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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Water Resources Advisory Committee - 07/14/1999 t Minutes of the t� ' f J!] .19K WATER CONSERVATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE j; ; 'FT:r,:." :. WATER CONFERENCE ROOM 2726 HOLLY ROAD • • JULY 14, 1999 MEMBERS PRESENT: Javier Colmenero Fred Homan Allen Shifley V. Camp Cuthrell Leo Trevino Dan Davis Caralee Dibble August Meinrath Gene Dressen John Lozano Michael Crocker Jon Kiggans Mark Smith Pedro Anaya James Gill Don King Douglas Matthews James Naismith Dale Nelson Jim Parker Carola Serrato Others Present: Carl Crull James Dodson Dr. David McNichols Staff Present: Ogilvie Gericke Eduardo Garana Saundra Koenning Yolanda Marruffo Danny Ybarra Mucio Garza M. P. Sudhakaren Maria Bazan-Garcia A. Norma Greer The meeting was called to order by Council Member Javier Colmenero at 2 p.m. in the conference room of the Water Department. Mr. Colmenero stated that the matter before the committee was a proposed Water Conservation Plan for the Water Department. Ed Garana, Water Superintendent, would present the plan. He stated that the committee was required to elect a chairperson and vice- chair. In the essence of time, he asked that the presentation be made first and then the election of chair and vice-chair be conducted. Mr. Eduardo Garana stated that changes in state law required that the Water Conservation/Drought Contingency Plan be reviewed and updated as required by the new guidelines and requirements. He pointed out that the Drought Contingency Plan had been adopted in 1986, revised during the 1996 drought, and that it meets new guidelines. However,the Conservation Plan required updating. Mr. Garana explained that the Water Conservation Plan defines strategy for reducing the volume of water withdrawn from a water supply; for reducing loss or waste; for maintaining or improving the efficiency in use; for increasing recycling and reuse; and for preventing pollution of water. This strategy results in water savings. The Drought Contingency Plan defines strategy for temporary supply management and responses to temporary and potentially recurring water supply shortages and 1 SCANNED other supply emergencies. Mr. Garafia stated that the minimum requirements of the conservation plan consist of providing a utility profile; conservation goals; metering devices; program for universal metering; measure to determine and control unaccounted-for water; and a continuing public education program,which are all a part of the Water Department's daily operations. Other minimum requirements, which are also a part of the Water Department's daily operations, include establishing and maintaining a reservoir systems operations plan; a leak detection program; and a record management system. As required by law, the plan would be adopted by the City Council and coordinated with the Regional Water Planning Group. Mr. Garafia explained the supply and demand side management techniques in use. He stated that the supply side deals with the diversion, treatment, and distribution of water before it gets to the customer. These techniques insure that water losses in the system are kept to a minimum: a metering program; measures to determine and control unaccounted for water; plumbing and landscape ordinances; leak detection and repair; and reservoir system operating plans. The demand side deals with modifying customer's perceptions of water and the way they use water. Demand is determined by the consumption habits of customers. The demand can be controlled or reduced through the following techniques: educational programs; media campaigns; school programs,public exhibitions; reuse and recycling of wastewater and grey water; and water rate structure. Mr. Garana stated that the Water Conservation Plan sets out the following goals: 1. To maintain per capita water usage below the five year moving average for cities situated in the central climatological region(142 gpcd vs. 165 gpcd); 2. To limit unaccounted for water to no more than 10%; 3. To assist the Coastal Bend Regional Water Planning Group in completing their plan; and 4. To continue water conservation efforts with City customers. Mr. Garana concluded his presentation by saying that the water conservation plan needed to be submitted to City Council members on July 27, 1999 for first reading with second reading planned on August 24, 1999. The plan would also be presented to the Coastal Bend Regional Water Planning Group on August 12, 1999, prior to submittal to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission(TNRCC) by the deadline of September 1, 1999. Mr. Garafia stated that the conservation/drought contingency plan would be reviewed in the future to include the Mary Rhodes Pipeline and would ultimately include the Colorado River water through the Garwood Contract. Dr. McNichols asked the status of the operating plan since it would have to be revised to include the Mary Rhodes Pipeline. Mr. Garafia stated that HDR Engineering has been retained to develop an operating plan that would incorporate the pipeline and would also incorporate the water from the Garwood Irrigation Company. He added that the current operating plan would be submitted with the conservation plan on September 1, 1999 and when the operating plan is revised,the conservation plan would be amended 2 and resubmitted. Mr. Colmenero stated that because he needed to leave,the committee should elect a chairperson to preside over the meeting. He called for nominations from the floor. Mr. Parker stated that the membership had changed since the last meeting of the committee and they had not had a chance to know everybody. Dr. McNichols suggested that they allow the previous chairperson to continue in the interim until the committee becomes functional. Mr.Naismith agreed to serve as interim chairperson. Mr. Colmenero stated that the new committee needed to get acquainted with one another and needed to meet on a regular schedule. He also suggested that the committee consider meeting periodically in other cities in order to make this committee more visible. Dr. McNichols pointed out that this committee had not met in a long time and questioned if there were any significant changes in the plan. He asked if there were any changes that would substantially affect water customers. Mr. Garana stated that the Drought Contingency Plan presented in the book was the 1986 plan, which had been revised during the 1996-97 drought, and no changes have been made. The Water Conservation Plan was prepared to conform to recently adopted state guidelines. The City's conservation plan was revised to include up-to-date information on population, customer data, diversion data, water supply facilities, area characteristics, etc. Mr. Carl Crull, HDR/Simpson, stated that when the city originally developed the .Water Conservation/Drought Contingency Plan,the TNRCC did not have firm rules on how to prepare this document. Since that time, Section 288 of the Texas Administrative Code was amended and became effective in February 1999, which adopted new rules and guidelines for submittal of the plans. Dr. McNichols asked if substantial changes were made to meet TNRCC rules. Mr. Crull responded that no significant changes had been made and that when he met with the city staff, they had agreed that they did not want to impose any more requirements on water customers since they felt that the people had done a good job conserving water. Mr. Dale Nelson questioned why Lake Corpus Christi could not hold 100 percent of its capacity instead of the present level. Mr. Garana stated that a remedial program was underway at Wesley Seale Dam to repair the dam, but added that'this had nothing to do with the water getting to the customer with minimum loss. The concern at hand was how effectively and efficiently were customers using the water. He stated that the conservation of water deals with making water customers more aware of the importance to conserve water. 3 Dr. McNichols asked whether the acceptable loss of water was between 0 and 10 percent. Mr. Garafia stated that it was impossible to get 0 percent when you have 1,500 miles of pipe since some leaks occur. He pointed out that the City was constantly replacing the system and using materials that were more durable. In addition, water losses occur in the event of leaks or fire-fighting. Less than 10 percent is considered commendable. Mr. Parker questioned the continued updates of salinity levels and water releases as it affects the bays and estuaries. Mr. James Dodson pointed out that the salinity plan of 1992 and a salinity report could be seen on the Internet for updates. Mr. Parker asked what effect this would have on the bays and estuaries. Mr. Dodson stated that the Parks & Wildlife Department are currently adding sampling programs in the Nueces River below Calallen to deal and relate to fresh water flow. He pointed out that although there was no comprehensive data available on the effect to the bays and estuaries at the present time,they are presently collecting data to this effect. He further stated that there was no agency that had taken responsibility for this. Mr. Parker stated that the answers given were very vague and that it seemed that the only one doing anything was the Parks & Wildlife Department. Mr. Dodson further discussed the salinity of water and its affects on various species in the bays and estuaries. Mr. Allen Shifley questioned the conservation plan as it relates to the bays and estuaries. He asked if it was part of this committee's responsibility to consider water releases as they affect the bays and estuaries as well as consider the proposed conservation plan. Mr. Parker stated that whether these issues were referred to in this plan or not, the committee was still charged to educate the community to conserve water including information about the water releases. It is all part of the educational process. In response to a question, Mr. Crull stated that the committee could amend the conservation plan by including an updated reservoir operating plan at a later date. He stated that the city was committed to submit a conservation/drought plan by September 1, 1999, and that was the main reason why this committee had been reconvened. He informed the committee that they could meet at later time to discuss some of the other concerns that had been presented. Chairperson Naismith pointed out to the members that this was an advisory committee, and wanted to insure that the committee was doing their job in that capacity. He stated that they needed additional instruction as to what kind of advice was being sought and then reach that goal. Chairperson Naismith further stated that it appeared that a decision needed to be made today on the proposed plan. Dr. McNichols said that the previous chairperson for the committee was Jerry Kane. Mr. Garafla explained that Mr. Kane was no longer a member of this committee and that when Mr. Kane's term had expired he had been appointed to the Airport Advisory Committee. Mr. Dodson explained the relationship between the Regional Water Planning Group and their 4 creation through Senate Bill 1 during the 75th Legislature. He stated that the Coastal Bend Regional Planning Group includes 11 counties similar to the Coastal Bend Council of Governments and over 32 individual water districts pay for advisory costs. The group meets once a month and information is available on the Nueces River Authority's website on the Internet. He stated that the City of Corpus Christi Water Conservation/Drought Contingency Plan is to be presented to the Coastal Bend Regional Water Planning Group on August 12, 1999. Mr. Garana reiterated that the Water Conservation Plan had evolved as a result of the changes in State law and Senate Bill 1. He stated that there might be other issues involved but that the plan needed to be submitted before the September 1, 1999 deadline. Mr. Naismith stated that the San Patricio Water District also had to submit a plan. Due to the tight time frame for consideration of the Plan,the Committee was advised to review the Plan and contact City staff, Chairperson Naismith, or Mr. Crull with any changes. It was further stated that the Plan would be submitted to the City Council on first reading on July 27, 1999 and since the Council would not meet for three weeks in August,the second reading would be on August 24, 1999. After a short discussion of the proposed conservation plan and any changes that might be made at a later date, Chairperson Naismith called for a vote. A motion was made, seconded and passed unanimously to submit the Water Conservation Plan to the City Council for their approval and that at a later date the committee could meet to review other related concerns. Mr. Garana asked for the committee member's assistance in making changes to the address or telephone numbers as listed. The meeting was adjourned at 3:45 p.m. 5