HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Water Resources Advisory Committee - 12/06/2018Page 1 of 1
Minutes of Water Resources Advisory Committee
held 11:30 a.m. Thursday, December 6, 2018
Water Utilities Building Choke Canyon Conference Room
2726 Holly Road Corpus Christi, Texas
Attended by:
Voting Members: Sally Gill, Landscaping Representative; Rocky Freund, Nueces River Representative; Roberto
Reece, Military Representative; Barrett Fines, Port Industries Representative; Faren Von Duben, Large Commercial
Customer Representative; Joelle Francois, Residential Customer Representative.
Guest: Frank Brogan, Consultant for City
Staff: Dan Grimsbo, Executive Director of Utilities; Kevin Norton, Director of Water Utilities; Gabriel Ramirez, Asst.
Director of Water Quality and Treatment; Steve Ramos, Water Resources Manager; Larijai Francis, Water Resources
Project Manager; Gabriela Morrow, PIO; Lori Bryant, Management Asst. for Water Utilities; Minutes taken by Lori
Bryant and compiled by Steve Ramos.
ITEM 1: Call the Meeting to Order - Sally Gill, Chair, called the meeting to order at 11:30 am with six
members attending (quorum met).
ITEM 2: Introductions - Committee members and staff introduced themselves.
ITEM 3: Review and Approval of Minutes - April minutes were approved as read; August minutes were not
available for the meeting, but were later approved by email. Leah Tiner’s reappointment was approved by
City Council, and her absence today is excused. Other members’ terms will be ending on April 1; they will
need to reapply. The School Representative seat remains empty.
ITEM 4: Water Resources Update – Steve Ramos & Larijai Francis – Recent rains have greatly improved
our combined totals. Choke Canyon did not receive much flow from the Frio River, but saw slight
improvement (Historically, it has only filled to capacity four times). Lake Corpus Christi receives its flow from
the Nueces River. Controlled releases from Wesley Seale Dam was necessary during this last weather
event, which did result in some flooding downstream. Lake CC remains at 100% currently.
Gabbi shared information on the Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG) campaign the City promotes over the holiday
season to prevent clogging drains and waste water pipes; free containers are made available to the public
to use in their home kitchens. Small efforts like this done city-wide helps maintain the system overall, and
saves repair costs in the long run.
Steve talked about the upcoming Xeriscape Symposium being held in January.
ITEM 5: H2O Data Analytics – Roberto Reece - Water loss at the Naval Air Station spiked in 2011, initiating
a search for where this was happening on the base. In 2012, NAS entered into an agreement with the City
to use reclaimed water for their golf course. Dead ends were eliminated. During maintenance of storm water
lines, a major leak was discovered in a fresh water line that was pouring treated water directly into the bay.
Four breaks were discovered in the supply side lines. By persisting in this hunt to minimize loss, NAS is no
longer wasting massive amounts of water and money.
ITEM 6: Water Conservation Plan Update – Steve Ramos - Will soon send the current draft to members
for any additional suggestions as to changes. Those suggestions can be sent ahead, and will be discussed
at the next meeting in March. The final plan must be submitted to the State in May 2019.
ITEM 7: Set next meeting date - scheduled for 11:30 am on Thursday, March 14, 2019 (later changed to
March 28).
ITEM 8: Adjourn - Ms. Gill adjourned the meeting at 12:50 pm.
Note: Meeting audio is available upon request.