Item 4 - Update on Water Forward 2024 Demand Management Strategies — original pdf

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Update on Water Forward 2024 Demand Management Strategies 5/14/2024 Water Conservation Plan and Drought Contingency Plan Update Process May 2, 2024 Water Conservation Plan (WCP) and Drought Contingency Plan (DCP) approved by City Council Summer 2024 Austin Water will work with the WFTF and the community to identify specific water conservation measures to achieve five- and ten-year water conservation goals Early Fall 2024 Any resulting updates to the water conservation goals and measures will be included in Water Forward 2024 and the updated WCP and DCP November 2024 Austin Water will bring the 2024 Water Forward plan and updated DCP and WCP before Council for their consideration December 2024 Upon Council’s adoption of the updated DCP and WCP, Austin Water will resubmit the updated plans to the TCEQ and the TWDB 2 WF24 Historical and Projected Water Use by Sector 3 Water Forward 2024 Demand Management Strategies  Utility-side Water Loss Control: Reducing leaks throughout the water distribution system  Customer-side Data-Driven Water Use Management: Using Advanced Metering Infrastructure and water use benchmarking data with water use budgeting tools to reduce indoor customer water use  Water Efficient and Native Landscapes: Setting requirements for landscaping and using irrigation systems for new single-family homes to reduce outdoor demands  Reuse Strategies • Onsite Water Capture and Reuse • Centralized Reclaimed Water • Decentralized Reclaimed Water 4 Task Force Feedback  Outdoor irrigation restrictions should be more restrictive throughout the plan.  Increase community outreach for conservation programs and requirements during droughts, utilizing partnerships for promotion  Enforcement should be more visible and more robust.  Explore opportunities for water budgeting to be implemented or incentivized sooner, including overcoming the logistical barriers to adoption mentioned in the plan.  Consider instituting new pool permit moratoriums in an earlier drought stage.  Cut off all outdoor water usage at some point in extreme drought. 6 Summary of Task Force DCP Feedback Summary of Task Force WCP Feedback 7 Highlight water use reduction goals prominently in the 2029 WCP plan. Add definition of functional turf. Look into savings from limited hours at splashpads and consider removing restrictions if savings are not substantial. Additional wording and editorial feedback on plan language. Summary of Task Force WCP Implementation Feedback 8  Create an SOP for incentive program applications to streamline the process.  Continue to discuss how (gallons per capita per day) GPCD is calculated and evaluate GPCD’s effectiveness as a measure moving forward as supplies become more diverse and decentralized.  Develop additional strategies for increasing incentive program participation.  Research historical industrial water use to better understand use patterns and consider enacting stricter measures on industrial water users.  Increase public oversight into service extension requests.  Conduct annual assessments of WCP goals.  Examine voluntary water budget program and determine opportunities to make program more robust.  Enhance outreach on residential irrigation practices, including promotion and training on native plant maintenance.  Increase education to customers on watering schedules and My ATX Water opportunities.  Continue to examine how the WCP aligns with the Water Forward Plan.  Consider a fog harp as a WMS to supplement supply in areas with high evaporative loss and dense fog.  Develop an ordinance requiring new manufacturing facilities to use reclaimed.  The water loss strategy timeline should be more aggressive and achieve greater savings in the nearer  Document how passive conservation savings are included in baseline demand projections Summary of Task Force Water Forward Demand- Side Water Management Strategy Feedback term. 9 Next Steps Austin Water Staff Preliminary Additional Measures for Evaluation  Evaluate expansion of community education resources  Continue Water Loss Reduction efforts  Continue Landscape Transformation Programs  My ATX Water Irrigation Engagement  Expand AW's use of My ATX Water Customer Leak Alerts  Continue Commercial and Industrial Incentives  Residential greywater in new single-family developments 11 Goal for this Summer 1 2 3 4 Review total water demand and demand reduction goals for the near- term (5-10 years) within WF24 Identify specific tactical measures to implement to achieve goals Assign costs and yields to those measures Include measures in WF24 Recommendations and in revised WCP and DCP 12 Questions?