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[CALL TO ORDER]
HI EVERYONE.IT IS 1 33 AND I AM CALLING THE AUSTIN WATER OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE MEETING TO ORDER.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US.
I ENJOINED BY A COUNCIL MEMBER POOL, AS WELL AS MAYOR PRO TEM ALTER, WHO IS WITH US, UH, AND MYSELF.
UM, FIRST, BEFORE WE GET STARTED, I WOULD WANT TO SHARE A FEW REMARKS.
UM, WE HAVE A LOT TO COVER TODAY ON MANY VERY IMPORTANT TOPICS FACING OUR COMMUNITY.
UH, AND EVEN THOUGH WE'VE HAD A LOT OF RAIN LATELY HERE IN AUSTIN, IT'S ANOTHER REMINDER THAT WITH CLIMATE CHANGE, WE CAN EXPECT PERIODS OF HEAVY DROUGHT AS WELL AS MORE FREQUENT, HEAVY RAINS WHEN IT DOES HAPPEN.
UH, SO TODAY'S TOPIC WILL INCLUDE AN UPDATE ON OUR DROUGHT PLANNING EFFORTS, AS WELL AS OUR WATER SUPPLY PLANNING EFFORTS, WHICH ARE VERY APPROPRIATE FOR US.
AND I KNOW FOR MANY AUSTINITES DROUGHT REMAINS ONE OF THEIR TOP WEATHER RELATED ISSUE.
SO I'M GLAD THAT WE AS A COMMITTEE WILL BE ABLE TO TACKLE THIS.
UH, RECENTLY WE HAD A REPORT THAT SHOWED, UM, PER THE DROP MONITORING REPORT.
IT SHOWED THAT, UM, EVEN WITH THE RAINFALL WE RECEIVED LAST WEEKEND, LAKE BUCHANAN AND LAKE TRAVIS ARE BOTH LOWER THAN A WEEK AGO.
AND LAKE TRAVIS IS JUST BARELY ABOVE WHERE IT WAS A WEEK AGO.
LCRA HAS STATED THAT THE MOISTURE WAS SO DRY THAT MUCH OF THE RAIN SOAKED INTO THE GROUND AND NEVER ACTUALLY MADE IT TO THE LAKE.
AND THAT LCRA ALSO EXPECTS THAT LEVELS IN BOTH WATER SUPPLIES LIKE TRAVIS, LIKE BE CANON TO KEEP GOING DOWN THIS SUMMER.
SO JUST WANT TO TAKE ANOTHER MOMENT TO ACKNOWLEDGE HOW VITAL THIS COMMITTEE IS TO OUR PLANNING EFFORTS AND, UM, AND LOOK FORWARD TO TODAY'S PRESENTATION.
[1. Approve the minutes of the May 25, 2022 regular meeting of the Austin Water Oversight Committee. ]
WE HAVE APPROVAL OF MINUTES, UM, MINUTES FROM THE MAY 25TH COMMITTEE MEETING.IS THERE A MOTION? THANK YOU, CUSTOMER POOL MOTION TO APPROVE MINUTES SECONDED BY OUR MAYOR PRO TEM ALL IN FAVOR PASSES UNANIMOUSLY.
[2. Water Supply and Drought Planning Update. ]
AND WITH THAT, I WILL NOW TURN IT OVER TO OUR AUSTIN WATER STAFF FOR AN UPDATE ON WATER SUPPLY AND DROUGHT PLANNING EFFORTS.GOOD AFTERNOON, CHAIR FOR SAYS, AND, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS.
MY NAME IS KEVIN CRITTENDON ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR AUSTIN WATER.
UM, AS YOU'RE AWARE OF SUMMER CONDITIONS, CONTINUE AS YOU.
ALRIGHT, WE'LL TRY THAT AGAIN.
IS THAT BETTER? MAYBE IF I JUST LEAVE.
AND WE ARE JOINED BY CATHERINE WE'RE KITCHEN AS WELL.
ALL RIGHT, AGAIN, GOOD AFTERNOON, KEVIN CRITTENDON AUSTIN WATER.
UM, AS YOU ALLUDED TO IN YOUR OPENING REMARKS, UH, DROUGHT CONTINUES IN THE AUSTIN AREA IN CENTRAL TEXAS AREA.
UM, OBVIOUSLY THE SUMMER WE'VE HAD A NUMBER OF DAYS ABOVE A HUNDRED DEGREES AND CONTINUING A LACK OF RAINFALL, UM, DESPITE THE RECENT RAINFALL HERE IN AUSTIN, AND OF COURSE EVEN MORE SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL IN NORTH TEXAS, UM, WE REMAIN ALERT AND ON GUARD AND KIND OF LOOKING OUT FOR OUR WATER SUPPLY CONDITIONS.
UM, THIS AFTERNOON WE HAVE A COUPLE OF PRESENTATIONS FOR YOU.
WE'LL START WITH A WATER SUPPLY OVERVIEW AND DROUGHT OUTLOOK.
AGAIN, PART OF THAT IS REALLY TO REORIENT EVERYONE TO OUR WATER SUPPLY AND RELIANCE ON THE HIGHLAND LAKES AND TALK ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT THIS CURRENT DROUGHT LOOKS LIKE FOR US, UH, BOTH LOCALLY AND REGIONALLY, UH, FOLLOWING THAT PRESENTATION, WE'LL ALSO THEN, UH, BRING UP, UH, ANOTHER STAFF TO HAVE A CONVERSATION AROUND OUR WATER FORD ACTIVITIES.
SO OUR INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCE PLAN THAT DEALS WITH TRYING TO, UH, ACCOMMODATE AND UNDERSTAND THE IMPACTS OF THE GROWTH IN OUR COMMUNITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE.
SO WITH THAT, UH, WITH ME THIS AFTERNOON IS THERESA LOOT.
SHE'S THE MANAGING ENGINEER OVER OUR SYSTEMS PLANNING DIVISION, AND SHE'LL TAKE US THROUGH A CONVERSATION AROUND OUR, UH, OUR SUPPLY AND DROUGHT PLANNING.
I AM TERESA LUTES, I'M DIVISION MANAGER FOR SYSTEMS PLANNING WITHIN AUSTIN WATER, UH, UH, WANTED TO, UM, THANK YOU FOR HAVING US HERE, UH, CHAIRING COUNCIL MEMBERS.
UM, CAN YOU ADVANCE TO THE NEXT SLIDE PLEASE? AND, UH, PROVIDE A, AN OVERVIEW OF OUR WATER SUPPLIES, UM, AND THEN TALK SOME ABOUT THE, OUR GROUT CONDITIONS, UH, FOR WATER SUPPLIES.
THIS IS A, AN OVERVIEW MAP THAT SHOWS OUR WATER TREATMENT PLANTS
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AND THE COLORADO RIVER BASINS WATER SUPPLY RESERVOIRS, WHICH ARE LAKES, MCCANNON, AND TRAVIS SHOWN THERE ON THE MAP.THE CITY RECEIVES ITS WATER FROM THE COLORADO RIVER THROUGH OUR THREE WATER TREATMENT PLANTS.
THAT'S THE DAVIS WATER TREATMENT PLANT AND OLRICK WATER TREATMENT PLANTS.
THEY BOTH DRAW WATER FROM LAKE AUSTIN AND THEN THE HANCOCK'S WATER TREATMENT PLANT DRAWS WATER FROM LAKE TRAVIS CITY OF AUSTIN HAS ACCESS TO 325,000 ACRE FEET OF WATER PER YEAR.
THIS IS FROM A COMBINATION OF AUSTIN'S RUN OF RIVER RIGHTS, OUR SENIOR ONE OF RIVER RIGHTS, AND THEN ALSO A, UM, A CONTRACT WITH THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY, THE LCRA TO PROVIDE FROM WATER AND BACKUP WATER TO OUR RUN OF RIVER RIGHTS TO GIVE YOU A FEEL FOR, UH, WHAT THE DIFFERENCE IS BETWEEN THOSE TYPES OF WATERS.
A RUN OF RIVER WATER IS, UH, FROM STATE GRANTED WATER RIGHTS THAT ENTITIES CAN RECEIVE FOR WATER AVAILABLE IN THE RIVER BASED ON A FIRST IN TIME, FIRST IN RIGHT PRIORITY SYSTEM, LCRA FIRMA WATER IS WATER THAT LCRA PROVIDES USING THE COLORADO RIVER SYSTEM SOURCES TO, UH, INCLUDING THE STORED WATER IN LAKES, TRAVIS AND BUCHANAN, TO MAKE THOSE, UH, RUN A RIVER RIGHTS FROM OR PROVIDE WATER TO THEM IN TIMES WHEN IT'S DRY.
SO THAT'S WHY AUSTIN HAS A WATER SUPPLY CONTRACTS WITH THE LCRA AND WATER CAN BE RELEASED BY LCRA FROM THE LAKES STORED WATER IN DRY TIMES WHEN WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH RUN OF RIVER WATER AVAILABLE UNDER THAT PRIORITY SYSTEM.
NEXT SLIDE, AUSTIN HAS BEEN, UH, FOCUSED ON CONSERVATION.
UM, THIS GRAPH GOES BACK TO I THINK, THE, THE EARLY NINETIES OR SO THIS SHOWS THE, UM, FOCUS THAT AUSTIN HAS HAD ON CONSERVATION AND DROUGHT MANAGEMENT, UH, WITH THE STRONG, UH, CUSTOMER RESPONSE WE'VE RECEIVED FROM OUR EFFORTS IN, UH, IN STEPPING UP CONSERVATION AND DROUGHT MANAGEMENT IN RECENT YEARS, BACK IN 2006, WE HAD A GALLONS PER CAPITA PER DAY AMOUNT OF 190 GALLONS PER CAPITA PER DAY.
AND THAT'S, IF YOU TAKE ALL THE USES AND ALL THE WATER PUMPED INTO THE SYSTEM DIVIDED BY THE AMOUNT OF POPULATION SERVED, THAT'S THE GALLONS PER CAPITA PER DAY NUMBER LAST YEAR, THE NUMBER WAS DOWN TO 125 GALLONS PER CAPITA PER DAY.
SO YOU CAN SEE ON THE GRAPH, THERE'S BEEN A SIGNIFICANT DROP IN THAT AMOUNT OF WATER USE PER PERSON.
THAT MEANS WE CAN SERVE MORE PEOPLE WITH THE SAME AMOUNT OF WATER THAT WE'RE SERVING OUT INTO THE SYSTEM.
UH, WE'RE SERVING OVER 1.1 MILLION PEOPLE AND, UH, THE AMOUNT OF POTABLE WATER POPPAGE FOR THE RECENT YEARS, YOU CAN SEE THERE IS IN A PAR OF ABOUT 157,000 ACRE FEET.
AND THE AMOUNT OF RECLAIMED WATER WE'RE USING IS A LITTLE UNDER 5,000 ACRE FEET OF RECLAIMED WATER.
I WANTED TO SHOW YOU SOME OF AUSTIN'S RELATIVE USE.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE COLORADO RIVER, UH, AND HIGHLAND LAKES USE OVERALL, THIS IS A GRAPH SHOWING THE OVERALL USE OF LCRA, UH, WATER OR WATER FROM RUN OF RIVER WATER SOURCES WITHIN THE COLORADO RIVER BASIN ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION.
SO IN, IN THE, UH, PIE CHART THERE ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE, IT SHOWS RUN OF RIVER WATER ON THE LEFT-HAND SIDE OF THAT, UM, THAT WHITE, UH, THAT THICKER WHITE BOUNDARY THERE.
AND THEN ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE, IT SHOWS LCRA STORED WATER.
SO THIS SHOWS THAT IF YOU LOOK AT THE OVERALL WATER USES AUSTIN'S IS SHOWN THERE IN BLUE SHOWS THE SPLIT BETWEEN RUN OF RIVER WATER AND STORED WATER.
THAT ELSE, THAT AUSTIN USES OF THE OVERALL SYSTEM.
THIS IS JUST THE CITY'S USE WITHIN THE OVERALL SYSTEM.
THIS IS BASED ON A RECENT FIVE-YEAR AVERAGE FROM 20 2017 TO 2021.
YOU CAN SEE THERE THAT AUSTIN'S USE OF THE FULL PI IS 7% OF THE AMOUNT OF STORED, UH, LCRA STORED WATER USED DURING THAT PERIOD.
IT'S ABOUT 46,000 ACRE FEET, AND ABOUT 18% OF THE RUN OF RIVER WATER USED IN THE COLORADO RIVER AND HIGHLAND LAKE SYSTEM.
SO WANTED TO GIVE YOU THAT, UH, OVERALL SCALE, UM, AND RELATIVE USE PERSPECTIVE.
THE TOTAL THERE OF THOSE TWO AUSTIN
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PIES IS ABOUT A HUNDRED AND FIFTY SEVEN, A HUNDRED AND FIFTY 8,000 ACRE FEET IS ABOUT 25% OF THE OVERALL, BUT WANTED TO SHOW HOW THAT WATER AMOUNT TYPICALLY, UM, UH, SPLITS OUT.AND THEN, UH, JUST WANTED TO MENTION FOR THIS YEAR, BECAUSE OF THE DRYNESS, WE WILL LIKELY BE THAT LIKELY WE'LL SEE A SHIFT WHERE WE'LL PROBABLY BE USING MORE STORED WATER THIS YEAR COMPARED TO RUN A RIVER SINCE THERE'S BEEN, UM, SOME VERY, UH, DRY PERIODS DURING THIS YEAR.
SO WE CONTINUE TO TRACK THIS AND, AND, UM, AND HAVE, UH, ACCESS TO LCRA INFORMATION ON OVERALL WATER USE WITHIN THE BASIN TO BE ABLE TO SEE AUSTIN'S, UH, PLACE IN THE BIG PICTURE.
NEXT SLIDE OF WANTED TO GIVE YOU A SENSE OF, UM, UH, THE AMOUNT OF WATER FLOWING INTO THE HIGHLAND LAKES.
THIS IS A GRAPH OF, UH, INFLOWS TO THE HIGHLAND LAKES.
THAT'S WATER COMING INTO THE LAKES.
THE BAR SHOWS HOW LOW THE INFLOWS HAVE BEEN IN 2022 THUS FAR.
THOSE ARE THE GREEN BARS IS THE, ARE THE 2022 BARS, UH, FOR AUGUST.
WE DON'T HAVE THOSE NUMBERS IN YET, BUT WE'RE ON TRACK FOR ABOUT A 400 OR SO ACRE FEET.
UH, SO IT'LL BE REPEATING ROUGHLY ABOUT THE SAME AMOUNT AS THE JULY BAR THERE.
THE INFLOWS TO THE HIGHLAND LAKES ARE AT A HISTORIC LOWS.
AND, UM, AND WE ALSO INCLUDED ON THE GRAPH 2011 FOR COMPARISON, 2011 HAS SHOWN THERE IN, IN PINK.
SO YOU CAN COMPARE THAT IN 2011 FOR, FOR THE PERIOD, FROM JANUARY TO JULY, THE SAME PERIOD OF WHERE WE ARE THROUGH THIS YEAR IN 11, THE INFLOWS WERE ABOUT 74,000 ACRE FEET.
AND IN, IN THIS YEAR SO FAR, THEY'RE ABOUT 52,000 ACRE FEET.
SO WE'RE TRACKING A LITTLE LOWER THAN WE WERE TRACKING, UH, TO THIS POINT OF THE YEAR IN 2011.
WOULD YOU MIND REPEATING THOSE NUMBERS AGAIN? SURE.
IN 2011, THE AMOUNT THAT WAS, UM, THE INFLOWS WERE ABOUT 73,000 ACRE FEET.
AND THEN FOR 2022, THUS FAR, IT'S ABOUT 52,000 ACRE FEET.
THIS GRAPH SHOWS THE COMBINED STORAGE OF LIKES TRAVIS AND MCCANNON BACK TO 2005.
UM, TODAY'S STORAGE IS ABOUT 1.1, 2 MILLION ACRE FEET, WHICH IS ABOUT 56% FULL.
THIS GRAPH WAS UPDATED THROUGH AUGUST 1ST.
SO, UM, IT DOESN'T INCLUDE THE, THE MORE RECENT DAYS SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE MONTH, BUT WE CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS AND UPDATE OUR COMBINED, THE COMBINED STORAGE GRAPH IN AND TRACK THAT COMBINED STORAGE ON A FREQUENT BASIS ON, ON THIS GRAPH ALSO IS, ARE SHOWING THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN STAGES.
UH, SO, UH, WHERE WE HAVE OUR STAGE ONE THAT WE'RE IN NOW, DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN STAGE IS AT 1.4 MILLION ACRE FEET THAT SHOWN THERE IN GREEN, ALSO IN GREEN IS SHOWN THE STAGE TWO DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN LEVEL OF 900,000 ACRE FEET.
AND THEN STAGE THREE IS AT 600,000 ACRE FEET IN 2016 AFTER THE, THE DROUGHT BROKE THE NEW WHAT'S.
NOW THE NEW DROUGHT OF RECORD FOR THIS SPACE IN WHICH WAS FROM 2008 TO 2015 IN 2016 CITY COUNCIL ADOPTED A NEW DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN FOR AUSTIN, THAT INCORPORATED THINGS WE LEARNED THROUGH THE LAST DROUGHT AND INCORPORATED, UM, THE PERMANENT ONE DAY PER WEEK WATERING SCHEDULE FOR AUTOMATIC IRRIGATION SYSTEMS AS A YEAR ROUND, UM, PERMANENT POLICY.
SO WE, AFTER THE, AFTER THE DROUGHT CONCLUDED HAVE INCORPORATED THOSE HIGHER LEVELS OF, UM, CONSERVATION AND, AND, AND EMBEDDED THOSE IN OUR POLICIES AS AN ONGOING PRACTICE.
SO IF WE LOOK AND WE CAN TALK SOME MORE ABOUT THIS LATER IN A FOLLOWING SLIDE, BUT, UH, AS WE GO, WE'D GO PROGRESSIVELY INTO HIGHER STAGES.
THOSE STAGES FOCUS ON PROGRESSIVE STAGES OF MORE RESTRICTIVE, UM, WATERING HOURS.
NEXT SLIDE WANTED TO MENTION A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY.
UM, THE, THE LCRA WAS CREATED BY THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE IN 1934 AND MANAGE THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER AND HIGHLAND LAKES.
UH, THEY OPERATE THE LAKES WITHIN AN APPROVED PLAN BY THE TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY.
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THAT IS A WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN.AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN WAS VERY INVOLVED IN THE, IN THE RECENT UPDATES OF THE LCRA, A WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN.
UM, AND THE CURRENT PLAN THAT THEY WERE OPERATING UNDER IS A 2020 PLAN.
AUSTIN HAS A FORMAL PARTNERSHIP WITH LCRA, UH, BASED ON, UH, AN AGREEMENT IN 2007.
SO SENIOR, UM, STAFF MEMBERS AND EXECUTIVE, UH, MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE LEVEL WITHIN BOTH, UH, ENTITIES MEET ON A REGULAR BASIS TO SHARE INFORMATION AND, UM, AND HAVE, UH, COOPERATION ON A NUMBER OF, UM, MANY TOPICS THAT ARE COME UP ALONG, UM, IN THE ARENA OF WATER, WATER, SUPPLY, AND MANAGEMENT.
NEXT SLIDE, THE LCRA WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN.
AS I MENTIONED, IT WAS THE, THE CURRENT, UM, WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN WAS APPROVED BY TCEQ IN 2020.
AND THIS IS FOR THE LCRA, THIS D D D UH, DETERMINES HOW LCRA MANAGES THE WATER IN THE HIGHLAND LAKES, LAKES, TRAVIS, AND MCCANNON WITH THAT BEING FOLLOWED, THEY HAVE LIMITED THE OVERALL AMOUNT OF IRRIGATION, UH, WATER THAT'S BEING RELEASED THIS YEAR.
THEY HAVE OFF THE SECOND CROP IRRIGATION FOR WHAT ARE REFERRED TO AS NINE GARWOOD DIVISIONS, UH, WITHIN THE, UM, THE DOWNSTREAM RICE IRRIGATION AND AGRICULTURAL IRRIGATION AREAS DOWN IN THE LOWER THREE COUNTIES WITHIN, UH, THE COLORADO RIVER BASIN.
SO FOR THE REMAINDER OF 2020 RELEASES OF SECOND CROP WATER FOR THOSE DISTRICTS, UH, WON'T WON'T HAPPEN.
SO THOSE THAT THERE'S A CUTOFF IN PLACE.
THE LCRA WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN IS BASED ON THE WORST, UH, MULTI-YEAR DROUGHT TO DATE, WHICH INCLUDES THAT, WHICH IS THE DROUGHT FROM THE 2010S, WHICH STARTED IN 2008 THROUGH 2015.
SO THE DATA FROM THAT DROUGHT IS WHAT WAS USED TO DEVELOP THE CURRENT WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN THAT'S IN PLACE.
AND THAT ONE, UM, IS IN PLACE UNTIL THERE'S A, UM, A SCHEDULE THAT IT WILL BE BEGIN BEING UPDATED NO LATER THAN 2025.
AND AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, AUSTIN WAS VERY INVOLVED AS AN ACTIVE STAKEHOLDER IN THE WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN UPDATE PROCESS.
NEXT SLIDE, THIS GRAPH SHOWS THE LCRA IS COMBINED STORAGE PROJECTION.
AS OF AUGUST 1ST LCRA MAKES A PROJECTION OF COMBINED STORAGE, UH, EACH MONTH.
SO AT THE BEGINNING OF SEPTEMBER, WE ANTICIPATE, UH, SEEING A NEW UPDATE OF THIS GRAPH.
THIS SHOWS THAT WE, UH, THE LCRA PROJECTS THAT WE WILL STAY ABOVE THE 900,000 ACRE FOOT, UH, LEVEL, WHICH WOULD BE THE NEXT LEVEL THAT WOULD TRIGGER STAGE TWO DROUGHT, UM, RESTRICTIONS, UM, UNDER OUR DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN AT 900,000, IT'S EXPECTED THAT WE WILL STAY ABOVE THAT EVEN IN VERY DRY CONDITIONS.
AS MENTIONED, AS I MENTIONED, THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN STAGES, FOCUS ON PROGRESSIVE STAGES OF MORTAR, RESTRICTIVE WATERING HOURS, AS WE WOULD GO, UM, IN THE PROGRESSION FROM STAGES ONE, TWO AND THREE, THE STAGE NUMBERING IS NOT NECESSARILY CONSISTENT ACROSS, UH, CITIES OR OTHER DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLANS.
UM, AUSTIN'S YEAR ROUND RESTRICTIONS ARE MORE STRINGENT THAN OTHER COMMUNITIES, UH, STAGES TWO AND THREE, THAT THAT MAY BE THE CASE.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING WE'RE AWARE OF.
AND WE, UM, YOU KNOW, HAVE COMMUNICATIONS WITH OUR CUSTOMERS AND OTHER OTHER ENTITIES WITHIN, WITHIN THE REGION ABOUT THAT.
UM, AND WE RECOGNIZE THAT THERE ARE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE VARIOUS DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLANS AMONG VARIOUS ENTITIES ACROSS THE STATE.
AS I MENTIONED, THE SECOND CROP, UM, CUTOFF FOR NON GARWOOD DIVISIONS IS REFLECTED IN THIS GRAPH.
SO THAT'S PART OF THE, UH, THE REASON WHY THERE IS SOME FLATTENING OUT OF THE, UM, THE DECLINE IN THE PROJECTED STORAGE.
THIS IS, UH, THE MOST CURRENT DROUGHT MONITOR, UM, TEXAS DROUGHT MONITOR PICTURE.
IT WAS FROM, UH, THE AUGUST 18TH LAST WEEK.
UH, IT'S GOING TO BE UPDATED AGAIN ON THURSDAY THIS WEEK.
SO I ANTICIPATE THAT THE CONDITIONS WILL IT EASE SOME SOMEWHAT DUE TO THE, UM, THE RAIN, BUT WE WILL LOOK FOR THAT AND SEE, UM, TO WHAT EXTENT THIS DROUGHT MONITOR PICTURE CHANGES IN, UH, AS A RESULT OF THE RAINS, BUT, UM, JUST WANTED TO PROVIDE, UH, THIS UPDATE
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AND THIS PICTURE OF THE MOST RECENT DROUGHT.YOU CAN SEE NOT DROUGHT MONITOR THE, UH, EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT LEVEL FOR, UH, MUCH OF TRAVIS COUNTY THERE IN THE MIDDLE WITH THE, THE, UH, BLUE CIRCLE SHOWING, UH, WHERE TRAVIS COUNTY IS THERE AND THEN SOME OF THE UPSTREAM, UH, UPPER BASIN COUNTIES.
AND, UM, AND, UM, UP UNTIL JUST RECENTLY WITH THIS RAIN, WE'VE, UH, WE'VE BEEN MOSTLY UPPER BASIN, BEEN IN THE CATEGORY OF EXTREME OR EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT.
NEXT SLIDE, NOAH, UH, NOAH'S THREE MONTH OUTLOOK IS FOR THE TEMPERATURE TO BE ON A SEASONAL BASIS, RUNNING HIGHER THAN NORMAL.
UH, BUT THE CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION ABOUT EQUAL ABOUT NORMAL FOR THE, UH, THE UPCOMING THREE MONTHS.
SO, UM, WE WILL SEE HOW THE, THIS, UH, TRACKS WITH WHAT, UH, OCCURS AND CONTINUE TO LOOK OUT INTO THE FUTURE TO SEE WHAT THE, UH, THE CHANCES OF RAIN AND, UH, EASE CONDITIONS ARE, SO THAT WE CAN STAY ON TOP OF MONITORING WHAT THE PROJECTIONS ARE FOR, UM, FOR TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION OVER THE COMING MONTHS.
SO TO KIND OF WRAP, UH, OUR NEXT STEPS ARE CONTINUING TO MONITOR THE DROUGHT SITUATION AND PROMOTE CONSERVATION AND ADHERENCE TO OUR DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN STAGES.
UH, ALSO A FACTOR IS WE'RE CONTINUING TO IMPLEMENT OUR WATER FORWARD PLAN.
OUR AUSTIN'S INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCE PLAN.
AND I THINK THE NEXT PRESENTATION, UH, IS IN RELATION TO THAT, UH, OUR IMPLEMENTATION, INCLUDING OUR IMPLEMENTATION OF WATER FORWARD FOR OUR CUSTOMERS, JUST WANT TO KIND OF ASSURE, UH, FOLKS THAT WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.
UH, WE WANT FOLKS TO TAKE TIME TO LOOK AT THEIR OWN WATER USE, UM, AND ENSURE THAT THEY'RE FOLLOWING THEIR WATER SCHEDULE AND, AND SAVING WATER AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
WE HAVE SOCIAL MEDIA, UH, AND WE HAVE A NEW DROUGHT RESPONSE, UM, WEBPAGE THAT WE HAVE, UM, ON OUR WEBSITE THAT PROVIDES INFORMATION ON THE, ON DROUGHT RESPONSE AND WHAT, WHAT THE CONDITIONS ARE AND WHAT'S HAPPENING.
AND WE'LL BE PROVIDING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OVER TIME THERE AS NEEDED.
IT, IT, UH, INCLUDES SOME FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND WE CAN HELP DIRECT PEOPLE THERE TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON THE DROUGHT, UH, EH, AS CONDITIONS MAY CHANGE INTO THE FUTURE.
SO THAT CONCLUDES THE PRESENTATION AND BE HAPPY TO TRY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
UM, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE CHANGE IN VOLUME OF THE WATER COMING DOWN THE COLORADO RIVER IS GIVEN THE EXTREME DROUGHT STATUS THAT WE'RE IN, UH, UNDER WITH THE, WITH THIS MOST RECENT RAIN EVENT? HOW MUCH IS COMING IN, OR JUST GENERALLY? SO I'M THINKING ABOUT THE PRESENTATION WE HAD THE LAST TIME WE MET AND IT WAS ON THE WATER BUDGET FOR, UM, UH, BUSINESSES LIKE TESLA OR SAMSUNG, AND THE CONCERN ABOUT THEM TAKING WATER OUT OF, UM, I GUESS OUT OF OUR PIPES, BECAUSE THEY'RE ON OUR WATER SYSTEM AND ALSO OUT OF THE COLORADO RIVER.
SO I WAS WONDERING IF THE DROUGHT CONDITIONS HAVE SLOWED THE RATE OF THE RIVER WATER MOVING DOWN TO MET A GORGEOUS BAY MATAGORDA BAY.
UM, WELL, THE, YEAH, THE, THE AMOUNT OF WATER FLOWING IN THE, IN THE RIVER COMING INTO THE LAKES, AND THEN SOME OF THAT WATER IS PASSED THROUGH BY LCRA FOR DOWNSTREAM USES.
UM, THAT HAS BEEN THE AMOUNT COMING IN TO THE HIGHLAND LAKES HAS BEEN LESS BECAUSE OF THE DROUGHT, BUT THEN LCRA RELEASES WATER THROUGH THE DAMS AND THE LAKE SYSTEM FOR DOWNSTREAM PURPOSES.
THERE ARE CUSTOMERS DOWNSTREAM THAT USE THAT WATER.
UM, SO LCRA MAKES RELEASES FROM WATER.
THAT'S BEING PASSED THROUGH, UH, IF THERE IS WATER COMING THROUGH, IT GETS SOME OF THAT GETS PASSED DOWN THROUGH THE LAKES, OR, AND THEN THERE ARE SOME STORED WATER RELEASES AS WELL.
SO, UM, SO THE, WITH THE DRY CONDITIONS, THEY, THE AMOUNT OF WATER FLOWING IN THAT THE SYSTEM ESPECIALLY UPSTREAM HAS BEEN REDUCED.
UM, AND I GUESS THAT'S REFLECTED IN THE LOWER LEVELS OF TRAVIS LIKE TRAVIS, RIGHT? BECAUSE I THINK LAKE AUSTIN IS A STANDARD LEVEL.
BUT THE AMOUNT OF WATER, THAT'S WHAT, THAT'S WHAT THE, FROM WATER CONTRACTS ARE FOR.
THEY, THEY PROVIDE THAT STORED WATER SO THAT WATER CAN BE RELEASED AND USE DURING THE TIMES WHEN IT'S VERY DRY.
LIKE A, UH, LIKE A BANK ACCOUNT SORT OF.
[00:25:01]
YEAH.AND THEN THE SECOND QUESTION THAT I HAD WAS ON YOUR TEXAS DROUGHT MONITOR PAGE, THIS IS ONE HERE, WHICH WAS REALLY INTERESTING.
AND YOU, YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU WILL BE HAVING THIS KNOW THESE STATS UPDATED PRETTY SOON AS A RESULT OF THE RAIN EVENT THAT WE HAD, UM, THIS WEEK.
AND I WAS HOPING THAT YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO SEND US THAT UPDATE MAYBE BY EMAIL AND SHOW US LIKE THE CHANGE BETWEEN THIS.
AND THEN THE ONE ON THE NEXT PAGE, WHICH WAS THE NOAA THREE MONTH OUTLOOK.
I WAS INTERESTED IN WHAT WERE THEY SAYING LIKE SIX MONTHS AGO AND NOW, AND TO KIND OF GET A SENSE OF THE TRENDS AND ALSO THE ACCURACY OF THE FORECASTING, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, PRETTY TRICKY AND REALLY DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING, BUT JUST, UH, A GENERAL BRAIN, UH, EXERCISE FOR ME.
I KIND OF HAD A, WANTED TO KNOW HOW ACCURATE ARE THESE FORECASTS WITH THIS LIMITED AMOUNT OF DATA JUST THE LAST FEW MONTHS.
A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS THAT I HAD, WHAT A PERCENTAGE OF OUR WATER COMES FROM THE COLORADO RIVER, THE, ALL OF OUR WATER COMES FROM THE COLORADO RIVER.
UH, SO YEAH, IT JUST WANT TO MAKE THAT CLEAR ON THAT GRAPH, WHERE I WAS SHOWING THE PIE CHARTS OF THE AMOUNT OF WATER BEING SHOWN.
THERE IS ALL USES OF COLORADO RIVER FOR OTHER OTHER USES OTHER CUSTOMERS DOWNSTREAM, DOWNSTREAM, AGRICULTURAL PROCESSES, AND SO FORTH.
SO IT COMES FROM THE COLORADO RIVER AND THE HIGHLAND LAKES.
AND THE GRAPH I SHOWED BEFORE JUST SHOWS HOW MUCH OF IT IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS, AS AN AVERAGE HAS BEEN COMING FROM WATER THAT LCRA RELEASES FROM STORAGE VERSUS VERSUS HOW MUCH COMES FROM THE RIVER, BUT IT'S ALL REALLY RIVER WATER.
IT'S IT ALL COMES FROM THE COLORADO.
SOME IS JUST IN THE FORM OF WHAT LCRA KEEPS TRACK OF AND DOES AN ACCOUNTING OF HOW MUCH WATER IS COMING TO AUSTIN UNDER OUR RENT OF RIVER RIGHTS AND HOW MUCH THEY RELEASED FROM STORAGE.
SO IS IT CUSTOMARY FOR A CITY OF OUR SIZE TO HAVE 100% OF OUR WATER DEPENDENT ON ONE WATER RESOURCE TO MAKE, SHOULD WE LOOK AT DIVERSITY OF RESOURCES, YOU KNOW, DESALINATION LIKE W WHAT'S A BENCHMARK FOR A CITY OF OUR SIZE? YEAH, WE, WE DID SOME RESEARCH INTO THAT AS WE PREPARED OUR WATER FORWARD PLAN, OUR WATER, UH, WATERFORD IS OUR INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES PLAN WHERE WE LOOK OUT A HUNDRED YEARS AND WE, UM, WE CAME UP WITH OUR, UH, OUR BEST MIX OF, AND WE CALLED IT A PORTFOLIO OF WATER SOURCES THAT WE WOULD LOOK AT, UH, FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN GOING FORWARD.
AND WE'RE UNDERGOING AN UPDATE OF THAT PLAN RIGHT NOW.
SO WE WILL BE LOOKING AT THAT AGAIN.
AND THE NEXT, UH, UH, PRESENTATION IS ABOUT THAT.
BUT, UM, SOME, SOME LARGER CITIES DO HAVE ONE WATER SOURCE IN, IN SOME, IN SOME WAYS, THERE, THERE IS SOME, UM, DIVERSITY IN THE, IN THE SUPPLY IN THAT IT'S COLORADO RIVER WATER, BUT THERE IS ALSO THE STORAGE ELEMENT, UM, THAT KIND OF ADDS DIVERSITY TO THAT.
AND PLUS WE ALSO DIVERT WATER FROM TWO DIFFERENT STORAGE RESERVOIRS WITHIN THE COLORADO RIVER SYSTEM.
UH, SO THERE'S SOME DIVERSITY THERE.
WE HAVE SOME RECLAIMED WATER AND WE ARE BUILDING UP THAT, THAT SYSTEM TOO, FOR A MEETING NON-POTABLE USES.
AND THEN AS PART OF WATER FORWARD, UH, WE ARE FOCUSING ON STRATEGIES, INCLUDING AQUIFER, STORAGE AND RECOVERY, WHERE WE WILL STORE WATER IN WET TIMES WHEN WE CAN, NOT IN TIMES LIKE THIS, WHERE WATER, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S VERY DRY, BUT TO, TO ADD TO OUR SUPPLY DIVERSITY, WE WILL STORE WATER WHEN IT'S AVAILABLE COLORADO RIVER WATER, BUT WE'LL PUT IT IN AN AQUIFER AND THEY'D BE ABLE TO DRAW THAT OUT.
SO THAT ADDS SOME SUPPLY DIVERSITY AS WELL, EVEN THOUGH IT ORIGINATE, WILL ORIGINATE AS COLORADO RIVER WATER, IT WILL BECOME ASR WATER AND BE ANOTHER WATER SOURCE.
SO, UM, AND, UH, A WATER FORD PLAN INCLUDES SOME OTHER STRATEGIES THAT, UM, WILL PROVIDE SOME SUPPLY DIVERSITY.
BUT AGAIN, WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT AND UPDATING OUR PLAN IN AN ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT KIND OF PROCESS.
SO WE'LL BE LOOKING AT, AT THAT SUMMIT ADDITIONALLY INTO THE FUTURE.
AND I GUESS AS, AS AN OUTLOOK, A DROUGHT OUTLOOK, MOVING AHEAD IN THE COMING MONTHS, WE DON'T ANTICIPATE GOING INTO STAGE LEVEL DROUGHT STAGE LEVEL TWO AT THIS POINT.
THE SO FAR THE, FOR THE HORIZON LCRA IS COMBINED STORAGE PROJECTION IS FOR MONTHS.
SO AT THE BEGINNING OF SEPTEMBER, WE'LL GET ONE THAT GOES THROUGH MARCH ONE.
UM, BUT FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE FOR AT LEAST SIX MONTHS, LCRA PROJECTIONS, DON'T SHOW GOING BELOW SIX, UH, BUT GOING BELOW 900,000 ACRE FEET, WHICH IS THE STAGE TO TRIGGER.
[00:30:01]
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS I'M GONNA PRETEND? I THINK, UM, CUSTOMER POOL PRETTY MUCH ASKED MY QUESTION.I JUST, YOU KNOW, AS WE DIGEST THE RAIN FROM THE LAST WEEK OR SO, IT'D BE REALLY HELPFUL, UM, TO UNDERSTAND HOW THAT CHANGES WHERE WE ARE OR IF IT DOESN'T.
AND IF IT, IF IT'S NOT, IT'D BE HELPFUL TO HAVE MORE INFORMATION ON WHY NOT, BECAUSE WE MAY GET QUESTIONS, UM, FROM CONSTITUENTS ON THAT.
SO I'M LIKE, I'LL JUST JUMP IN HERE.
I WILL SAY THAT ONE THING THAT WE, WE ARE DOING, UM, WE'VE INCREASED OUR INTERNAL MONITORING ON WATER SUPPLY CONDITIONS.
AND SO WE ACTUALLY HAVE A WEEKLY REPORT THAT WE'RE DEALING WITH AS I LOOK AT SORT OF THE LAST SEVERAL WEEKS AND HOW THE RELATIVE INFLOW RAINFALL TEMPERATURE LEVELS HAVE HAD IMPACTS ON HIGHLAND LEVEL LAKE OR LAKES LEVELS.
UH, ONE THING THAT'S DROPPED, UH, STOOD OUT TO ME AS YOU CAN VISIBLY SEE THE REDUCTION IN LIKE TRAVIS AND MCCANNON SLOWING BECAUSE OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CURTAILMENT.
AND ALSO JUST THESE RECENT SEVERAL WEEKS WHERE WE'VE HAD A LITTLE BIT OF OVERCAST, I THINK THAT'S ALSO HELPED SLOWLY EVAPORATION.
SO THOSE ARE GOOD SIGNS, I THINK MO MORE DIRECTLY TO YOUR POINT.
UM, OBVIOUSLY THIS VERY LOCAL, RECENT RAIN, UM, IT HAS BEEN DRY, UH, ANTECEDENT MOISTURE CONDITIONS IN THE SOIL, THE VERY DRY.
AND SO A LOT OF THAT IS NOT RUNNING OFF, BUT WE ARE PICKING UP SOME UPSTREAM INFLOW.
THAT'S A LITTLE UNNERVING, SO WE'RE STARTING TO NOW SEE NUMBERS SHOW UP IN THE GAUGES.
I MEAN, WE'LL CONTINUE TO WATCH THAT AND MONITOR THAT.
UM, I WOULD SAY THE OTHER PIECE OF GOOD NEWS IS WE ARE NOW MOVING INTO A TRADITIONALLY WETTER TIME OF THE YEAR.
I MEAN, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR RAINFALL DISTRIBUTION, THIS PART OF THE WORLD IS KIND OF, BI-MODAL A LOT OF RAIN IN THE SPRING TIME.
AND THEN WE PICK UP REINS AGAIN, AS WE MOVE INTO FALL.
UM, OBVIOUSLY WITH HURRICANE SEASON, WE'LL BE WATCHING THAT, UM, AND YOU KNOW, THE, THE, UH, WEATHER CONDITIONS BECOME VERY UNPREDICTABLE.
AND SO WE'LL KEEP AN EYE OUT AND CONTINUE TO UPDATE INFORMATION AND PASS OUT YOUR WAY.
WE APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION.
UM, AND THE UPDATE ON WATER SUPPLY AND DROUGHT PLANNING EFFORTS,
[3. Water Forward Update. ]
COLLEAGUES WE'LL MOVE TO ITEM NUMBER THREE, WHICH IS AN UPDATE ON OUR WATER FORWARD PLAN.SO AGAIN, KEVIN CRITTENDON AUSTIN MATER, UM, MARISA FLORES GONZALES WILL BE HERE AND SHE WILL PRESENT, UM, UH, WATERFORD UPDATE.
UH, MARTY IS OUR, UH, PROGRAM MANAGER AND SUPERVISOR OVER OUR WATER RESOURCES PLANNING GROUP.
I'VE BEEN INVOLVED WITH OUR WATER FORWARD ACTIVITIES FOR QUITE SOME TIME.
AND SO SHE'LL WALK US THROUGH A LITTLE BIT OF A FLAVOR ON KIND OF OUR WATER FOUR TO 18 ACTIVITIES, WHICH WAS THE MORE RECENT, UH, UM, WATERFORD APPROVED BY COUNCIL BACK IN 2018.
SO A LOT OF CONVERSATION AROUND IMPLEMENTATION, UM, AND THEN ALSO A BIT OF A LOOK TOWARD OUR WATERFORD 24 ACTIVITIES, WHICH IS WE'LL START PLANNING AND ACTUALLY IN THE MIDDLE OF PLANNING FOR UPDATING THAT, UM, THAT PLANNING ACTIVITY.
SO WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO MEDUSA.
UM, THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT ABOUT WATERFORD.
MY NAME IS MARISA FLOOD IS GONZALEZ ALSO KNOWN AS MARTY I'M THE WATERFORD PROGRAM MANAGER AND ALSO THE WATER RESOURCES TEAM SUPERVISOR.
SO YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SIDE.
WATERFORD IS AUSTIN'S 100 YEAR INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCE PLAN.
IT'S A PLAN TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT DIVERSE AND ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES TO ADAPT TO GROWTH DROUGHT AND CLIMATE CHANGE, AND TO ENSURE A SUSTAINABLE, RESILIENT, EQUITABLE, AND AFFORDABLE WATER FUTURE FOR OUR COMMUNITY FOR THE NEXT 100 YEARS.
SO IT'S A PLAN THAT'S COVERING A LOT OF TERRITORY.
UM, BUT THE MAIN GOAL IS TO BE ABLE TO MEET OUR COMMUNITY'S WATER DEMANDS FOR THE NEXT 100 YEARS.
SO THE IDEA FOR THE WATER FORD PLAN CAME OUT OF THE LAST DROUGHT THAT WE EXPERIENCED IN THE CENTRAL TEXAS REGION FROM LATE 2007 TO 2016.
UM, LIKE YOU HEARD BEFORE IN THE LAST PRESENTATION THAT DROUGHT IS THE NEW DROUGHT OF RECORD WITHIN A REGION, UM, AT THE, OUR CITY HAS ALSO EXPERIENCED STRONG POPULATION GROWTH HISTORICALLY, AND WE EXPECT THAT OUR POPULATION GROWTH WILL CONTINUE INTO THE FUTURE.
AND WE KNOW THAT WITH CLIMATE CHANGE, UM, LIKE THE COUNCIL MEMBER MENTIONED, UM, WE EXPECT TO SEE PERIODS OF, UM, FUTURE MORE SEVERE DROUGHT PUNCTUATED BY MORE INTENSE RAINFALL EVENTS.
UM, THESE FACTORS WERE THE PRIMARY DRIVERS BETWEEN BEHIND WATERFORD 2018.
SO THE WATERFORD 2018 PLAN WAS DEVELOPED BY AUSTIN WATER, WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE COUNCIL APPOINTED TASK FORCE.
UM, WE CALL THEM THE WATERFORD TASK FORCE, THE LONG NAME.
[00:35:01]
THEM ONLINE AS THE AUSTIN INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCE PLANNING, COMMUNITY TASK FORCE, WE ALSO GATHERED, UM, HENCE THE NICKNAME.WE ALSO GATHERED, UM, SIGNIFICANT COMMUNITY INPUT AT OVER A HUNDRED DIFFERENT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT EVENTS.
UM, WE WORKED, UM, OUR TECHNICAL WORK WAS SUPPORTED BY CONSULTANTS, UM, SUPPORTING US WITH ENGINEERING, CLIMATE SCIENCE AND HYDROLOGIC SERVICES.
UM, AND OUR PLAN DEVELOPMENT PROCESS IS OUTLINED OVER HERE ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE SLIDE.
WE STARTED IN 2016 BY LAYING OUT OUR METHODOLOGY, DEVELOPING BLUE SKY LIST OF DEMAND MANAGEMENT AND SUPPLY SIDE OPTIONS, CHARACTERIZING THOSE OPTIONS IN TERMS OF COST AND YIELD AND OTHER INFORMATION AROUND THOSE STRATEGIES.
WE COMBINED THEM INTO PORTFOLIOS OF OPTIONS, AND THEN WE EVALUATED THOSE OPTIONS AGAINST CRITERIA LIKE A SUPPLY, RELIABILITY, COST, ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS, IMPLEMENTATION BENEFITS, AND SOCIAL BENEFITS.
AND ULTIMATELY WE CAME UP WITH A SET OF PLAN RECOMMENDATIONS IN 2018, AND THOSE PLAN RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE FINAL PLAN WAS UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED BY COUNCIL IN NOVEMBER OF 2018.
AND YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO OUR WATERFORD 2018 STRATEGIES CAN BE GROUPED INTO FOUR DIFFERENT CATEGORIES.
THEY INCLUDE REDUCING DEMAND WITH STRATEGIES LIKE ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE THAT YOU HEAR MORE ABOUT TODAY IN A LATER PRESENTATION, MOVING REUSE FORWARD BY INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF REUSE COMING FROM ONSITE.
WE USED APPLICATIONS AT THE BUILDING SCALE, DECENTRALIZED RECLAIM SYSTEMS AT THE NEIGHBORHOOD SCALE, AND THEN OUR CENTRALIZED RECLAIM SYSTEM THAT STRETCHES ACROSS A BROAD SWATH OF OUR CITY.
UM, THE THIRD CATEGORY IS PROTECTING OUR CORE COLORADO RIVER AND HIGHLAND LAKE SUPPLIES.
THAT THOSE SUPPLIES WILL CONTINUE TO BE, UM, IMPORTANT SUPPLIES FOR OUR CITY AND THE CORNERSTONE OF OUR WATER SUPPLY STRATEGY, UM, THROUGH THE A HUNDRED YEAR PLANNING HORIZON.
AND SO WE WORK WITH OUR REGIONAL PARTNERS AT THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY AND THROUGH THE REGIONAL WATER PLANNING PROCESS, THAT'S FACILITATED BY THE TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD TO CONTINUE PROTECTING THOSE SUPPLIES.
AND OUR LAST CATEGORY HERE IS BUILDING DROUGHT RESILIENCY, BUILDING DROUGHT, RESILIENCY THROUGH STRATEGIES LIKE AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY THAT TERESA DESCRIBED AS WELL AS EMERGENCY STRATEGIES LIKE INDIRECT, POTABLE REUSE THAT WE COULD UTILIZE.
IF WE GOT DOWN TO UNPRECEDENTED LEVELS OF COMBINED STORAGE, AND ALL OF THESE STRATEGIES ARE BUILT ON A FOUNDATION OF CONTINUED STAKEHOLDER AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO BY IMPLEMENTING THE WATERFORD STRATEGIES, WE ANTICIPATE THAT WE COULD REDUCE OUR 2115 DEMANDS THAT ARE SHOWN HERE IN THE BAR CHART FROM APPROXIMATELY 485,000 ACRE FEET OF ANNUAL DEMAND TO BELOW 300,000 ACRE FEET OF ANNUAL DEMAND.
AND IF YOU'RE A MEMBER, WE HAVE 325,000 ACRE FEET OF, UH, SUPPLIES AVAILABLE TO US THROUGH OUR CURRENT RENT OF RIVER AND HIGHLAND LAKES, CONTRACT WATER.
UM, THAT SAID, WE KNOW THAT CLIMATE CHANGE WILL POTENTIALLY IMPACT OUR SURFACE WATER SUPPLIES OUT INTO THE FUTURE.
AND THAT'S WHY IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE CONTINUE TO BUILD OUR DROUGHT RESILIENCY THROUGH ADDITIONAL STRATEGIES I GAVE ASR, AND EVEN FURTHER OUT INTO THE PLANNING HORIZON, WE HAVE ADDITIONAL STRATEGIES IN 2017 THAT INCLUDE AN OFF CHANNEL RESERVOIR NEXT SIDE.
SO SINCE PLAN WAS APPROVED BY COUNCIL IN NOVEMBER, 2018, WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON IMPLEMENTING THE NEAR TERM PLAN STRATEGIES THE FIRST YEAR AFTER IMPLEMENT, UH, AFTER THE PLAN WAS APPROVED BY COUNCIL, WE WORKED ON TACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION PLANNING.
SO WHAT KIND OF MORE DISCREET ACTION STEPS WOULD WE NEED TO TAKE TO IMPLEMENT OUR PLAN STRATEGIES IN 2020 THAT'S WHEN THE WORK REALLY STARTED TO KICK OFF, UM, AUSTIN WATER INITIATED THE, MY ATX WATER ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT TO OUR PLACE, APPROXIMATELY 250,000 ANALOG WATER METERS ACROSS THE CITY.
UM, AT, AND ALSO IN 2020, WE BROUGHT BEFORE COUNCIL AND COUNCIL APPROVED THE ONSITE WATER REUSE SYSTEM REGULATORY FRAMEWORK.
THAT WAS THE SECOND OF ITS KIND WITHIN THE NATION AT THAT TIME.
UM, WE ALSO DEVELOPED AN INCENTIVE FOR NEW DEVELOPERS TO INSTALL ONSITE WATER REUSE SYSTEMS IN THEIR BUILDINGS.
AND THEN ALSO IN THAT YEAR, WE EXECUTED A CONSULTING CONTRACT, UM, TO BEGIN DESKTOP ANALYSIS, TO IDENTIFY LOCATIONS FOR AN AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY PILOT PROJECT IN THE VERY NEXT YEAR IN 2021, WE BROUGHT BEFORE COUNCIL AND COUNCIL APPROVED CODE CHANGES RELATED TO WATER BENCHMARKING ONSITE WATER REUSE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS, AS WELL AS EXTENSION OF OUR RECLAIMED WATER CONNECTION REQUIREMENTS AND AUSTIN WATER ALSO DEVELOPED A NEW
[00:40:01]
VOLUNTARY RECLAIM WATER CONNECTION INCENTIVE TO TRY TO ENCOURAGE DEVELOPERS TO CONNECT TO OUR RECLAIMED WATER SYSTEM.THAT INCENTIVE PROVIDES UP TO $100,000 TO HELP WITH COST ASSOCIATED WITH VOLUNTARILY CONNECTING TO THAT SYSTEM.
AND BY, UM, LIKE I MENTIONED, WE ALSO PARTICIPATE IN THE REGION, K WATER PLANNING PROCESS.
OUR STAFF, UM, PARTICIPATED HEAVILY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THAT PLAN.
THAT'S A PLAN THAT BRINGS TOGETHER MUNICIPAL, AGRICULTURAL ENVIRONMENTAL, AS WELL AS INDUSTRIAL STAKEHOLDERS THROUGHOUT THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER BASIN TO DEVELOP A PLAN FOR HOW WE'RE GOING TO MEET, UH, DEMANDS FROM THAT DIVERSITY OF INTEREST, UH, THROUGHOUT THE NEXT 50 YEARS, THAT PLAN WAS APPROVED BY THE TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD IN 2021.
AND BY EARLY 2022, WE HAD WORKED OUR WAY DOWN FROM AN EIGHT COUNTY STUDY AREA TO A NARROWER SCOPE, INCLUDING AQUIFERS IN THREE COUNTIES AND TRAVIS BEST JOB.
AND THE COUNTIES THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT FOR DETAILED STUDY FOR POTENTIAL PILOT PROJECT LOCATIONS FOR ASR.
UM, UH, VERY RECENTLY THE LAST UPDATE I HAD HEARD, UM, THEN WE MIGHT HEAR MORE DETAILS ABOUT, WAS THAT IN OUR, MY ATX WATER PROJECT, WE DID ACHIEVE INSTALLATION OF 63,000 METERS ACROSS THE CITY.
AND IN EARLY 2022, WE ALSO BEGAN THE PROCESS TO UPDATE OUR WATERFORD PLAN WITH ANTICIPATED PROJECT COMPLETION BY END OF CALENDAR YEAR 2024.
SO TO GO INTO A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL ABOUT OUR IMPLEMENTATION EFFORTS, I'M GOING TO WALK THROUGH SEVERAL STRATEGIES THAT WE'RE WORKING ON RIGHT NOW.
AUSTIN WATERS, CONSERVATION DIVISION HAS BEGUN DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW IRRIGATION AND LANDSCAPE ORDINANCE.
THAT'LL BE APPLICABLE TO SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCES.
NEW SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCES STAFF ARE WORKING TO DRAFT ORDINANCE LANGUAGE THAT THEY'LL BE PRESENTING TO THE PUBLIC FOR FEEDBACK.
AND WE ANTICIPATE MAKING FURTHER REVISIONS AND DEVELOPING AN AFFORDABILITY IMPACT STATEMENT BEFORE WE'RE BRINGING THAT TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS IN SPRING 2023.
UM, I'VE INCLUDED THE LINK TO THE SPEAK-UP BOSTON PAGE FOR THAT ORDINANCE, IF YOU'D LIKE MORE INFORMATION ON THAT EFFORT.
AND AS I MENTIONED IN 2021, WE RECEIVE COUNCIL APPROVAL OF CODE CHANGES TO REQUIRE THAT ALL NEW COMMERCIAL AND MULTI-FAMILY AND MIXED USE DEVELOPMENTS SUBMITTING A SITE PLAN ALSO SUBMIT A WATER BENCHMARKING APPLICATION.
EACH APPLICANT THAT SUBMITS AN APPLICATION IS PROVIDED RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HOW TO IMPROVE WATER, USE EFFICIENCY WITHIN THEIR DEVELOPMENTS AND OTHER INFORMATION SUCH AS POTENTIAL WATER, UTILITY, BILL SAVINGS, AND AVAILABLE REBATES AND INCENTIVES FOR THEIR PROJECTS DEVELOPMENT WITH A TOTAL GROSS FLOOR AREA GREATER THAN 250,000 SQUARE FEET ARE ALSO REQUIRED TO MEET WITH CITY STAFF PRIOR TO SITE PLAN APPROVAL.
AND THIS IS INTENDED TO BE AN INFORMATIONAL MEETING AND, UM, SERVE AS A RESOURCE FOR THE APPLICANT.
FUTURE PHASES OF THIS STRATEGY MAY INCLUDE REQUIRING DEVELOPMENTS TO ESTABLISH AND ADHERE TO AN ANNUAL WATER BUDGET AS LAID OUT IN THE 2018 WATERFORD PLAN.
AND NEXT SLIDE IN 2022, AUSTIN WATER ALSO COMPLETED COMMISSIONING OF THE OSCAR AND CLARA ONSITE WATER REUSE SYSTEM PROJECT AT OUR NEW PERMITTING AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER.
THE PROJECT IS ANTICIPATED TO REDUCE THE SITE'S POTABLE WATER USAGE BY 75%.
THE PILOT INCLUDES A BLACK WATER REUSE SYSTEM THAT COLLECTS WASTEWATER FROM THE BUILDING SEWERS TREATS IT ONSITE USING ADVANCED MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY, AND THEN RECYCLES THE CLEAN WATER BACK INTO THE BUILDING TO FLUSH TOILETS AND URINALS.
THE WATER CAN BE USED REPEATEDLY ONSITE.
THE PILOT ALSO HARVEST RAINWATER ONSITE AND COLLECTS A AIR CONDITIONING CONDENSATE, AND THAT COLLECTED WATER IS FILTERED AND THEN STORED IN TANKS.
AND IT CAN BE USED FOR OUTDOOR IRRIGATION AT THE BUILDING AUSTIN WATERS PLACED EDUCATIONAL SIGNAGE THROUGHOUT THE BUILDING TO SHARE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PILOT WITH VISITORS.
AND WE'RE ALSO USING THAT PILOT TO BE ABLE TO COLLECT DATA AND INFORMATION ABOUT OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR ONSITE SYSTEMS. NEXT SLIDE.
AND THEN IF YOU'LL REMEMBER IN 2020, WE RECEIVED COUNCIL APPROVAL OF CODE CHANGES, ESTABLISHING NEW ONSITE WATER, REUSE SYSTEMS, REGULATORY ESTABLISHING A NEW ONSITE WATER REUSE SYSTEMS REGULATORY PROGRAM.
UM, WE HAVE ALSO ESTABLISHED AN INCENTIVE FOR ONSITE WATER REUSE SYSTEMS, AND WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH TWO DIFFERENT APPLICANTS TOWARDS, UM, THEIR USE OF THOSE INCENTIVE FUNDS.
WE'RE ALSO WORKING TOWARDS IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MANDATORY COMPONENT OF OUR ONSITE WATER REUSE PROGRAM
[00:45:01]
THAT WAS APPROVED BY COUNCIL IN 2021, AND WILL BE EFFECTIVE IN DECEMBER THE 2023.THIS CODE CHANGEOVER ACQUIRE THAT NEW COMMERCIAL AND MULTIFAMILY DEVELOPMENT WITH A GROSS FLOOR AREA OF GREATER THAN 250,000 SQUARE FEET INSTALL ONSITE WATER REUSE SYSTEMS. RIGHT NOW OUR STAFF IS WORKING TO DEVELOP RULES AND ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS FOR THAT MANDATE PRIOR TO THE EFFECTIVE DATE.
AND WE'LL ALSO BE WORKING WITH HOUSING AND PLANNING TO DEVELOP AN AFFORDABILITY IMPACT STATEMENT DUE TO COUNCIL BY SEPTEMBER, 2023, TO UNDERSTAND THE POTENTIAL AFFORDABILITY IMPLICATIONS OF THE MANDATE.
AND NEXT SLIDE IN 2019, AUSTIN WATER COMPLETED CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW RECLAIMED RESERVOIR AND PUMP STATION AT MONTOPOLIS THAT WILL HELP IMPROVE RELIABILITY OF THAT SYSTEM FOR CUSTOMERS AND EAST AUSTIN.
AND YOU CAN SEE THE PHOTO OF THE RIBBON CUTTING THERE, PRE PRE COVID TIMES.
UM, WE ARE CONTINUING OUR EFFORTS TO EXPAND THAT SYSTEM BY 2040, WE'LL INCREASE THE LENGTH OF MAIN FOR THE RECLAIM SYSTEM FROM ABOUT 73 TO 96 MILES OF MAINE.
AND THAT NEW OVER 20 MILES OF MAINE WILL HELP US TO LOOP THE SYSTEM, PROVIDING REDUNDANCY AND ALLOWING US TO MEET ADDITIONAL CUSTOMER DEMANDS.
ANNUAL CUSTOMER DEMAND IS EXPECTED TO GROW FROM THE CURRENT 1.35 BILLION GALLONS TO 5.81 BILLION GALLONS IN 2040.
AND NOW PRIOR TO 2021 CODE REQUIRED THAT NEW DEVELOPMENT WITHIN 250 FEET OF A RECLAIMED WATER MAIN CONNECT TO THAT MAIN AND USE THAT RECLAIMED WATER.
UM, IN 2021, WE BROUGHT BEFORE COUNCIL AND COUNCIL APPROVED ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS THAT, UM, LARGE DEVELOPMENT WITH A GROSS FLOOR AREA OF GREATER THAN 250,000 SQUARE FEET.
IF THEY ARE WITHIN 500 FEET OF A RECLAIMED WATER MAIN CONNECT TO THAT MAIN AND USE THAT WATER FOR SUBSTANTIAL SIGNIFICANT NON-POTABLE INDOOR AND OUTDOOR END USES WHERE ALSO THAT REQUIREMENT IS IN EFFECT BY THE WAY, WENT INTO EFFECT DECEMBER, 2021.
SO NOW WE ARE STILL WORKING WITH HOUSING AND PLANNING TO DEVELOP AN AFFORDABILITY IMPACT REPORT DUE TO COUNCIL BY SEPTEMBER, 2023, TO UNDERSTAND THE POTENTIAL AFFORDABILITY IMPLICATIONS OF THE EXTENSION OF THAT, THOSE RECLAIMED WATER SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.
SO WE'VE ALREADY TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY, AND I BELIEVE AT YOUR LAST MEETING, YOU HAD A WHOLE PRESENTATION ABOUT IT, OR WE'RE STILL GOING TO TOUCH ON IT BECAUSE WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT IT.
UM, WE'RE AT, AT THIS POINT IN THE EARLY DESKTOP ANALYSIS PHASE OF DEVELOPING AN ASR PILOT, THAT'S A STRATEGY THAT WILL ALLOW US TO STORE WATER IN A NATURALLY OCCURRING UNDERGROUND AQUIFER.
WHEN SUPPLIES ARE PLENTIFUL, THE WATER WOULD THEN, UM, WOULD BE AVAILABLE TO STORE UNDER AUSTIN'S EXISTING WATER RIGHTS AND CONTRACTS THAT STORED WATER WOULD BE TREATED TO DRINKING WATER QUALITY AND POSSIBLY UNDERGO ADDITIONAL PRE-TREATMENT.
BEFORE IT'S INJECTED INTO THE AQUIFER WATER RIB REMAINED STORED IN THE AQUIFER UNTIL IT'S NEEDED.
AND ASR IS AN ADDITIONAL CORNERSTONE TO OUR FUTURE DROUGHT RESILIENCY PLANNING.
IT ALLOWS US TO MAXIMIZE OUR EXISTING SUPPLIES WHILE ALSO INCREASING OPERATIONAL FLEXIBILITY.
SO THIS TIMELINE, WHICH YOU'VE PROBABLY ALREADY SEEN SHOWS NEXT STEPS FOR AUSTIN'S ASR PROJECT FROM THE START OF THE PROJECT IN 2021 TO THE EXPECTED COMPLETION OF THE PROJECT IN 2035, RIGHT NOW WE'RE FAR TO THE LEFT AND WE'RE TRYING TO IDENTIFY WHICH WOULD BE THE BEST LOCATION FOR A POTENTIAL ASR PILOT PROJECT.
ONCE WE HAVE THAT PILOT OR THOSE PILOT LOCATIONS IDENTIFIED, THE NEXT STEP WILL BE TO BUILD AND TEST AN ASR PILOT PROJECT THAT WILL BE SMALL SCALE.
GIVE US AN OPPORTUNITY TO TEST OUR ASSUMPTIONS AND TO GET DETAILED DATA BEFORE BEGINNING ANY WORK ON A FULL SCALE ASR PROJECT.
AND THEN UPON SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF A PILOT PROJECT IS WHEN WE WOULD BEGIN DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF A FULL-SCALE ASR PROJECT WITH CONSTRUCTION EXPECTED TO BE COMPLETED BY 2035 AND BETWEEN 2035 AND 2040, WE WILL BE WORKING ON BUILDING UP OUR STORAGE WITHIN THAT ASR FACILITY TO REACH OUR WATERFORD 2040 GOAL OF HAVING 60,000 ACRE FEET AVAILABLE TO US BY THAT YEAR, NEXT SIDE.
ALL RIGHT, LIKE I MENTIONED, IN 2022, AUSTIN WATER KICKED OUT THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR UPDATE TO THE WATERFORD PLAN.
UM, WE ARE GOING TO BE UPDATING THAT PLAN CONTINUOUSLY ON A FIVE-YEAR CYCLE, SIMILAR TO HOW THE REGIONAL WATER PLAN IS UPDATED ON A FIVE-YEAR CYCLE.
THE PLAN UPDATE WILL ALLOW US TO INCORPORATE NEW INFORMATION AS WELL AS TO ADAPT TO CHANGING CONDITIONS.
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OUR PROJECTIONS OF DEMAND, OUR FUTURE AVAILABLE WATER SUPPLIES AND POTENTIAL WATER NEEDS WILL ALSO REFRESH EXPECTED STRATEGY, SAVINGS, AND YIELDS TO DEVELOP AN UPDATED 50 YEAR PORTFOLIO OF STRATEGIES AND A 100 YEAR ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT PLAN.WE ANTICIPATE COMPLETING THE FINAL PLAN BY MID 20, 24 AND HOPE TO BRING THE PLAN BEFORE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS AND COUNCIL IN FALL AND WINTER OF 2024.
NEXT SLIDE, WE STARTED THIS WORK BY GATHERING INPUT FROM THE WATERFORD TASK FORCE AND OTHERS IN OUR COMMUNITY, INCLUDING OUR COMMUNITY AMBASSADORS GROUP ON UPDATES TO THE PLANS, GUIDING PRINCIPLES, KEY GUIDING PRINCIPLES THAT ARE SHOWN HERE INCLUDE CREATING A PLAN THAT IS RESILIENT TO GROWTH DROUGHT AND CLIMATE CHANGE USING AN EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY LENS TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT THE PLAN AS WELL AS FOCUSING ON LOCALLY AVAILABLE WATER SUPPLIES.
NEXT SLIDE, KEY CHANGES FOR THIS PLANNING GROUND INCLUDE BETTER OUTLINING WATERFORD, 20 FOURS RELATIONSHIP TO RELATED AUSTIN WATER AND CITY OF AUSTIN EFFORTS.
WE KNOW THAT WATERFORD IS ONE OF A SUITE OF PLANS AND EFFORTS ACROSS THE CITY TO CREATE A SUSTAINABLE AND RESILIENT FUTURE FOR OUR COMMUNITY OVERALL.
AND WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE PLACING THE RIGHT THINGS WITHIN THE RIGHT BUCKETS IN THIS PLANNING EFFORT.
UM, WE ARE ALSO WORKING TO BETTER ALIGN WATERFORD OUTPUTS WITH THE INPUTS NEEDED FOR THE REGIONAL WATER PLANNING PROCESS.
AND WE'RE WORKING TO DEVELOP AN EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY, ROADMAP AND TOOL FOR THE PLANNING PROCESS.
A REALLY IMPORTANT PART OF THIS PLANNING PROCESS IS TO CREATE A MORE ROBUST APPROACH AS WELL TO ADDRESSING RISK AND UNCERTAINTY NEXT SLIDE.
SO WE KNOW THAT WE ARE MOVING INTO A FUTURE OF GREATER UNCERTAINTY AND THAT WE NEED NEW METHODS TO BE ABLE TO PLAN FOR THAT UNCERTAINTY OLD METHODS USE ONE OR SEVERAL SCENARIOS TO PLAN FOR WHAT WE THINK WILL HAPPEN, BUT WE KNOW WE CAN'T MAKE PREDICTIONS ABOUT THE FUTURE.
UM, IN WATERFORD 2024, WE'LL BE TESTING OUR STRATEGIES, DEMAND MANAGEMENT, SUPPLY STRATEGIES, GROUPED INTO PORTFOLIOS AGAINST A MUCH WIDER RANGE OF PLAUSIBLE SCENARIOS, BECAUSE WE WANT TO IDENTIFY STRATEGIES THAT WORK AGAINST MANY DIFFERENT FUTURES.
WE WANT TO BE PREPARED FOR ANYTHING THAT HAPPENS, UM, RATHER THAN TRYING TO IDENTIFY WHAT WE THINK WILL HAPPEN.
UM, THIS IS A CONVERSATION THAT WE'LL BE HAVING MORE WITH OUR TASKFORCE AND WITH OUR COMMUNITY ABOUT HOW WE CAN SET THE RANGE OF PLAUSIBLE FUTURES THAT WE WANT TO PLAN FOR.
WE'LL ALSO BE DEVELOPING AN ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT PLAN THAT LAYS OUT KEY DECISION POINTS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIES IN RESPONSE TO CHANGING CONDITIONS.
THAT'S PART OF THE STRENGTH OF THIS PROCESS AND UPDATING THE PLAN ON A FIVE-YEAR CYCLE.
WE CAN IDENTIFY HOW ARE CONDITIONS CHANGING AND HOW DO WE NEED TO RESPOND? IT'S A VERY PROACTIVE APPROACH.
UM, NEXT SIDE, WE'RE ALSO WORKING WITH CLIMATE SCIENTISTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS TO UNDERSTAND CLIMATE TRENDS AND THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER BASIN.
AND IN AUSTIN, OUR WORK WITH CLIMATE SCIENTISTS TELLS US THAT WE WILL SEE THOSE MORE SEVERE DROUGHTS PUNCTUATED BY MORE INTENSE, RANDOM FLOODING EVENTS IN THE FUTURE.
UM, THIS SLIDE SUMMARIZES SOME OF THE INITIAL FINDINGS ON PROJECTED HIGH LEVEL CLIMATE TRENDS WITHIN THE BASIN.
WE ANTICIPATE THAT ANNUAL MEAN TEMPERATURE WILL INCREASE OVER TIME.
WE ALSO KNOW THAT OUR RAINFALL DISTRIBUTION WILL CHANGE, THAT LEADS TO LESS FREQUENT, MORE INTENSE RAINFALL EVENTS.
AND WE SEE THAT THE NUMBER OF DRY DAYS WITH PRECIPITATION BELOW VERY LOW LEVELS ARE ALSO INCREASED PROJECTED TO INCREASE.
WE'RE NOW WORKING WITH BOTH OUR CLIMATE SCIENCE AND HYDROLOGY TEAM TO TRANSLATE THESE TRENDS INTO POTENTIAL FUTURE IMPACTS OF STREAMFLOW AS WELL AS COMBINED STORAGE WITHIN THE HIGHLAND LAKES NEXT SITE.
AND FINALLY, WE'RE UPDATING THIS PLAN USING AN EQUITY LENS AND BUILDING ON CONCEPTS THAT RELATE TO PROCEDURAL AND DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE, PROCEDURAL JUSTICE, MEANING HOW DO WE CREATE A PROCESS THAT IS EQUITABLE IN HOW WE MAKE DECISIONS AND DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE, MEANING HOW DO WE MAKE SURE THAT THE RESOURCES AND OUTCOMES OF THIS PLAN ARE DISTRIBUTED IN AN EQUITABLE WAY? WE'RE WORKING WITH A COMMUNITY AMBASSADORS GROUP, AS WELL AS WITH THE WATERFORD TASK FORCE TO DEVELOP
[00:55:01]
AN EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY ROADMAP FOR THE PLAN THAT'LL CONTAIN RECOMMENDATIONS FOR OUR EDUCATION AND ENGAGEMENT PLAN TO CREATE THAT MORE EQUITABLE PLAN DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.THE ROADMAP WILL ALSO LAY OUT A FRAMEWORK OF QUESTIONS AS WELL AS DATA THAT WE WILL USE TO CREATE AN EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY TOOL.
WE'LL USE THIS TOOL TO EVALUATE THE DISTRIBUTION OF BENEFITS AND BURDENS FROM EXPECTED PLAN OUTCOMES, ESPECIALLY ON COMMUNITIES OF COLOR AND LOW-INCOME COMMUNITIES VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS WORK.
IT'S ONE OF THE FIRST EXAMPLES THAT WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FIND OF THIS TYPE OF APPROACH BEING USED IN WATER RESOURCES PLANNING.
UM, AND WE'RE EXCITED TO SEE, UM, HOW WE'RE ABLE TO UTILIZE THIS IN THIS ROUND OF PLANNING.
AND NEXT SLIDE, DID YOU SAY THAT WE WOULD BE ONE OF THE FIRST TO USE THE EQUITY IN THE PLANNING IN WATER RESOURCES PLANNING? WONDERFUL.
THE APPROACH THOUGH, DOES BUILD ON BEST PRACTICES THAT HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED BY SEVERAL DIFFERENT CITY PLANNING PROCESSES, INCLUDING THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN AND OTHER PLANS THAT ARE CURRENTLY BEING DEVELOPED.
I WOULD SAY THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS A LEADER IN THAT AREA AND TRYING TO OPERATIONALIZE HOW WE ARE LOOKING AT EQUITY AS WELL AS AFFORDABILITY IN OUR PLANNING WORK.
THAT WAS A THOROUGH AND SUPER INFORMATIVE PRESENTATION.
COLLEAGUES, ANY QUESTIONS? YES.
COUNCIL MEMBER OR VICE CHAIR KITCHEN.
UM, MY FIRST QUESTION RELATES TO THE, UM, FIND IT HERE, THE, UM, CENTRALIZED, RECLAIMED, UM, ASPECT OF WATERFALL WORD.
UM, I NOTICED THAT, UM, I NOTICED THAT THE PROJECT IS DELAYED.
UH, AND I WOULD JUST WANT TO ASK A LITTLE QUESTION, UH, QUESTION ABOUT THAT IN TERMS OF THE TIMELINE AND WHAT'S DRIVING IT.
I'M UNDERSTANDING THAT ACCORDING TO, AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
THIS WAS VERY HELPFUL, UH, THAT THERE'S SOME DELAY RELATED TO, UM, UH, PROJECT CONNECTS ORANGE LINE.
UM, SO CAN YOU SPEAK TO WHAT THE THINKING IS ON THE TIMELINE FOR THE DELAY AND HOW MUCH THAT MATTERS OR NOT FOR THE OVERALL COMPLETION OF THE PROJECT IN TERMS OF THE OVERALL, UH, UM, UH, COMPLETION OF THE COMPLETING THE CORE PROJECT? I DO NOT THINK THAT THAT IS A SIGNIFICANT DELAY.
I THINK THAT THAT'S MORE IN THE SCALE OF MONTHS RATHER THAN YEARS.
CAN YOU GIVE ME A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAILS? CAUSE PROJECT CONNECTS ORANGE LINE DOESN'T HAVE THEIR TIMELINE IS NOT FINALIZED.
SO WHAT IS Y'ALL'S THINKING RIGHT NOW? OH, YES.
UH, SHAY ROLSON ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR ENGINEERING.
SO THE COMPLETING THE CORE PROJECTS, WE, UH, WE HAVE A PROJECT FOR THE RECLAIM SYSTEM THAT IS, WAS INTENDED TO RUN DOWN SOUTH CONGRESS.
WE DID COORDINATION WITH PROJECT CONNECT AND WE ACTUALLY, UH, MOVED THAT PIPELINE TO GO DOWN SOUTH FIRST STREET.
SO THAT PROJECT IS CONTINUING, WON'T BE AFFECTED OTHER THAN THE COORDINATION THAT WE NEED TO DO OVER TIME WITH PROJECT CONNECT FOR THAT PARTICULAR PROJECT, WE HAD, UM, SOME COORDINATION WITH CROSSING
AND SO WE HAD SOME TIME ADDED TIME ON THE PROJECT FOR THAT COORDINATION.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF PROJECTS GOING ON THROUGH THE CENTRAL CITY THAT AFFECT, UH, THIS PARTICULAR RECLAIMED WATER PROJECT, BUT WE'RE WORKING THROUGH THOSE DETAILS.
UM, I HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION, BUT IT MIGHT BE IN THE NEXT, UM, IT'S RELATED TO MY ITX.
SO SHOULD I WAIT FOR THAT? I THINK SO.
UM, YOU MENTIONED THAT THERE WAS AT LEAST TWO DEVELOPMENTS THAT HAVE APPLIED FOR THE, ONE OF THE INCENTIVES THAT COUNCIL RECENTLY INITIATED AND WANTED TO KNOW, HOW DID THE OTHER INCENTIVE PROGRAM GO WITH THE ONSITE WATER REUSE SYSTEM? HOW HAVE WE HAD A LOT OF INTEREST IN THAT ONE, OR IS IT ALL REFERRING TO THAT PROGRAM? I'M REFERRING TO THAT PROGRAM FOR THE ONSITE WATER REUSE SYSTEM INCENTIVE? UM, THERE HAVE BEEN, UH, TWO DIFFERENT APPLICANTS WHO SUBMITTED APPLICATIONS AND THEN THE TIMEFRAME, THEIR APPLICATIONS ESSENTIALLY EXPIRED, UM, BECAUSE THEY WERE, YOU KNOW, SEVERAL LOGISTICS AND JUST DETAILS TO WORK THROUGH.
WE ARE STILL WORKING WITH THOSE APPLICANTS THOUGH, AND WE ARE ANTICIPATING THAT THEY WILL BE RESUBMITTING THOSE APPLICATIONS FOR PROCESSING BY AUSTIN WATER STAFF.
DID THEIR APPLICATIONS EXPIRE ON THEIR END OR WAS IT, CAN YOU, YEAH.
WELL THEY JUST, YEAH, I WILL SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, WE, WE CONTINUE TO MARKET THAT PROGRAM AND TRY TO DO OUTREACH.
UM, AGAIN, AS MADDIE SAID, INDICATED WE'VE GOT TWO FORMAL APPLICATIONS IN THAT WE EXPECT
[01:00:01]
TO SEE AGAIN.UM, BUT WE'RE INVOLVED IN DIALOGUE WITH OTHERS AS WELL.
AND SO WE'RE JUST KIND OF WORKING THROUGH THE, I THINK THE NEWNESS OF USING ON-SITE REUSE, TRYING TO EDUCATE THE COMMUNITY, THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY ABOUT THOSE OPPORTUNITIES.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE CONTINUE TO BE DEDICATED TO IT.
AND, UH, WE, WE HOPE TO SEE MORE JUST FOR INFORMATION WE DO, WE WILL BE BRINGING TO COUNCIL REAUTHORIZATION OF THE INCENTIVE PROGRAM FOR ITS FINAL YEAR.
SO YOU'LL BE SEEING THAT, I THINK IN SEPTEMBER, POSSIBLY OCTOBER FOR ITS FINAL YEAR, WAS IT SET UP AS A THREE-YEAR PROGRAM? SO IT'S BASICALLY SET UP AS A THREE-YEAR VOLUNTARY PROGRAM TO HELP INCENTIVIZE THIS VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION.
UM, WHAT HAPPENS BEYOND THAT IS PROBABLY A WHOLE NOTHER CONVERSATION.
AH, BUT IN THE TWO YEARS THAT WE'VE HAD IT GOING, WE'VE HAD TWO APPLICANTS SHOWN INTEREST, BUT THERE HASN'T ACTUALLY BEEN A DEVELOPMENT GROUP OPT-IN WITH PER THIS.
SO YES, I THINK THAT WOULD BE A CONVERSATION YES.
BY SHARE, BUT IF YOU'VE FINISHED, I MEAN, I THINK THAT'S A CONVERSATION WE SHOULD PROBABLY HAVE WHEN THAT REAUTHORIZATION COMES FORWARD.
IF WE SHOULD DO ANY TWEAKS OR ADJUSTMENTS TO THE INCENTIVE PROGRAM.
I THINK PART OF THE, I THINK PART OF THE CONVERSATION IS WHETHER OR NOT TO MAKE THIS MANDATORY.
SO IT WAS BEGUN AS A, UH, VOLUNTARY INCENTIVE PROGRAM, UH, THINKING THAT THAT WAS A WAY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY TO TEST THE WATERS, GET USED TO IT, BUT IT'S ALWAYS BEEN A CONVERSATION ABOUT, UH, WHEN AND HOW TO MAKE IT MANDATORY.
SO, UM, I, I GUESS MY EXPECTATION WAS THAT AT THE END OF THIS TIME PERIOD, WE WOULD BE HAVING A CONVERSATION ABOUT MAKING IT MANDATORY.
IS THAT I'M HEARING SEEING YOU ABSOLUTELY.
IN THAT THE CODE CHANGES THAT COUNCIL HAS ALREADY APPROVED INCLUDE THE ONSITE WATER REUSE MANDATE FOR DEVELOPMENTS GREATER THAN 250,000 SQUARE FEET.
SO, UM, THAT CODE CHANGE WILL BE EFFECTIVE IN DECEMBER, 2023.
AND THE REASON WE HAD, UM, UH, PHASE THE, UH, WE'RE PLANNING TO PHASE THE INCENTIVE OUT WAS BECAUSE AT THAT TIME WE EXPECTED THAT THESE LARGE DEVELOPMENTS WOULD BE, UM, UH, SUBJECT TO THE MANDATE.
THEY WILL BE REQUIRED TO IT'S ALREADY, IT'S ALREADY PASSED, RIGHT.
SO WHEN WE PASS THE VOLUNTARY PROGRAM, WE ALSO PASSED THE REQUIREMENT AT THE THREE-YEAR MARK.
AND HOW ABOUT THE, UH, RECLAIMED WATER CONNECTION INCENTIVE? HOW HAS THAT GOING? I THINK, UM, THAT I DON'T HAVE ANY MORE DETAILS ABOUT CURRENT APPLICANTS FOR THAT PROGRAM, ALTHOUGH I CAN FOLLOW UP WITH MORE DETAILS IF YOU WOULD LIKE.
I MEAN, WE, WE, WE DO CONTINUE TO MAKE CONNECTIONS.
I COULDN'T GIVE YOU A VERY GRANULAR PERSPECTIVE ON HOW MANY MORE WE'VE CAPTURED BECAUSE OF THE 500 VERSUS TWO 50, BUT WE CAN CERTAINLY LOOK AT THAT.
I MEAN, KIND OF DO A LITTLE DEEP DIVE ON, ON KIND OF OUR, OUR, OUR CONNECTIONS.
WE DO CONTINUE TO MAKE CONNECTIONS TO THE SYSTEM, UM, BOTH MANDATORY CONNECTIONS AND VOLUNTARY CONNECTIONS.
SO IF YOU WOULD ALLOW US, WE'D LIKE TO GET BACK WITH YOU ON THAT INFORMATION.
AND THEN LASTLY, AND I THINK THIS, I WANT TO ASK IT, MAYBE IT'S BETTER SERVED AS AN EMAIL UPDATE, BUT JUST WITH THE REGION K PLANNING, A PLAN THAT WAS ADOPTED BY THE, BY THE STATE, CAN WE GET THE TOP LINES OF THAT PLAN SENT TO US SO THAT WE HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT, UM, WHAT THAT ENTAILS AND HOW IT WILL IMPACT US YOUR LOCALLY? SURE, ABSOLUTELY.
[4. My ATX Water Update. ]
RIGHT, COLLEAGUES, WE'RE GOING TO OUR, ONE OF OUR LAST ITEMS. IT'S OUR LAST PRESENTATION ITEM OF THE DAY, AND IT IS AN UPDATE ON THE ATX WATER METER.RICK CORNADO ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS WITH ME TODAY IS RANDY JENKINS ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.
I MENTIONED THIS IS THAT WE HAVE ACTUALLY THREE EXECUTIVES THAT SPONSOR MY ITX WATER.
UH, DAVID JOHNSON, OUR CIO IS KIND OF OVER THE, THE IT PORTION OF THE PROJECT, UM, OVER THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND, UH, RANDY HEARS OVER THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE INCLUDING THE PORTAL.
SO THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT PROGRAM FOR US.
AND AS MARTY MENTIONED IN THE PREVIOUS PRESENTATION, IT IS UNDER THE UMBRELLA OF WATERFORD.
AND SO IT IS A DEMAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY THAT WE'VE LAUNCHED.
UH, AT LEAST THE CONSTRUCTION SIDE.
THIS HAS GONE BEEN GOING ON FOR PLANNING EFFORTS
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FOR SOME TIME, BUT AT LEAST A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, WE LAUNCHED THE, UH, THE CONSTRUCTION EFFORTS, UH, TO START IMPLEMENTING, UH, MITX WATER, UM, UH, SMART METERS ACROSS THE CITY.UM, LAST TIME WE PRESENTED, UM, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
LAST TIME WE PRESENT IT WAS BACK IN A FULL, UM, SETTING WAS IN OCTOBER OF LAST YEAR.
AND AT THAT TIME, UH, WE HAD JUST KIND OF, UH, STARTED TO TALK ABOUT, UH, FULL IMPLEMENTATION THROUGHOUT THE CITY THAT INCLUDED A LOT OF THE, WHAT WE CALL THE DCS OR THE DATA COLLECTION UNITS THAT GO, UH, MOUNTED ON POLES, TANKS.
OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE WE HAD ALSO TALKED ABOUT, UM, BRIEFLY, UM, NOT ONLY THE PROGRESS OF METERS BEING INSTALLED, BUT ALSO OUR EFFORTS TO, UM, TO NOW GO INTO THE IT EFFORTS OF HAVING METER TO BILL, ESSENTIALLY CONVERTING THOSE.
MY ATX WATER METERS THE MANUAL READS TO ACTUAL, UH, AMI READS AND, AND TO ACTUALLY BUILD FROM THOSE.
SO WE'LL GIVE YOU PROGRESS ON THAT ON NOT ONLY THE CUMULATIVE INSTALLS, BUT SOME OF THE MILESTONES AND OUR CONTINUED CITYWIDE PROGRESS, AS WELL AS, UM, GREAT NEWS FROM CUSTOMERS AND, AND HOW THIS SERVICE, AS YOU KNOW, OFFERED, UH, NOT ONLY CONSERVATION, BUT WATER SAVINGS AND DEFINITELY A, UH, A STRONG DEMAND MANAGEMENT, UH, EFFORT ON, UH, THE TILLY'S PART.
AND THAT WILL BENEFIT ALL NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
ONE OF OUR KEY METRICS IS, IS OUR PROGRESS TOWARDS INSTALLING METERS ACROSS, UH, THE CITY.
AND, UH, IN PREVIOUS CONVERSATIONS, I'VE HAD AN, AND WE'LL UPDATE THAT IN THE NEXT SETTING OF PRESENTATIONS TO A WALK HERE IS, UH, IS THE PROGRESS CITYWIDE.
UH, WE HAVE, UH, EVERY SINGLE DISTRICT WE HAVE A METER INSTALLED AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO HAVE THAT AS WE, UH, BUILD OUT THE CITY'S NETWORK.
THAT'LL GIVE US MORE FLEXIBILITY ON WHERE WE ACTUALLY CAN, UH, REDIRECT CREWS, BUT THIS SHOWS THAT, UH, OUR KEY METRIC RIGHT NOW SHOWS AROUND 68, UH, 3,800, OUR LAST DATA POINT, UH, WE HAD OUR BRIEFING THIS MORNING IS CLOSER TO 66,700.
SO WE CONTINUED TO PROGRESS IN INSTALLING METERS THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
UH, ONE OF THE MILESTONES THAT WE ACHIEVED BACK IN MAY WAS THE 50,000 THRESHOLD.
SO WE DID HIT THE 50,000 MARK IN MAY AND JUST PROJECTING OUT IN EVEN THE WORKFORCE THAT WE'VE, UH, HAD ON, ON BOARD THROUGH THE CONTRACTOR.
UH, WE SHOULD PROBABLY HIT SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 80, UH, 90 TO A HUNDRED THOUSAND BY, INTO CALENDAR EARLY JANUARY.
SO THAT'S KIND OF THE PROGRESS THAT WE'RE MAKING, EVEN DESPITE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES THAT WE'RE STILL FACING WITH WORKFORCE OR SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES.
UM, ANOTHER NOTE THAT, UH, I'LL MAKE IS THAT, THAT THAT'S KIND OF ROUGHLY 6,000 METERS INSTALLED A MONTH.
UM, AND WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO WORK WITH THE CONTRACTOR TO INCREASE THAT.
UM, JUST SO THAT WAY THAT WE CONTINUE TO MAKE PROGRESS, UM, THROUGHOUT THE CITY, UH, AS WE MOVE FORWARD TOWARDS NEXT YEAR AND THE FOLLOWING YEARS, UM, RESIDENTIAL CONVERSION, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
I MENTIONED THAT, UH, THE LAST IN OCTOBER, WE, UM, STARTED THE INSTALLS OF CITYWIDE DATA COLLECTION UNITS.
AND WHAT THAT ALLOWS US TO DO IS UNTIL WE HAVE A DATA COLLECTION IN THE VICINITY, WE CAN'T COLLECT INFORMATION FROM A NEW METER INSTALL.
SO TODAY WE'RE PROBABLY APPROXIMATELY 71 TO 72% OF OUR DATA COLLECTION UNITS INSTALLED CITYWIDE.
UM, AND THAT CONTINUES TO MAKE PROGRESS EVERY DAY, AS, AS WE KIND OF, UM, GO THROUGH PERMITTING PROCESS, UH, CONSTRUCTION OF NEW POLES, UH, UTILIZE OUR EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE INFRASTRUCTURE TO INSTALL, UM, DCUS ON OUR TANKS AND OTHER CITY FACILITIES.
SO THAT IS MAKING GREAT PROGRESS AND WE ANTICIPATE THAT TO BE A, UM, UH, ONE OF OUR MEASURES, UM, KEY, UH, AND THEIR KEY MEASURE TO HELP ACCOMPLISH CITYWIDE EFFORTS.
UH, ANOTHER NOTE THAT THAT I'LL SAY IS THAT PRIOR TO YOU RECEIVING A METER, UM, WE DO A LOT OF PRE-PLANNING.
AND SO, UH, THAT PRE-PLANNING ALLOWS US TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE METER BOX, UH, IDENTIFY, YOU
[01:10:01]
KNOW, THE CLEANING REGIMENT FOR THAT METER BOX.UM, AND THEN TO ALSO GIVE THE CUSTOMER A NOTICE PRIOR TO THE INSTALLS.
SO WE HAVE SO FAR ABOUT 60, UH, 76,000 SURVEYS THROUGHOUT THE CITY, AND THAT REALLY HELPED US.
UM, WHENEVER WE SEE, UH, ANY ISSUES WITH SUPPLY CHAIN CHALLENGES, UH, WE'D LIKE TO HAVE ON STOCK ROUGHLY AROUND THREE MONTHS WORTH OF SUPPLIES WITH SOME OF THE MORE RECENT, UH, CONDITIONS IN THE MARKET, WE HAVE TO ADJUST AND, AND, UH, REDIRECT OUR WORKFORCE TO DO OTHER THINGS.
AND THEN WE'LL COME BACK TO THE INSTALLS AS THAT AS THOSE METERS COME IN.
SO WE'RE STILL MAKING GREAT PROGRESS AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO, TO MAKE EFFORTS TO ENSURE THAT, UH, WE'RE GONNA MEET THAT PACE THAT I JUST ESTIMATED.
UM, ANOTHER ITEM THAT I'LL KIND OF, UM, UPDATE YOU ON IS I MENTIONED IS THAT THE LAST TIME WE SPOKE, IT WAS ABOUT THE METER TO BILL WAS JUST LAUNCHING.
WE HAD NOT ACHIEVED ANY MILESTONES ON, UM, HAVING THE FIRST METER BILL, UH, THAT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED SINCE THEN.
AND WE'RE APPROXIMATELY SOMEWHERE IN THE ORDER OF 35,000 METERS ARE ACTUALLY BILLING NOW.
SO THAT'S JUST THE CONVERSION OF GOING FROM A MANUAL READ, UH, TO AN ACTUAL AMI READ, UM, THAT IS USED FOR BILLING.
AND WE GO THROUGH A SERIES OF CERTIFICATIONS BEFORE THAT HAPPENS.
SO THAT MIGHT BE A NUMBER THAT YOU'LL SEE THAT IT'S TYPICALLY LESS THAN HOWEVER MANY METERS THAT YOU ACTUALLY HAVE INSTALLED.
UM, BUT WE ARE MAKING PROGRESS EVERY WEEK TO, UH, HAVE AT LEAST SOMEWHERE IN THE ORDER OF 5,000 METERS CONVERTED A WEEK THAT GO TO AN AMI BILL.
UM, AND SO WE MONITOR THAT CLOSELY AND ENSURE THAT THAT QUALITY ASSURANCE IS THERE AS WELL.
UM, WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO RANDY AND SHE CAN TALK ABOUT THE CUSTOMER INTERACTIONS AND BENEFITS, AND THEN NOW ANSWER ANY FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS AFTER SHE'S COMPLETED.
SO AS RICK INTRODUCED, I'M RANDY JENKINS ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AT AUSTIN WATER.
AND SO IN ADDITION TO THE OTHER PRESENTATIONS THAT YOU HEARD TODAY THAT, UM, HIGHLIGHTED AND MENTIONED OUR INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCE PLAN, UM, AND, AND IT'S TIED TO MY ATX WATER PROJECT, WE CERTAINLY RECOGNIZE, UM, OUR CUSTOMER INTERACTIONS AND BENEFITS THAT WE RECEIVE OUT OF THIS PROGRAM.
AND SO ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS FOR OUR CUSTOMER BASE IS, UM, THE CUSTOMER PORTAL.
AND THROUGH THAT, WE ARE ABLE TO, UM, SEND OUT AUTOMATED LEAK ALERTS.
AND SO ANYTIME THE SYSTEM ITSELF THROUGH THE PORTAL RECOGNIZES A CUSTOMER'S METER IS REGISTERING CONTINUAL USAGE.
IT SENDS A LEAK ALERT TO THE CUSTOMER, UM, AND IT SENDS IT THROUGH THEIR, UM, PREFERENCE.
UM, BUT CERTAINLY BY TEXT MESSAGE EMAIL AND OR, UM, ROBO CALL.
IN ADDITION, IF WE DO NOT HAVE A CERTIFIED, UM, PHONE NUMBER FOR THAT CUSTOMER OR EMAIL ADDRESS, WE ALSO HAVE THE ABILITY TO SEND MELD LETTERS AND NOTIFICATIONS TO THAT, THAT CUSTOMER.
UM, ONE OF THE ADDED BENEFITS TO THE PORTAL THAT WE'VE RECENTLY ADDED.
SO THIS WAS NOT SOMETHING THAT THE PORTAL OFFERED, BUT SOMETHING THAT WE ASKED FOR, IN ADDITION TO CONTINUOUS USAGE ALERTS, WE HAVE ASKED AND RECEIVED A TIERED RATE NOTIFICATIONS.
SO THIS IS BASED ON A CUSTOMER USAGE TRENDS THROUGHOUT THE MONTH.
SO IF THE PORTAL RECOGNIZES THAT BASED ON THEIR CURRENT USAGE PATTERNS, THAT THEY, THE CUSTOMER IS GOING TO BE MOVED INTO A NEW TIER, UM, IN OUR BILLING RATE STRUCTURE, UM, IT WILL AUTO ALSO SEND A NOTIFICATION, UM, TO THEM SO THAT, UM, NOT ONLY LETS THEM KNOW ABOUT, YOU KNOW, CONSERVATION AND HOW MUCH WATER THEY'RE USING, BUT ALSO, UM, A POTENTIAL BILL IMPACT THAT THEY MAY SEE ON THEIR NEXT BILL.
UM, SO TO DATE, WE'VE SENT MORE THAN 30,000, UM, CONTINUOUS USAGE ALERTS TO OUR CUSTOMER BASE.
UM, AND THAT IS BASED OFF OF OUR CURRENT, UH, REGISTRATION OR NOT CURRENT REGISTERED USERS, BUT CURRENT METER INSTALLATIONS THAT WE'VE CONDUCTED THUS FAR THAT YOU HEARD RICK REPORT OUT ON.
SO THIS IS REALLY, UM, THE BIGGEST, UM, POINT OF THE PRESENTATION THAT I WANT TO MAKE IS THAT WHAT WE'RE ALREADY RECOGNIZING AND SEEING AS A BENEFIT, NOT ONLY, UM, TO OUR SYSTEM, BUT ALSO OUR CUSTOMERS, UM, THROUGH BILL SAVINGS.
SO WE, THE PORTAL HAS ESTIMATED THROUGH THE CONTINUOUS LEAK NOTIFICATIONS THAT OUR CUSTOMERS AND OUR SYSTEM OVERALL HAVE, HAVE SAVED 33 MILLION GALLONS.
SO IN SUCH A DIRE TIME THAT WE'RE SEEING DROUGHT, UM, HIT OUR REGION,
[01:15:01]
YOU KNOW, THIS IS CERTAINLY SOMETHING THAT WE ARE EXCITED ABOUT AND IT'S DOING EXACTLY WHAT WE HOPED IT WOULD DO.NOT ONLY FOR OUR SYSTEM AND OUR WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES, BUT ALSO FOR OUR CUSTOMERS.
AND SO ONE OF THE, UM, COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES THAT WE HAVE ROLLED OUT IS OUR ONE SMART NEIGHBOR, UM, UH, COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM WHERE WE ARE, YOU KNOW, TOUTING AND REMINDING CUSTOMERS ARE ABOUT THE SMART METERING PROGRAM AND WHAT IT CAN DO FOR THEM AND THE BENEFITS THAT THEY WILL SEE.
SO ONE OF THE, UM, I HAVE SEVERAL TESTIMONIALS LISTED THERE, BUT I WANTED TO POINT OUT THAT THIS ONE SMART NEIGHBOR, THAT THOSE ARE ACTUALLY TRUE CUSTOMERS.
THOSE AREN'T JUST IMAGES THAT WE, UM, BOUGHT OFFLINE, BUT THOSE ARE PICTURES THAT WE HAVE TAKEN OF, OF SOME CUSTOMERS THAT REACHED OUT TO US SAYING THAT THEY WERE REALLY IMPRESSED AND PLEASED WITH THE MITX WATER PRO PROJECT.
AND SO, UM, I'LL JUST KIND OF HIGHLIGHT SOME OF WHAT THEY'VE SAID.
SO, UM, SANJAY MENTIONED THAT BY MONITORING OUR HOUSEHOLD WATER USE ON THE NEW MITX WATER POLE PORTAL, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO REALLY CUT BACK ON OUR WATER BILL EACH MONTH.
IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR US TO ALL CONSERVE IN A DROUGHT, WHICH AGAIN IS CERTAINLY WHAT WE'VE ALL BEEN SAYING TODAY.
UM, FROM NAOMI, SHE SAID, THANKS TO A HIGH USAGE TEXT ALERT IN MY TECHS, WATER, SUPER USEFUL HOURLY GRAPHS.
I FOUND OUT ABOUT A WATER LEAK QUICKLY AND WAS ABLE TO PINPOINT THE LOCATION BASED ON WHERE, WHEN IT BEGAN, THESE TOOLS ARE SO HELPFUL.
AND THEN LASTLY FROM REBECCA, SHE SAID, THE AUSTIN WATER PORTAL IS PRICELESS.
IT NOTIFIED ME WHEN WE HAD A WATER LEAK IN OUR YARD, WE WOULD NOT HAVE KNOWN AS THE LEAK WAS REALLY DEEP.
SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS PORTAL.
AND SO I JUST WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT SOME OF OUR CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS SO THAT YOU'RE HEARING DIRECTLY FROM THEM HOW WELL THIS PROJECT IS BEING UTILIZED BY OUR CUSTOMER BASE.
AND SO WITH THAT, RICK AND I WILL OPEN IT UP FOR ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE FOR US.
WELL, WHAT EXCITING NEWS TO SHARE WITH US TODAY? THAT'S SO GREAT.
AND I ALWAYS APPRECIATE AUSTIN WATER AND ALL OF THE COMMUNICATIONS THAT YOU ALL DO, AND YOU DO A FANTASTIC, HONESTLY, PROBABLY SETTING THE STANDARD FOR DEPARTMENTS ON HOW TO DO COMMUNICATION.
I'M REALLY EXCITED TO HAVE THIS CONTINUE TO ROLL OUT AND FOR US TO SEE THE BENEFITS IN SO MANY LEVELS.
UM, I'M WONDERING IF YOU HAVE A MAP OF WHERE WE'VE ALREADY INSTALLED THE WATER METERS, ROUGHLY I'LL JUST START, UM, THAT OUR PLAN IS TO PROVIDE THAT MAP.
UM, ONE OF, AND WE CAN, UH, GIVE YOU, UH, A CURRENT ONE RIGHT NOW.
UM, ONE OF OUR, UM, ONE OF THE NOTES I MADE IS THAT AS WE BUILT OUT THE DCUS, THAT NOW GIVES US A LITTLE MORE FLEXIBILITY ON KIND OF, UH, PROVIDING SOME REDIRECTION FOR CREWS.
UM, I MENTIONED THAT OUR, EVERY SINGLE DISTRICT HAS METERS, BUT WE'RE TRYING TO MAXIMIZE OUR EFFORTS ON EFFICIENCY AS WELL AS, UM, DEFINITELY AS, UM, AS THIS ROLLS OUT MORE, WE'LL GIVE YOU, UH, KIND OF, UH, ALL THE AREAS THAT WE'RE WORKING IN.
UM, WE DO HAVE A MAP ONLINE THAT ALLOWS CUSTOMERS TO KNOW WHEN WE'RE COMING AND IT ALSO PROVIDES AN ONLINE, UH, REGISTER OF WHERE METERS HAVE BEEN INSTALLED.
SO WE CAN SHARE THAT LINK AS WELL AND, UM, PROVIDE YOU THAT INFORMATION.
AND, UM, I NOTICED THAT IT WAS, THERE'S A LOW LEVEL OF UPTAKE TO MOVE TO THE ONLINE REGISTRATION.
IS THAT JUST A TIME LAG OR IS THAT SOMETHING WHERE, UM, COUNCIL MEMBERS MAY BE HELPFUL IN CONNECTING YOU UP WITH NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS TO GET THE WORD OUT IN DIFFERENT WAYS? OR HOW DO WE INCREASE THAT, THAT PERCENTAGE? YEAH, I THINK IT'S CERTAINLY ATTRIBUTED TO, YOU KNOW, OUR ROLLOUT CURRENTLY, BUT WE, WE ARE ENCOURAGING ALL OF OUR CUSTOMERS TO SIGN UP FOR OUR PORTAL.
UM, IT, THEY CAN SIGN UP AT ANY TIME.
THEY DON'T HAVE TO HAVE AN AMI METER GRANTED THEY WON'T GET THE FULL BENEFITS OF HAVING DAILY CONSUMPTION, REGISTERED ON THEIR PORTAL, BUT THEY, BUT THEY CAN REGISTER AND LOOK AT PRIOR HISTORIES OF THEIR BILLS.
SO WE CERTAINLY CAN PARTNER WITH YOU IN YOUR OFFICES, UM, TO GET THAT GREAT INFORMATION OUT, INCLUDING IN YOUR NEWSLETTERS.
AND CERTAINLY SETTING US UP WITH SOME NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION MEETINGS.
I WILL SAY THAT WE ALSO CONDUCT MONTHLY VIRTUAL MEETINGS ON A REOCCURRING BASIS SO THAT IF THE COMMUNITY, UM, NO MATTER WHERE AN INDIVIDUAL LIVES, UM, THEY'RE CERTAINLY ABLE TO, UM, JOIN US ON THOSE MONTHLY MEETINGS AND ASK ANY QUESTIONS THAT THEY MAY HAVE ABOUT OUR PROJECT OR A PORTAL AND WHEN WE WILL BE COMING INTO THEIR AREA.
SO I'LL GET THAT INFORMATION OVER TO YOUR OFFICE.
THAT'D BE GREAT, CAUSE WE CAN INCLUDE IT IN OUR NEWSLETTERS.
AND THEN IF WE ARE DOING, YOU KNOW, NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
[01:20:01]
MEETINGS, I KNOW THERE'S A SLEW IN SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER AND THEY HAPPEN TO BE AREAS WHERE YOU HAVE ROLLED OUT OR ABOUT TO ROLL OUT.UM, WE CAN HELP, YOU KNOW, SPREAD THE MESSAGE.
SO, UM, SO JUST A QUICK QUESTION TO FOLLOW UP ON THAT.
SO, UH, MY UNDERSTANDING AND TELL ME IF THIS IS CORRECT THAT, UM, EVEN IF, UH, FOLKS DON'T SIGN UP THE CITY IS STILL GETTING SOME BENEFIT FROM THIS IN TERMS OF LEAK, LEAK DETECTION, IS THAT CORRECT? ABSOLUTELY.
THE LEAK NOTIFICATION, UM, RUNS AND OPERATES REGARDLESS OF IF THE CUSTOMER IS, UM, SIGNED UP.
SO MEANING IF THEY'RE NOT LOGGING INTO THE PORTAL TO CHECK THEIR DAILY USAGE, IT'S STILL WE'RE ALERT THEM OF A LEAK AS WELL AS ON OUR SIDE.
SO, SO THE BENEFIT OF AMI IS ALSO FOR THE CITY PER SE, FROM THE CITY PERSPECTIVE.
I MEAN, IT'S EVEN ABSOLUTELY MORE BENEFICIAL IF, UM, YOU KNOW, IF THE CUSTOMER'S USING IT AND, AND I APPRECIATE, UM, WHAT THE MAYOR PORTEND WAS SUGGESTING.
IT'D BE GREAT IF WE CAN ALL, YOU KNOW, UH, HELP YOU ALL IN ENCOURAGING OUR CONSTITUENTS TO SIGN UP.
I JUST WANTED TO DOUBLE CHECK THAT, UM, THE BENEFIT IN TERMS OF THE, UM, GALLONS SAVED AND, AND THE OTHER KIND OF BENEFIT HAPPENS BECAUSE I GUESS WE'RE MONITORING THAT THE CITY IS MONITORING, CORRECT? CORRECT.
THE ONLY THING I WOULD ASK IS THAT WHEN Y'ALL GET TO THE HUNDRED THOUSAND METER DOCK AND LET US KNOW, I THINK IT WOULD BE KIND OF FUN IF OUR COMMITTEE WAS ABLE TO GATHER AND BE PART OF THAT MILESTONE MOMENT SO WE CAN HELP SPREAD THE WORD.
[5. Identify items to discuss at future meetings.]
COLLEAGUES.THE LAST ITEM ON OUR AGENDA IS A DISCUSSION ABOUT FUTURE ITEMS, OUR NEXT MEETING, AND FILE A MEETING FOR THE YEAR, UH, PENDING ANY, UH, SPECIAL CALLED BEATINGS WILL BE OCTOBER 19TH.
UM, SO ANY THOUGHTS, COMMENTS, FEEDBACK ON TOPICS COVER YES.
I THINK I DID ACTUALLY GET AN ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION.
SO I SPOKE WITH THE CITY AUDITOR, UM, THE OTHER DAY AND THE WATER AUDIT IS LIKELY TO BE BACK IN DECEMBER.
UM, WE ARE STILL FIGURING OUT THE APPROPRIATE, UM, ROLLOUT PROCESS GIVEN THE LANGUAGE THAT WAS IN THE RESOLUTION.
UM, I DON'T KNOW WHETHER IT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE TO HAVE THAT BACK FOR THE EIGHTH, THE DECEMBER 8TH COUNCIL MEETING OR WHETHER WE WOULD NEED TO EITHER, UM, HOLD THAT AT AUSTIN AUDIT AND FINANCE, WHICH HAS A MEETING SCHEDULED ALREADY THE NEXT WEEK, OR DO A SPECIAL CALLED MEETING, OR COMBINE THAT INTO THE AUDIT AND FINANCE SPEEDING.
JUST FLAGGING THAT FOR FOLKS BECAUSE THAT SHOULD PROVIDE US, UM, A LOT OF REALLY IMPORTANT INFORMATION GUIDE THE NEW DIRECTOR AND TO GUIDE, UM, AUSTIN WATER, UM, INTO 20 INTO 23.
UM, ALSO WANT TO THINK, UM, AUSTIN WATER STAFF FOR, FOR REALLY HELPING THAT PROCESS TO BE PRODUCTIVE AND EFFECTIVE.
UM, I UNDERSTAND THAT ASSISTANT DIRECTOR ON A MOREHOUSE HAS BEEN REALLY LEADING THAT EFFORT AND, UM, APPRECIATE THE PROMPT RESPONSES AND THE DELIVERY OF ALL THE DATA, UM, THAT THE AUDITOR'S, UM, NEED FOR THAT.
THANK YOU, MARY MAYOR PRO TEM.
UM, IF WE COULD DO A, A JOINT COMMITTEE MEETING, THAT'D BE GREAT BECAUSE I KNOW THREE OF US SERVE ON THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE.
WE HAVEN'T DECIDED, AND I JUST SORTA FIGURED THREE OF US AROUND THE COMMITTEE ANYWAY.
SO IT WAS NOT A I'D LIKE TO PARTICIPATE.
WELL, EVERYONE CAN W YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IF IT'S A FULL AND ALL OF COUNCIL WOULD BE INVITED.
WE JUST HAVE TO FIGURE OUT THE TIMING OF THAT, GIVEN THAT OUR LAST COUNCIL MEETING IS DECEMBER 8TH, BUT IT, YOU KNOW, WE HAD PUT IN SOME RESTRICTIONS ABOUT THE REPORT HAVING TO BE GOING TO WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION AND TO BE POSTED BEFORE IT CAME TO COUNCIL.
UM, SO WE HAVE TO WORK AROUND THOSE THINGS FOR THE TIMING.
UM, AND I'M, I'M MORE TALKING ABOUT THE TIMING THAN THE FORM OF THE MEETING.
UM, BUT AT A MINIMUM, IT WOULD BE ON THE AUDIT AND FINANCE DAY AND EVERYONE WOULD BE, EVERYONE WOULD BE WELCOME.
AND IT WOULD PROBABLY BE THE MAIN TOPIC, UM, FOR THAT MEETING, BUT WE'RE WORKING ON IT AND THERE'S NO PROBLEM AT ALL TO DO JOINT MEETINGS.
ANYTHING ELSE? I HAVE ANOTHER TOPIC.
UM, I THINK IT WOULD BE A USEFUL AND HELPFUL T TO GET AN UPDATE ON THE RAIN, THE RIVER STRATEGIC PLANNING PROJECT.
UM, IT'S, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S REALLY IN THE BEGINNING STAGES, BUT THE, THESE MEANS
[01:25:01]
OFFER AN OPPORTUNITY, UH, TO HIGHLIGHT WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THAT AND JUST GIVE US A HEADS UP.I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY THE OTHER DAY TO, TO, TO TALK WITH, UH, WITH SOMEONE ABOUT THAT.
AND IT'S ALSO WOULD BE HELPFUL FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE, I THINK, TO DISCUSS HOW THAT PROJECT IS NOT JUST, UM, A SILOED PROJECT WITH WATERSHED, BUT IT CUTS ACROSS DEPARTMENTS BECAUSE OF ITS IMPACT ON CLIMATE CHANGE.
SO I THINK IT WOULD BE, I THINK IT'D BE GREAT TO HAVE A CONVERSATION ON THAT IF THE FOLKS, UH, ARE AVAILABLE TO DO THAT.
WE WILL ADD THAT TO THE AGENDA.
UM, AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST JUST WANT TO THANK STAFF FOR PROVIDING THE IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS REPORT IN THIS FORMAT AND JUST PROVIDING THIS FOR US TO REVIEW, BECAUSE I THINK THIS WILL BE DONE WITH ALL OF OUR CITY PLANS IS HAVING THIS UPDATE ON HOW THE PLAN IS GETTING IMPLEMENTED.
SO REALLY APPRECIATE THE WORK OF OUR AUSTIN WATER TEAM AND ALL THAT YOU'RE DOING.
UM, WITH THAT PENDING NO FURTHER BUSINESS.
THE MEETING OF AUSTIN WATER OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE IS ADJOURNED AT 2:59 PM.