2_Presentation of Draft Revised Water Conservation Plan and Drought Contingency Plan — original pdf

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Draft Revised Water Conservation Plan & Drought Contingency Plan Kevin Kluge, Water Conservation Manager September 10, 2024 The Basics Water Conservation Plan (WCP) Drought Contingency Plan (DCP)  Plan for all weather conditions  Focuses on drought conditions  Describes • Utility and water use information • Conservation (rebates, education, enforcement) • Water loss reduction • Reuse activities  Describes • Drought Stages • Drought Triggers (demand and supply) • Drought Actions & Restrictions  Must be consistent with the LCRA DCP  Includes water consumption and water loss  Requires Chapter 6-4 changes goals 2 Drought Contingency Plan (DCP) – Fall 2024 Changes  Clarification of Stage 4 Drought Functional and Nonfunctional Turf  Regulating the use of drip irrigation 3 Regulating the use of drip irrigation  Why regulate drip? • No current restrictions • LCRA restricts drip in Stage 4; recommends in other stages • Saves water from overrun and poorly maintained drip systems with limited visibility • Proactively lessens incentive to side-step any watering restrictions  Proposed: restrict drip like automatic irrigation, 1 day per week, all stages  Stakeholder discussions ongoing • Large property variance • Tree establishment & maintenance 4 Water Conservation Plan (WCP) – Fall 2024 Changes  Additional information regarding GoPurple and water loss  Discuss historical goals  Water-saving activities with yields and milestones (in progress)  Revised 2029 and 2034 goals  Enhanced reporting activities 5 Discuss historical goals  2019 WCP Goals  Factors contributing to not meeting goals: • Under-projected demands • Pandemic impacts • Extreme weather • Over-projected strategy savings 6 Activities with yields and milestones (in progress)  Water loss reduction  Landscape transformation  Commercial incentives  Reclaimed and reuse  My ATX Water  Water use benchmarking and budgeting  Public outreach and marketing 7 Water loss reduction Continue existing water loss mitigation activities, such as leak detection, water line repair and replacement, and meter testing, as well as additional activities: • Production meter precision • improvement Increased meter testing for large customers • Enhanced leak detection activities • Implementation of District Meter Areas (DMAs) • Cross-functional utility team to implement recommendation from contracted report 8 Implementation Activity Milestone Continue improving water audit data and processes Launch a cross-functional AW Water Loss Team to implement the recommendations of the water loss report Begin initiative to improve production meter precision Pilot two District Metered Areas Implement additional District Metered Areas Optimize leak detection activity and data management improvements Increase large meter testing Fiscal Year Target Ongoing 2024 2024 2025 2026 2025/2026 To Be Determined New single family landscape transformation Identified activities to transform the landscape of new homes such that less potable water is use for irrigation. Activities include: • For NEW homes • Enforcement of soil requirements • Limiting the area of automatic irrigation systems to 50% of the landscape area • Requiring new homes to install laundry to landscape-ready plumbing • For NEW irrigation systems • Required pressure-reduction devices • Inspections for state and local requirements • Offering irrigation checkups for new homeowners 9 Implementation Activity Milestone Coordinate with COA Development Services Department to increase inspections of new-development soil inspections. Council adoption and implementation of local amendments to the 2024 Uniform Plumbing Code (pressure- reduction devices, irrigation area, laundry to landscape). Austin Water inspection of all new residential irrigation systems and offering new homeowners follow-up checkups. Fiscal Year Target Ongoing 2025 2025 Commercial conservation incentives Significant potential savings exists for commercial, institutional, and industrial (CII) buildings to save water using water efficient fixtures and appliances, as well as other building-specific water savings devices. Implementation Activity Milestone Pilot an increased rebate for commercial water use audits Identify opportunities for CII facility owners/managers to benefit from the My ATX Water alerts and information. Develop data regarding CII customer categorization to assist in benchmarking and the identification of facilities for water conservation outreach. Fiscal Year Target 2025 2025 2025 10 Reclaimed and reuse water – Centralized Reclaimed Expand and strengthen the reclaimed system, completing the core loop. Increase the number of existing customers who convert to reclaimed water and new developments that connect to the reclaimed water system. 11 Implementation Activity Milestone Implement new projects to increase supply and extend the centralized service area Conduct water benchmarking with all new commercial and industrial customers to identify uses appropriate for reclaimed water, and require connection to the reclaimed system in accordance with development requirements Implement projects to Complete the Core Complete Reclaimed Water Long Range Plan update Fiscal Year Target Ongoing Ongoing 2024 - 2027 To Be Determined Reclaimed and reuse water – Decentralized Reclaimed Using satellite wastewater plants for non-potable uses like toilet flushing, cooling towers, and landscape irrigation 12 Implementation Activity Milestone Collaborate with new developments through the service extension request (SER) process to identify opportunities for decentralized reclaimed and appropriate cost participation by Austin Water Complete Wastewater Collection System Long Range Plan, including identifying existing and future wastewater treatment plants and sites Develop infrastructure planning and design guidance Fiscal Year Target Ongoing 2025 To Be Determined Reclaimed and reuse water – Onsite Water Reuse Onsite Water Reuse Systems (OWRS) are required for new commercial, multi-family, and mixed-use development projects with 250,000 square feet of gross floor area or more. Some projects are exempt from this requirement. OWRS are also required for commercial, multi-family, and mixed use development projects with new or replaced evaporative cooling towers Implementation Activity Milestone Determine the feasibility of fully subsidizing the cost of reclaimed connections, onsite water reuse systems, and dual plumbing for deeply affordable housing projects Begin planning for expansion of onsite reuse requirements to include new medium-sized developments Fiscal Year Target 2025 To Be Determined 13 My ATX Water Customer water saving opportunities – AW will educate customers on the opportunities to save water through leak alerts, high-usage alerts, and the use of the My ATX Portal. Commercial customer engagement - AW will identify and pursue opportunities to allow commercial property owners and managers to benefit from the My ATX Water alerts and information. Customer irrigation engagement – AW will identify and pursue opportunities to engage with both residential and commercial irrigators to reduce landscape irrigation water use. 14 Implementation Activity Milestone Develop data regarding CII customer categorization to assist in benchmarking and the identification of facilities for water conservation outreach. Work with My ATX Water contractor to develop the necessary data and reports to focus customer engagement. Investigate additional methods to encourage customers to provide contact and profile information that will allow additional My ATX Water alerts. Conduct pilot outreach activities to learn the best ways to encourage customers to save water. Investigate effective methods of contacting commercial facility owners/managers regarding water saving opportunities Fiscal Year Target 2025 2025 2025/2026 2025/2026 2025/2026 Water use benchmarking and budgeting Benchmarking – Future phases will focus on categorizing commercial customers to benchmark water use for different types of business. Budgeting – In the future, AW will encourage voluntary water budgeting and may utilize mandatory water budgeting at deep drought stages, based on the benchmarking data developed. Implementation Activity Develop data regarding CII customer categorization to assist in benchmarking and the identification of facilities for water conservation outreach. Conduct pilot outreach activities to learn the best ways to encourage customers to set and strive towards voluntary water budgets. Investigate potential residential and commercial mandatory water budgets. Fiscal Year Target 2025 2026 2027 15 Revised 2029 and 2034 goals 16 Enhanced reporting activities  Quarterly Reports • Commissions and Task Force • Leading measures to reduce demands  Annual Report • Public year-end report • Leading measures, programmatic efforts, and total water use and loss 17 What’s Next  Further revisions to the Water Conservation Plan and Drought Contingency Plan • Add quantified yields for WCP activities • Coordinate and update conservation activity implementation milestones  Water Forward meetings on Sept. 19 and Oct. 10 18 Questions?