.
UM, TO, UH, RE ONBOARD THEM TO THE WATER FOUR PLAN AND PROGRAM, UM, TO HEAR A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT WHAT THEY'RE WORKING ON AND AREAS WHERE SOME OF OUR WORK COULD INTERFACE.
AND SO AS, UM, A FOLLOW UP FROM THAT, WE WANTED TO ALLOW THE OPPORTUNITY FOR, UM, ANY OF OUR EXOFFICIO MEMBERS WHO ARE IN ATTENDANCE TO INTRODUCE THEMSELVES.
I THINK THAT ONE OF OUR EXOFFICIO MEMBERS FROM THE, UM, HOUSING DEPARTMENT HAS MENTIONED THAT HE'S RUNNING A LITTLE BIT BEHIND, SO HE MIGHT BE JOINING US LATER.
UM, BUT RIGHT NOW WE DO HAVE AT LEAST ONE EXOFFICIO MEMBER ON THE CALL.
SO I THINK WE WOULD, UH, LIKE TO OFFER THE OPPORTUNITY FOR ZACH TO INTRODUCE HIMSELF.
I'M THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE IN OFFICE OF CLIMATE ACTION AND RESILIENCE AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
WE ARE, WE WERE FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY FOR ABOUT 14 YEARS, AND SORT OF JUST RECENTLY WENT THROUGH THIS NAME CHANGE, SORT OF CLARIFY AND SPECIFY WHAT OUR OFFICE DOES.
I WAS ACTUALLY A PARTICIPANT IN, UH, WATER TASK FORCE WORK YEARS AND YEARS AGO.
UM, MY FORMER BOSS WAS, UH, LUCIA ATHENS, WHO'S THE CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER FOR MANY YEARS.
AND THERE WAS A TIME PERIOD WHERE I THINK SHE PARTICIPATED IN THIS GROUP AND I FILLED IN FOR HER.
UM, SO I'VE BEEN AWARE AND SORT OF FOLLOWING, YOU KNOW, THIS TASK FORCE FORCES WORK FOR MANY YEARS AND I'VE ALWAYS BEEN IMPRESSED AND, AND IT'S GREAT TO SEE SOME OF THE FACES THAT I SAW YEARS AND YEARS AGO.
THAT'S GREAT COMMITMENT AND THAT, UH, THAT CONTINUITY.
UM, UH, AT THE OFFICE OF CLIMATE ACTION AND RESILIENCE, WE HAVE, UM, THREE FOCUS AREAS, UM, THAT I PAY ATTENTION TO ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS.
UH, THE FIRST ONE IS SUSTAINABLE FOOD ISSUES.
UM, THERE'S A AUSTIN TRAVIS COUNTY FOOD PLAN THAT WAS JUST ADOPTED BY CITY COUNCIL LAST FALL.
AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, FOOD, THERE'S A RELATIONSHIP WITH WATER, RIGHT? UM, ALL THE FOOD THAT WE EAT HAS WATER IN IT, AND THERE'S A CONNECTION WITH GROWING FOOD TO WATER ISSUES.
SO THAT'S AN IMPORTANT CONNECTION.
UM, THE SECOND AREA THAT WE FOCUS ON, UH, IS THE CLIMATE ACTION PART OF OUR WORK.
SO THAT'S REDUCING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS.
OUR CITY COUNCIL, UH, ADOPTED IN 20 20 21, THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, WHICH IS OUR CITY'S, UH, PLAN TO TRY TO GET TO NET ZERO COMMUNITY-WIDE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS BY 2040.
UM, THERE ARE WATER GOALS IN, UH, THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
AND AS WE KNOW, EVERYTHING WE DO RELATED TO WATER USES ENERGY.
YOU KNOW, OUR ENERGY SYSTEM IS INTERCONNECTED WITH USING FOSSIL FUELS.
SO THERE'S A, THERE IS A VERY CLOSE TIE IN, UH, WITH TRYING TO REDUCE EMISSIONS IN ALL OF OUR WATER PLANS.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY, THE THIRD AREA OF FOCUS, UM, WE CAN CALL IT RESILIENCE, OR YOU CAN CALL IT CLIMATE
[00:05:01]
ADAPTATION.IT'S ESSENTIALLY THE IDEA THAT, UM, THE CLIMATE HAS ALREADY BEGUN TO CHANGE AND IT'S GONNA JUST CONTINUE TO CHANGE.
AND THAT CHANGE SEEMS TO BE HAPPENING FASTER AND FASTER NOW.
UM, THE MAJOR SORT OF EXTREME WEATHER THREATS THAT CLIMATE SCIENTISTS TELL US ARE HAPPENING ARE EXTREME HA, EXTREME HEAT, DROUGHT, FLOODING, WILDFIRE, UM, AND EXTREME COLD.
UM, ALL OF THOSE THREATS HAVE INTERCONNECTION AND, UM, WITH OUR WATER SYSTEM.
SO, UM, I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH AUSTIN WATER STEP FOR YEARS ACTUALLY ON CLIMATE PROJECTIONS AND HOW THAT INTER INTERSECTS WITH, UM, AUSTIN WATERS PLANTS.
SO, UM, I THINK ABOUT WATER ISSUES ALL THE TIME.
I'M GLAD TO REENGAGE WITH, UM, WITH THE TASK FORCE AND, UM, AND I'M EXCITED TO KEEP PARTICIPATING AND PARTICIPATE FROM HERE ON OUT.
UM, THANKS FOR THE, THE KIND OF THE REMINDER RUNDOWN OF THE THREE FOCUS AREAS TOO.
IT'S GOOD TO REALLY AFFIRMATIVELY HEAR KIND OF WHERE THOSE, THOSE NEXUS NEXT SI ARE.
UM, WHO IS NEXT? SO WE HAVE TWO MORE EX OFFICIO MEMBERS WITH US.
UM, MIKE HOFFMAN IS ON THE LINE FROM AUSTIN ENERGY, AND LIANA VOCA IS HERE FROM PARD, AND KEVIN IS, IS AN EX OFFICIO MEMBER.
KEVIN CRITTENTON FROM AUSTIN WATER.
SO I GUESS, UM, WHO, WE HAVE SOMEBODY FROM WATER CONSERVATION TOO.
WATER CONSERVATION IS A, UM, IS A GROUP WITHIN AUSTIN WATER.
UH, KEVIN JUST WANTED TO GIVE PROPS.
IS THE RUMOR TRUE THERE'S GONNA BE A SISTERS OF MERCY THEMED WATER CONSERVATION PROGRAM ROLLED OUT? I HEAR
UM, WAS IT, I'M SORRY, MIKE FROM, FROM AUSTIN ENERGY? MM-HMM
UH, MIKE HOFFMAN WITH AUSTIN ENERGY.
I'M THE ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES MANAGER AND, UH, WAS OBSERVING THE WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE DURING THE LAST CYCLE AND LOOK FORWARD TO, UM, ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN THIS CYCLE.
SO, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY, UH, ZACH WAS TALKING ABOUT THE, UM, THE NEXUS BETWEEN ENERGY AND WATER ISSUES.
CERTAINLY AT AUSTIN ENERGY, UM, WATER SUPPLY AND WATER AVAILABILITY IS CRITICAL TO OUR OPERATIONS.
LESS SO THAN IN THE PAST IS, UH, DECKER ONE AND TWO STEAM UNITS HAVE, HAVE NOW SHUT DOWN AND WE'RE NOW, UH, MAINLY, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, LESS, UH, RELIANT ON LOCAL WATER, BUT, UH, STILL VERY MUCH INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN THIS GOING FORWARD.
SO THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY.
AND, AND, UM, ISN'T, UM, AUSTIN WATER, ONE OF AUSTIN ENERGY'S BIGGEST CUSTOMERS FOR TREATING AND MOVING WATER ABOUT THE CITY? ABSOLUTELY.
UM, IANA, WAIT, AM I SAYING YOUR NAME? TELL ME HOW TO SAY YOUR NAME RIGHT.
I JUST ADDED SOME EXTRA LETTERS IN THERE, DIDN'T I?
IT'S VERY, OKAY, LEANNA, WELCOME.
I'M LEANNA KAKA AND I SERVE AS A, AN ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR THE PARKS CENTER CREATION DEPARTMENT FOR THE LAST NINE YEARS NOW, UH, I OVERSEE FOR THE DEPARTMENT, UH, PLANNING, DEVELOPMENT, OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE AND ASSET MANAGEMENT.
SO, UM, WE ARE A RATHER LARGE DEPARTMENT AND, UH, WE DEFINITELY USE WATER AS PART OF OUR REGULAR OPERATIONS.
WE, UM, HAVE MORE THAN 20,000 ACRES OF LAND THAT WE MANAGE.
AND SOME OF THAT, UH, ACREAGE IS IRRIGATED, SO IT REALLY MAKES SENSE FOR US TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, WE CONSERVE WATER AND WE DON'T USE POTABLE WATER AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
SO AGAIN, UM, THIS IS ANOTHER AREA WHERE WE ARE TRYING TO ALWAYS DO BETTER.
UM, AND, UM, WE ARE VERY MUCH DEDICATED TO SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENCY.
BEFORE JOINING THE PARKS DEPARTMENT, I WAS FOR 13 YEARS WITH AUSTIN ENERGY, ENERGY GREEN BUILDING.
SO I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN INVOLVED IN SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES, UM, AND VERY MUCH INTERESTED IN WATER CONSERVATION.
[00:10:01]
SO I'VE BEEN ACTUALLY AS REPRESENTING THE DEPARTMENT FOR THE, FOR, UH, THIS GROUP AS AN EX OFFICIAL MEMBER FOR AT LEAST THE LAST FIVE YEARS.SO I'M HAPPY TO FOLLOW THE PROGRESS AND, UH, BRING ALONG, UM, ALL THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE COULD HAVE AT PARKS.
AND OF COURSE, THERE ARE PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITIES WITH AUSTIN WATER FROM US BEING THROUGHOUT THE LAKE TO WALTER LONG.
UM, IT'S DEFINITELY A PARTNERSHIP.
UM, YEAH, I WANNA THANK, UM, AUSTIN WATER FOR, YOU KNOW, ENGAGING FOLKS AND GETTING FOLKS UP TO SPEED WITH WHERE WE ARE AND EVERYTHING.
UM, I THINK THAT'S REALLY POSITIVE AND IT'S GREAT TO SEE FOLKS HERE, UM, ONLINE AND IN PERSON FOR THE MEETINGS.
AND, UM, AND I JUST, I WANNA ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO, YOU KNOW, ALL THE EXOFFICIO MEMBERS, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE PART OF, PART OF THE TEAM WATER FORWARD.
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO, UM, WHILE, WHILE I DON'T, YOU'RE NOT VOTING MEMBERS BECAUSE OF THE WAY THIS STUFF WORKS, YOU'RE, YOU'RE FULL MEMBERS OTHERWISE.
AND PLEASE FEEL FREE TO LIKE, RAISE YOUR HAND AND ASK A QUESTION.
AND IF YOU'RE HERE, LIKE JOIN US UP AT THE DAAS AND, YOU KNOW, UM, AND PARTICIPATE IN THE CONVERSATION AND, AND BRING, BRING YOUR EXPERTISE AND EXPERIENCE.
AND, UM, WE HAD BACK BEFORE COVID TIMES WHEN WE WERE MEETING IN THIS ROOM, BUT DIFFERENT CONFIGURATION, YOU KNOW, WE WOULD HAVE EVERYBODY UP HERE LIKE WORKING TOGETHER ON THE, YOU KNOW, COVID, UM, INTERRUPTED OUR FLOW ON THAT AND, UH, SO WE'RE JUST GETTING IT BACK.
'CAUSE I THINK IT MAKES FOR A RICHER, UM, EXPERIENCE.
AND, AND I'M WONDERING TOO, WOULD IT BE HELPFUL FOR THE FOLKS TO, FOR THE FOLKS ON THE TASK FORCE TO INTRODUCE THEMSELVES, UM, TO, I THINK IT WOULD BE GOOD.
AND I'M WONDERING TOO IF WE SHOULD GIVE KEVIN THE OPPORTUNITY TO REINTRODUCE HIMSELF AND MAYBE TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE EPDS PROGRAM AREA.
DOES EPDS MEAN FOR STARTERS?
I'M ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AT AUSTIN WATER.
I'M OVER ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES.
UM, FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO SEE ME ON A REGULAR BASIS, WE CALL THAT EPDS.
UM, A LOT OF THAT PERHAPS FALLS ON THE, THE, UM, BACK BURNER AND MAY NOT, UH, FULLY BE IN EVERYONE'S VISIBILITY.
BUT THAT'S SORT OF WHAT I DO IN THE REGULAR DAY.
SO BEYOND JUST OUR WATER RESOURCES PLANNING WORK, UM, WE ALSO DO OUR INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING FOR BOTH, UH, WATER AND WASTEWATER SYSTEMS. UM, WE, UH, HAVE OUR WATER CONSERVATION DIVISION, WHICH REPORTS INTO US.
UM, OUR ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCE OFFICE IS ALSO PART OF OUR EPDS GROUP, WHICH, UH, PROBABLY INCLUDES, UM, UH, THE LARGEST, UH, ACTIVITY THAT INCLUDES WOULD BE OUR WILDLAND CONSERVATION DIVISION.
SO, UM, THAT'S PART OF OUR TEAM.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE, UH, CAPITAL PLANNING AND ASSET MANAGEMENT.
AND OUR GROUP, UM, AND I'M PROBABLY FORGETTING SOMETHING, OH, UTILITY DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, WHICH IS PROBABLY ONE OF OUR LARGER, UM, DIVISIONS.
AND PRIMARILY THEY WORK IN COORDINATION WITH, UM, PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT FOR THIRD PARTY EXTENSIONS TO OUR WATER AND WASTEWATER SYSTEM.
DIDN'T EXACTLY PREPARE FOR THAT ONE, BUT, UM, I'LL JUST TAG ON HERE TO SAY THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE CERTAINLY DO APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH OUR COLLEAGUES THAT ARE ALL REPRESENTED HERE AS EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.
UM, AND APOLOGIES, I THINK AT SOME LEVEL, UM, WE'RE SO USED TO DOING THAT WORK OUTSIDE OF THIS ROOM THAT I THINK IN THE WORLD OF HYBRID MEETINGS, OFTENTIMES WE SEE BUBBLES POP UP AND PEOPLE ARE ON MEETINGS TRACKING.
WE KNOW THAT GOOD WORK IS HAPPENING AT A STAFF LEVEL.
AND SO WE PROBABLY DIDN'T HIGHLIGHT THEIR PRESENCE AND THEIR INVOLVEMENT AS MUCH AS WE SHOULD HAVE.
SO THAT'S PART OF WHAT WE WANTED TO DO, JUST BY SORT OF TAKING A PAUSE AND GETTING A LITTLE BIT MORE FORMAL IN SORT OF RE ONBOARDING.
BUT I MEAN, AS ZACH MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, ZACH AND HIS PREDECESSORS HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN MANY, MANY YEARS OF THIS.
UH, LEONNA HAS ALSO BEEN A ACTIVE PARTICIPANT.
UM, KATHLEEN GARRETT, WHO MICHAEL IS HERE TO, TO REPRESENT HAS ALSO BEEN, YOU KNOW, ENGAGED THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS.
SO, UM, AGAIN, I THINK IT'S, IT'S OUR INTENT TO CONTINUE TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, WE HAVE A SPACE FOR THOSE FOLKS TO COME IN AND COLLABORATE.
UM, EACH OF THOSE DEPARTMENTS ARE ALL INVOLVED IN THEIR OWN, UM, PLANNING, UH, WHETHER IT'S ABOUT, UM, RESILIENCE AND RELIABILITY AND, AND CLIMATE RELATED ACTIVITIES.
SO WE, WE THANK THEM FOR THAT WORK.
UM, AND WE DO THINK THAT THIS IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR, TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE'S SORT OF AWARE AND, UM, ACKNOWLEDGE KIND OF THE
[00:15:01]
GOOD WORK THAT WE'RE ALL DOING.AND, AND I CERTAINLY, AND I KNOW THAT YOU ALL ARE TALKING A LOT 'CAUSE Y'ALL WORK FOR THE CITY AND ARE MAKING THE CITY WORK, YOU KNOW, UM, FREQUENTLY.
UM, SO HOPEFULLY THIS ISN'T REDUNDANT, UM, SPACE FOR THAT, BUT CLEARLY THERE'S A LOT OF COLLABORATION THAT GOES ON BETWEEN ALL THESE FOLKS.
UM, WHY DON'T WE DO A ROUND OF TASK FORCE, UM, INTROS, UH, QUICKLY JUST FOR FOLKS.
UM, SO EVERYONE'S ON THE SAME PAGE HERE.
UM, WE'LL START WITH THE FOLKS ONLINE.
UM, PAUL, DO YOU WANNA GO FIRST? I'M RANDOMLY PICKING YOU.
I'M PAUL DIERRA, I THE APPOINTEE FROM DISTRICT TWO AND I'VE BEEN ON THE TASK FORCE NOW FOR TWO YEARS, JUST A LITTLE OVER TWO YEARS, I GUESS.
AND I'M A LAW STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS.
IF YOU'RE TALKING BILL, I WAS GONNA DO SIGN LANGUAGE, BUT I DIDN'T THINK I CAN'T READ IT.
UM, BILL MORIARTY, I'VE BEEN ON THE TASK FORCE FOR A WHILE.
UM, I'M MAYOR WATSON'S APPOINTEE AND, UH, I'M, UH, INTERESTED IN, UH, KEEPING THINGS MOVING FORWARD AND, UH, GETTING SOME OF THESE PROJECTS DONE AT SOME POINT.
TODAY'S MEETING, I'M SORT INTERJECTING.
I HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS ABOUT SOME THINGS THAT MAY NOT BE ON THE AGENDA, BUT I'D LIKE TO BRING 'EM UP IF THERE'S TIME.
I WAS APPOINTED BY SABINO LONG AGO, A HUNDRED YEARS AGO, I CAN'T REMEMBER HOW LONG.
AND, UH, I'M IN THE REAL ESTATE BUSINESS AND I A LAY PERSON WHEN IT COMES TO WATER, BUT I'M LEARNING A LOT AND I SORT OF TRY TO LOOK AT THINGS FROM A REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT STANDPOINT, NOT EVEN SO MUCH AS HOW I LOOK AT IT, BUT AS HOW I FEEL LIKE, UH, THE REAL ESTATE COMMUNITY WILL LOOK AT IT, UH, BECAUSE THEY HAVE THEIR OWN PARTICULAR SLANT, AS YOU ALL KNOW.
AND, UM, I'M LEARNING A LOT AND I'M ENJOYING IT.
AND THEN HANI? YEAH, I'M HANI MICHELLE.
UH, I'M THE, UH, APPOINTEE FOR, UH, DISTRICT ONE.
UM, I'M A ENVIRONMENTAL CIVIL ENGINEER BY, UH, EDUCATION AND, AND WORK.
THIS IS MY SECOND TERM ON THE TASK FORCE.
UM, IN MY PREVIOUS LIFE I WORKED WITH THE, I RETIRED FROM THE CITY OF AUSTIN, UM, UH, AND BEEN, UH, IN MY CURRENT JOB WITH COROLLA FOR THE LAST 18 YEARS.
AND DEFINITELY INTERESTED IN, IN SUPPORTING, UM, THE WORK THAT'S GOING ON AND, YOU KNOW, UM, UH, WHATEVER I CAN DO TO MAKE THINGS, UH, MOVE FORWARD.
ROBERT? UM, I'M ROBERT MACE APPOINTEE FOR DISTRICT SEVEN.
UM, I RUN THE, MY DAY JOB IS RUNNING THE MEADOW CENTER FOR WATER AND THE ENVIRONMENT AT TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY.
I'M ALSO A, UM, PROFESSOR OF PRACTICE IN DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AT TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY.
AND, UM, PREVIOUS TO MY ROLES AT TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY, I WAS, UM, AT THE TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD FOR ABOUT 18 YEARS.
UM, TRAINED TECHNICALLY AS A HYDRO GEOLOGIST, BUT UH, BUT THROUGH MY TENURE AT THE STATE BECAME MORE OF A GENERALIST.
AND THEN I ALSO THINK PROBABLY THE BEST TRACK FOR THE NEW WATER CONSERVATION PROGRAM BY SISTERS OF MERCY WOULD BE MARION.
ROBERT ALWAYS BRINGS THE DEEP CUTS
UM, MY NAME'S JENNIFER WALKER AND, UM, EXCUSE ME.
UM, I HAVE ALSO BEEN ON THE TA WATERFORD TASK FORCE FOR A HUNDRED YEARS, LIKE PERRY AND BILL HAS ALSO, I THINK, HIT THE A HUNDRED YEAR MARK AS WELL.
SO, UM, AS HAS, UH, SEVERAL PEOPLE IN THIS ROOM.
UM, BUT IT'S DEFINITELY, UM, SOME OF THE WORK THAT I, UM, AM VERY, VERY PROUD OF AS, YOU KNOW, A PERSON THAT LIVES IN AND GREW UP IN AUSTIN AND PLANS TO STAY HERE AND MY WHOLE FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND EVERYONE'S HERE.
LIKE, I FEEL LIKE WE'RE DOING REALLY GOOD COLLECTIVE SERVICE FOR OUR COMMUNITY, FOR OUR FUTURE WATER SUPPLY.
UM, MY DAY JOB IS, I WORK AT NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION AND I RUN THE TEXAS COAST AND WATER
[00:20:01]
PROGRAM, UM, WHICH IS REALLY FOC IT'S A WATER POLICY FOCUSED, UH, PROJECT, SPENDING LOTS OF TIME AT THE CAPITOL THESE DAYS.UM, WE'RE REALLY FOCUSED ON URBAN WATER SUPPLY MANAGEMENT AND HOW WE MANAGE WATER IN OUR CITIES AND TRYING TO SET UP POLICIES AND PROGRAMS TO, UM, FOR A MORE KIND OF RESILIENT, RELIABLE, EVEN, I GUESS, WHAT'S THE WORD WE'RE USING THESE DAYS? DURABLE WATER SUPPLIES.
UM, AND REALLY, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO GET THAT ALL RIGHT IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE WATER FOR, UM, FISH AND WILDLIFE HABITAT AND ENVIRONMENT AS WELL.
SO WE REALLY, UM, ARE WORKING ON MANY FRONTS FOR ALL OF THAT.
THAT'S, THAT'S MY, MY DAY JOB, WHICH OF COURSE IS A BLURRY LINE WITH, WITH THIS VOLUNTEER ROLE THAT WE'RE ALL SERVING IN.
BUT I THINK WE'RE LIKE SO LUCKY TO HAVE SUCH KNOWLEDGEABLE PEOPLE, UM, SERVING ON THE TASK FORCE AND REALLY FOR LIKE, SERVING FOR LONG, LONG TERM.
LIKE THERE'S A LOT OF INSTITUTIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE AND A DIVERSITY OF EXPERT OF EXPERIENCE ON HERE.
SO I'M VERY APPRECIATIVE OF EVERYBODY THAT, YOU KNOW, SPENDS THEIR TIME ON THIS, WHETHER THEY'RE EXOFFICIO OR COUNCIL APPOINTED MEMBERS.
UM, DEFINITELY VERY, VERY GRATEFUL.
I KNOW THIS IS A BIG COMMITMENT.
OH, AND I'M ALSO, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER ZOE QUADRIS APPOINTEE.
UM, I'M GLAD WE HAD A LITTLE TIME AND SPACE TO GET TO DO THAT.
WE'VE GOT SEVERAL FOLKS IN THE AUDIENCE TOO, HUH? OH, HEY CHASE.
UM, CHASE, UM, YOU JUST JOINED, DID HE JUST JOIN? OKAY.
CHASE, WE ARE DOING, UM, INTRODUCTIONS SO FOLKS CAN ALL GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER.
UM, THE EX OFFICIO MEMBER, WE JUST DID THE WHOLE TASK FORCE AND ALL THE EX OFFICIO MEMBERS, SO YOU MISSED ALL THE GREAT CONTENT.
BUT, UH, BUT, UM, IF YOU WANNA INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND THEN TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT IF YOU WANT TO LIKE HOUSING AND WATER, LIKE THE NEXUS THERE.
I'M SORRY I'M LATE Y'ALL, UM, JUMPING IN FROM ANOTHER WORKSHOP.
UM, BUT, UH, YEAH, MY NAME IS CHASE BRYAN.
I'M AN EX OFFICIO MEMBER FROM THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT.
UM, I'M AN URBAN PLANNER BY TRADE.
UM, AND, UH, YOU MAY, I THINK YOU PROBABLY ALREADY KNOW THAT WE WERE THE HOUSING AND PLANNING DEPARTMENT UNTIL RECENTLY AND GOT A DIVORCE.
UH, BUT NONETHELESS, I'M STILL A PLANNER IN THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT, SO, UH, I COME FROM A, UM, SUSTAINABLE DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE BACKGROUND AS WELL.
UM, BUT, UH, YEAH, I'M REPRESENTING AND, UM, COMMUNICATING, UH, ANYTHING THAT, UH, NEEDS TO BE COMMUNICATED WITH WITH, UH, THE HOUSING PERSPECTIVE.
UM, I DON'T THINK THAT, UH, WATER IS, UH, ALWAYS CENTERED IN OUR, UM, YEAH, PLANNING AROUND, UH, HOUSING IN GENERAL AND AS WE'RE, YOU KNOW, OFTEN VERY SILOED IN DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS.
UM, AND SO, UM, YEAH, I THINK THAT THIS, UH, THIS TASK FORCE AND SORT OF THE, UH, THE CROSSOVER BETWEEN DIFFERENT, UH, ENTITIES, OUR OWN WORK IS REALLY IMPORTANT IN, IN HAVING A MORE HOLISTIC, UH, SYSTEMS UNDERSTANDING OF, UH, HOW AUSTIN DEVELOPS.
AND WHAT I WAS TELLING THE OTHER FOLKS TOO IS FEEL FREE TO PARTICIPATE, LIKE AS A FULL MEMBER HERE, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'VE GOT QUESTIONS ON A PRESENTATION OR AGENDA ITEM OR SOMETHING YOU WANNA PROVIDE FROM THE, THE, UM, HOUSING PERSPECTIVE, FEEL FREE TO, YOU KNOW, PUT UP YOUR HAND AND, YOU KNOW, GIVE YOUR INPUT.
YOU DON'T NEED TO JUST SIT AND WATCH.
IF YOU WANT TO, YOU DON'T HAVE TO.
I'M TRYING TO BOSS YOU AROUND.
[3. Update on Lower Colorado River and Highland Lakes water supply conditions]
TO THE NEXT.I WAS TRYING TO PUT THE LAKE LEVELS OFF AS FAR AS WE COULD, BUT I THINK WE'VE REACHED THE END OF THE LINE,
SO UPDATE ON THE COLORADO RIVER AND HIGHLAND LAKES WATER SUPPLY CONDITIONS.
SO YOU'VE GOT A FEW SLIDES THAT WE'RE GONNA PULL UP HERE.
AND THIS WILL BE, UH, KIND OF A REPEAT OF OUR STANDARD UPDATE THAT WE HAD BEEN PROVIDING FOR A LONG TIME.
UH, SO WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO JUST FOR REORIENTATION TO THIS CHART, 2024, THIS CHART SHOWS INFLOWS TO THE HIGHLAND LAKES, LAKES, TRAVIS, AND BUCHANAN.
THAT'S, UH, INFLOWS ARE THE WATER COMING IN TO, UM, BOTH OF THOSE LAKES, UM, FROM UPSTREAM, UH, THE BLUE BARS, UH, THE LIGHT BLUE BARS SHOW THE AVERAGE INFLOWS FROM 1942 TO PRESENT OR THE PERIOD OF TIME SINCE THE LAKES WERE FIRST BUILT.
THE DARK BLUE BARS SHOW THE AVERAGE INFLOWS FROM 2008 TO 2015, OR A PERIOD ROUGHLY
[00:25:01]
COINCIDING WITH THE NEW DROUGHT OF RECORD.UM, MOST RECENT WORST DROUGHT THAT WE'VE EXPERIENCED RESET UHHUH.
IT'S ALSO COINCIDING SINCE WE JUST WENT THROUGH ALL WHAT WE DID, IT'S ALL THIS, THIS PERIOD ALSO COINCIDES WITH THE START OF THE WATER FORWARD PLANNING REALLY, UM, THE END OF IT.
AND THAT DROUGHT WAS REALLY THE IMPETUS FOR THIS WHOLE PLAN THAT WE PUT TOGETHER.
IN SUMMER OF 2014 CATALYST, WE HAD OUR FIRST, UM, AUSTIN WATER RESOURCE, UH, PLANNING TASK FORCE THAT MET TO MAKE SHORT, MEDIUM, AND LONG-TERM RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HOW TO WEATHER THE DROUGHT.
AND THEN IN DECEMBER OF 2014, COUNCIL CREATED THIS CURRENT TASK FORCE, THE AUSTIN INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCE PLANNING COMMUNITY TASK FORCE, WHICH BEGAN MEETING IN MAY OF 2015.
UH, THE GREEN BARS SHOW INFLOWS FROM LAST YEAR, 2024.
WE GOT A WELCOME BUMP IN INFLOWS, UM, IN MAY, JUNE, JULY, AND SEPTEMBER.
AND THEN THE PURPLE BARS SHOW INFLOWS FROM THESE LAST FEW MONTHS OF 2025, JANUARY THROUGH MARCH OF 2025.
AND WE ARE BACK DOWN TO A WELL BELOW AVERAGE INFLOWS, UH, INTO THE HIGHLAND LAKES.
DURING THESE PAST FEW MONTHS, WE HAVE HAD A, A LITTLE BIT OF, UM, RAIN, A LITTLE BIT OF COOLER TEMPERATURES, SO THAT THAT'S HELPED A BIT WITH DEMANDS ON THE CITY SIDE.
UM, BUT WE, WE HAVEN'T SEEN A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF INFLOWS YET FROM THOSE RAIN EVENTS.
WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, INCLUDING THE RECENT ONES.
THERE'S LIKE, I WAS JUST LOOKING AT THE DATA, THERE'S NO BUMP FROM RIGHT.
IT DIDN'T RAIN IN THE RIGHT SPOT DIDN'T RAIN ENOUGH OVER AUSTIN.
SO LIKE I SAID, THOSE, THOSE RAIN EVENTS THAT HAPPEN DIRECTLY OVER AUSTIN, THEY CAN HELP TO REDUCE DEMANDS FOR POTABLE WATER SINCE PEOPLE FEEL LIKE THEY HAVE TO WATER THE GRASS, UM, LESS OR DO ANY SORT OF OUTDOOR IRRIGATION.
BUT IT DIDN'T REALLY HELP WITH COMBINED STORAGE, UNFORTUNATELY.
UM, THIS CHART IS SHOWING THE COMBINED STORAGE OF LAKE BUCHANAN AND TRAVIS.
SO WHEN WE LOOK AT HOW MUCH WATER IS, UH, AVAILABLE WITHIN STORAGE, WE TYPICALLY LOOK AT HOW MUCH WATER IS IN BOTH BUCHANAN AND TRAVIS.
THIS DOESN'T SHOW IN EITHER ONE OF THE INDIVIDUAL LAKES.
WE'RE LOOKING AT HOW MUCH WATER IS IN BOTH OF THE LAKES TOGETHER.
UM, THIS CHART GOES BACK TO 2005 AND UM, RUNS THROUGH, UH, AS CLOSE AS WE COULD GET IT THROUGH MARCH 31ST OF, UM, 2025.
UM, YOU CAN SEE THAT AGAIN, THAT BUMP UP THAT WE GOT FROM, UH, SPRING AND SUMMER RAINS FROM 2024.
BUT SINCE THAT TIME, WE HAVE BEEN, UH, STEADILY DECLINING IN COMBINED STORAGE.
UM, I GUESS I'LL GO AHEAD AND GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE 'CAUSE THERE'S ANOTHER PIECE OF THIS STORY THAT GOES OUT TO THE FUTURE, BUT WE'LL WAIT FOR THAT.
UM, THE NEXT SLIDE SHOWS, UM, A MAP RELEASED, UH, FROM THE US DROUGHT MONITOR, UH, SHOWING DATA THROUGH APRIL 1ST, 2025.
UH, THE DARKER RED COLORS SHOW MORE INTENSE, UM, DROUGHT CONDITIONS, AND WE'VE OUTLINED, OR EMILY HAS OUTLINED, UM, TRAVIS COUNTY IN A DARKER BLACK, UH, LINE WEIGHT.
SO, UM, MOST OF TRAVIS COUNTY AT THIS TIME WAS IN EXTREME DROUGHT AND SOME IN EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT CONDITIONS.
AND IF YOU, UH, LOOK FURTHER UPSTREAM IN THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER BASIN, A GOOD PORTION OF, OF THE BASIN WAS ALSO IN EXTREME DROUGHT, UM, OR SEVERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS.
LET'S KEEP MOVING THROUGH TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO KIND OF LOOKING FORWARD, THESE ARE PROJECTIONS THAT WE PULL FROM NOAH SHOWING A THREE MONTH OUTLOOK FROM MAY TO JULY, A SEASONAL TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE SCREEN, UM, SHOWING, UM, UH, ABOVE NORMAL CHANCES, UH, TO HAVE HIGHER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES.
AND THEN ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE, THE SEASONAL PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK KIND, UM, YOU KNOW, ANYWHERE FROM, UH, CLOSER TO LEANING BELOW, UH, A HIGHER CHANCE OF HAVING LOWER THAN NORMAL PRECIPITATION, UM, WITHIN OUR REGION AND WITHIN THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER BASIN.
UM, WE CAN MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
[00:30:01]
ALSO TRACK IS, UM, THE EL NINO PATTERN OR ENZO PROBABILITIES.UM, WE HAVE, UH, WE HAVE ACTUALLY ENTERED INTO NEUTRAL CONDITIONS, UM, IN TERMS OF OUR, UM, IN TERMS OF OUR CURRENT NSO STATE.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, SO THIS SLIDE, I THINK MAY BE OH, I SEE.
SORRY, I READ THIS TOTALLY WRONG.
WE ARE IN NSO NEUTRAL CONDITIONS AND THIS IS SHOWING, ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT? 'CAUSE I JUST, JUST WROTE UP SOMETHING THIS WEEKEND THAT SAID WE'RE STILL IN LA NINA CONDITIONS.
I DON'T KNOW WHY FLIPPING TO THIS SLIDE HAS.
YOU KNOW, AND, AND THIS, UH, THIS GRAPH IS, UM, A LITTLE WEIRD.
WHEN I WAS LOOKING AT THIS THIS WEEKEND, IT DOESN'T KIND OF MATCH WHAT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.
UM, AND IT'S ALSO, IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S KIND OF SAYING THERE'S A CHANCE IN THE FEBRUARY, MARCH, APRIL SEASON, WHICH WE'RE IN MM-HMM
UM, OF MOVING TO NEUTRAL CONDITIONS.
SO THAT'S WHAT THIS IS SHOWING PROBABILITIES.
UM, ALTHOUGH THE ENSO PROJECTION SAYS THAT IT'S A 62% CHANCE WE GO TO NEUTRAL CONDITIONS IN, UH, UM, JUNE, JULY, AUGUST OR BY JUNE, JULY, AUGUST, THANK YOU FOR PRESENTING THIS SLIDE.
I FLIPPED OVER HERE AND LOOKED AT THAT AND JUST THREW ME RIGHT OFF.
IT'S JUST YOUR UNLUCKY DAY THAT I SPENT SOME TIME LOOKING AT THIS ON SUNDAY.
SO STILL IN LA NINA CONDITIONS, POTENTIALLY INTO ENZO NEUTRAL CONDITIONS, UM, IN THE JUNE TO AUGUST TIMEFRAME, I GOTTA LOOK MORE AT THE WORDS AND FOCUS LESS.
I MEAN, AND OUR, OUR WETTEST MONTHS ARE MAY AND JUNE TYPICALLY DURING THIS TIME YEAR IN OCTOBER.
BUT OCTOBER'S A LONG WAYS OFF.
SO, SO WE'LL SEE IF WE GET ANY RAIN IN THE SPRING TIME.
THE STATISTICAL MODELS SUGGESTS WE'LL PROBABLY STAY IN LENDING YOU CONDITIONS THROUGH THIS YEAR.
THE, UM, DYNAMICAL MODELS, WHICH ARE MORE THE COMPUTER BASED MODELS, YOU KNOW, SUGGEST WE MIGHT BE IN NEUTRAL CONDITIONS BY THE END OF THE YEAR.
SO WE'LL JUST, WE'LL HAVE, WE'LL HAVE TO SEE MM-HMM
I GET, LIKE WE TALKED ABOUT BEFORE THE MEETING, LET'S JUST FACE IT.
SO NOW WE'RE SHOWING, UH, COMBINED STORAGE PROJECTIONS THAT ARE PRODUCED BY THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY, UH, THROUGH OCTOBER OF 2025 FOR A RANGE OF CONDITIONS FROM WET TO EXTREME DRY CONDITIONS.
UM, THIS DOES SHOW, YOU KNOW, AS WE WOULD EXPECT THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE IS A RANGE OF POTENTIALLY RECEIVING THAT BUMP UP IN COMBINED STORAGE IF WE ARE TO RECEIVE RAINS WITHIN THE SPRINGTIME.
UM, AND THE BOTTOM OF THE RANGE, IF WE EXPERIENCE, UH, DRIER CONDITIONS, COULD SEE COMBINED STORAGE CONTINUING TO STEADILY DROP THROUGH THE SPRING AND SUMMER.
UM, THESE PROJECTIONS DO SHOW US REMAINING ABOVE 600,000 ACRE FEET IN COMBINED STORAGE THROUGH OCTOBER OF 2025.
AND AS A REMINDER, 600,000 ACRE FEET IS, UH, EMERGENCY STORAGE LEVELS.
UM, THERE IS THE POTENTIAL THAT, UM, WE WILL ENTER INTO, UM, MORE SEVERE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN STAGES, UM, DEPENDING ON WHAT WE SEE HERE IN THE SPRINGTIME.
SO IF WE WERE TO TRACK ALONG, UH, THE DRY CONDITIONS OR ORANGE LINE, UM, THAT WOULD SEE US GETTING CLOSER TO 750,000 ACRE FEET OF COMBINED STORAGE IN MORE POTENTIALLY THE AUGUST TIMEFRAME CLOSER TO THE END OF THE SUMMER.
ANY QUESTIONS FOLKS? YEAH, I JUST HAD A QUESTION ON THAT LAST SLIDE.
SO THE, I GUESS THE INPUTS FOR THIS GRAPH, LIKE, WE HAVE THE PROJECTIONS, AND I ASSUME FOR RAINFALL AND INFLOWS, THAT'S ON THE
[00:35:01]
SUPPLY SIDE HERE, BUT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE COMBINED STORAGE.SO WE'RE ALSO PUTTING INTO THIS GRAPH LIKE DEMANDS ON THE SYSTEM, RIGHT? YES.
I BELIEVE LCRA INCORPORATES DEMANDS INTO THE, THESE PROJECTIONS.
THESE ARE LCRA PRODUCED PROJECTIONS.
WELL, I WONDER, LIKE YOU MAY PROBABLY DON'T KNOW THEN, BUT LIKE, IS THAT, IS DEMAND PROJECTION, I DON'T KNOW, IS IT LIKE CURRENT DEMAND AND THEY'RE JUST LIKE FORECASTING IT FLAT OUT THROUGH THE REST OF THE YEAR? OR IS IT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT NEW DEMAND ON THE SYSTEM COMING ONLINE THROUGHOUT THIS YEAR? UM, DO WE HAVE ANY INSIGHT IN THAT ONTO THAT? I DON'T HAVE, I'M NOT SURE OF WHAT EXACTLY THEY'RE INCORPORATING INTO THESE PROJECTIONS.
THEY MIGHT BE INCORPORATING HISTORICAL DEMAND PATTERNS.
THAT'S WHAT I WOULD, I WOULD WAGER THAT THEY'RE LOOKING AT, UM, HOW SEASONAL DEMANDS OF CHANGE OVER A CERTAIN PERIOD OF TIME.
I'M NOT SURE HOW THEY MAY BE INCORPORATING ANY NEW DEMANDS THAT COME ONLINE WITHIN THE BASIN.
I I WOULD, YEAH, I I WOULD THINK IT WOULD BE HIGHLY UNLIKELY THAT THEY'RE PROJECTING NEW DEMANDS IN THAT.
BUT AGAIN, THAT'S JUST INTUITION ON MY PART.
UM, WE CAN CERTAINLY, WE CAN ASK THEM THAT QUESTION.
I MEAN, I THINK IT'S, IT WOULD BE GOOD TO KNOW AT LEAST.
YOU KNOW, IF THEY'RE, FOR INSTANCE, ARE THEY MODELING DIFFERENT DEMAND CONDITIONS OR ARE THOSE DESCRIPTORS IN THE LEGEND, JUST DESCRIPTORS OF CLIMATOLOGICAL CONDITIONS, SO, RIGHT.
SO YEAH, LET, LET US DO SOME MORE RESEARCH.
YEAH, THAT'S WHAT I WAS GETTING AT.
AND YOU CAN IMAGINE WHERE MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT IS GOING HERE, WHICH IS LIKE, WELL, IF WE'RE NOT EXPECTING THIS SORT OF UNEXPECTED FOR FOR WHATEVER REASON, SPIKE IN DEMAND BECAUSE OF, I DON'T KNOW ALL, WE HAVE A LOT OF NEW GROWTH AND MAYBE THERE'S SOMETHING COMING ONLINE THAT IS ACTUALLY GONNA PUT A LOT OF STRAIN ON THE SYSTEM AND IT'S GONNA BRING US LOWER ON LAKE STORAGE AND WE EVEN PROJECTED.
SO IT'S JUST THINKING OF THAT SCENARIO AND, UM, I'D BE INTERESTED TO KNOW MORE.
I THINK THAT'S AN INTERESTING QUESTION, PAUL, AND WE CAN GET THE ACTUAL ANSWER, BUT UNTIL THEN WE CAN SPECULATE
UM, I MEAN, THE WAY I LOOK AT THIS IS, IS, UM, YOU KNOW, LCRA HAS, AND, AND, AND IT MIGHT JUST BE BECAUSE I'VE JUST GONE TO A WATER MANAGEMENT PLANNING MEETING IN THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS MM-HMM
BUT THEY HAVE A PRETTY GOOD HANDLE ON KIND OF WHAT THE DEMANDS ARE BASED ON, ON CURRENT DEMAND.
LIKE THESE ARE, LIKE, I EXPECT WHAT THEY PUT IN THERE IS ACTUAL, LIKE, REAL TIME DEMANDS.
AND IT'S ONLY LOOKING OUT, IT'S IT'S LOOKING OUT THROUGH OCTOBER.
AND IF THEY HAVE SOME BIGGER DEMANDS COME ONLINE, UM, THEY WOULD, THEY WOULD KNOW.
THERE WOULDN'T BE SOMETHING THAT WOULD SHOW UP BETWEEN NOW AND OCTOBER THAT, UM, UNLESS, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING REALLY WEIRD HAPPENS MM-HMM
UM, IT TAKES A WHILE FOR THINGS TO HAPPEN.
BUT AGAIN, LET'S GET THE REAL ANSWER AND UNTIL THEN WE CAN SPECULATE.
AND MY UNDERSTANDING IS, IS STATISTICAL, SO IT'S LOOKING AT WHAT'S HAPPENED IN THE PAST IN TERMS OF LIKE LEVELS GOING FORWARD.
UM, SO, SO I THINK IT'S AN EXCELLENT POINT.
I THINK IT, BECAUSE IT'S, 'CAUSE I THINK IT'S STATISTICAL AND THAT COMES FROM THE PAST.
THEY'RE NOT ACTUALLY MODELING ANYTHING.
IT'S JUST A STATISTICAL, YOU KNOW, REPRESENTATION OF LIKE WHAT'S HAPPENED IN THE PAST WITH, YOU KNOW, WET MEDIA AND DRY CONDITIONS MM-HMM
UM, THAT IT PROBABLY DOESN'T, PROBABLY DOES UNDERESTIMATE DEMANDS.
UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S LIKE, I WONDER IF WHAT, YOU KNOW, 'CAUSE LCRA HAS IN THE PAST YEAR, I WANNA SAY, UM, PUT IN PLACE NO MORE THAN TWICE PER WEEK WATERING MM-HMM
UM, AND IF THERE'S LIKE ASSUMPTIONS THAT GET EMBEDDED, LIKE, OH WELL WE PRESUME THE DEMAND DURING THESE TIMES MIGHT GO DOWN BECAUSE WE NOW HAVE THIS NEW PROGRAM IN PLACE THAT, UM, ALSO WOULD BE PART OF THAT.
'CAUSE WE HAVE ONCE PER WEEK WATERING.
UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM OTHER FOLKS? OKAY.
[4. Water Forward 2024 Water Supply Project Update]
MOVE ON TO THE NEXT AGENDA ITEM.SO OUR NEXT AGENDA ITEM IS TO PROVIDE A WATER SUPPLY PROJECT UPDATE FOR SEVERAL PROJECTS WITHIN WATER 4 20 24.
AND WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
AND WITHIN THIS PRESENTATION, WE WANTED TO
[00:40:01]
PROVIDE A BRIEF OVERVIEW TO REORIENT FOLKS TO THE INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE STRATEGY AND THE LAKE WALTER ELONG STRATEGY.WE WANTED TO PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW OF CONSULTANT SUPPORT THAT, UM, WE HAVE ACQUIRED TO HELP WITH THIS WORK, TO SHARE THE WORK THAT WE'VE PERFORMED TO DATE ON INDIRECT PORTABLE REUSE PLANNING.
AND THEN TO SHARE OUR NEXT STEPS ON BIG PICTURE WATER SUPPLY STRATEGY EVALUATION AND SOME RELATED WORK.
AND BILL, HOPEFULLY YOUR QUESTIONS ARE ENCOMPASSED UNDER THESE, OR IF NOT, YOU CAN ASK AT THE END.
SO, AS A REMINDER FOR FOLKS, THIS IS, UH, A GRAPHIC SHOWING OUR WATER FORWARD 2080 PORTFOLIO OF STRATEGIES.
WE HAVE CONSERVATION STRATEGIES HIGHLIGHTED IN YELLOW ON THE LEFT NON-POTABLE REUSE STRATEGIES HIGHLIGHTED IN PURPLE.
THEN ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE SCREEN, WE HAVE WATER SUPPLY STRATEGIES ON THE UPPER RIGHT ARE MORE NEAR TERM WATER SUPPLY STORAGE STRATEGIES.
AND WHAT WE WANTED TO FOCUS ON TODAY WAS INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE AND USE OF LAKE WALTER LONG AS A WATER SUPPLY RESERVOIR.
AND JUST AS A REMINDER, BOTH OF THESE STRATEGIES, UH, CONTINUE TO BE RELIANT ON OUR EXISTING COLORADO RIVER AND HIGHLAND LAKE SUPPLIES VIA LCRA.
WE CAN MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO THIS IS JUST A, AGAIN, PROVIDING SOME BACKGROUND ON THESE STRATEGIES.
UM, INDIRECT POAL REUSE WAS CHARACTERIZED AS A DROUGHT EMERGENCY STRATEGY THAT WE WOULD ONLY IMPLEMENT WHEN COMBINED STORAGE OF THE HIGHLAND LAKES REACHED 400,000 ACRE FEET.
UM, THAT IS THE, THE TRIGGER THAT WE USED WITHIN THE MODELING THAT WE PERFORMED, UM, FOR WATER FOR 2024.
UM, WE HAVE SET AN ANNUAL YIELD TARGET THAT YOU SEE IN THE TOP TABLE OF IMPLEMENTING THIS STRATEGY AND BEING ABLE TO DRAW FROM IT 22,400 ACRE FEET PER YEAR BY 2050.
THERE'S SOME LITTLE ASTERISKS IN THE DECADES OF 2030 AND 2040 BECAUSE IF WE WERE TO HIT, UM, UH, 400,000 ACRE FEET PER YEAR, WE WOULD WANNA HAVE THE ABILITY TO USE THIS STRATEGY SOONER, UH, THAN 2050 IF, IF NEEDED.
SO, UM, WE HAVE BEEN DOING SOME PLANNING WORK TO TRY TO SET US UP, UM, PUT US IN A PLACE WHERE WE COULD HAVE MANY OF THE KEY INFRASTRUCTURE COMPONENTS OF THE INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE STRATEGY, UM, ONLINE, UH, TO, UM, POTENTIALLY HAVE AN ACCELERATED EMERGENCY IMPLEMENTATION FOR THE LAST KEY PIECES.
UM, IF WE WERE TO GET INTO THAT SITUATION, THERE'S SOME COST INFORMATION HERE JUST FOR REFERENCE, UM, THAT THIS IS INCLU WHAT'S BEEN INCLUDED, UM, IN THE WATER 4 20 24 PLAN.
BUT AS WE HAVE OUR CONSULTANTS WORKING THROUGH FURTHER EVALUATION OF THIS STRATEGY, THESE COSTS WILL BE UPDATED.
THESE ARE PLANNING LEVEL COSTS AND ONCE YOU GET INTO THE DETAILS, OF COURSE, COST CHANGE, AND THEN WE'VE LISTED OUT WHAT THE FIVE YEAR IMPLEMENTATION ACTIONS THAT WERE INCLUDED WITHIN THE WATER FORWARD PLAN.
UH, SO WE HAD BEEN, UH, WORKING THROUGH, UH, A PROCESS TO, UH, DEVELOP IPR SCHEMATIC DESIGN, DESIGN CRITERIA AND TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS.
UM, WE ARE ACTUALLY STILL WORKING THROUGH THAT.
UM, AND WE NEED THAT INFORMATION TO BE ABLE TO DEVELOP A DESIGN BUILD OR PROGRESSIVE DESIGN BUILD, UM, PACKAGE THAT WE WOULD PUT OUT ONTO THE STREET TO GET CONSULTANT PROPOSALS FOR.
UM, AND THEN PENDING COUNSEL APPROVAL, WE WOULD ISSUE, UH, A CONTRACT FOR AN ALTERNATE, UM, DELIVERY METHOD TO, TO, UM, DELIVER SOME OF THE KEY PIECES OF THIS PROJECT.
WE'D BEEN HOPING TO DO THAT, UM, HERE IN 2025.
UM, BUT LIKE I SAID, WE'RE STILL DEVELOPING INFORMATION THAT WOULD BE REQUIRED FOR THAT.
UM, BID PACKAGE WE HAD SET A PRELIMINARY TARGET FOR SUBSTANTIAL COMPLETION OF IPR PROJECT CONSTRUCTION IN 2028.
UM, I GUESS, ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS ON KIND OF THE BACKGROUND? YES, PLEASE GO AHEAD.
UM, LEMME MAKE SURE NOBODY HAS THEIR HAND RAISED.
SO YOU DESCRIBED THIS AS CHILD EMERGENCY STRATEGY? YES.
AND IT ALSO SAYS IT ON THE SLIDE, UM, I'M JUST LOOKING, STOP ME.
I WAS LIKE, I WAS LIKE, YOU SAID THIS, BUT I WAS LIKE, OH, IT'S LITERALLY WRITTEN RIGHT HERE.
UM, THE ASTERISK FOR 2030 AND 2040 IS,
[00:45:01]
IS THAT, WELL, LET ME ASK IT A DIFFERENT WAY.2050 THROUGH 2080, IT SAYS 22,400 ACRE FEET PER YEAR.
IS THAT JUST 'CAUSE WE'RE EXPECTING TO BE, UM, IN CRITICAL DROUGHT YEAH.
A LOT DURING THAT TIME, OR IS IT GONNA BECOME A MORE OF A LESS EMERGENCY AND MORE OF A, YOU KNOW, WATER ANOTHER ONE OF OUR DIVERSIFIED WATER SUPPLIES? THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
IT'S BECAUSE THIS, UH, YIELD WOULD POTENTIALLY BE AVAILABLE.
SO WE WOULD WANNA HAVE THIS STRATEGY ONLINE FOR SURE BY 2050.
NOT THAT WE WOULD BE USING GI ALL THE TIME, YOU KNOW, DURING THOSE DECADES, BUT THAT WE WOULD HAVE THE INFRASTRUCTURE ONLINE AND AVAILABLE TO USE.
WE WOULD STILL ONLY BE USING GI AS AN EMERGENCY DROUGHT SUPPLY STRATEGY.
THAT'S THE PLAN FOR NOW IN FUTURE WATER FOUR PLAN UPDATES, YOU KNOW, THAT COULD CHANGE MM-HMM
AND THEN, SO WHY DO WE HAVE THE ASTERISK LIKE IN 2040? IS IT JUST BECAUSE 'CAUSE THE, THE DATES DON'T LINE UP.
IS IT JUST 'CAUSE WE ARE ACCELERATING THIS BECAUSE WE ARE, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT A, AT LOWER COMBINED STORAGE LEVELS? YES.
WE MIGHT BE
THE FUTURE IS NOW, NOW THE FUTURE IS NOW.
SO WE, IT'S A REALLY GOOD SHORT VERSION WE ARE LOOKING AT, AT ACCELERATING IMPLEMENTATION OF IT.
I SEE THAT BILL HAS HIS HAND UP MM-HMM
UM, WHEN WE SPOKE ABOUT THIS PROJECT A FEW WEEKS AGO MM-HMM
THERE WAS SOMETHING YOU WERE CONCERNED ABOUT THAT MAY HAVE CAUSED AN ABANDONMENT OF THE PROJECT.
AND IF I RECALL CORRECTLY, THAT WAS THE SIDESTREAM TREATMENT AT THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT.
HAVE YOU NOW RESOLVED THAT TO THE POINT THIS IS? OKAY.
SO WHAT I MENTIONED IN, IN THE, WHAT BILL'S REFERRING TO IS THAT WE HAD A, A SMALLER GROUP IMPLEMENTATION MEETING, UH, IMPLEMENTATION WORKING GROUP MEETING WITH SOME TASK FORCE MEMBERS.
AND, UM, I MENTIONED THAT WE HAVE, UH, LEARNED SOME NEW INFORMATION ABOUT, UM, UH, PLANS TO EXPAND SAR, UH, SA, SOUTH AUSTIN REGIONAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT THAT COULD HAVE IMPACTS ON OUR DECISION MAKING.
UM, RELATED TO IPR, UM, IT MIGHT BE, IT MIGHT BE HELPFUL IF WE WALK THROUGH SOME OF THE SLIDES TO TALK ABOUT HOW, ABOUT HOW WE GOT THERE AND WHERE WE'RE AT NOW, BILL.
BUT I WOULD JUST SAY LIKE THE INITIAL RESPONSE IS WE HAVE NOT ABANDONED IPR, BUT WE ARE WANTING TO REEVALUATE WHETHER IPR SHOULD BE OUR HIGHEST PRIORITY STRATEGY FOR NEAR TERM IMPLEMENTATION OR WHETHER WE SHOULD PRIORITIZE, UM, ANOTHER STRATEGY LIKE USE OF LAKE WALTER E. LONG AS, UH, A WATER SUPPLY RESERVOIR AS YOU KNOW, THE FIRST STRATEGY THAT WE IMPLEMENT, UH, TO MEET NEAR TERM WATER SUPPLY NEEDS.
AND IF I MAY OFFER, UM, SO THE, THE CONCERN IS STILL THERE THAT HASN'T BEEN RESOLVED, BUT ONE OF THE THINGS WHEN YOU SAID THAT TO ME SEVERAL WEEKS AGO AND BASICALLY SAYING WE CAN EXCHANGE THIS STRATEGY FOR THE WALTER LONG IS THE SAME AS DECKER LAKE, RIGHT? YES.
WHEN YOU SAID THAT, AND EVEN THOUGH MY MIND DOESN'T WORK VERY QUICKLY, IT, A COUPLE OF THE NEURONS STARTED BANGING TOGETHER AND OVER THE SUBSEQUENT WEEKS, I'M NOT SURE THAT'S A, AN A FAIR EXCHANGE.
AND, UM, BECAUSE IT SEEMS TO ME THAT IF YOU GO INTO DECKER LAKE, AREN'T YOU JUST BUYING INTO THE SAME HYDROLOGY THAT CONTROLS THE HIGHLAND LAKES? I MEAN, SO WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE TRYING TO BACK UP THE HIGHLAND LAKES WITH SOMETHING THAT MAYBE IS AS, AS IN, AS IN A PRECARIOUS STATE AS WELL.
SO MY, MY MESSAGE, AND AGAIN, YOU'RE DOING ALL THE WORK AND YOU'VE GOT WAY A LONG WAY TO GO, BUT I DID WANNA SAY THIS, I WOULDN'T GIVE UP ON THIS TOO QUICKLY MM-HMM
BECAUSE I THINK IT'S THE RESILIENCE FACTOR FOR THIS.
E-P-I-I-P-R IS WAY BETTER THAN, YOU KNOW, DIPPING INTO ANOTHER LAKE.
AND, AND I GUESS, UH, SO THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT I WANTED TO SAY TODAY WAS LET'S NOT GIVE UP SO QUICK MM-HMM
OVER WHAT SEEMED TO ME A VERY SOLVABLE ISSUE.
BUT I'LL, I'LL GO BACK TO MUTE AND LET YOU GUYS WORK ON TALK, GO THROUGH THE PRESENTATION.
I, UM, THAT'S HELPFUL FEEDBACK.
I, I THINK IT MIGHT BE HELPFUL TOO.
I, I WENT AHEAD AND WENT INTO THIS SLIDE, KIND OF ASSUMING THAT Y'ALL HAD A REALLY GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF THIS
[00:50:01]
STRATEGY BECAUSE WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS.UM, BUT I THINK IT MIGHT BE HELPFUL IF I DESCRIBE THIS, WHAT THE STRATEGY IS ONE MORE TIME.
UH, SO INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE IS A STRATEGY WHERE WE WOULD, UM, TAKE WATER, UH, WASTEWATER EFFLUENT FROM ONE OF OUR WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS.
AND RIGHT NOW WE'RE PLANNING TO SOURCE THAT WATER FROM SOUTH AUSTIN REGIONAL, OR WE REFER TO IT AS SAR WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT.
UH, THAT WASTEWATER WOULD BE TREATED TO THE SAME WATER QUALITY AS RECLAIMED WATER, OR THE WATER THAT YOU SEE RUNNING THROUGH PURPLE PIPES THROUGHOUT THE CITY, UM, THAT, YOU KNOW, MAY BE PROVIDING WATER FOR IRRIGATION OR TOILET FLUSHING.
THAT WATER WOULD THEN UNDERGO SOME LEVEL OF FURTHER TREATMENT TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF A-T-C-E-Q PERMIT THAT WE WOULD GET TO BE ABLE TO THEN DISCHARGE THAT WATER INTO LADYBIRD LAKE JUST UPSTREAM OF LONGHORN DAM.
SO AT KIND OF THE FURTHER MO FURTHER MOST SOUTH POINT OF THE LAKE, UM, THEN, UH, WE WOULD HAVE A NEW INTAKE AND PUMP STATION JUST DOWNSTREAM OF TOM MILLER DAM.
SO AT THE, UM, FURTHEST MOST NORTHERN PORTION OF THE LAKE.
AND THAT, UH, FROM NET INTAKE, WE WOULD WITHDRAW WATER, UM, UP TO, YOU KNOW, AN AMOUNT OF 22,000, UH, 400 ACRE FEET PER YEAR AND CONVEY THAT TO OUR ULRICH WATER TREATMENT PLANT WHERE IT WOULD UNDERGO TREATMENT TO POTABLE WATER QUALITY.
AND THEN THAT WATER WOULD GO OUT AND, AND BE DISTRIBUTED THROUGH OUR POTABLE WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM AND WOULD HELP TO SUPPLEMENT, UM, POTABLE WATER DEMANDS.
SO THIS IS A, A REUSE STRATEGY.
UM, THERE, YOU KNOW, THROUGH INITIAL MODELING, I'LL JUST MENTION WE HAVE SEEN, UH, THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT PLUME OF WATER THAT COMES UP FROM THE DISCHARGE POINT, UM, JUST UPSTREAM OF LONGHORN DAM DOESN'T NECESSARILY MAKE IT ALL THE WAY UP TO THE INTAKE, UH, AT TOM MILLER DAM, BUT IT'S STILL, YOU KNOW, THAT WATER IS STILL LOCATED WITHIN THE SAME LAKE.
BUT THAT'S JUST A LITTLE BIT OF CONTEXT.
AND THEN, UM, I'LL GO ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE AND THEN DESCRIBE A QUESTION.
SO LIKE, OPERATIONALLY, WOULD YOU LIKE CONVEY TO ALL CRA, LIKE WE'RE PUTTING THIS MANY GALLONS INTO WALT TREE LONG, YOU KNOW, SEND LESS, SEND LESS FROM LIKE TRAVIS DOWNSTREAM, LIKE OPERATIONALLY HOW THAT WORKS? SO THIS WATER WOULD GO INTO LADY BIRD LAKE.
AND, UM, WE WOULD BE USING THE, THIS WATER TO SUPPLEMENT OUR DEMANDS, BUT WE MAY STILL NEED WATER FROM THE HIGHLAND LAKES.
I'M JUST SAYING, BECAUSE I'M JUST THINKING MM-HMM
AND MAYBE THIS IS WAY TOO IN THE WEEDS THAT MECHANICALLY THAT THAT, THAT THAT LADY BIRD LAKE IS, IS THAT WHAT WAS LADY BIRD LAKE TOWN LAKE LAKE LAKE TOWN LAKE, YEAH.
I'M JUST THINKING LIKE WE INPUT HERE, UHHUH, AND THEN THE WAY THAT IT GETS REFILLED, I MEAN, WE DON'T TAKE WATER OUT OF TOWN LAKE TO, FOR OUR TREATMENT PLANTS, IT GOES INTO LAKE AUSTIN.
I JUST LIKE THAT THE BALANCE OF IT.
THERE WOULD HAVE TO BE COORDINATION BETWEEN CITY OF AUSTIN, HOW, YOU KNOW, HOW MUCH WE WOULD BE WITHDRAWING AT WHAT RATE AND, UM, CRA'S RIVER OPERATION CENTER OR ROCK TO MAKE SURE THAT THE AMOUNT OF WATER THAT NEEDS TO PASS THROUGH, UM, IS BEING PASSED THROUGH PRIMARILY, UH, TO MEET ENVIRONMENTAL FLOW REQUIREMENTS AND YEAH.
THAT'S THAT'S FOR ANOTHER DAY.
UM, SO THEN IF WE GO INTO THE NEXT SLIDE, WE CAN TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT USE OF LAKE WALTER E. LONG AS A SUPPLY RESERVOIR.
I'LL START OFF BY DESCRIBING THIS STRATEGY SAME WAY AS WE DID FOR IPR.
SO IN THIS STRATEGY, UH, WE WOULD TAKE WATER, UM, UNDERNEATH OUR EXISTING COLORADO RIVER AND HIGHLAND LAKES, UM, RIGHTS AND CONTRACTS.
WE WOULD, UH, DIVERT WATER FROM THE COLORADO RIVER, UM, POTENTIALLY AT THE EXISTING DIVERSION POINT, UH, DIVERSION LOCATION THAT IF YOU, IF YOU'VE SEEN A MAP OF, UM, UH, AUSTIN AND THE COLORADO RIVER, IT'S RIGHT ON THE DOG'S NOSE.
UM, AND, UH, WE WOULD CONVEY THAT WATER TO, UM, UH, LIKE WALTER E. LONG, THERE WOULD BE A WATER TREATMENT PLANT, UH, THAT WE WOULD NEED TO CONSTRUCT, UM, POTENTIALLY A, A 20 MILLION GALLON PER DAY WATER TREATMENT PLAN, OR IT WOULD BE, IT WOULD BE SIZED TO MATCH, UM, THE ANTICIPATED YIELD FROM THE STRATEGY POTENTIALLY.
UM, AND WE, THAT TREATMENT PLANT WOULD LIKELY HAVE SOME ADVANCED TREATMENT TECHNOLOGIES.
UM, SO, UM, BEYOND JUST HAVING, YOU KNOW, CLARIFIERS, UH, WE WOULD HAVE POTENTIAL, WE WOULD POTENTIALLY BE USING MEMBRANES OR OTHER MORE
[00:55:01]
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES TO, TO CLEAN THAT WATER.AND THEN THAT WATER WOULD BE CONVEYED, UM, TO OUR POTABLE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM TO SUPPLEMENT POTABLE WATER SUPPLIES.
UM, ONE OF THE BENEFITS OF THIS STRATEGY IS THAT THE CURRENT DIVERSION LOCATION IS ALREADY DOWNSTREAM OF THE, OUT ONE OF THE OUTFALLS OF OUR, UM, WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS DOWNSTREAM OF THE WALNUT WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT OUTFALL.
UM, SO IN DIVERTING THIS WATER TO, UH, LIKE WALTER ELONG U ARE, UH, ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF, OF THAT EFFLUENT THAT'S RETURNED, UM, TO THE COLORADO RIVER.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, IN LOOKING AT THIS, WE DO WANT TO WORK WITH OUR CONSULTANTS TO UNDERSTAND IF, IF, YOU KNOW, THERE COULD BE ADVANTAGES TO HAVING OTHER DIVERSION LOCATIONS AS WELL POTENTIALLY UPSTREAM OF THAT, UM, DISCHARGE LOCATION OR POTENTIALLY EVEN, UH, DOWNSTREAM OF THE, THE SAR OUTFALL.
SO YOU'RE ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF, UM, ADDITIONAL, UM, EFFLUENT THAT'S RETURNED TO, TO THE COLORADO RIVER.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, RIGHT NOW EASIEST AND SIMPLEST CONFIGURATION THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT WOULD BE USING THE EXISTING INTAKE LOCATION AND BEING ABLE TO WITHDRAW WATER FROM THE COLORADO RIVER DOWNSTREAM OF THE WALNUT CREEK, UM, WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT OUTFALL, UM, JUST AS IT DOES NOW CONVEY THAT TO LAKE WALTER LONG AND, UM, USE THAT FOR POTABLE DRINKING WATER PURPOSES.
SO WE ALREADY DO THIS, THE INTAKE'S ALREADY LOCATED DOWNSTREAM OF THE OUTFALL YES.
AND WE ALREADY PUT WATER FROM, OKAY, OKAY.
WE DON'T WELL, WELL IN THE CURRENT HYDROLOGY WORKS THAT ALL THOSE THINGS ARE TRUE, THAT WATER'S LIFTED INTO WALL THREE LONG WHERE IT'S HISTORICALLY BEEN USED FOR POWER PRODUCTION.
BUT, BUT THE LAST LOOP INTO THE WATER SPLASH SYSTEM JUST DOES NOT HAPPEN.
SO WE HAVE HISTORICALLY TAKEN WATER OUT OF THE COLORADO RIVER DOWNSTREAM OF THE OUTFALL OF WALNUT, WALNUT WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT MM-HMM
AND CONVEYED IT OVER TO WALTER ELONG, AKA DECKER LAKE, CORRECT? YES.
UM, FOR RECREATIONAL OR FOR STEAM ELECTRIC PURPOSES.
BUT WE HAVE NOT USED THAT FOR MUNICIPAL SUPPLY TO THAT.
AND THEN, AND THEN, UM, AND THEN THEY'LL, THERE WOULD BE A WATER TREATMENT PLANT BUILT IN ORDER.
SO IT'S NOT REALLY CONSIDERED IPR HERE BECAUSE WE'RE TAKING OUTTA THE COLORADO RIVER AND NOT DIRECTLY FROM THE PLANT.
I MEAN, SO MUCH IS YES, THERE'S A REUSE ELEMENT TO THIS STRATEGY AS WELL.
IT WILL BE IPRI MEAN, ONCE YOU, I MEAN ONCE THAT'S, YOU'RE SAYING YOU'RE COLLECTING THAT WATER BECAUSE IT'S TREATED WASTE WATER MEAN YES.
OTHERWISE IT'S DEF FACTO IT WAS JUST HAPPY.
I'M INTERESTED IN HOW THE, IF ANY OF THESE COUNT AGAINST OUR TRIGGER WITH LCRA TOO, WOULD, IT WOULD COUNT AGAINST OUR TRIGGER.
BUT I, I WANTED TO DESCRIBE BOTH OF THESE SO THAT WE COULD SEE THAT THERE IS, UH, A REUSE ELEMENT TO BOTH OF THESE SUPPLY STRATEGIES.
AND THEN THERE, WE, WE HAVE HAD A STRATEGY IN OUR PLAN WITH DECKER LAKE, WALTER LONG MM-HMM
WHERE WE, AND I SEE YOUR HAND, PAUL, I'LL GET YOU ONE SECOND.
UM, WHERE THERE WAS A DRAW DOWN OR WE WOULD ALLOW THE LAKE TO LOWER MM-HMM
SO THAT WE COULD CATCH LOCAL INFLOWS.
AND IS THAT, I THINK THAT WAS WITH LADY BIRD LAKE, UH, CAPTURE LOCAL INFLOWS TO LADY LAKE AUSTIN YOU MEAN LAKE AUSTIN? LAKE AUSTIN.
OH, I THINK WE HAD TALKED ABOUT IT WITH WALTER LONG TOO, BUT THAT MAY HAVE GONE OFF THE TABLE.
I MEAN, I THINK, I THINK SOME OF THIS IS JUST TERMINOLOGY, RIGHT? I MEAN, I THINK SPECIFICALLY THE CAPTURE LOCALIZED INFLOWS I THINK HAD HAD HISTORICALLY, CERTAINLY WATER 4 20 18 BEEN IN REFERENCE TO BARTON SPRINGS INFLOW.
BUT I MEAN, I THINK IN PRACTICE, UM, THE DECKER WATERSHED IS FAIRLY SMALL AND NOT VERY PRODUCTIVE FROM A YES.
SO I MEAN, I I THINK ON ONE HAND, YES, WE WOULD WANT TO LOOK AT STRATEGIES THAT OPTIMIZE WHATEVER WE CAN CAPTURE.
UM, BUT THE LION SHARE OF THAT VOLUME WOULD ULTIMATELY COME FROM THE COLORADO RIVER.
UM, THERE WOULD BE TIMES IN WHICH IT WOULD BE HIGHLY EFFLUENT DOMINATED.
AND SO, UM, CERTAINLY TCQ WILL LOOK AT THAT WATER SUPPLY AS A SOURCE WATER SUPPLY AND, AND BASICALLY PUT US TO THE SAME PACES AS IF WE WOULD BE DOING A, AN IPR UM, UM, PROJECT.
I MEAN THAT'S, YOU DON'T THINK SO? I THINK THERE ARE DIFFERENT CONSIDERATIONS WITH THIS PROJECT.
[01:00:01]
UM, I DON'T THINK IT WOULD HAVE TO, BECAUSE WE WOULDN'T HAVE FOR THE, UM, INDIRECT PORTABLE REUSE TO THE LADY BIRD LAKE PROJECT, WE NEED A, A DISCHARGE PERMIT, UM, TO BE PUTTING THAT WATER INTO LADY BIRD LAKE.AND, AND WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO HAVE A SIMILAR DISCHARGE PERMIT, DON'T ALREADY HAVE A HISTORY OF OPERATING IT IN THAT WAY FOR YES.
WE WOULDN'T NEED THAT PERMIT FOR LIKE WALT TREE LONG.
THERE'S SEPARATE ACTIVITIES TO CREATE AND AUTHORIZE A NEW WATER TREATMENT PLANT, HOWEVER.
UM, LEMME JUST ASK THE OBVIOUS QUESTION.
SO A NON HYDROLOGIST MIGHT LOOK AT THIS AND SAY, WE, WE'VE ALREADY GOT THE WATER IN THE, IN LADYBIRD LAKE, AND WE JUST TALKED ON THE PREVIOUS OPTION ABOUT WE ALREADY HAVE A TREATMENT FACILITY AND AN INTAKE FACILITY FOR WATER FROM LADYBIRD LAKE TO GO INTO OUR POTABLE WATER SUPPLY.
SO WHY WOULD WE NEED TO SEND THIS WATER TO A DIFFERENT RESERVOIR AND BUILD A NEW TREATMENT PLANT TO GET IT INTO OUR WATER SUPPLY? WE HAVE A, WE DON'T YET HAVE AN INTAKE AND PUMP STATION TO PULL WATER FROM LADY BIRD LAKE UP TO ULRICH WATER TREATMENT PLANT.
CURRENTLY, THAT INTAKE IS ON, UM, UH, THE LAKE JUST UPSTREAM OF, UH, LADY BIRD LAKE, SO ABOVE THE DAM.
UM, BUT SO WE WOULD NEED A NEW INTAKE AND PUMP STATION AND, AND, UM, FOR THIS STRATEGY LIKE WALTER E. LONG, I THINK WE WOULD BE THINKING ABOUT THAT SEPARATELY.
WE WOULD NEED TO, UM, TREAT A DIFFERENT QUALITY OF WATER FROM LIKE WALTER E. LONG AND WE WOULD WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THE APPROPRIATE TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY TO BE ABLE TO ADDRESS ANY POTENTIAL CON CONSTITUENTS OF CONCERN WITHIN THE WATER THAT WE WOULD BE PULLING FROM LAKE WALTER LONG.
SO THAT, THAT'S, THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT.
UM, ANOTHER, UH, CONSIDERATION IS, UM, THAT, YOU KNOW, WE COULD THINK ABOUT, UM, DELIVERING WATER FROM LAKE WALTER LONG TO ANOTHER TREATMENT FACILITY.
UM, BUT THE, THE CITY ALREADY HAS PLANS, UM, TO DEVELOP A, A SMALLER WATER TREATMENT FACILITY SOMEWHERE ON THE EAST SIDE OF AUSTIN.
AND, UM, SO, YOU KNOW, WE'RE TRYING TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE CAN INTEGRATE THIS STRATEGY WITH THOSE PLANS FOR A WATER TREATMENT FACILITY THAT WOULD, UM, BE CLOSER AND, AND WHERE IT WOULD BE FEASIBLE TO CONVEY RAW WATER FOR TREATMENT AND WOULD HAVE THE APPROPRIATE TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY TO MAKE THIS WATER SAFE, UM, FOR DRINKING PURPOSES.
AND THERESA, DO YOU WANNA SPEAK TO ANY OF THAT? YEAH, ONE THING TOO, JUST TO ADD TO, YOU KNOW, AS YOU'RE THINKING OF THE, THE HYDROLOGY OF IT AND THE, UM, THE WATER SUPPLY ASPECT OF IT IS ACCESSING THAT, UM, TREATED EFFLUENT FROM OUR WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS.
SO WALL TREE LONG STRATEGY ACCESSES IT BY HAVING AN INTAKE DOWNSTREAM OF THE, THAT WATER COMING IN FROM WALNUT, THE OTHER ONE IN LADY BIRD LAKE, A ACCESSES IT FROM, IT BEING PUMPED FROM SOUTH AUSTIN REGIONAL UP TO, UH, THE, UM, LADY BIRD LAKE AND THEN BEING BROUGHT INTO ULRICH THROUGH A NEW INTAKE.
SO IT'S, IT'S, UM, YOU KNOW, FROM A WATER SUPPLY PERSPECTIVE AND A REUSE PERSPECTIVE, WE'RE LOOKING TO ACCESS THOSE, UM, YOU KNOW, THOSE TREATED EFFLUENT STREAMS, THE, TO REUSE IT.
I JUST STILL DON'T UNDERST WHY, WHY DIVERT IT AT ALL? WHY, WHY NOT LEAVE IT IN LAKE BRI LAKE AND NOT, AND THEN LIKE, I GUESS, LIKE YOU SAID, YOU HAVE TO BUILD AN INTAKE ON LAKE BRI LAKE AND THEN TREAT IT, BUT WHY NOT LEAVE IT THERE AND THEN DO THAT RATHER THAN DIVERT IT TO WALTER LONG? WHAT IS THE POINT OF DIVERTING IT? SO THIS WATER WOULD NOT BE DIVERTED FROM LADY BIRD LAKE.
THIS WATER WOULD BE DIVERTED FROM FURTHER DOWNSTREAM.
UM, SO IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, LIKE, I WISH WE HAD A, A MAP, BUT, UH, I NEED TO FIX THE GRAPHIC THEN.
'CAUSE IT DOES, IT DOES LOOK LIKE THERE, THAT THIS IS A LAKE.
SO WE CAN, WE'LL WORK WITH OUR GRAPHIC DESIGNERS TO FIX THAT BECAUSE THIS WATER IS BEING, UH, DIVERTED, UM, DOWNSTREAM OF LONGHORN DAM.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, EVEN FURTHER DOWNSTREAM FROM THAT, THERE'S THE OUTFALL FROM WALNUT WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT, AND THEN DOWNSTREAM OF THAT IS WHERE THE INTAKE, UH, AND PUMP PUMPS ARE TO DIVERT WATER, UM, TO, UH, UH, WALTER E. LONG FROM THE COLORADO RIVER.
[01:05:03]
OKAY.THAT IS HELPFUL CLARIFICATION.
AND THEN LAST THING IS JUST, UM, YOU MENTIONED ANOTHER WATER TREATMENT PLANT THAT YOU GUYS ARE GONNA CONSTRUCT ON THE EAST SIDE.
IS THAT IN ADDITION TO THE ONE THAT IF WE DID THIS STRATEGY, WE WOULD BE DOING TWO? OR IS THAT THE SAME? WE'RE HOPE, I, I THINK OUR HOPE WOULD BE TO MAKE IT ONE.
BECAUSE WE HAD, IN OUR PLAN, I THINK WE TALKED ABOUT THIS A LITTLE BIT, WE HAD A PLAN STRATEGY IN THE WATER FORWARD PLAN THAT INVOLVED USING WALTER ELONG MM-HMM
BUT NOT AS AN EMERGENCY SUPPLY.
IT WAS LIKE 2080 I THINK, OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
BUT IT WAS LIKE, YEAH, MAYBE WE'LL USE DECKER LAKE.
WE, I THINK THAT WOULD BE THERE.
I THINK WE'VE INCLUDED IT IN THE WATER FORWARD PLAN AS A STRATEGY TO BE IMPLEMENTED BY 2040.
UM, BUT, UH, PART OF THIS BIGGER PICTURE EVALUATION WE WANNA DO IS TO SEE, SHOULD, SHOULD WE BE THINKING ABOUT PRIORITIZING THIS STRATEGY AND USE OF LIKE WALTER E. LONG AS A SUPPLY RESERVOIR AND, UH, OVER IMPLEMENTATION OF INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE THROUGH LADYBIRD.
LIKE, AND, UM, ROBERT'S QUITE CORRECT IN THAT THERE ARE STRONG REEF ELEMENTS TO BOTH OF THESE STRATEGIES, AND BOTH OF THEM ARE SEEKING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF, OF EFFLUENT STREAMS COMING FROM OUR WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS.
SO PROVIDING ADDITIONAL RESILIENCY DURING DROUGHT CONDITIONS.
I'M GONNA HAVE, I HAVE A QUESTION.
UM, SO ONE OF THE THINGS IS, I GUESS THE INFRASTRUCTURE ALREADY EXISTS IN THE COLORADO RIVER DOWNSTREAM OF LONGHORN DAM DOWNSTREAM OF WALNUT TO PULL THAT WATER AND TO PUT IT INTO DECKER LAKE.
SO THAT INFRASTRUCTURE IS ALREADY THERE, AND THE AMOUNT OF WATER THAT YOU PULL WOULD, WOULD BE UP TO OR EQUAL TO THE AMOUNT OF, OF OUTFALL FROM WALNUT.
YOU WOULDN'T PULL MORE THAN THAT.
IS IT JUST EFFLUENT BASED, OR IS IT, YOU KNOW, JUST THE MATH, NOT THE PARTICLES OF WATER, BUT WE HAVEN'T SIZED IT SPECIFICALLY BASED ON THE AMOUNT OF EFFLUENT THAT'S AVAILABLE.
WE'VE SIZED IT MORE BASED ON WHAT WE THINK THE NEED MIGHT BE.
AND ALSO THERE AT AT LEAST INITIALLY OUR, UM, OUR, UH, CAPACITY OR OUR YIELD WOULD PROBABLY BE DRIVEN BY WATER.
UM, SO I THINK OUR, THE WATER RIGHT, THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT AMENDING IS, THAT WOULD BE SIMPLEST TO AMEND, WOULD GIVE US AROUND 16,000.
BECAUSE THAT WAS MY FOLLOW UP QUESTION IS, IS, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S KIND OF BEEN AN ISSUE MM-HMM
I MEAN, AUSTIN DOES HAVE, YOU KNOW, AND THERE'S A WHOLE COMPLICATED DEAL WITH LCRA WITH AUSTIN'S SENIOR WATER RIGHTS.
WE HAVE RIGHT OVER THE RIVER WATER RIGHTS MM-HMM
BUT THERE ISN'T LIKE STORAGE AS, YOU KNOW, THE STORAGE PIECE.
LIKE, LIKE COULD AUSTIN, ARE YOU JUST, ARE WE JUST LIMITED TO I GUESS THE, THERE'S ALREADY AGREEMENTS AND PERMITS AND PAPERWORK IN PLACE FOR DECKER LAKE AND HOW MUCH YOU'RE ABLE TO PULL AND FOR WHAT PURPOSE MM-HMM
UM, AND, BUT COULD IT BE LIKE MORE IN THE END AT SOME POINT, UM, IN OPERATIONALIZING SOME OF THOSE WATER RIGHTS? I MEAN, THE CONTRACT WITH LCRA THAT WE HAVE IS, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE OUR WATER RIGHTS AND THIS IS THE, AND THEN IT'S, IT'S BACKUP FOR THOSE WATER RIGHTS AND THEN WATER ON TOP OF THAT.
YOU KNOW, UM, SET OF ASSUMPTIONS BEHIND THAT.
SO WHAT, WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW IS, AND WE'VE HAD CONVERSATIONS WITH TCEQ IS JUST ADDING THE MUNICIPAL USE TO AN EXISTING WATER.
WHICH IS A, A PRETTY SIMPLE CHANGE AND A PRETTY, YOU KNOW, STRAIGHTFORWARD PROCESS.
AND IF WE ADD THAT MUNICIPAL, UM, USE AND MAKE SOME ADDITIONAL KIND OF ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES THAT ARE NECESSARY, WE COULD HAVE AVAILABLE TO US ABOUT 16,000 ACRE FEET.
AND THEN IN THE LONGER TERM, WE WOULD LOOK AT POTENTIAL ADDITIONAL CHANGES THAT ARE NECESSARY TO OUR WATER RIGHTS TO MAKE FOR MORE WATER AVAILABLE TO US.
AND THAT GIVES US THIS STORAGE BENEFIT AND HELPS US TO, LIKE IF WE SAID, STRETCH OUR EXISTING COLORADO RIVER AND HIGHLAND LAKES SUPPLIES, AS WELL AS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE REUSE ELEMENT DURING DROUGHT CONDITIONS.
I MEAN, I THINK ONE OF THE BENEFITS TO THIS, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, THIS IS NOT EMPIRICAL DATA OR ANYTHING, OR IS JUST, YOU KNOW, LIFE EXPERIENCE, BUT IT'S LIKE A GOOD, A GOOD AMOUNT OF RAINFALL SEEMS TO BE FALLING MM-HMM
HIGHLAND LAKES WATERSHED OVER AUSTIN, OVER THIS WATERSHED.
[01:10:02]
UH, TO, UM, TO A HAPPY DESTINATION AT MATAGORDA BAYUM, BUT, UH, BUT, UM, DURING TIMES WHERE, I MEAN, IT JUST, THE SYSTEM IS CHANGING A LITTLE BIT MM-HMM
SO, UM, IT GIVES DIFFERENT OPPORTUNITIES.
PAUL, PAUL HAS ANOTHER QUESTION, UNLESS YOU HAVE ONE.
YEAH, NO, YOU'RE JUST MAKING, YOU'RE JUST MAKING ME THINK NOW, JENNIFER.
THE MORE YOU TALK, I, THIS IS, IT'S DANGEROUS TO JUST DO THIS, BUT I'M JUST LOOKING UP WALTER E. LONG, LIKE, I HONESTLY DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THAT LAKE.
I'VE BEEN THERE LIKE ONE TIME AND IT WAS JUST LIKE TOTALLY EMPTY EXPANSE OF WATER.
AND SO I WAS JUST LOOKING AT UP LIKE, WHAT IS THIS LAKE FOR? AND I GUESS IT'S FOR RECREATION OR SOMETHING, BUT IT'S GOOD, GOOD FISHING THERE FOR, IT WAS ORIGINALLY FOR, UH, COOLING PURPOSES FOR THE DECKER OKAY.
UM, AND IT LOOKS LIKE KEVIN, DID YOU WANNA ADD TO THAT? WELL, YEAH, I MEAN, IT, ORIGINALLY IT WAS DESIGNED FOR THERMAL COOLING FOR STEAM GENERATION, UM, OVER TIME AUSTIN ENERGY.
WHERE'S MICHAEL'S HERE? MIKE? MICHAEL, YOU STILL HERE?
MORE RECENTLY, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY, MIKE, IF YOU'RE THERE, CORRECT ME, UM, HAS CONVERTED TO, UM, COMBUSTION TURBINES.
AND SO THOSE NO LONGER REQUIRE AS MUCH WATER FOR ACTUALLY PRODUCING ELECTRICITY.
UM, THERE IS SOME STILL MINOR WATER REQUIREMENTS AT THE SITE, PRIMARILY PROBABLY FOR FIRE PROTECTION.
UM, SO IT'S SORT OF FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGED TODAY HOW THE RESERVOIR IS USED.
IT IS A VERY POPULAR, AND OF COURSE, UNFORTUNATELY, LIANA HAS LEFT.
BUT IT IS A VERY POPULAR RECREATIONAL AMENITY AND CERTAINLY OUR, UM, COMMUNITY THAT IS IN THE EASTERN CRESCENT PARTICULARLY RELY ON THAT FOR, YOU KNOW, UM, RECREATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES.
SO, UM, THAT'S WHAT IT'S THERE.
SO YES, IT MEETS KIND OF MULTIPLE NEEDS IN THAT REGARD.
BUT MICHAEL, I DON'T KNOW, CORRECT ME WHAT I MISSED.
THERE'S A MINIMUM LAKE LEVEL THAT'S REQUIRED FOR AUSTIN ENERGY TO MAINTAIN ITS FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS AT THE DECKER POWER PLANT.
SO, UH, IN THE PAST WE USED IT FOR, UH, OPERATIONAL GENERATIONAL OF ELECTRICITY, BUT NOW IT'S, UH, EXCLUSIVELY FIRE SUPPRESSION.
BUT, UH, THAT'S A, IT'S A CRITICAL SYSTEM THAT WE HAVE, AND THE LAKE HAS TO MAINTAIN THE MINIMUM LEVEL FOR THAT TO WORK.
AND CAN I JUST MENTION THAT IN, IN THIS, UH, THE CONCEPTUAL PLANNING FOR THIS STRATEGY, WE'VE MODELED IT USING A, A MAXIMUM FIVE FOOT DRAWDOWN.
UH, AND THAT DRAWDOWN IS EXPERIENCED REALLY IN DROUGHT CONDITIONS, SO NOT ALL THE TIME.
AND WE'VE, UM, INCORPORATED INTO OUR THINKING AND PLANNING THAT WE WOULD NEED TO POTENTIALLY MAKE SOME IMPROVEMENTS TO, UM, BOAT RAMPS AND OTHER RECREATIONAL FACILITIES TO MAINTAIN ACCESS FOR RECREATIONAL USERS WHO, UM, YOU KNOW, RECREATE ON THE LAKE.
I DIDN'T WANNA BRING US DOWN THAT RABBIT HOLE TOO MUCH, BUT THANK YOU FOR THE EXPLANATION.
AND I'M SURE THIS NEVER BECOME A THING, BUT JUST FROM A POLICY TRADE OFF PERSPECTIVE, LIKE AT SOME POINT, I MEAN, IF WE'RE REALLY IN AN EMERGENCY SITUATION AND LIKE THE WATER SUPPLY INTEREST PROBABLY HAS TO WIN OUT OVER THE RECREATIONAL INTEREST, AND THAT MAY APPLY TO LEADER BIRD LAKE TOO, YOU KNOW, WE PROBABLY HAVE TO CONSIDER THAT, BUT I'M JUST THINKING BIG PICTURE, LIKE HOPE THE BOATERS DON'T COME FOR ME, BUT IT'S JUST, JUST A BUNCH OF WATER SITTING IN THIS LAKE AND WE NEED, WE DESPERATELY NEED DRINKING WATER.
UM, IT'S A CONSIDERATION IF WE'RE IN A REALLY BAD DROUGHT CONDITION WHERE THAT'S GETTING, UM, UM, UH, WHERE IT'S HAPPENING.
UM, YOU KNOW, LAKE LEVELS ARE GONNA BE LOW ALL OVER THE PLACE.
UH, IT'LL DEFINITELY BE, BE A THING.
UM, AND I'M GLAD TO LEARN THAT THE WATER THAT'S BEING PUT INTO DECKER LAKE IS ALREADY, LIKE, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S BEEN HAPPENING.
IT'S, IT'S LIKE, NOT LIKE THING WHERE WE HAVE TO YEAH.
YOU KNOW, MAKE SOME BIG CHANGE TO THE SOURCE WATER AND STUFF.
UM, HANEY, HANEY, YOU'RE ON THE MUTE.
DOES IT LOOK LIKE HE'S ON MUTE? DOESN'T LOOK LIKE HE'S ON MUTE.
SO I, I GUESS THERE'S GONNA BE SOME WATER QUALITY DONE MM-HMM
UH, ON, ON WALTER ELONG LAKE AND TO LOOK AT THE SEDIMENTS, BECAUSE I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE'S A LOT OF DRAINAGE THAT GOES INTO THAT LAKE, IS THAT CORRECT? SO WE HAVE ASKED OUR CONSULTANT PLUMBER TO PUT TOGETHER A WATER QUALITY SAMPLING PLAN, UM, AND, AND TO LOOK AT VARIOUS OTHER, UM, UH, CONSIDERATIONS TO DO, UH, SAMPLING OVER THE COURSE
[01:15:01]
OF PROBABLY A AT LEAST A YEAR.UM, AND THAT'LL HELP TO INFORM OUR, UM, YOU KNOW, OUR OVERALL PLANNING AND EVALUATION OF THIS STRATEGY.
SO, UM, WE'RE NOT, WE KNOW THAT WATERSHED PROTECTION HAS DONE SOME SAMPLING ON THIS, LIKE, AS WELL, WE'VE HAD A, A MEETING, I GUESS IT WAS MAYBE THREE WEEKS AGO WITH THEM, WHERE WE TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT BOTH OF THESE STRATEGIES AND, UM, THEY'VE OFFERED UP THE DATA THAT THEY'VE COLLECTED AS WELL.
SO WE'LL BE TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT THAT, UH, IN THE COMING WEEKS AND MONTHS.
AND HANEY, AS MARISA MENTIONED EARLIER, IT IS A FAIRLY SMALL WATERSHED THAT, THAT, UH, FEEDS INTO THIS AREA COMPARED TO, YOU KNOW, UM, OTHERS.
IT'S, IT'S, AND THE, THIS LAKE IS ON, KIND OF ON THE UPSTREAM SIDE OF THAT.
SO IT'S, THERE'S NOT A LOT OF UPSTREAM CONTRIBUTING AREA THAT GOES INTO IT.
AND I, I GUESS I'LL PUT, UM, UH, ONE OF MY TEAM HUN ON, ON BLAST 'CAUSE HE'S, HE'S BEEN WORKING ON DEVELOPING KIND OF A MASS BALANCE MODEL FOR LIKE WALTER E LAWN, LOOKING AT HOW MUCH WATER'S COMING IN, HOW MUCH SHOULD BE GOING OUT, UM, THROUGH THE OUTLET ON, ON THE DAM.
AND SO WE'LL HAVE A, A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THAT AND FUTURE AS WELL, AND CAN SHARE INFORMATION ON THAT.
SOUNDS LIKE EVERYONE NEEDS TO TAKE A FIELD TRIP OUT TO LAKE WALL STREET LONG.
I USED TO GO THERE WHEN I WAS A KID WITH MY DAD FISHING.
I HAVEN'T BEEN THERE IN A LONG TIME.
UM, SO, SO BETWEEN THE, THE TWO PROJECTS, UM, INDIRECT PUTABLE REUSE AND WALL THREE LONG, UM, WALL THREE LONG COSTS A LOT MORE.
IT'S ABOUT TWO AND A HALF TIMES MORE, UM, IN, IN TOTAL COSTS AS WELL AS PER ACRE FOOT COSTS.
UM, IN THE INDIRECT PUTABLE REUSE ON THE TIMING, UM, IT LOOKS, YOU KNOW, THE TARGET'S 2028, UM, DON'T SEE A TARGET ON THE WALTER ELONG SLIDE.
SO IS THERE THERE TIMING AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS THAT YOU NEED TO BE THINKING ABOUT? THAT IS A GREAT QUESTION.
THERE ARE, UM, TIMING AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS FOR BOTH.
AND I GUESS I'LL JUST BRING INTO THE CALCULUS SOME, YOU KNOW, I TALKED EARLIER VERY BRIEFLY ABOUT, UM, SOME CHANGES IN THOUGHT AROUND EXPANSION OF SAR R AND, UM, THAT, THAT CHANGE IN THOUGHT, UH, HAS PROMPTED THE QUESTION OF WHETHER INSTEAD OF GOING WITH SIDESTREAM TREATMENT FACILITIES, UM, FOR THE WATER TO BE DISCHARGED INTO LADYBIRD LAKE, SHOULD WE BE LOOKING AT WHOLE PLANT PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS AT SAR? DOES IT IT MAKE, ARE THOSE SIZE FROM TREATMENT FACILITIES GONNA BE EXPENSIVE ENOUGH BECAUSE OF THE TREATMENT THAT'LL BE REQUIRED? MM-HMM
TO PUT IT ON PAR WITH JUST DOING WHOLE PLANT PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS.
IF WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WHOLE PLANT PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS, THEN THAT INCREASES THE OVERALL COST OF THE INDIRECT PORTABLE REUSE PROJECT AND INCREASES THE, THE TIMELINE AND THE DURATION OF IMPLEMENTING THAT PROJECT.
SO WHILE THESE, UH, COSTS AND, UM, KIND OF TIMEFRAMES WERE DEVELOPED AS A PART OF THE WATER 4 24 PLANNING PROCESS WITH THESE NEW CONSIDERATIONS, THEY COULD BE MORE ON PAR.
UM, AND SO THAT'S PART OF WHY WE WANNA KIND OF LOOK AT THEM IN AN APPLES TO APPLES WAY.
AND, UM, THE, YOU KNOW, USE OF LIKE WALTER E. LONG WOULD REQUIRE THE CONSTRUCTION OF A WATER TREATMENT PLANT THAT IS NOT, UM, YOU KNOW, USUALLY A VERY, UH, A VERY FAST PROCESS.
UM, BUT WE'D HAVE TO LOOK AT LIKE, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE IF WE NEEDED TO TRY TO ACCELERATE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS, UM, PROJECT, WOULD THAT BE POSSIBLE? SO THAT IS PART OF IT.
UM, BUT YES, LIKE YOU MENTIONED, SO LET'S JUST LOOK AT SOME OF THE FIVE-YEAR IMPLEMENTATION ACTIONS FOR THIS STRATEGY.
UM, WE HAD BEEN PLANNING TO, UM, EVALUATE DIFFERENT, UH, CONFIGURATIONS OF THIS STRATEGY AND RECOMMENDED PREFERRED CONFIGURATION WITHIN THIS YEAR AND BEGIN WATER QUALITY SAMPLING.
WE HAVE THAT WATER QUALITY SAMPLING PLAN AND, UM, WE'LL BEGIN, UM, GETTING FEEDBACK AND FROM VARIOUS STAKEHOLDERS WITHIN AUSTIN WATER AND WATERSHED PROTECTION TO IMPLEMENT THAT PLAN.
UM, HOPING TO IMPLEMENT, UH, BEGIN TAKING SAMPLES PRETTY SOON.
AND THEN, UM, ALSO WANTED TO BEGIN WITHIN 2026, PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING FOR OUR PREFERRED STRATEGY CONFIGURATION, INCLUDING ANY IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE WOULD NEED TO MAKE TO THE COLORADO RIVER INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, TO TAKE WATER OUT OF THE COLORADO RIVER, IMPROVEMENTS TO THE INTAKE PIPELINE, UM, AS WELL AS THE, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE WATER TREATMENT PLANT AND HOW THAT WOULD BE INTEGRATED INTO OUR PORTABLE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.
[01:20:01]
MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE.IT SAYS, OKAY, SO JUST, UM, FOR, JUST LET'S GO BACK TO INDIRECT PORTABLE REUSE THROUGH LADYBIRD LAKE.
WE'VE, UM, GOTTEN SOME CONSULTANT SUPPORT TO HELP US IN PLANNING FOR THAT PROJECT.
WE HAVE PULLED, UH, ENGINEER, UH, ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS OFF OF THE ROTATION LIST.
RIGHT NOW WE'RE WORKING WITH PLUMMER.
MY TEAM IS WORKING WITH PLUMMER ON THIS OVERALL PROJECT CONFIGURATION EVALUATION.
WE'RE LOOKING AT DIFFERENT KIND OF WAYS THAT WE COULD, UM, PAIR UP CONVEYANCE INFRASTRUCTURE AND, UM, THE, THE, THE, UM, TREATMENT AND PUMPING INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WILL BE NECESSARY AT, UM, AT SAR, THE SIDESTREAM TREATMENT FACILITIES, UH, CLOSER TO SAR R.
UM, WE WILL ALSO BE GETTING THEIR HELP, UM, POTENTIALLY WITH A DEVELOPMENT OF MATERIALS TO SUBMIT, UH, A TIP, THESE PERMIT APPLICATION THAT TIPIS PERMIT, UM, IS WHAT WOULD ALLOW US TO DISCHARGE WATER, UM, FROM THAT RECLAIMED WATER, UM, THAT HAS UNDERGONE ADDITIONAL TREATMENT INTO LADY BIRD.
LIKE, UM, THE, UH, FEEDBACK THAT WE GET FROM TCQ ON, YOU KNOW, THE WATER QUALITY STANDARDS.
WE'LL HAVE TO MEET FOR THAT WATER TO BE DISCHARGED INTO LADY BIRD LAKE WILL INFORM THE TREATMENT TECHNOLOGIES THAT WE HAVE TO USE.
AND THUS THE COST, UM, OF TREATING THAT WATER AND PROVIDING THAT WATER PLUMBERS ALSO PROVIDING MODELING SUPPORT TO MODEL WATER QUALITY IMPACTS, UM, IN LADY BIRD LAKE.
AFTER THAT WATER HAS BEEN DISCHARGED, THAT ALSO HELPS IN, UM, PROVIDING INFORMATION INTO OUR PERMIT APPLICATION PROCESS.
THAT'S THE FIRST, UM, CONSULTANT SECOND, UM, WE HAVE FOLKS FROM OUR ENGINEERING PROGRAM AREA, SEPARATE PROGRAM AREA FROM ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, BUT WE WORK VERY CLOSELY TOGETHER ALSO WITHIN AUSTIN WATER, WHO ARE, UM, WORKING WITH HANAN SAWYER, UM, ON PLANNING AND CONCEPTUAL, UH, YOU KNOW, PROJECT CONFIGURATION OF THE INTAKE AND PUMP STATION FACILITIES, UH, TAKING WATER FROM LADY BIRD LAKE TO ULRICH WATER TREATMENT PLANT PLAN.
THIRD, UM, FOLKS FROM ENGINEERING ARE, UM, WORKING WITH A, A FIRM CALLED CAS TO DEVELOP A, A ROUTING STUDY TO IDENTIFY THE ROUTE THAT THE RECLAIMED, UH, TRANSMISSION INFRASTRUCTURE TO SHOULD TAKE, UM, TO CONVEY THAT WATER FROM SOUTH AUSTIN REGIONAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT TO LADYBIRD LAKE.
AND THEN IN THE FUTURE, UM, WE COULD BE BRINGING ON ADDITIONAL CONSULTANT RESOURCES, UH, TO HELP US WITH, UM, PLANNING, UM, AND, YOU KNOW, CONCEPTUAL CONFIGURATION OF SIDESTREAM WASTEWATER EFFLUENT TREATMENT FACILITIES.
UM, ALL OF THIS INFORMATION WE HAD, UM, BEEN PLANNING FOR, UH, IT TO INTEGRATE INTO, UH, A DESIGN BUILD OR PROGRESSIVE DESIGN BUILD PROJECT, UM, THAT WE WOULD PUT OUT ONTO THE STREET.
UM, THAT DESIGN BUILD OR PROGRESSIVE DESIGN BUILD KIND OF PROJECT DELIVERY METHOD IS STILL SOMETHING THAT WE WOULD NEED TO DECIDE UPON.
UM, WE WOULD BE, WE'RE THINKING OF USING AN ALTERNATIVE PROJECT DELIVERY METHOD, UH, TO TRY TO SPEED UP THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROJECT, BUT MORE TO COME ON THAT THE CONSULTANT OR THE, UH, THAT WE WOULD BRING ON FOR THAT WORK WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FULL IPR PROJECT DESIGN AND, AND CONSTRUCTION.
OH, UH, LET'S GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO, TO DATE, UM, ON IPR PLANNING, PLUMBERS PERFORMED INITIAL WATER QUALITY MODELING.
WE ANTICIPATE THAT THAT WATER QUALITY MODELING WILL BE REVISED OR, OR RERUN, UM, TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT SOME, SOME POTENTIAL CHANGES THAT WE'RE THINKING OF IN THE PROJECT CONFIGURATION.
UM, WE'VE, UH, PERFORMED AN INITIAL, LIKE MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION EVALUATION AND ANALYSIS TO DECIDE ON WHICH PLANT WOULD SUPPLY THAT RECLAIM WATER DECIDED ON SAR AND WE DECIDED ON AUSTIN WATER'S PREFERRED, UM, TREATMENT AND PERMITTING APPROACH, AGAIN, THROUGH THOSE SIDESTREAM TREATMENT FACILITIES, RATHER THAN SENDING THAT WATER JUST THROUGH ONE OF THE TRAINS AT SAR.
UM, AUSTIN WATER AND PLUMBER HAS ALSO BEGUN VALUATION AND COSTING OF THREE POSSIBLE IPR CONFIGURATIONS.
AGAIN, LOOKING AT WHICH DIFFERENT, UH, COMBINATIONS OF CONVEYANCE INFRASTRUCTURE AND PUMPING, UM, AND, UM, TREATMENT INFRASTRUCTURE WOULD BE NECESSARY, UM, FOR THAT RECLAIM WATER.
AND THEN, IN TERMS OF INTERDEPARTMENTAL COORDINATION, WE'VE MET WITH WATERSHED PROTECTION TO DISCUSS WATER QUALITY MODELING FOR IPR THROUGH LADY BIRD LAKE.
[01:25:01]
AND THEN TO TALK TO THEM ABOUT WHAT OUR PLANS TO DO THIS BIGGER PICTURE EVALUATION.THEY PROVIDED INITIAL INFORMATION RELATED TO LAKE WALL, TREE LONG WATER QUALITY, AND SOME EXISTING DATA THAT THEY HAVE, AND WE'LL BE CONTINUING TO COORDINATE WITH THEM ON A MONTHLY BASIS, UM, OR MORE FREQUENTLY ON THIS TOPIC.
UM, UH, LIANA HAD TO STEP AWAY, BUT, UM, WE HAVE BEEN, UH, COORDINATING WITH AUSTIN ENERGY AND PARD ON A MONTHLY BASIS, UM, ON, UH, LAKE WALL, TREE LONG LAKE LEVELS.
AND THEN, UM, AND OTHER ISSUES THAT MIGHT ARISE RELATED TO LAKE WALTER.
LONG, LIKE MIKE MENTIONED, THERE HAS TO BE A MINIMUM, UH, LAKE LEVEL MAINTAINED TO BE ABLE TO SUPPLY THE FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS FOR DECKER POWER PLANT.
UM, SOMETIMES THAT CAN BE CHALLENGING DURING DROUGHT CONDITIONS.
SO ACTUALLY ONE OF THE BENEFITS OF USING, UM, LIKE WALTER LONG IS A MUNICIPAL SUPPLY RESERVOIR, IS THAT THEN WE HAVE, UM, THE ABILITY TO BE WITHDRAWING WATER FROM THE COLORADO RIVER AND MAINTAINING THE LAKE LEVEL, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, TO BE MORE CONSTANT.
WHEREAS IF WE JUST HAVE IT FOR THE RECREATIONAL OR STEAM ELECTRIC PURPOSES, THOSE, THOSE NEEDS ARE DEPRIORITIZED.
WE HAVE BEEN AND WILL BE INCORPORATING USE OF LAKE WALL TREE LONG AS A WATER SUPPLY RESERVOIR AND TO THE ONGOING MEETINGS THAT WE HAVE, UM, ON THAT TOPIC.
SO AS I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT MANY TIMES, UM, WE ARE NOW TRYING TO DO THIS BIGGER PICTURE SUPPLY STRATEGY EVALUATION.
UM, WE ARE EXPANDING PLUMBER'S SCOPE, UH, TO LOOK AT, UM, UH, TO EVALUATE AND COMPARE DIFFERENT IPR CONFIGURATION OPTIONS BEYOND JUST USING SIDESTREAM TREATMENT FACILITIES, BUT MAKING, UM, WHOLE PLANT PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS AT SAR WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT, WHICH WOULD, UM, AND COULD, UH, NO, WOULD LIKELY INCREASE BOTH THE COST AND THE TIMELINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THAT STRATEGY.
UM, WE WANNA COMPARE USING LAKE WALL, TREE LONG AS A WATER SUPPLY RESERVOIR.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS ISN'T A STRATEGY THAT'S LISTED WITHIN THE WATER FORWARD PLAN, BUT HAS BEEN BROUGHT UP, UH, A FEW TIMES, UM, BY MEMBERS OF THE TASK FORCE AND OTHERS.
SO WE'VE ADDED TO THEIR SCOPE TO ALSO EVALUATE USE OF DIRECT POTABLE REUSE AS AN EMERGENCY SUPPLY STRATEGY TO SEE, YOU KNOW, IF THAT'S FEASIBLE.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE HEARD FROM FOLKS THAT, THAT THAT'S SOMETHING THEY'RE INTERESTED IN US LOOKING AT.
WE'D LIKE TO JUST GO AHEAD AND DO THE ANALYSIS, UM, SEE WHAT THAT WOULD TAKE.
YOUR HAND, YOUR HAND JUST, OH, SORRY.
YOUR LITTLE, LITTLE MAGICAL HAND ANIMATION JUST CAME UP.
AND THEN WE CAN GO ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, SAME TITLE, DIFFERENT CONTENT.
SO THAT EVALUATION WILL INFORM OUR DECISION ON WHICH SUPPLY STRATEGY WE PRIORITIZE FOR NEAR TERM IMPLEMENTATION.
UM, BECAUSE WE WANNA GO THROUGH THIS EVALUATION, UH, WE WILL BE, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, THE SUBMITTAL FOR A TIP'S PERMIT FOR THE SIDESTREAM TREATMENT FACILITIES.
SAR WILL BE PENDING THE OUTCOME OF THIS EVALUATION.
UM, AND THEN WE STILL WANT, BUT WE STILL WANT THE WORK THAT'S BEING DONE BY CASS AND, AND SAWYER TO, UM, IDENTIFY A ROUTE FOR RECLAIM TRANSMISSION INFRASTRUCTURE AS WELL AS THE INTAKE AND PUMP STATION TO PULL WATER FROM LADY BIRD LAKE UP TO OVER TO MOVE AHEAD.
UM, WE DON'T WANNA SLOW DOWN THAT WORK.
THOSE ARE TWO BIG INFRASTRUCTURE COMPONENTS THAT WOULD BE NECESSARY FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF IPR THROUGH LADY BIRD LIKE, BUT THEY'RE ALSO MULTI BENEFICIAL, UM, INFRASTRUCTURE.
THE RECLAIM TRANSMISSION MAIN WOULD HELP TO MEET, UM, RECLAIM CUSTOMER DEMANDS OUTSIDE OF EMERGENCY DROUGHT, UM, UH, CONDITIONS AND THE INTAKE AND PUMP STATION ON LADY BIRDLIKE GOING UP TO ULRICH COULD BE USED TO CAPTURE LOCAL INFLOWS TO LADY BIRDLIKE AGAIN IN NORMAL OR WET CONDITIONS.
SO WE WANT THAT PLANNING WORK TO GO AHEAD, UM, AND, YOU KNOW, AS MUCH AS WE CAN TO, UH, TO HELP, YOU KNOW, CONTINUE TO PUSH FORWARD AND ACCELERATE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THOSE INFRASTRUCTURE PIECES.
UM, IF, YOU KNOW, WE, UH, DID GET INTO A, A QUICK EMERGENCY SITUATION WHERE WE HAD TO MOVE, UM, FAST HAVING THOSE, THAT TRANSMISSION MAIN, HAVING THAT INTAKE AND PUMP STATION THERE AND READY TO GO WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL IF WE JUST NEEDED TO AGAIN, PIVOT AND GO AHEAD AND MAKE IPR WORK.
SO, UM, NEXT, ON THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, JUST SOME PLANS FOR THIS BIG PICTURE SUPPLY STRATEGY EVALUATION.
[01:30:01]
THIS IS, UH, OUR, OUR SCHEDULE TO WORK WITH PLUMBER THROUGH THAT EVALUATION.MUCH OF THIS WORK, UM, LOOKING AT IPR THROUGH LADYBIRD, LAKE, LAKE, WALL, TREE LONG AND DIRECT POTABLE REUSE.
UH, WE'RE PLANNING TO COMPLETE IN THE SUMMER IN JUNE AND JULY, AND TO HAVE A DELIVERED A FEASIBILITY REPORT FOR ALL THREE OF THOSE OPTIONS IN THE EARLY FALL, SEPTEMBER OF 2025.
UM, AND REMEMBER, WE STAY ABOVE 600,000 ACRE FEET IN THE COMBINED STORAGE PROJECTIONS THROUGH OCTOBER.
SO HERE'S HOPE
UM, AUSTIN WATER, UH, AND, UH, BRANDON ON OUR TEAM WHO'S IN THE AUDIENCE HERE, IS DEVELOPING INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT WITH TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD TO PERFORM SEDIMENT AND BATHOMETRIC SURVEYS OF LAKE AUSTIN AND LADY BIRD LAKE.
UM, THAT'LL INCLUDE SOME SCANS OF THE INTAKE STRUCTURES AT DAVIS ULRICH AND THE FORM, UH, WATER TREATMENT PLANT.
UM, WE'RE WORKING ON THE, UM, KIND OF THE, ALL OF THE DOCUMENTATION AND APPROVAL PROCESSES THAT WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH TO BE ABLE TO, UM, UH, EXECUTE THAT INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT.
UM, BUT, UM, EXECUTION WILL BE DEPENDENT ON COUNCIL APPROVAL, HAVE TO GO TO, UH, TO BOTH WATER WASTEWATER COMMISSION AND COUNCIL.
WE'RE HOPING THAT WE CAN GET EXECUTION OF THAT AGREEMENT, UM, WITHIN SUMMER OF 2025 SO THAT BRANDON CAN GO OUT WITH TWDP AND TAKE SOME SCANS.
OH, YOU GET TO GO ON THE BOAT TOO.
WE'RE GONNA SIGN HIM UP FOR THE FIELD TRIP ON THE BOAT.
IT SOUNDS LIKE THEY'RE ARRANGE NEED TO GO ON THE FIELD TRIP FOR YOURSELF.
IT SOUNDS LIKE WE SHOULD TRY TO PUSH FOR THAT.
YEAH, SO THAT IS, OH, THAT WAS A LOT.
YEAH, THAT WAS THE UPDATE FOR TODAY.
THANKS, UM, FOR ALL THE REALLY GREAT QUESTIONS.
WELL, UM, DO FOLKS HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS NOW THAT WE HAVE RECEIVED ALL THAT? AND I ALSO WANNA POINT OUT THAT THERE'S, UH, A DOCUMENT IN OUR MEETING NOTES TOO, FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION FROM THE COMMITTEE MEETING THAT HAPPENED IN BETWEEN THE LAST TWO TASK FORCE MEETINGS.
UM, BUT ANY QUESTIONS? SO, SO MAYBE JUST, JUST TO MAKE SURE I'M CLEAR, SO SO YOU'RE, YOU'RE THINKING THAT YOU MIGHT MIGHT DO WALTER E. LONG BEFORE MM-HMM
UM, STILL, STILL LOOKING TO DO THE IPR AT LADY BIRD LAKE.
HAVE YOU CONSIDERED THE OPTION OF MAYBE NOT DOING IT, LADY BIRD LAKE AND JUST USING WALTER E. LONG? AND COULD THAT, COULD THAT PROJECT BE ENHANCED TO WHERE YOU'RE PULLING THE TREATED WASTEWATER OUT OF THE RIVER JUST, JUST AS YOU'RE PROPOSING FOR WALTER E. LONG? UM, AND JUST FOREGOING IPR GETTING THE SAME AMOUNT OF YIELD FROM BOTH OF THEM.
PILE IIPR ON TOP OF WALTER E. LONG, YOU KNOW, SIZE EVERYTHING AS APPROPRIATE.
IT ALSO SEEMS LIKE UNDER DROUGHT CONDITIONS, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE, YOU'LL HAVE STORAGE IN THE LAKE TO ACCOMMODATE AN EMERGENCY.
IPR IS, IS THAT SOMETHING YOU'VE THOUGHT ABOUT AND WOULD THAT SAVE MONEY OR, I THINK WE NEED TO LOOK AT THAT AS ONE OF OUR PROJECT CONFIGURATIONS WITH PLUMBER.
THERE, AS YOU CAN, AS YOU CAN KIND OF SEE FROM ALL OF THIS, THERE'S LOTS OF DIFFERENT OPTIONS, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, IN SOME SENSE GOOD MM-HMM
BUT WE DO HAVE TO KIND OF NARROW DOWN THE FIELD AND FIGURE OUT WHICH OPTION WE'RE GOING TO MOVE FORWARD WITH.
BUT THAT COULD BE ONE, THAT COULD BE ONE OF THE OPTIONS THAT WE EVALUATE IN THE WATER FOUR PLAN.
WE NEEDED THE YIELD FROM BOTH IPR THROUGH LADY BIRD LAKE AND DECKER, SO WE COULDN'T RIGHT.
YOU KNOW, I THINK YOU'RE SAYING LIKE, GET THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF YIELD FROM BOTH OF 'EM, BUT JUST FROM ONE.
AND, AND THAT COULD BE SOMETHING THAT WE LOOK AT.
UM, WE CAN'T, WHAT WE CAN'T DO IS JUST SAY WE'RE GONNA GET THE YIELD FROM, YOU KNOW, THE PREVIOUSLY PLANNED DECKER LAKE STRATEGY OR WALTER LONG STRATEGY THAT 18,000 AND FOREGO THE 22,000 RIGHT.
FROM IPR THROUGH LADYBIRD LAKE.
BUT YEAH, SOMETHING TO LOOK AT.
YEAH, I WOULD, I WOULD ADD TO THAT TO SAY THAT WE, WE DO HAVE A NUMBER OF OPTIONS AND SUB OPTIONS, UM, AND, BUT EACH OF THEM HAVE THEIR OWN COMPLEXITIES AND UNCERTAINTIES, AND PART OF THE CHALLENGE IS TRYING TO HANDICAP, ESPECIALLY ON THE TIMING SIDE, WHICH ARE THE MORE CHALLENGING UNCERTAINTIES TO DEAL WITH.
AND SO THAT'S WHY HAVING A DIF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT SORT OF ALL THE INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIREMENTS AND THE RELATED PERMITTING REQUIREMENTS AND THE LIKELY, YOU KNOW, PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT, YOU KNOW, COMMUNITY KIND OF RESPONSE TO ALL THAT, IT'S ALL PART OF THE MIX OF KIND OF WHAT WE HAVE TO DO.
[01:35:01]
OF OUR OPTIONS OPEN RIGHT NOW IS STILL OUR STRATEGY UNTIL WE CAN KIND OF WORK THROUGH THIS, YOU KNOW, UM, THESE NEXT STEPS AND STILL GETTING THAT RECLAIMED TRANSMISSION MAIN BUILT AND STILL HAVING THAT INTAKE AND PUMP STATION ON LADY BIRD LAKE.AND IS THE ENHANCED TREATMENT REQUIREMENTS, IS THAT PFAS RELATED OR IS THAT JUST LIKE, LIKE IT COULD BE MORE COST EFFECTIVE TO TREAT THE WASTEWATER TO A HIGHER QUALITY TO SAVE YOU MONEY ON TREATING THE INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE WATER? UH, SO ENHANCED TREATMENT FOR IPR THROUGH LADYBIRD LAKE IS RELATED TO, UM, THE LADYBIRD LAKE IS CURRENTLY LISTED AS IMPAIRED FOR ALGAE.
AND SO WE'RE THINKING WE'LL AT LEAST HAVE TO, UM, TREAT FOR PHOSPHORUS REMOVAL.
SO, UM, THERE, THERE'S THAT, BUT THERE COULD BE OTHER, YOU KNOW, CONSTITUENTS THAT WE GET, PARAMETERS THAT WE GET REQUIREMENTS FOR, AND, AND THAT WOULD INCREASE THE COST, UM, FOR THAT TREATMENT FOR, UM, DECKER OR LIKE WALTER A. LONG, UM, THE ADVANCED TREATMENT, UH, WOULD BE ON THE POTABLE SIDE.
AND, UM, SO WE'RE THINKING THAT THAT WOULD BE POTENTIALLY A MEMBRANE FACILITY.
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, LIKE, YOU KNOW, RO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT MORE WHAT ARE GENERALLY MORE ENERGY INTENSIVE AND EXPENSIVE TREATMENT PROCESSES.
UM, PARTIALLY BECAUSE THE BASELINE WATER QUALITY WITHIN, UM, LIKE WALL TREE LONG IS, UM, IS NOT, YOU KNOW, AS HIGH AS THE WATER QUALITY THAT WE GET OUT OF, UM, THE COLORADO RIVER AND THE HIGHLAND LAKES WHERE OTHER WATER TREATMENT FACILITIES ARE.
AND THEN ALSO THIS, UM, WATER TREATMENT PLANT WE TALKED ABOUT JUST HAVING ONE WATER TREATMENT PLANT, UM, ON THE EAST SIDE, THIS COULD POTENTIALLY BE A HUB FOR A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT STRATEGIES OF WHERE WE'RE TRYING TO, UM, UH, MAKE THE WATER COMPATIBLE BETWEEN DIFFERENT SUPPLIES, BETWEEN OFFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY, BETWEEN, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, LIKE WALTER LONG OR OTHER SUPPLIES.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE, WE NEED MORE, UH, ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES TO BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE THAT.
OH, I, UH, APOLOGIZE IF THIS WAS TOUCHED ON ALREADY, UH, EARLIER, BUT, UM, DID I UNDERSTAND CORRECTLY THAT THE DECKER LAKE POWER PLANT IS GOING TO BE DIS DECOMMISSIONED WITHIN COMING DECADES? UH, AND IF SO, DOES THAT AFFECT, UM, AFFECT THAT STRATEGY AT ALL? I'LL, I'LL LET MICHAEL TAKE A CRACK AT THAT.
SO WE JUST PASSED THE 2035, UH, GENERATION RESOURCE PLAN FOR AUSTIN ENERGY, AND THAT ANTICIPATES THAT AUSTIN ENERGY WILL BE CARBON FREE BY 2035.
UH, OBVIOUSLY THAT ASSUMES A CHANGE IN THE OPERATION AT DECKER CREEK POWER PLANT.
UH, DETAILS BEYOND THAT ARE, ARE NOT IN THE PLAN.
THEY'RE, UH, GOING TO BE WORKED OUT BETWEEN NOW AND THEN.
OBVIOUSLY THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT RELIABILITY ISSUES TO BE, TO BE WORKED OUT, UH, RELATED TO LOCAL POWER GENERATION.
UH, SO THAT SITE WILL CONTINUE TO BE, I THINK, IMPORTANT, UH, GOING FORWARD.
WHAT IS, UH, WHAT IS THERE AND HOW IT'S USED AND YOU KNOW, WHAT, UH, WHAT THE SOURCE OF POWER COMING FROM THERE IS, WHETHER THAT'S A, A NEW RENEWABLE, UH, SITE OR A BATTERY STORAGE SITE, UH, IS YET TO BE DETERMINED.
UH, YEAH, THAT'S VERY INTERESTING BECAUSE, UM, I DON'T KNOW IF LIKE THE, IF THAT GIVES ADDED FLEXIBILITY TO DECKER LAKE AS A WATER SOURCE, IF IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE KEPT AT A CERTAIN LEVEL.
UM, AND I DUNNO IF IT HAS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE WATER QUALITY THERE AS WELL, BUT, UM, YEAH.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, FOLKS? OKAY.
UM, WELL WE WILL, UM, LET'S SEE.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
SAY TWO THINGS.ONE IS, UM, WE HAVE TWO OPENINGS ON THE TASK FORCE.
UH, VANESSA WIG WILLIAMS RESIGNED, UM, EARLIER THIS YEAR.
SO PAGE WILLIAMS, DISTRICT EIGHT, THERE'S AN OPENING WITH SOUTHWEST AUSTIN.
AND THEN COUNCIL MEMBER VELA, DISTRICT FOUR HAS, HAS NEVER APPOINTED ANYONE TO THE TASK FORCE, BUT THAT'S LIKE NORTH CENTRAL.
UM, IF FOLKS KNOW OF PEOPLE THAT WOULD BE GOOD TO SERVE ON THE TASK FORCE, UM, THEN, UH, IT WOULD BE GREAT TO HAVE MORE PEOPLE AND ANY OTHER THINGS THAT
[01:40:01]
WE NEED TO MAKE ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR? I DON'T THINK SO.BILL, DID YOU GET YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED? ALL RIGHT.
UM, WE WILL BE ADJOURNED THEN.