Revisions: slides 10, 12, 13 — original pdf

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2024 Water Conservation and Drought Contingency Plans Updates Water and Wastewater Commission – April 17, 2024 Kevin Critendon, P.E., Assistant Director Agenda  Water Supply  Planning Overview  Proposed Water Conservation Plan (WCP)  Proposed Drought Contingency Plan (DCP)  Next Steps 2 Austin’s Water Supply: 325,000 Acre Feet Per Year Colorado River • Combination of State-granted water rights & long-term contract with LCRA • Up to 325,000 acre- feet per year (afy) LCRA reservation & use fees pre-paid in 1999 • Additional use payments trigger when average for 2 consecutive years exceeds 201,000 afy Centralized Reclaimed System 3 What plans and why do we need them?  Texas utilities must provide a Water Conservation Plan (WCP) and a Drought Contingency Plan (DCP)  Required by Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) every 5 years  WCPs identify programmatic activities aimed at reducing overall water consumption and improve water use efficiency 4  DCPs identify water supply triggers and related drought response activities How are these plans different? Water Conservation Plan (WCP) Drought Contingency Plan (DCP)  Plan for all weather conditions  Focuses on drought conditions  Describes  Describes • Utility and water use information • Conservation (rebates, education, enforcement) • Water loss reduction • Reuse activities  Includes water consumption and water loss • Drought Stages • Drought Triggers (demand and supply) • Drought Actions & Restrictions  Must be consistent with the LCRA DCP  Requires Chapter 6-4 changes goals 5 How does this work regionally with our water supply partner? LCRAs Drought Contingency Plan (DCP)  AWs DCP aligns with LCRAs DCP  LCRA recently updated its DCP on March 26, 2024  LCRAs significant updates include: • Adjusting drought trigger levels (From 4 stages to 5 stages) • Adding LCRAs inflow trigger for Drought Stage 2 • Adding specific drought condition water use restrictions 6 Austin’s Water Conservation Plan (WCP)  Public education & outreach  Residential assistance  Incentive programs  Regulatory programs  Water loss reduction  Water reuse 7 2024 WCP Updates  Updated program activity and water savings  Increased integration with My ATX Water  Updated Conservation Goals and Water Loss goals 8 2024 WCP Proposed Goals  Based on a 5-year average and measure attainable achievements and updated targets for: • Total Population Gallons Per Capita per Day (GPCD) reduction of water use • Residential Gallons Per Capita per Day (GPCD) reduction of water use • Water Loss and Infrastructure Leak Index reduction  Conservation and water loss goals correlate with utility industry best practices 9 2024 WCP Proposed Goals 5-Year Ave Baseline 2029 Goal 2034 Goal Total GPCD Residential GPCD Water Loss GPCD Infrastructure Leakage Index 127 64 21 4.07 127 64 21 4.07 123 62 19 3.57 116 58 17 3.31 10 Austin’s Drought Contingency Plan (DCP)  Current sources & projections  Drought stages/triggers • Conservation Stage • Drought Stage 1 - 5  Actions by Stage • Restrictions • Utility actions 11 2024 DCP Updates by Drought Stage  Stage 1 (1.4 Million Acre Feet) • Expanded enforcement in irrigation season • Work with other City Depts to implement water conservation • Increase incentives for reclaimed and conservation activities  Stage 2 (900,000 Acre Feet) • Reduction in eligible time for irrigation 12 2024 DCP Updates by Drought Stage  Stage 3 (750,000 Acre Feet) • Further reduction in eligible time for irrigation • Voluntary water budgeting (My ATX Water) • Replace automatic exemption for athletic fields with an administrative variance process • Irrigation citations without warnings, with offering of dismissals for irrigation and water conservation course completion  Stage 4 (600,000 Acre Feet) • Moratorium on all new irrigation and pool permits • No irrigation of turfgrass unless used for community purposes • SpeakUp & Email survey responses indicated support of Stage 4 updates  Stage 5 (*Emergency Drought* authorized by City Manager’s order) 13 Drought Stage Triggers and Storage COA Stage 1 Stage 1 1.4 MAF LCRA Stage 1 Stage 1 1.1 MAF COA and LCRA DCP Stages 2-4 Stage 2 0.9 MAF Stage 3 0.75 MAF Stage 4 0.6 MAF Public Outreach for Proposed Updates  November 2023: SpeakUpAustin  December 2023: Virtual Public Meeting  Survey of SpeakUpAustin visitors and AW Customers • 110 responses received  Majority responses favored proposed additions to drought regulations 15 Key 2024 Activities Advancing Conservation  May 2 Council considers adoption of updated WCP, DCP and related code  Continued focus throughout summer and fall on current climate and drought changes situation  Planning underway for potential Drought Stage 3 • Increased public notification, education and outreach • Increased collaboration with LCRA and other regional partners • Increased enforcement  Preparation underway for potential Drought Stage 4 • Pro Rata Curtailment 16 Questions?