HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Water Resources Advisory Committee - 02/19/2015 Minutes of Water Resources Advisory Committee
held 11:00 a.m. Thursday, February 19, 2015
Water Utilities Building—Choke Canyon Conference Room
2726 Holly Road *Corpus Christi, Texas
Attended by: Voting members:Brian Williams, Wholesale,Sally Gill, Landscaping,Robert Kunkel, Port Industries;
Sam Sanders, Lg. Commercial Customer;Mark Stroop, Military Representative. Ex-officio Members:None. Staff:
Brent Clayton,Alexa Fu/bright of City Environmental&Strategic Initiatives;Mark Van Vleck of Utilities,minutes taken
Alexa Fulbright. Non-voting guests:Rocky Freund, Nueces River Authority
ITEM 1: Call the Meeting to Order
Chairman Sam Sanders called the meeting to order with a quorum of five members attending.
ITEM 2: Approval of Minutes
The minutes from the January 21 meeting were approved with one correction.
Mark Van Vleck requested Item#5 be moved to be the next item. Robert Kunkel made a motion to move
the item and Brian Williams made a second. It was approved to be moved up the item.
ITEM 5: Consolidated Wastewater Plant Concept
Mark Van Vleck gave a presentation on the potential of using reuse water from the conceptual future
consolidated wastewater plant.
Mr. Van Vleck first discussed how there is currently 29,000 ac-ft of treated effluent available. The active
six wastewater plants are spread out and of different sizes. This makes it difficult to make a consistent
and single source of supply for the industrial demand. Also, it is Type 2 effluent, which means it cannot
make direct contact with people.
A concept for the future is to build a new consolidated wastewater treatment plant(WWTP). Consolidation
would save money on operations and maintenance as the current six WWTPs each take their own labor
and operating expenses. A consolidated plant also is good for reuse. It comes from one location. The
reuse water could be used directly or pumped into aquifer storage and recovery. The next step is to hire
a program manager to do a full cost estimate and study. Some of the elements of the study would include
how to route the system and its location. From this point in time, it would take about 13-15 years to
complete.
Rocky Freund expressed concern about the change in discharge into Oso Creek from the Greenwood
Plant. Ms. Freund mentioned that some discharge would still need to go into the Nueces Estuary. Robert
Kunkel mentioned that reuse is great but questioned about discharging effluent into the bay as a credit.
Brent Clayton mentioned that currently there is a 500 ac-ft per month credit for effluent going into the
Nueces River. This is credited to the City's Agreed Order pass through requirements. There will need to
be a way to credit freshwater with a consolidated WWTP.
Sam Sanders questioned how the project would be funded. Mr. Van Vleck said it would require multiple
smaller incremental bonds through the years. The estimated cost is about$500 million, and a definite
decision on whether to move forward with this project will be made in two years.
ITEM 3: Review of Current Drought Status and Projections:
Brent Clayton reviewed the current water system statistics, which included new graphs from the daily
pass through report. This new report includes a water supply index which is going to be shown to the City
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Council in the following week. Mr. Clayton explained the other new items of the new report, including a
trend line of lake level over time.
Mr. Clayton then went into the current drought monitor of Texas and showed the drought outlook for the
U.S.which shows a persistent drought in some parts of the watershed.
Mr. Clayton then explained the short term projections of combined lake levels. Because of the low
evaporation, cooler weather, and recent rain, recent lake levels have help steady. Even still, staff have
made preparations for entering Stage 3. They plan to set a firm date the 1 st week of March so that a
formal announcement can be made.
Sally Gill mentioned a letter sent to the City Manager and City Council about shifting the way we measure
water to include water from Lake Texana and Mary Rhodes Pipeline Phase 2. Ms. Gill said that the
community may be hurt by irrigating every 2 weeks. It would be a mistake to enter Stage 3 when
residents are using the reduced amount of water requested by the City.
ITEM 4: Update on Ordinance Revision (about membership)
Mr. Clayton discussed the recent changes to the Water Resource Advisory Committee ordinance
language. Revised language on membership to the Committee was passed on February 17. It included
revised language to the apartment owner's representative. The revised ordinance also includes a
member or employee of an organization that seeks to protect or positively influence the Nueces River
watershed or its ecosystem. In April there will be three reappointments, one replacement for residential
and one replacement for apartment owners. A recommendation is needed by March 23 for residential &
apt owner's representatives.
ITEM 5: Adiourn
The next meeting was tentatively scheduled for Thursday, May 21, 2015
The meeting adjourned at 12:50 P.M.
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