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THE AUSTIN[CALL TO ORDER]
WATER UTILITY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE MEETING.IT IS 2:03 PM ON OCTOBER 28, 2020, AND WE ARE MEETING REMOTELY.
UM, WE HAVE A COUPLE OF ITEMS ON OUR AGENDA.
WE HAVE APPROVAL OF MINUTES, UM, APPROVAL OF OUR COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULED, DOUBLE CHECKING.
THE TIMES WE'RE GOING TO PUT ON THOSE THREE DATES TO MAKE SURE WE'VE GOT THAT SORTED OUT, UM, AT THIS POINT, AND THEN WE'LL HAVE BRIEFINGS THE DIRECTORS REPORT FROM DIRECTOR MAZARA, UH, WATER FORWARD IMPLEMENTATION STATUS 2030 WATER SAVINGS GOAL AND RELATED STRATEGIES INCLUDED IN PROPOSED 2020 CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN AND, UH, DISCUSSIONS OF TOXIC ALGAE IN LADY BIRD LAKE, AND THEN IDENTIFICATION OF FUTURE ITEMS.
[Additional Item]
UM, WE DID CHAT WITH OUR ONE REGISTERED SPEAKER, BOBBY LAVINSKY.UM, SO AT THIS POINT IN TIME, IF, UM, MR. LEVINSKY, YOU WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK IN SUPPORT OF ITEMS FOUR AND FIVE, YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES TO DO SO MANY THINGS.
COUNCIL MEMBERS, THIS IS BOBBY LEVINSKY WITH THE SAVE OUR SPRINGS ALLIANCE.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO CALL IN AND, UH, AND, UH, SHOW SOME APPRECIATION FOR, UM, BOSTON WATER, UTILITY STAFF FOR BRINGING FORWARD THESE ITEMS. I WAS FOUR AND, AND FIVE, UM, ONE ON ITEM FOUR, IT'S THE IMPLEMENTATION OF, UM, AT LEAST A COUPLE OF THE THINGS FOR WATER FORWARD.
UM, I SPOKE WITH SEVERAL ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES, UM, THAT HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH US ON, UM, PUSHING FORWARD SOME OF THESE AMENDMENTS.
UM, I THINK THAT WE'RE ALL IN SUPPORT OF THE ONSITE WATER REQUIREMENT, UM, BEING A VOLUNTARY PROGRAM AT FIRST AND THEN BEING FULLY IMPLEMENTED IN 2023.
THE ONE THING THAT WE WOULD ASK YOU, UM, TO DO, UH, NOW THOUGH, IS TO GO AHEAD AND INSERT SOMETHING IN THE CODE THAT IS AN AUTOMATIC TRIGGER.
SO THAT'S NOT SOMETHING WE HAVE TO CONTINUE TO DEBATE FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS, UM, THAT WE RECOGNIZE THAT THIS IS A REQUIREMENT THAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN, UM, AND THAT WE NEED THIS VOLUNTARY PROGRAM TO HELP IRON OUT SOME OF THE PROGRAMMATIC DETAILS OF IT, BUT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S IMPORTANT FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
SO IF WE CAN GET AN AUTOMATIC TRIGGER SIMILAR TO WHAT WE'VE DONE IN THE PAST WITH THE RECYCLING OR COMPOSTING REQUIREMENTS, THAT WOULD BE IMPORTANT TO GO AHEAD AND GET THAT IN THERE.
UM, WE ALSO WANTED TO REMIND YOU ALL THAT THIS IS ONLY A PART OF THE OVERALL PACKAGE OF CODE AMENDMENTS THAT ACTUALLY HAD SOME PRETTY WIDESPREAD AGREEMENT EARLIER.
UM, BEFORE CODE NEXT STALLED ARE THE, TO RE REWRITE.
SO, UM, THOSE ARE NOT ZONING REQUIREMENTS.
THESE ARE AMENDMENTS THAT CAN MOVE FORWARD NOW.
UM, AND THEY'RE IMPORTANT TO, UH, ONE OF THEM WOULD THEY BOTH ADDRESS WATER QUALITY AND WATER AND WATER QUANTITY? UM, ONE OF THE REQUIREMENTS THAT COULD EASILY MOVE FORWARD NOW WOULD BE TO LOWER THE WATER QUALITY THRESHOLD FROM 8,000 SQUARE FEET TO 5,000 SQUARE FEET OF IMPERVIOUS COVER THAT WOULD TRIGGER WATER QUALITY REQUIREMENTS.
UM, THE OTHER THING THAT I THOUGHT WAS MORE OF A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A QUESTION THAT WE HAVE THAT WE'RE GOING TO GET RESOLVED BEFORE IT GETS TO COUNCIL.
UM, IT APPEARS THAT THE WATER, UM, BENCHMARKING REQUIREMENT HAS BEEN PUT IN TITLE 20 AND TITLE 15 INSTEAD OF TITLE 25.
UM, THAT MEANS THAT IT'S ONLY RE UM, APICAL TO AUSTIN WATER UTILITY CUSTOMERS.
AND I DON'T THINK THAT WAS THE INTENT OF THE STAKEHOLDERS.
UM, WE'RE ALL USING THE SAME WATER REGARDLESS OF WHO'S PUMPING IT.
SO I THINK THAT THE WATER BENCHMARKING REQUIREMENT WAS ORIGINALLY FOCUSED TO BE MORE OF A CITYWIDE THING, REGARDLESS OF WHO THE WATER UTILITY PROVIDER WAS.
AND SECONDLY, UM, WITH THE DELAYED IMPLEMENTATION FOR THE ONSITE WATER, WE WOULD JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE WATER BENCHMARKING IS SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED NOW, NOT SOMETHING THAT GETS DELAYED TO 2023.
UM, I THINK THAT'S, IT REALLY APPRECIATE YOU ALL, UM, MOVING FORWARD WITH THESE AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT.
APPRECIATE YOU TAKING THE TIME TO COME AND SPEAK WITH US, MR. LEVINSKY.
[1. Approve the minutes of the August 20, 2020 meeting of the Austin Water Oversight Committee]
ITEM ON THE AGENDA IS GOING TO BE THE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE LAST MEETING.DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THOSE MINUTES MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ALTAR? DO I HAVE A SECOND SECONDED BY VICE CHAIR POOL? ALL IN FAVOR.
AND THOSE MEET, THOSE MEETING MINUTES ARE ADOPTED FROM THE AUGUST 20TH, 2020 MEETING OF OUR UTILITY COMMITTEE MEETING.
[2. Discussion and approval of the 2021 Austin Water Oversight Committee meeting schedule.]
NEXT ITEM WOULD BE THE APPROVAL OF OUR COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULE.UM, I'M NOT SURE IF WE WERE ABLE TO GET CONFIRMATION OF WHAT TIME THOSE WERE TO BE PROPOSED.
THE DATES SO FAR ARE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3RD, 2021, THURSDAY, MAY 13TH, 2021 AND WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27TH, 2021.
UM, I'M NOT SURE IF HEATHER MIGHT BE ON THE LINE TO CONFIRM THAT, OR IF WE NEED TO APPROVE THE FIRST DATE AND THEN BRING THAT BACK FOR THE NEXT ONE TO MAKE SURE WE'VE GOT THE TIME SORTED OUT.
I'D LIKE TO RECOMMEND THAT WE SET THE TIME FOR EITHER ONE OR ONE
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30 IN THE AFTERNOON.WE'RE THE ONES THAT ARE SET IN THE TIME AS OPPOSED TO STAFF, OR OF COURSE.
AND I'LL GO AHEAD AND PROPOSE THAT WE ADOPT THE COMMITTEE DATES, THE DATES COMMITTEE MEETINGS AS THE CHAIR HAS, HAS LAID THE BOUT VERY MUCH APPRECIATE THAT I COULD CERTAINLY SUPPORT LANDING ON ONE 30, UM, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE WE'RE STILL NAVIGATING A LOT OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS SCHEDULES.
SO LET'S GO AHEAD AND ADOPT THESE THREE DATES AT 1:30 PM.
UM, ANYONE OPPOSE TO ADOPTING THIS MOTION, OKAY.
WITHOUT OBJECTION WHERE WE HAVE APPROVED THOSE THANKS VICE-CHAIR POOL.
UH, NOW WE WILL MOVE ON TO THE NEXT
[3. Director's Report: Upcoming recommendations for Council action, innovations, events and awards.]
ITEM, WHICH WILL BE OUR DIRECTORS REPORT BRIEFING FROM DIRECTOR GREG BAZAARIS.NOW, JUST A FEW ITEMS TO NOTE TODAY, I'LL START WITH SOME RECOGNITIONS.
JUST WANT THE COUNCIL TO KNOW THAT A ABOUT A MONTH AGO WE RECEIVED A SIGNIFICANT RECOMMEND RECOGNITION.
WE NOTED AS A UTILITY OF THE FUTURE.
IT'S AN AWARD GIVEN BY SEVERAL PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT RECOGNIZED AS UTILITIES THAT ARE WORKING TO, UH, MANAGE CLIMATE CHANGE, ENGAGE THEIR COMMUNITY, BE MORE SUSTAINABLE AND PLAN FOR THE FUTURE.
SO IT'S AN HONOR THAT WE'RE VERY PLEASED TO BE RECEIVED.
UM, ALSO, UH, WE RECEIVED A, UH, EPA LETTER THAT RECOGNIZED OUR USE OF THE EFFECTIVE UTILITY MANAGEMENT, UH, FRAMEWORK FOR OUR STRATEGIC PLANNING AS A NATIONAL BEST PRACTICE.
AND, UH, THERE ARE WRITING A CASE STUDY AND PLAN ON SHARING OUR WORK TO USE THAT FRAMEWORK AS PART OF OUR BUSINESS IN STRATEGIC PLANNING AND COMPLIMENTING THE CITY'S A SD 23.
UM, ON THE INNOVATION SIDE, I WANT TO SHARE A COUPLE OF UPDATES FOR YOU.
UM, YOU MAY HAVE SEEN SOME OF THE MEDIA COVERAGE THIS WEEK.
UH, AUSTIN WATER ANNOUNCED THAT WE HAVE OUR PHASE ONE ZEBRA MUSCLE CONTROL SYSTEMS, UH, IN PRODUCTION AT ALL THREE OF OUR DRINKING WATER PLANTS.
AND WE WOULD EXPECT BY THE END OF THE CALENDAR YEAR THAT, UH, ALL OF OUR RAW WATER PIPING SYSTEMS WILL BE FREE OF ZEBRA MUSSELS.
SO THAT'S A SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE FOR US SINCE THAT INVASIVE SPECIES CAME A FEW YEARS AGO, YOU MIGHT RECALL IN, UH, IN JANUARY OF 2019, WE HAD A TASTE AND ODOR EVENT AT ALL.
RICK THAT WAS RELATED TO ZEBRA MUSSELS.
AND WITH THESE CONTROL SYSTEMS, WE WOULD HAVE TAKEN CARE OF THAT RISK.
OF COURSE, THE MUSCLES ARE STILL IN THE, IN THE LAKES THEMSELVES, BUT THE RAW WATER PIPING WILL BE FREE OF MUSCLES BY THE END OF THE CALENDAR YEAR.
THE OTHER ITEM I WANT TO NOTE ON INNOVATIONS IS OUR ALL RETRIEVING TREATMENT PLANT.
WE WILL BE STARTING UP A POLYMER SYSTEM NEXT MONTH.
UH, AGAIN, YOU MIGHT REMEMBER FROM THE COLORADO RIVER FLOOD OF 2018 AND THE SUBSEQUENT BOIL WATER NOTICE, WE DID AN ENGINEERING AFTER ACTION REVIEW AND RECOMMENDED A POLYMER ADDITION AS A WAY TO COMBAT HIGH TURBIDITY EVENTS.
AND WE'RE VERY PLEASED AT THAT PRODUCTION.
THE FIRST ONE IS GOING INTO SERVICE AT OUR LARGEST PLANT, ALL RICK, YOU KNOW, FOR US TO DESIGN AND PERMIT AND CONSTRUCT A PROJECT LIKE THAT IN 18 MONTHS, TOOK A LOT OF EFFORT BY OUR STAFF.
AND SO I'M VERY PROUD THAT WE WERE ABLE TO GET THAT AND HELP US MANAGE FUTURE RISK OF THAT SHORT.
I WOULD NOTE ALSO, UH, AN IMPORTANT UPCOMING COUNCIL ITEM, UH, PROBABLY IN THE DECEMBER TIMEFRAME, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ALTAR WAS THE, UH, WAS THE SPONSOR OF A BUDGET WRITER DIRECTING THE UTILITY TO COME FORTH WITH RECOMMENDATIONS ON EXPANDING OUR LOW-INCOME CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM TO SUPPORT MULTI-FAMILY CUSTOMERS, RENTERS.
UH, THE WAY WE CONFIGURE OUR SYSTEM IS MOST OF OUR APARTMENT COMPLEXES, OUR MASTER METER THERE'S ONE LEADER.
AND SO IT'S BEEN MORE DIFFICULT FOR US TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO PROVIDE RELIEF FOR LOW-INCOME CUSTOMERS THAT ARE RENTERS AND WORKING WITH, UH, WITH THE AAE WE'VE, UH, COME FORTH WITH RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND A MATTER OF FACT, WE'RE GOING TO RECOMMEND IMPLEMENTATION AND, AND HOPEFULLY A SET PUBLIC HEARINGS AND BE IN A POSITION TO, TO EXPAND THAT PROGRAM, UH, COME JANUARY OF 21.
AND SO WE'RE, WE'RE PLANNING TO BRING THOSE FORWARD TO THE COUNCIL, UH, IN DECEMBER.
AND WE'LL, WE'LL PROVIDE A MEMO DESCRIBING WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO IN ADVANCE OF THAT.
BUT I THINK THAT THAT'S A REAL POSITIVE STORY.
WE WOULD ESTIMATE THAT WELL, OVER 20,000 NEW CUSTOMERS WILL RECEIVE SOME SUPPORT FROM AUSTIN WATER THAT MEET THESE LOW-INCOME THRESHOLDS.
AND, UH, AND NOW'S IMPORTANT TIME WITH, WITH THE COVID PANDEMIC AND ECONOMIC UPSET TO BE DOING THAT.
AND, UH, AND WITH THAT CHAIR, UH, THAT CONCLUDES MY REPORT.
MAZARA CERTAINLY APPRECIATE THAT.
AND CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU AND YOUR TEAM FOR THOSE AWARDS.
UM, CERTAINLY LOVE TO HEAR OF INNOVATION THAT Y'ALL ARE DOING AND APPRECIATE MOVING FORWARD WITH COUNCIL MEMBER ALTARS, UM, THAT PROCESS AND TRYING TO MAKE SURE WE CAN IMPLEMENT THESE CHANGES TO HELP PEOPLE WHO REALLY NEED IT.
YOU BET, COUNCIL MEMBER ELLIS.
IF I COULD JUST INTERRUPT A MOMENT,
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UM, ON THE, ON THE VOTE THAT YOU TOOK ON THE MEETING SCHEDULE, UH, JUST FOR THE MEETING RECORD, UH, OFFICIALLY I HAD A MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER POOL AND WHO WAS THE SECOND ON THAT VOTE FOR THE MEETING SCHEDULE? I'M NOT SURE WE GOT ONE COUNCIL MEMBER ALL THE TIME.IT'S DO WE NEED TO RETAKE THAT VOTE? I'M HAPPY TO ASK THEM.
MADE BY POOL, SECONDED BY COUNCIL NUMBER ALTAR ALL IN FAVOR.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH ANONYMOUS.
THANKS FOR KEEPING US IN LINE.
HOW'S THE NUMBER ALSO? DID YOU WANT TO SPEAK? YEAH, I JUST WANTED TO, UM, THINK, UM, MR.
AND, YOU KNOW, THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT ALSO HELPED US TO, YOU KNOW, OVERCOME SOME OF THOSE THAT HAD BEEN PREVENTING THIS BEFORE.
UM, AND I JUST, YOU KNOW, IT IS A TIME WHEN PEOPLE NEED RELIEF.
UM, AND WE HAVE A LOT OF FOLKS WHO ARE LIVING IN THESE MULTI-FAMILY UNITS HERE ARE GOING TO BENEFIT.
UM, 20,000 IS A LOT OF PEOPLE, UM, A LOT OF UNITS TO BE HELPING.
SO I LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT STEPS AND, AND SEEING THAT THROUGH, UM, DECEMBER.
[4. Water Forward Implementation Status:]
WE ARE ABLE TO MOVE ON TO ITEM NUMBER FOUR, THE WATER FORWARD IMPLEMENTATION STATUS.WE'VE GOT A FEW PEOPLE TO MOVE OVER AND SOME SLIDES THAT WILL BE PRESENTED.
YES, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, KEVIN CRITTENDON WILL BE, UH, UH, STARTING UP THAT, UH, VERY SOON, GOOD AFTERNOON COUNCIL MEMBERS OF OUR, WE, UH, LEFT THE SLIDE DECK, UM, UH, LOAD UP HERE, UM, JUST BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION.
I'M ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR AUSTIN WATER ON SPECIFICALLY I'M OVER THE ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES PROGRAM AREA.
UM, I'M HERE THIS AFTERNOON TO PROVIDE YOU WITH AN UPDATE ON OUR WATER FORWARD PLAN IMPLEMENTATION STATUS, AND SPECIFICALLY PROVIDES YOU WITH SOME DETAILS ON UPCOMING WEATHER CHANGES RELATED TO WATER FOLLOWER SLIDE, PLEASE.
CONTEXT, I'LL START WITH A LITTLE BACKGROUND.
THE WATERFORD IS OUR HUNDRED YEAR INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES PLAN THAT WAS DEVELOPED OVER A THREE-YEAR PERIOD.
IT WAS DONE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE COUNCIL APPOINTED CITIZENS TASK FORCE, UM, PRESENTED TO COUNCIL IN 2018 AND APPROVED IN NOVEMBER OF THAT YEAR.
IT RECOMMENDS WATER SUPPLY AND DEMAND MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES THAT CONSIDER OUR FUTURE GROWTH AND CLIMATE IN A CERTAIN DATE, ALL IN AN EFFORT TO BUILD A SUSTAINABLE WATER FUTURE FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
SOME OF THE INITIAL STRATEGIES IDENTIFIED FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN INCLUDE CONTINUED AND ENHANCED WATER CONSERVATION AND WATER REUSE NEXT WELL, I PLEASE, ALL THE WARREN FORD STRATEGIES CAN BE DIVIDED INTO FOUR BASIC CATEGORIES.
ONE IS REDUCING DEMAND THAT WOULD INCLUDE STRATEGIES SUCH AS BENCHMARKING OUR SMART METERING INITIATIVE, WHICH WE'RE LABELING MY ATX WATER.
UM, SO SOME MORE OR LOSS CONTROL AND WATER CONSERVATION ORDINANCES AND SENSITIVE, UM, STRATEGY TO, OR AROUND INCREASED WATER REUSE SUCH AS ONSITE WATER REUSE ARE CENTRALIZED AND DISTRICT SCALE RECLAIMED WATER.
OUR THIRD COLLECTION OF STRATEGIES INCLUDES PROTECTING OUR CORE COLORADO RIVER SUPPLIES, AND THAT INCLUDES WORKING WITH REGIONAL PARTNERS.
UM, OUR WORK IN OUR REGIONAL, UH, REGION K UH, WATER PLANNING EFFORTS ARE WORKING WITH OUR STRATEGIC PARTNER OF THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY, AND THEN STATE AGENCIES LIKE THE TEXAS COMMISSION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, AND THEN OUR FOURTH CATEGORY OF STRATEGIES AROUND BUILDING RESILIENCY.
AND THAT INCLUDES STRATEGIES SUCH AS OUR AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY PROJECT, WHICH WE UPDATED YOU ON IN OUR LAST MEETING.
AND THEN FUTURE STRATEGIES AROUND FOR INSTANCE, AND DIRECT POTABLE REUSE, UH, FOR A DROUGHT RESISTANCE STRATEGY, UM, THROUGH ALL OF THOSE STRATEGIES, UH, AUSTIN WATER ENVISIONS THE WATER AFFORDABLE, CONTINUE TO BE ROBUST AND CONTINUE TO STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT IN A WAY THAT ALLOWS US TO IMPLEMENT THESE STRATEGIES IN A THOUGHTFUL AND CONSIDERED.
WHAT NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE PRESENTATION THIS AFTERNOON, WE'LL BE FOCUSING ON TWO PARTICULAR AREAS THAT RELATED TO SOME OF OUR ORDINANCE STRATEGIES.
UM, THESE SPECIFIC ORDINANCE RELATE TO TWO PRIMARY AREAS.
ONE IS COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL WATER CONSERVATION ORDINANCES,
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PRIMARILY SURROUNDING COOLING POWER EFFICIENCY.AND THE OTHER IS OUR ALTERNATIVE WATER USE ORDINANCES OR ON-SITE REUSE SYSTEMS FOR NEW DEVELOPMENT SLIDE, PLEASE SPECIFIC TOPICS THAT WE'LL BE GOING OVER OUR PROPOSED AMENDMENTS.
SO AUSTIN CITY CODE TITLE, AND TITLE 15, AGAIN, RELATED TO COOLING TOWER EFFICIENCY AND PROTECTING PUBLIC HEALTH.
AND THE LATTER WILL BE A DISCUSSION ON A PROPOSED NEW CHAPTER FOR AUSTIN CITY CODE RELATED TO ONSITE OR REUSE SYSTEMS NEXT.
OKAY, I'LL START BY FOCUSING ON OUR TITLE SIX, 15 AMENDMENTS RELATED TO COOLING TOWER COMMERCIAL COOLING TOWERS, UM, IN SHORT, UM, THOSE ARE AMENDMENTS TO EXISTING CODE, UM, THAT KIND OF HIT THESE TOPICS, WHICH INCLUDES REQUIRING OWNERS TO USE BIOCIDES TO PROMOTE MORE EFFICIENT COOLING TOWER OPERATION AND PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH.
UM, ALSO REQUIRES THE ADDITION OF EFFICIENCY STANDARDS FOR GRIP ELIMINATORS.
UH, IT ADDS ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF CITY STANDARDS, REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS, AND INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS.
IT PROVIDES, UH, FOR PENALTIES FOR THESE MATTERS IN ALIGNMENT WITH CURRENT PENALTY PROVISIONS AND EFFECT FOR OTHER COMMERCIAL, UH, WATER USES SUCH AS IRRIGATION SYSTEMS AND CAR WASHES.
UM, IT MAKES, UH, NON-COMPLIANT COOLING TOWERS INELIGIBLE FOR EVAPORATED, UH, LOST CREDITS ON OUR WASTEWATER BUILDING.
OVERALL, I WOULD DESCRIBE THESE CHANGES AS SOMEWHAT TECHNICAL IN NATURE AND HOPES OF CONTINUING TO DRIVE THE USE OF MORE EFFICIENT TECHNOLOGY FOR COMMERCIAL COOLING.
SO THAT KIND OF WRAPS UP, UH, THE, THE CHAPTER SIX, UM, SUGGESTED NEXT TIME IN ADDITION TO COOLING TOWERS AND, UH, AND COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL WATER CONSERVATION AND TITLE SIX ALSO MOTOR SNAPS HAVE BEEN WORKING ON CODE CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH ADVANCING WATER FORWARD ON THE WATER ONSITE WATER REUSE INITIATIVES.
UM, THE PROPOSED CHANGES THAT WERE WE'LL BE DISCUSSING ARE PROPOSED CHANGES TO TITLE 15, WHICH IS OUR UTILITY REGULATIONS.
AND MOST SPECIFICALLY WOULD ADD A NEW CHAPTER IN TITLE 15, ALL 15 DASH 13 ONSITE WATER REUSE SYSTEMS. UH, THIS NEW CODE PROVIDES A REGULATORY FRAMEWORK, FACILITATE OUR VOLUNTARY AND IN FUTURE MANDATORY USE OF THESE TYPES OF ONSITE SYSTEMS. THE CODE RELATES TO PERMITTING DESIGN INSTALLATION AND OPERATIONS OF ONSITE REVIEW AND HAVE THE CODE CHANGES WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TODAY.
THIS IS CERTAINLY THE MOST SUBSTANTIVE CHANGE.
YOU WOULD ACTUALLY ADD SOME 20 TO 24 PAGES OF CODE ALL INVOLVED WITH THE ON-SITE WHERE SOPHIC, IT ADDS AN ENTIRELY NEW CHAPTER DEDICATED TO THE REGULATION, DESIGN, PERMITTING AND OPERATIONS OF MULTI-FAMILY AND COMMERCIAL ON-SITE REUSE SYSTEMS. UH, THIS ADDED CODE WILL HELP US ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF WATER REUSE SYSTEMS ON SITE AND AUSTIN AND ADVANCE OF A 2023 OR 2024 ADOPTION OF MANDATORY ONSITE REUSE FOR LARGE COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT.
NEXT SLIDE, WHERE WILL THIS NEW ORDINANCE APPLY? UH, BASICALLY IT WILL APPLY TO, UH, COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENTS, INCLUDING MULTIFAMILY HOUSING.
IT'LL ALSO APPLY TO COMMERCIAL COMPLEX DEVELOPMENTS SPECIFICALLY DOESN'T APPLY TO A SINGLE FAMILY HOUSES OR DUPLEXES, AND THAT A KNOW OPPORTUNITIES FOR ON-SITE REUSE ARE TYPICALLY SIMPLER AND KENNEDY ACCOMMODATED BY THE EXISTING PLUMBING CODE OR OUR MORE TRADITIONAL PLUMBING PRACTICES.
NEXT SLIDE, IN ADDITION TO APPLICABILITY OF THE ORDINANCE, UM, THIS ORDINANCE ALSO DESCRIBES OUR RISK-BASED FRAMEWORK RELATED TO TREATMENT REQUIREMENTS.
UH, THIS ALLOWS AUSTIN WATER TO REGULATE TREATMENT REQUIREMENTS IN ON-SITE SYSTEMS. IT ANTICIPATES THE USE OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF ON-SITE SOURCES, SUCH AS GRAY WATER, STORM, WATER, AND RAINWATER, AND ALLOWS US TO MATCH TREATMENT TYPES WITH PORTFOLIO WAS NON-POTABLE USES ON SITE.
THIS IS PROTECTING PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY.
THAT'S PARAMOUNT IN OUR SUSTAINABLE WATER FUTURE.
UH, THIS PROPOSED CODE CHANGE APPROACH IS LARGELY BASED ON NATIONAL MODEL CODE FRAMEWORK DEVELOPED BY THE NATIONAL BLUE RIBBON COMMISSION ON ONSITE NON NON-POTABLE WATER SYSTEMS. THAT'S A COLLECTION
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OF 23 MEMBER ORGANIZATION THAT INCLUDES UTILITIES, PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENTS, EPA INDUSTRY ORGANIZATIONS, AND OTHERS SPONSORED BY THE WATER REUSE ASSOCIATIONS, A NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF FUNDAMENTALLY THAT APPROACH IDENTIFIES A PATH THAT HAS A NUMBER OF PRODUCTION TARGETS TO PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH AND ENSURE THAT ONSITE WASTE WATER, EXCUSE ME, ON-SITE REUSE SYSTEMS ARE SAFE FOR INTENDED USES.AND IN THAT PROCESS AS A STRICT, STRICT FOCUS ON REDUCING PATHOGENS OR ARE HARMFUL DISEASE CAUSING BACTERIA, INCLUDING VIRUSES, BACTERIA, AND PROTOZOA.
IN ADDITION, THE PROPONENTS CHAPTER 13, UH, PROVIDES FOR AN ADMINISTRATIVE PROGRAM FOR THIS INITIATIVE.
IT INCLUDES A DISCUSSION OF PERMIT APPLICATION PROCESSES TALKS ABOUT PERMIT AND TECHNICAL REVIEW DISCUSSES, A PERMIT ISSUANCE CITY INSPECTION, UH, THE ONGOING MONITORING AND REPORTING FOR THESE TYPES OF SYSTEMS AND ALLOWS FOR PROVIDES FOR ENFORCEMENT PROCESSES, INCLUDING, UH, PROGRESSIVE ENFORCEMENT AND ESCALATION THROUGH AND INCLUDING PENALTIES.
NEXT SLIDE AT THIS TIME STATUS PREPARING REQUESTS FOR COUNCIL ACTIONS, UM, RELATED TO THESE SPECIFIC CODE CHANGES, UM, AND INCLUDED IN THAT PROCESS, THERE WILL BE SEVERAL STOPS BY VARIOUS BOARDS AND PERMISSIONS, INCLUDING FIRST OUR WATERFORD CITIZENS TASK FORCE WILL BE PRESENTING IN THE NOVEMBER 10TH TIMEFRAME.
THAT'S WHERE IT WAS SET TENTATIVELY.
UM, IT WOULD BE FOLLOWED BY WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION PRESENTATION AND CONSIDERATION ON NOVEMBER 17TH.
UM, AND WE'RE STILL WORKING TO, UH, LAND A DATE FOR THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION, BUT I ANTICIPATE THAT THAT COULD HAPPEN IN THE NOVEMBER TIMEFRAME, UM, THEREAFTER WE WOULD BE PREPARED TO BRING THIS, THESE TWO CODE AMENDMENTS TO THE FULL COUNCIL AS EARLY AS DECEMBER OF THIS YEAR.
UM, IF ANYONE'S INTERESTED IN ADDITIONAL DETAILS ABOUT THESE CODE CHANGES, THAT INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ONLINE.
UH, WE HAVE USED OUR SEEK UP AUSTIN PLATFORM TO PROVIDE PUBLIC ACCESS TO THE ACTUAL CODE.
UH, PROPOSED CODE CHANGES IN TITLE SIX AND TITLE 15.
UH, THIS IS A SIMILAR PLATFORM AND APPROACH THAT THE CITY HAS USED IN OTHER CITY INITIATIVES, INCLUDING THE BUDGET PROCESS TO FIND THAT EQUITY, EQUITY PLAN TRANSFORMING PUBLIC SAFETY AND OTHERS.
UM, IN ADDITION TO THIS, JUST TO REMIND YOU, WE DID PROVIDE A NUMBER OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENTS BACK IN THE SUMMER OF 2019 WHEN WE WERE ABLE TO DO THE SORT OF THING IN PERSON WHERE WE HAD A SERIES OF WORKSHOPS AROUND THESE TOPICS.
UH, MORE RECENTLY WE HELD A PUBLIC MEETING AND WORKSHOP ON SEPTEMBER THE 23RD, UM, ABOUT THIS SPECIFIC CODE LANGUAGE.
SO HAD A LOT OF GOOD PARTICIPATION AND THAT, UM, UM, KIND OF USE THE SPEAK UP AUSTIN ON FORMAT TO, UH, ENGAGE WITH THE PUBLIC.
SO NEXT SLIDE WITH THAT, UH, THAT KIND OF GIVES THE OVERVIEW OF WHERE WE ARE ON WATERFALL, SPECIFICALLY THE UPCOMING, UH, CODE REQUIREMENTS.
AND WITH THAT, I'M AVAILABLE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT INFORMATION.
IT'S REALLY HELPFUL TO KNOW THAT AUSTIN IS ONE WAY YOU CAN LOOK AT THIS AND PROVIDE YOUR INPUT AND THAT YOU CAN ALSO PAY ATTENTION TO THESE OR THE COMMISSIONS THAT WERE MENTIONED TO HAVE ADDITIONAL PLACES TO ADD YOUR COMMENTS AND TO, TO LET OF WHAT YOU'RE THINKING AND HEARING.
AND THEN OBVIOUSLY THE OPPORTUNITY TO COME SPEAK TO US ABOUT IT AT COUNCIL.
I WILL OPEN IT UP TO QUESTIONS IF ANYONE HAS ANY COUNCIL MEMBER ALTAR.
UM, I THINK IT'S EXCITING THAT WE'RE MOVING FORWARD WITH THESE.
UM, I DID HAVE A QUESTION SORT OF FOR THE PHASE ONE FOR TITLE 15 FOR THE ONSITE WATER REUSE, AS I RECALL, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS A PIECE IN THERE ABOUT EDUCATION, ET CETERA THAT WE HAD IN WATER FORWARD, AND YOU DIDN'T REALLY DISCUSS THAT AND HOW THAT WAS BEING IMPLEMENTED IN THIS FIRST PHASE OF THE VOLUNTARY, BECAUSE I THINK PART OF THE PROBLEM IS FOLKS NOT KNOWING HOW TO DO IT, UM, AND YOU KNOW, TRYING TO INCENTIVIZE FOR THEM TO DO IT SOONER IN FOR THE DELAY.
SO IF YOU COULD SPEAK TO THAT, PLEASE SO BRIEFLY, THE, THE, THE OVERALL PLAN WAS TO BRING INTO, UM, UH, A REQUIREMENT THAT LARGE DEVELOPMENTS OVER 250,000 SQUARE FEET WOULD BE MANDATED TO USE THESE TYPES OF SYSTEMS. UM, THAT PARTICULAR LANGUAGE
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IS PART OF LANGUAGE THAT HAS BEEN, UM, PROFFERED FOR THE, UH, LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE REWRITE.UM, WE'VE ALWAYS ENVISIONED THAT THIS WOULD BE A SORT OF A TWO PHASE PROCESS WHERE WE WOULD FIRST HAVE A, UH, VOLUNTARY AND ORDINANCE, OR EXCUSE ME, AN INCENTIVIZED PROGRAM FOR PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE, UM, AND BASICALLY EXPECTED THAT THERE WOULD BE A THREE-YEAR PERIOD WHERE WE WOULD FIRST, UM, DEVELOP THIS FRAMEWORK AND USE THAT THREE-YEAR PERIOD FOR STAFF AND THE COMMUNITY TO BECOME BETTER ACQUAINTED WITH THE PROCESSES.
AND WE CAN IN ESSENCE, TRY OUT SORT OF OUR REGULATORY FRAMEWORK AND REALLY THAT'S KIND OF THE PATH THAT WE REMAIN ON THAT WITH THIS, THE APPROVAL OF THIS REGULATORY FRAMEWORK AND TITLE 16, UM, THAT SETS THE BASIC, UM, STRUCTURE OR PERMITTING THOSE SYSTEMS THAT SETS THE BASIC EXPECTATIONS ON TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS TO PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY.
AND SO THAT THAT'S, AGAIN, KIND OF CONTINUES TO BE OUR SCHEDULE AND PATH FORWARD.
SO AGAIN, I'M, I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE, THE SPECIFIC PLANS ON SORT OF EDUCATION AND, AND DEMONSTRATION FOR FOLKS WHO WANT TO BE PART OF THAT VOLUNTARY EARLIER ORSHAN UM, BECAUSE THE IDEA WAS, AND I BELIEVE I HAD AN AMENDMENT TO THIS EFFECT THAT WAS GOING TO HELP US MOVE FORWARD MORE QUICKLY.
UM, I TRY TO GET SET IT UP, SO THAT WAS EASIER FOR FOLKS TO ADOPT IT EARLIER, UM, BECAUSE I BELIEVE THAT THE ULTIMATE EXPECTATION IS THAT YOU'RE SAVING MONEY ON WATER.
AND SO OVER TIME THAT SAVES YOU MONEY.
AND SO YOU WANT TO, IN IT SOONER, PARDON ME, AND WE'RE FORTUNATE AND THE COMMUNITY WHERE, UM, A LOT OF INTERESTS AND, UH, ENERGY AROUND THESE TYPES OF SYSTEMS. AND SO WE CONTINUE ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS, UM, RECEIVING A LOT OF INQUIRY ABOUT THIS.
AND, UM, DESPITE THE FACT THAT THIS REGULATORY FRAMEWORK IS NOT CURRENTLY ADOPTED, UM, WE PROBABLY HAVE SOMEWHERE UPWARDS OF, UH, YOU KNOW, UM, 20 TO 36 TYPES OF SYSTEMS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN IN PLACE THROUGH DIFFERENT PROCESSES.
THIS FRAMEWORK JUST FRANKLY, GIVES US A CODIFIED SET OF, UH, UH, REQUIREMENTS THAT WE CAN USE TO HELP DIRECT THAT.
UM, WE'RE ENGAGED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY ON A REGULAR BASIS.
AND THE FACT THAT UTILITY SERVICES WORKS IN THE LAND USE PLANNING OR THE LAND USE REVIEW PROCESS, WHERE, UM, WE SEE, UH, WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT AND INPUT ON A VARIETY OF LIKE PITT DEVELOPMENTS OR OTHER DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES, WHERE WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO REACH OUT AND WORK WITH, UM, YOU KNOW, THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY AND TRY TO, UM, ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION AND KIND OF DIRECT THEM TO OTHER ALTERNATIVES.
SO AGAIN, I'M NOT, I'M NOT TRYING TO TAKE ISSUE WITH THE FRAMEWORK THAT YOU'RE LAYING OUT.
I JUST, I HAD THOUGHT THAT WE HAD PROVIDED DIRECTION ON TAKING SOME VERY SPECIFIC STEPS TO BE SUPPORTING FOLKS ADOPTING IT EARLIER.
AND IT SOUNDS LIKE SOME OF THAT'S HAPPENING INFORMALLY, BUT I, I THOUGHT THERE WAS, UM, DIRECTION ON, YOU KNOW, BEING PROACTIVE AND PROVIDING THE INSIGHTS AND THE INFORMATION TO FOLKS SO THAT THEY COULD SEE THIS AS A CHOICE SOONER.
UM, AND SO THIS IS, I THINK SOMETHING HAS COMPLIMENTARY TO THE INTRODUCTION OF THE ORDINANCE THAT I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU HAVE PLANNED IN THAT REGARD, AS OPPOSED TO SOMETHING THAT GOES IN THE ORDINANCE PER SE, BUT AS A, AS A STEP THAT YOU'RE TAKING ALONG THE WAY, UM, WITH RESPECT TO WATER FORWARD, FORGIVE ME AND PERHAPS THIS IS I'VE OMITTED.
UM, I WOULD SAY IN CONJUNCTION WITH THIS, THE UTILITY IS ALSO AN INCENTIVE PROGRAM.
UM, SO WE ARE ACTUALLY, UH, BUDGETED THIS YEAR FOR, I THINK IN TOTAL AROUND A MILLION DOLLARS TO PROMOTE INCENTIVES FOR DEVELOPMENT TO TRY TO USE THESE TYPES OF SYSTEMS. AND SO, UM, WE ARE WORKING TO FURTHER REFINE SORT OF THE TACTICAL DETAILS OF HOW WE ACTUALLY MAKE THOSE INCENTIVES AVAILABLE.
BUT AT THIS POINT WE ARE FUNDED FOR CENTERS AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO ADVERTISE AND, UM, MAKE, UH, INTERESTED PARTIES, AWARE INCENTIVES TO TRY TO, UM, GATHER INTEREST AND GET MORE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THIS, DOING THESE SYSTEMS. UM, SO IT'S GOOD TO KNOW ABOUT THOSE INCENTIVES, CAUSE I THINK THAT'S PART OF THE ANSWER TO MY QUESTION IS THE INCENTIVES.
UM, I STILL, YOU KNOW, MAYBE WE CAN HAVE SOME FOLLOW-UP CONVERSATIONS,
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UM, ABOUT WHAT I THINK WE HAD IN MIND WHEN WE ADDED THAT TO THE ON, UM, FOR IT, I DON'T THINK IT'S COUNTER TO ANYTHING THAT YOU'RE DOING AND YOU MAY BE DOING IT AND WE'RE JUST NOT COMMUNICATING WELL IN THIS, IN THIS FORMAT.UM, BUT I THINK MY UNDERSTANDING WAS THAT THERE ARE DEVELOPERS WHO DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO THIS, WHO MIGHT WANT TO DO GRIT, UM, AND BEING ABLE TO HAVE SOME MORE READY TO USE, UM, MATERIALS AND THINGS TO HELP THEM THINK THROUGH WHAT IT WOULD MEAN, UM, TO ADOPT THIS BEFORE IT'S REQUIRED, UM, WOULD BE HELPFUL.
AND AGAIN, YOU YET, BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE THE ORDINANCE ADOPTED AND IT MAY COME LATER, I'M REALLY JUST TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT'S PART OF THE PROCESS AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
NOT THAT IT WOULD NECESSARILY BE READY BEFORE YOU'VE ADOPTED WELL, AND WE CAN CERTAINLY FOLLOW UP, I THINK PERHAPS, MAYBE I MISSED OR DIDN'T HIT IT IN THE PRESENTATION ITSELF.
BUT I MEAN, THE, THE, THE EXISTENCE OF THE VERY FRAMEWORK THAT IS INCLUDED AND, UM, TITLED 15, PARTICULARLY CHAPTER 15 PROPOSED CHAPTER 15, 13, UM, IS ACTUALLY DESCRIBED IT GENERALLY AS A COOKBOOK.
YOU KNOW, IT IS SORT OF A MORE PRESCRIPTIVE APPROACH ON HOW APPLICANTS WOULD GO THROUGH THAT PROCESS TO DESIGN THEIR SYSTEM.
SO THERE IS MUCH MORE INFORMATION IN THERE AND CURRENTLY EXISTS AND IT'S ALL IN ONE LOCATION ABOUT THE DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGIES.
SO IT WOULD BE ACCEPTABLE TO USE WHICH TECHNOLOGIES WOULD BE USED FOR SPECIFIC SOURCE WATER TYPES, AND THEN WHATEVER ENVISIONED USES ON THE SITE, I WILL SAY THAT WE ALSO HAVE ANOTHER ACTIVITY.
UM, WE TEND TO FOLLOW INDEPENDENT OF THIS.
WE'VE DEVELOPED TWO GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS THAT ARE AVAILABLE FOR PRACTITIONERS THAT WANT TO EITHER DO SORT OF RESIDENTIAL ON-SITE REUSE OR MORE COMMERCIAL ON-SITE REUSE.
AND SO I THINK THAT'S ANOTHER TOOL THAT WE HAVE TO EDUCATE THE COMMUNITY AND FOLKS THAT ARE INTERESTED IN.
UM, SO I THINK IT'S, IT'S SORT OF A MULTI-TIERED APPROACH.
IT'S THE FRAMEWORK ADOPTING THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK GIVES SOME DIRECTION ON THAT.
I THINK THOSE GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS THAT ARE OUT THERE, I THINK THAT'S PART OF THE, UM, I THINK US WORKING INTO THE DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK OR WORKFLOW AS IT RELATES TO, UM, UH, LAND USE WOULD VIEW THAT WE PARTICIPATE IN AND THE INCENTIVE PROGRAM SORT OF COMBINED KIND OF HELP US KIND OF MOVE THAT, UH, UH, EVOLUTION OF ON-SITE REVIEWS SO THAT WE CAN GET TOGETHER MORE.
AND IF WE HAVEN'T QUITE HIT ON IT AND I APOLOGIZE.
I MEAN, AND I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, AS WE'RE TALKING, YOU'RE DEFINITELY GETTING IT MORE OF THE THINGS THAT I WAS TRYING TO UNDERSTAND IF WE WERE DOING, BECAUSE THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO MAKE IT AS EASY AS POSSIBLE FOR FOLKS TO ADOPT THIS SOONER.
UM, AND THAT WAS REALLY THE DIRECTION AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THE INCENTIVES AND THE OTHER STUFF GET THERE, BUT, UM, I HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK AT THE ACTUAL ORDINANCE TO, TO SEE THAT SO WE CAN CONTINUE THAT CONVERSATION, UM, WAS WONDERING W W WHERE YOU WOULD PUT THE TRIGGER OR IS THAT ALREADY IN THERE THAT MR LAVINSKY MENTIONED? UM, AND IT WOULD AUTOMATICALLY, SO, SO THERE, THERE ARE TWO THINGS THAT I THINK, AND MR. LYNSKEY'S DISCUSSION, I THINK YOU MENTIONED THE BENCHMARKING TOPIC AND THE TOPIC OF, UH, WHAT WE CALL THE, THAT THE MANDATE FOR THE LARGE COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENTS.
UM, THE LANGUAGE RELATED TO THOSE ARE BOTH IN THE PROPOSED LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE AND TITLE 2040.
SO WE HAVE PROVIDED THAT INFORMATION AND THAT'S WHERE THOSE, UM, SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS REMAIN TODAY.
UM, I'LL SAY THAT WE, YOU KNOW, WE ARE ENGAGED AND REMAIN ENGAGED WITH THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE REWRITE TEAM, UH, ON A VERY, UM, CLOSE BASIS.
AND, UM, BELIEVE THAT THERE'S CONVERSATION NOW ABOUT KIND OF CONTINUING A COMPREHENSIVE LAND DEVELOPMENT REWRITE STRATEGY.
AND AT THIS POINT, AND I BELIEVE THERE'S GOING TO BE MORE UPDATE TO COUNCIL MEMBERS LATER IN THE NOVEMBER TIMEFRAME.
SO, BUT THE SHORT ANSWER IS, YOU KNOW, THAT THOSE SPECIFIC ITEMS ARE STILL PROPOSED TO BE, AND RIGHT NOW THE PROPOSED NEW TITLE 23, WHICH IS THE LAND DEVELOPMENT.
SO, SO LET ME JUST, UM, I THINK WE HAD THIS CONVERSATION AT A PRIOR AUSTIN WATER.
ANYTHING MAY BE AT OUR LAST ONE.
UM, THOSE CHANGES DO NOT NEED TO WAIT FOR THE COMPREHENSIVE REWRITE TO HAPPEN.
UM, THEY DO NOT INVOLVE ZONING CHANGES, UM, ARE NOT TO INDIVIDUAL PROPERTIES, UM, IN THE SAME WAY AS THE OTHER THINGS ARE.
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THINK THAT WE COULD MOVE FORWARD WITH THOSE THINGS IN TO THE EXTENT THAT THEY ARE REQUIRED TO MAKE, UM, THESE CHANGES HAVE TEETH AND MEAN SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD BE MOVING FORWARD WITH THEM.THERE SEEM TO HAVE MAJORITY SUPPORT AND WE SHOULD FIND A WAY TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THOSE PIECES.
YES, MA'AM CERTAINLY APPRECIATE THAT CONVERSATION.
I KNOW, UM, WE HAD QUESTIONS A LITTLE WHILE BACK JUST TO UNDERSTAND IS THAT LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE REWRITE HOLDING ANYTHING UP.
AND IT SEEMS LIKE BECAUSE WE HAVE SUCH A STRONG WATER FORWARD PLAN THAT DEVELOPED THROUGHOUT THE YEARS SOUND COMMITTEE, THAT IT WASN'T NECESSARILY SOMETHING THAT THEY CONTINUED TO WORK ON.
SO IT SEEMED VERY, VERY UNIQUE THAT THERE'S KIND OF THIS SEPARATE PROGRAMMING AND IMPLEMENTATION STATUS, BUT I FULLY AGREE THAT WE SHOULD KEEP MOVING FORWARD BECAUSE WHAT WE CAN DO TO BE BETTER ABOUT WATER CONSERVATION AND TO CONTINUE MOVING IN THAT DIRECTION.
SO I APPRECIATE THAT CONVERSATION.
I DID SEE DIRECTOR BIZARROS, MAYBE YOU NEED TO ADD ANOTHER COMMENT.
I'M NOT SURE IF YOU STILL NEEDED TO, BUT THEN WE'VE GOT TWO OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS WITH ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS.
I WON'T TAKE UP ANY MORE TIME.
UM, SO I JUST WANTED TO DOUBLE CHECK ON THE, UM, BRINGING WATER FORWARD FORWARD TO SAY THAT THAT'S, UM, IN DECEMBER, SO THE CHANGES TO CITY CODE THAT WE'VE DISCUSSED TODAY SPECIFICALLY CHANGES TO TITLE SIX AND TITLE 15 RELATED TO COOLING TOWERS, AND THEN SEPARATELY CHANGES TO TITLE 15 THAT WOULD ADD THE ON-SITE REUSE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK.
YES, WE WOULD BE PREPARED AS ARE, AS DECEMBER.
ASSUMING EVERYTHING GOES THROUGH, YOU KNOW, UM, BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, AS WE EXPECT IT, WE COULD BE PREPARED TO PRESENT THAT TO FULL COUNCIL AS EARLY AS DECEMBER.
IS THERE ANY OTHER PARTS OF WATER FORWARD PLAN THAT WOULD BE READY TO MOVE FORWARD IF WE WERE SEAN CON? SO AT THIS POINT, UM, WE ARE ONLY SPECIFICALLY FOCUSED ON THOSE PARTICULAR, UM, ALEX.
WELL, UM, I THINK THAT'S GREAT.
I WANT TO SEE AS MOVING FORWARD, UH, ADOPTING AND IMPLEMENTING AS WELL.
I THINK WE'VE PRETTY MUCH INDICATED THAT THANKS, COUNCIL MEMBER KITCHEN.
I WANTED TO GET A LITTLE BIT MORE, UM, SPECIFICS TO MAKE SURE THAT I'M UNDERSTANDING THIS.
SO, SO, UM, THE, THE PART THAT YOU MENTIONED THAT IN THE HAVE NOW FORGOTTEN THE TITLE NUMBER, BUT YOU KNOW, THE NUMBER THAT WE'RE COLLECTING, THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE NUMBER, THOSE ARE THE PARTS THAT YOU'RE NOT BRINGING FORWARD AT THE SAME TIME THAT YOU'RE BRINGING FORWARD THE ITEMS, THAT BIG ITEMS, BUT THE, THE CHANGES THAT WERE READY IN DECEMBER, RIGHT.
THEY, YES, THEY'VE BEEN SEPARATED.
THEY'VE BEEN INTENDED TO BE SEPARATE, YOU KNOW, KIND OF FLUTES PROCESS, BUT YES, MA'AM, THEY'RE SEPARATE.
SO I JUST WANT TO UNDERSTAND, UM, YOU KNOW, COUNCIL MEMBER ALTERED HAD MENTIONED THAT PERHAPS THEY WORKED TOGETHER.
AND SO I WANTED TO UNDERSTAND IN A BETTER WAY, WHAT EXACTLY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT? THAT'S IN THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE ARE THE KINDS OF THINGS THAT WERE THERE TOO, FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, CAN YOU DESCRIBE THEM BETTER FOR ME SO THAT, SO THAT I CAN UNDERSTAND THEM BETTER? SO PROBABLY THE, AND TWO OF THEM I THINK, WERE REFERENCED EARLIER, UM, AND D JUST BROAD BRUSH.
THERE ARE THREE ELEMENTS THAT WERE INCLUDED IN THE PROPOSED PLAN DEVELOPMENT CODE REWRITE.
AND IF YOU WANT WE'RE FORWARD, ONE WAS WHAT WE TYPICALLY REFER TO AS THE, UH, THE ALARMS COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT MANDATE.
SO THE REGULATORY REQUIREMENT, THE WAY IT'S WRITTEN IS THAT THAT MANDATE THAT WOULD BE MANDATED BY 2020, 20, 23, THAT LARGE COMMERCIAL 250,000 SQUARE FEET WOULD BE REQUIRED TO ADOPT ON-SITE REEVES.
AND SO THAT WOULD BE THE PIECE THAT AT THIS POINT IS BEEN OFFERED AS A PROPOSED SECTION IN TITLE 23, THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, AND THAT'S WHERE THAT, UM, THE OTHER ELEMENT WOULD BE THE REQUIREMENT FOR, UM, BENCHMARKING.
SO AGAIN, UM, ALSO IN THE PROPOSE 20
[00:40:01]
TITLE CODE, UM, AND THE, THE, THE THIRD ITEM ITEM IS THE REQUIREMENT FOR LARGE COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENTS THAT ARE WITHIN IT AS THE CURRENT RECLAIM SYSTEM TO MAKE CLAIMS SYSTEM.SO RIGHT NOW, UM, CURRENT CODE REQUIRES THAT, THAT, UM, DEVELOPMENT TO THE TWO 50 FEET OF THE EXISTING RECLINE SYSTEM CONNECT, IT WOULD BASICALLY, AND CAN YOU MUTE, HE'S CUTTING IN AND OUT, AND I REALLY WANT TO HEAR, AND SHE GETS SOME, I'M SORRY, GUYS.
IT JUST KEEPS CUTTING IN AND OUT I'M MUTED.
SO THOSE ARE THE THREE PRIMARY PIECES THAT TODAY REMAIN IN THE PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE LAND DEVELOPMENT.
SO THEN, UM, SO THOSE, THOSE PIECES, HAVE THEY BEEN BROUGHT FORWARD AND ARE THEY PLANNING, WHEN ARE THEY, WHEN WILL THEY BE BROUGHT FORWARD THROUGH THE COMMISSION? SO AGAIN, THOSE PARTICULAR PIECES, UM, I THINK IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN, UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE OVERALL STRATEGY IS FOR, UM, MOVING THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE REWRITE FORWARD.
UM, I BELIEVE THOSE PARTICULAR PIECES ARE MORE DIRECTLY IMPACTFUL TO NEW DEVELOPMENT AND ARE MORE SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO LAND DEVELOPMENT AND THEREFORE LIGHTLY BELONG IN THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE.
THEY HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH ZONING THOUGH, AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT A KITCHEN IS POINTING TO.
AND SO I THINK WE ARE VERY INTERESTED AND ANXIOUS TO MOVE FORWARD ON FRANKLY, ALL OF THE WATER FORWARD DOESN'T ACTUALLY HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH ZONING, UNLESS PLEASE JUST ABUSE ME IF I'M NOT CORRECT ON THAT.
I, I, I BELIEVE THERE'S THINKING THAT THAT IS EVOLVING AROUND THAT.
I MEAN, THAT'S KIND OF THE INPUT THAT WE HAVE RECEIVED FROM THE LAW DEPARTMENT.
UM, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, I THINK THAT THE CHALLENGE BECOMES, YOU KNOW, AS AN OVERALL CITY STRATEGY, TRYING TO MAINTAIN A MORE COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE AND, AND DEALING WITH LAND DEVELOPMENT PRO.
SO AGAIN, WE'RE, WE'RE, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, WAITING FOR A BIT OF DRUGS.
WELL, LET ME JUST ASK A FOLLOW UP QUESTION THEN.
SO, UM, HAVE THESE PROVISIONS BEEN BROUGHT THROUGH THOSE COMMISSIONS IN THE PAST? I MEAN, WE ALL KNOW WE'VE HAD TOPLESS STARTS AND STOPS ON THE LAND DEVELOPMENT AND THOSE STARTS HAVE INCLUDED THE PATH THROUGH THE COMMISSION.
SO THESE PARTICULAR THREE PROVISIONS THAT YOU, UH, THAT WE JUST TALKED ABOUT, HAVE THEY BEEN BEFORE THOSE COMMITMENTS? YEAH, I WOULD SAY, I WOULD SAY CERTAINLY IN A GENERAL WAY, THEY HAVE, UM, CLEAN A GENERAL WAY.
WE'VE TALKED AT LENGTH, UH, CERTAINLY WITH OUR WATER FORCE TASK FORCE.
AND I WOULD SAY THEY'RE VERY AWARE OF THAT.
IN FACT, WE HAVE A SUB COMMITTEE OF THAT TASK FORCE WHERE WE HAD TALKED ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THE DETAIL AND NUANCE YOU GET TO THE WHOLE BODY OF CITY CODE.
UM, AND THEN SPECIFICALLY THE LAND DEPARTMENT CODE.
AND THEN HOW EITHER OF THOSE, OR ANY PARTICULAR ELEMENT OF CODE SORT OF AFFECTS OR RELATES TO IMPLEMENTATION OF BITS AND PARTS OF WATER QUALITY? WELL, I GUESS WHAT I'M ASKING IS SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE THE COMMISSIONS THAT YOU'RE, UH, THAT YOU NAMED THAT THINGS GO THROUGH IS, IS SOMETHING THAT'S PART OF OUR PROCESS FOR ADOPTING THESE KINDS OF ORDINANCE CHANGES.
SO MY QUESTION IS, UH, AND WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU GO IN FRONT OF A COMMISSION, UM, AND YOU'RE GOING THROUGH THIS PROCESS FOR AN ORDINANCE CHANGE, YOU TALK TO THE COMMISSION ABOUT THE SPECIFIC ORDINANCE CHANGE.
SO MY QUESTION IS THESE THREE SPECIFIC ORDINANCE CHANGES, WHICH ARE WRITTEN AND IN A PROPOSED CODE, HAVE THEY HAVE THE, HAVE THESE COMMISSIONS, UM, HEARD THEM TALKED ABOUT THEM, REVIEWED THEM, SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THEM? HAVE, HAVE THEY BEEN BROUGHT IN FRONT OF THOSE COMMISSIONS? CAN I TRY TO ANSWER THAT KEVIN? SURE.
SO COUNCIL MEMBER, NO, THEY WERE NOT SPECIFICALLY BROUGHT TO THE COMMISSIONS THE WAY THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE UNFOLDED.
A LOT OF THIS WAS PROVIDED FROM THE DIETS, UH, FROM THE COUNCIL.
AND SO, UH, THE, THE CODE, UH, WAS, UH, ESSENTIALLY DISCUSSED AT THE COUNCIL LEVEL.
WE DID NOT GO BACK AND TAKE ALL OF THESE THROUGH, UH, THE INDIVIDUAL, UH, COMMISSIONS.
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ITEMS HAVEN'T BEEN THROUGH THE COMMISSIONS.THAT THEN ANSWERS MY QUESTION.
SO, AND AT THIS POINT, WHAT YOU GUYS WERE SAYING ABSENT DIRECTION, UH, YOU AREN'T PLANNING TO MOVE THEM FORWARD EXCEPT AS PART OF THE COMPREHENSIVE LDC PROCESS.
YEAH, I GUESS WE'RE KINDA, YOU KNOW, FROM SPEAKING FROM THE WATER UTILITY, WE'RE NOT SURE HOW TO, HOW TO APPEAL THIS APART.
IF WE, YOU KNOW, IF WE, IF THE EXPECTATION WAS THE WATER UTILITY STAFF SHOULD JUST BREAK OFF THESE FROM THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE AND TRY TO TAKE THEM FORWARD, OR IF THAT WAS GOING TO BE A COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION AT THAT.
AND, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, IT'S HARD.
NO, I'M NOT SUGGESTING YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE IT BY NOW.
I'M JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND.
AND I CERTAINLY UNDERSTAND IF, IF, IF THAT'S SOMETHING YOU NEED DIRECTION ON, SO I'M NOT, SO I'M SORRY.
I DIDN'T MEAN TO SOUND LIKE YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE THAT.
I JUST WAS TRYING TO CLARIFY THAT, YOU KNOW, ABSENT A DIRECTION CONTRARY TO THAT, THEN THE WAY IT'S PROCEEDING RIGHT NOW IS AS PART OF THE WHOLE LAND DEVELOP COMPREHENSIVE LAND DEVELOPMENT KIT.
YOU, AND JUST TO MAKE SURE I'M UNDERSTANDING TOO, THE, THE PARTS THAT ARE IN THAT REWRITE OUR DATES, THAT WE HAVEN'T PASSED THEM RIGHT THERE A YEAR OR TWO YEARS, MAYBE THREE YEARS OUT, JUST TO MAKE SURE THOSE PROGRAMS ARE IN LINE WITH HOW OUR HOUSING AND TRANSPORTATION USES IS WORKING.
SO WE HAVEN'T MISSED ANY OF THOSE DATES.
WELL, ONE OF 'EM IS A DATE THAT WOULD MANDATE WHEN IT'S A REQUIREMENT IN 23.
SO THAT DATE HASN'T TRIGGERED, BUT SOME OF THE OTHER CODES THAT ARE IN THE LDC WOULD HAVE GONE INTO EFFECT EARLIER.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, UH, REQUIRING A WATER BALANCE FOR A ALL NEW DEVELOPMENT WOULD HAVE WENT INTO EFFECT, UH, IMMEDIATELY.
AND SO THAT, THAT, THAT CODE IS STILL SITTING IDLE.
SIMILARLY, THE EXPANSION OF THE CONNECTION FROM, UH, 250 FEET TO 550 FEET OR RECLAIMED WATER, UH, WOULD HAVE STARTED EARLIER.
AND SO THAT IS, THAT IS SITTING IDLE IN THE LDC.
I, I WOULD HAVE TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT THE RECORD, BUT I JUST REMEMBER HAVING THIS THOUGHT PREVIOUSLY WHERE I WAS LIKE, I WOULD JUST GET WORRIED IF THEY GOT TANGLED UP.
AND SO CERTAINLY WANT TO SEE WATER FORWARD IMPLEMENTED, UM, WANTING TO MAKE SURE WE'RE MAKING THOSE GOOD DECISIONS TO MOVE THESE POLICIES FORWARD THAT HAS HAD SO COMMUNITY INPUT.
UM, SO IT'S INTERESTING TO SEE IF, IF THERE'S A DATE OF 20, 23, WHATEVER, WHATEVER HAPPENS WITH LAND DEVELOPMENT REWRITES, BUT WE LOOK AT THAT DATE AND MAKE SURE DOES IT NEED TO BE MOVED OFF? DOES IT NEED, YOU KNOW, HOW, HOW CAN WE, ONCE YOU'RE ABLE TO START WORKING ON THAT IN A MORE OFFICIAL CAPACITY PUBLICLY WITH MORE INPUT FOR THAT PARTICULAR PIECE, TO MAKE SURE WE'RE DOING IT AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME AND MAKING SURE IT'S DEVELOPED WELL, THOROUGHLY VETTED, READY TO GO ONCE WE HIT THAT TARGET.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S INTERESTING TO ME, UM, I'M GLAD THERE'S SO MANY OTHER PORTIONS THAT, THAT ARE ABLE TO BE IMPLEMENTED, AND IT SEEMS LIKE YOU'RE DEFINITELY THINKING ABOUT IT AND STILL CONTINUING TO ROLL OVER THOSE IDEAS AND TO, TO WORK TOWARD THIS GOAL, WHICH I REALLY APPRECIATE BY SHAREPOINT.
WELL, THERE ISN'T ACTUALLY ANY REASON WHY WE COULD NOT AS A, AS A COMMUNITY MOVE THIS FORWARD OURSELVES.
UM, I THINK THAT THE, THE, UM, PAUSE IN, UH, ADOPTING WATER FORWARD IS A LITTLE BIT ARTIFICIAL BECAUSE AS WE POINTED OUT PREVIOUSLY, IT DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH ZONING.
AND IN FACT, IF WE WAIT TILL 2023, WE WILL BE MISSING SIGNIFICANT, UM, SAVINGS AND, UM, UH, NOT ONLY, UH, MONEY SAVINGS, BUT WATER SAVINGS AND CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT WE HAVE ON YOUR TESLA, YOU HAVE A FACTORY THAT'S OPENING, UM, JUST OFF TO THE EAST OF US, AND WE'LL BE TAKING SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF WATER OUT OF THE COLORADO RIVER, EVEN IF IT IS DOWNSTREAM OF US, THAT WILL HAVE SOME SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS ON WHAT WE DO WITH REGARD TO OUR DROUGHT, MITIGATION AND MANAGEMENT.
UM, AND I KNOW, UH, DIRECTOR MS. CEROS, I HAD ASKED FOR, UM, AN UPDATE TO THE BEST THAT YOU'RE ABLE TO DO RECOGNIZING YOU'RE STILL IN NEGOTIATIONS WITH THIS PLAN.
I THINK MR. CRITTENDON WAS PREPARING TO GIVE US A LITTLE UPDATE ON THE TESTING SITUATION, BUT WATER FORWARD NEEDS TO MOVE WITH, WITH, UM, WITH URGENCY AT THIS POINT WHERE WE'VE LOST MOST OF 2020.
AND, AND I HAVE NOT BEEN CONVINCED THAT WAS EVEN NECESSARY.
SO WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO PROPOSE IS THAT WE, FOR AS A COMMITTEE, UH, LOOK AT, UM, MAKING A RECOMMENDATION TO YOUR WORK AS BOARD CHAIR, THE LARGER TO THE LARGER COUNCIL.
I KNOW THIS IS NOT ON THE AGENDA FOR US TO TAKE ACTION.
SO I'M SIMPLY PROPOSING IT AS A THOUGHT, UH, FOR US TO CONSIDER AT THIS POINT.
AND THEN I I'D LIKE TO HAVE THE CHAIR RECONVENE US AT SOME POINT, EVEN IF IT'S, UM, YOU KNOW, LIKE A SPECIAL
[00:50:01]
CALLED QUICKLY BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR, SO THAT WE CAN MAKE A DETERMINATION ON, ON MOVING THIS FORWARD AND DIRECTOR MS. SARAH.SO IF THERE ARE REASONS WHY YOU THINK WE SHOULD, UM, NOT MOVE FORWARD WITH WATER FORWARD, OR IF THERE ARE ONLY SELECTED PORTIONS OF IT THAT ARE LARGER THAN THE ONES THAT WE TALKED ABOUT TODAY, I THINK WE WOULD NEED TO TAKE YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS ON THAT.
BUT, UM, ALSO PLEASE NOTE WHAT I WANT TO UNDERSTAND HOW THEY ARE RELATED SPECIFICALLY TO, UM, WHY THEY SHOULD BE DELAYED.
I THINK IF THE COUNCIL WERE TO LIFT ALL THESE SOURCES OF WATER FORWARD OUT AND RECOMMEND THOSE MOVE FORWARD, WE'RE IN A POSITION FOR ALL THAT TIME.
AND, AND THAT'S, THAT'S ACTUALLY WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL NOTES.
UM, SO, UH, I THINK SOME OTHER ALTERNATIVES.
AND I JUST WANT TO SAY, I THINK THAT'S A GOOD CONVERSATION FOR US TO HAVE, UM, BUT I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE WE'RE CLEAR THAT ALL OF WATER FORWARD IS NOT HELD UP.
THERE ARE CERTAINLY BIG COMPONENTS OF IT THAT HAVE REFERENCE IN, IN THE REWRITE, BUT THERE'S SO MANY OTHER MOVING PARTS THAT THE UTILITY IS MOVING FORWARD WITH THAT OUR COMMISSIONERS IN TWO DIFFERENT COMMISSIONS ARE WORKING ON VERY STEADFASTLY.
UM, SO WE CERTAINLY WANT TO LOOK AT SOME OF THESE PIECES, BUT THE WHOLE WATER FORWARD PLAN IS NOT, IT'S NOT BEING HELD US.
UM, ACTUALLY IT HAS BEEN, BUT I THINK, UM, ALISON HAND-IN-HAND I HAD CALLED SLIVER ALTAR.
I JUST WANTED TO SAY, I THINK THEY KNOW THIS WOULD BE A REALLY GOOD THING.
I THINK FOR OUR COMMITTEE TO KIND OF RUN WITH AND MOVE FORWARD AND FIGURE IT OUT AS, AS YOU KNOW, AS MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THERE ARE THE PIECES THAT ARE WITHIN THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, UM, THAT COULD EASILY BE SEPARATED OUT.
IT IS A MATTER OF POLITICS THAT THEY'RE, THAT THEY'RE NOT, AND, AND THE TRADE OFFS.
UM, BUT I THINK THERE IS, YOU KNOW, I WOULD VENTURE THAT THERE'S UNANIMOUS SUPPORT FOR ALL OF THOSE PIECES, UM, MOVING FORWARD.
AND SO IT'S A REALLY A QUESTION OF WHETHER, UM, WE THINK THAT THE COSTS OF WAITING ON THOSE OUTWEIGH THE BENEFITS OF WAITING.
UM, AND I, I THINK THAT THERE ARE HIGH COSTS OF WAITING, UM, AND THEY ARE READY TO GO.
WE'RE NOT, YOU KNOW, WE WEREN'T HEARING, UM, OBJECTIONS TO THOSE PIECES ADD UP, UM, WITHIN THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK.
UM, SO I THINK, YOU KNOW, CHAIR BE A GREAT THING FOR, UM, THIS COMMITTEE TO LEAD LEAN INTO AND MOVE FORWARD.
AND THE TIMING WITH, UM, THE PASSAGE IN DECEMBER OF THESE NEXT STEPS WOULD AFFORD A REALLY NICE OPPORTUNITY, UM, FOR LEADERSHIP IN MOVING IN THAT DIRECTION.
UM, AND I'M HAPPY TO HELP AND PARTICIPATE.
HOWEVER, UM, THE CHAIR AND THE VICE CHAIR WOULD LIKE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THAT AND MAKE THE TIME FOR A SPECIAL MEETING IF WE NEED IT, OR WE CAN JUST, YOU KNOW, THE FOUR OF US DO IT AND BRING SOMEBODY ELSE ON, UM, AS A CO-SPONSOR, IF WE THINK THAT THE MEETING TIME FRAMEWORK, UM, STICKLE, I THINK ALL OF THOSE PIECES HAVE BEEN VETTED AT VARIOUS STAGES, AND I CERTAINLY WOULDN'T BE PROPOSING TO CHANGE ANY OF THE PIECES.
I WILL ALSO FLAG THAT THERE'S ANOTHER PIECE THAT'S IN CODE RELATED TO WILDFIRE, WHICH IS IN A SIMILAR SITUATION.
UM, BUT I WOULD ALSO LIKE US TO SEE, LIKE, TO SEE, UM, MOVE FORWARD.
I DON'T KNOW THAT THOSE HAVE TO GO TOGETHER, BUT I THINK THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE TWO KEY PIECES IN THERE.
SO WE ADOPTED THE WILD LAND, URBAN INTERFACE CODE, BUT NOT THE PIECES THAT WERE IN THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE THAT MAKE UP THE WILDLAND URBAN INTERFACE CODE.
AND SO THERE ARE PIECES FOR OUR WILDFIRE RESPONSE THAT ARE IN A SIMILAR THING WHERE THERE WAS AN EXPECTATION THAT THEY WERE IN THE CODE AND THAT WAS PLACED FOR THEM.
BUT NOW THAT, THAT WASN'T ADOPTED, WE HAVE BIG HOLES IN WHAT WE'VE ADOPTED THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED, UM, THAT I DON'T KNOW THAT THEY CAN WAIT ANOTHER YEAR, YEAR AND A HALF, DEPENDING ON HOW LONG IT TAKES WITH, UH, WITH THE APPEAL PROCESS THOUGHT VICE-CHAIR POOLS ON YOU DID, BUT COUNCIL MEMBER KITCHEN HAS HER HAND UP.
DO YOU WANNA GO AHEAD, COUNCIL MEMBER KITCHEN.
YEAH, I WAS JUST GOING TO SAY THAT I, THAT I, I THINK IT'S A REALLY GOOD ROLE FOR THIS, UM, COMMITTEE, UH, BECAUSE IT GIVES US THE OPPORTUNITY TO DIG INTO THE DETAILS AND I, MR. MASSARO I APPRECIATE WHAT YOU HAD TO SAY.
AND I WAS ALSO THINKING IN TERMS OF, YOU KNOW, THOSE THREE ITEMS THAT THEY WERE AT LEAST SOME OF THEM THAT YOU MENTIONED THAT WOULD BE USEFUL TO GO AHEAD AND GET GOING.
SO I THINK WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IS I WOULD LIKE TO SEE, UM, OUR COMMITTEE TO, UM, TO MOVE THIS FORWARD.
SO MOVE THOSE, MOVE THOSE FORWARD, EXCUSE ME, THAT INSTEAD OF WAITING ON THE LDC AND MOVE THEM FORWARD, UH, SUCH THAT WE
[00:55:01]
CAN REALLY TALK ABOUT THEM IN THE SAME TIMEFRAME THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, THE OTHER ITEM THAT IS MOVING FORWARD FOR DECEMBER.AND I, YOU KNOW, I'M HAPPY TO DO IT EITHER WAY.
UM, I'M HAPPY TO DO IT OUT OF THIS COMMITTEE OR, UM, OR JUST BRING IT SEPARATELY.
BUT I DO THINK THAT ONE OF THE NICE THINGS ABOUT A COMMITTEE ARE NOT NICE THINGS.
ONE OF THE GOOD ROLES OF A COMMITTEE IS TO, IS TO VET THESE KINDS OF THINGS.
AND THIS IS JUST SQUARELY WITHIN, UM, THE ROLE OF THIS COMMITTEE.
SO, AND CERTAINLY GLAD WE'RE ABLE TO HAVE THIS CONVERSATION.
I WENT BACK TO JUST CHECK TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WOULD BE ABLE TO TAKE SOME ACTION AND IT SAYS, UM, ON OUR, ON OUR, UH, AGENDA ACTION WILL ONLY BE TAKEN BY MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE.
AND THIS IS AN ITEM THAT REFERS TO WATER FORWARD IMPLEMENTATION STATUS, UM, AND PROPOSED NEW CHAPTER FOR US WHEN STUDENTS GO TO THE VIRUS ONSITE, WATER REUSE.
SO I THINK THAT THERE IS, UM, WE LEARN IN HERE FOR US TO MAKE A MOTION WITH REGARD TO, UM, THIS CHAPTER AND, UH, IMPLEMENTATION OF WATER FORWARD, WHICH IS OUR ITEM POOL.
IS THAT IMMERSION THAT YOU WANTED TO MAKE COUNSELORS IN THE KITCHEN? YEAH, I'M HAPPY TO MAKE THAT MOTION.
I WOULD, I WOULD MOVE THAT, UM, AS A, UH, AS A COMMITTEE WE MOVE FORWARD WITH, COULD I GET A LITTLE CLARIFICATION FROM OUR STAFF CONTACT? ARE WE POSTED TO TAKE MOTIONS ON THIS ITEM? THIS IS HEATHER COOKE FROM AUSTIN WATER.
THIS IS POSTED AS A BRIEFING ITEM.
AND WHERE DO YOU SEE ON WHAT THEY HAD, UM, OR AGENDA THAT'S ONLINE, RIGHT.
AND ITEM FOUR THAT YOU'VE BEEN DISCUSSING IS UNDER BRIEFINGS AS OPPOSED TO DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE POSSIBLE ACTION WAS ABOVE ITEM TWO AND THEN BRIEFING WAS UNDER THREE AND FOUR.
OKAY, WELL, UM, I THINK OUR INTENT IS PRETTY CLEAR HERE.
LET'S GO AHEAD AND JUST, UM, ALL WEIGH IN ON, ON OUR INTERESTING DURING THIS, AND THEN PERHAPS WE WILL SET A SPECIAL CALL MEETING SO THAT WE COULD BRING FORWARD FROM THIS COMMITTEE, UM, WHEN IT'S PROPERLY NOTICED MY OTHER KITCHEN.
SO I AM WRESTLING WITH MY MUTE BUTTON.
SO, UM, YES, AND, AND ACTUALLY I THINK THAT WE, WE, UH, WE'LL WANT TO BE SPECIFIC IN TERMS OF WHAT WE'RE BRINGING FORWARD.
UM, AND SO, UM, IT MAKES SENSE TO ME A SPECIAL CALL MEETINGS SO THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY LOOK AT THE CODE PROVISIONS THAT WE WANT TO RECOMMEND.
UM, AND, AND THAT WOULD BE MORE SPECIFIC PICK THAT THAT'S PART OF THE ROLE OF THIS COMMITTEE IS TO GET DOWN TO THAT LEVEL OF DETAIL.
AND THAT'S THE VALUE ADD THAT THE COMMITTEE OPERA OFFERS.
SO I WOULD LIKE TO PROPOSE THAT WE SET A SPECIAL CALL MEETING THAT, UM, THAT IS SET AS A DISCUSSION AND AN ITEM FOR ACTION.
CERTAINLY HEAR THAT SOUNDS LIKE IT SOUNDS LIKE THE THREE OF Y'ALL ARE ON BOARD WITH THAT.
I, I HAVE MY CONCERNS ABOUT TAKING THINGS, WHAT, WHAT MAY BE IN A LAWSUIT SEEING AS HOW SO MUCH AT THIS POINT IT'S MOVING FORWARD, BUT CERTAINLY APPRECIATE THAT AND HEAR YOU, AND WE WILL TAKE NEXT STEPS TO FURTHER THIS DISCUSSION.
I WANTED TO ASK DIRECTOR MAZARA SAM, MR. GUZMAN, TO, UM, GIVE US, UH, THE, UM, SPECIFIC PORTIONS OF WATER FORWARD THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE US MOVE FORWARD IF IT'S THE ENTIRETY OF IT, OR IF THERE'S A SUBSET, GO AHEAD AND SEND THAT TO US.
AND THEN I THINK WE SHOULD SET A SPECIAL CALL MEETING DATE, UM, CHAIR, IF YOU HAVE, UM, YOU HAVE THE CALENDAR THERE HANDY, MAYBE WE COULD GET SOME, UM, SUGGESTIONS OUT ON THE FLOOR, AND THEN WE CAN CONFIRM THAT LATER, OR WE CAN HAVE, UM, HEATHER CONNECT WITH OUR OFFICES AND FIND A DATE I'M THINKING PROBABLY NEXT WEEK.
UM, WELL, CERTAINLY HAVE TO GO THROUGH, GO THROUGH.
I HATE TO DO THIS COUNCIL MEMBER POOL.
AND I HEAR YOU, BUT YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO GET CALENDARS TOGETHER AND WE'VE GOT TO WORK WITH CTM AND THE CLERK'S OFFICE.
UM, LET'S JUST COORDINATE OFFLINE ABOUT HOW THIS WILL WORK.
IT'S THE URGENCY OF IT THAT I THINK THE THREE OF US ARE, OR ALL FOUR OF US ACTUALLY ARE, ARE INDICATING OUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
CERTAINLY HERE YOU COUNT SOME OF OUR ALTAR.
SO, SO I, I REALLY BELIEVE THIS IS SOMETHING WE CAN ALL GET BEHIND AND I DON'T WANT TO PUT ANYONE ON THE SPOT WITHOUT THEM HAVING AN OPPORTUNITY TO, TO THINK IT THROUGH AND, AND TO UNDERSTAND THAT.
[01:00:01]
UM, WHERE OUR CHAIRS COMING FROM AND WANTING TO DO DUE DILIGENCE ON THE NEXT STEPS.UM, I THINK THAT, UM, I CERTAINLY WOULD FAVOR A SPECIAL CALL MEETING AND APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO CONTINUE THAT CONVERSATION.
UM, BUT I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN I BROUGHT IT UP EARLIER, I BROUGHT IT UP FROM, UH, NOT, NOT IN A POSITION OF TRYING TO PUT ANYONE ON THE SPOT, BUT REALLY HAVE A POSITION OF BELIEVING THAT THE, THE FULL COUNCIL WAS BEHIND AND AGREED WITH.
UM, AND THAT UNDERSTANDING THAT THERE WERE COSTS OF DELAY WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THAT THERE WERE, UM, YOU KNOW, BENEFITS OF WAITING, WHICH I HAVE YET TO HEAR THE BENEFITS OF, OF WAITING.
UM, I'M OPEN TO HEARING THOSE IF THEY'RE THERE.
UM, BUT I, BUT I THINK, YOU KNOW, THIS SUCCEEDS, IF WE ALL WORK TOGETHER AND WALK ARM-IN-ARM WITH IT AND RECOGNIZE THAT IT'S AN IMPORTANT STEP TO ACHIEVE THE GOALS THAT WE ALL AGREED WITH, UM, WE THOUGHT WATER FORWARD.
UM, AND I THINK THAT WOULD BE, UM, YOU KNOW, I WOULD PREFER US TO BE ABLE TO, TO, TO MOVE FORWARD THAT WAY, BECAUSE I BELIEVE THAT, UM, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT EVERYONE ON COUNCIL WANTS US TO SEE, UM, MOVE FORWARD.
I WAS NOT AWARE WHEN WE HAD THE PREVIOUS CONVERSATIONS THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS PIECE OF IT WAS GOING TO BE MOVING FORWARD AS QUICKLY OR, OR IN THIS TIMEFRAME.
IT WASN'T SOMETHING I HAD ON MY RADAR SCREEN.
UM, NOW THAT I'M AWARE OF IT GOING FORWARD IN THIS TIME FRAME AND UNDERSTANDING THAT THERE ARE SOME PIECES MISSING THE WAY THAT WE ENDED UP HAVING TO EXPERIENCE IT WITH THE WILDLAND URBAN INTERFACE CODE, I AM VERY INTERESTED IN SEEING IF WE CAN FIND A WAY THAT ALL OF US, UM, ARE INTERESTED IN, UM, KIND OF MOVING IT FORWARD, UM, TOGETHER.
UM, BUT I THINK THIS IS SOMETHING WE ALL AGREE ON AND, AND, AND SHOULD BE DONE IN THAT SPIRIT.
I THINK, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER ELLIS, MIGHT'VE LOST POWER.
IT ALMOST LOOKED LIKE, YEAH, I'M IN CITY HALL.
YOU KNOW HOW THEY TURN OUR LIGHTS OFF IF WE DON'T MOVE.
YEAH, YOU HAVE TO SAVE ENERGY.
SO THEY'LL TURN, THE LIGHTS JUST ARE MOTION SENSORED.
I AGREE THAT THIS SHOULD BE SOMETHING THAT, UM, OR AT LEAST FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, I THINK A LOT OF, UH, UH, COMMON GROUND HERE AND SO MUCH IS THAT IF WE SET UP THE, UM, YOU KNOW, IF WE SET UP A SPECIAL CALL MEETING, IT'LL LET US GET INTO THE DETAILS BECAUSE WHAT WE HAVEN'T DONE TODAY IS ACTUALLY LOOK AT LANGUAGE AND GET INTO THE DETAILS.
UM, IT ALSO PROVIDES SOME TIME FOR EVERYONE TO DO SOME DUE DILIGENCE ON THE TIMEFRAME.
UM, AND I, YOU KNOW, WE COULD ALSO CONSIDER DOING AN EXECUTIVE, UM, SESSION AS PART OF THE, UM, AS PART OF THE COMMITTEE, IF THERE'S SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THIS TONING OR, AND ZONING OR WHATEVER, WE CAN CERTAINLY HAVE THAT CONVERSATION AS PART OF COMMITTEE TITLE.
AND WE CAN USE THAT, THAT, UH, COMMITTEE MEETING TO GET INTO MORE DETAIL AND THEN, AND THEN SEE IF WE'RE COMFORTABLE, UH, MOVING IT FROM WHERE I SIT RIGHT NOW.
I THINK I WANT TO, I WANT IT TO RECORD, BUT I ALSO, FROM WHERE I SIT RIGHT NOW, LIKE, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ALTAR SAID, UM, MY IMPRESSION IS THAT THE, WE HAVE A LOT OF COMMON GROUND AND WE COULD GET TO A PLACE THAT WE COULD ALL MOVE FORWARD WITH.
AND I WANT TO ALLOW THAT SPACE TO HAVE THAT CONVERSATION.
SO, AND CERTAINLY APPRECIATE THAT IT'S AN IMPORTANT TOPIC.
AND I REMEMBER HAVING RESERVATIONS WHEN IT GOT WRAPPED IN WITH LDC THAT I WANTED IT TO BE ABLE TO FLY WHEN IT NEEDS TO FLY.
UM, SO IT IS UNFORTUNATE TO EVEN REALLY NEED TO KIND OF LOOK AT THESE LAST FEW PIECES THAT ARE OBVIOUSLY BIG AND IMPORTANT.
UM, I STILL HAVE CONCERNS, LEGAL CONCERNS ABOUT PULLING THINGS OUT OF, OF A LAWSUIT.
UM, JUST THAT'S MY COMFORT LEVEL.
I KNOW WE MAY HAVE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF COMFORT ON, ON THAT INFORMATION, BUT CERTAINLY HAVE APPRECIATED THIS CONVERSATION AND OBVIOUSLY APPRECIATED WHERE EVERYONE'S COMING FROM ON IT.
SO, UM, SO CHAIR, COULD WE, THEN WHEN WE SET UP, SO IF I'M UNDERSTANDING CORRECTLY, WE'RE GOING TO MOVE FORWARD WITH SETTING UP A SPECIAL CALL MEETING.
CAN WE ALSO ALSO SPECIALIST SET IT UP SO THAT WE HAVE OPTIONS? SO WE CAN, UH, WE CAN TAKE ACTION IF WE WANT TO, UM, AND THAT WE CAN ALSO SET IT UP SO THAT WE CAN HAVE AN EXECUTIVE SESSION BECAUSE I THINK THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL.
I'LL, I'LL TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT, WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN FOR THAT AND, UM, COORDINATE WITH EITHER ALL OF Y'ALL OR JUST VICE CHAIR POOL ON, YOU KNOW, EXACTLY WHAT THAT MIGHT BE POSTED TO LOOK LIKE AND WHAT TYPE OF SCHEDULE WE CAN DO.
I KNOW IT'S KINDA TOUGH WITH SO MANY, SO MANY THINGS NEEDING OUR AUDIO, VISUAL TECH AND OUR CLERKS OFFICE, DOING WHAT THEY CAN AND OUR STAFF CONTACTS WORKING VERY HARD TO MAKE SURE WE'RE SET UP.
SO WE'LL CERTAINLY CONTINUE THIS CONVERSATION AND SEE IF WE CAN GET ONE IN THE BOOKS IN A TIMELY FASHION AND WHAT THAT POSTING LANGUAGE SHOULD LOOK LIKE.
[01:05:01]
THIS IS PRETTY EXCITING.I KNOW WE'VE BEEN ALL WAITING TO LIVE FORWARD WITH WATER FORWARD FOR MOST OF THIS YEAR.
I THINK THE COMMUNITY HAS BEEN READY TOO, SO GOOD WORK, EVERYBODY.
WE CERTAINLY HAVE ADVOCATES THAT ARE EAGER AS WELL, ALL NEXT ITEM, AND I'M GOING TO HAVE TO STEP AWAY.
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT I NEEDED TO BE HERE FOR? LET'S SEE, WHAT ARE WE DOING ON
[5. 2030 Water Savings Goal and related strategies included in the proposed 2020 Climate Equity Plan.]
WATER SAVINGS GOALS IN THE COMMUNITY, UM, AND THE TOXIC CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN AND THEN TOXIC ALGAE ON THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.I THINK ON THAT ONE, THERE'S SOME QUESTIONS OUTSTANDING, BUT I AM WORKING ON GETTING ANSWERS TO, BUT WE WEREN'T GOING TO TAKE ANY ACTION IN THIS WAY TODAY.
WELL, I'M SORRY TO LEAVE YOU ALL.
UM, BUT THANKS VERY MUCH TO STAFF FOR ALL THE GOOD INFORMATION AND I WILL CATCH UP WITH YOU ALL LATER.
ARE WE READY FOR THE NEXT ITEM? ALL RIGHT.
UM, UH, AGAIN, WHERE MOVING ON, UM, AGAIN, I'M KEVIN CURTIN AND I'M GOING TO HANDLE THIS ONE, UM, AND WHAT I'M GOING TO TRY TO DO IN THE INTEREST OF TIME, BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE WE WANT TO RESERVE TIME FOR THE, UH, UM, ALGAE CONVERSATION.
I'M GOING TO TRY TO KIND OF STEP ON THE GAS A LITTLE BIT HERE, SO FEEL FREE TO SLOW ME DOWN AS NECESSARY.
UM, LET ME JUST START BY SAYING, DESPITE THE TITLE OF THIS SLIDE, UM, WE'RE REALLY HERE TO PROVIDE YOUR BRIEF OVERVIEW WITH HOW AWESOME OUR FORWARD PLAN RELATES TO THE 2020 AUSTIN CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
UM, AND WHILE AUSTIN WATER STAFF PARTICIPATED IN THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, WE CERTAINLY CAN'T TAKE CREDIT FOR THE TREMENDOUS WORK BY THE SUSTAINABILITY OFFICE AND THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN STEERING COMMITTEE IN THE ENTIRE BREADTH OF THIS PLAN.
SO I'M GOING TO KIND OF NARROW IT DOWN A LITTLE BIT.
UM, TODAY'S PRESENT PRESENTATION REALLY IS GOING TO BE FOCUSED ON THE WATERFALL WORD CONNECTION.
UM, AND WITH THAT, I'M GOING TO PROVIDE A LITTLE BIT OF CONTEXT AND I ALSO WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE, I THINK ZACH BOMBER WITH THE SUSTAINABILITY OFFICE IS ON THE LINE WITH US.
UM, JUST TO SHOUT OUT TO HIM, I'M STEALING SOME SLIDES IN THE VERY BEGINNING HERE FROM A PRESENTATION THAT THEY MADE TO THE WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION AGAIN, BUT I'M GOING TO PERSON AND DO MY BEST TO KIND OF USE THAT, TO SET A LITTLE BIT OF FRAMEWORK ON HOW THIS, YOU KNOW, HOW WATER FORWARD IS TIED INTO THIS.
SO ON THIS SLIDE, PARTICULARLY, I WOULD JUST SAY THAT, THAT, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, I THINK ONE AT THE CORE OF THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN STEERING COMMITTEE AND RECOMMENDED ACCELERATING THE CITY'S PREVIOUS 2014, UH, COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION OF KIND OF DRIVING THE CITY'S NET ZERO NET CARBON EMISSIONS BY 2050, ACCELERATING THAT TO, UM, KIND OF GET TO NET ZERO BY NET, EXCUSE ME, BY 2040 NEXT SLIDE.
UM, IN ADDITION, THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN CALLS FOR COMMITMENT, UH, CLIMATE EQUITY.
SO KIND OF A NEW PIECE OF THE PREVIOUS GOALS, UM, BUT SPECIFICALLY TO TRY TO USE, UM, A, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE USE WHERE THE USE OF FOSSIL FUELS FOR ENERGY AND TRANSPORTATION ARE ELIMINATED SUCH THAT THAT REDUCTION IN RELIANCE ON FOSSIL FUELS COULD BE A SIGNIFICANT FACTOR IN ELIMINATING DISPARITIES THAT CAN BE TRADITIONALLY PROTECTED BY RACE.
SO ULTIMATELY, UH, RESULTING IN BETTER OUTCOMES AROUND HEALTH AFFORDABILITY, ACCESSIBILITY, CULTURAL PRESERVATION, COMMUNITY CAPACITY, JUST TRANSITION AND ACCOUNTABILITY.
UM, THE PLAN USED A FRAMEWORK ADVANCED BY THE CITY'S EQUITY OFFICE, WHICH BASICALLY KIND OF SEQUENTIALLY LOOKS TO, TO EVALUATE DIFFERENT STRATEGIES WITHIN THE PLAN TO START BY KIND OF UNDERSTANDING OF THE HISTORY AND UNDERSTANDING WHY ANY KIND OF INEQUITIES EXIST, UM, YOU KNOW, USING DATA TO, TO UNDERSTAND THAT AND KIND OF TELL US MORE ABOUT THE SITUATION.
UM, NUMBER THREE IS, YOU KNOW, IT ACTUALLY USES, UM, YOU KNOW, EVALUATES THE GOALS, UM, INCLUDED IN CLIMATE AND AN EQUITY COMPONENT, UM, AND TRIES TO JUST BRING THIS FRAMEWORK TO BEAR ON, UM, ISSUES OF CLIMATE NEXT.
[01:10:06]
OOPS, THERE YOU GO.UM, ANOTHER ASPECT OF THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN WAS TO TRY TO ALIGN COMPONENTS OF OTHER RELATED PLANNING INITIATIVES ACROSS THE CITY.
SO INITIATIVES LIKE ZERO, I SMASHED THE PLAN, AUSTIN ENERGY GENERATION PLAN, UM, CAP METRO PROJECT CONNECT, STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN, AND OF COURSE OUR OWN WATER FORWARD PLAN, UM, IN THE, UH, CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, PARTICULARLY FIVE SECTIONS THAT EMERGED ONE WAS SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS.
THE OTHER WAS TRANSPORTATION LIKE FOR VACATION, UH, THEN, UH, TRANSPORTATION AND LAND USE NATURAL SYSTEMS AND CONSUMPTION SPECIFICALLY ALSO WATER WAS I ENGAGED IN THE SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS COMPONENT.
UM, WHAT RESULTED AND HOW IT RELATES TO OUR FORWARD REALLY WAS THE DEVELOPMENT OR THE RECOGNITION OF WHAT'S CALLED GOLD FOR, AND JUST WHAT IT SAYS HERE.
AUSTIN MARK JUST PAINTED IN DEVELOPING STRATEGIES FOR BOTH FOUR.
IT WAS BASICALLY STATED AS BY 2030 EQUITABLY, A COMMUNITY-WIDE WATER DEMAND OF APPROXIMATELY 152,000 ACRE FEET PER YEAR THROUGH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF WATER FORWARD STRATEGIES.
UM, I'LL SIMPLIFY THIS TO SAY THAT THAT REALLY THIS GOAL IS AN INTERPOLATION OF GOALS THAT WERE ALREADY, UH, INCLUDED IN WATER FORWARD.
SO WE HAD A LITTLE BIT OF A DISCONNECT IN THAT FORWARD AND BASICALLY TOOK TO, UM, 20 YEAR TIMESTAMP STARTING IN 2020, 20, 20, 40, 20, 60.
AND SO WE HAD TO INTERPOLATE TO APPROXIMATE THAT 152,000 ACRE FEET, BUT BASICALLY THIS GOAL RESTATED SUPPORTS AN EQUITABLE IMPLEMENTATION OF WATER FORWARD.
BUT AGAIN, THE STRAIGHT LINE INTERPRETATION, THE INTERPOLATION OF OUR EXISTING WATER FORWARD GOALS, UM, WE HAVE HAD SOME FEEDBACK IN THE PUBLIC PROCESS TO CLARIFY THIS GOALS.
SO WE'VE INCLUDED THE LANGUAGE AROUND COMMUNITY-WIDE WATER, WATER DEMAND TO HELP CLARIFY EXACTLY WHAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT.
UM, BUT AS FAR AS EQUITY HIGHLIGHTS, UM, YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY IT ENSURES CLEAN AND SAFE DRINKING WATER FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS THAT LOWERS UTILITY BILLS.
UM, IT OFFERS MORE INCLUSIVE OUTREACH AND EDUCATION, AND IT REDUCES THE BURDEN ON EXISTING RESIDENTS AND PLACES, RESPONSIBILITY FOR NEW DEVELOPMENT, NEW BUILDING ON DEVELOPERS, UH, SLY SPECIFIC STRATEGY, THE FIRST SPECIFIC STRATEGIES TO ENGAGE RESIDENTS IN WATER EFFICIENCY AND TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATIONS AND CONSERVATION PROGRAMS, UM, THAT WILL BE MEASURED BY ENHANCED COMMUNITY AND STUDENT STRATEGIES AND CREATING PARTNERSHIPS AND THIRD COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS, ONE, UM, ONE KEY, UM, UM, ELEMENT OF THAT WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, OUR EQUITY PLAN AS IT RELATES TO OUR, MY HEX OR IAMI PROGRAM.
SO, YOU KNOW, HOW DO WE, UM, HOW DO WE GET OUT IN THE COMMUNITY AND MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ENGAGING THE COMMUNITY ON HOW, UH, YOU KNOW, THEY WILL BE IMPACTED THROUGH THAT PROGRAM? UM, YOU KNOW, HOW WE'LL GET THERE AND WE'LL COLLECT THEM TO ANALYZE AND RESPOND TO DEMOGRAPHIC DATA ON INCENTIVE PROGRAM PARTICIPATION.
I WILL BE GATHERING INPUT ON PROGRAM EXPERIENCE, INCLUDING LOW-INCOME RESIDENTS THROUGH OUR, MY ATX WATER.
UH, AND THEN WE'LL ALSO BE DEVELOPING, UH, AND IMPLEMENTING TARGETED OUTREACH EFFORTS AND ENHANCED PROGRAM ANTICIPATION COLLECT INPUT, AND BETTER ENGAGE RESIDENTS IN THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS.
SO AGAIN, THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE ALL THEMES THAT WE'VE CONTINUED THROUGH OUR WATER FORWARD PROCESS THAT WE JUST ARE RESTATING OR REFLECTING THOSE HERE AND THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLANNER.
THE SECOND STRATEGY RELATED THE WATER FORWARD IS HOW WE WILL EVALUATE OUR VARIOUS WATERFORD RELATED PROGRAMS. SO SPECIFICALLY WE'LL BE EVALUATING PROGRAM CRITERIA TO IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES, TO ADDRESS STRUCTURAL BARRIERS THAT FOR THEM PROGRAM PARTICIPATION WE'LL BE COLLECTING, UH, WITH, UH, WE'LL BE COLLABORATING WITH OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS, SIX, FOUR STRATEGIES, UH, WHERE WE CAN EXPAND ENROLLMENT OF LIKE OUR CAP PROGRAM AND INCREASE PARTICIPATION IN OTHER PROGRAMS THAT AUSTIN WATER CURRENTLY HAS SERVING LOW INCOME RESIDENTS, UM, AND HOW WE'LL GET THERE.
WE'LL UNDERTAKE EQUITY ASSESSMENTS AT EACH OF OUR PROGRAMS, UH, WILL INCLUDE EXTENDING PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY TO MULTIFAMILY PROPERTIES.
LIKE WE HAVE DISCUSSED THROUGH OUR CAP PROGRAM.
UH, WE'LL BE MODIFYING SOME OF OUR EXISTING REPAIR PROGRAMS, UH, STREAMLINING APPLICATION PROCESSES AND INCREASING OUTREACH QUALIFIED CUSTOMERS THAT MAY NOT CURRENTLY BE ENROLLED IN THOSE PROGRAMS ALL IN ALL IT'S INVOLVED,
[01:15:01]
UM, TO TRY TO CREATE PARTNERSHIPS ACROSS THE CITY DEPARTMENTS AND OTHER COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS THAT ENHANCE THINGS LIKE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN WATER AND GREEN JOBS.AND THEN FINALLY, OUR THIRD STRATEGY IS TO REDUCE EMISSIONS THAT THE WATER AND ENERGY, UH, NEXUS, UM, AGAIN, WE'LL BE ASSURING THIS BY ASSESSING HOW WE REDUCE, UH, WATER DEMAND ASSOCIATED WITH ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS AND ALSO WATER FACILITIES AS WELL.
UH, WE'LL BE IDENTIFYING AND FOR SUING, UM, OR CONSERVATION AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT OPTIMIZATION EFFORTS OR PROGRAMS AND PARTNERSHIPS.
UH, WE'LL BE COMPLETING EVALUATION OF ENERGY USE ACROSS LOS THE WATER FACILITIES AND DEVELOP PLAN TO REDUCE USAGE FIGHTS AND DEMAND AND TO TRY TO DECREASE DEMAND.
AND THEN FINALLY, WE'LL BE DEVELOPING METHODOLOGIES TO QUANTIFY HOW CUSTOMER AFFECTION AND WATER DEMAND ALSO REDUCED CITY'S ENERGY AND RELATED AMMUNITION.
UM, SO WITH THAT, WE'RE KIND OF AT OUR NEXT STEPS, I WILL OFFER THAT THIS SLIDE, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
THIS SLIDE, WE HAD A LATE CHANGE.
UM, IT'S OUR UNDERSTANDING THAT, UM, THAT THIS PLAN REALLY WILL BE THAT THE OVERALL CLIMATE PLAN WILL BE PRESENTED TO THE FULL COUNCIL INSTEAD OF NOVEMBER.
I THINK IT'S BEEN DELAYED UNTIL THE DECEMBER TIMEFRAME, SO THAT'S BEEN AN ADJUSTMENT.
UM, BUT AFTER ADOPTION, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE WILL BE A IMPLEMENTATION PLANNING PROCESS THAT WILL BEGIN IN JANUARY OF 20 AND 21, 2021.
UH, AUSTIN WATER WILL FOLLOW SUIT AS WE CONTINUE TO ESTABLISH, UM, WATERFORCE STRATEGIES AND RELATED PROGRAMS. AND WE'LL BE DEVELOPING OUR IMPLEMENTATION OF RELATED PROGRAMS IN A SIMILAR TIME STEP.
SO WITH THAT, I KNOW I'M BURNING THROUGH THAT ONE PRETTY QUICK, TRYING TO PRESERVE A LITTLE TIME, BUT I'M GOING TO STOP AND JUST OPEN UP FOR ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE VERY MUCH APPRECIATE THAT RUNDOWN ANY QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMITTEE MEMBER ALTAR.
UM, I APPRECIATE THE WORK THAT WENT INTO IT AND, UM, KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, MUCH OF THE WORK RELATED TO, TO WATER WAS ALREADY DONE IN WATER FORWARD.
UM, AND WE SEE THAT, YOU KNOW, ACROSS A COUPLE, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN ENERGY ALSO HAD ITS NEXT GEN PLAN AND, AND THE OTHER KINDS OF STUFF.
AND SO I JUST REALLY WANT TO DO FIRST FLAG FOR MY COLLEAGUES THAT I'M PLANNING TO BRING A RESOLUTION FOR ADOPTION.
AND, UM, THAT WILL ALSO PROVIDE SOME ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION PIECE.
UM, AT THIS POINT I'M ANTICIPATING, YOU KNOW, FOR AUSTIN WATER, IT'S, YOU KNOW, FOLLOW THOUGH WATER FORWARD PLAN BECAUSE YOU ALREADY HAVE HAVE THAT.
UM, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'LL BE REACHING OUT TO SEE IF THERE ARE PARTICULAR ELEMENTS.
UM, I THINK, YOU KNOW, THE, THE CHIEF PART OF BEHIND THAT IMPLEMENTATION IS DEVISING SORT OF OUR BUDGET STRATEGY AND MAKING SURE THAT WE ACTUALLY MOVE FORWARD, UM, WITH THESE PIECES, UM, WAYS SO THAT WE DON'T JUST HAVE A PLAN THAT'S SITTING ON A SHELF, BUT THAT WE'RE ABLE TO REACH, UM, OUR GOALS.
UM, AND, UM, SO I WANTED TO JUST FLAG THAT FOR FOLKS, UM, AND YOU KNOW, WE'LL BE MODELING IT.
I KNOW COUNCIL MEMBER KITCHEN HAS, UM, PUT FORWARD SEVERAL IMPLEMENTATION TYPE RESOLUTIONS FOR PAST THINGS LIKE THE HOUSING BLUEPRINTS, ET CETERA.
AND WE'RE LOOKING AT THOSE AS MODELS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE STRATEGIES, UM, FOR, FOR THE EQUITY PLAN, UM, IN THAT REGARD.
UM, THE OTHER THING THAT I JUST ABOUT WHAT IS THE PIECE ABOUT THE ENERGY DEMANDS FOR AUSTIN WATER? UM, I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY, I FORGET WHO IT WAS THAT I WAS SPEAKING WITH.
UM, BUT I THINK THERE'S SOME VERY INTERESTING THINGS YOU'VE ALREADY BEGUN TO IMPLEMENT WITH RESPECT TO DEMAND MANAGEMENT OF YOUR ENERGY USAGE, SIMILAR TO, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE CAN, WHEN WE CAN USE IT WHEN THERE'S A HIGHER PEAK AND WHEN THERE'S, UM, YOU KNOW, MORE SOLAR AND MORE RENEWABLES, UM, THAT ARE BEING USED.
SO I JUST WONDERED IF YOU COULD SPEAK A LITTLE BIT TO WHAT YOU'RE ALREADY DOING, UM, IN THAT REGARD AND WHERE YOU SEE SOME OF THE NEXT STEPS, UM, FOR THE ENERGY USES THE AUSTIN WATER FACILITIES THEMSELVES.
WELL, THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN MORGAN.
CERTAINLY I, I WOULD JUST START OUT BY POINTING OUT THAT, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN WATER, UM, THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A SIGNIFICANT PART OF AUSTIN GREEN CHOICE ENERGY PROGRAM.
WE BUY OUR ENERGY THROUGH THE CHOICE PROGRAM, OBVIOUSLY, YOU KNOW, THAT THAT IS A, WE BELIEVE IN MATERIAL, UH, CONTRIBUTION.
OTHERWISE WE HAVE A LOT OF INITIATIVES ACROSS THE UTILITY, UM, WHETHER IT'S, YOU KNOW, OUR, UM, UH, BIOGAS COACHING ACTIVITIES OUT AT THE FACILITY, WHETHER IT'S, UM, YOU KNOW, OUR ONGOING DEMAND MANAGEMENT,
[01:20:01]
UH, EXERCISES AT OUR OFFICE FACILITIES, WE OWN AND OPERATE A NUMBER OF, OF OFFICE FACILITIES.AND WE'RE CONTINUING TO TRY TO ENHANCE PROCESSES TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE USING, UM, A, YOU KNOW, AS, AS LOW IMPACT, UM, UM, UH, ENERGY DEMAND AS POSSIBLE.
SO THOSE ARE SOME OF THE OPPORTUNITIES, UH, THEN THROUGHOUT THE UTILITY, WE'VE TRIED TO DEFINITELY MAKE SURE THAT WHEN WE DO EQUIPMENT AND REPLACE, SINCE THEY'RE DONE IN A WAY THAT IS, IS, UM, YOU KNOW, MORE OF THE MOST CURRENT TECHNOLOGY USING MOST COST EFFECTIVE OR EFFICIENT EQUIPMENT, UM, PUMPING CAPACITY CHANGES AND THOSE SORTS OF THINGS, COUNCIL OF OUR KITCHEN.
DO YOU HAVE YOUR HAND UP EARLY? OH YEAH.
I WAS JUST, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ALL TO READ MY MIND.
I WAS JUST GONNA SAY THAT, THAT, THAT SOUNDS GREAT.
UH, WHEN SHE'S TALKING ABOUT DOING, I THINK THAT IT REALLY HELPS THESE LARGER PLANS TO ALSO ADOPT AN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN OR AT LEAST A PATH TO HAVE AN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.
SO, UM, SO THAT'S ALL I THINK, CAUSE WE'VE COUNSELED DID THAT AS PART OF THE HOUSING, YOU KNOW, THE HOUSING BLUEPRINT, I THINK WE'VE DONE FOR OTHER THINGS TOO.
THAT'S THE FIRST THING THAT COMES TO MIND FOR ME.
ANY MORE QUESTIONS BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO THE TOXIC ALGAE DISCUSSION? OKAY.
LET'S, LET'S GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON.
[6. Toxic algae in Lady Bird Lake.]
ITEM SIX, TOXIC ALGAE IN LADY BIRD LAKE, WHICH I KNOW Y'ALL ARE DOING SO MUCH TO PAY ATTENTION TO AND WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH WATERSHED PROTECTION.AND SO WE CERTAINLY APPRECIATE THAT, AND I KNOW IT'S COMMONLY ON PEOPLE'S MINDS, AS THEY WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN THEY'RE GOING ON WALKS WITH THEIR PETS AND KIND OF WHAT IS ON THE HORIZON FOR LOOKING, LOOKING AT THIS IN A COMPREHENSIVE WAY.
I APPRECIATE THIS OPPORTUNITY.
UM, AS YOU MENTIONED, UH, WE'VE BEEN ENGAGED WITH, UH, AUSTIN WATER QUITE A BIT WITH LCRA, UM, UH, GREAT PARTNERS, UH, TO TALK ABOUT WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON, UH, YOU KNOW, IMPACTS, UH, ON OUR WATER SUPPLIES, OBVIOUSLY.
UH, I'M GOING TO FOCUS ON LADY BIRD LAKE, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, ONE OF, ONE OF THE CROWN JEWELS OF THE CITY LAKE AUSTIN, VERY IMPORTANT FOR A LOT OF REASONS THAT A LOT OF WAYS.
UM, SO I GUESS I'LL START, UH, INTRO.
UH, MY NAME IS BRENT BELLENGER.
UM, I AM A RESEARCH ECOLOGIST WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT.
UM, I'VE BEEN IN THIS POSITION FOR ABOUT SIX AND A HALF YEARS, UH, BROUGHT IN, UH, TO FOCUS RESEARCH EFFORTS ON THE RESERVOIRS, THE ECOLOGY, UH, WATER QUALITY, BIOLOGICAL QUALITY OF THE SYSTEMS, UH, LOOK AT AN EMERGING EMERGING CONCERNS.
AND, UM, AND WE'VE HAD A PRETTY EVENTFUL, UH, YEARS, UH, BETWEEN ZEBRA MUSSELS, UH, FLUCTUATIONS AND AQUATIC VEGETATION, DROUGHTS, FLOODS, AND THEN LAST YEAR, UH, UNFORTUNATELY THE TOXIC ALGAE, THAT AFFLICTED LADY BIRD LAKE.
UH, SO THAT'S WHAT I'LL BE TALKING TO YOU ABOUT TODAY.
I'LL GIVE YOU SOME BACKGROUND, UM, ABOUT THESE TYPES OF BLOOMS. UM, I WILL GO OVER SOME OF THE DATA THAT WE COLLECTED LAST YEAR.
UM, SOME OF THE HYPOTHESES WE HAVE, UM, AND WHAT WE'RE EXPLORING FOR THE FUTURE OF LADY BIRD LAKE.
UH, SO WHAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR? UM, UNFORTUNATELY, UH, THERE WERE SOME THREE, ONE, ONE CALLS THAT CAME IN, UH, AT THE END OF JULY AND BEGINNING OF AUGUST ABOUT SOME DOGS THAT HAD DIED AFTER SWIMMING, UM, AT RED BIRD ISLAND, AUDITORIUM SHORES, UM, I THINK ALL TOLD THERE WAS SIX DOGS THAT ENDED UP GETTING ILL, UH, WATERSHED, UH, RESPONDED VERY QUICKLY.
UH, WE HAD STAFF GO OUT TO THESE SITES, LOOK AT THE CONDITIONS THEY SAW AND YOU SEE SOME OF THESE PICTURES, THESE FLOATING SCUMS OF ALGAE, UH, NOTED THAT THIS IS SOMETHING VERY ABNORMAL, TOOK SOME SAMPLES TO THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, WHERE THEY DETERMINED THERE WAS A POTENT NEUROTOXIN PRESENT.
IT'S A DIHYDRO ANTITOXIN, UH, WITHIN THE MATS.
UM, AND SO IT FIT WITH THE PATHOLOGY THAT WAS REPORTED WITH THE DOGS, HAVE A VERY QUICK, UH, MORTALITY AFTER SWIMMING IN THE WATER.
UH, ANTITOXIN A, ONE OF HIS UNFORTUNATE NICKNAMES IS VERY FAST DEATH SYNDROME.
UM, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S WELL-KNOWN GLOBALLY, UH, TO, UH, CAUSE MORTALITIES IN LIVESTOCK AND IN PETS, ESPECIALLY DOGS
[01:25:01]
SEEM TO BE SUSCEPTIBLE.UM, AT THAT POINT LAST YEAR, WE DID CLOSE, UH, WITH, UH, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH, UH, PARD.
UH, WE CLOSED DOWN RED BLOOD AISLE.
WE ESSENTIALLY CLOSED THE DOG LAUNCHES AROUND LADY BIRD LAKE, UH, GOT SOME TEMPORARY SIGNAGE UP, UM, AND MONITORED THE BLOOM, UH, FROM THAT POINT ON UNTIL, UH, THE SITUATION WAS RESOLVED OVER THE WINTER.
WE DEVELOPED AI, UH, MORE COMPREHENSIVE MONITORING PROGRAM, UH, IN ANTICIPATION OF A RETURN OF THE BLOOM EVENT THIS YEAR.
UM, THERE WAS A LOT OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT.
OUR PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE AND EDUCATION GROUP, UH, WERE AMAZING AND ANTICIPATING QUESTIONS AND GETTING INFORMATION OUT TO THE PUBLIC, UH, THROUGH THE MEDIA, THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA, UH, WEBSITES, ABSOLUTELY TREMENDOUS EFFORT.
UH, WE GOT SOME PERMANENT SIGNAGE OUT WORKING AGAIN WITH PARD, UH, OVER, UH, IN THE BEGINNING OF THIS, SOMETIME IN SPRING, BEGINNING OF THE SUMMER, WE GOT SIGNAGE EDUCATIONAL SIGNS.
UM, AND WE BEGAN OUR OBSERVATIONS AT THE BEGINNING OF JULY.
AND, YOU KNOW, ONCE WE SAW THE BLOOM KIND OF RESURGENCE, WE SAW THE TOXINS DID COME BACK, BUT BECAUSE OF OUR EFFECTIVE MESSAGING AND SIGNAGE, WE DID NOT HAVE ANY REPORTS OF ANY DOG DEATHS THIS YEAR, WHICH IS AS SOMEONE WHO CURRENTLY HAS THREE RESCUE DOGS AT HOME.
UM, YOU KNOW, I WAS VERY GLAD THAT NO MORE, UH, OF OUR, OF OUR POOCHES PASSED AWAY THIS YEAR.
SO, UH, JUST TO KIND OF BRING YOU ALL A LITTLE BIT UP TO SPEED, THERE'S A LOT OF TERMINOLOGY THAT THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY USES TO DESCRIBE THESE TYPES OF EVENTS.
UH, BUT IN GENERAL, THERE'S TWO MAIN TYPES OF HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS. THERE IS A PLANKTONIC BLOOM.
THIS IS WHERE YOU HAVE SINGLE CELLS, UH, SUSPENDED IN THE WATER COLUMN AND THEY GROW AND PROLIFERATE IN MASS.
YOU CAN SEE THOSE TOP PICTURES, WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.
IT BASICALLY TURNS YOUR WATER INTO A PEA SOUP, AND IT LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE SPILLED GREEN PAINT.
AND AGAIN, THOSE ARE JUST SINGLE CELLS, BUT THOSE DENSITIES THAT'S TENS HUNDREDS TO MILLIONS OF CELLS PER LITER OF WATER.
SO IT'S ABSOLUTELY TREMENDOUS, UH, BLOOM.
THESE ARE THE MOST COMMONLY OBSERVED TYPES OF BLOOMS GLOBALLY.
THESE ARE THE MOST, YOU KNOW, THESE ARE THE ONES THAT YOU HEAR ABOUT THAT AFFLICTED TOLEDO, UM, YOU KNOW, IN LAKE ERIE EVERY SUMMER, THE WESTERN BASIN THIS YEAR, UM, AFFECTED DES MOINES.
UM, AND REALLY WHAT THIS IS WHEN THOSE MASSIVE MEAN, YOU CAN SEE THAT TOP RIGHT PICTURE.
YOU KNOW, THIS IS AFFECTING TENS TO HUNDREDS OF SQUARE MILES WHEN THOSE CYANOBACTERIA START TO DIE AND THE CELLS, YOU KNOW, JUST BREAK OPEN AFTER DEATH, THEY RELEASE THE TOXINS INTO THE WATER.
UM, AND THIS IS WHEN YOU GET, UM, A LOT OF THOSE KINDS OF SECONDARY EFFECTS.
YOU HAVE LOW OXYGEN CONCENTRATIONS LEAD TO FISH KILLS.
YOU CAN IMPACT DRINKING WATER SUPPLIES, ET CETERA, BUT IT'S RELATED TO THE LOOM KIND OF DEATHS.
IN ESSENCE, THE BLOOM THAT WE HAD IN LADY BIRD LAKE, THE BOTTOM PICTURES THAT IS FROM RED BUD AISLE, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S NOT AS COMMON AS THE PLANKTONIC BLOOMS. UH, THESE ARE KNOWN AS HARMFUL ALGAL PROLIFERATIONS BECAUSE SCIENTISTS DON'T HAVE ENOUGH JARGON, UM, FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS TALK, WE'LL JUST STICK WITH HAPS.
UM, BUT SO THESE ARE COHESIVE MATS INSTEAD OF BEING SINGLE CELLS FLOATING THE CYANOBACTERIA FILAMENTS, UH, GROW ON THE SEDIMENT SURFACE, UH, THEY FORM A MATRIX.
IF YOU THINK ABOUT, UM, IN THE MORNING BEFORE YOU BRUSH YOUR TEETH, YOUR TEETH ARE KIND OF FUZZY.
UH, THAT'S BACTERIA THAT HAVE FORMED A BIOFILM, AND THEY'RE ALL KIND OF GLUED TOGETHER WITH THIS, UH, EXERCISE OR SLIME.
WELL, THAT'S WHAT YOU SEE ON THIS BOTTOM LEFT PICTURE IS GOING ON THE SIGN OF BACTERIA.
GROWING TOGETHER IN A COMMUNITY.
UM, AS THE CYANOBACTERIA ARE PHOTOSYNTHESIZING, UH, AIR BUBBLES GET TRAPPED WITHIN THE MATRIX, THEY FLOAT TO THE SURFACE AND THEN WITH WIND WITH CURRENT, UH, THEY'VE COLLECT IN DIFFERENT AREAS ALONG SHORELINES.
AND THEN THAT'S WHEN YOU HAVE YOUR POTENTIAL CHANCE OF EXPOSURE AGAIN, THAT BOTTOM RIGHT PICTURE.
SO THESE ARE THE TWO TYPES OF BLOOMS. UM, I'LL BE FOCUSING ON
[01:30:01]
AGAIN, WHAT WE HAD AT LADY BIRD LAKE, UH, THOSE THAT BOTTOM PROLIFERATION.SO JUST FOR, UH, I GUESS TO GO A LITTLE MORE GENERAL ABOUT CYANOBACTERIA, I'VE REFERRED TO THESE ORGANISMS A FEW TIMES, THEY ARE THE MOST COMMONLY ASSOCIATED ORGANISM WITH THESE TOXIC BLOOM EVENTS.
YOU CAN GET A GOLDEN ALGAE OR RED ALGAE THAT ALSO PRODUCE TOXINS, BUT IN GENERAL, WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO READ ABOUT, UH, WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO SEE IMPACTING A WATER BODY, PROBABLY GOING TO BE THE SIGN OF BACTERIA.
UM, I CALL IT THEIR, ONE OF THEIR NICKNAMES AS BLUE GREEN ALGAE.
THE BLUE-GREEN COMES FROM, UH, THEIR COLORATION, UM, OF, OF THE CHLOROPLASTS OF THEIR PHOTOSYNTHETIC PIGMENTS, BUT THEY'RE NOT ACTUALLY ALGAE LGR EUKARYOTES.
SO WALLS, MEMBRANES, NUCLEUS, ALL THAT CYANOBACTERIA.
THESE ARE ACTUALLY BACTERIA, UM, AND THEY DECIDED 3 BILLION YEARS AGO, UM, TO START USING SUNLIGHT AND CO2 FOR PHOTOSYNTHESIS.
UH, THE, UH, OF COURSE THE PRODUCT OF THAT IS OXYGEN.
UH, SO REALLY IT WAS A SIGN OF BACTERIA THAT CREATED THIS OXYGEN RICH PLANET THAT WE NOW LIVE IN, UH, TRAGICALLY FOR ALL OF THE, UH, ANAEROBIC ORGANISMS THAT WERE LIVING AT THAT TIME.
UM, THEY SADLY DIED OFF SADLY OR ONE WAY OR THE OTHER, SO CYANOBACTERIA, UM, THEY'RE NOT NEW AT KILLING OFF ORGANISMS. THERE ARE VARIOUS SPECIES RICH, UH, CLADE UH, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, AS BACTERIA, YOU GET A LOT OF DIVERSITY, UH, THAT IS POSSIBLE OUT THERE.
SO THERE'S AN ESTIMATE OF 6,000 PLUS VCS THAT ARE OUT THERE, BUT NOT ALL OF THEM ARE PRODUCED TOXINS OR ARE OTHERWISE, UH, YOU KNOW, NEFARIOUS.
YOU'RE JUST OUT THERE DOING WHAT THEY DO.
THEY'VE BEEN DOING IT FOR A LONG TIME, VERY SUCCESSFUL NEXT, UH, MOST OF THE TALK OF COURSE WAS SIGNED.
A BACTERIA IS ABOUT THE TOXINS THEY PRODUCE.
UM, YOU CAN TALK MORE TO THE FOLKS AT AUSTIN WATER THOUGH.
THEY ALSO PRODUCE OTHER SECONDARY METABOLITES, JASMINE MIB.
UM, WHEN THESE ARE IN THE WATER SUPPLY, THEY'RE NOT HARMFUL TO THE PEOPLE PER SE.
UH, BUT THESE ARE ODORIFEROUS COMPOUNDS AND IT CAN INF IMPACT KIND OF THE AESTHETICS OF YOUR DRINKING WATER SUPPLY.
SO THERE ARE WAYS TO REMOVE THOSE COMPOUNDS.
THE CYANOBACTERIA ARE, ARE COMMONLY ASSOCIATED WITH THOSE COMPOUNDS.
IN ADDITION TO TOXINS, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE NOW TO GET INTO SOME OF THE ECOLOGY ABOUT CYANOBACTERIA, UH, SOME OF THE GOOD THINGS IS THAT THEY'RE FAIRLY PREDICTABLE.
UH, WHEN WE'RE GOING TO SEE THEM REALLY START TO TAKE OFF IN TERMS OF THEIR BIOMASS.
THIS IS DATA FROM LAKE AUSTIN.
UM, THE TOP FIGURE, UH, THERE IS DIATOM CELL COUNTS.
UH, THIS WAS DATA THAT WAS PROVIDED BY AUSTIN WATER.
TO ME, UH, FOR ANALYSIS, UH, DIATOMS ARE A DIFFERENT TYPE OF ALLERGY.
THEY'RE A VERY BENEFICIAL GROUP OF ALGAE.
THEY TEND TO BLOOM IN THE SPRING.
YOU CAN SEE THE OF THE YEAR AROUND 200 IS WHEN THEY HIT THEIR PEAK BIOMASS.
THESE ARE THE GUYS THAT ARE PRODUCING YOUR OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS THAT EVERYBODY TRIES TO GET IN THEIR DIET.
THIS IS WHERE THAT'S KIND OF STARTING IN THE FOOD WEB.
UH, BUT AS THE WATER TEMPERATURES HEAT UP AS NUTRIENT DYNAMICS CHANGE IN YOUR SYSTEM, UH, YOU GET A SUCCESSION THAT OCCURS, THE DIATOM DENSITY IS DROP OFF.
AND THEN IN THAT BOTTOM FIGURE, YOU CAN SEE A SIGN OF BACTERIA, NUMBERS INCREASE, YOU KNOW, SO AUGUST, SEPTEMBER, UH, YOU KNOW, HERE IN AUSTIN, GIVEN OUR, OUR A HUNDRED DEGREE TEMPERATURES, THIS IS WHEN WE TEND TO SEE A PEAK IN THE SIDE OF BACTERIA NUMBERS NEXT, PLEASE, WITH THAT SAID, WITH THESE POPULATION DYNAMICS ABOUT THE CYANOBACTERIA, AGAIN, THEY'RE ALWAYS OUT THERE, THEY CAN, YOU KNOW, THEY HAVE THESE SEASONAL PATTERNS, BUT THEY'RE NOT ALWAYS TOXIC.
THE BLOOMS ARE NOT ALWAYS TOXIC.
YOU NEED TO HAVE A SPECIFIC SET OF CRITERIA THAT KIND OF FLIP THAT SWITCH SO THAT THE CERTAIN SPECIES THAT ARE PRESENT THAT HAVE THAT CAPABILITY TURN ON THOSE GENES.
NOW, THE THINGS THAT ARE RELATED TO AN INCREASE IN CYANOBACTERIA BIOMASS, AGAIN, UM, THEY LIKE IT HOT WARM TEMPERATURES.
UH, THEY TEND TO LIKE STABLE WATER.
THEY DON'T LIKE A LOT OF, THEY DON'T LIKE A LOT OF FLOW.
THEY DON'T LIKE A LOT OF TURNOVER.
[01:35:01]
UM, SO WHEN YOU HAVE THESE LOW FLOW CONDITIONS, UH, YOU GET WATER COLUMN STABILITY USUALLY ASSOCIATED WITH STRATIFICATION IS WHEN YOU'LL SEE THEIR BIOMASS INCREASE AND ESPECIALLY EXCESS NUTRIENTS.THESE ARE ORGANISMS THAT THRIVE ON EXCESS NITROGEN AND PHOSPHORUS.
SO GLOBALLY AS A HUMAN DRIVEN EUTROPHICATION, WHICH IS JUST AN OVER FERTILIZATION OF OUR WATER BODIES IS OCCURRING, UH, COUPLED WITH, YOU KNOW, CLIMATE CHANGE WARMING.
THESE THINGS IS, YOU KNOW, WHAT RESEARCHERS BELIEVE IS DRIVING THE INCREASE IN CYANOBACTERIA BIOMASS IN OUR AQUATIC SYSTEMS. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
SO TO FOCUS ON LADY BIRD LAKE, I'LL KIND OF BREAK DOWN EACH OF THOSE THREE PILLARS RIGHT NOW, UH, YOU KNOW, KIND OF WHAT WE SAW LAST YEAR THAT WE'RE ASSOCIATING WITH THE TOXIC EVENT.
UH, SO THEN I MENTIONED THEY LIKE LOW FLOWS.
THEY DON'T REALLY LIKE TO BE FLUSHED OUT.
UM, SO AT THE KIND OF MID TO LATE JULY, THERE WAS A LARGE DROP IN DISCHARGE RATES FROM THE TOM MILLER DAM THROUGH LADYBIRD LAKE.
AND AT THAT TIME IS WHEN WE START TO SEE THE ALGAL BIOMASS INCREASE.
WE GET THE PRESENCE OF THE TOXINS IN SEPTEMBER.
THERE WAS A PERIOD OF INCREASED FLOWS.
UM, WE SAW ESSENTIALLY NO ALGAL BIOMASS AROUND RED BLOOD AISLE OR AUDITORIUM SHORES.
UH, THERE WAS NO TOXINS THAT WERE DETECTED.
HOWEVER, AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER, BEGINNING OF OCTOBER, IT WAS STILL A VERY WARM, UH, FALL.
WE HAD THE LOW FLOWS AND THERE WAS A SMALL RESURGENCE OF THE BLOOM.
UH, SO THAT'S KIND OF THOSE HATCHED AREAS IN THAT TOP FIGURE THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT NEXT NOW FOR REFERENCE.
UH, SO, UH, COMING OUT OF THE DROUGHT PERIOD, WE HAVE A RETURN, YOU KNOW, QUOTE UNQUOTE OF A KIND OF NORMAL DISCHARGES, UH, THROUGH THE HIGHLAND LAKES SYSTEM, PROVIDING WATER FOR THE DOWN STREAM RICE FARMERS AND FOR OTHER USES.
SO IF YOU LOOK AT THAT BOTTOM FIGURE, THE OPEN CIRCLES ARE THE 2019 FLOWS.
UH, THE SOLID CIRCLES ARE THE AVERAGES FOR THE PREVIOUS THREE YEARS.
AND WHAT WE SAW DURING THE BLOOM PROLIFERATION, UH, LAST YEAR DURING THOSE TWO PERIODS, UH, IN GENERAL, THE FLOWS WERE LOWER, ESPECIALLY THAT JULY, AUGUST PERIOD, UH, WERE LOWER THAN WHAT WE SAW THE PREVIOUS THREE YEARS.
SO THIS WAS KIND OF A SHIFT IN THE ECOSYSTEM LAST YEAR, COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS THREE-YEAR NEXT SLIDE.
I MENTIONED THAT CYANOBACTERIA, THEY LIKE IT HOT.
THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF THAT HERE IN AUSTIN, IN THE SUMMERS.
UH, SO WATER TEMPERATURES WERE VERY WARM, UH, THROUGHOUT THE BLOOM PERIOD.
YOU KNOW, WE SAW THAT WEEKEND, YOU KNOW, 32 DEGREE, I BELIEVE WAS THE MAX 32 OR 33 DEGREES C UH, WATER TEMPERATURES.
I MEAN, THIS IS LIKE BATHWATER NOXIOUS, UH, FOR REFERENCE, UH, BARTON SPRINGS IS, UM, ABOUT 18 DEGREES CENTIGRADE.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE WATER TEMPERATURES AND THEN THE LAST COMPONENT THAT LASTS AND MOST KIND OF IMPORTANT DRIVER ABOUT WHAT FLIPS A BLOOM CYANOBACTERIA FROM JUST BEING BENIGN TO TOXIC AND ABUNDANCE OF NUTRIENTS.
I PROVIDED A TABLE HERE, UM, LOOKING AT SOME OF THE MONITORING DATA THAT IS COLLECTED FROM LADY BIRD LAKE.
UH, WE DO ROUTINE MONITORING, UH, MONTHLY TO BI-MONTHLY.
THAT'S BEEN GOING ON FOR ABOUT 20 YEARS AT THREE SITES OUT THERE, INCLUDING THE TIP OF RED BUD AISLE, FIRST STREET BRIDGE DOWN IN THE BASIN.
AND I SUMMARIZE, YOU'RE LOOKING AT TABLE 2016 TO 2018 MONITORING DATA IS REFLECTIVE OF THAT.
LOOKING AT THOSE MONITORING SITES IN 2019, THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN AMMONIA AND NITRATE AT SYSTEM-WIDE ACROSS LADY BIRD, LAKE PHOSPHORUS.
WASN'T SIGNIFICANT, BUT IT WAS DEFINITELY HIGHER THAN WHAT WE SAW THE PREVIOUS THREE YEARS AND THE BLOOM PROJECT, UH, WHAT I'M CALLING THAT LOOKING JUST AT THESE SITES WHERE WE MONITOR THE TOXIC ALGAE, UH, WE SAW EVEN HIGHER CONCENTRATIONS OF AMMONIA AND PHOSPHORUS PRESENT IN GENERAL, THEN WHAT WE SAW KIND OF OUT IN THE MAIN WATER BODY.
SO THERE WAS A VERY LARGE SPIKE IN NUTRIENTS LAST YEAR, WHICH WAS PROBABLY THAT FINAL STRAW THAT HELPED PUSH, PUSH THE SCALES,
[01:40:02]
UH, NEXT SLIDE.SO, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO THINK ABOUT, WELL, WHAT, WHAT WAS GOING ON IN LADY BIRD LAKE ABOUT 2019? YOU KNOW, I'VE, I'VE, I'VE BROKEN DOWN A FEW OF THE THINGS.
WHAT ELSE? THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT ECOSYSTEM STRESSORS THAT, UH, ARE, ARE POSSIBLY IN PLAY HERE.
UM, SO ONE OF THE BIG ONES IS ZEBRA MUSSELS.
UH, THEY GOT ESTABLISH IN LADYBIRD LAKE ABOUT 2017.
UM, THEIR DENSITIES HAVE INCREASED OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS.
UH, THAT PICTURE THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT THAT WAS A BOOM THAT I HAD ACCIDENTALLY HOOKED WITH MY ANCHOR RIGHT OFF OF, UH, THE TIP OF RED.
BUT I'LL PULL THAT UP ONTO THE BOAT, COMPLETELY ENCRUSTED WITH ZEBRA MUSSELS AS ZEBRA MUSSELS, WELL-DOCUMENTED IN THE GREAT LAKES REGION, UH, FOR WHAT THEY DO TO, UH, TO THE WATER COLUMN.
UM, THEY FILTER OUT ALL THE PLANKTONIC ALGAE, UH, ALL OF THE KIND OF SEDIMENTS THAT ARE IN THE WATER AND OTHER PARTICULATES AND ORGANIC MATTER, BRING THAT DOWN TO THE BOTTOM WHERE THEY'RE GROWING AND LIVING.
UM, AND THEN THEY EXCRETE PSEUDO FECES AND THEY EXCRETE, UH, DISSOLVED NUTRIENTS THERE.
UM, THERE'S, THERE'S SOME GOOD STUDIES THAT HAVE ESPECIALLY SHOWN IN THE PRESENCE OF ZEBRA MUSSELS.
YOU GET AN INCREASE IN AMMONIA AND IN PHOSPHORUS, THE TWO THINGS THAT WE SAW A SPIKE LAST YEAR COMPARED TO PREVIOUS YEAR, UH, NEXT YOUR MUSCLES ARE ALSO WELL-KNOWN FOR PROMOTING BENTHIC ALGAE GROWTH.
NOW, TYPICALLY THE BENTHIC ALGAE THAT GROWS WITH ZEBRA MUSSELS.
UH, THIS IS A PICTURE OF MY ANCHOR FROM LADY BIRD LAKE.
THIS IS A FILAMENTOUS GREEN ALGAE THAT IS PRETTY MUCH COVERED.
I WOULD ESTIMATE OVER 90% OF LADYBIRD LAKES, UH, SEDIMENTS BOTTOM AREA.
UM, IT'S A DIFFERENT TYPE OF ALGAE.
I'VE TALKED ABOUT DIATOM, CYANOBACTERIA, GREEN ALGAE, OR ANOTHER ONE, AGAIN, NOT TOXIC SPECIES, BUT PROMOTING THESE BLOOMS, CHANGING UP THE NUTRIENT DYNAMICS JUST CHANGES UP THE ENTIRE ECOSYSTEM AND THE INTERPLAY OF THESE ORGANISMS. SO THESE ARE SOME NEW STRESSORS IN THE SYSTEM.
UH, NEXT WE HAVE, UH, AS WAS MENTIONED EARLIER, I BELIEVE IN THE FIRST TALK, UM, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE NEW, UH, TREATMENT METHODS THAT ARE BEING INSTITUTED BY AUSTIN WATER.
UH, ONE OF THEM IS IN RESPONSES TO YOUR MUSCLES AND OTHER WAS IN RESPONSE TO A POTENTIALLY LARGE FLOOD AND TURBIDITY EVENTS.
SO AROUND THIS TIME IN 2018 AND THE FALL, WE HAD THE MASSIVE RAINFALL IN THE UPPER PART OF THE WATERSHED THAT BROUGHT A LOT OF SEDIMENTS, A LOT OF NUTRIENTS, UH, THROUGH THE HIGHLAND LAKES.
AND AS IT WAS HITTING EACH IMPOUNDMENT, UH, YOU GET DEPOSITION OF THAT SEDIMENT INTO EACH OF THE WATER BODIES.
THIS IS AN INFLUX OF A LOT OF NUTRIENTS, A LOT OF ORGANIC MATTER THAT IS NOW FUEL FOR ALL THE ALGAE THAT WOULD BE GROWING ON THE BOTTOM SEDIMENTS.
SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WAS UNPRECEDENTED, EVEN FOR FLASHLIGHT, ALLIE.
AND THAT HAPPENED, YOU KNOW, PROBABLY NOT COINCIDENTALLY THE FALL BEFORE WE HAD THE BLOOM.
UM, IF YOU LOOK IN THE UPPER MIDWEST IN LAKE ERIE, UH, THE WESTERN BASIN, THEY PROJECT AND PREDICT THE INTENSITY AND MAGNITUDE OF THEIR BLOOM EVENTS THAT HAPPENED IN JULY AND AUGUST.
THEY MAKE THOSE PREDICTIONS BASED ON RAINFALL IN THE SPRING.
SO THEY LOOK AT HOW MUCH RAIN FALLS IN THE WATERSHED LOADING OF PHOSPHOROUS, RICH SEDIMENTS, AND FERTILIZERS FROM ALL THE FARM COMMUNITIES.
AND THEY USE THAT TO PROJECT HOW BAD A BLOOM WILL BE.
SO THIS IS A WELL-KNOWN STRESSOR TO OUR AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS THAT IS KNOWN TO FUEL ALGAE BLOOM.
UH, AUSTIN IS EXPERIENCING A LOT MORE, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S, I'VE BEEN HEARING IS MICRO TROUTS WILL GO TWO, THREE MONTHS WITHOUT RAINFALL.
WE'LL GET A BIG RAINFALL EVENT, WHICH INCREASES SUBURBAN MOBILIZATION AND RUNOFF OUR TEMPERATURES.
I MEAN, YOU KNOW, HOW MANY YEARS IN ROW NOW HAVE WE HAD OVER 50 DAYS IN THE SUMMER, OVER A HUNDRED DEGREES, THESE ARE NEW STRESSORS.
UM, AND OVERALL RAINFALL, THE HUNDREDTH MERIDIAN IS MOVING TO OUR EAST.
SO RAINFALL WE'RE ACTUALLY GETTING DRIER.
SO THESE ARE ALL KIND OF BAD THINGS, AND THEY'RE ALL LINKED TO PROLIFERATION OF CYANOBACTERIA GLOBALLY AND NEXT.
[01:45:01]
FROM THE COMMUNITY.THIS EVENTS, UH, WERE PRIMARILY OBSERVED AT DOG PARKS, WHERE WE HAVE A LOT OF DOGS OFF LEASH.
OF COURSE NOT EVERY DOG OWNER IS A GOOD STEWARD IN TERMS OF PICKING UP THE DOG WASTE.
UM, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT CANNOT BE DISCOUNTED, BUT THESE ARE AREAS THAT HAVE BEEN DOG PARKS FOR A WHILE.
SO IT'S NOT NECESSARILY A NEW NUTRIENT SOURCE, BUT IT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING WE CAN'T DISCOUNT NEXT.
AND I MENTIONED THE LOW FLOW IS IN 2019 COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS THREE-YEAR PERIOD.
HOWEVER, IF WE LOOK AT THAT RECENT TROUT OF RECORD, THOSE ARE KIND OF THE GRAY CIRCLES THERE RELATIVE TO 2019, THE SOLID BLACK CIRCLES, 2019, UH, WAS NOT EXCEPTIONABLE EXCEPTIONAL IN TERMS OF THE DISCHARGE RATES THAT WERE COMING OUT OF THE TOM MILLER DAM.
SO WE'VE HAD LOWER FLOWS WITHOUT HAVING TOXICOLOGY BEFORE, BUT AGAIN, LAST YEAR, THERE'S A LOT OF NEW DRIVERS THAT WERE KIND OF ADDED INTO THE MIX INTO THE SYSTEM.
UH, THAT AGAIN, MAY HAVE JUST TIPPED THE SCALES, UH, NOT IN OUR FAVOR.
UH, SO THIS IS JUST A QUOTE, UH, I KNOW ALL OF YOU HAVE, UM, UH, COPIES OF THE PRESENTATION.
SO I WON'T READ THIS VERBATIM, BUT ESSENTIALLY, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS MINIMIZE PREVENT AMELIORATE THE IMPACTS OF THESE TYPES OF EVENTS.
AGAIN, THIS YEAR, WE WERE VERY FORTUNATE, NO REPORTED DOG DEATHS, UH, THROUGH EFFECTIVE MONITORING AND MESSAGING.
AND NOW THAT WE HAVE A BETTER HANDLE ON THE DRIVERS, NOW THAT WE HAVE ANOTHER YEAR OF DATA, UH, NEXT, UM, FROM DOING WEEKLY WATER QUALITY SAMPLING, WEEKLY COLLECTION OF ALLERGY, UH, PUTTING OUT DATA LOGGERS, UM, UTILIZING DATA FROM LCRA, UH, CLIMATIC DATA, WE CAN SPEND A WINTER NOW DEVELOPING SOME, UH, SOME BETTER MODELS, HAVE A BETTER HANDLE ON THIS NEXT.
WE CAN FINALLY START TO EXPLORE AND HOPEFULLY IMPLEMENT SOME TREATMENT OPTIONS, UH, TREATMENT, UM, IS, AS IT SAYS, IT'S DIFFICULT.
UH, IT TENDS TO BE VERY, UH, COSTLY, UM, TO TREAT A LOT OF THESE AQUATIC AFFLICTIONS, UH, PREVENTION IS ALWAYS THE BEST APPROACH, UH, WHETHER IT'S EXOTIC SPECIES OR ALGAE BLOOMS OR EUTROPHICATION, THE BEST APPROACH IS TO, UH, PREVENT THE SCALES FROM TIPPING TO THIS ALTERNATIVE STABLE STATE.
UM, AS AUSTIN WATER, UNFORTUNATELY KNOWS VERY WELL, YOU KNOW, THE COST OF DEALING WITH ZEBRA MUSSELS, UM, YOU KNOW, UNFORTUNATELY BECAUSE OF HUMAN ACTIVITY, BECAUSE OF, YOU KNOW, BAD STEWARDS, PEOPLE BOATERS BRINGING HIS EAR MUSCLES DOWN INTO OUR WATERSHED, AND NOW WE ALL HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS.
UM, BUT SOME REALLY WHAT OUR, UH, TREATMENT OPTIONS THAT WE'RE EXPLORING IS GOING AFTER THAT THIRD AND KIND OF MOST IMPORTANT DRIVER OF THE TOXIC ALGAE BLOOM, AND THAT'S THE NUTRIENTS.
SO WE'RE LOOKING AT WAYS THAT WE CAN BUY INTO PHOSPHORUS IN THE SEDIMENTS.
AND AGAIN, THESE ARE ALGAE THAT ARE GROWING AT THE SEDIMENT WATER, WATER INTERFACE.
SO IF WE CAN REMOVE THE PHOSPHORUS FROM THE WATER, IF WE CAN BIND UP THE PHOSPHORUS IN THE SEDIMENTS AND STARVE THEM OUT AS POSSIBLE THAT THEY WILL NOT GO TOXIC.
UH, WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT DIFFERENT WAYS OF PHYSICALLY OR MECHANICALLY REMOVING THE ALGAE BECAUSE THEY DO FLOAT UP TO THE SURFACE.
UM, THERE ARE LABORIOUS GRANTED WAYS OF REMOVING THE ALGAE.
OF COURSE, THIS IS JUST KIND OF A TEMPORARY FIX.
UH, YOU'RE JUST GOING TO GET A CONSTANT REDRILL FROM THE SEDIMENT SURFACE.
UM, BUT YOU CAN AT LEAST REDUCE AND MINIMIZE THAT BIOMASS.
AND OF COURSE, UM, YOU KNOW, EVERYONE THAT REACHES OUT TO ME WITH THEIR TREATMENT OPTIONS, ALMOST ALL REVOLVE AROUND CHEMICALS.
THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A LAST RESORT.
UH, CHEMICALS TEND TO DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD, VERY SHORT-LIVED PRETTY EXPENSIVE.
UM, BUT, UH, THERE'S SOME POTENTIALLY INTERESTING AVENUES WITH CHEMICALS, UH, THAT WE ARE EXPLORING, TRYING TO DO SOMETHING IN THE MOST HOLISTIC, UH, ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY WAY.
SO TRY TO STARVE THEM OUT FIRST AND THEN, YOU KNOW, USE THE WORST OPTIONS IF WE HAVE TO.
BUT AGAIN, SOME OF THE THINGS TOO, THE HIGHLIGHT FROM LAST YEAR AND FROM THIS YEAR, TOXINS HAVE NOT BEEN MEASURED IN THE WATER, WHICH IS A VERY BIG DEAL.
[01:50:01]
UH, THAT'S WHY WE'RE ABLE TO KEEP LADY BIRD LAKE OPEN, KEEP PROMOTING IT AS A RECREATIONAL RESOURCE.UM, AS LONG AS PEOPLE ARE NOT DIRECTLY INTERACTING WITH THESE ALGAE, THEIR RISK IS EXTREMELY LOW.
I MEAN, YOU REALLY HAVE TO INGEST THE ALGAE.
ALSO, AS OF NOW, THERE HAS NOT BEEN A REPORTED HUMAN FATALITY FROM ANTITOXINS.
IT IS REALLY JUST LIVESTOCK AND ANIMALS, BUT AGAIN, I THINK IT'S BECAUSE OF THE MOTIVE INGESTION.
UM, WE'RE FORTUNATE THAT THIS HAS BEEN THE ONLY TOXIN OBSERVED, UM, IN THESE MATS, THERE ARE OTHER TOXINS THAT SIGN IT, BACTERIA CAN PRODUCE, UH, THAT CAN AFFECT, UH, YOU KNOW, CAUSE SKIN IRRITATION AND RASHES, UM, CAN HAVE MORE CHRONIC EFFECTS RATHER THAN ACUTE EFFECTS LIKE THE ANTITOXIN.
SO WE ARE CONTINUING TO MONITOR THE TYPE OF TOXINS PRECEDENT, UM, BUT THIS ONE STAYS WITHIN THE CELLS, UH, RELATIVELY SHORT LIFE ONCE IT'S RELEASED INTO THE WATER.
FORTUNATELY, SO THESE ARE THINGS THAT WE'RE KIND OF TAKING AS POSITIVES RIGHT NOW.
UM, AND HOPEFULLY WE DON'T GET ANY OTHER TYPES OF DASHES BLOOMS OUT THERE THAT WOULD IMPACT RESERVOIR USE AND ACTIVITIES.
SO WITH THAT EX THE LAST SLIDE, I'LL TAKE SOME QUESTIONS.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT REALLY INTERESTING PRESENTATION.
THERE WERE SO MANY THINGS I LEARNED THAT I WAS EVEN NEW TO ME.
SO, UM, VERY, VERY INTERESTING.
I'LL SEE IF ANY OF MY COLLEAGUES HAVE QUESTIONS.
SO I KNOW WE ALL CARE ABOUT BLUE-GREEN ALGAE.
I JUST WANT TO SAY THANK YOU FOR THE OVERVIEW IS REALLY, UM, HELPFUL TO DO A DEEP DIVE, UNDERSTAND HOW WE'RE APPROACHING IT.
AND, AND, UM, FOR THOSE WHO REALLY WANT TO GET DEEP INTO THE SCIENCE, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT BECAUSE THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE ASKING LOTS OF QUESTIONS.
WOULD SAY THANK YOU ALSO, AND TOTALLY APPRECIATED THE PICTURES THAT HELPS A LOT.
AND THIS WILL BE A MATERIALS THAT WE CAN USE TO SHARE, UH, WITH OUR CONSTITUENTS.
UM, I KNOW THAT IT'S A BIG CONCERN FOR FOLKS, SO YEAH, APPRECIATE IT.
NO, A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE WANTING TO KNOW HOW TO, HOW TO MAKE IT GO AWAY AND IT IS A SCIENCE.
AND, UM, WE, WE UNDERSTAND THAT AS YOU SOLVE FOR ONE PROBLEM, YOU MAY BE INADVERTENTLY CREATING ANOTHER SOMETIMES, AND YOU'VE GOTTA BE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT HOW YOU SOLVE THESE ISSUES.
SO WE VERY MUCH APPRECIATE THAT.
UM, ON THAT NOTE WE WILL, RIGHT, RIGHT BEFORE WE DO THE VERY CLOSING THINGS, I WANTED TO MAKE SURE IT WAS ON THE RECORD.
THE TWO EARLIER TOPICS, WE TALKED ABOUT THAT AND SPEAK UP AUSTIN.
AUSTIN.ORG/PROPOSED-REGULATORY-FRAMEWORK DASH ON-SITE DASH WATER DASH RIAS.
IF YOU WANT TO BE INVOLVED IN THE CONVERSATION FOR THAT ONE, DR.
MAZARRA WAS TELL ME IF I'M WRONG ON THAT ONE.
AND THEN THE OTHER ONE FOR THE COMMUNITY CLIMATE PLAN, CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN IS SPEAK UP AUSTIN.ORG/COMMUNITY-CLIMATE-PLAN.
SO I WAS ABLE TO GOOGLE THOSE WORDS PRETTY QUICKLY AND FIND THOSE WITH PEOPLE ARE WATCHING AND WANT TO PARTICIPATE, PROVIDE THAT COMMENT.
I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THOSE WERE, UH, THOSE WEBSITES WERE INCLUDED IN OUR OFFICIAL MEETING MINUTES.
ARE YOU GOOD DIRECTOR? MAZARA I SEE YOU'RE UN-MUTED UH, SO AS FAR AS FUTURE
[7. Identify items to be discussed at future meetings.]
ITEMS, UM, THE NEXT REGULARLY SCHEDULED MEETING WE'VE ADOPTED IS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3RD, AT 1:30 PM.WE HAVE DISCUSSED THAT A MAJORITY OF THE COMMITTEE IS INTERESTED IN SPECIAL CALLED MEETING TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE PORTIONS OF WATER FORWARD IN THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE REWRITE.
UM, ARE THERE ANY OTHER FUTURE ITEMS YOU WANT ME TO TAKE NOTE OF BEFORE WE ADJOURN FOR TODAY, WE CAN ALWAYS GET TOGETHER BEHIND THE SCENES TO YOU IF YOU THINK OF ANYTHING.
AND THIS MEETING IS ADJOURNED.
THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING WITH US AND PROVIDING YOUR THOUGHTS AND YOUR EXPERIENCE AND YOUR, YOUR BRAINS TODAY.