Water Resources Commission Minutes - 09/27/2000uy -tvP- P
MINUTES OF WATER RESOURCES COMMISSION ff N1QtT:RK'S OFFICE
September 27, 2000 Date /n _ I1� _awo
By f Time Rm
The Water Resources Commission met on September 27, 20OU at p.m. at e
Memorial Auditorium, Council Conference Room. Those in attendance were Water
Resource Members Charles Bentley, Chris Neeb, Charles Barr, Elizabeth Martin, Staff
Representative David Lehfeldt, Public Works Secretary Gloria Dicken, and
Times /Record News Reporter Trish Choate. Not in attendance were Water Resource
Member Fred Stangl and Council Liaison James Esther.
• Charles Bentley opened the meeting by asking the members to review the minutes
from the meeting of September 5, 2000 and make any additions or corrections.
Chris Neeb moved that the minutes be accepted as written, Charles Barr made the
second motion, vote was taken and minutes were approved.
• Mr. Bentley stated that the reason for this meeting was to propose an amendment to
the Water Restriction Ordinance when Lakes Arrowhead and Kickapoo reach the
combined levels of 35% and again at 30 %. We are coming into really serious and
desperate times when the lakes reach 30 %.
• Mr. Lehfeldt told the Commission that right now there were two different public
service announcements on TV regarding water conservation.
• There was some discussion on the blending of Lake Kemp water with Lakes
Arrowhead and Kickapoo. Because of the high levels of chlorides and sulfates in
the Lake Kemp water, only about 10% -11 % is being blended. Liz Martin requested
that the industries in Wichita Falls be notified about 3 months in advance if the City
plans on blending a higher percentage of Lake Kemp water.
• Mr. Lehfeldt was asked by Liz Martin how long it would be before the effluent water
would become available for industry's to use. Mr. Lehfeldt replied that it would take
1 -1'/2 years and they were looking at Holliday Creek to pipe the effluent water. As a
result of the Pilot Program, we would be better able to see which of the four levels of
will best do the job: 1) micro filtration, 2) ultra filtration, 3) nano filtration, and 4)
reverse osmosis.
• Mr. Lehfeldt was asked how much water did we have right now in the lakes and how
long could we go without rain. Mr. Lehfeldt replied that the dependable yield was
two years, but the safe yield was only for one year. Also, because a study had not
been done on the lakes to see what kind of silt buildup there was, probably at the
10% (maybe even at 15 %) level the lake would be dry.
• The discussion turned to what would be the appropriate restrictions when the lakes
were at 35% level. The members agreed that there would be no grass or turf
watering with sprinklers or sprinkler systems. The watering of shrubs, flowers, and
trees would only be allowed by hand -held hoses, soaker hoses, and drip hoses.
There was total agreement that the City would have to get much tougher on
excessive watering before the citizens realized how bad things really were. There
was discussion on making the surcharge rise to an additional $5 (or $10) per
consumption for use of 15 -30 consumptions; $10 (or $15) per consumption for use
of 30-45 consumptions; and $15 (or $20) per consumption for use over 45
consumptions. It was also discussed that we could make these amounts even
higher — whatever was necessary to curb the use of outside watering.
Water Resources Commission
Meeting of September 27, 2000
Page 2
• The Commission authorized David Lehfeldt to make the amendments to the
Ordinance for proposal to City Council.
• Council has been asked to meet with the Commission for a work shop before the
changes to the Ordinance are presented to the City Council at their regular meeting.
• Meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Charles Bentley, Ghairm