[00:00:01]
UH, I WANT TO WELCOME[CALL TO ORDER ]
EVERYONE TO THE DECEMBER 10TH, 2025 MEETING OF THE AUSTIN WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION.IT IS NOW 4 0 2, AND THE MEETING IS CALLED TO ORDER.
UH, IN PERSON WE HAVE COMMISSIONERS TO Y WAL CROT, REYES PANI, AND MYSELF, MAXWELL GAINES.
ONLINE WE HAVE COMMISSIONER MORTY.
SO AT THIS MOMENT, WE DO HAVE A QUORUM, UM, BUT ABSENT, WE HAVE COMMISSIONERS, UH, MARZULLO, NAVARRO, UM, ORTIZ AND PEN.
MOVING ON TO PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.
DO WE HAVE ANYONE SIGNED UP? NO.
UM, BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO THE APPROVAL MINUTES, I WANTED TO, UM, SAY A COUPLE THINGS.
UH, I WANTED TO THANK, UH, COMMISSIONER TUON FOR CHAIRING THE MEETING LAST, UH, MONTH.
UM, I, UH, WAS TALKING WITH THEM AND I WATCHED A VIDEO AND I WAS, UH, SAD TO HAVE MISSED THE GREAT DISCUSSIONS, UH, THAT HAPPENED AT THE LAST MEETING.
UM, AND I ALSO WANT TO CONGRATULATE AUSTIN WATER ON THE COMMISSIONING AND THE COMPLETION OF THE NORTH AUSTIN RESERVOIR AND PUMP SYSTEM.
UH, COMMISSIONER NAVARRO AND MYSELF ATTENDED THE RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY LAST WEEK.
UM, IT WAS A FUN EVENT AND A WONDERFUL CULMINATION OF MANY YEARS OF WORK BY MANY PEOPLE.
SO, JUST WANTED TO GET THAT OUT.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
ON TO THE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE LAST MEETING.UM, DOES ANY COMMISSIONER HAVE QUESTIONS OR CHANGES ON THOSE MINUTES? OKAY.
SEEING NONE, DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE? MOVE TO APPROVE.
COMMISSIONER TUON, UH, MOTIONS TO APPROVE.
COMMISSIONER PAN DURGE SECONDS.
ALL IN FAVOR? PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND.
MINUTES ARE APPROVED AND YOU'RE GONNA COUNT.
COMMISSIONER PENN, DO YOU WANT TO VOTE IN COMMISSIONER PENN? WE JUST VOTED ON THE MINUTES.
DID YOU WANNA BE COUNTED? YEAH.
COMMISSIONER PENN, DO YOU WANNA VOTE TO APPROVE THE, UH, MINUTES FROM LAST TIME? SURE.
COMMISSIONER PENN, CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES.
OKAY, SO I, I SHOULD SAY NOW, COMMISSIONER PENN IS JOINING US ONLINE.
I WILL NOW GO DOWN THE ROLL CALL AND ASK FOR ANY QUESTIONS OR, OR RECUSALS ON THE, UH, ACTION ITEMS. UH, COMMISSIONER ION NO QUESTIONS.
NO RECUSALS COMMISSIONER SENOFF? NO QUESTIONS.
COMMISSIONER REYES? NO QUESTIONS.
NO RECUSALS COMMISSIONER PENGE? NO QUESTIONS? NO.
NO RECUSALS, UH, COMMISSIONER MORIARTY? NO QUESTIONS? NO.
SO THAT MEANS, UH, ITEM NUMBER TWO
[DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS ]
IS ON THE CONSENT AGENDA.SO, DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA? I MOVE TO APPROVE.
COMMISSIONER SENOFF MOTIONS TO APPROVE.
DO I HAVE A SECOND? I'LL SECOND.
EVERYONE IN FAVOR OF APPROVAL, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND.
VOTE IS UNANIMOUS FOR THE CONSENT AGENDA.
[3.Staff briefing regarding Austin Water Strategic Plan Update. Presentation by Allison Orton Sprigg, Austin Water Enterprise Strategic Planning Manager]
THE STAFF BRIEFINGS.AND, UH, FIRST UP WE HAVE THE STAFF BRIEFING REGARDING THE AUSTIN WATER STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE.
UM, A PRESENTATION BY ALLISON NORTON, SPRIG OF THE AUSTIN WATER ENTERPRISE STRATEGIC PLANNING MANAGER.
THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TODAY TO SHARE AN UPDATE ON OUR STRATEGIC PLANNING PROJECT.
I'M ALICE NORTON SPRAGUE, ENTERPRISE STRATEGIC PLANNING MANAGER FOR AUSTIN WATER.
AND TODAY I'M GONNA GO OVER A BIT ABOUT OUR, OUR PROJECT, OUR PROCESS, AND OUR RESULTS.
[00:05:17]
OH, WE NOW HAVE SLIDES, BUT BEFORE WE GET GOING, WE DO HAVE SOMEONE WHO JOINED AT A PHONE NUMBER ENDING IN SEVEN SEVEN.CAN YOU PLEASE COME ON CAMERA AND IDENTIFY YOURSELF PLEASE? UH, YES, THIS IS COMMISSIONER TRI.
I AM ON MY PHONE, BUT I'M NOT ABLE TO COME ONTO THE CAMERA YET.
I'M KIND OF WORKING BEHIND THE TEAM.
THANK YOU FOR MAKING IT WORK FROM YOUR CHALLENGING SITUATION RIGHT NOW.
WE REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR PARTICIPATION.
UM, SO LIKE I SAID, WE'RE GONNA, I'M GONNA GO OVER A BIT ABOUT OUR, OUR PROJECT, OUR PROCESS, AND THE RESULTS, UH, FROM THE STRATEGIC PLANNING EFFORT.
UH, WHAT I'LL BE COVERING TODAY IS A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR WHY, THE WHAT THE INTENTION, AND A BIT ABOUT OUR PROCESS, ALL THE ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES THAT WE CONDUCTED, AS WELL AS THE RESULT AND PLANS, UH, PROJECT STRATEGIES AND GOALS, UH, AS WELL AS A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT OUR NEXT STEPS ARE, UH, AS AUSTIN WATER.
SO, THE BOAI, UH, OUR PREVIOUS STRATEGIC PLAN FOR AUSTIN WATER WAS DEVELOPED AND PUBLISHED IN AND AROUND THE YEAR 2020.
AS WE ALL KNOW, A LOT HAS CHANGED IN THE WORLD SINCE THEN.
NOT ONLY GLOBAL PANDEMIC, BUT A MULTIPLE EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS HERE IN CENTRAL TEXAS, AS WELL AS, UH, EXTERNAL EVALUATIONS OF AUSTIN WATER THAT HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED.
SO WE REALLY WANTED TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP A NEW PLAN THAT REALLY REFLECTS THE EVOLVING ENVIRONMENT AROUND US AND ALL THE CHANGES THAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE THE LAST TIME WE PUBLISHED THAT PLAN.
SO WE REALLY WANTED A PLAN THAT TOOK INTO ACCOUNT, YOU KNOW, CLIMATE CHANGE, POPULATION GROWTH, EVERYTHING THAT HAS CHANGED IN AUSTIN SINCE THEN.
UH, WORKFORCE PRIORITIES AS WELL AS COMMUNITY AND STAFF PRIORITIES.
UH, AND I'LL NOTE HERE TOO, AUSTIN WATER HAS BEEN DOING STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR A LONG TIME, BUT THIS WAS REALLY THE FIRST GROUND UP INITIATIVE THAT WE'VE DONE THAT REALLY TOOK INVOICES FROM ALL OF OUR STAKEHOLDERS INTERNALLY AND EXTERNALLY.
UH, SO WE HAD A FOCUS ON A FEEDBACK ROUND FROM BOTH OUR COMMUNITY AND STAFF.
ALRIGHT, SO WHAT WE WANT THIS PLAN TO DO FOR AUSTIN WATER, UM, AT THE VERY BASIC LEVEL, THIS PLAN IS A BLUEPRINT FOR AUSTIN WATER.
UH, IT IS A DECISION MAKING FRAMEWORK.
IT ALLOWS US TO SHARE WITH, UH, STAFF AND THE COMMUNITY, UH, AND ALL OF OUR STAKEHOLDERS WHAT AT THE MOST HIGHEST LEVEL WE ARE WORKING ON AND WHAT THE PRIORITIES ARE FOR OUR ORGANIZATION.
UH, IT HELPS BUILD CONNECTIONS.
WE SAW A LOT OF THAT ALREADY IN ALL OF OUR ENGAGEMENT WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY.
UM, IT ENABLES US TO SHARE OUR KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE.
IT ALSO INCORPORATES AND ALIGNS ALL OF OUR EXISTING LONG RANGE PLANS AND PROJECTS.
WE HAVE A LOT GOING ON AT THE UTILITY ALREADY, AND SO WE WANTED TO MAKE IT FLEXIBLE ENOUGH TO ACCOUNT FOR ALL OF THOSE AS WELL AS MAKE IT LONG RANGE AND FLEXIBLE, ALLOWING US TO KINDA SCALE UP AND SCALE DOWN BASED ON WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND US.
SO, WITH THAT IN MIND, UH, THE INTENTION ON THE, ON THE PROCESS THAT WE WANTED TO IN UNDERTAKE, WE WANTED IT TO BE THOUGHTFUL.
WE WANTED IT TO BE FLEXIBLE, TRANSPARENT, SHARING PROGRESS ALONG THE WAY, UH, INCLUSIVE AND CONSIDERATE OF, LIKE I SAID, AUSTIN WATER STAFF INPUT, COMMUNITY INPUT, UH, EQUITY, CLIMATE RESILIENCE, AND WANTING TO MAKE THE PROCESS VERY ACCESSIBLE AND INFORMATIVE.
SO, WITH THAT SAID, WE ENGAGED WITH A LOCAL CONSULTING FIRM HERE IN AUSTIN, BLUE SKY PARTNERS.
AND WE DEVELOPED ESSENTIALLY WHAT WAS A GROUND UP STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS WHERE WE ENGAGED WITH ALL LEVELS OF THE ORGANIZATION AT AUSTIN WATER, THE COMMUNITY THAT WE SERVE.
UH, AND WE UTILIZED FOCUS GROUPS, SURVEYS, LISTENING SESSIONS, A LOT OF COMMUNICATIONS WENT OUT IN AND AROUND THIS PROJECT.
AND THE PROJECT TOOK US THE BETTER PART OF THE LAST 15 MONTHS OR SO.
UH, WHEN WE CAME BACK FROM THE HOLIDAYS LAST YEAR, UH, WE STARTED OUR STAFF ENGAGEMENT ROUND.
WE LAUNCHED A SURVEY OUT TO AUSTIN WATER STAFF.
WE HELD LISTENING SESSIONS, BOTH IN PERSON AND VIRTUALLY WITH STAFF.
UH, THEN WE MOVED INTO OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PHASE IN THE SPRING WHERE AGAIN, WE LAUNCHED SURVEYS, INVITED THE COMMUNITY TO ATTEND LISTENING SESSIONS, BOTH IN PERSON AND VIRTUAL.
UM, BEFORE BRINGING BACK ALL THAT FEEDBACK TO AUSTIN WATER.
AND ESSENTIALLY KIND OF FILTERING ALL OF THAT THROUGH, UH, STAFF, UH, STRATEGIC STEERING COMMITTEE, UH, LEADERSHIP, UH, IN ORDER FOR US TO REALLY DIAL INTO WHAT WAS MOST IMPORTANT TO AUSTIN WATER.
LIKE I SAID, WE DID A, A LOT OF ROBUST ENGAGEMENT AND INPUT, UM, THROUGH SURVEYS, THROUGH LISTENING SESSIONS.
[00:10:02]
WE PUT A, UH, UH, SPEAK UP AUSTIN, UH, PAGE.WE PUT THE SURVEY LINK OUT TO THE COMMUNITY.
WE OFFERED OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE COMMUNITY TO SIGN UP FOR A FACEBOOK GROUP OR A FOCUS GROUP, EXCUSE ME.
AND WE ALSO SENT OUT, UH, A REQUEST FOR SURVEY FEEDBACK THROUGH OUR, MY A TX WATER PORTAL.
SO, UM, ON THE, THE COMMUNITY SIDE, THERE WAS, UH, THOSE TWO TOOLS UTILIZED.
AND THEN ON THE STAFF SIDE, LIKE I SAID, WE UTILIZED, UH, A SURVEY LISTENING SESSIONS.
MY TEAM AND I WENT AROUND TO ALL THE DI VARIOUS, VARIOUS DIFFERENT GROUPS IN AUSTIN WATER, UH, DROPPED OFF DONUTS AND ENCOURAGED FOLKS TO, TO TAKE A SURVEY, UM, MEETING, UH, OUR STAFF WHERE THERE WE'RE AT AND ENCOURAGING THEM TO GIVE US THEIR FEEDBACK.
UH, SO OUR RESULTS, WE ARE INCREDIBLY HAPPY WITH THE ENGAGEMENT AND RESULTS THAT WE GOT FROM THIS PROCESS.
UM, AS YOU CAN SEE, WE HEARD FROM OVER 3000, UH, MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY FROM OUR COMMUNITY SURVEY.
UH, WE WERE ABLE TO HEAR FROM ALL COUNCIL DISTRICTS WERE REPRESENTED WITHIN THAT FEEDBACK AND THAT PROCESS.
AND WE HELD SIX COMMUNITY FOCUS GROUPS AS WELL WITH THE COMMUNITY AND HEARD FROM 60 MEMBERS IN THOSE SESSIONS.
AGAIN, THOSE WERE HELD ALL OVER AUSTIN, NORTH, SOUTH CENTRAL.
WE ALSO HELD, UH, VIRTUAL SESSIONS AND WE HELD THOSE AT DIFFERENT TIMES, UM, THROUGHOUT THE DAYS AND WEEKS IN ORDER TO ENSURE WE HAD, UH, PARTICIPATION THERE.
UH, AND ON THE STAFF SIDE, WE HEARD FROM, UH, 575, UH, RESPONSES TO THAT SURVEY THAT ENABLED US TO HOLD FIVE LISTENING SESSIONS WITH STAFF AS WELL.
UM, AND IN PERSON OR VIRTUALLY WITH 60 PLUS MEMBERS OF STAFF, KIND OF DIALING INTO A LITTLE BIT MORE GRANULAR LEVEL FEEDBACK IN THOSE SESSIONS.
AND WE ALSO FORMED A STRATEGIC STEERING COMMITTEE, UH, THAT WAS 20 PLUS OR SO MEMBERS OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS FROM ACROSS THE, UH, FOLKS WHO WERE INVOLVED WITH A LOT OF OUR ALREADY LONG RANGE PLANS AND PROJECTS THAT WERE GOING ON AND FAMILIAR WITH EXISTING INITIATIVES, UM, HELPING US KIND OF FILTER THAT FEEDBACK THAT WE GOT.
UH, WE ALSO ENGAGED A LOT WITH THE LEADERSHIP WITHIN OUR ORGANIZATION.
SO EVERYONE FROM SUPERVISORS, MANAGERS, DIVISION MANAGERS, EXECUTIVE TEAM, ALL HEARD THE FEEDBACK THAT WAS BROUGHT IN, UM, FROM BOTH STAFF IN THE COMMUNITY.
AND WHAT THAT RESULTED IN IS ESSENTIALLY, UH, A, A A NEED FOR US TO REALLY LOOK INTO THE FUNDAMENTAL PURPOSE OF OUR ORGANIZATION, WHAT WE'RE HERE TO DO.
AND WE FELT LIKE IN ORDER TO DO THAT, WE NEEDED TO MAKE A COUPLE EDITS TO OUR MISSION AND VISION AS AUSTIN WATER.
UH, SO TAKING IN ALL THAT FEEDBACK, AND OVER THE COURSE OF, UM, A COUPLE WORK SESSIONS, WE DIALED INTO ESSENTIALLY WHAT WE FEEL IS A VERY CLEAR AND CONCISE MISSION STATEMENT, UH, THAT AUSTIN WATER WORKS EVERY DAY TO PROVIDE WATER FOR PEOPLE AND CARE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT.
AND IT ALSO, UH, RESULTED IN A NEW VISION STATEMENT, BUILDING AUSTIN'S WATER FUTURE TOGETHER.
SO WE FEEL LIKE THIS REALLY DIALS INTO THE MINDSET THAT WE WANT TO HAVE FOR BOTH STAFF AND THE COMMUNITY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE HERE TO DO.
UH, IT ALSO RESULTED IN FIVE HIGH LEVEL GOALS FOR THE ORGANIZATION THAT WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING ON IN THE COMING YEARS.
SO I'LL GO AHEAD AND GO THROUGH THOSE NEXT SLIDE.
UH, SO OUR FIRST GOAL IS IN AND AROUND PEOPLE.
OUR THRIVING TEAM GOAL, UH, THIS IS TO CREATE A PEOPLE FIRST CULTURE.
YOU KNOW, PEOPLE ARE AT THE HEART OF WHAT WE DO HERE.
UH, PEOPLE ARE WHAT MAKE EVERYTHING HAPPEN AT AUSTIN WATER.
UH, SO WE REALLY WANNA DIAL INTO MAKING SURE WE'RE CREATING A CULTURE WHERE STAFF FEEL VALUED, ENGAGED.
UM, WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE PROVIDING APPROPRIATE TRAINING, BOTH PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL SKILLS.
UH, WE WANNA ENSURE THAT WE'RE DEVELOPING POLICIES WITH EMPLOYEES IN MIND, THEIR WELLBEING, THEIR SAFETY.
UH, WE REALLY WANNA DIAL INTO OUR INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS AND STRATEGIES AND ENGAGEMENT AROUND THAT.
UM, AS WELL AS ENSURING WE HAVE GOOD TECH TECHNICAL DEPTH.
WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE A GREAT BENCH OF STAFF WHO ARE KNOWLEDGEABLE EXPERTS IN THEIR FIELD AND ABLE TO BRING THAT TO OUR PEOPLE.
OUR SECOND GOAL IS SERVICE EXCELLENCE.
WE WANNA FOCUS IN ON DELIVERING HIGH QUALITY AND SUSTAINABLE WATER WASTEWATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES FOR OUR CUSTOMERS.
UH, AGAIN, I SPOKE ABOUT TECHNICAL DEPTH IN OUR LAST GOAL.
UH, A STRATEGY HERE IS THAT WE'RE EXPANDING OUR TECHNICAL EXPERTISE.
WE ARE SHARE, WE HAVE INCREDIBLY KNOWLEDGEABLE STAFF.
WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THAT IS, UM, SHARED ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION.
AND THOSE SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE IS IN EVERYTHING THAT WE'RE DOING.
UH, WE WANNA ENSURE ANY CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT FRAMEWORK IS, IS AT AN ENTERPRISE WIDE LEVEL.
IT BRINGS ALL THE CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT EFFORTS TOGETHER AND VISIBLE AND TRANSPARENT.
WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE HAVE ROBUST KNOWLEDGE SHARING ACROSS THE UTILITY AS WELL.
MAKING SURE WE'RE BOTH DOCUMENTING AND SHARING KNOWLEDGE ACROSS THE UTILITY, ACROSS COLLABORATION, ACROSS DIVISIONS.
AND WE ALSO WANNA DIAL INTO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, OF COURSE, MAKING SURE THAT
[00:15:01]
WE HAVE, UH, SUSTAINABLE, UH, WATER SUPPLY STRATEGIES.YOU'LL HEAR FROM MY COLLEAGUES LATER TODAY AS WELL ON WORK THAT'S ALREADY HAPPENING IN THAT AREA.
SO WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE DOCUMENTED IT IN THIS PLAN, THAT THAT'S WHERE WE'RE MOVING FORWARD AS WELL.
OUR, UH, THIRD GOAL IS IN AND AROUND INFRASTRUCTURE.
THIS IS OUR PROACTIVE INFRASTRUCTURE GOAL.
UH, THIS IS US INVESTING IN AND MAINTAINING DEPENDABLE INFRASTRUCTURE AND SYSTEMS. UH, WE HAVE AN INCREDIBLY ROBUST CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLANNING, UH, PROCESS.
UM, WE, AND IN THAT PROCESS, IT IS FORWARD LOOKING.
THIS IS US CONTINUING TO BE FORWARD LOOKING AND ANTICIPATING WHAT'S COMING DOWN THE PIPELINE PER SE.
UM, WE WANNA LEVERAGE SMART SYSTEMS, LEVERAGE DATA, LEVERAGE NEW TECHNOLOGY WHERE APPROPRIATE.
UH, WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE FUTURE READY AND ALSO ABLE TO INCREMENTALLY ESCALATE AS NEEDED IF WE'RE IN ANY SORT OF EMERGENCY SITUATION AND MAKING SURE OUR INFRASTRUCTURE IS SOUND.
UH, OUR FOURTH, FOURTH GOAL IS COMMUNITY TRUST.
THIS IS US CONTINUING TO ENGAGE WITH THE COMMUNITY, KEEPING THEM IN MIND.
UH, WE WANNA FOSTER PUBLIC CONFIDENCE, PREPAREDNESS AND PARTNERSHIP WITH THIS SCHOOL.
UM, YOU KNOW, SINCE WINTER STORM URI, WE'VE BEEN ACTIVELY ENGAGING WITH THE COMMUNITY, MAKING SURE THEY'RE PREPARED FOR ANY FUTURE EMERGENCIES.
UM, AND SO WE WANNA CONTINUE BEING THAT TRUSTED PARTNER TO THEM WITH THIS GOAL.
UH, CONTINUE FOCUSING IN ON EMPLOYEE, EXCUSE ME, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND ENSURING WE HAVE EQUITABLE SERVICE DELIVERY.
WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE DIALING INTO STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION WITH THEM AS WELL.
YOU KNOW, NOT JUST SHARING, UH, SHORT TERM SERVICE DISRUPTIONS, BUT ALSO LONG TERM INITIATIVES LIKE CONSERVATION ALONG WITH THAT, BEING CO STEWARDS AS WELL.
WE CAN'T SAVE ALL THE WATER ALONE.
WE NEED THE COMMUNITY TO HELP US THERE.
AND THEN WE ALSO WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE DECISION MAKING WITH CUSTOMERS IN MIND AS WELL.
SO THAT'S BRINGING IN MORE OF A CUSTOMER LENS TO DECISION MAKING.
AND FINALLY, OUR, OUR LAST GOAL IS, IS NEXT LEVEL.
IT'S DRIVING INNOVATION TO IMPROVE EFFECTIVENESS AND RESPONSIBLY MANAGE RISKS.
UM, A LOT OF THESE THINGS WE WANNA DO, WE NEED GOOD DATA TO DO IT.
WE NEED GOOD DATA BACKED DECISION MAKING, SO WE NEED TO FOCUS IN ON DATA QUALITY, CREATING GOOD GOVERNANCE, UM, FRAMEWORKS FOR THAT.
UH, BUT WE ALSO STILL WANT TO, UH, CREATE AN INNOVATION MINDSET WITH STAFF.
MAKING SURE STAFF FEEL LIKE THEY HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE GOOD IDEAS, OR IF THEY RECOGNIZE IMPROVEMENTS THAT COULD BE MADE, THAT THEY'RE ABLE AND THERE'S A PIPELINE FOR THEM TO DO THAT.
UH, WE WANNA FOCUS IN ON STREAMLINING, ESPECIALLY HIGH FREQUENCY PROCESSES, UH, MODERNIZING OUR TOOLKITS, MAKING SURE OUR DATA AND TECHNOLOGY IS UP TO DATE.
AND THEN FINALLY, FORESIGHT PLANNING AND, AND REALLY DIALING INTO SCENARIO PLANNING AND ASSESSING RISKS THAT MIGHT BE IN THE COMING IN THE FUTURE AND REALLY PLANNING WITH THAT IN MIND.
SO WITH ALL OF THAT SAID, WE ALSO KEPT IN MIND ALONG THE WAY, UH, ALL OF THE CITYWIDE PRIORITIES THAT ARE HAPPENING.
YOU KNOW, THERE'S LONG-TERM INITIATIVES LIKE IMAGINE AUSTIN, BUT THERE'S ALSO SHORTER DURATION CITYWIDE STRATEGIC PLANS.
UH, SO WE REALLY FEEL LIKE WITH THESE, YOU KNOW, HIGH LEVEL GOALS, UM, WE'RE, THERE'S A CLEAR LINE OF SIGHT TO EVERYTHING THAT IS STILL A PRIORITY, UH, CURRENTLY FOR THIS CITY AS WELL.
UH, I THINK WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE AS, AS FAR AS WHERE WE NEED TO GO IN THE FUTURE.
AND SO, UH, OUR PLAN, WE FEEL LIKE CLEARLY, UH, PROVIDES THAT LINE OF SIGHT.
IT ALIGNS ALL OF OUR EXISTING, UH, LONG RANGE PLANS AND PROJECTS, UH, TO ONE OF OUR GOALS, HIGHER HIERARCHY GOALS.
UM, SO WE, WE FEEL LIKE WE HAVE THAT ALIGNMENT THERE.
UH, AND AT AN EVEN GRANULAR LEVEL, WE KIND OF TOOK A LOOK AT EVERYTHING THAT'S IN THE CURRENT CITYWIDE STRATEGIC PLANS, THEIR STRATEGIC ANCHORS.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE, WE HAVE GREAT COVERAGE ACROSS ALL OF OUR GOALS AS WELL.
SO THAT'S CONTINUED ALIGNMENT.
WHERE DO WE, WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? UH, YOU KNOW, DEVELOPMENT OF THIS PLAN WAS ESSENTIALLY WHAT I WAS CALLING YEAR ZERO.
THIS WAS US TAKING IN ALL THAT FEEDBACK, FIGURING OUT WHAT IT IS THAT IS IMPORTANT TO BOTH STAFF AND THE COMMUNITY.
UH, AND YEAR ONE OF THIS PLAN IS ESSENTIALLY IMPLEMENTATION, CONTINUING SOCIALIZATION OF THE PLAN, WHAT OUR NEW MISSION VISION IS, WHAT OUR GOALS ARE, BOTH TO THE COMMUNITY AND AUSTIN WATER STAFF.
UH, WE'LL BE LAUNCHING THE PLAN OFFICIALLY OUT TO AUSTIN WATER STAFF NEXT WEEK, UM, AS WELL AS THEN TO THE COMMUNITY IN THE NEW YEAR AFTER THE HOLIDAYS.
UH, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO ALIGN.
THERE'S A LOT OF WORK INTERNALLY THAT'S BEING DONE TO CONTINUE ALIGN ALIGNMENT TO THESE, OUR PLANS, OUR PROJECTS, UM, TYING THOSE TO BUDGET AND RESOURCING AND FUNDING, AND MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE BOTH OUR MONEY GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION TOWARDS THE PROGRESS THAT WE WANNA MAKE TOWARDS THESE GOALS.
UH, AND WE'LL ALSO CONTINUE TO IDENTIFY GAPS, FIND AREAS WHERE WE CAN ENHANCE AND SHORE THINGS UP.
UM, WE CAN ALSO, CAN WE GO BACK ONE SLIDE PLEASE? UM, AND OUR FINALLY, OUR, OUR, OUR LAST THING THAT
[00:20:01]
WE REALLY WANNA DIAL INTO AND WE'LL BE DOING A LOT OF WORK ON IN THE COMING YEAR IS, UH, OUR KPIS AND OUR PERFORMANCE MEASURES.REALLY DIALING INTO PROGRESS TRACKING.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAD OUR NEXT LEVEL GOAL THAT SPOKE TO OUR DATA QUALITY.
THE SAME GOES FOR HOW WE MEASURE THAT.
SO WE REALLY WANNA DIAL INTO THAT AS WELL.
UM, AND FINALLY WE WANNA WORK THE PLAN.
YOU KNOW, WE DID ALL OF THIS WORK TO CREATE IT.
WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, UH, IT CONTINUES BEING A DECISION MAKING TOOL, A FRAMEWORK, UM, A TOOL THAT OUR LEADERSHIP CAN USE TO HELP PRIORITIZE, UM, WORK.
AND, UH, WITH ALL THAT SAID, WE'LL, WE'LL CONTINUE TO HELP BUILD AUSTIN'S WATER FUTURE TOGETHER.
SO I'LL OPEN IT UP TO ANY QUESTIONS FROM THERE.
UM, SO QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMISSIONERS.
I'LL START WITH COMMISSIONER PANI.
GREAT PRESENTATION AND GREAT INITIATIVE.
I HAVE TWO SPECIFIC QUESTIONS.
ONE'S PROBABLY NOT THAT BIG OF A CONCERN.
UM, YOU TALKED ABOUT, I DON'T HAVE THE NUMBER IN FRONT OF ME.
I THINK TOTAL NUMBER OF COMMUNITY PARTICIPANTS.
WAS SOME, IS A, WAS A THREE DIGIT NUMBER, IF I REMEMBER.
UH, RESPONSES TO OUR COMMUNITY SURVEY.
ISN'T THAT PRETTY SMALL? IF YOU LOOK AT THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY OF AUSTIN, OR LIKE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE? LIKE, WAS, WERE THERE ANY EFFORTS TO ACTUALLY EXPAND THAT? THAT'S STATISTICALLY ALMOST INVALID, RIGHT? LIKE, HOW DO YOU LOOK AT THAT? YOU KNOW, HONESTLY, IT'S AN INCREDIBLE RESULT GIVEN HOW OTHER SURVEYS HAVE GONE.
YOU KNOW, WE TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OTHER, UM, DEPARTMENTS IN THE CITY, WHAT THEY'VE DONE TO KIND OF GARNER INTEREST AND RESPONSES.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WE KIND OF BLEW OUTTA THE WATER A LITTLE BIT WITH THE RESPONSE THAT WE GOT.
UH, OFTENTIMES THEIR RESPONSES ARE IN THE THREE DIGITS, AND, AND WE WERE IN THE THOUSANDS, SO THAT WAS REALLY GREAT.
UH, THE STRATEGIES THAT WE DID USE, YOU KNOW, WE LEVERAGED OUR, MY A TX WATER PORTAL, UH, SPEAK UP AUSTIN PAGE.
WE, UM, ALSO, UH, UTILIZE SOCIAL MEDIA.
UM, AND THEN AT TIMES WE WERE EVEN EMAILING DIRECTLY FOLKS AND OUR PARTNER DEPARTMENTS TO ENCOURAGE THEM TO RESPOND TO THE SURVEY AS WELL.
SO, UM, IN THE, IN THE BROADER SCHEME OF LIKE HISTORICAL, UM, UM, RESPONSES TO SURVEYS, WE ACTUALLY DID QUITE WELL.
SO I LOVED ALL THE STRATEGIES THAT YOU HAD IN PLACE FOR ALL THE DIFFERENT GOALS MM-HMM
WHAT'S THE NEXT STEP TO ACTUALLY TAKE IT FROM THE STRATEGIC LEVEL TO THE TACTICAL LEVEL? MM-HMM
IS THE TACTICAL COMPONENT MISSING.
SO WHEN YOU SAY WE'RE GONNA IMPROVE THE PEOPLE CULTURE MM-HMM
WHAT DOES THAT REALLY MEAN TO PEOPLE? WHAT'S THE TANGIBLE ACTION? IS THERE, I DIDN'T SEE THAT AS NEXT STEPS.
NEXT STEPS ARE SOCIALIZING THE PLAN, BUT TO A FRONTLINE EMPLOYEE, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN IS LIKE IMPROVE THE CULTURE? YEAH, ABSOLUTELY.
SO WE ARE ACTUALLY WORKING ON, RIGHT NOW, MY TEAM, UM, WE'RE CALLING IT THE MATRIX.
UM, BUT IT IS ESSENTIALLY, UH, WHAT WE ALREADY DO NOW, WHERE WE KNOW WE WANNA GO AND WHAT THE GAPS ARE.
AND WHAT WE'LL DO IS TURN THOSE GAPS INTO TACTICS, AND THOSE WILL BE PROJECT TEAMS. THOSE WILL BE INITIATIVES, THOSE WILL BE US MOVING THE, THE NEEDLE FORWARD FOR EACH GOAL.
SO WE THINK THAT WILL BE VERY IMPACTFUL.
I THINK THAT'S BEEN, THIS MAJOR HAS BEEN KIND OF DESCRIBED AS LIKE THE LINCHPIN.
IT KIND OF TELLS PEOPLE WHAT'S OUR GOAL, WHAT IS IT THAT WE'RE ALREADY DOING, AND WHAT'S MY ROLE IN IT, AND THEN WHERE ARE WE GOING NEXT? AND SO KIND OF THE NEXT LEVEL, THOSE GAPS WILL GET TURNED INTO TACTICS, UM, IN YEAR ONE THROUGH FIVE OF THE PLAN.
SO THE PLAN DOES GET SOCIALIZED MM-HMM
BUT THEN YOU'LL BE FILLING IN THE GAPS.
SO THE GOALS ALIGNED, YOU KNOW, DO THEY ALIGN WITH SAY THE VISIONS OR SOMETHING, BECAUSE I GUESS I'M JUST ASKING IN TERMS OF, YOU KNOW, LIKE WITH MY BUSINESS, YOU KNOW, YOU DO THIS FIRST OF THE YEAR RETREAT AND YOU THROW OUT ALL THESE GOALS MM-HMM
AND THEN AS TIME GOES BY, IF SOMEONE'S NOT ACTIVELY MANAGING THAT GOAL.
SO JUST THINKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY THESE ARE, YOU KNOW, GREAT GOALS, BUT MM-HMM
THEN, YOU KNOW, IS THERE SPECIFIC DIVISIONS OR IS IT SPECIFIC PEOPLE WITHIN AUSTIN WATER THAT'S KIND OF DIRECTING ONCE THE TACTICS AND THOSE THINGS? YEAH, YEAH.
WELL, LUCKILY WE HAVE MY TEAM
SO WE HAVE, WE HAVE AN ENTERPRISE STRATEGIC SERVICES TEAM THAT A PORTION OF OUR BANDWIDTH IS DEDICATED TO THE PLAN, PROGRESS TRACKING, UH, COMMUNICATION OF IT, AND, UH, GATHERING COMMUNICATION ON PROGRESS FROM ACROSS THE UTILITY.
SO, UH, AGAIN, BEING IN YEAR ZERO AND THE LAUNCH COMING YEAR, ONE WILL REALLY BE ABOUT BUILDING THE IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK WITHIN THE UTILITY.
SO THAT WILL INVOLVE LIKE ANNUAL ASSESSMENTS, PROGRESS TRACKING.
UM, MY TEAM WILL, WILL HEAD THAT UP FOR THE, FOR THE ORGANIZATION.
ALL THAT WILL ALL HAPPEN IN YEAR ONE.
AND I'M ASSUMING THAT WE WILL HAVE UPDATES YEAH.
THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, UH, FOR THE COMMISSION, I GUESS.
UH, COMMISSIONERS, UH, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS?
[00:25:02]
I DO HAVE A QUESTION ON THE KPIS AND THE PERFORMANCE MEASURES.DO YOU GUYS HAVE, I GUESS, LIKE A GENERAL IDEA OF WHAT YOU'D LIKE TO TRACK, OR ARE YOU JUST KIND OF OPEN TO SEEING HOW THIS GOES AND THEN YOU'LL DETERMINE MM-HMM
WHAT KPIS TO USE AT THAT POINT? OR I GUESS HOW ARE YOU PLANNING TO APPROACH THAT? YEAH, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
UH, WE'RE ACTUALLY GONNA BE UTILIZING THE EFFECTIVE UTILITY MANAGEMENT, UH, OR EUM AS IT'S MORE COMMONLY KNOWN IN ITS ACRONYM FORM.
UM, THERE IS A, UH, WHICH IS AN INDUSTRY STANDARD FRAMEWORK FOR CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT, BUT THEY ALSO HAVE A SUPPLEMENTAL, UH, FRAMEWORK FOR PERFORMANCE MEASURES FOR UTILITIES.
SO BASED ON, UH, THERE'S 10 ATTRIBUTE AREAS AND IT OUTLINES KIND OF WHAT ATYPICAL WATER WASTEWATER UTILITY SHOULD BE MEASURING.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE A, AN INVENTORY OF ALL OF OUR PERFORMANCE MEASURES.
SO RIGHT NOW WE'RE WORKING ON KIND OF MATCHING THAT UP, WHAT WE ALREADY HAVE THAT, UM, MATCHES WHAT EUM SAYS WE SHOULD.
AND THEN WE'LL ALSO BE LOOKING AT WHAT WE NEED TO CREATE IN ORDER TO KIND OF ROUND OUT THE TRACKING FOR EACH ONE OF THESE GOALS.
AND MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN USING OR FOLLOWING THE EUM FOR THE YEAH.
WE'VE BEEN, UH, UM HAS BEEN A PART OF AUSTIN WATER SINCE 2017.
IN VARIOUS DIFFERENT FORMS. BUT YEAH, IT'S STILL ACTIVE.
UM, AND MY TEAM OVERSEES THAT AS WELL.
SO WE'VE GOT GREAT ALIGNMENT AND OVERSIGHT THERE.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONERS? OKAY, COMMISSIONER, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
I HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS JUST ON A FEW POINTS.
UM, I THINK AT THE VERY BEGINNING, UM, YOU MENTIONED THAT AUSTIN WATER ENGAGED BLUE SKY PARTNERS MM-HMM
AS YOUR STRATEGIC PLANNING CONSULTANT.
CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT WHY THAT FIRM WAS SELECTED AND WHAT THEY BROUGHT TO THE TABLE? YEAH, ABSOLUTELY.
SO WE ENGAGED, UM, ACTUALLY, LET ME BACK UP ONE MORE STEP.
UH, AT THE TIME, WE KNEW WE WANTED TO UNDERTAKE THIS LEVEL OF, UH, GROUND UP STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR AUSTIN WATER.
UH, I WAS A TEAM MYSELF AND TWO OTHERS, SO A MIGHTY TEAM OF THREE.
BUT WE KNEW WE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO DO THE AMOUNT OF FEEDBACK AND ENGAGEMENT THAT WE WANTED TO DO ALONE.
UM, SO WE KNEW WE WANTED TO ENGAGE A CONSULTING PARTNER TO HELP US COME IN.
WE ALSO WANTED SOMEONE WHO WAS, UM, FAMILIAR WITH STRATEGIC PLANNING, HAD GREAT FACILITATION SKILLS, UM, AND WERE ABLE TO KIND OF LEAD US ALONG THE WAY AFTER WE'VE KIND OF AGREED ON THE BLUEPRINT FOR THE PROCESS.
UM, SO WE ISSUED AN RFP, UM, OUT, AND I BELIEVE WE, UH, BLUE SKY, UH, WAS EVALUATED AS THE TOP CONTENDER IN THAT, UM, IN THE RESPONSES.
UH, THEY, UH, ONE WERE LOCAL, WHICH WAS GREAT.
THEY WERE FAMILIAR WITH, UM, CITY OF AUSTIN, AND THE CONSULTANTS LIVED LOCALLY, SO THEY WERE FAMILIAR WITH THE LANDSCAPE, UM, OF THE CITY.
UM, THEY ALSO BROUGHT, UH, PREVIOUS CITY EXPERIENCE.
UM, A FEW OF THE CONSULTING MEMBERS HAD EITHER WORKED WITH THE CITY PRIOR OR WERE EMPLOYED BY THE CITY IN PREVIOUS YEARS, EVEN THOUGH THEY NO LONGER WERE ACTIVE DURING THE PORT DURING THE TIME, UH, THEY WERE, UH, CONSULTING WITH US.
UH, THEY ALSO BROUGHT A LOT OF FACILITATION EXPERIENCE, UM, MEANING WORKING WITH DIVERSE GROUPS OF BOTH STAFF.
AND WE KNEW WE WANTED WITH THE COMMUNITY FOCUS GROUPS AS WELL, THEY FACILITATED THOSE.
UM, SO WE KNEW WE WANTED, UH, FOLKS WHO WERE, UM, VERY SKILLED IN, IN THAT ARENA AND BEING ABLE TO COMMAND A GROUP AND MOVE A GROUP THROUGH A FACILITATION, UM, OF FEEDBACK AND DO IT IN A WAY THAT IS APPROPRIATE AND, AND, UM, RESPECTFUL AND PRODUCTIVE.
UM, BUILDING OFF OF THAT, UM, AND ACTUALLY BUILDING OFF OF COMMISSIONER PENER AND, UM, ION'S QUESTIONS, WILL WE CONTINUE TO ENGAGE BLUE SKY AROUND THE CREATION OF, UM, SPECIFIC KBIS, UM, ALIGNED TO THE EUM FRAMEWORK AND THE BUILD OUT OF OUR TACTICS UNDER EACH GOAL STRATEGIC AREA? MM-HMM
UM, THEY, WE'VE SINCE CLOSED OUT THE CONTRACT THAT WE HAD WITH THEM.
UM, HOWEVER, THERE'S ALWAYS AN OPTION TO POTENTIALLY CONTINUE BRINGING THEM IN IN THE NEW YEAR, DEPENDING ON, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE UTILITY AND, AND HOW MUCH SUPPORT WE FEEL LIKE WE NEED.
UM, HAVING THEM A PART OF THIS, THOUGH, THEY ARE VERY FAMILIAR WITH BOTH AUSTIN WATER, THE PROCESS, THE RESULTS, SO IT WOULD BE BENEFICIAL.
UM, SHIFTING GEARS A LITTLE BIT, FOCUSING SPECIFICALLY ON THE COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT, UM, I BELIEVE ON THE SLIDE THAT YOU HAD UP, UM, THERE WERE SIX COMMUNITY FOCUS GROUPS, 3000 PLUS CUSTOMER RESPONSES MM-HMM
I'M WONDERING IF YOU COULD TELL ME A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT HOW THE CONSULTANT IN AUSTIN WATER ENGAGED, UM, SPECIFICALLY RENTERS IN SOME OF THE FEEDBACK MM-HMM
UM, THAT YOU ALL RECEIVED THROUGH THIS SINCE I, I THINK THE CUSTOMER SURVEYS MAY FOCUS ON, UM, CORPORATE AND RESIDENTIAL USERS WHO WERE HOMEOWNERS, BUT, UM, I'M NOT SURE NECESSARILY WHAT FORM THE COMMUNITY FOCUS GROUPS WOULD'VE TAKEN.
SO A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW WE, UM, DETERMINED WHO WOULD, WHO WAS INVITED TO A FOCUS GROUP.
IS THAT KIND OF MAYBE WHAT YOU'RE ASKING OR SPECIFICALLY I THINK THAT, BUT ALSO SPECIFICALLY, UM, HOW WE CONSIDERED, UM, THE PERSPECTIVE OF, UM, AUSTIN'S MINI RENTERS.
AND, UM, HOW AUSTIN WATER PROVIDES A SERVICE.
SO WITH THE, UH, THE WAY THE COMMUNITY FEEDBACK, UM, PROCESS WAS DESIGNED IS WITH THE SPEAK UP AUSTIN PAGE, THERE
[00:30:01]
WOULD BE A LINK NOT ONLY TO THE SURVEY, BUT ALSO, UH, TO SIGN UP AND SUBMIT AN INTEREST FORM FOR ATTENDING ONE OF OUR FOCUS GROUPS.SO WITHIN THAT INTEREST FORM, THERE WAS SOME VOLUNTARY DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION THAT WE CAPTURED.
UM, ONE BEING YOUR ZIP CODES BEING KIND OF DETERMINE WHERE YOU WERE WITHIN COUNCIL DISTRICTS, AND THEN OTHERS BEING OTHER VOLUNTARY INFORMATION, UM, HOMEOWNER, RENTER, BUSINESS OWNER, AND KIND OF CAPTURING THAT TYPE OF DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION.
AND THEN FROM THERE, UM, IT WAS LIKE A RANDOMIZED SAMPLE OF INTEREST FORMS BY, UM, LOCATION.
LIKE, YOU KNOW, WE, IF WE WERE TARGETING, UH, WE HELD A, A FOCUS GROUP AT LITTLE WALNUT UP OFF OF RUNDBERG, UM, AT THAT LIBRARY.
SO IF YOU WERE, UH, BY ZIP CODE IN LIKE OUR NORTHERN COUNCIL DISTRICTS, UM, WE FOCUSED ON THEM FOR INVITES, AND THEN BASED ON EXCEPTION OF INVITES, IT WOULD KIND OF ROLL TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
SO WITH THAT, WE WERE ABLE TO CAPTURE WITHIN ALL OF THAT FEEDBACK, THOSE DIFFERENT GROUPS.
AND THEN I THINK MY FINAL QUESTION IS JUST A CLARIFICATION ON, UM, COMMISSIONER ION'S QUESTION, THE RESPONSE THAT YOU GAVE TO HER, THINKING SPECIFICALLY ABOUT, UM, THE CREATION OF THESE KPIS AND PERFORMANCE MEASURES, AGAIN, ALIGNED TO THE EUM FRAMEWORK MM-HMM
UM, YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU'D BE DIALING IN ON THAT, THE PROGRESS TRACKING SPECIFICALLY OVER THE NEXT YEAR IS THAT SPECIFICALLY WE'RE LOOKING AT CREATING WHAT THESE KPIS ARE IN 2026.
UM, IS THAT WHAT YOU MEAN BY DIALING IN? YEAH.
IT'S ALSO AN EVALUATION BECAUSE WE DO HAVE EXISTING KPIS THAT WE'VE BEEN MEASURING FOR QUITE A FEW YEARS.
THOSE ARE ALSO REPORTED AT THE CITYWIDE LEVEL.
OUR BUDGET AND OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE TEAM, UM, YOU KNOW, COLLECTS THE DATA ON THOSE EVERY YEAR.
UM, SO IT COULD BE THAT THE KPIS THAT WE HAVE ARE GREAT, WE WANNA CONTINUE WITH THEM, BUT IT MAY ALSO BE THAT WE WANNA KIND OF SWITCH GEARS TO, UH, MEASURE, UM, THINGS THAT, UH, MAYBE ALIGN CLOSER TO WHERE OUR GOALS ARE WITHIN THIS PLAN.
UH, I KNOW I RECEIVED THE EMAIL AND I BEAUTIFULLY RESPONDED, BUT ALSO TO
YOU KNOW HOW A LOT OF PEOPLE GO, WOW.
SO, UH, SO I THINK THAT'S A GREAT NUMBER AND LIKE YOU SAID, IN COMPARISON TO OTHER, UM, DIVISIONS AND OTHER, UM, UH, AREAS OF THE CITY MM-HMM
SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR EFFORTS AND THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
SO BEFORE MOVING ON, I WANT TO, UH, MENTION THAT, UH, COMMISSIONER MARLO HAS JOINED US ONLINE, SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
[4.Staff briefing regarding Water Forward 2024 Water Supply Strategies including aquifer storage and recovery and other water supply projects. Presentation by Marisa Flores Gonzalez, Austin Water Resources Team Supervisor]
THE, UH, STAFF BRIEFING REGARDING THE AUSTIN WATER FORWARD 2024 WATER SUPPLY STRATEGIES, INCLUDING AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY, AND OTHER WATER SUPPLY STRATEGIES.PRESENTATION WILL BE BY MARISA TOEZ GONZALEZ OF THE AUSTIN WATER RESOURCE TEAM SUPERVISOR.
UM, AND THANK YOU RANDY, FOR SITTING IN FOR ME, UM, BEFORE I WAS ABLE TO JOIN YOU THIS EVENING.
UM, AND BEFORE WE START THE STAFF PRESENTATION ON, UH, WATER SUPPLY STRATEGIES, I'D LIKE TO MAKE A FEW COMMENTS.
UM, YOU ARE AWARE THAT THE DRAFT COLLABORATION AGREEMENT WITH BASTROP COUNTY ENTITIES TO ADVANCED FIELD TESTING FOR A POSSIBLE FUTURE AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY PROJECT IN BASTROP COUNTY WAS WITHDRAWN FROM THE COUNCIL AGENDA ON NOVEMBER 20TH.
AND AUSTIN WATER IS NOT PURSUING FIELD TESTING IN BASTROP COUNTY.
UH, WE WORK DILIGENTLY TO CREATE THE COLLABORATION AGREEMENT WITH THE GOAL OF CREATING A PATH FORWARD FOR A POTENTIAL A SR PROJECT IN BASTROP COUNTY.
AND THE INTENT WAS TO PURSUE THE PROJECT WITH A GOOD NEIGHBOR APPROACH THAT WOULD PROVIDE PROTECTION AND BENEFITS FOR BASTROP COUNTY COMMUNITY.
BUT IN THE END, WE DIDN'T REACH THE LEVEL OF PARTNERSHIP NEEDED FOR THE PROJECT SUCCESS.
UH, SO AS A RESULT, THE BEST PATH FORWARD WAS TO WITHDRAW THE COLLABORATION AGREEMENT AND ALLOW AUSTIN WATER TO DEVOTE OUR FUNDING AND RESOURCES TO ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES IN THE A HUNDRED YEAR, UH, WATER PLAN WATER FORWARD.
UM, AS YOU ALL VERY WELL KNOW, WATER FORWARD IS A LONG RANGE, UM, ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT PLAN, AND IT'S FOUNDED ON WATER CONSERVATION EXPANSION OF RECLAIMED WATER USE, UH, REDUCTION IN WATER LOSS.
AND THESE STRATEGIES GIVE US TIME TO DEVELOP THE WATER SUPPLY STRATEGIES OUR COMMUNITY NEEDS FOR THE LONG TERM.
UM, OUR COMPREHENSIVE WATER SUPPLY PLAN ALLOWS US TO ADAPT OUR PROJECTS IN RESPONSE TO CHANGING INFORMATION OR CONDITIONS, AND WE CAN MOVE PROJECTS FORWARD IN OUR PORTFOLIO AS NEEDED.
UM, SO YOU'RE GONNA HEAR UPDATES TODAY, UH, FROM OUR WATER RESOURCES TEAM FROM MARISA FLORES GONZALEZ ABOUT THE COMPREHENSIVE WORK THAT WE'RE ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN TO IMPLEMENT WATER SUPPLY STRATEGIES IN THE WATER FORWARD PLAN.
AND SO, WHILE WE HAVE A LOT OF WORK AHEAD OF US, WE CAN ALL BE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT AUSTIN'S WATER FUTURE, AND WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT AND PARTNERSHIP IN THIS WORK.
[00:35:01]
AWESOME.UH, WELL GOOD AFTERNOON COMMISSIONERS.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME HERE TO PRESENT.
UM, WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
WE'LL BE GIVING AN OVERVIEW OF THE WORK THAT WE'VE DONE DURING THIS FIRST YEAR OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WATER FORWARD 2024 PLAN ON, UH, IMPLEMENTING OUR SUPPLY STRATEGIES.
WE'LL REINFORCE SOME OF WHAT SHEA MENTIONED REGARDING THE PLAN'S ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT APPROACH, AND THEN WE'LL PROVIDE UPDATES, STRATEGY BY STRATEGY, AND THEN ROUND IT OUT WITH NEXT STEPS.
SO JUST TO PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW OF OUR WATER FORWARD 2024 PORTFOLIO AS A WHOLE, THE PLAN INCLUDES MANY CONSERVATION, REUSE, AND SUPPLY STRATEGIES.
AND TODAY WE'RE GOING TO FOCUS ON THOSE SUPPLY STRATEGIES THAT YOU SEE ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE SCREEN.
UM, THOSE INCLUDE WATER SUPPLY STORAGE STRATEGIES LIKE AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY, OR USE OF LAKE LONG AS A WATER SUPPLY RESERVOIR OR POTABLE REUSE STRATEGIES LIKE INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE THROUGH LADY BIRD LAKE.
ALL THREE OF THESE STRATEGIES ARE RELIANT ON OUR COLORADO RIVER AND HIGHLAND LAKES SUPPLIES AS AN INITIAL SOURCE OF WATER.
AND THESE STRATEGIES HELP TO STRETCH OUR COLORADO RIVER AND HIGHLAND LAKE SUPPLIES.
IN ADDITION, WE HAVE ANOTHER STRATEGY IN THE PLAN, UM, THAT'S CALLED BRACKISH GROUNDWATER DESALINATION.
THAT WOULD BE A NEW SUPPLY INDEPENDENT OF OUR COLORADO RIVER AND HIGHLAND LAKE SUPPLIES.
THIS SLIDE SHOWS THE TIMING AND TARGET YIELD FOR EACH OF THE STRATEGIES.
AS INITIALLY LAID OUT WITHIN THE WATER FORWARD PLAN, WE IDENTIFIED DECATAL YIELDS FROM 2030 TO 2080 FOR EACH OF THESE STRATEGIES, PARTIALLY BECAUSE WE WANTED TO ALIGN WITH HOW THIS INFORMATION NEEDS TO FEED INTO THE REGION K REGIONAL WATER PLAN, UM, FOR AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY.
YOU CAN SEE THAT THE TARGET YIELD WAS 44,500 ACRE FEET PER YEAR, BEGINNING IN 2040.
UM, LAKE LONG HAD A TARGET YIELD OF 20 IN 2040 OF 18,300 ACRE FEET PER YEAR.
AND DIRECT POTABLE REUSE HAS SEVERAL STARS, UH, IN THE DECADES OF 2030 AND 2040, BECAUSE THAT IS ENVISIONED AS A STRATEGY THAT COULD COME ONLINE THROUGH ONE OF SEVERAL PATHWAYS, UH, THROUGH A LONGER TERM IMPLEMENTATION PATHWAY, UM, OR THROUGH AN EMERGENCY IMPLEMENTATION PATHWAY WHERE WE WOULD SEEK TO ACCELERATE THE DELIVERY OF THAT STRATEGY IF WE ENTERED INTO A MORE SEVERE DROUGHT EMERGENCY.
AS YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH, UM, BRACKISH GROUNDWATER DESALINATION WAS INCLUDED IN THE PLAN, UM, UH, WITH A YIELD OF 20,000 ACRE FEET PER YEAR IN 2070.
SO A FURTHER OUT, UM, PERIOD OF TIME, THIS IS A STARTING PLACE FOR OUR PLAN.
JUST AS SHEA DESCRIBED, WE DO USE AN ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT APPROACH IN IMPLEMENTING AND UPDATING THE WATER FORWARD PLAN.
WE UPDATE THE PLAN EVERY FIVE YEARS TO INCORPORATE NEW DATA INFORMATION AND TO REFLECT CHANGES AND LESSONS LEARNED.
AND THEN BETWEEN THOSE UPDATES, WE IMPLEMENT STRATEGIES FROM THE PLAN, WE EVALUATE THEIR PERFORMANCE, AND THEN WE MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THEM AS NEEDED TO TRY TO ACHIEVE OUR OVERALL GOALS WITHIN THE WATER FORWARD PLAN.
UM, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THE DEPLOYMENT OR IMPLEMENTATION OF OUR STRATEGIES MAY NOT ALWAYS ALIGN WITH OUR INITIAL PLANS ABOUT ALTERNATIVE PATHWAYS THAT WE MAY NEED TO USE TO RESPOND TO THINGS THAT WE'RE LEARNING ALONG THE WAY OR TO RESPOND TO CHANGING CONDITIONS.
AND THIS IS AN EXCERPT FROM THE WATER 4 20 24 PLAN.
WE DON'T HAVE A PAGE NUMBER, UM, BUT IT IS TOWARDS THE VERY END OF THE PLAN WHERE WE TALK ABOUT THIS METRICS, ADAPTATION TRIGGERS, AND POSSIBLE ADAPTATION ACTIONS THAT WE CAN EMPLOY.
UH, RELATED TO OUR WATER SUPPLY STRATEGIES, WE'RE LOOKING AT ANNUAL STRATEGY YIELDS AND WHETHER THOSE YIELDS, UM, MEET OR FALL BELOW TARGET LEVELS FOR TWO YEARS IN A ROW.
UH, WE'RE LOOKING AT STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS AS COMPARED TO MILESTONES THAT WE HAVE LAID OUT WITHIN THE PLAN FOR EACH STRATEGY AND WHETHER OUR PROGRESS FALLS BELOW THOSE MILESTONES IN THAT ACTION TIMELINE.
AND WE'RE ALSO MONITORING COMBINED LAKE STORAGE.
AND IF COMBINED LAKE STORAGE HITS 750,000 ACRE FEET FOR FOUR MONTHS OR LONGER, THAT CAN TRIGGER US TO ADAPT OUR ACTIONS AS WELL LAID OUT ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE, ARE POSSIBLE ADAPTATION ACTIONS, INCLUDING IDENTIFYING SUPPLY, PROJECT DELIVERY METHODS AND TASKS THAT CAN BE ACCELERATED OR MADE TO GO FASTER, EVALUATING POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE SUPPLY PROJECT CONFIGURATIONS OR APPROACHES ACCELERATING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EMERGENCY SUPPLY STRATEGIES OR REEVALUATING STAFFING AND FUNDING LEVELS FOR PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS TO GET THOSE PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS BACK ON
[00:40:01]
TRACK.SO THESE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE THINKING ABOUT AND SOME OF THE STRATEGIES AND ACTIONS THAT WE'LL WANT TO EMPLOY AS WE ARE FIGURING OUT HOW WE'RE GOING TO ADJUST OUR PLANS MOVING FORWARD.
SO NEXT WE'LL GO INTO THE IMPLEMENTATION UPDATES BY STRATEGY.
AND AS WE LOOK AT EACH STRATEGY, WE'LL, UM, JUST REVISIT WHAT THE STRATEGY IS OR A DESCRIPTION OF THE STRATEGY.
SO WE'LL START WITH AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY.
AS A REMINDER, THIS IS A PROVEN METHOD OF SAFELY STORING WATER IN A NATURALLY OCCURRING AQUIFER FOR LATER USE WITHIN AN A SR PROJECT FOR AUSTIN, WE WOULD BE DIVERTING WATER AT OUR COLORADO RIVER, UM, UH, OR HIGHLAND LAKES INTAKES THAT ARE DRINKING WATER TREATMENT PLANTS AND TREATING THAT WATER TO POTABLE DRINKING WATER STANDARDS.
THEN THE WATER WOULD BE CONVEYED VIA TRANSMISSION PIPELINE TO A WATER QUALITY COMPATIBILITY FACILITY WHERE THE WATER WOULD BE FURTHER CONDITIONED TO BE COMPATIBLE WITH THE NATIVE GROUNDWATER AND AQUIFER IN WHICH IT WOULD BE PUMPED INTO THE WATER WOULD BE PUMPED UNDERGROUND AND STORED.
AND, UM, PER THE AUTHORIZATION PROCESS, UM, BY, UH, TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, MORE WATER WOULD ALWAYS BE REQUIRED TO BE STORED THAN WOULD BE USED BY THE CITY OF AUSTIN IN AN A SR PROJECT.
SO, AS SHEA MENTIONED, UM, AT, UH, THE COUNCIL ITEM FOR THE NOVEMBER 20TH, UH, COUNCIL MEETING WAS WITHDRAWN TO CONSIDER THAT A COLLABORATION AGREEMENT.
AND SO FIELD TESTING FOR AN A SR PROJECT IN BASTROP COUNTY WILL NOT PROCEED.
HOWEVER, AUSTIN WATER WILL CONTINUE TO EVALUATE OTHER OPTIONS FOR FIELD TESTING FOR AN A SR PROJECT.
AND OUR NEAR TERM PLANS INCLUDE FIELD TESTING IN EASTERN TRAVIS COUNTY AND THE TRINITY AQUIFER ON LAND THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN ALREADY OWNS.
WE'RE GOING TO TRANSITION TO ANOTHER STRATEGY, AND THEN WE'LL TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THESE TWO STRATEGIES.
SO WE'LL TALK ABOUT BRACKISH GROUNDWATER DESALINATION.
THIS STRATEGY INVOLVES THE WITHDRAWAL OF BRACKISH OR VERY SALTY GROUNDWATER FROM DEEP UNDERGROUND WATER IN THIS STRATEGY WOULD BE TREATED BY ADVANCED TREATMENT PROCESSES SUCH AS REVERSE OSMOSIS TO BE COMPATIBLE WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S DRINKING WATER.
UM, THE GRAPHIC ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE SHOWS A VERY SIMPLIFIED, UM, DESCRIPTION OF, UH, THE REVERSE OSMOSIS PROCESS.
JUST AS AN EXAMPLE, WATER DESALINATION PROCESS.
THIS IS NOT THE ONLY TREATMENT PROCESS THAT CAN BE USED.
UM, THEN IN THIS PROCESS, WATER IS PUSHED THROUGH, UH, A SEMI-PERMEABLE MEMBRANE AT VERY HIGH PRESSURES TO SEPARATE THE SALT CONTENT FROM THE FRESHWATER.
UM, THIS PROCESS CREATES A VERY SALTY BYPRODUCT THAT REQUIRES DISPOSAL IN ACCORDANCE WITH STATE REGULATIONS.
THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS JUST, UM, BEGINNING TO EXPLORE THIS OPTION, AND SO WE'LL BE EXPLORING WHAT THOSE DISPOSAL METHODS ARE OR COULD BE FOR A POTENTIAL BRACKISH DESAL PROJECT.
THIS STRATEGY, AS I MENTIONED, WAS ORIGINALLY PLANNED TO BE ONLINE IN 2070, BUT AUSTIN WATER IS EXPLORING ACCELERATING THE, UH, OPERATIONAL DECADE FOR THIS TI UH, FOR THIS STRATEGY.
UM, THE FIELD TESTING THAT WE WILL BE PERFORMING TO INFORM A POSSIBLE A SR PROJECT IN EASTERN TRAVIS COUNTY IN THE TRINITY AQUIFER WILL ALSO INFORM AND PROVIDE DATA, UM, RELATED TO POSSIBLE PILOTING AND PLANNING FOR A BRACKISH GROUNDWATER DESALINATION PROJECT.
SO THE FIELD TESTING SCOPE THAT WE ARE HAVE DEVELOPED FOR A SR, WHICH WE'RE CALLING OUR PHASE ONE B FIELD TESTING SCOPE.
PHASE ONE A WAS THE DESKTOP STUDY ANALYSIS THAT WE PERFORMED THAT IDENTIFIED, UM, THE, UH, CAR WILCOX AQUIFER WITHIN AM BASTROP AND LEE COUNTIES, AS WELL AS THE TRINITY AQUIFER AND TRAVIS COUNTY AS OUR TOP THREE OPTIONS THAT, UM, A PHASE ONE B FIELD TESTING SCOPE THAT WE ARE NOW MOVING TOWARDS WILL INCLUDE FIELD TESTING FOR BOTH A SR AS WELL AS BRACKISH GROUNDWATER DESALINATION IN EASTERN TRAVIS COUNTY ON CITY OWNED LAND.
THAT SCOPE WILL INCLUDE DESIGNING AND DRILLING A TRINITY HOSTIN TEST WITH GROUNDWATER AND CORE SAMPLING TO BE PERFORMED.
WILL BE CONDUCTING LABORATORY ANALYSIS OF THOSE SAMPLES, UM, TO, UH, CHARACTERIZE THE GEOCHEMISTRY AS WELL AS INTERACTIONS OR, UM, POSSIBLE INTERACTIONS WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S.
DRINKING WATER WILL ALSO BE FORMING AN A SR AND BRACKISH GROUNDWATER DESAL TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP WILL BE ABLE TO SUPPORT THE TESTING AND WE'LL BE ENGAGING THE COMMUNITY THROUGHOUT THAT PROCESS.
UH, THIS INFORMATION WILL HELP US TO DEVELOP PLANS FOR FUTURE PILOT
[00:45:01]
PROJECTS BASED ON THOSE TEST RESULTS.AND WE'LL USE THE DATA THAT WE COLLECT TO PLAN PROJECTS THAT MEET OUR OVERALL WATER FORWARD GOALS, UH, INCLUDING THE HAVING THE POTENTIAL TO CREATE WELL FIELDS THAT CAN ACCOMMODATE BOTH BRACKISH GROUNDWATER DESALINATION, AS WELL AS AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY.
SO PLACES WHERE WE COULD BE, UM, WITHDRAWING THAT SALTY WATER, UM, AND DESALINATING IT FOR USE FOR POTABLE PURPOSES, AS WELL AS STORING WATER THAT WE'RE WITHDRAWING FROM OUR COLORADO RIVER AND HIGHLAND LAKES TREATMENT PLANTS.
SO OUR NEXT STEPS INCLUDE ONGOING COORDINATION WITH OUR PARTNER DEPARTMENTS THROUGHOUT THE CITY, ADDITIONAL RESEARCH AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT WITHIN EASTERN TRAVIS COUNTY.
WE WILL BE NEEDING TO GO TO COUNCIL IN EARLY 2026 TO AUTHORIZE ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR EXISTING FIELD TESTING, SCOPE AND CONTRACT, UM, AND PENDING COUNCIL APPROVAL.
UM, WE COULD BEGIN PHASE ONE B WORK IN 2026 TO INCLUDE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT OF A TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP, UM, BEGINNING THE TEST WELL DESIGN AND POTENTIALLY BEGINNING TESTING.
SO NEXT WE'LL ROLL ON TO, UM, AN UPDATE ON INDIRECT PORTABLE REUSE.
UM, OR I-P-R-I-P-R, UM, FOR AUSTIN INCLUDES PUMPING HIGHLY TREATED RECLAIMED WATER FROM SOUTH AUSTIN REGIONAL OR SAR WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT INTO LADYBIRD LAKE VIA A NEW RECLAIMED WATER TRANSMISSION MAIN.
UM, A NEW INTAKE AND PUMP STATION ON LADYBIRD LAKE WOULD BE REQUIRED TO DIVERT WATER FROM OVER TO OVER TREATMENT PLANT FROM LADYBIRD LAKE TO BE TREATED TO POTABLE USE.
UM, IPR IS PLANNED TO BE USED, UM, ONLY WHEN HIGHLAND LAKES COMBINE STORAGE REACHES 400,000 ACRE FEET.
UM, THAT'S A LEVEL THAT WE HAVE NEVER REACHED, THE LOWEST THE LAKES HAVE EVER GOTTEN HAS A 633,000 ACRE FEET.
SO THIS IS A VERY SEVERE DROUGHT SCENARIO THAT WE WOULD BE UTILIZING THIS, UM, STRATEGY.
UH, DURING NEXT SLIDE, AS I MENTIONED, UM, THERE A COUPLE OF PATHWAYS THAT WE COULD IMPLEMENT THIS STRATEGY ALONG.
UM, BUT THE OVERALL GOAL FOR IPR IS TO BE ABLE TO COMPLETE CONSTRUCTION BEFORE REACHING 400,000 ACRE FEET OF COMBINED STORAGE.
UM, IF WE, UH, DO NOT REACH 750,000 ACRE FEET, UM, THEN WE, UM, AT ANY POINT WE WOULD MOVE FORWARD ON A NON-EMERGENCY IMPLEMENTATION PATHWAY AND THE DURATION FOR, AND THAT IMPLEMENTATION PATHWAY COULD BE FROM NOW TO ABOUT 2035.
AND WE WOULD USE A STANDARD DESIGN APPROACH TO DELIVER, UM, PERMANENT INFRASTRUCTURE.
OR IF HIGHLAND LAKES COMBINE STORAGE REACHES 750,000 ACRE FEET, WE WOULD LAUNCH INTO AN EMERGENCY IMPLEMENTATION PATHWAY AND THE GOAL WOULD BE TO, UM, COMPLETE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PROJECT THREE YEARS FROM HITTING THAT 750,000 ACRE FOOT TRIGGER.
THIS, UM, PROCESS WOULD USE A MODIFIED DESIGN APPROACH TO DELIVER TEMPORARY INFRASTRUCTURE, WHICH WOULD THEN BE CONVERTED TO PERMANENT INFRASTRUCTURE AFTER EMERGENCY OPERATIONS ARE CONCLUDED.
SO THIS IS A PICTURE OF LAKES BUCHANAN AND TRAVIS TOTAL COMBINED STORAGE WITH PROJECTIONS FOR THE NEXT SIX MONTHS.
THE RAINS THAT WE RECEIVED IN JULY WERE VERY WELCOME IN THAT THEY DID INCREASE COMBINED STORAGE, UM, AND HELPED TO LIFT US OUT OF THOSE MORE SEVERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS.
UM, WE DO NOT, UM, EXPECT TO REACH 750,000 ACRE FEET THROUGH THE NEXT SIX MONTHS.
AND ACTUALLY THOSE RAINS HAVE HELPED TO PUSH OUT THE TIMEFRAME WHEN WE COULD POTENTIALLY HIT THAT TRIGGER, UM, LIKELY BY SEVERAL YEARS.
SO WE DO HAVE ADDITIONAL TIME IN WHICH TO DO OUR PLANNING AND CONTINUE OUR WORK TO DELIVER KIND OF KEY PIECES OF THIS PROJECT AND PUT US IN A MUCH BETTER PLACE, UM, AS WE ARE WORKING TO DELIVER, UH, THE OVERALL PROGRAM.
SO, CURRENT STATUS BASED ON THESE CURRENT WATER SUPPLY CONDITIONS, IPR IS ON A NON-EMERGENCY IMPLEMENTATION PATHWAY.
BUT WE DO HAVE THREE ROTATION LIST CONSULTANTS WHO ARE CONTINUING TO DEVELOP PROJECT CONCEPT REPORTS FOR THREE KEY INFRASTRUCTURE COMPONENTS.
THE RIC WATER TREATMENT, PLANT INTAKE AND PUMP STATION FACILITIES ON LADYBIRD LAKE.
THE CENT, UH, CENTRALIZED RECLAIM TRANSMISSION MAIN, AND, UH, THAT IS INCLUDING A ROUTING STUDY TO TAKE THAT FROM SAR WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT TO MONTOPOLIS AND TO LADYBIRD LAKE.
UM, AND THEN, UH, SAR WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT
[00:50:01]
PROCESS AND PUMPING IMPROVEMENTS, UM, THAT'LL RE BE REQUIRED RELATED TO THE, THE TREATMENT OF THAT, UM, RECLAIM WATER AS WELL AS ADDITIONAL PUMPING IMPROVEMENTS TO GET THAT WATER, UM, TO LADYBIRD LAKE.UH, THESE PROJECT CONCEPT REPORTS WILL INFORM THE PROGRAM DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION DELIVERY APPROACH THAT WE'LL USE, UM, FOR THIS PROJECT.
AND OUR PERMITTING APPROACH WILL BE DEVELOPED AFTER THESE PROJECT CONCEPT REPORTS ARE COMPLETED.
WE'LL NEED THIS INFORMATION TO BE ABLE TO DEVELOP THAT APPROACH, UM, IN A MORE ROBUST WAY.
AND AUSTIN WATER WILL CONTINUE OUR WORK WITH AND COORDINATION WITH AUSTIN WATERSHED PROTECTION, UM, AUSTIN PARKS AND RECREATION AND OUR OTHER PARTNERS THROUGHOUT THIS PROJECT.
UM, SO IN 2026, OUR TASKS WILL INCLUDE ONGOING COORDINATION PARTNER DEPARTMENTS COMPLETION OF AN IPR EMERGENCY IMPLEMENTATION PLAN DOCUMENT, WHICH WILL BE A HIGHER LEVEL DOCUMENT TO HELP GUIDE OUR IMPLEMENTATION EFFORTS SHOULD WE REACH 750,000 ACRE FEET OF COMBINED STORAGE, A COMPLETION OF THE PROJECT CONCEPT REPORTS FOR THE VARIOUS INFRASTRUCTURE COMPONENTS AND BEGINNING SCOPE DEVELOPMENT TO DELIVER THOSE PROJECT INFRASTRUCTURE COMPONENTS.
SO THE NEXT STRATEGY IS RELATED TO USE OF LAKE WALTER E. LONG AS A WATER SUPPLY RESERVOIR.
UM, THIS STRATEGY WOULD USE A LAKE LONG FORMED BY DECKER DAM ON DECKER CREEK AS A WATER SUPPLY RESERVOIR.
THE LAKE, UM, IS CURRENTLY AND WOULD CONTINUE TO BE SUPPLIED BY WATER ON THE, FROM THE COLORADO RIVER AND WILL BE OPERATED SO THAT LAKE LEVELS WOULD FLUCTUATE WITHIN A LIMITED RANGE OF, UH, FIVE FEET DURING DROUGHT PERIODS.
WATER WOULD BE TREATED FOR POTABLE USE AT A NEW WATER TREATMENT PLANT, UM, THAT IS YET TO BE CITED AND AND DESIGNED USING ADVANCED TREATMENT PROCESSES.
UM, AN UPDATE ON THIS STRATEGY.
IN NOVEMBER, 2025, TCEQ ISSUED A WATER RIGHT AMENDMENT THAT WE APPLIED FOR ALLOWING THE AUSTIN WATER TO DIVERT UP TO 16,156 ACRE FEET PER YEAR FROM THE COLORADO RIVER TO STORE IN LAKE LONG, AND THEN TO USE FROM LAKE LONG, UM, FOR MUNICIPAL SUPPLY PURPOSES.
UM, THIS, UH, BUILDS ON OUR EXISTING STEAM ELECTRIC AND RECREATIONAL WATER, UM, UH, RIGHTS AND USES, UH, AT LAKE LONG, AND ALSO HELPS, UH, TO PROVIDE CO-BENEFITS FOR THOSE USES.
OUR 2026 TASKS, UM, RELATED TO THIS STRATEGY INCLUDE CONTINUING TO WORK WITH OUR PARTNER DEPARTMENTS AND INCLUDING AUSTIN PARKS AND OTHERS, AND PERFORMING ADDITIONAL COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, UH, COMPLETING A PLANNING LEVEL STUDY THAT WE ARE DEVELOPING, UM, RELATED TO THIS STRATEGY AND BEGINNING WATER QUALITY SAMPLING OF LAKE LONG TO INFORM, UH, FOR FURTHER, UH, ENGINEERING AND DESIGN WORK.
UH, AND THEN BEGINNING OUR PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING REPORT, NEXT SLIDE.
AND THEN OTHER RELATED EFFORTS.
UM, WE HAVE CONTRACTED WITH TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD TO PERFORM BATHOMETRIC AND SEDIMENT SURVEYS ON LADYBIRD LAKE AND LAKE AUSTIN.
UM, THOSE SURVEYS ARE UNDERWAY, UM, WITH COMPLETION EXPECTED THIS WINTER.
WE'RE HOPING TO GET THAT COMPLETED AND, UM, DURING THE WINTERTIME TO AVOID ANY INTERFERENCE FROM AQUATIC VEGETATION, WHICH WILL START SPRINGING BACK UP MORE DURING THE SPRING.
UM, THEY ARE COORDINATING WITH ALL CRA AND SOME FINAL SECTIONS NEAR TOM MILLER DAM.
WE'RE HOPING THAT THEY CAN MAKE SOME HEADWAY NEXT WEEK.
UM, TWDB IS ALSO USING SONAR TO SCAN, UH, THE INTAKE STRUCTURES AT OIC DAVIS AND THE DECOMMISSIONED GREEN, UH, WATER TREATMENT PLANT.
AND GIVE US A LITTLE BIT MORE INFORMATION THERE.
UM, THEY'LL BE DEVELOPING THE FINAL REPORT AND WE HOPE TO HAVE PRELIMINARY DATA AVAILABLE, UM, EARLIER THAN THAT FINAL REPORT SO THAT WE CAN HELP TO SUPPORT SOME OF OUR ONGOING WATER SUPPLY PLANNING EFFORTS.
AND THEN WE, UM, HAD SCOPED, UM, ONE OF OUR CONSULTANTS TO STUDY A DIRECT POTABLE REUSE OR DPR AS AN EMERGENCY SUPPLY STRATEGY, UM, EARLIER THIS YEAR WHEN, UH, WE WERE LOOKING AT MORE SEVERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS.
UM, WE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE THAT PLANNING LEVEL STUDY OF A DPR AS AN EMERGENCY SUPPLY STRATEGY, BUT WE'RE BEGINNING TO TRANSITION INTO SOME EVALUATION OF DPR AS, UM, A LONGER TERM MORE PERMANENT STRATEGY AS WELL.
ALL RIGHT, SO JUST TO ROUND OUT WITH SOME NEXT STEPS, UM, UH, AS A PART OF OUR WATER FORWARD PROGRAM, UM, AUSTIN WATER IS USING AN ADAPTIVE APPROACH TO PLAN FOR OUR FUTURE WATER NEEDS.
UH, WE'LL CONTINUE TO ADJUST THE TIMING SCOPE AND EXPECTED YIELDS OF WATER FORWARD STRATEGIES AS NEW INFORMATION
[00:55:01]
BECOMES AVAILABLE.UM, AND THESE, UH, UPDATES WILL HELP TO GUIDE OUR PRIORITIES AND PATHWAYS.
UH, WE'LL CONTINUE TO COORDINATE WITH ALL OF OUR PARTNER DEPARTMENTS AND OTHER PARTNERS AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
AND WE'LL BE CONTINUING TO SHARE UPDATES ON OUR IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS AND OUR QUARTERLY WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY, UH, REPORTS AND OUR ONGOING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT EFFORTS.
AND I THINK THAT IS THE CONCLUSION OF OUR PRESENTATION.
WE'RE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS Y'ALL MIGHT HAVE.
UM, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
DEEPLY APPRECIATE, UM, THE OVERVIEW AND THEN THE DEEP DIVE INTO EACH OF THE STRATEGIES THAT WE'LL BE PURSUING OVER THE NEXT FEW DECADES.
UM, I HAVE SOME SPECIFIC QUESTIONS ABOUT, UM, WHERE WE STAND GOING NEXT WITH A SR MM-HMM
AND THEN ONE QUICK, ONE QUICK QUESTION ON THE WALTER E. LONG RESERVOIR, AND ACTUALLY I'LL PROBABLY START WITH WALTER E. LONG.
UM, SO YOU MENTIONED THAT, UM, FOR THE WATER SUPPLY RESERVOIR, WE WOULD STILL NEED TO IDENTIFY, UM, A SITE, UM, FOR A WATER TREATMENT PLANT YES.
UM, BUT PART OF OUR PLAN IS IDEALLY TO GET THE ADDITIONAL SUPPLY FROM, UM, THE RESERVOIR ONLINE BY 2040 MM-HMM
AND SO IDEALLY, WHEN WOULD WE WANT TO IDENTIFY A SITE FOR THE PLANT BY, UM, TO GET THIS ERLING SO THAT WE WOULD STILL MEET THAT GOAL IN THE WATER FORWARD PLAN? YEAH, WE ARE GOING TO BE BEGINNING THAT WORK NOW WITHIN THIS YEAR.
UM, IT'LL BE NEED, IT'LL NEED TO BE INCORPORATED INTO OUR LONG RANGE WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM PLANNING.
UM, LUCKILY MY GROUP IS IN THE SAME GROUP AS THE SAME DIVISION AS THE PEOPLE WHO DO THE LONG RANGE WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM PLANNING.
SO WE'LL BE WORKING VERY CLOSELY TOGETHER ON HOW WE CAN INTEGRATE, UM, USE OF LAKE LONG AS A WATER SUPPLY RESERVOIR WITH THOSE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM PLANS.
UH, THE CITY OF AUSTIN OR AUSTIN WATER ALREADY HAS A, UM, A SITE THAT HAD BEEN INITIALLY IDENTIFIED FOR A, A POTENTIALLY A FUTURE WATER TREATMENT PLANT ON THE EAST SIDE.
UM, BUT THEY'RE GIVEN THIS WATER SUPPLY STRATEGY AND POTENTIAL INTEGRATION WITH OTHER SUPPLY STRATEGIES THAT WE'RE CONSIDERING.
WE'RE WANTING TO TAKE A HOLISTIC LOOK AT OTHER POTENTIAL, UM, SITING LOCATIONS THAT COULD BE, UM, JUST AS BENEFICIAL.
SO THEN TO CLARIFY, DOING THE DISTRIBUTION PLANNING AND COORDINATION FIRST AND THEN SITE IDENTIFICATION MM-HMM
UM, SHIFTING TO A SR, UM, KNOWING THAT WE ARE PIVOTING AWAY FROM A COLLABORATION IN BASTROP COUNTY, DO WE ANTICIPATE THAT THIS DEVELOPMENT PUSHES BACK OUR TIMELINE TO GET A SR ONLINE AGAIN BY AROUND 2040 ISH? RIGHT.
UM, TO BE QUITE HONEST, OUR TIMELINE FOR A, UH, AN A SR PROJECT WAS ALREADY PUSHED BACK, UM, AT THE BASTROP PROJECT, UM, AS IT WAS PROCEEDING WAS GETTING PUSHED BACK FURTHER AND, AND FURTHER, UM, AND BEYOND KIND OF OUR INITIAL PLANS, UH, THE EARLIEST THAT WE COULD HAVE IMPLEMENTED THAT PROJECT WOULD'VE BEEN MORE LIKE 2045.
UM, AND WITH MANY OF THE LIKE UNCERTAINTIES AND CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH THAT PROJECT, I'M, I, I'M NOT SURE THAT WE COULD HAVE EVEN HAVE MADE 2045.
UM, SO IN, FRANKLY, IN MY VIEW, UH, THIS MODIFIED APPROACH HELPS US TO ADVANCE, UM, A POTENTIAL A SR PROJECT IN A, UM, IN A MORE, UM, EXPEDITIOUS WAY.
UM, WE COULD POTENTIALLY BE LOOKING AT SMALLER YIELD A SR PROJECTS THAT WE CAN BUILD OUT IN PHASES OVER TIME.
UM, AND IF WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT KIND OF DISTRIBUTED APPROACH, IT MAY BE THAT WE CAN BEGIN SMALLER APPLICATIONS, UM, SOONER AND, UM, DEVELOP SOME, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO INFORM HOW WE COULD POTENTIALLY SCALE, UH, THAT PROJECT TO BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE OUR OVERALL GOALS, UM, AND STILL MEET THE, UH, YIELD TARGETS THAT WE HAD SET WITHIN THE PLAN.
SO STARTING POTENTIALLY SMALLER, BUT SOONER.
UM, WE HAVE A SITE ON CITY OF AUSTIN, OWNED LAND IN EASTERN TRAVIS COUNTY.
[01:00:01]
ARE THERE OTHER SITES THAT WE WOULD BE LOOKING AT, UM, JUST TO HAVE MORE EGGS IN THE BASKET? YES.SO WE'LL BE LOOKING, WE'LL BE WANTING TO WORK WITH OUR PARTNER DEPARTMENTS, UH, TO LOOK AT, UM, A FEW DIFFERENT SITES IN EASTERN TRAVIS COUNTY THAT ARE ALREADY OWNED BY THE CITY.
AND THEN, UM, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO CONTINUE TO KEEP OUR OPTIONS OPEN AND, UH, TO BE EVALUATING, UM, UH, POTENTIALLY OTHER AREAS AT A DESKTOP LEVEL, UH, TO SEE IF THOSE COULD BE, UM, POTENTIALLY BENEFICIAL FOR AN A SR OR OTHER PROJECT.
UM, I'M FRANKLY REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO THAT BECAUSE I THINK THAT THESE, UM, PROJECTS AND INVESTMENTS COULD YIELD MULTIPLE BENEFITS FOR OUR LOCAL COMMUNITY AND RESIDENTS, UM, ESPECIALLY IF WE'RE PARTNERING WITH OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS TO DELIVER THOSE BENEFITS.
WOULD THAT POTENTIALLY MEAN THAT WE WOULD NEED TO OR WANT TO REOPEN PHASE ONE A OF THE PROJECT OR GO TO COUNCIL FOR ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION OR ALLOCATION OF FUNDING TO DO SO? SO IN THE PHASE ONE B SCOPE THAT, THIS IS A GREAT POINT.
IN THE PHASE ONE B SCOPE, WE ARE WANTING TO, UM, UH, TO REDO SOME OF OUR PHASE ONE OR EXPAND SOME OF THE PHASE ONE A DESKTOP STUDY WORK, UH, THAT WE HAD DONE TO EVALUATE A FEW MORE LOCATIONS IN EASTERN TRAVIS COUNTY TO THE LEVEL OF DETAIL THAT WE HAD EVALUATED SEVERAL LOCATIONS IN, UM, IN THE CARA WILCOX AND BASTROP COUNTY.
UM, SO THAT'LL HELP TO INFORM THOSE OPTIONS, UH, THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, UM, AND WHAT WE MIGHT PURSUE IN THE FUTURE.
AND THEN FINAL QUESTION FROM ME, UM, THEN WE CAN OPEN IT BACK UP TO ANYONE ELSE.
BUT, UM, THINKING SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THIS NEXT ROUND OF POTENTIAL COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND MEETINGS THAT COULD HAPPEN WITH A PHASE ONE B IN EASTERN TRAVIS COUNTY, LOOKING AT OTHER CITY OF AUSTIN OWNED SITES, UM, I'M WONDERING IF Y'ALL HAVE A SENSE NOW OF WHAT THAT COULD LOOK LIKE IN TERMS OF STAKEHOLDERS THAT WE'D WANT TO IDENTIFY, UM, AMONG, UM, WATER SUPPLIERS AND PRODUCERS OR OTHER MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS IN EASTERN TRAVIS COUNTY.
UM, WHAT FORM THAT COULD TAKE, UM, AND POTENTIALLY WHEN WE THINK THAT WE MIGHT START TO HAVE EVEN COMMUNITY EDUCATION MEETINGS LIKE WE HAD IN BASTROP COUNTY.
UM, EMILY CHANCELLOR ON OUR PROJECT TEAM IS OUR, UM, PIO LIAISON AND HAS BEEN HELPING TO LEAD OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT EFFORTS.
UM, AND SHE'S ALREADY THINKING ABOUT THIS.
AND SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE BUILDING INTO THIS REVAMP, REVAMPED PHASE ONE B SCOPE.
UM, IF, UH, WE'RE ABLE TO LAUNCH THIS PROJECT, UM, UH, OR RELAUNCH THIS PROJECT IN THE WAY THAT WE WANT TO, I THINK THAT THAT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT WOULD BEGIN IN 2026.
UM, I, YOU KNOW, WE'LL SEE, UH, WHAT OUR TIMELINE IS TO GET TO COUNCIL FOR ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION.
WE DO HAVE SOME MONEY AVAILABLE TO US RIGHT NOW, UM, TO CONTINUE WORKING WITH OUR CONSULTANT.
AND I, I THINK THAT OUR INTERNAL EFFORTS WILL HELP TO SUPPLEMENT THAT WORK.
SO WE'RE ALREADY WANTING TO DO THAT.
UM, STAKEHOLDER IDENTIFICATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF PLANS FOR HOW WE ENGAGE LOCAL COMMUNITIES AS WELL AS, UM, OTHER BODIES AND ENTITIES LIKE YOU MENTIONED.
WE'LL BE CONTINUING TO WORK WITH OUR GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS TEAM AS WELL TO DEVELOP A, A COMPREHENSIVE OUTREACH PLAN SO THAT WE ARE ENGAGING WITH ALL OF THE APPROPRIATE PARTIES.
NOT A QUESTION, BUT MORE OF A REQUEST IN THE FUTURE.
UM, WHEN Y'ALL HAVE, UM, THE BEGINNINGS OF THIS PLAN READY TO EITHER, UM, YOU KNOW, PRESS GO START HAVING THESE MEETINGS, WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO GIVE US A BRIEFING ON WHAT THIS ENGAGEMENT PLAN WILL ENTAIL BEFORE IT GOES OUT INTO THE FIELD? AND, UM, WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO PROVIDE WITH US WHEN THEY'RE SCHEDULED, THE MEETINGS THAT COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN IN EASTERN TRAVIS COUNTY SO THAT WE AS INDIVIDUALS MIGHT BE ABLE TO ATTEND AND OBSERVE AS WELL? YES, ABSOLUTELY.
SO WOULD, I KNOW YOU MENTIONED THAT THESE SITES ARE ON CITY OWNED LAND, UM, BUT BEING IN EASTERN TRAVIS COUNTY, THERE WILL STILL NEED TO BE COLLABORATIVE AGREEMENTS BETWEEN DIFFERENT ENTITIES, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE AGAIN, THE BASTROP, YOU KNOW, IDEA WAS OBVIOUSLY NOT CITY OWNED LAND.
SO I'M JUST TRYING TO SEE WHAT GROUNDWORK HAD TO GO IN TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYTHING IS ON THE UP AND UP THERE.
YEAH, I THINK THAT WE, TO PERFORM THE FIELD TESTING, UM, WE DON'T NEED TO HAVE ANY SORT OF, UM, AUTHORIZATION PERMIT, UM, OR, UM, COLLABORATIVE AGREEMENTS.
UM, WE DO, YOU KNOW, OF COURSE WE'LL BE DOING A, USING A RESPONSIBLE APPROACH, UM, AND ENGAGING IN, YOU KNOW, UH, UH, THOUGHTFUL PLANNING AND DESIGN OF THOSE, UH, TEST WELLS.
UM, BUT WE WERE THINKING THAT THIS WOULD PROCESS WOULD BE ABLE
[01:05:01]
TO PROCEED KIND OF ON A MORE TYPICAL PROJECT PATHWAY, UM, WHERE WE'D BE ABLE TO DO THIS FIELD TESTING ON THE, ON CITY LAND, TAKE THAT DATA, AND THEN, UM, UH, USE THAT DATA TO INFORM SUBSEQUENT PLAN DEVELOPMENT.UM, AT THE SAME TIME, ON A PARALLEL PATHWAY, WE WOULD BE, AS WE MENTIONED, IDENTIFYING STAKEHOLDERS AND PERFORMING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, UM, AS WELL AS ENGAGEMENT WITH OTHER, UM, KEY STAKEHOLDERS, UM, WHO ARE WITHIN THIS AREA.
UM, YOU KNOW, THOSE CONVERSATIONS, I, I THINK WILL, WILL BEGIN PRETTY SOON.
UM, WE HAVE ALREADY STARTED TO SOCIALIZE SOME OF THESE, UH, THOUGHTS AND, AND PLANS WITHIN THE CITY.
AND SO WE'RE WORKING WITH A, A TEAM THAT INCLUDES, UH, SOME OF THE BEST MINDS IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND JUST HOW WE CAN MAKE THIS A, A SUCCESSFUL APPROACH.
UM, ONE OTHER QUESTION I HAVE, THIS IS JUST KIND OF IDEA SPIT BALLING.
I KNOW YOU SAY THAT THE PLAN UPDATE EVERY FIVE YEARS, AND I KNOW A LOT OF WORK GOES INTO IT, AND, YOU KNOW, THE IDEA OF LIKE FROM A STATE WATER PLANNING, YOU KNOW, THAT PLAN IS EVERY FIVE YEARS, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY CITY OF AUSTIN AND AUSTIN WATER IS A SMALLER KIND OF ENTITY.
SO WOULD THERE BE A BENEFIT, AND, YOU KNOW, I KNOW AS YOU TALK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE PLAN IS OF ADAPTIVE AND EVERYTHING, BUT WOULD THERE BE A BENEFIT OF, YOU KNOW, SHORTENING THAT JUST BECAUSE YOU KNOW HOW THINGS CHANGE PRETTY RAPIDLY AND WITH THE CLIMATE AND EVERYTHING, COULD THERE BE A BENEFIT IN REDUCING THAT? OR DOES IT NEED TO ALIGN WITH OTHER PLANNING, UM, UH, INITIATIVES IN THE CITY? THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
UM, JUST TO PROVIDE SOME, LIKE A VIEW INTO THE, THE BACKGROUND WORK THAT HAS TO HAPPEN TO UPDATE THE PLANS.
MY TEAM HAS ALREADY BEGUN THE TECHNICAL WORK TO DEVELOP THE WATER FORWARD 2029 PLAN
SO WE GET ABOUT, UM, SIX TO NINE MONTHS WORTH OF DOWNTIME IN BETWEEN PLAN UPDATES WHEN WE'RE NOT WORKING ON PLAN UPDATES.
AND THEN THE WORK BEGINS AGAIN TO REDO ALL OF THE, THE TECHNICAL AND ALL, IT STARTS A DATA PREPARATION AND THEN PROCESSING, AND THEN REBUILDING MODELS AND, YOU KNOW, DOING ALL OF THE ANALYSIS AND BACKGROUND WORK THAT THEN HAS TO FEED INTO THE MORE PUBLIC FACING PROCESS.
SO IT IS A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT LIFT.
UM, THAT SAID, BECAUSE WE WANNA BE MORE AGILE IN HOW WE RESPOND TO CHANGING CONDITIONS, I THINK THAT THIS TYPE OF APPROACH WHERE WE DO SOMETHING OF A RETROSPECTIVE AT THE END OF EACH YEAR OF IMPLEMENTATION IS PROBABLY THE MORE APPROPRIATE PATHWAY WHERE WE DO KIND OF A LIGHTER LIFT, HERE'S WHAT WE'VE LEARNED DURING THE PAST YEAR, AND HERE'S HOW WE NEED TO ADJUST OUR STRATEGIES FOR THE NEXT YEAR OF IMPLEMENTATION.
THAT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE TO ME.
UM, AND WE CAN BE BUILDING INFORMATION AND LESSONS LEARNED TO THEN INCORPORATE INTO THE NEXT LARGER PLAN UPDATE.
DEFINITELY MAKES SENSE TO ME TOO.
UH, AND SO I APPRECIATE THE ANSWER VERY MUCH.
I WOULD SAY TOO, THAT THE, THE CRITICAL TIME ELEMENT IS MOVING THESE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS FORWARD, UM, MAKING PROGRESS ON WATER CONSERVATION, RECLAIMED WATER, WATER LOSS REDUCTION, AND ALL OF THAT WORK.
THE YIELDS THAT WE NEED FROM THAT WORK IS SOMETHING THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT AND UPDATING AND ADJUSTING AS WE UPDATE OUR PLANS.
UM, WE KNOW WE NEED TO DO THESE PROJECTS, AND SO WE NEED TO KEEP THEM MOVING FORWARD, UH, ALL THE TIME.
SO I THINK THERE'S, UM, IT'S GOOD.
UH, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OH, UH, COMMISSIONER TRI, UH, YES.
UM, ARE YOU ABLE TO HEAR ME? LET ME CHECK THAT FIRST.
UM, THANK YOU FOR THE EXCELLENT, VERY EXCELLENT DISCUSSION AND FACILITATION.
I HAVE ONE QUESTION, UM, BASED ON AN ARTICLE I READ LAST MONTH, UM, KIND OF AROUND RESEARCH FOR THE PREVIOUS MEETING, ARE WE LOOKING AT, UH, PRIVATE FINANCE OR CORPORATE FINANCE OF ANY OF THESE INFRASTRUCTURE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS? AND SO, FOR EXAMPLE, WHAT I WAS READING ABOUT LAST MONTH WAS THAT GOOGLE, UM, I THINK A PART OF AN AGREEMENT FOR DEVELOPING TWO DATA CENTERS IN CALIFORNIA DEVELOPED OR FINANCE BUILT AN A SR AND THEN RECENTLY HANDED OVER OWNERSHIP MANAGEMENT CONTROL OF THAT, UH, OF THE UTILITY
[01:10:01]
TO THE LOCAL CITY.UM, THIS MAY BE A BIGGER, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW THE JURISDICTION, RIGHT? THIS MAY BE, UM, GIVEN OUR OWN GEOGRAPHY AND BUSINESS LANDSCAPE, YOU KNOW, A COUNTY OR STATE ISSUE, BUT WHAT IS THE STATUS OF LOOKING AT CORPORATE FINANCE FOR SOME OF THIS WORK, ESPECIALLY WITH THE GOVERNOR INVITING SO MANY DATA CENTERS INTO THE STATE? THANK YOU.
SO WE, UM, FUND OUR INFRASTRUCTURE PRIMARILY THROUGH OUR OWN REVENUE BONDS.
UM, WE DO, UH, PARTNER A LOT WITH TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD ON, UH, LOW INTEREST LOANS FROM THE STATE, UM, IN TERMS COLLABORATING WITH SORT OF THIRD PARTIES ON PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS, UM, OR WHERE A PRIVATE ENTITY WOULD, YOU KNOW, FUND INFRASTRUCTURE THAT THEN WE WOULD OWN.
UM, UH, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE'VE, WE HAVE SOME COLLABORATION AGREEMENTS.
FOR EXAMPLE, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN IS GOING TO BUILD A SEWER MINING PROJECT WHERE THEY WILL TAKE WASTEWATER OUT OF OUR WASTEWATER SYSTEM, TREAT IT TO POTABLE STANDARDS ON THEIR SITE.
AND SO WE HAVE AGREEMENTS WITH THEM THAT HELP, UM, YOU KNOW, WHERE THAT THEY OWN AND FINANCE THAT.
BUT, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE AGREEMENTS WITH THEM THAT, THAT, UM, THAT HELP MAKE THAT PROJECT POSSIBLE.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE, UM, INTERESTED AND OPEN TO EXPLORING THE VARIOUS POSSIBILITIES FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF PROJECTS, PARTICULARLY AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
UM, AT THIS TIME WE DON'T, WE DON'T NEED, UH, YOU KNOW, A A PRIVATE ENTITY TO COME IN AND, AND DO ANY OF THIS WORK FOR US.
WE HAVE, UM, YOU KNOW, VERY ROBUST FINANCIAL, UM, UH, CAPABILITIES.
AND WE, AS I MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD ON LOW INTEREST LOANS IS, IS REALLY POWERFUL AS WELL IN TERMS OF WHAT THAT MAKES POSSIBLE FOR, FOR INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING.
AND I, IF, IF OUR, UM, DEPUTY DIRECTOR JOSEPH GONZALEZ WOULD LIKE TO ADD ANYTHING TO THAT, I WELCOME IT.
YOU'RE WELCOME TO WAVE ME OFF IF YOU'RE GOOD.
UH, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMISSIONERS? I DID HAVE JUST ONE QUESTION, ALMOST A, A CLARIFICATION ON THE BRACKISH GROUNDWATER DAL SLIDE.
YOU SHOW AN ADVANCED TREATMENT KIND OF LITTLE HUT, AND THEN YOU TALKED ABOUT A NEW ADVANCED TREATMENT PLANT.
WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THE WALTER LONG, LIKE, THOSE ARE TWO SEPARATE FACILITIES.
JUST TO CLARIFY, WITHIN, UH, THE STRATEGY DESCRIPTIONS AS ORIGINALLY ENVISIONED WITHIN WATER FORWARD, THOSE WERE TWO SEPARATE FACILITIES.
UH, I MENTIONED KIND OF RETHINKING SOME OF THAT IN THE CONTEXT OF OUR LONG RANGE WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS PLANNING, BECAUSE THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR US TO HAVE ONE FACILITY THAT, UM, HAS ADVANCED TREATMENT CAPABILITIES AND SERVES AS SOMETHING OF A HUB FOR, UM, MULTIPLE SOURCES OF WATER, UM, WHERE THE, THOSE WATERS WOULD BE TREATED TO, UH, BE COMPATIBLE WITH OUR POTABLE WATER PRODUCED BY OUR OTHER WATER TREATMENT PLANTS.
UM, SO THERE'S LOTS OF OPTIONS FOR US TO CONSIDER.
I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF REALLY INTERESTING OPPORTUNITIES THERE.
UM, SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'LL BE WORKING ON DURING THE NEXT YEAR OR SO.
ANY MORE QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONERS? OKAY.
SEEING NONE, UH, THANK YOU MARISA, FOR THE, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
[5.Staff briefing regarding Update on Austin Water’s Water Distribution System Water Loss and Mitigation. Presentation by Matt Cullen P.E., Austin Water Pipeline Engineering and Operations Support Division Manager ]
THE STAFF BRIEFING REGARDING THE UPDATE ON AUSTIN WATERS WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, WATER LOSS AND MITIGATION.THIS IS, UH, BEING PRESENTED BY MATT CULLEN, WHO IS THE AUSTIN WATER PIPELINE ENGINEERING AND OPERATIONS SUPPORT DIVISION MANAGER.
AND I SEE CHARLES IS ALSO HERE TOO.
UH, IN ADDITION TO BEING A DIVISION MANAGER, I'M AN ALLERGY SUFFERER.
UH, SO I WILL DO MY BEST TO NOT CLEAR MY THROAT INTO, UH, THE MICROPHONE, BUT I APOLOGIZE IF THAT COMES ABOUT.
UH, SO YEAH, JUST GONNA UPDATE YOU, UH, TODAY ON WHERE WE'RE AT.
YOU KNOW, ANOTHER YEAR HAS PASSED WITH OUR, UH, WATER LOSS EFFORTS AND MITIGATING WATER LOSS.
UH, SO I'LL JUST GIVE YOU AN OVERVIEW OF, UH, WHERE WE'RE AT, YOU KNOW, WHAT OUR NUMBERS ARE.
UH, TALK ABOUT, UH, THE THINGS THAT AFFECTED OUR, OUR NUMBERS BETWEEN CALENDAR YEAR 23 AND 24.
UH, AND THEN TALK ABOUT WHAT WE'RE, WHAT OUR ACTIONS ARE TO REDUCE WATER LOSS AND OUR, WHAT OUR NEXT STEPS ARE.
[01:15:01]
WE'VE GOT A, A LARGE, VERY COMPLEX, UH, SYSTEM.UH, UH, IT'S A CHALLENGE TO, UH, UH, TO CONTROL THE, UH, THE WATER LOSS.
BUT WE TAKE, UH, YOU KNOW, WE FOLLOW OUR INDUSTRY BEST PRACTICES TO, TO MITIGATE WATER LOSS.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE RESPOND TO LEAKS EXTREMELY QUICKLY.
UH, WE'VE BEEN RENEWING OUR INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, AND WE CONDUCT PROACTIVE, UH, LEAK DETECTION.
SO THE NEXT SLIDE IS THE HOWEVER SLIDE, UM,
UH, BUT AS YOU CAN SEE, OUR, OUR WATER LOSSES, UH, HAVE BEEN CREEPING UP.
UM, AND MOST OF YOU, UH, YOU KNOW, HAD SEEN THIS, UH, LAST YEAR, UH, AND NUMBER OF YEARS OF, UH, THESE PRESENTATIONS.
BUT, UM, SO WE'VE BEEN CREEPING UP AND THAT'S, UH, WHY WE'VE BEEN KIND OF REDOUBLING OUR EFFORTS ON REDUCING WATER LOSS, KNOWING THAT A LOT OF THOSE EFFORTS WILL TAKE TIME TO, TO REALLY SEE THE IMPACT IN THIS SLIDE.
UM, BUT, UH, WE'RE WORKING VERY HARD IN THAT DIRECTION.
SO I'M GONNA SPEAK SPECIFICALLY ABOUT, UH, YOU CAN SEE KIND OF A STEEPER, UH, INCREASE THERE BETWEEN 23 AND 24.
AND SO I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT THAT NEXT, NEXT SLIDE.
OH, ACTUALLY, REAL QUICK, JUST TO GO BACK OVER THE, EXCUSE ME, UH, THE, UH, WATER LOSS TERMS, UH, YOU KNOW, IT USED TO BE WITHIN THE INDUSTRY, IT WAS JUST ABOUT ALWAYS TALKED ABOUT AS PERCENTAGES, UM, AND GO TO A LOT OF CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS, AND STILL SOME PEOPLE SPEAK IN PERCENTAGES, BUT THE INDUSTRY IS REALLY GOING TO THIS TERM, ILI, UH, WHICH IS REALLY JUST A RATIO, UM, A RATIO OF OUR REAL LOSSES, WHICH IS WATER LOST FROM THE SYSTEM, UH, ACTUAL MOLECULES LEAVING THE SYSTEM, IF YOU WILL.
UH, AND UNAVOIDABLE ANNUAL REAL LOSS, WHICH IS THE THEORETICAL MINIMUM.
IF YOU DO EVERYTHING YOU POSSIBLY CAN, YOU'RE STILL GONNA END UP LOSING THAT, UH, AMOUNT OF WATER.
AND IT'S A CALCULATION, UH, A WWA AND THE INDUSTRY HAS COME UP WITH BASED ON MILES OF MAIN NUMBER OF SERVICE CONNECTIONS AND THE PRESSURE IN YOUR SYSTEM.
SO, ILI, AGAIN, IS THAT RATIO OF THE AMOUNT OF WATER YOU LOST TO THE THEORETICAL, UH, MINIMUM.
WHEN WE TALK ABOUT LOSSES, THE OTHER PART OF WHAT WE CALL NON-REVENUE WATER IS APPARENT LOSSES.
UM, AND THAT'S WHERE, UH, YOU KNOW, WE INDICATE WE SENT, YOU KNOW, UH, A HUNDRED GALLONS TO A CUSTOMER, UH, BUT WE'RE BILLING THEM FOR 98, UH, WHETHER THAT BE A, YOU KNOW, A METER ISSUE OR, OR A DATA HANDLING ISSUE OR WHATEVER.
AND SO I'LL USE BOTH THOSE TERMS, UH, DURING THE DISCUSSION.
SO I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE WERE CLEAR ON WHAT THEY REFERRED TO NEXT SLIDE.
THE INCREASE FROM 23 TO 24, UH, THAT WAS ABOUT A 30% INCREASE IN REAL LOSSES.
UM, TWO OF THE REALLY BIG CONTRIBUTORS TO THAT ARE, UM, UH, NOT
UM, SO AS YOU MAY REMEMBER, WE HAD BLACK AND VEATCH COME IN AND DO A REVIEW OF OUR WATER LOSS PROGRAMS. AND WHILE THEY WERE HERE IN JANUARY OF 24, UH, WE HAD IDENTIFIED, UH, SOME ISSUES, UM, WITH OUR PRODUCTION FLOW MEASUREMENT, ABLE TO CORRECT THAT.
AND SO WHAT HAPPENED THERE THEN IS VERY ACCURATE WITH THAT IN, IN 2024, MORE ACCURATE THAN WE WERE IN 2023.
AND SO THAT, IT'S VERY DIFFICULT MAY EVEN SAY IN THE REPORT TO CALCULATE EXACTLY WHAT THE IMPACT OF THAT CORRECTION WAS, BUT IT MAY HAVE BEEN ON THE ORDER OF A BILLION GALLONS, AND THAT THAT CONTRIBUTED QUITE A BIT, UH, TO THAT INCREASE.
UH, ANOTHER ISSUE WAS, UH, UH, REPORTING OF A MUNICIPAL WATER USE AGAIN IN 2023.
UM, THAT WASN'T DONE EXACTLY CORRECTLY.
IT WAS A ONE YEAR, UH, ISSUE THAT WE CAPTURED DURING OUR 2024 PROCESS.
BUT THAT HAS THE EFFECT, AGAIN, OF, UH, UM, A, A JUMP FROM 23 TO 24.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE REST OF IT THERE IS OUR ACTUAL INCREASED, YOU KNOW, REAL LOSS.
THE, THE SYSTEM LIKE ME IS NOT GETTING ANY YOUNGER.
UM, AND SO THERE'S BEEN SOME INCREASED REAL LOSS THERE, BUT WE'RE REALLY, UH, WORKING ON THAT PART.
AND I THINK THIS KINDA UNDERLIES WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO HERE.
WE HAVE TO BE VERY, UM, UH, VERY GOOD AT TRACKING.
AND THAT'S, YOU KNOW, WHILE THOSE THINGS, UH, HAD A, A, A, A EFFECT OF INCREASING THE WATER LOSS, WE'RE BETTER THERE IN MEASUREMENT, UH, BUT WE'VE ALSO GOTTA, UH, REDUCE THE REAL LOSSES.
UM, SO THE ACTIONS TO REDUCE OUR WATER LOSSES.
AS I MENTIONED, I'D ALREADY BROUGHT UP BLACK AND VEATCH A LITTLE BIT OVER A YEAR AGO.
UH, PRESENTED HERE ABOUT, UM, WHAT THEY FOUND.
THEY CAME BACK WITH 32, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS.
UM, TO THIS POINT, 11 OF THOSE ARE COMPLETE OR OPERATIONALIZED, UM, COMPLETE.
OR, UH, FOR EXAMPLE, IS ONE THAT, UH, INDICATED WE SHOULD
[01:20:01]
FOLLOW UP.WE HAVE A VENDOR THAT, UH, DOES TESTING ON OUR LARGE CUSTOMER METERS.
AND THE SUGGESTION WAS THERE THAT WE DO A QA QC OF WHAT THEY'RE DOING, MAKE SURE THAT THAT INFORMATION WAS RIGHT.
UH, AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO THAT GOING FORWARD.
SO THAT ITEM IS, UH, COMPLETE.
AND THEN THERE'S A NUMBER OF THINGS THAT ARE OPERATIONALIZED THAT ARE JUST PART OF HOW WE DO WORK.
ONE OF THE BIG THEMES HERE IS BROADENING THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THE UTILITY THAT ARE INVOLVED IN WATER LOSS REDUCTION AND TRACKING.
UM, AND SO, UH, WE'VE OPERATIONALIZED ALL THAT KIND OF STUFF.
WE'VE GOT MORE PEOPLE, UM, UH, INVOLVED THERE.
UM, AND SO, UH, UH, WORKING ON A NUMBER OF THOSE THINGS THERE, I WILL SAY THAT NUMBER'S GONNA BE MUCH SMALLER BY THE TIME WE'RE REPORTING OUR WATER LOSS NUMBERS COME IN MAY.
THERE'S QUITE A FEW THINGS GETTING REALLY CLOSE TO THE, UH, TO THE WRAP UP PHASE.
AND REALLY A LOT OF THOSE ARE GONNA MOVE INTO OPERATIONALIZED.
'CAUSE, UH, A LOT OF WHAT'S, UH, THE RECOMMENDATIONS HERE ARE MORE ABOUT, YOU KNOW, CHANGING HOW WE DO THINGS.
AND, AND SO THERE ARE THINGS THAT GO ON AS OPPOSED TO A ONE-TIME, UH, KIND OF, UH, COMPLETED, UH, UH, ITEM.
AND THEN WE'VE GOT FOUR ITEMS THAT WE SAY HAVE PREREQUISITE ITEMS THAT ARE IN PROGRESS.
SO THEY'RE, THEY WERE RECOMMENDATIONS RELATED TO HANDLING OF OUR DATA AND DASHBOARDING.
UM, BUT WITH THE RECENT COMPLETION OF OUR A MI AND OUR WORKING ON A MI 2.0 AND DIGITAL TWIN, A NUMBER OF THESE DATA STREAMS ARE BEING CREATED AND STILL COMING ALONG, AND THEY KIND OF NEED TO BE THERE BEFORE WE CAN DASHBOARD THEM.
SO IT'S NOT THAT THOSE FOUR AREN'T BEING WORKED ON, IT'S THE THINGS THAT COME BEFORE THEM, UH, THAT ARE, THAT ARE BEING ACCOMPLISHED RIGHT NOW.
UM, SO LEAK DETECTION PRACTICES.
I KNOW WITH WATER LOSS, THAT'S, UH, THAT'S A BIG, UH, FOCUS.
UM, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS A, A RECOMMENDATION FROM THE REPORT TO GO THROUGH OUR SYSTEM EVERY SIX YEARS.
UM, AND WE CONTINUE TO DO THAT, AND WE, WE ARE DOING THAT AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO DO SO.
UH, BUT WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT MORE TARGETED APPROACHES AND OTHER, UH, TECHNOLOGIES.
THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT GOING ON IN THE WATER LOSS INDUSTRY, A LOT OF TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT.
AND SO WHILE WE'VE BEEN COVERING THE WHOLE CITY, UH, THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES WE'RE LOOKING AT, AT FOCUSING ON SOME OF THE LEAKER LEAKIER AREAS, UH, TO IDENTIFY WHERE THE LEAKS ARE, LEVERAGING SOME OF THE NEW TECHNOLOGY RELATED TO A MI, UH, AND EVERYTHING ELSE ALONG THAT LINE.
UH, OF COURSE, WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE OUR LARGE DIAMETER LEAK DETECTION AND CONDITION ASSESSMENT, UH, PROGRAM.
THE PICTURE THERE IS ONE OF THE WINS WE KINDA HAD WITH, WITH THAT PROGRAM, IDENTIFYING A PIPE THAT WE WOULDN'T HAVE KNOW KNOWN, UH, WAS GONNA HAVE A PROBLEM, AND WE WERE ABLE TO FIX IT UNDER, YOU KNOW, CONTROLLED CONDITIONS.
UM, AND WE'RE WRAPPING UP OUR SOPS, TALKING ABOUT HOW WE CONTRACT FOR OUR LEAK DETECTION AND HOW WE MANAGE THAT DATA, WHAT DATA WE COLLECT AND, AND, UH, UH, HOW WE MANAGE THAT, EXCUSE ME.
AND, UM, WE'RE KIND OF CONTINUOUSLY RESEARCHING AND PILOTING, UH, NEW, UH, NEW TECHNOLOGIES.
WE'VE GOT PRESSURE MONITORS IN THE SYSTEM, BOTH IN THE SYSTEM AND ON OUR PRVS THAT ARE, WE'RE PILOTING RIGHT NOW.
PART OF THAT IS COLLECTING THE DATA, AND THEN PART OF THAT IS MANAGING THE DATA AND HOW WE USE IT.
UM, AND SO WE'RE, WE'RE VERY INVOLVED WITH THAT.
AND AGAIN, A LOT OF THAT TIES IN WITH OUR A MI, UH, 2.0.
AND THEN I MENTIONED EARLIER ABOUT BROADENING THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE INVOLVED IN WATER LOSS, EXCUSE ME, UM, IN THE UTILITY.
BUT BY THE SAME WAY, WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT HIRING A WATER LOSS ENGINEER THAT WILL BE FULL-TIME ALL ABOUT WATER LOSS.
AND SO WE'RE DOING BOTH, BOTH, UH, UH, A WIDER INVOLVEMENT THROUGH THE UTILITY, AND ALSO SOMEONE WHO'S, WHO'S, UH, FOCUSED ON IT, UM, FULL-TIME.
AND SO WE'RE WORKING ON THAT RIGHT NOW.
UM, REAL QUICK SLIDE HERE ON SYSTEM RENEWAL.
I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT SYSTEM RENEWAL, BUT JUST TO BE CLEAR HERE, WHEN I'M TALKING ABOUT MAIN LINES, THAT'S OUR TYPICALLY SIX INCH AND LARGER, UH, MAINS PIPES OUT IN THE STREET THAT SERVE, YOU KNOW, A, A WHOLE BLOCK AND, AND WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD.
AND THE SERVICE LINES ARE WHAT RUN FROM THE MAIN TO THE WATER METER.
AND I'M GONNA BE SPEAKING FOR THAT PART, THE PUBLIC PART OF THE, UH, OF THE SERVICE LINE.
THOSE ARE TYPICALLY THE ONE INCH AND TWO INCH, UM, SERVICE LINE.
SO JUST A LITTLE TERMINOLOGY THERE.
UM, PROBABLY SEEING THIS SLIDE BEFORE, AT LEAST THIS GRAPH SOMEWHAT, UM, THROUGH OUR INVESTMENT IN OUR RENEWING AUSTIN PROGRAM OVER THE LAST DECADE AND A HALF, WE'VE REALLY, UM, DONE WELL IN REDUCING OUR MAIN LEAK RATE.
UM, SO THE, THE, THE TOP LINE THERE IS WHAT A WWA SAYS.
A, A TYPICAL UTILITY IS AT 25 BREAKS, UH, PER HUNDRED MILES PER YEAR.
[01:25:01]
15 BREAKS PER HUNDRED MILES PER YEAR IS THE OPTIMIZED SYSTEM.AND SO WE'VE DRIVEN DOWN, UH, BELOW THAT.
AND SO WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE INVESTING THAT.
WE'VE HAD SUCCESS, WE'RE GONNA KEEP DOING THAT.
WE'VE GOT MONEY IN OUR BUDGET GOING FORWARD, UH, UH, TO KEEP THAT, UH, KEEP THAT BREAK RATE LOW.
UH, THIS IS OUR SERVICE LINES.
UH, AND AGAIN, UH, MOST OF YOU HAVE, UH, YOU KNOW, KIND OF HEARD SOME OF THIS STORY BEFORE, BUT, UH, WE'VE KNOWN THAT THIS IS RELATED TO OUR POLYBUTYLENE SERVICES, AND SO WE'VE BEEN REPLACING THOSE SERVICES.
BUT AS YOU CAN SEE, YOU KNOW, 21 TO 25, WE HAD $8 MILLION IN THE BUDGET.
26 TO 30, MORE THAN DOUBLED THAT.
BUT THEN WE'VE GONE, AS SHAY MENTIONED, THE, THE LOANS WITH THE TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD.
WE'VE GOT A $45 MILLION LOW INTEREST LOAN FOR SERVICE LINE REPLACEMENT.
AND SO WE'RE GOING TO BE EXECUTING, USING THAT MONEY TO EXECUTE SOME CONTRACTS, REALLY STEPPING UP.
WE KNEW WE NEEDED TO REPLACE SERVICES, BUT NOW WE KNOW WE NEED TO REDOUBLE THOSE EFFORTS.
UH, AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, THIS'LL TAKE SOME TIME.
UH, WE'VE GOT THE CONSULTANTS ON BOARD PUTTING THE PROJECTS TOGETHER.
YOU KNOW, WE'RE WORKING ON GETTING 'EM OUT, BUT THEY HAVE TO GET OUT THERE, THEY HAVE TO BE REPLACED BEFORE WE ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, REDUCE THAT, THAT WATER LOSS.
BUT, UH, I, I DO EXPECT THIS GRAPH TO TURN AROUND IN THE OTHER DIRECTION.
IT'S JUST GONNA TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF TIME.
UM, IT'S VERY IMPORTANT IN OUR WATER LOSS TRACKING TO HAVE PRECISE NUMBERS, UH, AT OUR PRODUCTION FACILITIES.
UM, YOU KNOW, I SAY THAT WHEN THE PLANTS WERE BUILT AND WHEN PLANTS ACROSS THE INDUSTRY WERE BUILT, THEY WERE BUILT WITH METERS INTENDED FOR OPERATING THE PLANTS.
UM, AND THERE'S A LEVEL OF PRECISION THAT IS NEEDED THERE, AND THOSE METERS ARE ALREADY THERE.
SO THEY'RE BEING USED FOR WATER LOSS TRACKING AS WELL.
BUT, UH, THE PRECISION REALLY HAS TO BE STEPPED UP.
AND SO WE'RE, WE'RE DOING THAT IN A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT WAYS.
WE'RE REFINING OUR PROCESSES FOR TESTING, UH, FOR CALIBRATING, FOR VALIDATING.
UM, WE'VE GOT A, A CONSULTANT ON BOARD OR A, A, A A SERVICE PROVIDER ON BOARD TO HELP US WITH SOME SECONDARY TESTING OF THOSE METERS.
UH, WE CAN VERIFY, UH, HOW ACCURATE AND HOW PRECISE THEY ARE.
UM, AS WELL AS A CONSULTANT TO REVIEW THE LAYOUT OF OUR, OUR METERS.
UH, YOU, YOU NEED TO HAVE THE PIPING RIGHT BEFORE AND AFTER THE METERS AND ALL THOSE KIND OF THINGS.
AND SO WE'RE GONNA GET THOSE LOOKED AT.
AND THIS IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WILL TAKE A LITTLE BIT LONGER 'CAUSE WE GOTTA GET THAT STUDIED AND THEN POTENTIALLY SIGNIFICANT CAPITAL, UH, EXPENDITURES THERE TO, UH, TO GET THOSE, UM, UH, IMPROVED.
BUT IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO DO THAT.
ANY, UH, INACCURACIES AT THE VERY BEGINNING, KIND OF GET MAGNIFIED THROUGH THE PROCESS AS YOU'RE DOING THE, UH, THE WATER LOSS AUDIT PROCESS.
UM, SO OUR TREATMENT TEAM IS DOING A LOT OF WORK HERE AND REALLY DEDICATE DEDICATED GOING AFTER, UM, MAKING SURE WE'RE GETTING THINGS RIGHT THERE.
UM, SO WE'RE IN A PRETTY GOOD PLACE NOW.
WE'VE GOT A BUNCH OF NEW METERS, UH, IN OUR SYSTEM.
UM, WE'RE, AND SO WE'RE WORKING ON MAKING SURE WHERE WE'RE AT, THAT, THAT WE GET THINGS, UH, WRITTEN DOWN THE PROCESSES THAT WE USE TO KEEP US THERE, AND THAT WE MONITOR WHERE WE'RE AT, UH, IN, IN METER ACCURACIES.
UM, AND A LOT OF OUR WATER, OF COURSE, GOES THROUGH A LOT OF THE LARGE METERS.
AND I MENTIONED WE'VE GOT A CONTRACTOR, UH, ON BOARD, UH, FOR DOING THAT.
WE'RE LOOKING AT, UM, UH, REVISING A LITTLE BIT OF THE PROCESS TO WHERE, UH, SOME OF THE, THE HIGHEST VOLUME METERS ARE GETTING TESTED EVEN MORE OFTEN, KIND OF, UH, PRIORITIZING THOSE, UH, AGAIN, SO THAT THE, UH, THE METERS THAT HAVE THE GREATEST EFFECT, UH, ARE BEING TESTED, UH, THE MOST OFTEN.
UM, AND THEN ADDITIONALLY, YOU KNOW, LOOK AT PROPER METER METER SIZING, MAKING SURE, YOU KNOW, WITH A MI DATA, THERE'S SO MUCH WE CAN LEVERAGE OUT OF THAT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'VE GOT METERS ARE OPERATING IN THEIR RIGHT RANGE.
AND SO AGAIN, HAVING A MI NOW WE CAN, WE CAN DO THAT KIND OF STUFF THAT WITH MONTHLY METER READS, YOU JUST REALLY, REALLY CAN'T DO.
AND THEN METER REPLACEMENT IS, IS NOT SOMETHING, YOU KNOW, WE JUST WENT THROUGH ALL OF THAT, BUT IT'S A GOOD TIME FOR US TO LOOK AT GOING FORWARD, UH, BEING PREPARED FOR WHEN THAT TIME COMES FOR REPLACING METERS THAT, THAT WE'RE PREPARED TO DO THAT, KNOW WHEN WE'RE GONNA DO IT.
UM, AND THEN REFINING OUR TRACKING AND REPORTING.
UM, UH, WE'RE TAKING AND, AND PUTTING DOWN ON PAPER ALL OF THE PROCESSES, UM, THAT WE FOLLOW.
THAT'S THE, THE, UH, SOPS THERE COVERING EVERYTHING FROM, YOU KNOW, FILLING OUT THE AUDIT ITSELF TO HOW IT, UH, OUR, UH, BILLING DATA IS, IS USED AND COLLECTED AND TRANSFERRED, UM, AND ALL OF THAT.
UM, ONE OF THE ITEMS HERE, WE'VE GOT THE, UH, REFINING SYSTEM
[01:30:01]
FLUSHING AND FIREFIGHTING VOLUME ESTIMATES.UM, I THINK WE'RE, WE'RE PRETTY ADVANCED, UM, IN WHAT WE DO THERE.
I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF UTILITIES THAT USE A KIND OF A DEFAULT VALUE THAT I'M, I'M NOT TRYING TO PUT ANYBODY ELSE DOWN, BUT
UM, WE, WE GET DOWN INTO THE NITTY GRITTY DETAILS ON, YOU KNOW, HOW MANY HYDRANTS DID THEY FLUSH, AND HOW MUCH PER FLUSH AND TRACK IT ON A YEARLY BASIS AS OPPOSED TO MAKING ASSUMPTIONS.
BUT SOME OF OUR PER USE ASSUMPTIONS ARE A NUMBER OF YEARS OLD.
SO ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS WAS TO REVISIT THAT AND, AND SEE, YOU KNOW, UH, MAKE SURE THAT THOSE NUMBERS ARE STILL IN A LINE.
UM, AND IT'S A SMALL PART, UH, BUT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE WORKING ON, ON EVERY PART OF, OF THE AUDIT.
UM, AND THEN I MENTIONED THE EXPAND, UH, TRAINING FOR WATER AUDIT AND VALIDATION.
SO FOR YEARS, WE'VE HAD ONE PERSON, UH, THAT WAS CERTIFIED TO FILL OUT AND SUBMIT THE WATER AUDIT.
UM, AND, UH, THE VALIDATION IS, UM, UH, HOUSE BILL 29, I THINK IT WAS 29 OR 30 29, UH, REQUIRES THAT THOSE AUDITS THAT GET TURNED IN ALSO GET VALIDATED.
UM, THEY HAVE NOT SAID WHAT'S REQUIRED FOR THE TRAINING TO BE ABLE TO VALIDATE IT, BUT WE'RE ON TOP OF IT.
AS SOON AS IT, SOON AS IT'S, AS SOON AS IT IS THERE, WE WILL BE TAKING THAT TRAINING.
WE WILL BE MAKING SURE THAT OUR AUDITS ARE VALIDATED AND THAT WE'RE COMPLYING, UH, WITH THAT REQUIREMENT.
AND THAT'S NOT JUST BENCH STRENGTH AND, AND, AND MORE PEOPLE TO FILL IN THAT CAN DO IT IF SOMEONE LEAVES OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
UM, IT'S ALSO JUST MORE PEOPLE WITHIN THE UTILITY KNOWING HOW THE PROCESS WORKS, UH, AND JUST A, A, A GREATER KNOWLEDGE THROUGHOUT.
UH, AND WE'RE VERY ACTIVE IN THE, UH, WATER LOSS, UH, INDUSTRY.
AND, AND, YOU KNOW, AT THE CONFERENCES, UM, A LOT OF THESE SLIDES WERE PRESENTED LAST WEEK IN LOUISVILLE AT THE NORTH AMERICAN WATER LOSS, UH, CONFERENCE.
UM, AND WE'VE GOT MEMBERS OF, UH, UH, UH, DAN STRUB IS ON THE A WWA WATER LOSS CONTROL COMMITTEE WAS, UH, HAS BEEN CHAIR OF THAT COMMITTEE BEFORE.
UM, AND THAT WATER LOSS ENGINEER WE'RE HIRING IS GOING TO BE VERY INVOLVED IN THOSE, UH, AND THOSE KIND OF THINGS AS WELL.
UH, AND THEN MAINTAINING OUR HIGH DATA VALIDITY SCORES.
UH, THIS SHOWS YOU HOW WE'RE 77, WHICH IS IN THE TIER FOUR.
UH, IT'S A A, A VERY HIGH SCORE.
IT'S A A, A VERY GOOD PLACE TO BE.
BUT WE, EACH YEAR AS WE'RE FILLING OUT THE REPORT, WE LOOK AT ON EACH ITEM, WHAT CAN WE DO TO BE BETTER THERE TO, UH, YOU KNOW, IMPROVE AND THEN, YOU KNOW, THAT GETS REFLECTED IN THOSE DATA VALIDITY SCORES.
UM, UTILIZING DISTRICT METERED AREAS, AGAIN, JUST A QUICK, YOU KNOW, DEFINITION THERE.
DISTRICT METERED AREAS WHERE YOU MEASURE ALL THE FLOWS INTO AN AREA AND ALL OF THE DEMANDS IN THE AREA.
AND, AND FROM THAT, THEN YOU CAN DETERMINE, UH, WATER LOSSES.
UM, SOMETHING AGAIN, VERY DIFFICULT TO DO IF YOU HAVE MONTHLY METER READS THAT DON'T NECESSARILY ALL LINE UP AT THE SAME TIME.
A MI IS VERY POWERFUL TOOL TO BE ABLE TO, UH, TO, UM, IMPLEMENT SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
SO WE'VE GOT A COUPLE THAT WE'VE GOT IN PLACE.
WE'RE WORKING ON THAT ALONG WITH OUR A-I-A-M-I SYSTEM AND THE MODULES TO AUTOMATE WHERE, WHERE IT'S LETTING US KNOW WHEN, WHEN SOMETHING'S GETTING OUT OF LINE, AND SO THAT WE CAN, UH, UH, MONITOR THE SYSTEM THAT WAY.
UH, THERE'S MORE THAT WE'RE LINING UP.
IT, IT'S A CHALLENGE WHEN YOU GET TO THE WELL GRIDED SYS PARTS OF OUR SYSTEM.
UH, BUT THERE ARE A NUMBER OF, YOU KNOW, UH, PRESSURE REDUCED ZONES AND, AND OLD MUDS AND THINGS LIKE THAT LEND THEMSELVES TO THAT.
SO, UH, KIND OF, UH, GETTING OUR EXPERIENCE WITH THOSE AND THEN EXPANDING OUT ACROSS THE SYSTEM, UH, AS TIME COMES.
UM, AND THEN THIS, THE CENTRALIZED DATA MANAGEMENT HERE, THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.
THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT, UM, STREAMS OF DATA NOW FROM A MI TO THE PRESSURE MONITORS, UM, UH, TO, UM, UH, UH, LEAK LOCATORS AND THINGS LIKE THAT IN THE FIELD.
AND SO THIS, THIS IS THE STUFF WHERE AS WE DEVELOP THOSE STREAMS OF DATA, UM, UH, SOME OF THIS MAY BE THERE, THERE'S A LOT OF KIND OF COMMERCIALS STUFF OUT THERE.
UH, A LOT OF DIFFERENT COMPANIES OFFER WAYS OF DOING THIS.
WE'VE GOT AN EXCELLENT IT GROUP THAT HAS DONE A GREAT JOB WITH DASHBOARDING, UH, A A LOT OF STUFF AS WELL.
AND AS PART OF OUR A MI 2.0 AND OUR, OUR LOOKING AT DIGITAL TWIN, WE'LL, THERE MAY BE SOME MIX THERE BETWEEN IN-HOUSE STUFF, UH, AND, YOU KNOW, OUTSIDE CONSULTANT HELP.
WE'RE WORKING ON THAT, UH, VERY HARD RIGHT NOW.
BUT AGAIN, THOSE DATA STREAMS KINDA HAVE TO BE IN PLACE BEFORE THOSE THINGS CAN BE FINALIZED.
[01:35:01]
STEPS, NOT NEXT SLIDE.UH,
UH, AS I MENTIONED, THOSE, THOSE NUMBERS THERE HAVE COMPLETED IN, IN PROGRESS, YOU KNOW, UH, WE'LL, THEY'LL MOVE TOWARDS THAT, UH, UH, COMPLETED AREA.
AND, YOU KNOW, WE'RE USING OUR, UH, THE EUM APPROACH.
WE'VE GOT PROGRAM MANAGERS OR PROJECT MANAGERS THROUGHOUT THE UTILITY INVOLVED, UH, FROM TREATMENT, FROM BILLING, FROM FINANCE, FROM ENGINEERING, UH, SYSTEMS PLANNING, ALL INVOLVED IN, UH, UH, UH, IMPLEMENTING THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND AS I MENTIONED, BROADENING OUR INVOLVEMENT, UH, UH, ACROSS THE UTILITY AND WATER LOSS TRACKING.
UM, I MENTIONED COMPLYING WITH HOUSE BILL 29 WILL BE, UH, AHEAD OF ANYBODY ELSE, I'M SURE ON THAT.
UM, AND CONTINUING TO SEEK INNOVATIVE APPROACHES.
UH, BECAUSE LIKE THE NORTH AMERICAN WATER LOSS CONFERENCE, THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT GOING ON OUT THERE.
UH, SAWS, UH, I WILL GIVE THEM KUDOS.
UH, A MONTH OR TWO AGO, THEY HAD A, UH, INNOVATION FORUM, AND IT WAS ALL ABOUT WATER LOSS.
AND WE WERE THERE AND, AND TOOK PART, AND I ASKED A LOT OF QUESTIONS.
UM, AND WE HAD OTHER STAFF THERE AS WELL.
UH, AND I THINK WE'RE GONNA WORK WITH THEM CLOSELY AND TALK WITH THEM, UH, A LOT.
I THINK WE'VE GOT A GOOD RELATIONSHIP, UH, GOING THERE, BUT THERE'S A LOT COMING ONLINE WITH ALL THE TECHNOLOGY.
AND SO WE WE'RE KEEPING OUR, OUR EYES ON ALL OF THAT.
I AM VERY CONFIDENT ALL OF THESE THINGS WILL RESULT IN, UH, REDUCED WATER LOSSES OVER TIME.
UH, BUT AN A SYSTEM AS BIG AS OURS, IT, IT, IT DOES TAKE TIME, YOU KNOW, UH, FOR IT TO REALLY SHOW UP, UM, IN THE NUMBERS.
I'M PRETTY SURE THAT WAS MY LAST SLIDE.
WELL, NO, I GUESS THERE'S A QUESTIONS SLIDE NEXT, OR A THANK YOU SLIDE.
UM, ANY QUESTIONS? THANK YOU, MATT, FOR THAT PRESENTATION.
COMMISSIONERS, ANY QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONER WILSON CROFT, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, I WANNA GO BACK QUICKLY TO ASK A FEW CLARIFYING QUESTIONS ON THE CHART ON SLIDE FOUR, JUST TO MAKE SURE I UNDERSTAND.
UM, THE DATA THAT'S BEING LAID OUT, UH, ON THE Y AXIS, THE ONE THROUGH 10, ARE WE TALKING ABOUT MILLIONS OF GALLONS OF LOSS? TENS OF MILLIONS OF GALLONS OF LOSS? EXCELLENT.
SO THAT'S THAT ILI NUMBER THAT I'VE REFERRED TO THAT IS A RATIO OF REAL LOSS TO UNAVOIDABLE REAL LOSS.
UM, AND SO THAT'S JUST, YEAH, THAT'S WHAT THAT IT'S, SO IT'S A DIMENSIONLESS NUMBER OR RATIO.
THANK YOU FOR THE CLARIFICATION.
UM, SO SEEING THAT THIS BOTTOMS OUT IN FISCAL YEAR 2012, AND THEN SORT OF BEGINS ITS LONG-TERM INCREASE TO FY 24, UM, I APPRECIATE YOU WALKING US THROUGH HOW THE ILI IS PUT TOGETHER, YOU KNOW, CONSIDERING, UM, REAL LOSSES VERSUS UNAVOIDABLE LOSSES.
UM, AND JUST THINKING OF, YOU KNOW, HOW THE CITY HAS GROWN NEW DEVELOPMENT, NEW CONNECTIONS IN THE PAST 12 YEARS, I, I SENSE THAT MAYBE OUR, UM, RATIO OF UNAVOIDABLE LOSSES HAS INCREASED, UM, OR JUST THE TOTAL VOLUME OF THAT.
CAN YOU HELP ME UNDERSTAND, UM, WHAT IS THE, THE BREAKDOWN THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT BETWEEN REAL AND UNAVOIDABLE LOSSES IN THE SYSTEM IN THE PAST FEW YEARS? SO, SO UNAVOIDABLE LOSSES, REAL LOSSES ARE PART OF THE REAL LOSS.
UH, UM, SO IT'S, IT'S THE RATIO.
SO THE, UH, THE THEORY BEHIND IT IS THAT THE UNAVOIDABLE REAL LOSS IS WATER.
WATER THAT YOU'RE GONNA, NO MATTER, YOU KNOW, LEAK DETECTION'S, NOT GONNA IDENTIFY IT, IT SEEPS AT JOINTS OR WHATEVER, YOU KNOW, JUST IN A SYSTEM THAT LARGE, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE, UH, SOME LOSSES.
SO YOUR REAL LOSSES ARE THAT PLUS THE, THE LOSSES ABOVE THAT, THE ONES, YOU KNOW, THE ONES THAT WE SEE THAT SURFACE AND THE ONES THAT GET IDENTIFIED BY, UH, UH, BY, UH, LEAK DETECTION AND, AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO THE STUFF, SO UP TO ONE, ESSENTIALLY ON THE ILI IS THE UNAVOIDABLE REAL LOSSES.
AND THEN EVERYTHING ABOVE ONE IS, IS STUFF, IT'S THEORETICALLY YOU CAN GET DOWN TO A ONE, BUT THAT'S NOT THE SAME AS BEING ECONOMICALLY VIABLE.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE ABSOLUTE, YOU KNOW, UH, WHAT'S THE WORD I'M OPTIMIZED NUMBER MIGHT NOT BE ONE.
UM, OUR APPROACH IS STILL IS ANY LEAK WE KNOW ABOUT IS WORTH FIXING.
THERE, THERE'S NO, THERE ARE SOME, I WERE AT THE CONFERENCE AND THERE ARE SOME THAT, WELL, IT'S JUST, THAT'S NOT A BIG ENOUGH LEAK.
BUT THAT'S NOT THE APPROACH THAT WE HAVE.
BUT I THINK YOUR QUESTION IS, HEY, WHY HAS THIS INCREASED? YOU KNOW, IS IT RELATED TO GROWTH? IS IT, AND YOU KNOW, AS I MENTIONED, WE WERE, WE'RE DOING ALL THESE INDUSTRY BEST PRACTICES, AND IT'S NOT GOING THE WAY WE WANTED.
THAT'S PART OF WHY WE BROUGHT BLACK AND VEATCH ON BOARD, UH, TO TRY AND, UH, UH, ANSWER THAT QUESTION.
UM, THE ONE THING THAT'S TRACKING IN THE SAME DIRECTION IS THE SERVICE LINE BREAKS, RIGHT? OUR MAIN
[01:40:01]
LINE BREAKS HAVE DECREASED.UM, WE RESPOND VERY QUICKLY TO LEAKS.
YOU KNOW, WHEN WE TALK WITH OTHER UTILITIES, THEY'RE LIKE, HOW FAST? YOU KNOW, OH, COME ON, REALLY? UM, SO, AND, AND THAT'S IMPORTANT TO US.
UM, AND, UH, SO THAT'S THE ONE THING THAT, THAT GOES IN THAT DIRECTION.
SO, UH, THE SERVICE LINES ARE, ARE AN ISSUE.
WE KNOW THAT WITH, THAT'S, THAT'S AGAIN, THE, THE GRAPHS SHOW BETTER THAN AVERAGE ON MAINS NOT DOING SO WELL ON, ON SERVICES.
OUR CREWS WILL ALSO TELL YOU, YOU KNOW, TWO THIRDS OF THEIR REPAIRS THEY'RE DOING ON SERVICES OPPOSED TO MAINS.
UH, I DON'T WANNA PUT ALL MY EGGS IN THAT BASKET OR PUT ALL OF OUR EGGS
BUT, YOU KNOW, ALSO, OF COURSE WE HAD, IT HAS AGED.
UM, I THINK THAT'S ONE THING THAT YOU SEE IN LOOKING UTILITIES TO UTILITIES.
REALLY YOUNG UTILITIES HAVE NICE LOW IIS.
'CAUSE UH, THEY HAVE YOUNGER PIPES, AND NOT JUST YOUNGER, BUT THEY'RE ALSO DUCTILE IRON AND, AND, AND PVC, NOT THE CAST IRON.
THE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE PRIMARY CAST IRON AND POLYBUTYLENE IS, IS REALLY WHERE WE HAVE OUR BRAKES AT.
SO I THINK I WAS GETTING THE IDEA OF WHERE YOU WERE GOING THERE.
DOES THAT, DOES THAT HELP ANSWER QUESTION? YES, IT DOES.
AND THANK YOU FOR CLARIFYING THAT.
UM, BUT YOU'VE ALSO ANTICIPATED MY OTHER QUESTION.
WHICH IS THINKING ABOUT THE USEFUL LIFE OF OUR SERVICE LINES.
AND SO WHAT IS THE, THE USEFUL LIFE OF, UM, THE CAST IRON AND THE POLYBUTYLENE LINES, AND HOW MANY OF THE SERVICE LINES IN THE CITY HAVE REACHED OR EXCEEDED THAT? UM, SO I HAVE THOUGHTS ABOUT USEFUL LIFE AFTER YOU GO
UM, WE HAVE NUMBERS LIKE IN OUR ASSET MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR EXPECTED, UH, UH, USEFUL LIVES.
UM, I, I WILL SAY EARLY IN MY CAREER, IN 94, WE DEALT WITH A, A MAINE ON CONGRESS THAT HAD PUT IN, I SAID 94, I SHOULD CLARIFY, 1994
IT, IT'D STILL BE IN SERVICE TODAY, EXCEPT THEY PUT IN BUS PADS AND IT WAS TOO SHALLOW.
SO, UM, WELL, I GUESS WHAT I'M GETTING AT IS USEFUL LIFE CAN VARY QUITE A BIT.
THE ISSUE WITH THE POLYBUTYLENE IS ITS USEFUL LIFE ENDED UP BEING NOT VERY MUCH.
UM, UH, THE DUCTAL IRON AND THE PVC, YES, THEY HAVEN'T BEEN AROUND AS LONG, BUT TO THIS POINT OF, UH, SHOWN US TO BE VERY RELIABLE, LOW FAILURE, UH, UH, UH, MATERIALS.
THE, THE COPPER FOR SERVICES WE DON'T TYPICALLY HAVE ISSUES WITH, EXCEPT THE ONES PUT IN A LONG TIME AGO, TEND TO BE REALLY SMALL.
AND SO THEY CAN HAVE SOME FLOW ISSUES.
UM, BUT, UH, REPLACING OR DECIDING TO REPLACE BASED ON AGE, UM, IT'S NOT SO MUCH THAT IT, IT, IT'S THAT MORE OF OUR SYSTEM OR, OR IS THAT THAT CAST IRON THAT WE END UP HAVING THAT THAT'S WHERE OUR PROBLEMS ARE AT.
AND, AND, AND THAT IS, UH, THAT IS AGING ACTUALLY.
THE, UH, THE NEWER MATERIALS ARE, ARE HOLDING UP BETTER.
YEAH, I THINK THAT'S ALONG THE LINES OF WHAT I WAS GONNA SAY IS THAT, UM, AGE IS NOT AS IMPORTANT A INDICATOR FOR WHEN WE SHOULD REPLACE SOMETHING AS PERFORMANCES.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WAS REALLY EXCITING, UM, WHEN I FIRST GOT TO AUSTIN WATER IN 2020 THAT, UM, A MEMBER OF OF MATT'S TEAM WAS WORKING ON IS THE REALLY, UM, SOPHISTICATED DATA ANALYTICS THAT WE'RE ABLE TO DO NOW THAT, UM, NOW WE HAVE, WE JUST HAVE BETTER TOOLS, UM, THAN THE UTILITY HAD WHEN MATT FIRST STARTED WORKING ON, UH, WATERLINE REPLACEMENTS IN 1994.
A RED MAP PENCIL AND A PIECE OF PAPER.
UH, AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ABLE TO REALLY DIAL INTO WHERE IS THE POOR PERFORMING PIPE, UM, AND WE'RE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND, UH, HOW IMPORTANT SERVICE LINES ARE.
UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE'LL HAVE OUR FIELD CREWS.
ONE RESULT OF THAT IS A FIELD CREW WILL GO OUT AND AS MATT SAID, RESPONSE TIME IS SUPER IMPORTANT TO US, UM, FROM A WATER, UH, CONSERVATION PERSPECTIVE.
AND SO THEY'LL GO OUT AND IF WE HAVE A LOT OF BREAKS HAPPENING AT THAT TIME, THEY JUST REPAIR A SERVICE LINE.
WELL, WHAT WE KNOW NOW, BECAUSE WE'RE ABLE TO DO THE DATA ANALYTICS, IS ONCE IT BREAKS, IT JUST KEEPS BREAKING.
AND SO WE'RE SHIFTING OUR RESPONSIVENESS TO, WE'RE NOT GOING TO JUST FIX, WE'RE NOT GONNA JUST PUT A CLAMP ON THAT SERVICE LINE.
WE'RE GONNA PULL AND REPLACE IT IN THE MOMENT.
OR IF WE CAN'T GET TO IT IN THE MOMENT, 'CAUSE OUR WORK VOLUME IS TOO HIGH, WE'RE GONNA PUT IT IN THE QUEUE TO GET REPLACED.
UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ABLE TO TAKE THIS INFORMATION ABOUT POOR PERFORMING PIPE AND IMPLEMENT STRATEGIES TO GET THAT PIPE OUT OF OUR SYSTEM, WHETHER IT'S OUR FIELD CREWS, WHETHER IT'S OUR CONSTRUCTION CREWS, WHETHER IT'S OUR ON-CALL CONTRACTOR OR A CIP CONTRACT, WE'RE USING ALL OF THOSE TOOLS TO DIAL INTO
[01:45:01]
WHERE'S THE POOR PERFORMING PIPE AND HOW DO WE GET IT OUT OF OUR SYSTEM.A FOLLOW ON QUESTION FOR THAT.
THANK YOU, THAT IS A VERY HELPFUL EXPLANATION.
UM, DOES, UM, OUR DATA PROVIDE US AN INSIGHT OF EQUALITY WHERE WE COULD THEN LOOK AT POTENTIALLY PREVENTATIVE REMOVAL? UH, I DON'T KNOW THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN I THINK ABOUT PREVENTATIVE REMOVAL, I'M THINKING ABOUT A PIPE THAT'S BROKEN ONCE IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS, PROBABLY DOESN'T CURRENTLY RISE TO THE LEVEL OF GETTING INTO A REPLACEMENT PACKAGE.
UM, BUT A PIPE THAT'S BROKEN TWICE IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS DOES.
AND SO THAT'S NOT TRULY PREVENTATIVE.
WE'RE NOT REPLACING PIPE BEFORE IT BREAKS, BUT WE ARE USING THE DATA TO REPLACE IT SOONER THAN WE MIGHT HAVE IN THE PAST.
COMMISSIONER CRO, WERE YOU THINKING LIKE A MINORITY REPORT? LIKE, HEY, THIS PIPE IS GONNA BREAK NEXT YEAR, SO, RIGHT.
UH, COMMISSIONER PANI, THANK YOU.
UM, I HAVE MORE THAN A QUESTION.
WHEN WE SEE THESE WATER LOSS TRENDS, WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE IN THE FUTURE TO SEE WHAT SOME OF THE OTHER CITIES AROUND HERE, YOU TALKED ABOUT SAUCE A LOT, SO WHAT IS, HOW DO WE RANK WITH RESPECT TO SAUCE, I GUESS, OR EVEN JUST OTHER UTILITIES OF A SIMILAR SIZE WOULD BE HELPFUL.
SO THE, THE WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD HAS A, I FORGET WHAT THEY CALL IT NOW, BUT IT'S A DATABASE ONLINE THAT HAS EVERYTHING THAT GETS, GETS SUBMITTED FROM ALL THE CITIES, UM, AROUND TEXAS.
I, I, I MEAN, I WILL THROW A LITTLE BIT OF CAUTION IN THERE THAT, UM, WHILE IT'S A VERY STANDARDIZED FORM AND A VERY STANDARDIZED PROCESS, THERE ARE NUANCES.
UM, AND, UH, SO SAWS FOR ONE HAS CHANGED, UH, HOW THEY ACCOUNT FOR, SO THE, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT GOES IN THERE IS A NUMBER OF SERVICE CONNECTIONS.
AND WE'VE ALWAYS, UM, COUNTED AN APARTMENT COMPLEX AS THE NUMBER OF UNITS IN THERE AND, OR NO, I'M SORRY, OTHER WAY AROUND.
WE'VE COUNTED IT AS A CONNECTION, AS A METER SAWS HAD COUNTED IT AS THE NUMBER OF APARTMENTS IN THERE.
AND WHAT THAT DOES IS INCREASE YOUR UNAVOIDABLE REAL LOSS, WHICH THEN REDUCES YOUR ILI.
THEY, THEY'VE, UM, THEY'VE SEEN THE LIGHT
AND SO I, AND I DON'T KNOW WHEN YOU'VE GOT THE THOUSANDS OF DATA POINTS OUT THERE, WHAT ELSE THERE MAY BE IN OTHER AREAS.
AND I, I WOULD STILL, YOU KNOW, THIS 15 YEARS OR SO THAT THAT DATA'S BEEN AROUND, WHICH MAY SEEM LIKE A WHILE, BUT I, I STILL THINK IT'S KIND OF A, A YOUNG AND DEVELOPING THING.
WE'RE, WE'RE STILL GETTING BETTER AT ZEROING IN ON BEING PRECISE.
UH, AND I, I THINK WE'VE GOT AS ROBUST A PROGRAM AS ANYBODY TO MAKE SURE WE GET THAT NUMBER, UH, AS RIGHT AS WE CAN.
SO, UM, WE'VE GOT THAT INFORMATION.
I, I WILL SAY, WHEN I LOOKED AT IT, WHAT I FOUND WAS THOSE YOUNGER CITIES TENDED TO HAVE YOUNGER AND SMALLER KIND OF DEVELOPING CITIES, HAD SOME, UH, LOWER NUMBERS.
UM, AND THE BIGGER CITIES WERE KIND OF MORE IN LINE WITH EACH OTHER.
UH, CERTAINLY SOME HIGHER THAN US, SOME LOWER THAN US.
UM, SO I, I GUESS WE'D HAVE TO WORK OUT SPECIFICALLY WHAT WE WOULD WANNA SHARE.
BUT, UH, YEAH, THE, THE WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD PUBLICLY AVAILABLE, UM, DATA THERE, AND YOU COULD, YOU KNOW, IF YOU CAN'T SLEEP OR WHATEVER, YOU COULD SPEND A BUNCH OF TIME ON
UH, I'LL SAY WE'RE IN THE BALLPARK OF THE OTHER, YOU KNOW, ALL THE, ALL THE MAJOR CITIES ARE GRAPPLING WITH THE SAME KINDS OF ISSUES THAT WE ARE.
YEAH, I THINK YOU BOTH ANTICIPATED WHAT MY FOLLOW UP WAS GONNA BE LIKE, WHERE DID WE RANK? BUT I THANK YOU.
SO WITH THE APPARENT LOSSES, UM, OVER TIME, BECAUSE THAT'S THE INACCURATE MEASURE NOW WITH THE A MI FULLY EM EMPLOYED, DEPLOYED, UM, WITH, UH, I DON'T KNOW IF WE'VE SEEN APPARENT LOSSES, UH, OR IS, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW WHAT I'M ASKING HERE.
UM, SO REALLY WHEN YOU, UH, THE APPARENT LOSSES THAT YOU PUT IN THE, UH, IN THE AUDIT, IN THE TRACKING, UH, IT'S REALLY BASED ON YOUR ASSUMPTION OR YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE ACCURACY OF YOUR METERS.
UM, AND SO AGAIN, THERE CAN BE UTILITIES THAT DON'T HAVE THE RESOURCES THAT WE HAVE OR WHATEVER, THAT JUST ASSUME THEIR METERS ARE 95% ACCURATE OR 98% ACCURATE.
UM, AND SO THROUGH TIME WE'VE DONE METER STUDIES TESTING GROUPS OF METERS SO THAT WE CAN ESTIMATE WHAT THAT ACCURACY IS.
UM, WE, IT, IT GOT BETTER OBVIOUSLY GOING TO ALL THOSE, THOSE A MI METERS.
SO, UM, AND, AND AGAIN, WHENEVER YOU, THE, UH, I'M, SEE IF I MAKE SURE I GET THIS RIGHT, IF YOU ASSUME THAT YOUR METERS ARE NOT VERY ACCURATE, THAT REDUCES YOUR ILI IN EFFECT, RIGHT? 'CAUSE YOU'RE, YOU'RE TRADING, UH, APPARENT LOSSES FOR
[01:50:01]
REAL LOSSES AND THEN, AND THEN VICE VERSA.UM, SO YEAH, IT'S, BUT IT'S BASED ON WHAT YOU ASSUME YOUR LOSS, UH, YOUR METER ACCURACIES ARE.
UM, AND SO WE DO STUDIES FROM TIME TO TIME TO, UH, TO CHECK WHERE WE'RE AT AND MAKE SURE THAT OUR ASSUMPTIONS ARE ACCURATE.
THAT'S WHY YOU SEE CHANGES IN THAT NUMBER.
IT KIND OF, THEY'LL GO ALONG FAIRLY CONSISTENT AND THEN MAYBE CHANGE IN A YEAR BECAUSE THAT'S, OH, WE FINISHED A STUDY, AND SO OUR ASSUMPTION IS, IS DIFFERENT THAN FOR THE, UH, YOU KNOW, FOR THE ONCOMING YEARS.
UH, COMMISSIONERS, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONER, TRI OR, OR IS THAT AN OLD, UH, HAND? OKAY.
JUST HOLDING IT UP THE WHOLE TIME.
ANY OTHER QUESTION? JUST ONE QUESTION, UM, THAT STAFF, THE NEW EMPLOYEE YOU'RE LOOKING TO HIRE, WAS THAT IN THE BUDGET? THAT WAS RECENTLY.
OKAY, MATT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
SO NOW WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON TO THE
[6.Update from the Joint Sustainability Committee October 22, 2025 and November 19, 2025 meetings regarding conservation and sustainability initiatives. – Chair Chris Maxwell-Gaines ]
COMMITTEE UPDATES.SO I WILL BE PROVIDING THE UPDATE FROM THE, UH, JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE MEETING.
UM, THIS IS THE NOVEMBER 19TH MEETING.
AND, UH, AGAIN, JUST LIKE THIS, UH, COMMISSION MEETING, THERE WAS SOME GREAT PRESENTATIONS, UH, A GOOD NUMBER, I THINK THREE OR FOUR.
AND SO I JUST WANTED TO PROVIDE SOME, UH, REALLY, UH, GREAT STATISTICS, UH, FROM THOSE, UM, PRESENTATIONS THAT REALLY, UM, IMPACTED ME.
UM, SO THE FIRST PRESENTATION I WAS GIVEN WAS A, UH, REGARDING THE AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY FLEET ELECTRIFICATION.
SO THE IDEA IS, UH, ELECTRIFYING THE REFUSE, UH, TRUCKS.
UH, SO CURRENTLY CITY OF AUSTIN HAS 189, UH, REFUSE TRUCKS THAT ARE TARGETED FOR ELECTRIFICATION.
UH, THIS IS HOPEFULLY BY 2040.
UM, THIS ANALYSIS AND PLAN, THEY, THEY REALLY PUT AN AMAZING EFFORT INTO IT.
AND, UM, THEIR ANALYSIS SHOW THAT, UM, 65% OF THE ROUTES WOULD REQUIRE MID ROUTE CHARGING, SO THEREFORE THEY WOULD HAVE TO DEVELOP CHARGING STATIONS, UM, IN ORDER TO, SO THAT THAT TRUCK DOESN'T HAVE TO GO BACK, SIT THERE AND CHARGE ALL THAT TYPE OF STUFF, RIGHT? AND REALLY WRITTEN INTO DETAIL ON A LOT OF STUFF.
UM, BUT THIS ELECTRIFICATION HAS POTENTIAL, UH, FOR UP TO 11,000 METRIC TONS OF CO2 EMISSIONS, UH, REDUCTIONS, UH, ON AN ANNUAL BASIS, I THINK BY 2040.
AND THEN, UH, JUST SO YOU KNOW, ONE DIESEL REFUGE TRUCK IS EQUIVALENT TO THE EMISSIONS OF 13 SEDANS.
SO YOU CAN SEE, UH, HOW MUCH OF THE CO2, UH, IS COMING FROM, UH, THE REFUGE TRUCKS.
UH, THEN MOVING ON, WE HAD A PRESENTATION REGARDING THE, UH, COMMERCIAL LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT, ELECTRIFICATION MARKET STUDY.
SO, UH, BASICALLY THIS WAS, UM, UH, CITY OF AUSTIN TESTING, UH, THE IDEA OF IF THEY PUSHED AND MOVED TOWARDS, UM, REQUIRING ELECTRIFICATION OF COMMERCIAL LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT, RIGHT? JUST TO SEE WHAT THE KIND OF THE MARKET FEELS IN, IN, IN TERMS OF WHAT'S AVAILABLE OUT THERE, WHAT'S NOT AVAILABLE.
UH, 'CAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF THAT WHERE IT'S LIKE, SURE, THEY WANNA DO SOMETHING, BUT IF A ELECTRIC MOWER ISN'T READY FOR THE REAL TIME AND CAN DO THE HOUR BY HOUR MOWING, THEN OBVIOUSLY THESE, UH, COMMERCIAL LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE COMPANIES AREN'T GONNA INVEST IN THE, THAT TYPE OF STUFF.
SO THEY JUST WANTED TO SEE WHAT THE KIND OF MARKET WAS THERE FOR THAT.
UM, SO IN 2020, UH, THE LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT, WHICH IS MOWERS BLOWERS IN TRAVIS COUNTY, PRODUCED CO2 EMISSIONS EQUIVALENT TO 34,000 CARS A YEAR.
THESE ARE TWO STROKE ENGINES, UH, VERY, I GUESS YOU SAY, INEFFICIENT IN, IN, IN COMPARISON TO, UH, AUTOMOBILE, UH, ENGINES.
UH, NITROGEN OXIDE EMISSIONS EQUALED 165,000 CARS PER YEAR.
AND THE PARTICULATE MATTER, THE PM TWO OR PM 2.5 EMISSIONS EQUALED 1.3 MILLION CARS A YEAR.
AGAIN, BECAUSE OF THE INEFFICIENCY OF THESE, UH, KIND OF TWO STROKE, UH, MOTORS.
SO, SO THIS IS, UH, A, A BIG AREA WHERE ELECTRIFICATION CAN REALLY, UM, HELP OUT FROM A AIR QUALITY STANDPOINT.
UM, AND THEN WE HAD A PRESENTATION REGARDING THE FARMLAND, UM, ACQUISITION AND PRESERVATION PLAN.
UH, SO SOME STATS FROM THIS, UH, PRESENTATION.
SO ONLY 0.06% OF THE FOOD CONSUMED IN TRAVIS COUNTY IS ACTUALLY PRODUCED HERE.
SO 0.06%, UH, TRAVIS COUNTY SADLY LOSES 17 ACRES OF FARMLAND PER DAY.
SO IF NOTHING CHANGES, AGAIN, THIS IS THROUGH THEIR PRESENTATION.
IF NOTHING CHANGES, WE WILL LOSE ALL FARMLAND IN TRAVIS COUNTY BY 2035.
[01:55:02]
UM, AND SO THIS ACQUISITION AND PRESERVATION PLAN, THEY WERE RECOMMENDING A ONE TIME, AT LEAST FOR NOW, RIGHT? OR RECOMMENDING A ONE TIME AC UH, ALLOCATION OF $15 MILLION IN THE 2026 GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND FOR THE PHASE ONE OF THIS PROGRAM.AND THEY SAID THAT THIS 15 MILLION WOULD, UH, PROVIDE PURCHASING FOR ABOUT 700 ACRES OF FARMLAND.
AND IF IT'S OPERATED IN A REGENERATIVE FARM PRACTICE METHOD, THIS WOULD PROVIDE A VALUE OF ABOUT $90 MILLION A YEAR THROUGH FOOD PRODUCTION, WATERSHED RELATED ECOSYSTEM SERVICES, CARBON SEQUESTERING, AND LOCAL ECONOMIC BENEFITS.
UM, ANYWAY, SO JUST SO SOME STRIKING NUMBERS THERE WHEN YOU THINK OF, UH, TRYING TO BE MORE RESILIENT FROM A FOOD, UH STANDPOINT, FOOD PRODUCTION STANDPOINT.
ANY QUESTIONS BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO THE, THE NEXT COMMITTEE UPDATE? OKAY.
[7.Update from the Austin Integrated Water Resource Planning Community Task Force December 9, 2025 meeting regarding Water Forward Plan implementation. – Commissioner William Moriarty ]
WE WILL MOVE TO THE UPDATE FROM THE AUSTIN INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES PLANNING COMMUNITY TASK FORCE, THE DECEMBER 9TH MEETING.UM, AND THIS IS GIVEN BY COMMISSIONER MORIARTY.
CAN YOU HEAR ME OKAY? YES, SIR.
WE HAD OUR MEETING YESTERDAY AND IT CONSIDERED BASICALLY THREE, UH, ISSUES.
THE ONE WAS A REPORT ON THE, THE, THE RIVER AND LAKE SYSTEM, WHICH NO SURPRISE TO ANY OF YOU, OUR LAKES ARE, ARE QUITE FULL AND WE'RE IN GOOD SHAPE WITH OUR RAW WATER SUPPLY AND, UH, BASED BASICALLY BECAUSE OF THOSE JULY RAINSTORMS. BUT WE WERE GIVEN A GOOD PRESENTATION.
SECONDLY, WE HAD A PRESENTATION, WHAT I WOULD DESCRIBE AS A WATER CONSERVATION PRESENTATION.
ALL THE THINGS THE UTILITY'S DOING, YOU TRY TO, UH, CONSERVE WATER AND ALL THE STRATEGIES THEY'RE DOING AND WHICH ONES ARE WORKING AND WHICH ONES ARE NOT.
FINAL BRIEFING WAS BY MARISA FLORES GONZALEZ, THE SAME BRIEFING YOU ALL RECEIVED HERE ABOUT AN HOUR AGO.
SO I'M NOT GONNA REPEAT WHAT WAS SAID, BUT I'M GOING TO SAY A COUPLE THINGS ABOUT THIS.
UM, AS YOU RECALL, OUR LAST WA WATER WASTEWATER COMMISSION, A STATE REPRESENTATIVE FROM BASTROP CAME TO THE MEETING AND, UH, HE WAS, UH, VERY, UH, ASSERTIVE IN HIS, UH, DISCUSSION ABOUT STOPPING THE A SR FACILITY.
AND, UH, I PERSONALLY, HAVING BEEN ON THE WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE FOR OVER 10 YEARS, I HAD NO CLUE THIS WAS COMING, THAT THIS, A STATE REPRESENTATIVE WAS PREPARED TO WRITE A STATE LAW TO BLOCK OUR A SR FACILITY.
AND BY GOD, THE NEXT WEEK, THE, UH, THE MOTION WE HAVE FOR THE COUNCIL, THE COUNCIL PULLED IT.
AND THAT STRATEGY, A SR WAS OUR MOST SIGNIFICANT, MOST COST EFFECTIVE STRATEGY IN THE WHOLE PLAN.
IT IS STOPPED DEBT AND, UM, IT'S NOT COMING BACK.
SO, UH, OUR WATER FORWARD PLAN, WHICH MANY OF US HAVE BEEN ON THOSE COMMITTEES FOR YEARS, HAS TAKEN A MORTAL WOUND LOSING SUCH A HIGH YIELD COST-EFFECTIVE STRATEGY AS A SR, AND THE FACT THAT NONE OF US HAD A CLUE THAT WHAT WE WERE ABOUT TO RUN INTO THE WALL WE WERE ABOUT TO RUN INTO.
SO WE WILL BE HARD PRESSED TO REPLACE THAT PROJECT.
AND I WOULDN'T SAY THINGS ARE A LOT ROSIER ON SOME OF THE OTHER ONES.
THE INDIRECT TOTAL REUSE, I THINK WILL BE A VERY DIFFICULT PROJECT TO IMPLEMENT.
SO I'M SORT OF INFORMING MY FELLOW COMMISSIONERS, WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT WATER FORWARD, IT'S CODE RED TIME.
WE'VE, UH, WE'VE HAD OUR BEST STRATEGY SHOT OUT OF THE WATER, AND IT'LL BE INTERESTING TO SEE, BUT WAS MOST DISHEARTENING TO ME WAS I HAD NO IDEA THAT THIS WAS COMING.
EVERYTHING I HEARD FROM THE WATER UTILITY WAS EVERYTHING WAS FINE, AND IT WAS NOT FINE.
I KNOW WE DON'T HAVE ANY TIME LEFT, BUT, UH, IF YOU WANNA CALL ME ON THE PHONE, THAT'S FINE OR DO SOMETHING ELSE.
I'LL ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS ANY WAY YOU WANT.
ANY QUESTIONS FOR COMMISSIONER MORIARTY? OKAY.
WELL, BEFORE WE ADJOURN THIS MEETING, SINCE THIS IS THE LAST COMMISSION MEETING BEFORE THE NEW YEAR,
[02:00:01]
I WANTED TO SAY A FEW THINGS.UM, I KNOW I SPEAK FOR, YOU KNOW, ALL THE COMMISSIONERS HERE WHEN I SAY, UH, THANK YOU TO EVERYONE ON THE AUSTIN WATER LEADERSHIP TEAM.
UM, WE AS CITIZENS, WE'RE GRATEFUL FOR YOUR UNWAVERING DEDICATION, THOUGHTFUL DECISIONS AND CONSTANT CARE THAT YOU BRING TO ENSURING AUSTIN'S WATER STAYS SAFE, RELIABLE, AND SUSTAINABLE.
UH, YOUR LEADERSHIP, UH, MAKES A MEANINGFUL D DIFFERENCE EVERY SINGLE DAY.
I ALSO WANT TO THANK ALL THE EMPLOYEES OF AUSTIN WATER WHO ARE OUT IN THE FIELD SERVING THE PEOPLE OF AUSTIN, PROVIDING THE ESSENTIAL SERVICE OF KEEPING OUR WATER SUPPLY HIGHLY FUNCTIONAL AND SAFE FOR EVERYONE.
AS AN OWNER OF A SMALL CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, I UNDERSTAND THE VI VITAL ROLE OF YOUR TEAM MEMBERS WHO ARE IN THE FIELD GETTING THE WORK DONE.
I WANT TO, UM, OR WE WANT TO ESPECIALLY THANK HEATHER AND VICKY, UM, FOR YOUR HELP FACILITATING THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE COMMISSIONERS AUSTIN WATER AND THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UH, YOU'RE BOTH TRULY A, A JOY TO WORK WITH AND I KNOW, AT LEAST FOR ME, YOU HELP KEEP ME, UH, ORGANIZED IN ALL MY TOES.
SO I DO APPRECIATE THAT VERY MUCH.
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, I WANNA THANK MY FELLOW COMMISSIONERS FOR YOUR TIME, YOUR DEDICATION, AND THE FOCUS ON THE ISSUES IN FRONT OF THE COMMISSION EACH MONTH.
UH, IT IS TRULY AN HONOR TO SERVE ON THIS COMMISSION WITH YOU.
I LOVE HOW EACH OF YOU BRING YOUR EXPERTISE FROM THE VARIETY OF PROFESSIONAL ARENAS THAT YOU REPRESENT TO THE COMMISSION.
UH, THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS BLESSED TO HAVE CITIZENS LIKE YOU WILLING TO SERVE ON COMMISSIONS AND BOARDS LIKE THIS ONE TO HELP MOVE THE CITY FORWARD, UM, WHILE STILL BEING ACCOUNTABLE TO CITIZENS THAT IT SERVES.
SO I WANNA WISH EVERYONE A MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS.
UM, IF YOU'RE TRAVELING THIS SEASON, PLEASE BE SAFE AND THANK Y'ALL VERY MUCH.
UH, SO THIS MEETING, ANY FINAL OR DO WE WANT TO,
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
UM, ANY FUTURE ITEMS? I GUESS BEFORE I COMPLETELY, UH, ADJOURN THE MEETING? UH, ANY FUTURE ITEMS THAT THE COMMISSIONERS WANT TO, UM, SEE.JUST ALLISON'S PRESENTATION ON AUSTIN WATERS STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATES WAS REALLY GOOD.
I'D LIKE TO JUST, LIKE ON A QUARTERLY BASIS, MAYBE GET AN UPDATE ON HOW, ESPECIALLY GOING FROM THE STRATEGIC INITIATIVES TO THE TACTICAL ONES, HOW THAT FOLLOW THROUGH WOULD BE.
ANY OTHER ADDITIONS, FUTURES ITEMS? OKAY.
I WILL ADJOURN THIS MEETING AT 6 0 5.