[00:00:02]
UM, THERE'S FIVE OF US HERE IN PERSON, WHICH IS A LONG TIME SINCE THAT'S HAPPENED.
IT'S SO NICE TO SEE YOUR BEAUTIFUL FACES.
UM, AND, UM, WE HAVE BILL MORIARTY, UM, JOINING REMOTE AND CHASE AND ZACH, UM, FROM, OH YEAH, THIS IS HERE.
THAT'S A WHOLE CONTROL BOARD SITUATION.
[CALL TO ORDER]
LET'S GO AHEAD AND START THIS MEETING.I'LL CALL IT TO ORDER AND BE TOTALLY SERIOUS FROM HERE ON OUT.
[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
IS PUBLIC COMMENTS AND WE HAVE VALERIE MENARD HERE FROM PO THERE TO, UM, DO PUBLIC COMMENTS, YOU KNOW, THE DRILL.COME UP AND SIT BY HANEY AND MAKE SURE YOUR MICROPHONE IS ON.
PUSH THE LITTLE BUTTON, HANEY CAN HELP YOU.
UM, GOOD AFTERNOON, UH, TASK FORCE MEMBERS.
I AM, UH, THE PROJECT DIRECTOR FOR THE COLORADO RIVER CONSERVANCY, WHICH IS A PROJECT OF PODER PEOPLE ORGANIZED IN DEFENSE OF EARTH AND HER RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ORGANIZATION BASED HERE IN AUSTIN FOR THE LAST 31 YEARS.
SO I'M HERE TODAY TO TALK TO Y'ALL OR TO GET YOUR, UH, THOUGHTS ON, UM, DATA CENTERS.
UM, THE WATER FORWARD PLAN DID NOT ADDRESS THEM.
SO THERE'S GROVE AND CONCERN ABOUT WATER USAGE THAT THESE DATA CENTERS REQUIRE AND HOW AUSTIN WATER WILL MANAGE THAT.
OUR, OUR PRELIMINARY RESEARCH ED WITH THE HELP OF OUR FRIENDS AT THE HILL COUNTRY ALLIANCE, WHO HAVE PUT TOGETHER THIS WONDERFUL GUIDE, UM, FOR DEALING WITH DATA CENTERS.
UM, SO WE'VE GOT A LITTLE INFORMATION THAT WE'VE, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO, TO FIND AND, UM, AND HAS, HAS PROVIDED SOME INSIGHT.
UM, WE'VE LEARNED THAT DATA CENTERS TEND TO LOCATE IN SMALL TOWNS BECAUSE THE LAND IS CHEAPER.
THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT INFRASTRUCTURE, THEY FIGURE THAT OUT LATER.
SO IT BEHOOVES LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO HAVE A PLAN.
UM, WHILE THE LAND IN EAST AUSTIN MAY NOT BE CHEAP, ITS DESIGNATION AS A DESIRED DEVELOPMENT ZONE, COUPLED WITH TAX INCENTIVES CERTAINLY PRESENTS A BIG WELCOME SIGN WITH EAST AUSTIN IN SUCH A VULNERABLE POSITION.
DOES THE SERVICE EXTENSION REQUIREMENT, UM, FROM THE AUSTIN WATER OFFER MORE REQUIREMENTS FOR WATER GUZZLERS OR RESTRICTIONS FOR WATER GUZZLERS LIKE DATA CENTERS? AND IF NOT, PERHAPS IT'S TIME TO REVISIT AND REVISE THE SER.
WE'VE SEEN THE CONCERN REGARDING DATA CENTERS FROM OUR NEIGHBORS AND TAYLOR AND SAN MARCUS, BUT A QUICK GOOGLE SEARCH SHOWS THAT AT LEAST 40 DATA CENTERS HAVE ALREADY LOCATED IN AUSTIN AND MORE WILL BE COMING.
WHAT MEASURES DO WE HAVE IN PLACE TO MINIMIZE THEIR IMPACT? WERE THEY REQUIRED TO USE EFFICIENT COOLING TECHNOLOGIES LIKE A COLD CLOSED LOOP, LIQUID COOLING SYSTEM? DID WE OFFER INCENTIVES TO ENCOURAGE THEM TO USE RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES? WHERE POSSIBLE? DID WE REQUIRE THEM TO USE RECLAIMED WATER AND ONSITE WATER REUSE FOR NON POTABLE DEMANDS? DID WE REQUIRE THEM TO INSTALL DIRECT METERING TO TRACK WATER AND ENERGY USAGE FOR COOLING? THESE ARE JUST SOME OF THE ISSUES THAT WE'RE CONCERNED ABOUT.
THERE ARE MORE, UH, REGARDING LANDSCAPING.
ARE THEY REQUIRED TO USE DROUGHT RESISTANT PLANTS AND MINIMIZE, UM, THE USE OF WATER FOR LANDSCAPING, THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO WE WOULD BE VERY HAPPY TO WORK WITH THE TASK FORCE AND AUSTIN WATER STAFF TO ADDRESS THESE CONCERNS.
AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND ATTENTION.
UM, AND I FEEL LIKE THIS IS AN EMERGING ISSUE THAT WE'RE ALL TRYING TO WRAP OUR ARMS AROUND.
LIKE THAT REPORT FROM HILL COUNTRY ALLIANCE JUST CAME OUT.
THERE WAS A GROUP THAT PARTICIPATED IN A, YOU KNOW, UM, MEETING ABOUT THAT TO KIND OF TALK ABOUT WHAT IS ALL THE INFORMATION THAT WE KNOW, I KNOW AT THE STATE THAT THEY'RE REALLY TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO INCLUDE DATA CENTERS IN A REAL WAY IN THE STATE WATER PLAN.
LIKE HOW TO QUANTIFY THAT WATER USE AND IT'S GOING INDUSTRIAL AND HOW DO THEY RIGHT.
UM, YOU KNOW, AND THEN, AND I'M JUST EVEN KIND OF OUTSIDE OF THE TASK FORCE, BUT JUST AM I WORK IN WATER? UM, LIKE WHAT IS IT THAT COMMUNITIES CAN DO? WHAT ARE THEY ABLE TO DO? UM, IT'S LIKE ALL HAPPENING IN REAL TIME AND VERY DYNAMIC.
UM, SO YOU BRING UP A LOT OF REALLY GOOD POINTS AND I REALLY LOVE ALL THE SOLUTIONS THAT YOU PRESENTED THERE TOO, FOR FOLKS TO CONSIDER AS SO, SO THANK YOU.
I DON'T KNOW IF, IF, UH, THE FOLKS AT, AT THE AUSTIN WATER HAVE ANY KIND, HAVE COMMENTS OR RESPONSES ON HOW YOU'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT DATA CENTERS? SO, KEVIN NDA, AUSTIN WATER.
UM, THANKS FOR BRINGING THAT UP.
[00:05:01]
WE'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DISCUSS THE ITEM TODAY, BUT CERTAINLY WE HAVE BEEN INVOLVED AND ENGAGED IN, UH, CITYWIDE EFFORTS, LOOKING AT THE IMPACTS OF DATA CENTERS ACROSS OUR COMMUNITY.UM, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS, SEVERAL COUNCIL MEMBERS, UM, ISSUED AN INSTRUCTION FROM COUNCIL, UM, PROBABLY A YEAR AND A HALF AGO ON THE TOPIC.
SO I DO BELIEVE THAT THERE WILL BE A REPORT OUT SHORTLY ON THAT PARTICULAR TOPIC.
UM, YOU KNOW, GENERALLY MANAGING LARGE LOADS, DATA CENTERS PARTICULARLY, UM, CERTAINLY HAS ITS CHALLENGES IF YOU, YOU HAVE INDICATED, UM, WE ARE AWARE OF THOSE AND, YOU KNOW, CONTINUE TO TRY TO WORK TO, UM, UH, MITIGATE THOSE CHALLENGES AND USE THINGS LIKE ALTERNATIVE WATER SOURCES AS, AS AN EXAMPLE.
UH, WE'RE ALSO VERY ENGAGED WITH, UM, OUR, UH, COLLEAGUES IN AUSTIN ENERGY, UM, AND OTHER UTILITY PROVIDERS TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND MORE ABOUT IT.
UM, ULTIMATELY THE CHALLENGE BEING THAT OUR COMMUNITY ALSO NEEDS DATA CENTERS, THAT WE HAVE SIGNIFICANT, UM, UH, AND GROWING DEMANDS FOR DATA AND THE MANAGEMENT OF THAT DATA FOR ALL MANNERS OF THINGS.
AND SO TRYING TO BALANCE THOSE, UM, WILL CONTINUE TO BE A, A, A CHALLENGE AND AN OPPORTUNITY WE'LL CONTINUE TO WORK ON.
MAYBE, UM, WE SHOULD LOOK INTO WHEN THAT REPORT COMES OUT, IF THERE'S A WATER COMPONENT TO IT.
I MEAN, I KNOW THAT THERE'S A LOT OF OTHER CONSIDERATIONS AROUND DATA CENTERS.
UM, MAYBE WHEN THAT COMES OUT, WE COULD HAVE AN AGENDA ITEM AT A TASK FORCE MEETING.
SO DATA CENTERS ARE BIG, UM, FROM WHAT I'VE READ.
UM, AND IF THEY'RE OVER 250,000 SQUARE FEET, WOULD THAT TRIGGER A SPECIAL CONSULTATION WITH AUSTIN WATER TO TALK ABOUT, UM, ONSITE REUSE AND THINGS LIKE THAT? YEAH, SO CURRENT CURRENT CODE REQUIRES ANY DEVELOPMENT THAT COMES INTO THE CITY OF AUSTIN SITE DEVELOPMENT PLAN.
IT WOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH OUR WATER BENCHMARKING CALCULATION PROCESS.
AND SO THAT GIVES US AN OPPORTUNITY TODAY THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE TWO YEARS AGO TO TRY TO BETTER UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT THE DETAILS OF THOSE WATER USES ARE.
YEAH, IT'S GOOD TO, TO SEE THAT SOME OF THOSE THINGS THAT WE'VE IMPLEMENTED THROUGH AUSTIN WATER AND THROUGH WATERFORD, HOW THEY'RE LANDING WHEN THESE THINGS COME UP.
I THINK IT WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR US.
IS THERE A WAY FOR US TO FIND THAT INFORMATION OR LOCATION ON THE WEBPAGE WHERE WE CAN GET THAT, YOU KNOW, TO FIND OUT EXACTLY LIKE SOME, LIKE YOU'RE SAYING THAT, THAT, UH, IF IT'S LARGER THAN 250,000 SQUARE FEET, THEN YOU WILL REQUIRE USE.
YEAH, WE CAN FOLLOW UP WITH YOU OFF.
YEAH, WE WOULD JUST A BETTER IDEA.
GIVE YOU SOME, SOME BREADCRUMBS TO FIND THAT INFORMATION.
I DO BELIEVE IT IS, WILL BE PUBLISHED VERY SHORTLY.
THANK YOU FOR COMING, VALERIE.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
OKAY, THE NEXT ITEM IN OUR AGENDA IS THE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE JUNE TASK FORCE MEETING, UM, JUNE 10TH, 2025.UM, WE DID NOT HAVE AN AUGUST MEETING, IS THAT CORRECT? BECAUSE I WAS LIKE, BUT WE MISSED OUR LAST ONE.
HOW'S IT? AND I'M REALIZING IT'S LIKE OCTOBER RIGHT NOW.
UH, WE DIDN'T HAVE AN AUGUST MEETING BECAUSE WE DID NOT HAVE A QUORUM.
DO I, UM, HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES? YES, REMAINING.
ANY DISCUSSION? ALL IN FAVOR? AYE.
YEAH, I ALSO DIDN'T PARTICIPATE IN 2 3, 4.
CAN WE APPROVE THAT? NOT REQUIRED TO HAVE PARTICIPATED.
[2. Update on Lower Colorado River and Highland Lakes water supply conditions]
SO LET'S MOVE INTO, UM, AN UPDATE ON THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER HIGHLAND LAKES WATER SUPPLY CONDITIONS.EMILY RAFFERTY WITH AUSTIN WATER.
I'M GONNA GIVE Y'ALL THE UPDATE ON THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER AND HIGHLAND LAKES WATER SUPPLY CONDITIONS TODAY.
SO THIS GRAPH SHOWS THE HIGHLAND LAKES INFLOWS IN ACRE FEET.
AND EACH MONTH YOU CAN SEE THERE'S FOUR BARS.
THE BAR ON THE FAR THIS LEFT SHOWS THE AVERAGE INFLOWS FROM 1942 TO PRESENT DAY.
THE NEXT BAR IS NAVY BLUE AND IT SHOWS THE AVERAGE INFLOWS BETWEEN 2008 TO 2015, WHICH IS OUR DROUGHT OF RECORD.
[00:10:01]
BAR SHOWS OUR INFLOWS IN 2024.AND THEN THE LAST BAR IN PURPLE SHOWS OUR INFLOWS FROM THIS YEAR IN 2025.
UM, SO AS Y'ALL PROBABLY KNOW, WE HAD SIGNIFICANT INFLOWS IN JULY OF THIS YEAR.
UM, WE GOT AROUND 760,000 ACRE FEET OF INFLOWS IN JULY, AND THEN IN AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER WE'VE HAD RELATIVELY LOW INFLOWS.
OKAY, SO THIS IS SHOWING LAKE BUCHANAN AND TRAVIS COMBINED STORAGE FROM 2005 TO OCTOBER 1ST, 2025.
SO AS Y'ALL CAN SEE, IT SPIKED PRETTY HIGH UP.
UM, WE REACHED ABOUT 1.9 MILLION ACRE FEET IN JULY, AND SINCE THEN IT'S BEEN A PRETTY STEADY DECLINE.
AND OUR CURRENT COMBINED STORAGE IS ABOUT 1.76 MILLION ACRE FEET.
NEXT SLIDE OF, OKAY, SO THIS IS SHOWING THE US DROUGHT MONITORS DROUGHT MAP IN TEXAS.
SO AS YOU CAN SEE, TRAVIS COUNTY IS BOLDED IN BLACK.
AND SO THE WESTERN PORTION OF TRAVIS COUNTY IS IN MODERATE DROUGHT THAT'S SEEN IN THE TAN COLOR.
AND THEN THE MORE EASTERN PORTION OF TRAVIS COUNTY IS IN SEVERE DROUGHT IN ORANGE.
AND MOST OF THE COLORADO RIVER BASIN IS CURRENTLY IN SOME FORM OF DROUGHT.
THERE'S A FEW POCKETS THAT ARE IN NO DROUGHT, BUT THERE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN.
SO HERE'S NOAH'S THREE MONTH OUTLOOK FROM NOVEMBER THROUGH JANUARY.
SO THEY'RE EXPECTING ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND BELOW AVERAGE PRECIPITATION.
NEXT SLIDE, WHICH THAT IS PRETTY IN LINE WITH NOAH'S EL NINO SOUTHERN OSCILLATION FORECAST.
SO LINE NINA CONDITIONS ARE CURRENTLY PRESENT IN OUR FAVOR TO PERSIST FROM DECEMBER, 2025 THROUGH JANUARY OF 2026.
SO AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE GRAPH, THE BLUE BARS ARE LINE NINA, SO THEY'RE MUCH HIGHER THAN THE OTHER BARS.
AND THEN IT STARTS KIND OF AROUND JANUARY TO SWITCH INTO THE NEUTRAL BEING MORE LIKELY.
SO A TRANSITION INTO ENSO NEUTRAL IS LIKELY BETWEEN JANUARY THROUGH MARCH OF 2026 AND IT'S A 55% CHANCE, BUT THEY'RE PREDICTING A WEAK LINE.
UM, AND JUST AS A REMINDER LINE, NINA TYPICALLY BRINGS WARMER AND DRIER CONDITIONS TO TEXAS, ESPECIALLY IN THE WINTER MONTHS.
OKAY, SO HERE'S RA'S COMBINED STORAGE PROJECTION.
SO THE BLUE BAR THAT YOU SEE GOING ACROSS, UM, OVER TIME FROM SEPTEMBER OF 2024 TO AUGUST, OR NO, NOT AUGUST, OCTOBER 1ST, WHERE IT HITS THE YELLOW LINE IS ACTUAL DATA OF THE COMBINED STORAGE.
AND THEN AFTER THAT YELLOW LINE, IT'S PROJECTIONS.
SO THE PROJECTIONS SPAN FROM THE WETTEST CONDITIONS WITH THE GREEN DOT DOTTED LINE AND THEN EXTREME DRY CONDITIONS, WHICH ARE THE 99TH PERCENTILE IN THE RED DOTTED LINE AT THE BOTTOM.
AND WE HAVE A LITTLE.TO SHOW OUR CURRENT STORAGE RIGHT TO THE RIGHT OF THAT YELLOW LINE.
AND IT SHOWS THAT WE'RE TRACKING BELOW THE EXTREME DRY CONDITIONS.
UM, YEAH, SO OUR CURRENT STORAGE IS ABOUT 88% FULL.
AND IF WE KEEP TRACKING ALONG THE EXTREME DRY CONDITIONS, UM, IT LOOKS LIKE WE WILL HIT ABOUT 1.65 MILLION ACRE FEET, UM, BY APRIL OF 2026.
ANY QUESTIONS? YEAH, ARE THERE ANY MICROPHONE? ARE THERE ANY LARGER, UM, CUSTOMERS THAT ARE CURRENTLY ABOUT TO COME ONLINE THAT WOULD DEPLETE THE ACRE STORAGE MORE SIGNIFICANTLY THAT YOU GUYS KNOW ARE LIKE IN THE WORKS CURRENTLY? I KNOW LCRA TAKES THAT INTO CONSIDERATION TO THEIR LONG-TERM FORECASTING.
UM, BUT I DON'T KNOW OF ANY SPECIFIC THAT ARE PLANNED TO COME ONLINE THAT WOULD CHANGE THIS PROJECTION DRASTICALLY.
YEAH, I'M NOT REALLY, I'M NOT REALLY SURE HOW TO, UM, PHRASE THIS QUESTION INTELLIGENTLY, SO GOOD LUCK.
RESIDENTIAL OUTDOOR WATERING IS A BIG ISSUE FOR US IN TERMS OF OUR OWN WATER CONSUMPTION
[00:15:01]
AT THE UTILITY.AND WE GOT A LOT OF RAIN ALL AT ONCE.
AND WHEN PEOPLE ASK ME, I SAY IT'S A GOOD START ON GOING BACK DOWN, WHICH IS KIND OF WHAT THOSE GRAPHS LOOK LIKE.
AND SO I'M JUST WONDERING HOW, HOW ARE YOU GUYS THINKING ABOUT COMMUNICATION AND OUTREACH IN TERMS OF PEOPLE CHANGING THEIR BEHAVIOR? BECAUSE WE CAME OUT OF DROUGHT STAGES AND THINGS GOT WET, BUT THEN IT GOT REALLY HOT AGAIN.
AND I MEAN, DO YOU, LIKE, HOW DO YOU, HOW DO YOU REACT AS A UTILITY? WHAT DO YOU SEE IN TERMS OF PROJECTIONS FOR OUTDOOR WATERING AND HOW DO YOU COMMUNICATE ABOUT IT? GO AHEAD.
CAN I ADD DO AN ADD-ON TO THAT SO YOU CAN JUST ANSWER ALL AT ONCE? PLEASE DO.
AND, UM, UH, WHAT CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE IN OUR DROUGHT STAGE AS FAR AS, YOU KNOW, AND IN, IN RELATION TO ALL OF THAT AS WELL.
AND JUST ONE THING TO NOTE IS THAT WE ALSO HAVE OUR QUARTERLY REPORT PRESENTATION OH, TOO.
SO SOME OF MAY BE A APPROPRIATE PLACE FOR THIS.
SO I'LL, I'LL DO JUST A QUICK ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION.
I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY, YOU KNOW, WITH THE RAINS LIKE WE SAW IN JULY, UM, CERTAINLY REGIONALLY IT'S VERY IMPORTANT AND VERY MEANINGFUL TO OUR OVERALL REGIONAL WATER SUPPLY.
UM, BUT I WILL ALSO SAY THAT OUR MESSAGING HAS IMMEDIATELY SHIFTED.
I MEAN, ONCE WE TOOK US OUT OF OUR REGULAR, OUR, UH, STAGE TWO E UM, SORRY ABOUT THIS, OUR STAGE TWO WATER CONSERVATION AND BACK TO OUR STANDARD CONSERVATION, UM, STAGE, UM, OUR NARRATIVE BEGAN IMMEDIATELY, HEY, WE'RE OUT OF THE DROUGHT, BUT NOW'S THE TIME TO CONTINUE SAVING WATER.
RIGHT? AND SO IT'S AN ONGOING MESSAGE.
IT'S PART OF OUR, UM, GENERAL OUTREACH THAT WE DO.
UM, AND KEVIN WILL TALK ABOUT SORT OF THE STATUS OF A VARIETY OF OUR DIFFERENT, UM, COMMUNICATION AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES.
UM, BUT OBVIOUSLY, YOU KNOW, IT CHANGING BEHAVIORS, A LONG RANGE, UM, INVESTMENT AND, YOU KNOW, WE'LL CONTINUE TO WORK ON THAT.
UM, ALL THE WHILE REMINDING PEOPLE THAT JUST BECAUSE THE HIGHLAND LAKES ARE FULL DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULD, UH, BE IRRESPONSIBLE WITH YOUR WATER USE.
I GUESS I WOULD SAY, AND YOU, YOU PROBABLY DIDN'T MEAN TO SAY IT THIS WAY, BUT WE'RE NOT OUT OF DROUGHT.
WE'RE ACTUALLY AN EXTREME DROUGHT, BUT, BUT OUR, OUR WATER SUPPLY DEFICIT HAS BEEN, UH, YES, ABSOLUTELY RELIEVED SOMEWHAT.
IT'S ALMOST LIKE THOUGH I WISH WE DIDN'T EVEN SAY WE'RE IN EXTREME DROUGHT, IT'S MORE LIKE, THIS IS WHERE WE LIVE AND THIS IS HOW IT IS.
AND IT'S ALWAYS GONNA BE THIS WAY.
LIKE HOW DO WE DEFINE IT SO THAT WE JUST LIVE IN A WATER SCARCE REGION? I THINK THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT.
AND WHEN WE WERE PLANNING THE MESSAGING FOR COMING BACK TO CONSERVATION STAGE, FIRST OF ALL, I THINK IT'S REALLY HELPFUL THAT WE NAMED IT CONSERVATION STAGE, UM, MANY YEARS AGO BECAUSE I THINK THAT REINFORCES, UM, THE FACT THAT WE NEED PEOPLE TO CONSERVE ALL THE TIME, ALL YEAR LONG.
UM, AND I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS FOR US TO BE THINKING ABOUT AS WE MOVE FORWARD IS, YOU KNOW, HOW DO WE MORE EFFECTIVELY CHANGE BEHAVIOR AS WE GET INTO THE DROUGHT STAGES ONE AND TWO? AND SO I THINK WE, WHAT IN MY MIND, WHAT THIS INCREASE IN STORAGE IN THE RESERVOIRS HAS GIVEN US IS RUNWAY TO, TO REALLY BE MORE PROGRAMMATICALLY THOUGHTFUL ABOUT HOW WE GET READY FOR, YOU KNOW, THE, THE NEXT TIME THE LAKES ARE, ARE VERY LOW.
BECAUSE I KNOW, I KNOW I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE IN THIS ROOM THAT HAS TRACKED THESE LCRA GRAPHS FOR MORE THAN TWO DECADES, AND I'VE, I'VE NEVER SEEN IT TRACK BELOW THE RED LINE.
CAN YOU REMEMBER A TIME THERESA, WHEN IT TRACKED BELOW THE RED LINE THERE, THERE WERE SOME TIMES IN THE 20 TEEN DROUGHT, OUR, OUR NEWEST DROUGHT OF RECORD WHEN THEY DID, AND IT WAS KIND OF MIND BOGGLING AND YEAH.
UM, AND THOSE PERIODS WERE NOT SUPER LONG AND SUSTAINED, BUT THEY, THEY DID A LITTLE BIT THEN.
I MEAN, THIS, THIS HAS BEEN EYEOPENING, YOU KNOW, TO SEE THAT RIGHT AWAY, UH, COMING OFF OF, YOU KNOW, THE, THE EVENT THAT WE HAD IN JULY.
SO I, I'LL, I'LL REPHRASE THAT.
NOT NEVER, BUT RARELY, VERY RARELY.
SO RARELY ENOUGH THAT IT'S, I FIND IT A LITTLE BIT TERRIFYING.
SO YEAH, WE KNOW THAT THIS IS, YOU KNOW, LIKE THIS IS A, A, UM, UH, A LITTLE BIT OF BREATHING ROOM, BUT NOT A RELIEF FROM THE DROUGHT.
IT'S LIKE GETTING THOSE, UH, THOSE STIMULUS CHECKS.
[3. Update on Austin Water’s water distribution system water loss and mitigation]
MOVE ON TO A EXCITING[00:20:01]
TOPIC.WATER LOSS AND, AND WATER LOSS MITIGATION.
WHAT ARE WE DOING ABOUT IT? BRIEFING WITH THE NEW AUSTIN SLIDES AND BRANDING ON IT.
DOES EVERYBODY OUT THERE HAVE A COPY OF THE PACKET? DO PEOPLE HAVE, DO WE HAVE COPIES FOR FOLKS OR? NO? WE'LL PROBABLY BE AGENDA, JUST PEOPLE NEED ONE BECAUSE WE'VE GOT SOME SPARES IF FOLKS WANNA FOLLOW ALONG.
I MEAN, ESPECIALLY ON SOMETHING LIKE THIS.
I'M THE DIVISION MANAGER, PIPELINE ENGINEERING AND OPERATION SUPPORT AT AUSTIN WATER.
AND SO THIS AFTERNOON I'M GONNA UPDATE YOU ON OUR LATEST NUMBERS RELATED TO WATER LOSS AND WHAT WE'RE DOING TO MITIGATE WATER LOSSES.
UH, SO I'M JUST GOING TO HAVE A QUICK OVERVIEW OF, UH, WHERE WE'RE AT IN PARTICULAR, FOCUSING ON OUR CHANGES FROM THE 2023 NUMBERS TO OUR LATEST NUMBERS, WHICH ARE FOR CALENDAR YEAR 24.
TALK ABOUT ALL THE ACTIONS WE'RE DOING TO REDUCE WATER LOSS AND, AND WHAT OUR NEXT STEPS ARE.
SO KNOW YOU'RE ALL AWARE, UH, YOU KNOW, OUR LARGE SYSTEM OVER 4,000 MILES OF PIPELINE AND, YOU KNOW, EVERY UTILITY'S GONNA HAVE, UH, SOME WATER LOSSES.
UH, BUT WE HAVE FOR A LONG TIME TAKE TAKEN A MULTI-PRONGED APPROACH TO REDUCING OUR WATER LOSSES, TO MANAGING THEM AS BEST WE CAN.
YOU KNOW, FOLLOWING INDUSTRY BEST PRACTICES.
WE RESPOND TO LEAKS VERY QUICKLY.
UM, WE'VE BEEN RENEWING OUR LEAK LEAKY INFRASTRUCTURE, AND I'LL GO INTO DETAIL ON THAT ON, ON A FEW SLIDES.
AND OF COURSE, UH, CONDUCTING PROACTIVE LEAK DETECTION.
SO I, YOU KNOW, I MENTIONED WE'RE DOING ALL THESE THINGS, UH, AND YET, YOU KNOW, UM, THIS IS WHERE WE'RE AT.
THIS IS THE GRAPH OF OUR ILI, WHICH I'LL TALK ABOUT IN JUST A SECOND.
THE, THE REAL DEFINITION OF THAT, JUST GO OVER THAT AGAIN, BUT JUST BASICALLY THAT GREEN LINE IS A DEPICTION OF WHERE OUR WATER LOSSES HAVE BEEN YEAR OVER YEAR.
UM, AND SO, UH, WE'VE BEEN INCREASING AND THAT'S NOT WHERE WE, WHERE WE WANNA BE, UH, WITH A SIGNIFICANT JUMP FROM 23 TO 24.
AND I'VE GOT ALL SIDE WHERE, UH, WHERE I'LL TALK ABOUT THAT.
BUT THERE'S OUR, OUR, UH, LATEST INFORMATION THAT'S ABOUT A 30%, UH, INCREASE FROM, UH, 23 TO 24.
UH, UH, SO JUST REAL QUICK ON ILI, UH, SOME OF YOU MAYBE, YOU KNOW, THE INDUSTRY USED TO TALK IN TERMS OF PERCENTAGES, MAYBE A 20% WATER LOSS OR A 15% OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
AND REALLY, THE INDUSTRY DETERMINED THAT WASN'T A REALLY GOOD MEASURE.
ONE OF THE BIG REASONS THAT'S NOT A GOOD WAY TO MEASURE IS IF YOU JUST USE A LOT OF WATER, THEN YOUR PERCENT LOSS IS LOWER.
UH, AND SO THIS ILI TERM, UH, UH, WAS, UM, UH, CREATED AND IT'S, IT'S REALLY JUST A RATIO OF YOUR REAL LOSSES, ACTUAL LOSSES FROM THE SYSTEM, MOLECULES OF WATER AS, AS SOME SAY, DIVIDED BY AN UNAVOIDABLE ANNUAL REAL LOSS.
AND THAT IS LOSS THAT YOU CANNOT PREVENT.
IT'S, IT'S, UH, THE THEORETICAL MINIMUM.
UH, AND SO THE INDUSTRY, A WWA WORKED AND CAME UP WITH, UM, IT'S CALCULATED BASED ON MILES, WATER MAINS, NUMBER OF SERVICE CONNECTIONS, UH, AND YOUR AVERAGE SYSTEM PRESSURE.
SO THE ILI, AGAIN, IS THAT RATIO OF REAL LOSS TO UNAVOIDABLE ANNUAL REAL LOSS.
BUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT LOSSES, THERE'S ANOTHER TERM, APPARENT LOSSES, UH, AND THAT'S NOT, UH, REAL LOSSES.
THE WAY I EXPLAINED THAT ONE IS THAT'S WHEN WE SEND A HUNDRED GALLONS TO A CUSTOMER, BUT THEIR METER SAYS THEY GOT 98.
SO IT LOOKS LIKE IN THE SYSTEM WE LOST TWO GALLONS, BUT WE REALLY DIDN'T, IT, IT JUST DIDN'T GET, UH, ACCOUNTED FOR CORRECTLY.
AND SO, JUST WANTED TO GO OVER THOSE TERMS. 'CAUSE THEY'LL GET MENTIONED MULTIPLE TIMES WHILE, WHILE WE'RE TALKING HERE.
ALL RIGHT, HERE YOU GO, JENNIFER.
SO I MENTIONED THAT 30% INCREASE.
UM, AS MOST OF YOU ARE AWARE, I THINK MAYBE EVERYBODY, UM, WE HAD BLACK AND VEATCH DO A REVIEW OF OUR WATER LOSS PROGRAM.
UM, AND WHILE THEY WERE DOING THAT IN EARLY 2024, WE IDENTIFIED AN ISSUE WITH SOME, UH, PRODUCTION FLOW MEASUREMENTS AT ONE OF THE PLANTS.
AND SO THAT WAS CORRECTED FOR 2024.
[00:25:01]
HAD AN IMPACT OF, UH, INCREASING, UH, WHAT WE WERE MEASURING GOING INTO THE SYSTEM.UM, AND, AND EVEN BLACK AND VEATCH MENTIONS IN THE REPORT THAT CALCULATING EXACTLY THE IMPACT OF FIXING THAT PROBLEM IS A VERY COMPLICATED THING, VERY DIFFICULT TO DO.
THAT'S WHY I'VE GOT HERE THIS, YOU KNOW, HALF A BILLION TO A BILLION GALLONS IS THE IMPACT OF MAKING THAT CORRECTION.
UH, BUT THAT'S A SIGNIFICANT, UH, UH, A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE JUMP FROM 23 TO 24 WAS CAPTURING THIS ISSUE THAT WE HAD WITH, WITH FLOW MEASUREMENT.
SO THAT'S BEEN CORRECTED IN PART OF THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS, OUR WAYS THAT WE KEEP ON TOP, UH, OF OUR FLOW MEASUREMENTS TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT DATA STAYS ACCURATE AND PRECISE GOING FORWARD.
IT WAS UNDER MEASURING BY, UH, HALF TO 1 MILLION, RIGHT? FOR 23, BUT WE CAPTURED IT CORRECTLY IN 24.
UM, THE SECOND BIG ITEM WAS, UH, REPORTING ACCOUNTING FOR MUNICIPAL WATER USE IN 23.
IT HAD BEEN HANDLED CORRECTLY IN ALL THE PREVIOUS YEARS.
IN 23, THERE WAS, UM, KIND OF A GLITCH IN THE SYSTEM.
UH, AND SO THAT WAS, UH, AGAIN, ANOTHER THING THAT IS, UH, WAS REALLY AN ACCOUNTING THING, UH, THAT, THAT WE CAPTURED.
AND SO THAT WAS, UH, HAD A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE INCREASE AS WELL.
UH, AND THEN THE THIRD ITEM THERE IS JUST OUR REAL LOSSES.
UM, YOU KNOW, SOMEWHERE IN THE FIVE TO 12% INCREASE, UH, IN REAL LOSSES.
BUT THE, THE BIG JUMP, THE REASON IT'S MORE LIKE 30% INSTEAD OF SAY FIVE OR 10%, UH, WERE THOSE OTHER ITEMS WHERE WE FOUND SOME PROBLEMS AND CORRECTED THEM.
I FEEL LIKE THIS IS A GOOD PLACE FOR ME MAYBE TO PAUSE AND SEE IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.
CAN, CAN YOU GIVE A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE PROBLEM IN ONE OF THE PLANTS? YEAH.
SO, UH, THERE WERE A COUPLE OF METERS, UH, THAT THEY HAVE RANGES SET TO 'EM.
AND I'M, I'M NOT A SCADA GUY, BUT I, I'VE TALKED WITH THEM, UM,
AND SO THEY WERE SET WHERE THEY WERE TOPPING OUT, WHEN IN REALITY THERE'S MORE WATER GOING THROUGH 'EM.
BUT THEY WERE, THEY, UH, THEY HAD AN UPPER END TO IT.
UM, AND SO THAT WAS JUST AN ERROR IN THE, UH, WAY THAT THAT WAS SET UP.
AND SO THAT GOT ADJUSTED TO, UH, TO BE CORRECTED SO THAT WE'RE CAPTURING ALL OF THAT.
SO IT'S PRETTY MUCH A CALIBRATION ISSUE.
HOW ABOUT THE REAL LOSS? WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT AND WHY DID IT GO UP? WELL, SO IN THE AUDIT PROCESS, THE WAY YOU COME UP WITH THE REAL LOSSES IS YOU'VE GOT WHAT COMES INTO YOUR SYSTEM, AND THEN YOU TAKE OUT EVERYTHING, RIGHT? ALL THE, ALL THE METERED, UH, WHICH YOU, UH, UH, YOUR ESTIMATES FOR FLUSHING AND, AND EVERYTHING ELSE.
UM, AND SO THAT'S JUST WHAT'S, WHAT'S LEFT FROM THAT.
AND SO I I, AND WE'LL GO INTO THIS MORE DETAIL.
I BELIEVE THE REAL LOSS INCREASES.
A LOT OF THAT IS REALLY TIED TO OUR SERVICE LINES, AND I'LL TALK ABOUT THAT, UH, IN DEPTH.
JUST TO CLARIFY, UHHUH
SO IF YOU LOOK AT THE WATER LOSS TRENDS AND GOALS MM-HMM
TREND LINE, THE GRAPH AGAIN MM-HMM
IT REALLY, THAT 20, 23 POINT NATURALLY SHOULD BE A LITTLE HIGHER.
RIGHT? SO WE SHOULD HAVE MORE OF A SMOOTH INCREASE FROM 20.
UM, OKAY, BECAUSE YOU SAID ALL THE OTHER YEARS THERE WAS THAT GLITCH WAS NOT, YEAH.
IN, IN PARTICULAR, THE, THE MUNICIPAL WATER USE, WHAT WE CAN IDENTIFY THAT WAS AN ISSUE, UH, SOLELY TO 2023, THE METERING ISSUES, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, UH, CONTINUALLY, WE DO OUR CALIBRATIONS AND EVERYTHING, AND IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO KIND OF BACKTRACK AND CALCULATE EXACTLY WHAT THOSE IMPACTS WERE IN WHICH YEARS.
BUT WHAT WE KNOW IS WE CORRECTED IT IN 24 AND, UH, KEEPING AN EYE ON THAT TO MAKE SURE IT STAYS ACCURATE.
YOUR LIGHT WAS ON, SO I'LL JUST CHECK IN.
UH, SO I'VE ALLUDED TO THE BLACK INVI REPORT, WHICH WAS RELEASED LAST FALL, AND, AND WE PRESENTED HERE, UH, THEY GAVE US 32 RECOMMENDATIONS ON, UH, ON IMPROVEMENTS, UH, THAT WE COULD DO, DID INDICATE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE VERY ENGAGED AND WE'RE DOING A LOT OF GOOD THINGS, UH, BUT DID GIVE US RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, FOR IMPROVEMENT.
UH, NINE OF THOSE 32 ARE WHAT ARE COMPLETE OR OPERATIONALIZED, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE PART OF, UH, HOW WE DO BUSINESS.
THAT, AND ACTUALLY I CAN UPDATE, IT SAYS 15 HERE AT 18, UH, IN PROGRESS, AND, AND FIVE OF THEM REALLY IN PROGRESS.
BUT THE RECOMMENDATION ITSELF RELIES ON SOMETHING THAT HAS TO COME BEFORE IT AND BE COMPLETED BEFORE IT.
MOST OF THOSE ARE ALONG THE LINES OF, UM, UH, DATA MANAGEMENT THINGS RELATED TO A MI, OUR A MI 2.0 PROGRAM HERE AT THE UTILITY THAT WE'RE WORKING ON IS TAKING THAT,
[00:30:01]
LEVERAGING THAT A MI NETWORK TO ADD ON THINGS LIKE THE LEAK DETECTION AND SOME OF THE PRESSURE MANAGEMENT AND PRESSURE MONITORING DISTRICT METERED AREAS, WHICH I'LL TALK ABOUT, UH, UH, LATER.SO ALL OF THESE WE'RE MOVING, UH, FORWARD ON AND, AND, UH, MAKING A LOT, UH, A LOT OF PROGRESS ON WE'RE, YOU KNOW, IN THE, IN PROGRESS.
A COUPLE EXAMPLES IS SUGGESTIONS ON PRV MONITORING AND TRANSIENT TRANSIENT PRESSURE MONITORING.
UH, THAT'S A LOT OF DEVELOPING TECHNOLOGY.
THERE WE'RE PILOTING THINGS IN BOTH AREAS RIGHT NOW, AND IT'S, IT'S BOTH THE FIELD EQUIPMENT AND DATA COLLECTION, GETTING THAT DATA AND MANAGING THAT DATA.
SO, UH, AND A LOT OF THOSE IN PROGRESS ARE GONNA MOVE INTO THE, UH, COMPLETE OR OPERATIONALIZED HERE IN THE, IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.
WHAT WAS PRV MONITORING? UH, PRESSURE RELEASE VALVE.
SO IN OUR REDUCED PRESSURE ZONES, WE HAVE PVS TO REDUCE THOSE PRESSURES.
AND THOSE, THOSE ARE WHERE WE REALLY HAVE CONTROL OF OUR SYSTEM.
AND SO MONITORING THOSE, UH, CAN, UH, IT HELPS WITH DISTRICT METERED AREAS, WHICH I'LL TALK ABOUT SOME, UH, IN A MINUTE.
AND IT'S ALSO JUST A WAY TO MAKE SURE THAT 'CAUSE MANAGING PRESSURE IN YOUR SYSTEM IS ANOTHER WAY TO MANAGE LEAKAGE.
AND PRV AREAS ARE, ARE AREAS WHERE YOU CAN BE REALLY EFFECTIVE AT DOING THAT.
UM, OBVIOUSLY LEAK DETECTION'S AN IMPORTANT PART OF WATER LOSS.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE REPORT SAID BASICALLY KEEP ON DOING WHAT WE'RE DOING, COVERING OUR WHOLE SYSTEM ABOUT EVERY SIX YEARS.
UH, WE'VE BEEN DOING THAT, UH, FOR ABOUT 15 YEARS.
AND, AND WE'LL KEEP DOING THAT.
WE'VE GOT OUR NEXT CONTRACT GOING OUT FOR THAT, UM, RIGHT NOW.
BUT IN ADDITION TO THAT, UM, WE'RE LOOKING AT TAKING MORE OF THE DATA THAT WE'VE BEEN COLLECTING AND ANALYZING IT AND DOING SOME MORE TARGETED APPROACH ON OUR LEAK DETECTION.
UH, UH, SOME OF THAT ARE, ARE OTHER TYPES OF LEAK DETECTION.
UM, SO WE WANNA COVER OUR ENTIRE SYSTEM, UM, BUT WE'RE ALSO GONNA LOOK AT SOME TARGETED APPROACHES IN AREAS THAT ARE PARTICULAR, PARTICULARLY PROBLEMATIC.
UM, AND THEN WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE OUR LARGE DIAMETER LEAK DETECTION AND CONDITION ASSESSMENT PROGRAM.
IT'S A SEPARATE THING BECAUSE THE TECHNOLOGY IS DIFFERENT, UH, FOR THE LARGE DIAMETER MAINS THAN IT IS FOR THE SMALL DIAMETER MAINS.
SO IT'S DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGY, DIFFERENT APPROACH.
UM, AND WE'VE REALLY HAD SOME SUCCESSES ON THE CONDITION ASSESSMENT SIDE.
WE'VE GOT THE PICTURE HERE OF A PIPE WAS IN BAD SHAPE, AS YOU CAN TELL, AND WOULD'VE CAUSED A LOT OF PROBLEMS BESIDES JUST WATER LOSS IF IT HAD FAILED ON US.
BUT BY DOING OUR CONDITION ASSESSMENT PROGRAM, WE'RE ABLE TO PICK OUT THIS ONE PIPE AND THE ONE NEXT TO IT ON A FIVE MILE RUN OF PIPE.
THAT WAS THE ONLY ONES THAT HAD ISSUES AND ABLE TO, UNDER CONTROLLED CONDITIONS, MAKE THOSE REPAIRS AND REPLACEMENTS.
SO WE'RE GONNA KEEP, KEEP DOING THAT.
UM, AND THEN WE'RE PUTTING TOGETHER AN SOP, WE'VE, WE'VE, WE'VE GOT GOOD PRACTICES AND BLACK AND VEATCH INDICATED THAT, BUT CODIFYING THEM IN, IN SOPS RELATED TO OUR CONTRACT LANGUAGE, HOW WE MANAGE OUR DATA, UH, COLLECTING THE DATA THAT'S THAT SO MUCH KIND OF GOES THROUGH ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT RECOMMENDATIONS AS DATA MANAGEMENT.
AS YOU KNOW, WE TALKED ABOUT DATA CENTERS JUST A MINUTE AGO.
THERE'S A WHOLE LOT MORE DATA AVAILABLE NOW THAN WHEN I STARTED HERE IN 1992.
UM, UH, IT TAKES A LOT MORE TO KEEP UP WITH ALL OF THAT.
UM, AGAIN, SAME KIND OF THING WITH OUR STAFF TRAINING.
UH, CERTAINLY OUR LEAK DETECTION STAFF HAD HAD TRAINING, BUT WE'RE FORMALIZING EXACTLY WHAT THE REQUIREMENTS ARE FOR THAT AND, AND BRINGING THAT TRAINING ONLINE.
I MENTIONED ALREADY PILOTING NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND, AND WE'VE ADDED, UM, PER BLACK AND VEATCH'S RECOMMENDATIONS, INSPECTING OUR VAULTS ON OUR ARVS, WHICH IS OUR AIR RELEASE VALVES, UH, AND VALVES ON OUR LARGE TRANSMISSION MAINS.
THAT'S AN AREA WHERE YOU CAN LOOK IN AND, AND, AND SEE A LEAK.
SO IT'S KIND OF A, A, AN EASY WIN TO BE ABLE TO CHECK THOSE OUT.
SO WE'RE GETTING THAT INTO OUR STANDARD ROTATION.
UM, UH, AND LEAK DETECTION, YOU KNOW, THAT'S, UH, I RELATE THERE.
THE RESEARCHING THE, UH, PRESSURE TRANSIENT MONITORS AND THE PRESSURE REDUCING VALVE MONITORING ALREADY, UH, UH, REFERRED TO THAT.
THERE'S A LOT DEVELOPING IN THE INDUSTRY, TECHNOLOGY WISE THERE.
AND SO WE'RE TRYING TO FOLD THAT INTO WHAT, UH, WHAT WE'RE DOING.
AND THEN I WANNA TALK ABOUT SOMETHING THAT, THAT COMES OUTTA THE BLACK AND VEATCH REPORT AND SOMETHING OUR ANALYSIS AND LOOKING AT THINGS THAT ARE KIND OF TWO SEPARATE THINGS, BUT BOTH THINGS THAT WE NEED TO DO.
WE'RE, WE'RE BROADENING THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WITHIN THE UTILITY THAT ARE INVOLVED IN WATER LOSS.
WE'RE GETTING MORE PEOPLE INVOLVED.
UM, AND, AND SO THERE'LL BE MORE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN BROADENING IT OUT.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, WE'VE ALSO IDENTIFIED REALLY HAVING SOMEBODY WHO'S FULLTIME FOCUSED ON WATER LOSS.
UH, SO WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF HIRING AN ENGINEER THAT WILL BE OUR WATER LOSS.
THEY'LL HAVE A TEAM TO SUPPORT 'EM, UH, AND BE IN MY GROUP.
[00:35:01]
DIRECTLY FOCUSED FULL-TIME ON WATER LOSS WHILE AT THE SAME TIME GETTING MORE AREAS OF THE UTILITY INVOLVED IN WATER LOSS.YOU KNOW, OUR EFFECTIVE UTILITY MANAGEMENT, OUR EUM TEAM FOR WATER LOSS.
WE'VE GOT, UH, EVERYTHING FROM FINANCE, UH, TO SYSTEMS PLANNING TO ENGINEERING TO OPERATIONS INVOLVED.
UM, SO GET MORE PEOPLE INVOLVED AND HAVING SOMEONE REALLY FOCUSED ON WATER LOSS.
I APPRECIATE THE INCLUSION OF THE PHOTO.
IT'S NOT SOMETHING I GET TO SEE VERY OFTEN.
AND I JUST, I'M WONDERING LIKE WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS PIPE? SURE.
FOR THIS TO HAPPEN? WHAT WAS THE RISK? MAN, WE CAN TALK FOR A LOT THAT I LIKE THAT STUFF.
I MEAN, I DON'T LIKE IT LOOKING LIKE THAT, BUT, SO THAT'S, UH, WHAT'S CALLED PRESTRESS, CONCRETE CYLINDER PIPE UHHUH.
SO IT'S A CONCRETE CYLINDER AND IT'S WRAPPED WITH WIRE, AND THAT'S WHAT GIVES ITS, ITS ITS STRENGTH.
AND SO THOSE WIRES CORRODED AND DEGRADED AND ONCE ENOUGH OF 'EM DEGRADE, THEN THESE PIPES TEND TO FAIL IN CATASTROPHIC MANNER.
THEY DON'T LEAK A LITTLE BIT AND THEN A LITTLE BIT MORE, THEY DON'T LEAK.
AND THEN THEY, THEY COME APART, UH, UH, BECAUSE OF THAT.
AND SO THAT'S, THEY JUST, WE DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHY THOSE PARTICULAR WIRES, WHETHER, UH, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING HAPPENED DURING INSTALLATION OR MANUFACTURER.
UH, THAT'S WHY THE CONDITION ASSESSMENT IS A TOOL THAT FLOATS THROUGH THE PIPE OKAY.
AND USES ELECTRICAL SIGNALS TO DETERMINE WHERE WIRE WRAPS ARE BROKEN.
SO YOU DIDN'T, YOU DIDN'T IDENTIFY THIS THROUGH A LEAK THAT WAS DETECTED? IT WAS THROUGH A TEST.
IT WAS PROACTIVE CONDITION ASSESSMENT THAT IDENTIFIED IT.
SO THAT TECHNOLOGY WORKS SPECIFICALLY FOR THESE CONCRETE CYLINDER PIPES THAT ARE WRAPPED IN WIRE? YES.
THERE, THERE'S A LOT OF OTHER TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPING OUT THERE TO TO SENSE, UM, UH, THE CAN ITSELF AND THE BARS ON SOME OF THE BAR WRAP PIPE THAT AREN'T WIRE WRAPPED AND, UH, WALL THICKNESS ON SOME CAST IRON AND, AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
UH, BUT THIS IS WHEN WE'RE DOING CONDITION ASSESSMENT, IT'S THIS TYPE OF PIPE THAT, THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT.
AND WE KNOW IN AUSTIN, UM, WHERE ALL OF OUR PIPES ARE AND WHAT TYPE, 'CAUSE THERE'S A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT KINDS YES.
WE KNOW WHERE THEY ARE AND KIND OF WHAT THE BEST INTERVENTION TO KIND OF MONITOR THEM ARE.
AND, AND WE'VE, WE'VE ACTUALLY MONITORED SINCE WE'VE BEEN DOING THIS, UH, A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF OUR 48 INCH AND LARGER, UH, LARGER PIPE.
WE STILL HAVE, UH, SOME MORE TO DO, BUT, YOU KNOW, THIS ISN'T THE ONLY ONE THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO, UH, AVERT SOME REAL PROBLEMS WITH THROUGH THAT PROGRAM.
I FEEL LIKE, UM, JUST LOOKING INTO MY CRYSTAL BALL SUCH AS IT IS, IT'S NOT THAT GOOD, BUT, UM, IT'S A KIND OF LAME CRYSTAL BALL, BUT STILL THE TYPES OF LIKE THIS KIND OF LIKE LITTLE CASE STUDY, I WOULD START KIND OF CATALOGING THOSE AND HAVING THOSE IN YOUR POCKET BECAUSE OF THE FOCUS ON LARGE CITIES AND WHAT THEY'RE DOING ON WATER LOSS, UM, AND WHAT THEY'RE SPENDING AND STUFF TO BE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT HOW YOU'RE DEPLOYING, UM, TECHNOLOGY AND THAT YOU HAVE A REAL STRONG KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR SYSTEM AND ARE WORKING VERY IN A VERY ORGANIZED AND EFFICIENT WAY TO ADDRESS WATER LOSS.
AND, AND EVEN IF YOU ARE ABLE TO ATTACH THE AMOUNT OF INVESTMENT TO IT.
'CAUSE I FEEL LIKE THAT'S GONNA BE HANDY IN THE COMING YEARS AS THIS BECOMES A BIGGER AND BIGGER TOPIC.
ESPECIALLY FOR, I DON'T KNOW, THE LEGISLATURE.
WE, I I'D SAY WE WERE A FAIRLY EARLY ADOPTER OF DOING THIS KIND OF STUFF, EVEN THOUGH THERE'S OTHER CITIES AND OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY THAT HAVE HAD MORE PROBLEMS WITH THIS TYPE OF PIPE BECAUSE OF THE TYPE OF WIRE.
WITHOUT GETTING INTO TOO MUCH DETAIL, WE HAVEN'T HAD THE WORST KIND OF WIRE.
UH, BUT, BUT WE'VE HAD, UH, SUCCESSES HERE AND, AND SO WE'VE COLLECTED THAT DATA, WE'VE GOT ALL THE REPORTS AND, BUT WE'RE GONNA IMPROVE HOW WE CAN MANAGE THAT DATA.
MAYBE MOVING FROM SOME SPREADSHEET MANAGEMENT TO DATABASE MANAGEMENT AND, AND DASHBOARDS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
I THINK JUST HAVING THESE TYPES OF EXAMPLES AND BE ABLE TO TELL A STORY OF THERE, HERE'S THIS BIG PIPE, THERE'S FIVE MILES OF IT WE IDENTIFIED BEFORE IT BURST SOME LEAKS AND WE'RE ABLE TO, WE'VE GOT SOME PRESENTATIONS WE'VE MADE LIKE THAT.
I THINK THAT THAT WOULD BE A VERY STRONG THING TO HAVE AT THE READY.
ALSO JUST, YOU KNOW, IT'S GOOD STORYTELLING.
THAT'S HOW YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO COMMUNICATE THESE DAYS.
THIS PICTURE YOU CAN SEE THAT'S MOPAC BEHIND, RIGHT? YES, YES.
SO A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE OF THIS PIPE WOULD'VE BEEN, UM, A, A CATASTROPHIC IN MANY WAYS.
IT WAS IN THE PARKING LOT OF BUILDING 22, 22 IN MOPAC.
UM, SO YEAH, IT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GOOD
UM, SO I WAS GONNA LET YOU GET THROUGH YOUR PRESENTATION, BUT JENNIFER BROUGHT THIS UP, SO SORRY.
UM, BECAUSE WHAT I WAS GONNA ASK IS, UH, CAN YOU GIVE
[00:40:01]
US ANY CONTEXT FOR YOUR ILI NUMBER, YOU KNOW, AS FAR AS BENCHMARKING AGAINST OTHER CITIES? I KNOW THERE'S MANY FACTORS AND IT'S NOT GREAT TO COMPARE, BUT IT'S HARD FOR ME TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS MEANS IN TERMS OF HOW ARE WE DOING, RIGHT.IS THIS SOMETHING WE'RE DOING GREAT ON? IS IT, I KNOW, AND THEN I WAS JUST GONNA, SO THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL IF I COULD UNDERSTAND THAT.
UM, 'CAUSE I APPRECIATE THE RATIO AND THE ILI NUMBER, BUT IT DOESN'T, IT'S HARD FOR ME TO UNDERSTAND IT.
UM, AND THEN ALSO I WAS JUST GONNA SAY, I KNOW WHEN WE WERE WORKING ON THE, THE STATE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, WE, IN THAT PLAN, IT HAD INFORMATION ABOUT THIS AND WE WERE REALLY FOCUSED ON WHAT THE WATER LOSS AND LEAKAGE WAS.
AND THERE WAS LIKE THIS NUMBER THAT I KEPT LOOKING AT WHERE WE HAD LIKE OUR GOAL GPCD AND THEN WE ALSO HAD A-G-P-C-D NUMBER THAT WAS, I DON'T KNOW IF THE RIGHT WORD IS WATER LOSS OR LEAKAGE OR WHAT THE WORD WAS, BUT I WAS REALLY FOCUSED ON, WOW, WE'RE TRYING TO GET PEOPLE TO GET DOWN TO USING A SMALL AMOUNT OF WATER WHILE THERE'S A LOT OF WATER GOING OUT, WHICH HAS TO HAPPEN IN A WATER SYSTEM.
I UNDERSTAND THAT, BUT IT WAS LIKE A LITTLE BIT JARRING.
AND SO I'M JUST WONDERING LIKE HOW THIS, YOU KNOW, ANY CONTEXT FOR THIS INFORMATION AS FAR AS OTHER CITIES SINCE IT IS GONNA BE AN ISSUE WITH OTHER CITIES AND GRANT FUNDING AND ALL OF THIS.
AND THEN ALSO IN RELATION TO HOW MUCH WATER WE'RE USING.
SO, UH, A NUMBER OF THINGS I CAN, UH, ADDRESS THERE.
UH, FOR EXAMPLE, AND, AND I WILL FULLY ANSWER I PROMISE.
UM,
THEY'VE RECOGNIZED THE ERRORS OF THEIR WAYS, IF I MAY, I'M SORRY,
UH, WELL ACTUALLY WE COLLABORATE WITH THEM A LOT, BUT, UM, UH, SO THEY'RE, THEY'RE GOING TO CHANGE THE WAY THEY CALCULATE TO MATCH THAT, UH, THE APPROACH, UH, UH, THAT WE'VE GOT.
AND SO WITH THAT, AND A LOT OF THE PUBLISHED NUMBERS, YOU DON'T MAYBE KNOW EXACTLY WHAT KIND OF CAVEATS THERE ARE TO WHAT OTHER PEOPLE HAVE.
THAT BEING SAID, UH, THE WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD DOES HAVE A SITE WITH WHERE YOU CAN GET THAT INFORMATION.
I DON'T HAVE IT HERE FOR YOU TODAY, BUT I MADE DOWN A NOTE.
I THINK THAT'S A GOOD THING, UH, FOR US TO DO, TO SEE WHERE WE'RE, UH, TO BE ABLE TO SAY WHERE WE'RE AT, KNOWING THAT THERE CAN BE, UM, SOME CAVEATS THERE.
THAT'S THE ILI NUMBER, UH, AS FAR AS SOME OF THE, UH, GALLONS PER CONNECTION AND GALLONS PER, UH, PER CAPITA.
I, I, KEVIN, DO YOU HAVE SOME OF THAT IN YOUR I DON'T REALLY HAVE ANY OF THAT IN THIS, THIS REPORT.
BUT, UM, I, I'LL JUST WAIT IN, I, I MEAN WE HAVE DISAGGREGATED OUR, UH, PER CAPITA WATER USAGE IN A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT GRAPHS IN KEVIN'S PRESENTATION.
I THINK THAT WILL HELP PUT SOME OF THAT IN CONTEXT, NOT WITH RESPECT TO OTHER UTILITIES, BUT WITH RESPECT TO OUR OVERALL WATER USAGE.
SO PART OF THAT, WELL THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL 'CAUSE SINCE WE WERE LOOKING AT THAT SO MUCH LIKE A YEAR AND A HALF AGO, IT WOULD BE GOOD TO SEE IT AGAIN.
AND SO THAT WE CAN SEE, AND THEN I THINK YOU'RE GONNA GET IN THERE FURTHER, BUT ALSO ALL THE TECHNOLOGY'S REALLY EXCITING.
I'M SURE IT'S NOT CHEAP EITHER.
SO, YOU KNOW, TALKING ABOUT LIKE EVENTUALLY WHERE, HOW MUCH MONEY WE'RE SPENDING AND WHERE IT'S GONNA COME FROM AND HOW MUCH VALUE WE'RE GETTING IS GREAT.
AND I'LL JUST PILE ON A LITTLE BIT TO, UM, JENNIFER'S POINT ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, WE KNOW THIS WILL CONTINUE TO BE AN AREA OF FOCUS FOR ALL THE WATER UTILITIES IN TEXAS AND CERTAINLY THE MAJOR CITIES.
AND SO THERE IS A LOT OF COLLABORATION AND CONVERSATION HAPPENING BETWEEN THE CITIES SO THAT WE CAN GET TO A MORE UNIFORM PLACE OF HOW WE'RE MEASURING AND REPORTING, UM, WATER LOSS SO THAT IT CAN, SO WE CAN REALLY UNDERSTAND COLLECTIVELY WHAT THE BEST PRACTICES ARE THAT ARE HELPING US ACTUALLY DRIVE WATER LOSS DOWN.
UM, BECAUSE AS YOU ALL HAVE HEARD FROM US A LOT, WE ARE DOING AND HAVE BEEN DOING FOR MANY YEARS, THE THINGS THAT, THAT HAVE BEEN THE BEST PRACTICES FOR WATER LOSS.
AND YET WE CONTINUE TO HAVE, UM, THESE NUMBERS THAT SHOW US THAT WE'RE NOT WHERE WE NEED TO BE.
AND SO I THINK, YOU KNOW, IN THE COMING, I THINK WE'RE GONNA SEE A LOT OF MOVEMENT ON THAT REGIONALLY IN THE COMING YEARS.
AND WE'RE EXCITED TO BE, YOU KNOW, COLLABORATING WITH OUR PEERS ON THAT.
UM, SARAH, TO YOUR POINT ABOUT KIND OF OTHER METRICS, THE FIVE YEAR WATER CONSERVATION PLAN HAS GALLONS PER CAPITA PER DAY IN IT, AS WELL AS ILI, UM, I KNOW WHEN I WAS KIND OF ASKING LIKE NOW THAT IT'S BEEN A YEAR AND A HALF YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, EXACTLY.
AND SO ANYWAY, IT IS, I FIND THAT THOSE METRICS, THIS IS MAYBE NOT, BUT LIKE PUBLIC FACING, THOSE METRICS ARE
[00:45:01]
VERY HELPFUL TO THE PUBLIC TO UNDERSTAND AND CITY COUNCIL AND OTHER PEOPLE THAT AREN'T IN THE, IN IT, WE, WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE TO ALL THE PEOPLE THAT WE'RE ASKING TO BE GOOD STEWARDS OF OUR WATER RESOURCES THAT WE'RE DOING THE SAME THING ON OUR SIDE.SO THAT'S, THOSE ARE REALLY IMPORTANT CONVERSATIONS FOR US TO BE ABLE TO HAVE.
AND I RECALL YOU SAYING BACK IN THE, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE WERE TALKING THIS BEFORE, LIKE, THIS IS HARD.
WE'RE DOING ALL THE THINGS WE KNOW TO DO, WE'RE GONNA KEEP TRYING NEW THINGS AND YOU KNOW, PUTTING MORE DIFFERENT KINDS OF MINDS ON IT IS GREAT.
I THINK BRINGING IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE UTILITY AND PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT IDEAS YOU CAN WORK THROUGH TOGETHER.
I WAS JUST TRYING TO GET AT LIKE I WHAT YOU SAID, LIKE IT'S, WE'RE NOT WHERE WE NEED TO BE, BUT WE'RE WORKING ON IT.
AND SO YEAH, THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IS LIKE WHAT DOES THIS MEAN IN THE BIG PICTURE? AND THEN ALSO IF WE CAN REFERENCE BACK TO WHERE THE WAY WE HAD LOOKED AT IT IN THE GPCD, THAT WAS HELPFUL.
AND KEVIN KLUGE WILL ADDRESS THE GPCD COMPONENTS AS A PART OF HIS QUARTERLY REPORT.
JUST AS A QUICK PREVIEW THAT'S ON SLIDE 26 OF HIS PRESENTATION, KIND OF BREAKING THAT GPCD OUT INTO DIFFERENT SECTORS AND COMPONENTS INCLUDING NON-REVENUE WATER IN THE FIVE YEAR WATER CONSERVATION PLAN.
UM, OUR BASELINE WATER LOSS, GPCD WAS 21 AND OUR 2029 GOAL WAS, UH, 19.
SO JUST TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF CONTEXT FOR WHEN WE GET THERE, UM, I HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION, SORRY, BUT, UH, NOW THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THIS, SO ON THE WATER LOSS TRENDS AND GOALS DIAGRAM AGAIN, UM, AND, AND TO THIS POINT ABOUT WHERE WE NEED TO BE, AS SHEA SAID, LIKE IT, LOOK, THIS IS BASED ON ASSUME THE 2018 WATER FORWARD PLAN GOALS, UH, THIS YELLOW LINE.
AND SO IT LOOKS LIKE MAYBE AT, AND I WASN'T HERE, BUT AT THAT TIME WE WERE BASING THAT, YOU KNOW, A LITTLE BIT LOWER THAN WHERE WE WERE AT IN 2018 AND HOPING THAT WE WOULD CONTINUE TO GO DOWN A LITTLE BIT, BUT NOT OVERLY AMBITIOUS BECAUSE WE KIND OF LOOK LIKE WE FLATTENED OUT.
SO THAT IS, IS THAT YELLOW LINE KIND OF WHAT WE EXPECT AS LIKE THE, THE BEST WE CAN DO IN TERMS OF WATER LOSS AND ALSO FOLLOW UP TO THAT, WHAT, WHAT DID WE DO IN THE 24 PLAN ON WATER LOSS GOALS? I DON'T ACTUALLY REMEMBER.
SO I HAVE THE, UM, THE WATERFORD 2024 PLAN ALIGNS WITH THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, WHICH IS WHAT I HAVE OPEN IN FRONT OF ME.
SO I'LL UM, JUST KIND OF REITERATE WHAT WE HAD WITH AS OUR FIVE AND 10 YEAR GOALS FOR WATER LOSS REDUCTION, OUR HISTORIC FIVE YEAR AVERAGE, UH, FOR OUR WATER LOSS.
GPCD, WHICH YOU'RE PROBABLY LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW, WAS 21.
AND THEN OUR 2029 GOAL WAS 19 GPCD FOR WATER LOSS.
BUT I, I GUESS I'M LOOKING AT THE WATER LOSS TRENDS AND GOALS GRAPH IS IN ILI.
SO SORRY, OUR PREVIOUS CONVERSATION WAS TALKING ABOUT REFERENCING BACK TO THE OTHER METRICS THAT WE HAD BEEN TALKING ABOUT.
NO, I WAS TRYING NOT TO CONFUSE US WITH THE OKAY.
BUT NO, I SUCCESSFULLY DID THAT INSTEAD.
YEAH, THE TABLE ALSO, I MEAN I CAN READ IT OUT JUST IN CASE ANYBODY'S LIKE PAYING ATTENTION OR WE'LL WATCH THIS LATER.
UM, THE ILI GOALS, OUR HISTORIC FIVE YEAR AVERAGE WAS 4.07 AND OUR 2029 GOAL, UM, FOR ILI WAS 3.57 AND THE 2034 GOAL FOR ILI WAS 3.31.
SO YEAH, REALISTICALLY, DO WE, WHAT DID YOU SAY? 3.57 FOR 2029 IS WHAT WE'RE HOPING FOR 2029.
SO WE CONTINUE TO LOOK AT THAT GRAPH.
SO WE'VE READJUSTED OUR EXPECTATIONS FOR WHAT IS ACHIEVABLE AND NORMAL IN TERMS OF WATER LOSS UP FROM 2018.
I MEAN, I THINK THAT'S KIND OF WHAT WE DID WITH THE 2024 WATER CONSERVA FIVE YEAR WATER CONSERVATION PLAN IN GENERAL.
WAS THERE WAS THIS WHOLE DISCUSSION ABOUT MAYBE THE 2019 PLAN WAS OVER AMBITIOUS.
UH, MAYBE HAD, UM, I, I WAS GONNA SAY THE WORDS BAD DATA, BUT THAT IS NOT EXACT, THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEAN.
BUT BUT ANYWAY, SOME OF THE ASSUMPTIONS WERE INCORRECT.
BUT ANYWAY, SO, SO NOT ONLY DID WE KIND OF LIKE IN THE, IN THE END REMEMBERING THAT INCREDIBLY BUSY YEAR WHEN WE DID THIS AND WATER FORWARD AT THE SAME TIME, BUT, UM, THAT WAS LAST YEAR, BUT KIND OF READJUSTED AND THOSE ASSUMPTIONS
[00:50:01]
AND KIND OF TRIED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS IN THAT 25 YEAR, 2019 PLAN BECAUSE WE TOTALLY MISSED THOSE MARKS AS A CITY.AND THEN PUT SOME MORE WHAT IS HOPEFULLY REALISTIC YET AMBITIOUS GOALS IN HERE.
UM, AND SO THAT'S, SIR, I PROMISE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION FULLY.
DID I, I KNOW THERE WAS A LOT OF, BEFORE I MOVE ON, WE GOOD? YEAH.
UH, QUICKLY GO OVER JUST, UH, UH, UH, SOME TERMS HERE RELATED TO SYSTEM RENEWAL IN GENERAL.
THIS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT IS WATER MAINS AND WATER SERVICES.
WATER MAINS ARE TYPICALLY THE SIX INCH AND LARGER PIPES THAT RUN OUT UNDER THE STREET.
SOME OF THEM ARE DOWN AS SMALL AS TWO INCH, BUT TYPICALLY SIX INCH AND LARGER.
AND THEN THE WATER SERVICES ARE MADE UP OF, FROM THE MAIN TO THE METER AND FROM THE METER TO THE HOUSE.
AND, AND FROM THE MAIN TO THE METER IS WHAT, UH, THE UTILITY IS, IS RESPONSIBLE FOR.
AND SO THE NEXT TWO SLIDES, I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT THOSE TWO ITEMS SEPARATELY, MAINS AND SERVICE LINES.
'CAUSE FOR US, THEY'RE VERY DIFFERENT, UH, APPROACHES AND, AND THAT'S REAL IMPORTANT.
SO I JUST WANTED TO LAY THAT OUT FIRST.
SO AS YOU, MANY OF YOU'RE PROBABLY FAMILIAR WITH, WE HAD OUR RENEWING AUSTIN PROGRAM OVER THE LAST 15 YEARS.
IT'S REALLY INVESTED IN REPLACING OUR MAIN LINES, UH, THAT WE'RE IN THE MOST NEED OF REPLACEMENT, UH, IN OUR 26 TO 30 CIP BUDGET.
OUR CURRENT FIVE YEAR BUDGET, WE'VE GOT $49 MILLION BUDGETED FOR MAIN REPLACEMENTS.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE ON THE GRAPH ON THE RIGHT, UH, WHEN WE STARTED THAT PROGRAM, WE WERE BETTER THAN WHAT A-W-W-S-A SAYS IS THE, UH, INDUSTRY AVERAGE FOR MAIN BREAKS PER HUNDRED MILES.
AND THROUGH OUR INVESTMENT IN IMPROVING, UH, THOSE MAINS, REPLACING THE POOR PERFORMING MAINS GOTTEN BETTER THAN EVEN WHAT THEY CALL AN OPTIMIZED, UH, UH, UTILITY, AS YOU CAN SEE, GETS A LITTLE MORE SQUIGGLY HERE AT THE END.
YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU PERFORM WELL, IT, IT'S, IT'S A LITTLE BIT HARDER TO STAY DOWN THERE.
THAT'S WHY WE'RE CONTINUING TO INVEST IN REPLACING THOSE PIPES, NOT RESTING ON.
WELL, WE'RE BETTER THAN OPTIMIZED, SO LET IT BE, WE'RE WE'RE, WE'RE CONTINUING TO INVEST THERE, UH, IN OUR, WE'VE HAD SUCCESS IN CONTINUING WITH THAT NEXT SLIDE.
UM, WHAT WAS THE BUDGET FOR 2021 THROUGH 2025? THAT'S, UH, EXCELLENT QUESTION.
UM, I, I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT.
THAT'S WHEN I'LL, I'LL HAVE TO GET YOU I'LL, SO I'M NOT, WE, WE HAVEN'T HAD BIG SWINGS.
THERE HASN'T BEEN A HUGE CHANGE.
SO I WOULD CALL IT COMPARABLE, BUT I DON'T HAVE THE DATA FOR YOU.
SO, UH, YEAH, WE'LL GET THAT AS A FOLLOW UP.
SO SERVICE LINES TELL A LITTLE BIT OF A DIFFERENT STORY.
UH, HERE'S OUR SERVICE LINE BREAK HISTORY, SO, UH, HIGHER THAN THE INDUSTRY AVERAGE AND CREEPING UP STILL.
UH, AND THAT'S DESPITE, UH, UH, AN INVESTMENT IN REPLACING SERVICE LINES.
SO WE HAD $8 MILLION IN OUR 21 TO 25 BUDGET FOR SERVICE LINE REPLACEMENTS.
UM, AND WE'VE UPPED IN OUR CURRENT FIVE YEAR BUDGET, WE'VE GOT $18 MILLION.
UH, BUT WE WENT TO THE WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD AND SOUGHT A LOW INTEREST LOAN AND, AND GOTTEN A $45 MILLION LOAN FOR SERVICE LINE REPLACEMENT.
AND SO THAT 18 MILLION IN OUR NEXT FIVE YEAR BUDGET, WE'RE, WE'RE LIKELY GOING TO SPEND MORE THAN THAT, ACCELERATE OUR RATE OF REPLACEMENT.
'CAUSE IT'S CLEAR HERE, THIS IS THAT ONE THING THAT THAT'S NOT TRACKING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
ALL THE OTHER THINGS, UH, ARE LOOKING GOOD.
AND SO WE'RE REALLY GOING TO BE INVESTING MORE HERE IN REPLACING THESE SERVICES.
UM, SPECIFICALLY I REMEMBER US TALKING ABOUT POLYBUTYLENE PIPING AND HOW, YOU KNOW, MALFUNCTIONING BY DESIGN AND I WAS WONDERING WHAT Y'ALL'S, UH, PROACTIVE PLAN WAS FOR GETTING ALL THE REST OF THOSE PIPES WITH THIS NEW BUDGETING.
THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT THIS, THIS MONEY IS FOR AND THAT'S WHY THE GRAPH LOOKS, THE WAY IT DOES IS THE POLYBUTYLENE.
UH, AND SO THAT $45 MILLION, THAT'S ABOUT 6,000 SERVICE LINES.
UM, AND SO AGAIN, ATTACKING ONE OF THE THINGS IN THE REPORT WAS TO IDENTIFY WHERE THE WORST ONES ARE.
WE KNOW WHERE THE PROBLEMS ARE.
AND SO WE'RE, UH, ATTACKING THOSE AND, AND IT'S A MULTI-PRONGED APPROACH.
IT'S MOVING TO MORE REPLACEMENT AS OPPOSED TO REPAIR.
WHEN WE DO HAVE PROBLEMS. SO THAT, THAT'S AN OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE APPROACH.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE A CREW IN THE, IN THE UTILITY THAT REPLACE THE SERVICE LINE.
SO SOMETIMES ONE OF THE NEIGHBORHOODS THAT HAS POLYBUTYLENE SERVICES MAYBE HADN'T BEEN TOO MUCH OF A PROBLEM, BUT THEN IT, IT POPS UP AS A PROBLEM.
A CIP CONTRACTOR IS A LITTLE HARDER TO TO MOVE AROUND, WHEREAS WE'VE GOT A CREW WE CAN SEND INTO
[00:55:01]
THE AREA TO ADDRESS THAT ISSUE.UH, UH, AND THEN ON THE LARGE SCALE, UH, GOING OUT TO HIGHER CONTRACTORS TO GO NEIGHBORHOOD WIDE REPLACING, DO YOU HAVE LIKE A SPECIFIC AMOUNT OF PIPES FROM THE AMOUNT YOU ALREADY KNOW EXISTS THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO ACHIEVE YEARLY WITH THIS? YEAH, AT THE HIGH END, UH, WE WERE AT LIKE 28,000 SERVICES POLYBUTYLENE IN THE SYSTEM.
SO THIS 45 MILLION ATTACKS THE, THE NEXT 6,000 WORST.
UM, AND, AND 6,000 IN THE YEAR OR 6,000 IN THE NEXT LIKE FIVE YEARS.
IT PROBABLY IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS THAT, THAT, THAT'S WHAT, AND WE'RE WORKING RIGHT NOW, HAVE A CONSULTANT ON BOARD PUTTING TOGETHER THE CONTRACT SO THAT WE CAN HIRE, UH, THE CONTRACTORS TO GO OUT AND MAKE THOSE REPLACEMENTS.
I THINK ONE OF THE, UM, THE SERVICE LINES ARE THE AREA WHERE OUR DATA AND ANALYTICS HAVE REALLY BEEN CATCHING UP IN THE LAST FEW YEARS.
SO THAT WE DO HAVE THE ABILITY TO PRIORITIZE SERVICE LINES IN A WAY THAT WE HADN'T HAD IN THE PAST.
AND WE ALSO HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PROVE, UM, THAT REPLACING SERVICES, UM, YOU KNOW, REDUCES OUR, UH, OUR BREAK RATES IN THOSE AREAS WHERE THE SERVICES WERE REPLACED.
I MEAN, I KNOW THAT SOUNDS, I KNOW THAT SOUNDS OBVIOUS, BUT IT, IT SHOWS IN THE DATA TOO, WHICH IS GREAT.
UM, AND BEING ABLE TO PRIORITIZE, YOU KNOW, IS IT, WE CAN'T DO ALL THE POLYBUTYLENE ALL AT ONCE, SO WE'RE GONNA START IN THE AREAS WHERE WE'VE EXPERIENCED BREAK RATES.
UM, AND THAT HAS REALLY HELPED US, UM, YOU KNOW, GET THE BIGGER BANG FOR OUR BUCK FROM THE, FROM THE START.
UM, AND I WANNA HIGHLIGHT TOO, UM, A COUPLE OF THE THINGS THAT MATT SAID ABOUT OUR CREWS.
YOU KNOW, WE HAVE OUR, ONE OF OUR BIGGEST ABILITIES TO REDUCE WATER LOSS IS OUR RESPONSE TIMES TO LEAK TO LEAKS.
AND SO WE HAVE, BECAUSE OF THAT RESPONSE TIME, WE HAVE A BIAS TOWARD REPAIRING A SERVICE INSTEAD OF REPLACING IT.
UM, AND SO WE ARE REALLY WORKING ON GETTING THOSE RESOURCES IN PLACE TO BE ABLE TO JUST REPLACE IT.
SO IF IT, ONCE IT BREAKS, IT NEVER STOPS BREAKING, SO LET'S JUST REPLACE IT.
AND THEN OUR INTERNAL CONSTRUCTION CREWS THAT CAN BE REALLY RESPONSIVE, UM, TO AREAS THAT MAY POP UP, UM, SORT OF UNEXPECTEDLY, UH, GIVES US THE ABILITY TO SORT OF TARGET ALL THE TOOLS IN OUR TOOLBOX, UM, SO THAT WE CAN ACHIEVE MORE OF THESE SERVICE LINE REPLACEMENTS.
'CAUSE THIS IS OBVIOUSLY AN AREA THAT WE NEED TO BE FOCUSED.
THIS, THIS, TO ME, THIS IS THAT REAL LOSS.
THIS IS MOLECULES OF WATER LEAVING THE SYSTEM.
THIS CAN BENEFIT THE UTILITY IN A LOT OF WAYS.
70% OF OUR CREWS, UH, REPAIR TIME ON THE WATER SIDE IS SERVICE LINES, YOU KNOW, NOT MAINS.
SO THERE'LL BE EFFICIENCIES AND OPERATIONS THAT WAY.
SERVICE INTERRUPTION, ALL OF THOSE THINGS.
THIS IS GONNA BE A GOOD INVESTMENT FOR THE UTILITY, FOR THE, THE 9,000 PIPES THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN REPLACED.
HOW LONG OF A PERIOD WAS THAT? SO THERE WAS, UH, IN THE EARLY TWO THOUSANDS, UH, THERE WAS SAY A 5, 6, 5, 6 YEAR PERIOD WHERE THAT WAS MY JOB.
I WAS PUTTING OUT CONTRACTS, UH, TO REPLACE SERVICE LINES.
UM, AND THEN WE HAD SOME OF OUR BUDGET CONSTRAINTS, UH, AND WE WEREN'T INVESTING THERE FOR A WHILE IN SERVICE LINE REPLACEMENTS.
UH, WE PICKED IT BACK UP 20 15, 20 18, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
UH, AND WE'VE BEEN RUNNING SOME CONTRACTS, UH, SINCE THEN SO THAT, SO THAT, YOU KNOW, $2 MILLION A YEAR, ONE TO $2 MILLION A YEAR WOULD BE, UH, REPRESENTATIVE OF SAY THE LAST 10 YEARS WHAT, WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING.
UM, AND, AND KNEW IT WAS SOMETHING THAT WE NEEDED TO DO, BUT JUST TO, AS SHAY ALLUDED TO, BEING ABLE TO LOOK AT THE DATA MORE AND, AND BLACK AND VEES REVIEW AND EVERYTHING.
OKAY, THAT WAS GOOD TO DO, BUT WE NEED TO DO EVEN MORE AND STEP IT UP FURTHER.
AND THAT'S WHY WE WENT AFTER THE LOAN, UH, AND EVERYTHING ELSE.
UM, SO NEXT, TALKING ABOUT IMPROVING THE, THE PRODUCTION FLOW MEASUREMENTS, UH, AT THE PLANTS, THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
UM, YOU KNOW, THIS ISN'T REAL LOSS AT AT THE FRONT, BUT IF YOU'RE NOT MEASURING PRECISELY, UH, UH, IT, IT MAKES THE SITUATION VERY DIFFICULT.
THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT 'CAUSE ANY LACK OF PRECISION AT THE PLANT IN, IN THE ACCOUNTING PROCESS, IT GETS MAGNIFIED AS YOU MOVE THROUGH THE PROCESS.
SO IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO BE ACCURATE THERE.
UM, YOU KNOW, JUST A FEW METERS WITH ISSUES, WE SAW THE IMPACT THAT IT HAD, YOU KNOW, 23 TO 24, THAT ONE, UH, UH, CORRECTION THAT
[01:00:01]
WE MADE.SO WE'RE PUTTING TOGETHER, UH, S SOGS STANDARD OPERATING GUIDES, UH, FOR OUR CALIBRATION AND DATA HANDLING PROCESSES.
AGAIN, WE'VE GOT PROCESSES THAT WE FOLLOW FOR THAT, BUT, BUT, UH, STRENGTHENING THEM AND, AND CODIFYING THEM, GETTING 'EM DOWN AND WRITING, UM, AND FOLLOWING UP WITH SECONDARY, UH, MEASUREMENT FOR VALIDATING OUR METERS.
SO PUTTING IN A, A SECONDARY OR, OR ADDING A SECONDARY METER TO TEST OUR EXISTING METERS.
SOMETHING THAT, UM, WORKING ON, UH, GETTING OUR STAFF, UH, TRAINED UP FOR AND, AND SOMETHING TO DO TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR MEASUREMENT, UH, INSTRUMENTS ARE ACCURATE AND PRECISE.
UM, I, I, I'LL ALLUDE TO HERE ALSO SOMETHING WHEN, UH, PARTICULARLY DAVIS AND ULRICH WERE BUILT AND IN THE INDUSTRY, THOSE METERS, UH, WERE PUT IN AND INTENDED FOR OPERATING THE PLANT.
AND THEY DO AN EXCELLENT JOB OF THAT STILL TODAY.
UH, BUT WHEN THEY'RE UTILIZED FOR WATER LOSS, THE LEVEL OF PRECISION NEEDS TO BE HIGHER.
WE'VE GOT LONG, STRAIGHT RUNS OF PIPE, A VERY PRECISE, UH, MAG METER OUT THERE.
UM, UH, IT'S NOT IDEAL AT, AT, UH, THE OTHER TWO PLANTS.
AND SO THAT LEADS TO, UH, WE'VE GOT A, UH, AN ENGINEER ON BOARD TO HELP STUDY, UH, THE LAYOUT OF OUR METERS AT DAVIS AND ULRICH AND SEE WHERE WE CAN MAKE SOME PIPING CHANGES AND MAYBE SOME METER CHANGES, UM, TO, UH, KIND OF SHARPEN THE POINT ON ON THOSE MEASUREMENTS AT THE PLANT.
UH, AND SO THOSE ARE ALL MOVING FORWARD AND, AND IN THE WORKS, THOSE CIP POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS AT THE PLANTS, IT WILL TAKE SOME TIME TO, TO GET THAT DONE TO, UH, TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
BUT, UH, WE ARE, UH, AGGRESSIVELY GOING AFTER THAT RIGHT NOW.
UM, HERE'S WHERE WE TALK ABOUT APPARENT LOSS.
AND APPARENT LOSS AFFECTS REAL LOSS IN THE AUDITING PROCESS, IS IF YOU OVERESTIMATE YOUR APPARENT LOSS, YOU'RE GONNA BE UNDERESTIMATING YOUR REAL LOSS AND, AND VICE VERSA.
UM, WE'RE IN A VERY GOOD PLACE, UH, RIGHT NOW BECAUSE THE A MI PROGRAM, WE'VE GOT 260 SOME ODD THOUSAND NEW METERS IN OUR SYSTEM, UH, FROM THE BLACK AND VEATCH REPORT.
ONE OF THE THINGS THEY SUGGESTED, WE'VE GOT A CONTRACTOR TESTING OUR LARGEST METERS, UH, BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE A, A BIG CHUNK OF, UH, OUR DEMAND COMES FROM.
UM, AND SO THEY ESSENTIALLY SUGGESTED SOME VALIDATION OR QAQC OF THAT, THAT CONTRACT.
AND SO WE'VE GONE THROUGH THAT AND DONE THAT AND MADE THAT PART OF OUR, OUR, OUR PROCESS JUST A, A LITTLE MORE FOLLOW UP ON, ON WHAT THEY'RE DOING AND MAKING SURE THAT THE DATA THAT WE'RE GETTING FROM THEM IS GOOD.
AND IT BY AND LARGE TELLS US THAT OUR LARGE METERS ARE PERFORMING WELL.
UM, WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT UPPING RIGHT NOW, WE'RE AT ABOUT 18 MONTHS, UH, CYCLE TIME FOR TESTING THE METERS.
AND SO WE'RE LOOKING AT WAYS THAT WE CAN, UH, UP THAT AND, AND NOT UP THE TIME, REDUCE THE TIME UP THE RESOURCES SO THAT, UH, WE CAN REDUCE THE TURNAROUND TIME ON TESTING THOSE METERS.
AND THEN, KIND OF LONG TERM THINGS ARE LOOKING AT PROPER METER SIZING, MAKING SURE THAT THE METERS WE'VE GOT IN THE FIELD ARE THE RIGHT SIZE FOR THE APPLICATION.
CERTAINLY IF, UH, A METER, UH, WILL BE INACCURATE IF THE FLOW GOING THROUGH IT IS TOO HIGH OR TOO LOW FOR AS IT'S SIZED, UM, I THINK WE'RE IN PRETTY GOOD PLACE THERE, BUT IT'S SOMETHING FOR US TO, TO, AND BLACK AND VEATCH NOTED THAT.
AND SO WE'RE PUTTING TOGETHER OUR PROCESS OF HOW WE'RE GONNA ANALYZE THAT.
AND METER REPLACEMENTS WOULD BE SOMETHING MORE LONG TERM.
AGAIN, WE'VE GOT MOSTLY NEW METERS IN OUR SYSTEM, UH, BUT WE WANNA BE MINDFUL ABOUT WHEN WILL BE THE RIGHT TIME TO REPLACE THOSE.
THINK ABOUT IT AHEAD OF TIME SO WHEN THE TIME COMES, WE'RE, UH, AHEAD OF THE CURVE AND NOT BEHIND IT.
UM, AND THEN REFINING OUR TRACKING AND REPORTING.
UM, AND, UH, SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT OR WORKING ON OUR SOPS FOR UNAUTHORIZED CONSUMPTION AND, AND DATA HANDLING ERRORS MITIGATION.
SO THIS IS, UH, PART OF THE, UH, BILLING SYSTEM, AND THAT'S BEING WORKED ON RIGHT NOW, AS WELL AS LOOKING AT AUTOMATED WAYS OF TRANSFERRING THE DATA FROM THE BILLING SYSTEM TO TRACKING FOR WATER LOSS.
UM, SOME OF THESE ARE IN THE, UM, IN THAT ON HOLD STAGE, PARTIALLY BECAUSE THE CITY'S BILLING SYSTEM IS BEING UPGRADED, AND THERE'S A TRANSITION PERIOD RIGHT NOW.
AND, UH, BUT IT'LL BE DONE IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.
AND THEN WE CAN FOLLOW UP WITH MORE OF HOW WE UTILIZE, UH, THAT, UH, UH, STREAM OF DATA.
UH, ONCE THAT UPDATE IS DONE, AGAIN, I THINK NEXT SPRING, WE WILL, UH, WE'LL HAVE THOSE THINGS, UH, ONLINE AND IN ORDER.
UM, WE DO A VERY GOOD JOB IN, IN MY MIND, WITH OUR SYSTEM FLUSHING AND FIREFIGHTING ESTIMATES.
UM, WE, WE DON'T ASSUME AN AMOUNT FOR A YEAR.
WE, WE HAVE WAYS PUT TOGETHER FOR EACH INSTANCE TO, TO ESTIMATE THE FLOWS, BUT OUR PROCESSES FOR THOSE ESTIMATES ARE ABOUT 10 YEARS OLD.
AND BLACK VEATCH SUGGESTED FOR US
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TO RE-LOOK AT THAT, MEET WITH A FD GO, GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN.UH, AND WE'RE DOING THAT RIGHT NOW.
UM, AND THEN THIS EXPANDING TRAINING FOR ANNUAL WATER AUDIT AND VALIDATION.
THIS GOES ALONG WITH WHERE I'VE SAID WE'RE EXPANDING THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE INVOLVED.
UH, FOR YEARS WE'VE HAD DAN, WE'VE HAD ONE PERSON IN THE UTILITY CERTIFIED TO SUBMIT THE WATER AUDIT.
UM, SO WE'VE QUADRUPLED THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE, UH, UH, UH, CERTIFIED FOR THAT.
UM, AND THEN THE WATER AUDIT HOUSE BILL 29 FROM THIS LAST LEGISLATIVE SESSION REQUIRES VALIDATING AN AUDIT, STARTING WITH NEXT YEAR'S AUDIT.
UM, AND WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD HASN'T LAID OUT EXACTLY WHAT THE CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS ARE FOR THAT, BUT I'M GONNA ASSURE YOU, WE'RE GONNA HAVE FOUR PEOPLE CERTIFIED TO DO THAT.
AGAIN, EXPANDING, NOT JUST, UH, FOR BENCH STRENGTH IF SOMEONE WERE TO CHANGE JOBS OR LEAVE, BUT AGAIN, JUST MORE KNOWLEDGE THROUGHOUT THE UTILITY OF THE PROCESSES AND HOW THESE THINGS WORK.
UH, AND THEN BLACK AND VEATCH SUGGESTED, IT SAYS, CONTINUE BEING ACTIVE IN THE WATER LOSS INDUSTRY BECAUSE WE HAVE, AGAIN, DAN'S GONE TO NORTH AMERICAN WATER LOSS FOR A LOT OF YEARS.
WE'VE GOT FOUR OF US GOING THIS YEAR, UH, TO, TO SHARE A NETWORK WITH OTHER UTILITIES AND, AND, AND TALK ABOUT WATER LOSS.
DAN, AS A PAST, UM, PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT, CHAIR, CHAIR, CHAIR OF THE A WWA WATER LOSS CONTROL COMMITTEE.
AND I CAN GUARANTEE YOU THE WATER LOSS ENGINEER THAT WE HIRE IS GONNA BE VERY INVOLVED AS WELL IN THESE COMMITTEES.
AND, AND GOING TO THOSE CONFERENCES AND ALL OF DAN'S WORK AND OUR FOCUS ON, ON TAKING THIS SERIOUSLY HAS LED TO THE DATE OF VALIDITY SCORES THAT WE'VE GOT.
UM, SO THAT SHOWS OUR SCORE OF 70.
IS THAT, WHICH YEAR IS THAT, DAN? I DUNNO.
IT, IT BLACK AND VEATCH WAS REVIEWING 2022, SO THAT MAY HAVE BEEN THE SCORE THERE, BUT THAT, THAT'S WHERE WE'RE AT TYPICALLY.
AND THAT'S REALLY A VERY GOOD DATA VALIDITY SCORE.
AND THIS IS NOT SOMETHING WE SCORE OURSELVES, BUT IT, IT SCORES EACH LINE OF THE AUDIT.
HOW ARE YOU DOING? WHAT ARE THE THINGS YOU'RE DOING TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE NUMBERS ARE RIGHT? UH, AND SO FOCUS ON THAT AND, AND LOOK AT EACH OF THE SUGGESTIONS AND SEE, UH, WHERE WE CAN REALLY MAKE IMPROVEMENTS.
AND WE'RE GONNA KEEP DOING THAT.
AND THAT WATER LOSS ENGINEER IS GONNA HAVE A VERY CLOSE EYE ON THAT NEXT SLIDE.
UM, SO I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT DISTRICT METERED AREAS AND JUST QUICKLY A, A DEFINITION OF THAT.
SO THAT'S AN AREA OF THE SYSTEM WHERE YOU MEASURE EVERYTHING COMING IN AND ALL OF THE DEMAND.
SO IT, IT'S KIND OF LIKE AN ILI OR A WATER LOSS ON, ON A SMALL SCALE.
UM, AND IT'S UP UNTIL RECENTLY.
UH, WELL, THERE'S A NUMBER OF CHALLENGES TO THAT.
ONE OF THEM IS WHEN YOU'RE DOING MONTHLY METER READS, UM, LINING ALL OF THOSE UP AND BEING ABLE TO COMPARE THEM, UH, THEY'RE TYPICALLY NOT AT THE EXACT SAME TIME.
THEY MAY BE DAYS APART, IF NOT HOURS APART, MAYBE HOURS APART, IF NOT DAYS APART, I GUESS IS THE RIGHT WAY TO SAY THAT.
UM, BUT NOW WITH A MI, IT'S SUCH A POWERFUL TOOL BEING ABLE TO GET, UH, UH, UH, THE READINGS AND THE DEMANDS SO MUCH QUICKER.
THE OTHER CHALLENGE IS WHEN YOU'VE GOT A VERY CONNECTED SYSTEM LIKE OURS, PARTICULARLY IN OUR LARGE PRESSURE ZONES, BREAKING THE SYSTEM DOWN TO MEASURE IN THE SMALLER AREAS, UH, IS A CHALLENGE.
BUT, UM, WE'VE SET UP TWO DISTRICT METERED AREAS AND WE'RE, WE'RE WORKING ON THE WAY THAT THE A MI SYSTEM INTERACTS WITH THAT TO AUTOMATED, BE ABLE TO TRACK AND FOR IT TO BE ABLE TO TELL US WHEN THERE'S AN ISSUE THAT COMES UP.
SO WHEN THERE'S AN AREA WHERE THE, THE FLOW COMING IN IS MORE THAN WHAT THE DEMAND IS, THEN IT'S AN INDICATION OF, OF GETTING SOME LEAKAGE.
AND SO WE'RE REALLY DIVING INTO THIS AREA, WE'RE REALLY GETTING TO THE POINT WHERE THE TECHNOLOGY MAKES THIS, UH, MORE DOABLE AND MORE USEFUL.
UM, AND SO ONCE WE HAVE THOSE FULLY IMPLEMENTED AND, AND WORKING, WE'LL BE GOING INTO, UH, TO MORE AREAS.
TYPICALLY, RIGHT NOW WE'RE LOOKING AT OLD MUDS, 'CAUSE THOSE ARE AREAS THAT ARE SECTIONED, UH, NICELY.
BUT, UH, WITH TIME WE'LL BE LOOKING AT, AT OTHER APPROACHES WITH TEMPORARY METERS AND, AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
UH, BUT WE'RE, WE'RE DEFINITELY MOVING FORWARD IN RELATION TO DISTRICT METERED AREAS.
I GUESS JUST QUICKLY ON THAT, YEAH, SURE.
I DON'T REALLY UNDERSTAND THE DISTRICT METERED AREAS, TO BE HONEST.
UM, WHAT ARE WE MEASURING THAT WE WEREN'T MEASURING BEFORE IN THE DISTRICT METERED AREA? SO A DISTRICT METERED AREA.
SO IF YOU HAVE AN OLD MUD, MAYBE HAD TWO METERS COMING INTO IT.
AND, AND SO WE WERE BILLING THE MUD OFF OF THOSE TWO METERS, AND THEN MAYBE THEY HAD 75 METERS INTERNALLY AND THEY WERE BILLING THEIR CUSTOMERS INTERNALLY.
NOW WITH THE DISTRICT METERED AREA, WE MEASURE WHAT'S COMING THROUGH THE TWO METERS, AND THEN WHAT IS THE DEMAND AT ALL THOSE 75 AND WHERE THERE'S A DIFFERENCE, THAT'S WHERE YOU INDICATE WATER LOSS, UM,
[01:10:01]
BECAUSE NOW IT'S COMING INTO THAT AREA.UH, NOW IT COULD BE SOMEBODY BEING UNMETERED, UH, OR IT COULD BE A MAIN BREAK OR A SERVICE LINE BREAK OR A BYPASS OPEN ON A, ON A LARGE METER OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
UM, BUT A MI REALLY ALLOWS US MUCH BETTER TO BE ABLE TO SEE ON A DAILY BASIS, YOU KNOW, TO THE MINUTE COMPARE, ALRIGHT, THESE TWO METERS HAD A HUNDRED THOUSAND GALLONS GO THROUGH 'EM, ALL THESE 75 METERS HAD 150,000 GALLONS GO.
THAT'S NOT REAL DATA, BY THE WAY.
UM, UH, BUT WE'RE ABLE TO WATCH THAT AND YOU CAN SEE DAY TO DAY CHANGES AND, AND I DON'T KNOW IF THAT, CAN WE SEE THAT IN EVERY HOUSEHOLD IN AUSTIN? WHAT'S COMING? WHAT'S GOING IN? WHAT'S, LET ME, LET ME, I'M GONNA TRY TO HELP HERE.
SO, SO FIRST OF ALL, A LITTLE NOMENCLATURE.
TYPICALLY, THOSE ARE DEVELOPED THAT'S A MORE ISOLATED OR SEGREGATED PART OF OUR SYSTEM.
AND SO WE ARE VERY CLEAR ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF WATER THAT GOES INTO IT.
UM, A LOT OF OUR SYSTEM IS BUILT FOR A LOT OF INTERCONNECTIVITY.
AND SO A MUD TYPICALLY WOULD BE DONE BY A DEVELOPER, AND WE WOULD'VE CONTROL THE NUMBER OF POINTS OF CONNECTION.
AND SO THAT'S WHERE THAT GIVES US THE ABILITY TO SORT OF TRULY ISOLATE THAT AREA, THAT DISTRICT METERED AREA, AND REALLY UNDERSTAND KIND OF THE WATER GOING IN AND OUT THROUGH VERY DISCRETE POINTS.
IF IT'S AN OLDER PART OF OUR CITY, UM, IT WAS PROBABLY DEVELOPED JUST AS AN EXTENSION OF OUR CITY, AND THERE'S A LOT OF CONNECTIVITY AND IT'S, IT'S SORT OF MORE LIKE A, A VASCULAR SITUATION IN YOUR BODY, RIGHT? THERE'S LOTS OF VEINS THAT MOVE THAT WATER AROUND LOTS OF PLACES.
SO ON THE NORTH SIDE OF MY NEIGHBORHOOD, OR I CAN'T TRACK, THERE'S SOME PIPE THAT'S SERVING THE NORTHERN SIDE OF MY NEIGHBORHOOD AND SOME OTHER PIPE THAT'S SERVING THE SOUTHERN END.
SO YOU'D HAVE TO MEASURE IT EACH ENTRY POINT YES.
IF YOU WANTED TO DO A DISTRICT MUTED AREA FOR SOME, FOR WHATEVER ALLENDALE OR SOMETHING.
SOME RANDOM NEIGHBORHOOD IN AUSTIN, CORRECT.
I THINK THE WAY TO THINK ABOUT IT IS THAT THE, UM, WE HAVE A REALLY LARGE SYSTEM, AND SO WE CAN MEASURE ALL THE WATER COMING INTO OUR SYSTEM AND ALL THE WATER BEING USED BY OUR CUSTOMERS, AND WE CAN KNOW THAT THERE'S WATER LOSS IN BETWEEN, BUT WE, WE KNOW THROUGH BREAK RATE DATA, THROUGH, YOU KNOW, OTHER DATA THAT SOME AREAS HAVE MORE SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS THAN OTHERS.
AND SO THESE DISTRICT METER AREAS ARE A WAY FOR US TO HUNT WATER LOSS AND, UM, AND TRY TO INVESTIGATE SMALLER SECTIONS OF OUR SYSTEM, UM, AND, AND FIND THOSE PROBLEMATIC AREAS.
UM, AND, BUT IN ORDER TO DO THAT, WE HAVE TO HAVE METERING IN AND OUT OF THOSE SMALL AREAS THAT WE DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE.
WE DON'T JUST HAVE A METER ON A TRANSMISSION MAIN IN AUSTIN, UM, BUT WE DO IN SOME OF THESE MUDS.
SO THAT'S WHERE IT GIVES US THE OPPORTUNITY TO PILOT THOSE IDEAS.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT MADE IT BETTER OR WORSE.
NO, THAT, THAT IS WHAT I WAS GETTING.
YEAH, I, I'LL STRAP WITH KIND OF THE TWO REAL CHA NOW THAT WE'VE GOT THE A MI.
SO WE'VE GOT THE MORE GRANULAR DATA.
THE TWO OTHER CHALLENGES ABOUT THE DMAS IS IF YOU HAVE TO ADD METERS, SO THAT'S CIP THAT'S, THAT'S CONSTRUCTION WORK AND, AND EXPENSES AND EVERYTHING.
AND THE OTHER THING IS, IS OUR SYSTEM IS GRIDDED BY DESIGN TO PROVIDE FLOWS FOR FIRE AND EVERYTHING ELSE.
AND SO NOW IF AN AREA IS GETTING WATER AND THERE'S 15 DIFFERENT WAYS FOR WATER TO GET THERE, EITHER YOU PUT IN 15 METERS OR YOU PUT IN TWO AND CLOSE OFF 13 OF THE OTHERS, AND THEN YOU LOSE SOME OF THE, THE, THE ADVANTAGES OF THE GRIDDING MM-HMM
UM, SO, UH, THIS NEXT, UH, TOPIC IS, IS, UM, A MORE GENERALIZED THING.
IT'S A CENTRALIZED DATA MANAGEMENT, AS I'VE ALLUDED TO.
THERE'S A LOT OF DATA BEING GENERATED, RIGHT? WE HAD MONTHLY READS PER METER.
NOW WE HAVE A MI, AND I'LL JUST SAY UNLIMITED RE AMOUNT OF DATA CAN BE GENERATED FROM THAT.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT OUR SCADA SYSTEM, UH, AND EVERYTHING ELSE WITH OUR NEXT LEAK DETECTION CONTRACT, THERE'LL BE MORE DATA BEING COLLECTED AND, AND MORE GRANULAR DATA FROM THAT.
SO ALL OF THIS FLOWS IN, UM, THEN YOU GOTTA USE THAT DATA AND THERE'S, THERE'S SOME COMMERCIAL, UH, COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE THINGS THAT CAN HELP OUT WITH THAT.
WE'VE GOT A VERY STRONG TEAM AT AUSTIN WATER AND OUR IT GROUP THAT'S DONE A LOT OF DASHBOARDING FOR US.
AND SO SOME OF THAT'LL BE USED HERE.
A LOT OF THIS IS GONNA TIE INTO OUR A MI 2.0 AND WHAT BECOMES OF, UH, DIGITAL TWIN, WHICH I DON'T KNOW IF I'VE SAID THAT WORD, UH, YET TODAY, BUT BASICALLY A, A, A MODEL OF THE SYSTEM THAT THAT IS TIED LIVE TO, TO SENSORS IN THE SYSTEM.
AND SO A NUMBER OF THESE THINGS NEED, UH, THE DATA STREAMS TO MATURE SOME MORE BEFORE THESE CAN BE FINALIZED.
AND, AND BLACK AND VEATCH KNEW THAT THESE WERE SUGGESTIONS FOR THINGS FOR US TO DO.
SO THESE ARE ONES THAT ARE IN THE PREREQUISITES ARE BEING WORKED ON FOR THESE TO BE FINALIZED.
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ALL RIGHT.UM, YOU KNOW, OUR NEXT STEPS, SO WE'RE GONNA KEEP USING OUR EEUM TEAM, AS I MENTIONED, THAT'S BROAD THROUGHOUT THE UTILITY, UH, TO DELIVER ON THESE, UH, ON THESE RECOMMENDATIONS.
BUT OBVIOUSLY THE SERVICE LINE REPLACEMENT IS A REALLY IMPORTANT PART TO THE UTILITY.
UH, UH, IN A LOT OF WAYS, HIRING THE WATER LOSS ENGINEER, UH, IS, UH, VERY IMPORTANT AND WILL HELP, AS I MENTIONED, BROADENING OUR INVOLVEMENT.
UH, WE'LL COMPLY WITH HOUSE BILL 29.
WE'RE, WE'RE AHEAD OF THAT, UH, UH, AHEAD OF THE GAME.
WE'RE IN FACT, WE'RE, WE'RE POKING THE STATE, COME ON, TELL US HOW TO GET CERTIFIED.
WE WANT TO GET CERTIFIED, WE WANT TO BE AHEAD OF THAT.
SO WE'LL, WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT, UH, WE'VE GOT THAT COVERED.
UM, AND CONTINUING TO SEEK INNOVATIVE APPROACHES THERE.
THERE'S A LOT OF TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT, UH, RIGHT NOW IN THE WATER LOSS INDUSTRY.
UM, SOME OF IT LEAK DETECTION, SOME OF IT MANAGEMENT OF THE DATA, UH, SOME OF IT, UM, A MI, THAT'S WHY WE WILL HAVE MORE PEOPLE, UH, GOING TO THE NORTH AMERICAN WATER LOSS IN IN DECEMBER.
I HEAR IT'S PRETTY THAT TIME OF YEAR, ACTUALLY, I HAVE NO IDEA.
BUT, UM, UH, I'M GONNA GO, UH, AND BE THERE, UH, WITH THAT AND WATCHING, UH, WHAT BECOMES AVAILABLE, UH, IN THE INDUSTRY.
UM, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THESE THINGS THAT WE'RE DOING ARE GONNA TAKE SOME TIME TO REALLY TURN AROUND, UH, UH, THOSE NUMBERS.
UM, BUT I DO BELIEVE WHAT WE'RE GONNA REDUCE OUR WATER LOSS, I DON'T KNOW HOW QUICKLY IT'S GONNA HAPPEN.
I DO KNOW THE, THE TWO BIG, TWO OF THE BIG THREE THINGS THAT HAPPENED FROM 23 TO 24, THOSE WERE CORRECTED.
THOSE AREN'T GONNA RECURVE 24 TO 25.
UM, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, I BELIEVE WE'RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK, UM, AND WE'RE GONNA KEEP INVESTING, UH, IN OUR SYSTEM AND WE'RE GONNA KEEP WATCHING THE SYSTEM AND ADJUSTING AS WE NEED TO, UH, TO IMPROVE.
I THINK THE NEXT SLIDE IS THANK YOU OR QUESTIONS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? I THINK WE SHOULD, UM, THANK YOU FOR THAT, FOR ALL THE INFORMATION.
UM, I THINK IT'S KIND OF ONE OF OUR FIRST BIG DOWNLOADS SINCE, SINCE WE KIND OF GOT THAT BLACK AND BEACH REPORT, SO I APPRECIATE IT.
WE SHOULD, I KNOW WE HAVE ANOTHER BIG PRESENTATION COMING AND WE NEED TO APPROVE OUR, WE HAVE A VOTING ITEM AS WELL, SO WE SHOULD MOVE ON TO THE NEXT THING.
I HAVE LOTS OF QUESTIONS I WANNA ASK YOU, BUT I'M GONNA HOLD BACK.
I DID WANNA SEE IF, BECAUSE OF TIME, IF WE WANTED TO TAKE THE VOTING ITEM NEXT.
DO YOU WANNA TAKE THIS OUT OF ORDER? YEAH.
[5. Review and approve the 2026 Water Forward Task Force meeting schedule ]
BACK OF OUR PACKET, SECOND TO LAST PAGE IS THE PROPOSED MEETING DATES FOR 2026.WE MEET EVERY OTHER MONTH, SO THERE'S SIX MEETINGS HERE.
DO YOU WANNA SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THEM? UM, NO COMMENTS.
JUST WE'RE, UM, YOU KNOW, KEEPING ON OUR, UH, SCHEDULE OF HOLDING MEETINGS EVERY OTHER MONTH WITH THE BROADER TASK FORCE AND CONTINUING TO HOLD, UH, WORKING GROUP MEETINGS IN THE INTERIM MONTHS.
SO FOR THE REST OF THIS YEAR, NEXT YEAR.
SO FOR NEXT YEAR? YEAH, LIKE 24.
YEAH, THESE ARE, THEY LIKE THE SETTLEMENT ADVANCE FOR NEXT YEAR.
UM, WE'LL HAVE ONE MORE MEETING THIS YEAR.
DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MEETING SCHEDULED FOR 2026? SO MOVED SECOND FROM HANEY.
I'LL PUT, TRY TO KEEP MY CALENDAR OPEN ON THESE DAYS.
WITH HAVING THESE SCHEDULED, I THINK WE CAN ALSO, UM, SCHEDULE OUR WORKING GROUP MEETINGS SO THAT YOU CAN ALSO HAVE FOR 2026.
YEAH, WE CAN JUST PUT 'EM ALL ON THERE IN ADVANCE.
IS THERE ANY UPDATE ON THE WORKING GROUP MEETINGS? YEAH, BUT HOLD, HOLD ON, SARAH.
I HAVE TWO LITTLE ADMIN ITEMS I JUST WANTED TO BRING UP RIGHT NOW SINCE WE MAY NOT HAVE TIME LATER.
I DON'T GET INVITED TO ANY WORKING GROUP MEETINGS, SO MAYBE, I DON'T KNOW IF WE CHECK THE ROSTER AND SEE.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF THEY'RE HAPPENING AND MM-HMM
OR I'M NOT ON ONE, BUT WE'D LIKE TO PARTICIPATE FULLY IF POSSIBLE.
UH, SO YEAH, IF YOU CAN CHECK THAT.
AND THEN THE OTHER THING WAS NOT FOR RIGHT NOW, BUT I NEVER FOUND OUT WHERE WE ENDED UP WITH THE BOARDING COMMISSION EMAILS AND PEOPLE FROM THE PUBLIC BEING ABLE TO CONTACT US, UM, OR WHERE MAYBE WE WERE GONNA UPDATE THE WEBSITE AND TELL THEM TO GO THROUGH EMILY.
I JUST WANTED TO GET AN UPDATE ON THAT ALSO, BECAUSE AS PEOPLE COME ON, IF YOU HAVE A BC EMAIL, YOU GET THE PUBLIC
[01:20:01]
INFORMATION REQUEST TRAINING, LIKE ALL OF THAT, IT SEEMS LIKE NOW THAT WE'RE GONNA FOR NOW CONTINUE AND WE'RE NOT PART OF THE OTHER BOARDING COMMISSION PROCESS THAT'S HAPPENING MAYBE, SO WE DON'T NEED TO DO RIGHT NOW.I KNOW WE GOTTA GET TO OTHER STUFF.
I JUST WANNA SAY MAYBE FOR NEXT TIME SURE.
UM, MAYBE WE COULD PUT AN AGENDA ITEM ON OUR SCHEDULE FOR THE DECEMBER MEETING TO GIVE AN UPDATE ON SOME OF THOSE, UH, KIND OF LOGISTICS ITEMS. YEAH.
SO, SO IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP.
UM, THESE ITEMS THAT SARAH MENTIONED, LIKE THE EMAILS MM-HMM
AND THEN YOU HAVE A QUESTION THE SAME ABOUT COMMITTEE.
WHERE'S KEVIN? I DO THINK THAT WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT FOR THAT, JUST MM-HMM
PLANTING THE SEED, WHAT DO WE DO IF WE HAVE MORE PEOPLE THAT WANNA PARTICIPATE ON THAT COMMITTEE THAN ARE ALLOWED UNDER THE, YOU KNOW, LESSON QUORUM RULE.
AND IS THERE A WORKAROUND ON THAT? BECAUSE I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT THAT, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S ANY CREATIVE SOLUTION.
WE'LL THINK ABOUT THAT AND WE CAN COME BACK NEXT MEETING WITH SOME IDEAS.
THIS IS A 30 MINUTE PRESENTATION, RIGHT?
[4. Presentation of Q2 Water Management Strategy Implementation Report]
FORCE MEMBERS.MY NAME IS KEVIN KLUGE, WATER CONSERVATION DIVISION MANAGER, AND THIS IS A BRIEFING OF THE SECOND QUARTERLY IMPLEMENTATION REPORT OF THIS YEAR.
IT INVOLVES THE SECOND QUARTER, WHICH IS APRIL, MAY, JUNE.
SO THIS IS ALL PRE FLOOD, PRE DELUGE, PRE-CON CONSERVATION STAGE.
UM, SO SOME OF IT MAY SEEM QUITE A WHILE AGO, BUT, UH, WE'RE GONNA RUN THROUGH THIS AND AT YOUR DECEMBER MEETING, YOU'LL ACTUALLY GET THE THIRD QUARTER REPORT.
SO WHATEVER YOU SEE TODAY MAY TEE UP IDEAS THAT YOU WANT TO LOOK INTO DURING THE THIRD QUARTER REPORT IN DECEMBER.
THE SECOND QUARTER REPORT IS VERY SIMILAR TO THE FIRST QUARTER REPORT.
WE'RE NOT TRYING TO MAKE A LOT OF CHANGES, ALTHOUGH, UH, WE HAVE HAD ONE CHANGE, BUT PRIMARILY IT'S A WORK IN PROGRESS, BUT WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE CHANGES SLOWLY AS WE GO ALONG.
SO ALL THE CONTENTS FROM THE FIRST QUARTER ARE ACTUALLY IN THE SECOND QUARTER REPORT.
AND JUST AS A HIGH LEVEL REVIEW, AGAIN, BACK IN APRIL THROUGH JUNE, THIS WAS A TRANSITION TIME IN THE YEAR.
SO IT WAS A TRANSITION TIME AND A LOT OF THE ACTIVITIES OF AUSTIN WATER, FIRST OF ALL, LANDSCAPE, UH, WATER CONSERVATION REALLY EXPANDED DURING THIS QUARTER.
UM, JUST THE NATURE OF IT BEING SPRING INCREASED LEAK DETECTION, ADDITIONAL RECLAIMED CUSTOMERS AND USAGE CAME ONLINE.
UH, EXPANDED PUBLIC OUTREACH THAT REALLY TAKES PLACE DURING THE SPRING.
AND THEN THERE'S WORK ON THE AQUIFER STORAGE RECOVERY PROJECT, AS WELL AS THE EMERGENCY INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE.
SO THOSE ARE THE HIGH LEVEL, UH, NOTES FROM THE SECOND QUARTER.
AND AS, AS, AS POINTED OUT, WE'RE GONNA TRY TO MOVE THROUGH THIS RELATIVELY QUICKLY, BUT IF YOU SEE SOMETHING THAT JUMPS OUT AT YOU, PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO ASK ME OR ASK AFTERWARDS.
FOR WATER CONSERVATION, UH, APRIL 10TH, THE COUNCIL APPROVED THE UNIFORM PLUMBING CODE AND APPROVED, APPROVED ALL THE OTHER TECHNICAL CODES FOR THE CITY.
BUT THE UNIFORM PLUMBING CODE INCLUDED THREE NEW LOCAL AMENDMENTS THAT IMPLEMENTED, PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED THE 2018 WATER FORWARD LANDSCAPE TRANSFORMATION STRATEGY.
UH, THOSE THREE LOCAL AMENDMENTS INCLUDED ADDITIONAL PRESSURE REDUCTION COMPONENTS ON IRRIGATION SYSTEMS. IT LIMITED THE SIZE OF AUTOMATIC IRRIGATION SYSTEMS ON NEW HOMES, UH, TO 50% OF THE LANDSCAPE AREA.
AND IT, UH, REQUIRED INDOOR PLUMBING FOR LAUNDRY AND LANDSCAPE, UH, FOR NEW HOMES.
ALSO, RESIDENTIAL REBATES WENT UP, UM, WHICH IT OFTEN DOES DURING THE SPRING, BUT A LOT OF THAT WAS DUE TO EXTRA EFFORTS BY STAFF AND REPUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE.
[01:25:01]
RIGHT HERE, JUST BASED ON OUR EARLIER CONVERSATION.CAN YOU GO BACK TO THAT LAST SLIDE? UM, THIS REALLY IS FOCUSED ON LANDSCAPE TRANSFORMATION, RIGHT? THESE ARE FOR ALL THE LAWNS THAT DON'T EXIST TODAY, THESE ARE FOR ALL THE FUTURE LAWNS, ALL NEW LAWNS IN AUSTIN.
SO IT WILL TAKE TIME, OBVIOUSLY, TO GET PEOPLE TO ADJUST.
THERE WILL BE GROWING PAINS WITH PEOPLE ACCEPTING THESE REALITIES, BUT THIS IS ONE VERY CLEAR WAY THAT WE WILL MAKE, YOU KNOW, NEW LANDSCAPES DIFFERENT IN AUSTIN THAN THEY ARE TODAY.
AND THEN THEY HAVE BEEN IN THE PAST.
SO, RIGHT, AND JUST ONE THING TO ADD TO THAT, SINCE OCTOBER WE STARTED INSPECTING ALL NEW IRRIGATION SYSTEMS FOR SINGLE FAMILY HOMES FOR, SO NOW EVERY NEW HOME IN AUSTIN HAS, I WOULD DARE SAY, A BETTER IRRIGATION SYSTEM THAN PREVIOUS NEW HOMEOWNERS IN AUSTIN LAST YEAR.
RIGHT? SO, LOT'S GOING ON WITH THAT.
THESE ARE THE RESIDENTIAL REBATE PROGRAM COUNTS.
THE VERTICAL BARS, EACH BAR IS A QUARTER, THE BLUE BARS ARE THE PREVIOUS FOUR QUARTERS.
THE GOLD BAR WAS QUARTER TWO, THE SPRING OF THIS YEAR.
YOU SEE THAT FOR, I GUESS, THREE OF THE PROGRAMS. THERE'S SIGNIFICANT INCREASE, UH, BETWEEN, UM, THE PREVIOUS QUARTER AND, AND THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
THERE WERE A COUPLE PROGRAMS THAT DID SEE A DECREASE FROM THE PREVIOUS QUARTER IN TERMS OF APPLICATIONS.
NEXT SLIDE, COMMERCIAL REBATE PROGRAMS. THE PREVIOUS SLIDE WAS ALL RESIDENTIAL REBATES.
UH, WE DO HAVE COMMERCIAL REBATES.
THE LARGEST ONE IS ON THE LEFT THERE, BUCKS FOR BUSINESS PROGRAM.
THAT'S A PERFORMANCE BASED PROGRAM IN WHICH WE REBATE ESSENTIALLY $1 PER THOUSAND GALLON SAVED OVER 10 YEARS.
SO THE MORE THEY SAVE WITH THEIR ACTIVITY, THE MORE THEY GET BACK IN REBATES.
WE HAD ONE, UH, BUCKS FOR BUSINESS IN QUARTER TWO IS FOR A MULTIFAMILY COMPLEX.
UM, ALTHOUGH IT'S JUST ONE, THAT ONE REBATE WILL SAVE 3 MILLION GALLONS OF YEAR OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS.
ALSO, WITHIN WATER CONSERVATION, WE ADMINISTER THREE COMMERCIAL COMPLIANCE ASSESSMENT PROGRAMS. WHAT IT IS, IS THAT AUSTIN WATER HAS CODE, WHICH REQUIRES WATER EFFICIENT, UH, COMPONENTS FOR COMMERCIAL LANDSCAPE IRRIGATION, COOLING TOWERS, AND VEHICLE WASH FACILITIES.
EVERY YEAR, THESE FACILITIES HAVE TO SEND IN A REPORT CERTIFYING THAT THEY HAVE THESE, UM, WATER SAVING COMPONENTS IN THEIR PROCESSES FOR THE COOLING TOWERS AND VEHICLE WASH AND FOR LANDSCAPE IRRIGATIONS EVERY TWO YEARS.
SO COMPLIANCE WITH THESE PROGRAMS IS A BIG WATER SAVER.
UH, WE ESTIMATE THAT THEY, COMPLIANCE WITH THESE SAVES ABOUT 60% OF OUR TOTAL QUANTIFIABLE WATER SAVINGS IN THE WATER CONSERVATION PROGRAMS. SO WE CONTINUE TO WORK ON INCREASING THAT COMPLIANCE MILESTONES.
UH, THERE WASN'T A LOT OF CHANGES IN THE MILESTONES, BUT I WOULD NOTE AT THE BOTTOM THERE ARE TWO MILESTONES, ONE OF WHICH IS THE UNIFORM PLUMBING CODE, AND THE SECOND ONE IS THE IRRIGATION OF NEW IRRIGATION SYSTEMS AND, AND FOLLOW UP CHECKUPS.
SO IN QUARTER THREE, YOU'LL SEE THAT WE WILL BE, UH, HAVING IMPLEMENTED THOSE, I GUESS WE PROBABLY CALL 'EM COMPLETED AT THAT TIME.
CAN I ASK A JUST NOMENCLATURE QUESTION? BECAUSE EVERY TIME YOU SAY UNIFORM PLUMBING CODE, I, I KEEP THINKING ABOUT LIKE THE PLUMBING CODES AT THE STATE AND LOCAL PLUMBING CODES ARE, WERE THIS, IS THIS UPDATES TO THE, TO THAT BODY? IT'S, IT'S CALLED LIKE THERE'S AN INTERNATIONAL AND THE UNIFORM RIGHT THERE.
YES, THERE'S AN INTERNATIONAL PLUMBING CODE AND UNIFORM PLUMBING CODE.
AUSTIN ADOPTS THE UNIFORM PLUMBING CODE FOR THEIR LOCAL PLUMBING CODE, AND THEN WE ADD AMENDMENTS, LOCAL AMENDMENTS TO THAT CODE.
BUT THE UNIFORM PLUMBING CODE IS SOMETHING THAT'S DEVELOPED BY THE ENTITY THAT DOES THE UNIFORM PLUMBING CODES.
AND LIKE I COULD SEE PRVS BEING PART OF THAT OR PRESSURE REDUCTION DEVICES, BUT THE IRRIGATION AREA LAUNDRY, WELL, I GUESS LAUNDRY TO LANDSCAPE WOULD BE, OR LIKE, ARE THESE THINGS THAT WE'RE AFFIRMATIVELY ADDING TO 'EM? ARE THERE COMPONENTS OF IT THAT ALREADY EXIST THAT WE'RE ADDING TO OUR TOOLBOX? WE ARE ADDING TO THE
[01:30:01]
PLUMBING CODE.WITH THOSE LOCAL AMENDMENTS, THEY ARE NOT IN THERE.
BUT THE BULK OF LIKE OUR PLUMBING CODE, WELL WE SAY UNIFORM PLUMBING CODE IS FROM LIKE THIS BODY THAT CREATES IT AND THEY DO UPDATES AND YOU KNOW, THERE'LL BE LIKE THE 2023 UPC AND RIGHT.
SO THIS IS, SO I WAS JUST CONFU, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THIS ISN'T, ANYWAY, MOST OF IT IS A STANDARD, MOST OF, OF IT'S STANDARD, BUT WE'RE ADDING LIKE FOR, AND THEN THEY MAY ADD IT TO EVENTUALLY 'CAUSE IT'S GOOD IDEA.
SO I WOULD JUST SAY, SO MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT LIKE, THIS IS A PLACE WHERE IF YOU WANNA BE INNOVATIVE IN WATER EFFICIENCY, AS, AS I'M SURE YOU KNOW, THEN SOMETIMES THAT CAN BE A CHALLENGE.
'CAUSE YOU GOTTA FIGURE OUT HOW TO WORK WITHIN THE UNIFORM CODE THAT YOU HAVE TO ADAPT AS A CITY AND, YOU KNOW, TO MAKE IT WORK FOR HOW WE WANT IT TO WORK HERE.
SO IT'S GREAT EVERY TIME WE ADD TO IT AND ARE ABLE TO DO SOMETHING LOCAL THAT STILL WORKS, BUT IT CAN BE LIKE A STUMBLING BLOCK TO REALLY GREAT WATER EFFICIENCY.
AND SO YOU GOTTA, IT TAKES A WHILE TO WORK THROUGH IT AT TIMES.
I, I MEAN, I THINK I WOULD ADD JUST, RIGHT, I MEAN IT'S, JENNIFER SAID THERE'S BASICALLY TWO DIFFERENT BODIES THAT CREATE MODEL CODES.
ONE IS THE INTERNATIONAL PLUMBING CODE, AND THAT'S A ADOPTED PROBABLY MORE BROADLY, UM, THE UNIFORM PLUMBING CODE BEING THE OTHER.
I THINK UP C'S PROBABLY THE OLDER OF THE TWO, THEY TEND TO SORT OF LAG A LITTLE BIT.
UM, SO I MEAN, I, I THINK YOU'RE RIGHT, THEY PROBABLY DO, THEY DO REFLECT WATER CONSERVATION MEASURES, BUT IT'S TYPICALLY MORE MEASURES THAT HAVE BEEN ADOPTED THROUGH EITHER FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS OR STATE REQUIREMENTS.
OTHERWISE, A LOT OF IT'S FOCUSED ON PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY.
WE IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN ADOPT THE UNIFORM PLUMBING CODE TO WHICH WE ADD 14 ISH.
WE A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF LOCAL AMENDMENTS.
AND EVERY TIME WE DO IT, WE GET A LOT OF FEEDBACK ABOUT THAT BECAUSE THERE'S PERCEPTION THAT MORE LOCAL AMENDMENTS MAKE IT HARDER TO DEVELOP.
SO THAT'S KIND OF THE OVERVIEW.
AND IS IT, 'CAUSE ONE OF 'EM, 'CAUSE I'M ALWAYS GETTING MIXED UP BY IMO AND THEN THE UNIT, YOU KNOW, FOR EMPLOYMENT CODE, BUT IS IT THE INTERNATIONAL THAT HAS THE AMENDMENT FOR MAYBE THINGS LIKE THIS, LIKE, YOU KNOW, ALTERNATIVE OR, OR, OR IS IT UNIFORM? AND ALSO I'M GETTING IN THE WEEDS.
I BELIEVE YOU'RE CORRECT, BUT I DON'T KNOW.
A LOT OF THIS INFORMATION IN THESE SLIDES HAS ALREADY BEEN OVERTAKEN BY MATT, SO I'M NOT REALLY GONNA SPEND TOO MUCH TIME ON THESE.
THE WATER MAIN LEAKS IN Q2 OF 2025, UH, DROP BACK DOWN IN Q1 WE HAD 181 AND THEN IN Q2 IT DOWN WENT DOWN TO 76.
A LOT OF THIS IS SEASONAL, UM, WITH SHIFTING IN THE GROUND DURING THE WINTER.
UM, AND THEN SPRING BECOMES MORE MODERATE AND IT'S VERY SIMILAR TO Q2 OF 2024.
WE HAVE TWO METRICS ON THIS SLIDE.
UH, LINEAR FEED OF LEAK DETECTION PERFORMED ON LARGE METER LINES.
NO PROJECTS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED IN Q2, SO THAT'S WHY IT'S ZERO.
BUT WORK IS BEING DONE ON THIS.
IT'S ONE OF THOSE CHUNKY METRICS THAT NUMBERS ARE ONLY ADDED WHEN YOU, UM, FINISH A, A FULL PROJECT ON THE RIGHT.
THERE'S LINEAR FEED OF LEAK DETECTION PERFORMED ON SMALL METER WATER DISTRIBUTION.
SO THERE'S MORE LEAK DETECTION BEING TAPED DONE IN Q2 OF 2025 OVER Q1 AND Q2 OF 2024.
SO MORE, MORE WORK BEING DONE ON THE LEAK DETECTION FRONT.
AND THIS SLIDE INCLUDES A LOT OF THE MILESTONES THAT MATT MENTIONED IN TERMS OF STANDARD OPERATING GUIDELINES OR STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
AND HE, HE HAD MENTIONED THAT A LOT OF THESE ARE IN PROGRESS BEING WORKED ON, UM, AS AS WE SPEAK.
ALRIGHT, RECLAIMED WATER, ONSITE WATER REUSE UPDATES BACK ON JUNE 2ND OF THIS YEAR, THE COUNCIL AMENDED THE GO PURPLE RESOLUTION WITH INCENTIVES FOR FULLY TO FULLY SUBSIDIZE RECLAIMED WATER, UM, ON DUAL PLUMBING AND ONSITE REUSE FOR THE DEEPLY AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECTS.
AND THEN WE STARTED OUR RECLAIMED LONG RANGE PLAN UPDATE OF THE CONSULTANT HAS BEEN SELECTED.
THEY'RE FINALIZING THE SCOPE AND IT SHOULD TAKE ABOUT A YEAR TO COMPLETE.
THE NUMBER OF RECLAIMED METERS INCREASED, UH, BY THREE OR SO.
YOU CAN SEE THAT'S KIND OF BEEN THE TREND GOING FORWARD ABOUT
[01:35:01]
THREE OR SO EVERY QUARTER.THE VOLUME OF CENTRALIZED RECLAIMED WATER USED, WE USED MORE THAN IN Q1 JUMPED UP TO FOUR 86 MILLION GALLONS, UM, WHICH IS SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN IN IN THE PREVIOUS FOUR QUARTERS.
AND THIS IS THE ONE SLIDE THAT IS DIFFERENT THAT THAN FROM Q1.
UH, IN Q1 WE HAD A BAR CHART SHOWING HOW MANY MORE FEED OF RECLAIMED LINES THAT WE, UH, HAD PUT IN.
AND IT'S ONE OF THOSE CHUNKY METRICS THAT IT ONLY CHANGES AFTER YOU GET THE ENTIRE PROJECT DONE.
SO RATHER THAN SHOWING, YOU KNOW, ZERO FOR A NUMBER OF QUARTERS UNTIL WE GET SOMETHING DONE, WE DECIDED TO INCLUDE THE PROJECTS THAT ARE BEING DONE FOR RECLAIMED IN THE CIP UH, BUDGET, THERE ARE 10 PROJECTS UNDERWAY.
THREE OF THEM ARE IN CONSTRUCTION, UM, ONE ARE ADVERTISEMENT AND THEN THE OTHERS IN DESIGN.
AND MIND YOU, THIS IS FROM THE END OF JUNE.
SO THEY'VE PROGRESSED EVEN FURTHER TODAY.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY ADVERTISEMENT? LIKE TO THE LOCAL BUSINESSES OR LIKE TO ADVERTISING CONTRACTORS? RIGHT.
SO ONCE WE COMPLETE THE DESIGN AND WE HAVE A SET OF SIGNED AND SEALED PLANS, THEN THE, THEN WE PUT THEM OUT FOR BID.
AND SO ADVERTISEMENT JUST MEANS THEY'RE OUT FOR BID.
UM, AND THAT'S USUALLY A ABOUT A, I DON'T KNOW, SIX MONTH PROCESS OR SO FROM THE TIME WE ADVERTISE UNTIL WE CAN GET THEM TO CITY COUNCIL AND THEN GO ON TO CONTRACTING.
ONSITE WATER REUSE AND GO PURPLE METRICS.
ON THE RIGHT THERE YOU SEE THAT THREE MORE ONSITE WATER REUSE PERMITS WERE APPROVED.
SO THAT'S BEING WORKED ON EVERY QUARTER.
UH, WE ARE APPROVING THESE ONSITE WATER REUSE PROJECTS.
THE INCENTIVES ARE NOT BEING, UH, COMMITTED TO AT THE SAME RATE.
UH, OVER THAT SECOND QUARTER IN THE SPRING.
WE HAD NO FINALIZED INCENTIVES FOR THE ONSITE WATER REUSE OR RECLAIMED EXTENSION OR, OR FEE IN LIEU, BUT THEY ARE BEING WORKED ON, UH, IN DISCUSSIONS WITH DEVELOPERS.
MILESTONES, UH, REMAINS THE SAME AS AS WHAT WAS IN QUARTER TWO.
UM, IN TERMS OF THESE DIFFERENT CENTRALIZED AND AND DECENTRALIZED RECLAIMED.
AND THE FOR ONSITE WATER REUSE ME, UH, MILESTONES, UM, THE BARS HAVE ESSENTIALLY REMAINED UNCHANGED.
BUT ON THE THIRD ONE DOWN, YOU SEE THE AMENDED GO PURPLE RESOLUTION I MENTIONED WAS APPROVED ON JUNE 2ND.
SO IN THE NEXT QUARTERLY REPORT YOU'LL SEE THAT BEING MOVED OVER INTO COMPLETED AND WE ARE UNDERTAKING, ON THE BOTTOM THERE YOU SEE A NEW SOFTWARE TO TRACK ONSITE WATER REUSE SYSTEMS THAT IS GOING FORWARD WITH DEVELOPING DEVELOPMENTS STARTING, UM, THIS MONTH IN OCTOBER.
CONSERVATION OUTREACH UPDATES.
AS I MENTIONED, Q2 SECOND QUARTER IS A TRANSITION PERIOD, UM, APRIL, MAY, JUNE INTO SPRING.
SO IT REALLY SHOWED A CHANGE IN WHAT WE WERE DOING FOR CONSERVATION OUTREACH.
THERE'S A LOT MORE FROM OUR PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE GETTING OUT REGARDING WATER SCHEDULE, DROUGHT AWARE AWARENESS, EXCUSE ME, AND CONSERVATION REBATES.
AS YOU MAY RECALL, BACK IN THIS QUARTER, AT THE TIME WE WERE STILL AT 50% OF OUR COMBINED STORAGE.
SO WE WERE STILL LOOKING AT A, A DIRE SITUATION IN THE SUMMER.
SO THE PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE, UH, REALLY LEANED INTO THEIR OUTREACH EFFORTS DURING THE SECOND QUARTER.
ONE THING TO NOTE IS THAT IN THE FIRST QUARTER, UH, WE SHOW SHOWED YOU A METRIC OF THE NUMBER OF IMPRESSIONS.
YOU KNOW, THE NUMBER OF TIMES PEOPLE VIEW THINGS FOR OUR CONSERVATION PROGRAMS. AND IN THE FIRST QUARTER IT WAS 15 MILLION IMPRESSIONS.
AND IN THE SECOND QUARTER WITH ALL THE ADDITIONAL WORK THAT PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE DID IT, IT JUMPED TO 23 MILLION IT IMPRESSIONS.
SO A LOT MORE SOCIAL MEDIA, RADIO, PRINT ADS.
AND THEN AT THE END OF THE QUARTER, TOWARDS THE END OF THE QUARTER, THEY STARTED MOVING INTO TV ADS, UM, THAT WOULD RUN OVER THE SUMMER.
[01:40:01]
AND, UH, I WANTED TO MENTION THE MI TX WATER PORTAL WAS BEING USED TO SEND OUT NOTIFICATIONS.WE'RE STARTING WITH SOME, UH, PILOT NOTIFICATIONS, UH, AT THE VERY END OF THIS SECOND QUARTER.
BUT YOU HEAR MORE ABOUT THAT IN THE THIRD QUARTER, AS WAS MENTIONED BEFORE, UH, ONCE THE RAINS AND FLOODS CAME, THE MESSAGING REALLY HAD TO SHIFT, UH, 'CAUSE WE ALMOST HAD FULL RESERVOIRS.
SO, UH, WHILE WE WERE TECHNICALLY FOR MUCH OF THE SUMMER STILL IN OUR DROUGHT STAGE TWO, THE MESSAGING TO THE PUBLIC HAD TO SHIFT FROM, YOU KNOW, DROUGHT 50% OF OUR LAKES, WHAT HAVE YOU, TO A MORE SUSTAINED MESSAGE TO SAVE WATER.
THE NUMBER OF METRICS FROM THE MYX WATER PORTAL.
SENDING OUT LEAK ALERTS, IT INCREASED THE NUMBER, THE NUMBER OF LEAK ALERTS INCREASED IN THE SECOND QUARTER, UM, OVER SECOND QUARTER OF 2024.
UH, IT DECREASED FROM Q1, UH, PRIMARILY DUE TO THE NUMBER OF LEAKS TAKING PLACE BECAUSE IN THE WINTER YOU HAD MORE SHIFTING SOIL MORE.
WE HAD A COUPLE INSTANCES WHERE PEOPLE MAY HAVE HAD FROZEN PIPES.
SO IN THE MORE MODERATE SPRING, THE NUMBER OF LEAKS DECREASE, BUT THE ESTIMATED SAVINGS DID GO UP 'CAUSE WE HAD MORE PEOPLE IN Q2 OF 2025 THAN IN 2024 WITH THESE A MI METERS ON THE MY A TX SYSTEM AND RECEIVING THE LEAK ALERTS.
SO THAT'S GOOD TO SEE THAT MORE WATER IS BEING SAVED FROM CUSTOMER LEAKS.
CONSERVATION OUTREACH MILESTONES IN THIS CASE FOR MY TX WATER ON THAT, THE TOP MILESTONE THERE.
UM, THE BAR DIDN'T CHANGE, BUT THIS MILESTONE DEALT WITH CATEGORIZING OUR COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS OR COMMERCIAL INSTITUTIONAL INDUSTRIAL, OR CII CUSTOMERS WITH INDUSTRIAL CODES TO ALLOW US TO DO BENCHMARKING THAT, UH, WAS UNDERWAY AT THIS TIME, UM, AS HAS BEEN SINCE COMPLETED.
SO THAT'S AN EXCITING, UH, STEP UP IN OUR DATA CAPABILITIES IN TERMS OF COMMERCIAL WATER USE.
AND THEN AT THE BOTTOM YOU SEE A MILESTONE THAT REALLY DEALS WITH NOTIFICATIONS TO CUSTOMERS ABOUT IRRIGATION.
AND AT THE VERY END OF THE SECOND QUARTER, WE START PILOTING SOME OF THESE NOTIFICATIONS AND WE'LL HEAR MORE ABOUT THAT, UH, IN DECEMBER.
I KNOW WE'RE SHORT ON TIME, BUT I, I THINK THIS IS WHERE YOU CAN TELL THE STORY ON THAT CUSTOMER CATEGOR CATEGOR CATEGORIZATION WHERE, UH, YOUR STAFF FOUND THAT THERE WAS A MAYBE A SPORTING GOODS STORE THAT WAS USING TWICE AS MUCH WATER AS THE OTHER SPORTING GOODS STORES.
UM, AND SO WE'RE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH THEM ABOUT A LEAK THAT THEY HAD ON PREMISES, RIGHT? YEAH.
AND THIS WAS A LOT OF WORK DONE BY SOME GREAT INTERNS THAT WE BROUGHT ON WHERE THEY LOOKED AT EVERY COMMERCIAL CUSTOMER WE HAD AND PUT 'EM AND CATEGORIZED THEM WITH A, A CODE, AN INDUSTRIAL CODE SO THAT WE CAN LOOK AT ALL THE SPORTING GOODS STORES AND THEIR WATER USE.
AND AS SHEA POINTED OUT, THEY LOOKED AT ALL THE SPORTING GOODS AND SAW THAT ONE WAS CLEARLY FAR AND AWAY USING MORE WATER THAN ANY OF THE OTHER SPORTING GOODS STORES.
UM, SO THEY REACHED OUT TO THEM.
SOME OF THE CONSERVATION STAFF WENT OUT THERE TO LOOK AND SEE WHAT THEY HAD.
IF THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE IRRIGATION, IT TURNED OUT IT, UH, IT'S A LATERAL LEAK GOING IN TO THEIR STORE.
UM, SO IT WASN'T A MATTER OF THEM CHANGING THEIR BEHAVIOR SO MUCH AS JUST GETTING THINGS FIXED, BUT IT WAS SOMETHING THAT THE STORE OWNER NEVER REALIZED.
AND CLEARLY THE BILLING DEPARTMENT NEVER REALIZED, UM, WHY THEY HAD SUCH A HIGH USE.
BUT WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO USING THIS INFORMATION AND BENCHMARKING ALL OF OUR COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS TO SEE WHO ARE THE ONES USING A LOT, MAYBE WHO ARE THE ONES WHO ARE USING LITTLE, INCLUDING DATA CENTERS AS WE GO ALONG.
YOU HAVE YOUR COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS CATEGORIZED, LIKE I WOULD THINK THAT A SPORTING GOODS STORE WOULD BE LIKE A RETAIL OPERATION, BUT YOU HAVE 'EM CATEGORIZED LIKE THAT FINALLY SOUNDS LIKE A REALLY BIG PROJECT.
THEY DID A GREAT JOB CATEGORIZING.
THERE ARE SOME THAT ARE ALL LUMPED TOGETHER, LIKE STRIP MALLS.
THAT'S ONE THAT JUST HAD TO BE JUST GOOD STORES ARE SOMETIMES.
YEAH, THAT'S, AND THIS PARTICULAR, IT WAS A LARGE STANDALONE.
UM, AS YOU MAY IMAGINED, YOU KNOW, IN THE SPRING THERE WAS
[01:45:01]
LOTS GOING ON WITH, UH, DISCUSSIONS REGARDING THE AQUIFER STORAGE RECOVERY PROJECT.UM, A LOT OF DISCUSSIONS AND SINCE THEN WE'VE BEEN MOVING TO HAVE A LOT OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN THE, IN BASTROP COUNTY, ALL THE COMMUNITIES AND, AND CITIZENS IN THAT COUNTY.
AND AS YOU NOTE THERE, IT BEGAN IN AUGUST AND IT'S JUST BEEN CONTINUING.
IN ADDITION, CONSULTANTS ARE DEVELOPING THE INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.
UM, SO THAT WE ARE, HEY, CAN I ASK ONE QUESTION? SORRY.
ON THE TOP BULLET, IT SAYS THAT THE RESULTS OF THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND DRAFT AGREEMENT WILL GO TO GOVERNING BODIES IN FALL 2025.
SO IS THAT HAPPENING RIGHT NOW? UH, YES.
WE, UM, HELD, UH, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT EVENTS, UH, DURING THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER.
UM, THE, UH, COLLABORATION AGREEMENT THAT'S REFERENCED IN THAT BULLET IS BEING CONSIDERED BY, UM, VARIOUS GOVERNING BODIES AND HAS BEEN CONSIDERED BY TWO GOVERNING BODIES ALREADY.
UM, AQUA WATER SUPPLY CORPORATIONS BOARD UNANIMOUSLY, UM, UH, APPROVED SIGNING ON TO THAT AGREEMENT LAST WEEK, UM, SINCE WE'RE AQUIFER WATER DEFENSE FUND, ANOTHER STAKEHOLDER GROUP, UM, THAT WE'VE BEEN ENGAGING WITH OVER THE COURSE OF THE SUMMER AND THEY ALSO APPROVED SIGNING ON TO THAT COLLABORATION AGREEMENT.
UM, THEN THERE ARE OTHER BODIES, UH, WHO WILL BE CONSIDERING THAT THIS EVENING.
CITY OF SMITHVILLE WILL BE CONSIDERING THAT, UH, CITY OF BASTROP IS NOT POSTED TO TAKE ACTION AT THEIR COUNCIL MEETING THIS EVENING, BUT THEY'LL BE RECEIVING, UH, A PRESENTATION ON A SR FROM AUSTIN WATER STAFF.
UM, THE, UH, LOST PINES GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT BOARD WILL CONSIDER THAT AGREEMENT TOMORROW AFTERNOON.
AND BASTROP COUNTY COMMISSIONER'S COURT, UM, ORIGINALLY WAS POSTED TO CONSIDER THAT ITEM ON, UH, THE 20TH.
AND THAT'S BEEN POSTPONED TO THE 27TH.
AND WHAT'S THE, ON THE CITY OF AUSTIN SIDE, WHAT HAPPENS ON THE CITY OF AUSTIN SIDE? WE'RE TENTATIVELY SCHEDULED TO GO TO COUNCIL, UM, FOR THAT AGREEMENT ON NOVEMBER 20TH, AND I BELIEVE THAT, UH, WOULD GO TO WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION ON NOVEMBER 12TH.
UH, UH, THESE ARE THE, THE MILESTONES.
THERE'S NO CHANGE IN THE BARS BETWEEN Q1 AND Q2, UM, BUT LOTS HAVE BEEN GOING ON SINCE THEN.
ALRIGHT, WATER USE AND GALLONS PER CAPITA DAILY.
WE'LL JUST MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE AND, AND SEE THE BAR CHARTS IN THE SPRING.
UH, Q2 APRIL THROUGH, UH, MAY.
THE, THE GPCD FOR THE SECOND QUARTER WAS 1 29, WHICH, UH, CERTAINLY, UH, JUMP UP.
YOU SEE THERE ON THE FAR RIGHT YOU SEE THE TWO BARS FOR 2025.
IT CERTAINLY JUMPED UP FROM THE WINTER OF ONE 13, WHICH IS NO, NO SURPRISE THAT WATER USE WILL GO UP, BUT IT'S ALSO VERY SIMILAR TO 2024 Q2, UH, WHICH WAS 1 27.
SO IT'S VERY SIMILAR, SLIGHTLY ABOVE WHAT WAS IN Q2 OF 2024.
UM, AS AS NOTED IN DECEMBER, YOU'LL SEE WHAT HAPPENED IN, IN THE THIRD QUARTER, WHICH WAS THE SUMMER OF THIS YEAR.
SO THAT WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE THE TOTAL WATER USE FOR THAT, CONSIDERING BOTH THE, UH, RANGE WE HAD IN EARLY IN JULY, BUT ALSO THE HOT WEATHER WE HAD IN THE REST OF THE QUARTER.
THERE'S A, THE SECOND GPCD SLIDE SHOWING, UM, NOT IN BAR CHARTS, BUT IN LINE CHARTS GOING FROM THE LEFT TO THE RIGHT NEXT SLIDE AND LOOKING FORWARD INTO THE THIRD QUARTER, WHICH ENDED AT THE BEGINNING, AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER.
UM, SOME THINGS TO NOTE, UM, WE'LL BE LAUNCHING, UH, HAVE LAUNCHED AN INCENTIVE FOR HOW AFFORDABLE HOUSING DUAL USE PLUMBING TO FULFILL GOAL, ONE OF THE CITY MANAGER'S TOP 25 GOALS.
WE'LL ALSO BE, AS WAS DISCUSSED, ENGAGING COMMUNITIES AND ORGANIZATIONS IN BASTROP COUNTY.
AND THEN FINALLY, AS MATT MENTIONED BEFORE, THE WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD APPROVES SOME SWIFT LOANS FOR AUSTIN WATER, UM, WITH ANTICIPATED CLOSINGS IN NOVEMBER, UH, FOR POLYBUTYLENE PIPE AND A RECLAIMED WATER MAIN.
SO NEXT SLIDE, UM, IS SIMPLY THE FINE PRINT ABOUT DATA.
[01:50:01]
NEXT SLIDE I BELIEVE IS THE FINAL SLIDE FOR QUESTIONS.AND IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS IN GOOD TIMING, ONE MINUTE, A HALF MINUTES, QUITE A COMPENDIUM OF INFORMATION ON A QUARTERLY BASIS.
UM, ANY OTHER FOLLOW UP OR QUESTIONS FOR HIM? I, I THINK Y'ALL KNOW THIS, BUT, UM, I DON'T, WE DON'T THINK THERE'S ANYWHERE ELSE THAT DOES THIS KIND OF QUARTERLY REPORT, SO WE'RE, WE'RE PRETTY PROUD OF IT AND WE HOPE THAT YOU FIND IT USEFUL AND IF YOU HAVE FEEDBACK FOR US, UM, ON THE KIND OF INFORMATION THAT'S INCLUDED OR HOW IT'S PRESENTED, WE WOULD LOVE IT.
YEAH, I MEAN, I KNOW THAT THAT WHEN WASN'T, DIDN'T THIS COME ABOUT WHEN CITY COUNCIL APPROVED THE WATER FORWARD PLAN IN NOVEMBER OF LAST YEAR? OH, AND THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, THEY ASKED FOR QUARTERLY REPORTING.
SO HOW IS THIS, ARE THEY GETTING A BRIEFING ON THIS OR IS IT JUST BEING SENT TO THEIR OFFICES OR WHAT'S THE RESPONSE LIKE? I THINK, I'M NOT SURE IF WE'RE GOING TO THE NEW A WALK COMMITTEE CHAIR.
SO THE, UM, THE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL, YOU KNOW, WE HAD LAST YEAR WE HAD, AND FOR, FOR SEVERAL YEARS, MANY YEARS WE HAD THE AUSTIN WATER OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL THAT WAS DEDICATED TO AUSTIN WATER THAT IS NOW THE CLIMATE WATER ENVIRONMENT AND PARKS COMMITTEE.
AND IT COVERS A NUMBER OF DEPARTMENTS.
AND SO WE DO PRESENT REGULARLY TO THAT COMMITTEE.
I DO NOT THINK WE HAVE YET, UM, PRESENTED ON THIS QUARTERLY REPORTING, UH, TO THAT COMMITTEE, BUT THAT WILL BE ON A FUTURE AGENDA, I'M SURE.
AND I GUESS I WOULD NOTE THAT WHILE THE, THE COUNCIL DID MENTION, MENTION THIS WHEN THEY APPROVED IT, A LOT OF THE, WHAT DROVE THIS IS FEEDBACK FROM THIS GROUP.
UM, A DESIRE TO HAVE TRANSPARENT TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY.
SO I THINK A LOT OF CREDIT GOES TO THIS GROUP IN MOVING THAT FORWARD.
SO, UM, OKAY, WELL THAT'S GREAT.
I'LL HAVE TO LOOK AND SEE WHEN THOSE MEETING CLIMATE ENVIRONMENT WATER AND PARKS.
BUT CLIMATE, WATER ENVIRONMENT AND PARKS, WATER'S NUMBER TWO.
NO ENERGY HAS ITS OWN COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL THAT IS THE FULL COUNCIL.
UM, THEY TRY TO, LIKE, THE LAST TIME I WATCHED IT, IT WAS LIKE ALL PARKS AND OPEN SPACE AND SO I THINK THEY TRY TO FOCUS OH, OKAY.
I'M, THERE'S OFTEN, UM, I THINK QUARTERLY OR MAYBE EVERY TWO MONTHS SUCH BIG, IT'S MORE THAN THAT IMPORTANT TOPICS.
GOOD THING THEY DIDN'T, UM, GET RID OF OUR COMMITTEE 'CAUSE UH, CLEARLY IT'S NEEDED.
FOR THE INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE AND STUFF, IT SAYS IT'S LIKE IN PROGRESS AND EVERYTHING.
WHERE EXACTLY ARE WE ON THAT STAGE? I KNOW IT'S NOT AS DIRE AS IT WAS LAST JANUARY MM-HMM
SO THE UPDATE THAT WAS, UH, SHARED IN THIS PRESENTATION WAS THAT WE ARE STILL DEVELOPING AN EMERGENCY IMPLEMENTATION PLAN OR INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE.
UM, EVEN THOUGH WE ARE ON A, A BETTER TRACK IN TERMS OF COMBINED STORAGE, WE STILL WANNA HAVE THAT HIGH LEVEL PLAN IN HAND, UH, AND READY TO GO.
UM, WE ARE ALSO WORKING ON KIND OF THE MORE MEDIUM TERM OUTLOOKS FOR HOW WE WOULD IMPLEMENT THE VARIOUS INFRASTRUCTURE COMPONENTS OF INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE.
IF YOU REMEMBER, THERE ARE THINGS PUMP STATION AT RIC, UM, PUMPING AND PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS AT SOUTH AUSTIN REGIONAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLAN.
UM, A NEW RECLAIMED WATER MAIN TO CONVEY RECLAIM WATER FROM SAR TO LADY BIRD LAKE.
AND SO WE HAVE CONSULTANTS WORKING TO ALL OF THOSE VARIOUS, UH, COMPONENTS.
UM, ALL OF THOSE COMPONENTS WILL ULTIMATELY FEED INTO INFORMATION THAT WE NEED FOR A MORE HOLISTIC RFQ, UM, THAT WE OR, OR MORE HOLISTIC PROJECT, UM, THAT WHERE WE WOULD HIRE A CONSULTANT TO HELP US KIND OF DELIVER, UM, MANY PIECES OF THAT PROJECT AND ALSO HELP SUPPORT IMPLEMENTATION OF THAT PROGRAM OVERALL.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
QUESTIONS? OUR NEXT MEETING IS ON, I JUST CLOSED MY COMPUTER.HELL
[01:55:02]
I GOT THERE LAST, GOD, I COULD HAVE JUST GUESSED THAT.
A WET MONTH ACCORDING TO THE HISTORY.
UM, HISTORY IS NOT REPEATING ITSELF SO FAR.
SO, UH, YOU KNOW, RAIN DANCES AND ALL THAT BUSINESS.