Item 15 - Water Management Strategy Q3 Report Briefing — original pdf

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Water Management Strategy Implementation REPORT Third Quarter 2025, July - September | November 2025 Water & Wastewater Commission, November 12, 2025 Contents  Third Quarter Summary  Water Conservation Updates  Water Loss Reduction Updates  Reclaimed Water and Onsite Reuse Updates  Conservation Outreach Updates  Water Supply Project Updates  Water Use and GPCD  Notes Regarding Data 2 Third Quarter Summary The Water Management Strategy Implementation Report is intended to provide transparency and accountability regarding the execution of strategies from the 2024 Water Conservation Plan and the 2024 Water Forward Plan. The plans include proactive and substantial demand management strategies and innovative local supply strategies, but the hard work necessary to complete the strategies and meet the goals are illustrated in the implementation reports. The third quarter of 2025 (July – September) includes what is typically the hottest and driest part of the year in Central Texas. In early July, Central Texas was struck by severe storms that caused severe damage and loss of life but filled Lakes Buchanan and Travis from 50 percent storage capacity to over 90 percent. On September 2, the City of Austin returned to the baseline Conservation Stage water restrictions from Stage 2 Drought restrictions. While the city’s water supply was nearly full, the latter two months of the quarter proved to be the typical hot and dry Texas summer. 3 Water Conservation Updates  New Community Outreach Grants to support innovative, community-lead conservation initiatives. (WCP, p. 40)  Applications accepted Oct. 15 – Nov. 30  Up to $3,000  Irrigation enforcement: 480 Customer 311 reports, 1,700 warnings, 243 citations  Stakeholder engagement for new Uniform Plumbing Code landscape irrigation restrictions (pressure reduction and 50% irrigation area in new homes)  Categorized all commercial, institutional, and industrial customer with North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code to aid in high use/leaks identification and the establishment of water use benchmarks  Began inclusion of conservation programs in the utility’s enterprise customer relations management software. 4 Water Conservation Metrics Residential Rebate Programs Approved Rebates 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Drought Survival Tools Irrigation Upgrades Rainwater Harvesting Rebates WaterWise Landscape WaterWise Rainscape Other Residential Programs Q3 2024-Q2 2025 Q3 2025 5 Water Conservation Metrics Commercial Rebate Programs Approved Rebates 5 4 3 2 1 0 4 4 4 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 Bucks for Business Other Commercial Programs Q3 2024-Q2 2025 Q3 2025 6 Water Conservation Metrics Compliance Assessments Number of Compliant Commercial Facilities 87% 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 Number of Compliant Commercial Facilities 83% 92% 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Landscape Irrigation Assessment Cooling Tower Assessment Vehicle Wash Assessment Q3 2024-Q2 2025 Q3 2025 Q3 2024-Q2 2025 Q3 2025 7 Water Conservation Strategy Milestones (Water Conservation Plan, p. 35-36, Water Forward Plan, p. 34, 36) 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 Austin Development Services 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. Not Started Planning In Progress Completed 8 Water Loss Reduction Updates  Increased number of employees certified to submit Texas Water Development Board Water Loss Audit from one to four.  Four employees will attend the North American Water Loss Conference this December.  Expediting delivery of water service replacement program, utilizing $45 million low interest loan from the Texas Water Development Board.  In process of hiring a water loss engineer that will focus on water loss tracking and reduction full time. 9 Water Loss Reduction Metrics Number of water main leaks detected and repaired 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 181 164 95 116 76 Q3 2024 Q4 2024 Q1 2025 Q2 2025 Q3 2025 10 Water Loss Reduction Metrics Linear feet of leak detection and repair performed on large diameter water transmission lines Linear feet of leak detection and repair performed on small diameter water distribution Projects under this contract are scheduled to resume in December 2025. 32,000 linear feet of condition assessment is scheduled to be surveyed in Q4 of 2025 and 17,500 linear feet of leak detection is scheduled for Q1 of 2026. Moving forward, we will surpass the goals of 36,960 linear feet of leak detection and 84,480 linear feet of combined leak detection and condition assessment per year. 2.41 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 1.7 1.8 1.24 0.93 0 0 0 0 0 Q3 2024 Q4 2024 Q1 2025 Million Feet Q2 2025 Q3 2025 1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 Q3 2024 Q4 2024 Q1 2025 Thousand Feet Q2 2025 Q3 2025 Quantities of leak detection performed per quarter vary based on when our contractor is in Austin doing work. We utilize our full budget for small diameter leak detection each year and surpass the goal of 2.64 million feet per year. (average of 3.85 million feet per year over the last 7 years). 11 Water Loss Reduction Strategy Milestones (Water Conservation Plan, p. 33-34, Water Forward Plan, p. 33) 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. Not Started Planning In Progress Completed 12 Reclaimed Water & Onsite Water Reuse Updates  Obtained Council reauthorization of GoPurple Pilot Incentive Program for FY25-26  Promoted increased GoPurple incentives for exempt affordable housing projects  Construction contracts for the ABIA North Reclaimed Water Loop Main and Fallwell Lane Capital Renewal projects approved by City Council on July 24 13 Reclaimed Water Metrics Total number of reclaimed water meters 219 220 222 225 226 250 200 150 100 50 0 Volume of centralized reclaimed water used 639 473 441 487 341 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Q3 2024 Q4 2024 Q1 2025 Q2 2025 Q3 2025 Q3 2024 Q4 2024 Q1 2025 Million Gallons Q2 2025 Q3 2025 14 Current Reclaimed CIP Projects Projects Phase Oltorf Reclaimed Water Main Phase 2 (7,000 linear feet, Q1 2026) ABIA North Reclaimed Loop Main (4,100 linear feet, Q4 2026) Fallwell Lane Capital Renewal Project (6,400 linear feet, Q4 2027) Travis Heights Reclaimed Water Main (6,200 linear feet, Q4 2027) Krieg Fields Reclaimed Water Line Restoration (1,150 l.f., Q2 2027) West Riverside Reclaimed Water Main (2,900 linear feet, Q4 2027) South 1st Reclaimed Water Main (5,500 linear feet, Q3 2028) Toomey Road Reclaimed Water Main (3,300 linear feet, Q3 2028) Travis Co. Courts Reclaimed Water Main Ext. (3,600 l.f., Q3 2028) Montopolis Reclaimed Elevated Storage Tank (Q1 2030) Downtown Reclaimed Water Transmission Main (5,500 l.f., Q1 2033) Preliminary Design Advertisement Construction 15 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 1 reclaimed-ready project(s) approved for fee in lieu 4 3 2 1 0 Onsite water reuse system construction permits approved 3 3 3 1 1 Q3 2024 Q4 2024 Q1 2025 Q2 2025 Q3 2025 16 Reclaimed and Onsite Water Reuse Milestones (Water Conservation Plan, p. 38-39, Water Forward Plan, p. 38-39) 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. Not Started Planning In Progress Completed 17 Reclaimed and Onsite Water Reuse Milestones (Water Conservation Plan, p. 39, Water Forward Plan, p. 40) 2025 Milestones Onsite Water Reuse Progress Adopt wastewater billing ordinance for onsite water reuse systems. Develop an operator training certificate 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. Not Started Planning In Progress Completed 18 Conservation Outreach Updates  Media coverage of the return to Conservation Stage watering resulted in 18,752,718 unique web visitors across all broadcast outlet platforms  This is in addition to the impressions for paid ads and Austin Water outreach efforts.  “Find Your Watering Day” was the most visited web page (with 26,992 unique users) – exceeding visits to Austin Water’s home page.  One of our most engaging social posts was “Stick Figure Conservation” depicting ways to conserve and plant native plants.  A post that generated high numbers of Likes/Reactions and Shares was one that provided information about the new State Bill limiting the ability of HOAs to fine for brown vegetation during drought. 19 Conservation Outreach Metrics Total audience reached with conservation messaging 27,972,000 Impressions 20 Conservation Outreach 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 33 28 28 25 25 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 222 211 218 179 158 250 200 150 100 50 0 Q3 2024 Q4 2024 Q1 2025 Thousand Alerts Q2 2025 Q3 2025 Q3 2024 Q4 2024 Q1 2025 Million Gallons Q2 2025 Q3 2025 21 Conservation Outreach Milestones (Water Conservation Plan, p. 37, Water Forward Plan, p. 34, 36) 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) Not Started Planning In Progress Completed 22 Water Supply Updates  To share information and gather feedback on the Aquifer Storage and Recovery project and the proposed Phase 1B field testing collaboration agreement, Austin Water engaged with nearly 300 Bastrop County residents during open houses and office hours held in Bastrop, Elgin, Smithville, and Paige in September 2025  Planning for Indirect Potable Reuse, Lake Long as a Supply Reservoir, and Brackish Groundwater Desalination continued 23 Progress Water Supply Strategies (Water Forward Plan, p. 43, 43, 45, 46) 2025 Milestones 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. Not Started Planning In Progress Completed 24 Water Use and Gallons Per Capita Daily (GPCD)  Austin’s total per-person water use (GPCD) during the 3rd quarter is the highest of the year, as it encompasses summer months of July, August, and September.  The Q3 2025 GPCD was 141, lower than the 3rd quarters of 2024 (147), 2023 (166), and 2022 (160).  Lower GPCD likely due to significant rainfall in early July. 25 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 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 21 8 11 26 20 7 10 23 33 30 22 5 9 18 28 55 30 37 33 44 38 29 35 30 37 40 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 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 Non-Revenue Water City of Austin Wholesale Industrial Commercial Multi-family Residential Single-family Residential CY GPCD 26 Residential Water Use Highest use with greatest variation D C P G 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 27 GPCD by Calendar Year and Quarter STAGE 1 STAGE 2 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 Q2 2025 Q3 2025 Total Commercial City of Austin Single-family Residential Multi-family Residential Industrial Wholesale Non-revenue Water GPCD STAGE 1 STAGE 2 27 Moving Forward The temperature finally starts to cool down in the fourth quarter, but Austin Water will continue to advance water- savings strategies:  Partnering in City of Austin winter preparation events  Launch Laundry to Landscape greywater reuse assistance  Present the ASR field testing collaboration agreement to the Austin City Council 28 Notes Regarding Data Quarterly reporting of strategy implementation is a groundbreaking effort undertaken by Austin Water. Readers should note several points of information regarding the metric data. Additional metrics may 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 in the metrics charts, the four previous quarterly metrics are included for reference. Not all metrics may historical data. 29 Questions? Austin Water