Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Board - Minutes - 07/19/2012Water Board Minutes July 19, 2012 1 Fort Collins Utilities Water Board Minutes Thursday, July 19, 2012 Water Board Chairperson City Council Liaison Steve Balderson, 223-7915 Wade Troxell, 219-8940 Water Board Vice Chairperson Staff Liaison Steve Malers, 484-1954 Brian Janonis, 221-6702 Roll Call Board Present Chairperson Steve Balderson, Vice Chairperson Steve Malers, Board Members Becky Goldbach, Phil Phelan, Eric Garner, Lori Brunswig, and Duncan Eccleston (Board Member Eccleston arrived at 6:00pm) Board Absent Board Members Brian Brown, Brett Bovee, and Liesel Hans Staff Present Kevin Gertig, Jon Haukaas, Ken Sampley, Donnie Dustin, Laurie D’Audney, Basil Hamdan, and Robin Pierce Guests Elizabeth Perna and Robert Heer Meeting Convened Chairperson Balderson called the meeting to order at 5:31 p.m. Public Comment None Approval of June 21, 2012 Minutes Board Member Phelan moved to approve the minutes of the June 21, 2012 meeting. Board Member Brunswig seconded the motion. Vote on the motion: It passed unanimously. Committee Reports Conservation and Public Education Committee (Board Member Phelan): At the July 17th meeting, Water Conservation Specialist Marcee Camenson covered the aspects and audiences for public outreach programs on watershed issues. Engineering Committee (Board Member Brown): The committee provided preliminary feedback on low impact development at the July 11th meeting. Legislative, Finance, and Liaison Committee (Board Member Goldbach): No report. Water Supply Committee (Board Member Bovee): The committee discussed water-sharing for agriculture. Staff Reports Monthly Water Resources Report At the end of June, we were at 13 percent of average and recent rains boosted us to 87 percent of average currently. No water is being taken from the Poudre River due to the High Park fire. Staff is working to maximize the amount of Colorado-Big Thompson (CBT) water we can take Water Board Minutes July 19, 2012 2 and also on agreements with other sources. Mr. Dustin referred to the W-8086 water decree, which provides a lot of flexibility for changing water around and is used by all municipalities and irrigation companies in the Poudre Basin. The City doesn’t typically use this decree, but it may be part of the solution for water for parks and other needs. Citizens are asking why we’re not on watering restrictions. A board member asked whether staff is concerned about ambiguity with any of our water rights. Mr. Dustin doesn’t feel the City is at risk for harming our rights due to these special circumstances. Water Supply and Demand Management Policy Update (Presentation available on request) Mr. Dustin presented an update on the Water Supply and Demand Management Policy (WSDMP). Staff is seeking the board’s recommendation on appropriate water supply planning criteria. This item goes to Council at an August 28th Work Session and October 2nd Regular Meeting. Mr. Dustin reviewed the updated policy elements: - A community working group was convened; they agree with the majority of the updated Elements; but had divergent views on the water supply planning criteria. - Council did not feel the Policy was ready for adoption as first presented and requested additional information from staff. - The Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) will relook at the water demand changes related to the permitting of Halligan Reservoir prior to issuance of the DEIS. - The 1-in-50-year drought criterion has been used for many years and provided a reliable supply of water. - The Storage Reserve Factor (SRF) will provide an emergency supply and lessen our dependency on CBT water. - The Planning Demand Level is the level of demand to plan our future water supply system to meet and can be higher than a water conservation goal to account for planning uncertainties. Staff advocated for maintaining the 1-in-50-year drought criterion. At their April meeting, the Water Supply Committee recommended a planning demand level of 150 gallons per capital per day (gpcd) and a 20 percent Storage Reserve Factor. Board discussion: Would fracking, energy extraction, and the water use involved in those processes ever affect our water rights? A board member would like to see this addressed in the Policy. The issue of fracking is not addressed in the Policy at this time and has not been discussed with the community working group, the Board, or Council. The City has not given any water knowingly to support fracking activities and has received the directive not to furnish water for these activities. A committee of Council is studying this issue. Mr. Dustin added that the Policy focuses the City’s surplus raw water use mainly for agricultural and instream flow purposes. The Water Board was asked to have two board members participate on the new Oil and Gas Committee. Board Members Bovee and Brown Brian volunteered to serve. The board discussed submitting additional names. 1-in-50-year drought criterion: Board members are concerned that the criterion is based on a 1985 study. With climate change and other influencing factors, when will the criteria be addressed based on more current conditions? Water Board Minutes July 19, 2012 3 All the facts on climate change are not in yet, but Mr. Dustin did not think that adding additional years to the 1985 drought study would change the drought criterion significantly. The study looked at tree-ring and other types of data designed to capture many types of drought indicators. In the next iteration of the Policy (in about ten years), staff will look further into climate change impacts on water supply planning. Planning Demand Level (PDL): A board member feels 150 gpcd is a good target. 150 gpcd versus 140 gpcd as stated in the Water Conservation Plan: Belief in the ability to achieve 140 gpcd, which is a goal, was based on natural attrition of water use through fixture changes and a comprehensive list of ideas. It will come back to the Water Board in the next few years, as a new plan must be submitted to the State every 7 years. Storage Reserve Factor (SRF): A board member feels there is more value in a higher SRF to provide a margin of water during times of drought. Whether the SRF is set at 15 percent or 20 percent, it feels like an arbitrary number. The board would rather know how the factor fits into the calculations. Does the fire impact our sense of how much reserve we need? Senior water rights provide a base amount of water. Is it better to have a work session with Council to talk through some of these factors than submit recommendations? The Board can proceed as they see fit. It takes a long time to schedule an item on Council’s agenda and could account for a six month delay. Staff is satisfied with the new data and the collaborative process that was used to collect it from various stakeholders. Mr. Dustin noted this is a complex system and difficult to explain. The next planned update will take place in 2020 or as directed by the Utilities Executive Director (as stated in the Policy). Discussion on the motion: A board member is not good with the 20 percent SRF and doesn’t know how to get to the right number, but recommends future discussion on this. Circumstances such as the fire can introduce new data points. He might suggest adding language, “understanding uncertainty with this number and additional study will occur”. Another board member is okay with the number now that it’s been raised and noted that a memo to Council gives the board the flexibility to speak to all considerations. The board does not have a lot of influence over the proper sizing of Halligan Reservoir, but can advocate for additional study of the right Storage Reserve Factor. Motion: Board Member Garner moved that the Water Board revise the draft Policy to use a planning demand level of 150 gpcd, a 1-in-50-year drought criterion, and a 20 percent Storage Reserve Factor, and prepare a letter of support to City Council for the draft Policy, with assistance as needed from staff, and consider it for approval by the Board at its August meeting. Board Member Eccleston seconded the motion. Water Board Minutes July 19, 2012 4 Vice Chairperson Malers suggested a friendly amendment, “It is recommended that recent events be considered, such as the fire, and the 2002 and 2012 droughts be used to further evaluate these numbers.” The future study should be included in the memo to Council. The memo will be due to Mr. Dustin no later than August 17th to include in the City Council work session materials. Vote on the motion: It passed unanimously. Low Impact Development (LID) Update (Presentation available upon request) Stormwater and Floodplain Program Manager Ken Sampley reviewed the proposed LID criteria and introduced Stormwater Quality Engineer Basil Hamdan who shared in presenting this information. This item goes to Council at the August 14th Work Session. Highlights: - The purpose of LID is to treat and control stormwater as close to its source as possible. - LID is another level of Best Management Practices (BMP). - The proposed criteria and policy for Fort Collins is quite different than that seen in other locations for many reasons that include geography, hydrology, climate, soil conditions. - Criteria:  50 percent of entire lot area for all new development properties should be treated by an LID-type of device/technology. Staff will discuss the expectations of retrofitting for redevelopment and grandfathering.  A minimum of 25 percent permeable surface to be required for added parking areas.  Criteria may be adjusted to reflect different land use type and location, such as adjustments to percentages depending on zoning, type of soil, etc. - A Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach is used when applying criteria to consider environmental, social, and economic impacts. Staff seeks to design programs that balance all three considerations. - LID standards are one of four components in the 2012 Green Streets Initiative, along with streetscape/landscape standards, street classifications, and a green street demonstration project. - Public open houses take place August 8th. Board recommendations will be sought in October. - The Water Board’s Engineering Committee provided comments previously. LID Policy alternatives include LID-required alternatives and incentive-based alternatives. Mr. Hamdan reviewed the pros and cons of Alternative 1B, “Fee in Lieu of Construction”. These concepts can be incorporated with BMPs. However, customers may view this as an additional “stormwater fee”. Existing City voluntary programs, such as Climate Wise, could be leveraged with Alternative 2, “Incentive-Based Approach”. However, we would not see the degree of watershed-level impact as we would with required programs. Amended Motion: Board Member Garner moved that the Water Board revise the draft Policy to use a planning demand level of 150 gpcd, a 1-in-50-year drought criteria, and a 20 percent Storage Reserve Factor, and prepare a letter of support to City Council for the draft Policy, with assistance as needed from staff, and consider it for approval by the Board at its August meeting. It is recommended that recent events, such as the fire, and the 2002 and 2012 droughts be used to further evaluate these numbers. Board Member Eccleston seconded the motion. Water Board Minutes July 19, 2012 5 Board discussion: Staff has mentioned the possibility of offering discounts on stormwater fees if citizens install LIDs on their property. Staff discussed listing it as an incentive, but it is not easy to qualify how much of an incentive should be offered. What kind of technical support will the City provide to developers? The exact level of resource has not been defined yet. Staff wants to provide information and guidance, but it wouldn’t be staff’s role to design the projects. A potential customer base might be the homeowners associations (HOA’s). It is an aesthetic, quality-of-life pitch. Some sites have recreational facilities, and these must be considered on a case-by-case basis. HOA’s inherit these features from developers, and education is helpful to them as well as an understanding of who is responsible to maintain them. Water Engineering and Field Services Manager Jon Haukaas noted the steps that have been taken - outreach and simple instructions for maintaining Stormwater Control measures to HOA’s, as well as regular site inspections and identification of a cycle of inspections and maintenance. Our staff is also considering the future development of a Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) manual. Mr. Haukaas added there are experienced private engineering firms available to assist HOA’s with designing the Stormwater Control measures and developing the appropriate corresponding SOP and maintenance manual. Discussion took place about promoting LID as an embedded part of streetscaping standards. The Green Streets concept incorporates many components, including LID, together. The Utilities participates in monthly coordination meetings with Colorado State University (CSU). While; the City does not have regulatory control over CSU, CSU is installing BMPs and LIDs in conjunction with new development or redevelopment of facilities on their campus. Some Board members questioned whether the semi-arid climate of Fort Collins would present obstacles to creating viable LID facilities such as those shown in the example Green Street rendering. Staff noted that climate and hydrology are significant factors to be addressed, however LID concepts can be implemented to effectively treat and control runoff closer to the site. The facilities may not look as “lush” as in locations with wetter climates, but they can be both attractive and effective at improving water quality and reducing runoff volumes for frequent storm events. Our community is extremely fortunate to have Dr. Larry Roesener at CSU as one of the leading expert’s on stormwater quality. Staff acknowledged this valuable technical expert and resource and noted that Dr. Roesner is involved with Fort Collins in a number of programs and projects that include stormwater quality monitoring and testing, LID policy development, and stream restoration identification and prioritization. The board expressed support for the City of Fort Collins Stormwater Utility to develop and implement an innovative LID policy and associated criteria. Other Business The board discussed submitting additional names for the Oil and Gas Committee (Board Member Brunswig and Vice Chairperson Malers). Future Agenda Items No discussion took place. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8:31 p.m. Submitted by Robin Pierce. Utilities Administrative Services Supervisor. Fort Collins Utilities Approved by the Board on 2012 Signed: ‘ Board Secretary Date \ Water Board Minutes 6 .July 19, 2012