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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Water Resources Advisory Committee - 01/23/2003 M • MINUTES WATER RESOURCES ADVISORY COMMITTEE 11:30 a.m. -January 23,2003 Water Department Conference Room Members Present included: Capt. Paula Hinger, Herman R. Johnson, Bob Kent, Jon Kiggans, Dr. Karen G. Rue, Carola Serrato and Dr. Jane Stanford. Staff Present: Eduardo Garana, Water Director Danny Ybarra, Assistant Water Director Mucio Garza, Water Production Director Yolanda Marruffo, Public Education and Marketing Coordinator Rosie Cortez, Recording Secretary Others Present: Michael Womack Chairperson Carola Serrato called the meeting to order at 11:43 a.m. A quorum was present. Mrs. Serrato asked that everyone introduce themselves. Mr. Johnson made a motion to approve the minutes and Capt. Hinger seconded the motion. Motion was approved unanimously. WATER SUPPLY ISSUES Mr. Garana reported that both Lake Corpus Christi and Lake Texana were completely full. He stated that the Mary Rhodes Pipeline has been functioning since 1998 and that the City was still using Lake Texana. An average of 70% of our water delivered to the Corpus Christi community comes from Lake Texana. He stated that the City produces annually about 85,000 acre-feet. He stated that the City has a firm yield contract with LNRA with 41,840 acre feet and another 4,500 acre feet (on take or pay basis) and that the City was going after an additional 7,500 acre feet of interruptible water at Lake Texana. Mr. Garana stated that there are some other waters available from Lake Texana customers. An additional 10,000 acre-feet is available from the Formosa Plant and that Formosa has a line running from Lake Texana to their plant. Mr. Garana stated that the City's water treatment plant is the 5th largest in the state and because of changing USEPA regulations, that it is becoming difficult to meet the stringent requirements to produce drinking water. He stated that the City and all its wholesale customers divert between 120,00 -125,000 acre-feet of water in one year. SCANNED 1 Mr. Garafia stated that raw water sales are made up of the following: City of Corpus Christi, San Patricio Municipal Water District, Koch Refinery, Celanese, Alice Water Authority, Beeville Water Supply and City of Mathis and that the water comes from Lake Corpus Christi. Treated water is sold to: City of Corpus Christi, San Patricio Municipal Water District (from Nueces River and also tap the Mary Rhodes Pipeline), and South Texas Water Authority and Nueces County Water District No. 4, and Violet Water Supply Corporation. Mr. Garana stated that the Mary Rhodes Pipeline is 101-mile long and pumps water directly into the O. N. Stevens Water Treatment Plant. He stated that the City owns and maintains pump stations at Woodsboro and Bloomington. Mr. Garana then gave a presentation on the desalination project. He stated that the City, as well as other entities, had submitted proposals to the Texas Water Development Board, in response to Governor Perry's initiative. The three sites selected were Brownsville, Freeport, and Corpus Christi. He stated that in order to make it work, the project requires a lot of money, more than the State can afford in light of the recent freeze on money for grants, etc. He explained that Tampa Bay's situation is a little different from ours in that Tampa Bay needed the plant and they are subsidized. Tampa Bay takes seawater, makes 25 mgd, and then feeds the reject back. He stated that they remove 60 mgd of water to produce 25 mgd. He stated that Corpus Christi, has a similar site, which is the Barney Davis Site, but that AEP has stated that they plan to close that facility. Two other plants have already been closed by AEP. Mr. Kent asked if the City had looked at the Calpine plant. Mr. Garana stated that the City had thought of Calpine, but that Calpine would not have that much flow coming in. Dr. Stanford asked what the projection of Corpus Christi choosing 85,000 mgd right now. Max Castaneda responded that 2025 is the worst-case scenario and 2048 is the best- case scenario. Mr. Garana stated that there is a lot of issues dealing with desalination. He stated that desalination is a new planning tool and is a proven technology, but some issues are: (1) right now it is too expensive because it requires too much electricity. (2) concerns about the disposing the reject water — regulatory agencies, and (3) desalination is not different from what the City does in our treatment plant. He stated that the end product was drinking water and we use raw water. He stated that the plan right now is to build a small facility in Padre Island. Mrs. Serrato asked whether we were using the TWDB's numbers on the 2025 time period. Mr. Castaneda answered that we had used the Utilities Business Office and numbers from STWA and SPMWD. Mr. Garana stated that there would be a lot of permitting to get with regard to the Laguna Madre crossing. He stated that this is expected when you do construction. He stated that 2010 would be a more optimistic date for the completion of the plant, but it could be as early as 2005. 2 Mr. Kent asked if there was any chance of building a line along the Intracoastal Canal. Mr. Garana stated that we would probably not be able to do that since we already have problems with TXDOT in keeping water lines in the ROW. Dr. Stanford asked how long would it take to put in the 24" line. Mr. Garana stated that there would be a lot of permitting and there is also a lot of development in Padre Island. Capt. Hinger asked if the City had looked at wind generation versus electricity since one of the biggest costs is electricity and stated there were some grants available for wind generation. Mr. Garana stated that he would bring that issue up at the next meeting regarding the desalination plant. Mrs. Serrato asked if we had a consultant already on the desalination plant. Mr. Garana stated that we had one consultant, Carollo Engineers, with subcontractors including one ASR from Phoenix, Smith Russo, and others. Mr. Garana stated that the City was in the assessment phase. Mr. Garana stated that the proposal would be presented to Council in March, with a second Council presentation in June, and then we would go to the next phase. Mrs. Serrato asked if the project could be coupled with an ASR. Mr. Garana stated that ASR could reduce the cost. He stated that you could have an ASR without a desalination plant. Dr. Stanford stated that if it were based on summer consumption, it would be bad and that you would have more power and afternoon peaks. Mr. Kent asked how far we would have to dig. Mr. Garana stated we would have to go 600' or 1000' deep, but that we would have to do an assessment. We have to send it down and pull it up. Mr. Garana stated that you can build line right on top but you have to find the depth or thickness to water. Mrs. Serrato stated that you also have to find the porosity— it is not a long-term storage. Mr. Garana stated that we would bring all of the consults to see if we have a feasible project. He stated that there have been successful projects in California, New Jersey, and Florida. Dr. Rue asked how the project would impact the surface and if it would help where we have drainage problems. Mr. Garana stated that we would have to look at what the impact would be and that in March; we should have some answers and,whether the project would be a stand-alone or traditional project like in Tampa. He stated that we had to be innovative and that windmill was not out of line that it also has to be a source of power, but that we have only started and are having meetings. He stated that the reason we are not doing what Saudi Arabia did is because we have other options at lowest cost. He stated that the Mary Rhodes Pipeline was a very low technology option in that it is a pipeline, we have a pump station, it is simple. Mr. Kent asked if we did the project based on ASR, would only the people in Padre Island pay for it or would it be spread out among all customers. Mrs. Serrato stated that there would be some issues raised on this. Mr. Garana stated that we would have to transmit further. Mrs. Serrato asked if the City would be keeping the committee 3 updated. Mr. Garana stated that we are doing a lot of work at the O. N. Stevens, new pump station, de-commissioning two pump stations, and replacing them with new stations, etc. Mr. Garana stated that the Water Department does not operate with any taxes, that it operates with only the rates and that we pay to the General Fund for services rendered like, MIS, Human Resources, etc. Mrs. Marruffo stated that the City's website in the future would be more comprehensive to advise the public of what the Water Department is doing. WATER CONSERVATION ISSUES Mrs. Marruffo stated that the Xeriscape Corpus Christi Committee over the last two years has taken on the revision of the Landscape Ordinance. She stated that as part of that work, that there was an effort to look at how water is used in commercial settings and how we can conserve. She stated that the committee had made revisions to the landscape ordinance and hoped that the City could obtain endorsement from the committee. Mrs. Marruffo stated that Mr. Womack would be giving the highlights of items changing and justification for those changes. Mr. Michael Womack with the Texas Extension Cooperative stated that the Xeriscape Corpus Christi Steering Committee had been working for over a year to modify the ordinance and obtaining input from various organizations. He stated that he had served as Chair for the subcommittee and that some of the groups that participated were: landscape architects, Texas Forest Service, Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, master gardeners and Beautify Corpus Christi. Mr. Womack stated that the City's landscape ordinance was approved in 1988, revised in 1991-93 and that it incorporates the use of Xeriscape principles. He stated that since people are already used to the landscape ordinance, they needed to look at strengthening the requirements and principles. He stated that now there are certain points that are given depending on the plants used. One of the revisions was the combining the list of points. He listed the revised qualifying principles of Xeriscape (conservation of water through common sense and creative landscaping): 1. good design 2. soil improvements 3. minimizing turf areas 4. use of mulch 5. use of low water use drought tolerant plants 6. efficient use of water 7. good maintenance techniques Mr. Womack stated that in other cities Xeriscape is called SmartScape, and other names because people do not understand the term Xeriscape. He stated that Xeriscape focuses on plants that use less water and have less impact on environment. He stated that plants were reviewed for drought tolerance and disease resistant were selected. Mr. Womack stated that instead of suggesting people use Xeriscape that we require 4 that they prove all seven principles are in effect. He stated that everyone should be doing this because water conservation is a community issue. Mr. Womack stated that landscaping encourages economic development, helps with storm water quality and reduces heat in paved areas. He stated that although landscaping is required right now, but it is not water efficient so why not do it water efficiently. Mr. Kiggans asked if the landscape committee had talked with those involved about the impact of the changes. Mr. Womack stated that the committee had not talked with the general contractors yet, only with architects, which does not cost them any more as they just have to make smarter choices upfront. Dr. Stanford asked how Xeriscape landscaping helped improve storm water quality and what happens to storm water. Mr. Womack stated that if it does not have sufficient cover with plant material as water is moved across parking lots, it starts picking up oil, etc. and all that goes into the bays and forms sedimentation in certain areas. Another recommended change by the committee was creating a simple plant list instead of two lists. Also limiting vehicular uses within an area, reducing addition of parking area and trees help with general air quality. He stated that Austin and Brownsville now have the requirement of both drip irrigation system as well as both underground sprinklers only on new areas. Another change is the use of tree coats at the base of newly planted trees to protect base of trees and long term. Additional points would be given for the use of drought resistant turf. He stated that right now, the ordinance allows no additional points for grass specie. Regarding the use of tolerant turf, Mr. Womack stated that if trees were removed that they would have to be replaced by another tree or trees of equivalent diameter and that trees should be given enough room to grow. He stated that points for plants in rocks or gravel would be reduced because certain plants do not do well in rocks. Additional changes: (1) provide additional re-inspections within 24 and 36 months. If plants survive this time, they will probably survive 30+ years (2) approved plant list - to encourage use of better plants and appropriate tree size selection (3) Increase points for ground cover (6) commercial landscaping influences residential practices. Capt. Hinger asked if the proposed plant list was available. Mrs. Marruffo stated that the list was available on e-mail. Capt. Hinger stated that the Naval Base was doing a beautification project and they wanted to use the appropriate plants. Mr. Johnson stated that he has looked at the revisions before and thought the Ordinance was great and made a motion that committee endorse it to go to the Planning Commission. Dr. Stanford seconded the motion and motion passed unanimously. Mrs. Marruffo stated that previously we had planned to invite John Sutton of the Texas Water Development Board to make a presentation to the Regional Planning Committee, but that he was unable to come, but that we would invite him to come speak before the committee during this year at a future meeting. 5 Mr. Kent stated that he was still not sure what the purpose of the committee was. Dr. Rue asked if the committee was a focus group. Mrs. Marruffo stated that information had been sent to all members on what was expected of the committee. She stated that the committee was an advisory committee to staff in terms of being able to hear several topics. She stated that if the members hear of information from other citizens that they think is of importance to the committee, they should report it at future meetings. She stated that if some of the members want to include their e-mail on the website, we can add it to the member's name. Dr. Stanford stated that she wanted to have her e-mail included. Dr. Stanford stated that sometimes citizens are more willing to contact a member of a committee than a staff member. Mrs. Serrato stated that before anything is posted on the website, that committee members be allowed to review. Mrs. Serrato stated that she had already talked with Mrs. Marruffo about ASR uses, etc. and that it was important that if the committee has an issue that it feels strongly about and we want this message to go forward that it can be done through the committee. Mr. Garana stated that the committee has been in effect since the early 1990's. The date for the next meeting is April 24. Meeting adjourned at 1:20 pm. 6