Item 22 - Water Management Strategy Implementation - Quarterly Report — original pdf

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Water Management Strategy Implementation REPORT First Quarter 2025, January – March Water and Wastewater Commission May 21, 2025 Contents 2  First Quarter Summary  Notes Regarding Data  Water Conservation Updates  Water Loss Reduction Updates  Reclaimed Water and Onsite Reuse Updates  Conservation Outreach Updates  Water Use and GPCD  Water Supply Project Updates First Quarter Summary The sustainability of Austin’s water supply is critical to the City’s future. This is the first quarterly report on implementation of water management strategies in the 2024 Water Conservation and Water Forward Plans. Austin Water has committed to this regular reporting to provide the latest information for stakeholders to understand our progress. In the first quarter of Calendar Year 2025, Austin Water initiated many bedrock tasks of water management strategies, including this new process of reporting. Notes Regarding Data Quarterly reporting of strategy implementation is a groundbreaking effort undertaken by Austin Water. Several important metrics require both explanation and development. Some metrics will be available in future quarterly reports.  Quarterly Data – All quarterly data should be considered preliminary and draft, subject to adjustment and revision at the end of the year and included in the annual report.  Historical Data – Where possible, 2024 quarterly metrics are included for reference with the 2025 first quarter metrics. Not all metrics have historical data.  Yield of Strategies – Estimated volumetric yields from strategies are included in the Water Conservation Plan (2029 and 2034) and the Water Forward Plan (2030). Austin Water is working to identify the volumetric yields of strategies as they are being implemented and report them in future reporting. 4 Water Conservation Updates  New single family residential irrigation inspections started in October 2024  3 Commercial/Institutional water audits conducted with pre-approved Bucks for Business applications  Commercial water audit training: 2 staff members were certified and local utilities are working to bring the training to Central Texas  WaterWise Landscape and Rainscape applications increased by 900% and 350% respectively between Q1 2024 and Q1 2025 5 Water Conservation Metrics Residential Rebate Programs Approved Rebates 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 6 Drought Survival Tools Irrigation Upgrades Other Residential Programs Rainwater Harvesting Rebates WaterWise Landscape WaterWise Rainscape Q1 2024 Q2 2024 Q3 2024 Q4 2024 Q1 2025 Water Conservation Metrics Commercial Rebate Programs Approved Rebates Approved Rebates 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Bucks for Business Other Commercial Programs Q1 2024 Q2 2024 Q3 2024 Q4 2024 Q1 2025 Q1 2024 Q2 2024 Q3 2024 Q4 2024 Q1 2025 25 20 15 10 5 0 7 Water Conservation Metrics Compliance Assessments Number of Compliant Commercial Facilities 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 8 Cooling Tower Assessment Landscape Irrigation Assessment Programs Vehicle Wash Assessment Q1 2024 Q2 2024 Q3 2024 Q4 2024 Q1 2025 Water Conservation Metrics My ATX Water Portal Leak Alerts My ATX Water continuous use (leak) alerts sent to customers Estimated water savings from My ATX Water continuous use alerts 32.5 28.33 25.14 24.08 20.49 222.16 179.36 157.82 250 200 150 100 50 0 109.5 69.48 Q1 2024 Q2 2024 Q4 2024 Q1 2025 Q1 2024 Q2 2024 Q4 2024 Q1 2025 Q3 2024 Thousand Alerts Q3 2024 Million Gallons 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 9 Water Conservation Strategy Milestones 2025 Milestones Commercial Incentives Progress 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. Landscape transformation 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. 10 Not Started Planning In Progress Completed Water Conservation Strategy Milestones 2025 Milestones My ATX Water Progress Develop data regarding CII customer categorization to assist in benchmarking and the identification of facilities for water conservation outreach. Expand My ATX Water reporting to better understand customer engagement through the portal. Investigate additional methods to encourage residential customers to use the My ATX Water portal and water-saving alerts. Conduct pilot outreach activities to learn the best ways to encourage customers to save water. Austin Water will work with the My ATX Water software vendor to develop reporting to identify customers with My ATX Water meters installed who are irrigating outside of the mandatory watering schedule and deliver courtesy notices to those customers. (Council Amendment) 11 Not Started Planning In Progress Completed Water Loss Reduction Updates  AW's Effective Utility Management Water Loss Team meets regularly to implement recommendations from the Black & Veatch Water Loss Report  AW's proposed FY26-30 budget include $18 million for service line replacements  The 2024 infrastructure leakage index has been calculated as 5.4, an increase over 4.2 in 2023. This increase can be attributed to: improved water plant metering, updated reporting of municipal water use, and an increase in real losses. 12 Water Loss Reduction Metrics Number of water main leaks 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 13 162 181 164 95 72 Q1 2024 Q2 2024 Q3 2024 Q4 2024 Q1 2025 Water Loss Reduction Metrics Linear feet of leak detection performed on large diameter water transmission lines Linear feet of leak detection performed on small diameter water distribution 60 This work is completed in large projects. New contract will complete first survey(s) this Fall. 3 0 0 0 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 2.41 1.7 1.26 1.24 0.98 Q1 2024 Q2 2024 Q3 2024 Thousand Feet Q4 2024 Q1 2025 Q1 2024 Q2 2024 Q3 2024 Million Feet Q4 2024 Q1 2025 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 14 Water Loss Reduction Strategy Milestones 2025 Milestones Progress Launch a cross-functional AW Water Loss Team to implement the recommendations of the water loss report. Develop an AW Leak Detection Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for leak detection practices, data management, and continuous training requirements. Develop an AW Production Meter SOP which includes production meter measurement improvement recommendations. Update AW Meter Testing SOPs for meter testing, sizing, and replacement. Develop an AW Unauthorized Consumption Mitigation SOP. Develop an AW Data Handling Errors Mitigation SOP. Pilot the implementation of two District Metering Areas (DMAs) to reduce water loss through pressure management. Create dashboards to integrate SCADA, AMI, pressure monitoring and leak detection data. 15 Not Started Planning In Progress Completed Reclaimed Water & Onsite Water Reuse Updates  Completed feasibility study to fully subsidize the cost of reclaimed connections, onsite water reuse systems, and dual plumbing for deeply affordable housing projects in January 2025  Adopted wastewater billing ordinance for onsite water reuse systems in February 2025 16 Reclaimed Water Metrics Number of new reclaimed meters 6 3 3 2 1 Q1 2024 Q2 2024 Q3 2024 Q4 2024 Q1 2025 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 17 Additional length of reclaimed water mains/lines 16.98 6.74 0 0 0 Q1 2024 Q2 2024 Q3 2024 Thousand Feet Q4 2024 Q1 2025 Reclaimed Water Metrics Total number of reclaimed water meters 222 220 219 216 210 500 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 224 222 220 218 216 214 212 210 208 206 204 18 Volume of centralized reclaimed water used 420.78 427.15 473.39 441.4 340.52 Q1 2025 Q1 2024 Q2 2024 Q3 2024 Q4 2024 Q1 2025 Q1 2024 Q2 2024 Q3 2024 Million Gallons Q4 2024 Onsite Water Reuse and GoPurple Metrics GoPurple Program Activity in Previous Quarter  Onsite Water Reuse System Incentives 0 project(s), 0 in funding, 0 MGY estimated water savings  Reclaimed Main Extension Rebates 0 project(s), $0 in funding, 0 MGY estimated water savings, 0 LF of main extension  Fee in Lieu of Onsite Water Reuse Systems 0 reclaimed-ready project(s) approved for fee in lieu 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 19 Onsite water reuse system construction permits approved 3 2 1 1 1 Q1 2024 Q2 2024 Q3 2024 Q4 2024 Q1 2025 Reclaimed and Onsite Water Reuse Milestones 2025 Milestones Centralized Reclaimed Progress Implement new projects to increase supply and extend the centralized service area. Conduct water benchmarking to identify uses appropriate for reclaimed water and required connections. Implement projects to Complete the Core. Complete Reclaimed Water Long Range Plan update Decentralized Reclaimed Collaborate with new developments to identify opportunities for decentralized reclaimed. Complete Wastewater Collection System Long Range Plan. 20 Not Started Planning In Progress Completed Reclaimed and Onsite Water Reuse Milestones 2025 Milestones Onsite Water Reuse Progress Adopt wastewater billing ordinance for onsite water reuse systems. Develop an operator training certification program for onsite reuse systems. Amend GoPurple resolution with incentives for deeply affordable housing projects. Update utility billing and permitting systems with new metering and billing methodologies for onsite water reuse systems. Program new software to track onsite reuse system permit compliance. 21 Not Started Planning In Progress Completed Conservation Outreach Updates  January and February messaging focused on Winter Preparedness and Wastewater Averaging; conservation outcomes were achieved by preventing leaks and discouraging outside watering.  March messaging focused on Conservation Rebates and WaterWise Landscapes to align with planting season.  Web traffic to information about Detecting and Preventing Leaks, as well as Conservation Rebates was up over Q1 2024 (+18% and +29% respectively). 22 Conservation Outreach Metrics Total audience reached with conservation messaging 15,280,000 Impressions 23 Water Use and GPCD (Gallons Per Capita Daily) ) D C P G ( y a D r e p a t i p a C r e p s n o l l a G 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 24 CY 2018 121 GPCD CY 2019 128 GPCD CY 2020 131 GPCD CY 2021 125 GPCD CY 2022 133 GPCD CY 2023 130 GPCD CY 2024 130 GPCD GPCD by Calendar Year and Quarter 15 9 11 29 17 5 9 29 19 17 8 10 26 27 24 28 42 48 19 5 9 20 24 30 21 10 11 32 17 6 10 23 31 26 17 5 9 19 24 55 28 34 21 7 10 24 28 36 22 9 11 25 32 23 7 10 19 28 21 7 9 20 29 52 42 39 22 5 10 19 25 30 19 8 10 25 31 18 6 10 21 29 24 6 10 20 24 5 8 17 28 27 33 36 46 34 22 9 12 30 33 17 8 11 25 30 45 52 19 6 10 22 30 35 17 5 9 17 27 31 22 10 12 31 21 6 10 33 22 29 16 6 11 22 29 17 5 10 18 27 23 8 11 27 23 8 9 24 31 31 21 6 10 23 29 22 5 9 18 28 55 30 37 33 44 38 29 35 22 5 9 18 28 30 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 . 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Calendar Year (CY) & Quarter 2023 2024 2025 STAGE 1 STAGE 2 Non-Revenue Water City of Austin Wholesale Industrial Commercial Multi-family Residential Single-family Residential CY GPCD Water Use and GPCD (Gallons Per Capita Daily) GPCD by Calendar Year and Quarter STAGE 1 STAGE 2 Q1 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2018 Q1 2019 Q2 2019 Q3 2019 Q4 2019 Q1 2020 Q2 2020 Q3 2020 Q4 2020 Q1 2021 Q2 2021 Q3 2021 Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022 Q3 2022 Q4 2022 Q1 2023 Q2 2023 Q3 2023 Q4 2023 Q1 2024 Q2 2024 Q3 2024 Q4 2024 Q1 2025 Total Commercial City of Austin Single-family Residential Multi-family Residential Industrial Wholesale Non-revenue Water GPCD D C P G 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 25 Water Supply Strategies 2025 Milestones Progress Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) Complete Phase 1A desktop analysis to identify favorable ASR locations Conduct Phase 1B field testing and make recommendations for ASR pilot project Lake Walter E. Long Water Supply Reservoir Complete feasibility report to evaluate off-channel reservoir configurations and recommend a preferred configuration Begin water quality sampling of Lake Walter E. Long Indirect Potable Reuse and Capture Local Inflows to Lady Bird Lake Develop IPR schematic design, design criteria, technical specifications, to include development of project configuration and sizing components Begin design-build procurement process and, pending Council approval, issue design-build contract The first Brackish Groundwater Desalination milestone is planned for 2028. 26 Not Started Planning In Progress Completed Moving Forward Achieving water sustainability for Austin is a marathon, requiring consistent long- term effort. Building blocks for implementation of key water management strategies are being laid, and staff will continue to build upon the first quarter efforts. Quarterly reports will evolve to provide information about how Austin Water and the community are doing to achieve water savings goals. Questions