Loading...
Water Resources Commission Minutes - 03/10/2015Water Resources Committee Meeting Minutes March 10, 2015, 3:30 PM Cypress Water Treatment Plant Attendees: Russell Schrieber, Public Works Director Daniel Nix, Utilities Operations Manger Mark Southard, Water Purification Superintendent Tim Ingle, City Council Liaison Members Present: John Ferguson Mark McBurnett Michael Smith Cheryl Nix Steve Smith Kerry Maroney  Members were presented the revised Drought Contingency Plans. Daniel Nix noted that Appendix 11 had been revised with updates to Car Washes since the printing and will be printed and distributed to each member.  Daniel introduced the newest WRC member, Steve Smith. With his background in the gardening/landscaping business, he will be a key committee member.  The WRC elected a new chair to replace Arnold Oliver. Michael Smith nominated Steve Smith and Kerry Maroney seconded the nomination. The committee voted in favor of Steve Smith as new WRC chair person.  Russell Schreiber gave the committee a summary of the cloud seeding efforts in 2014. In conclusion, the study did show a percentage of increase in rainfall runoff due to could seeding at an approximate cost of $0.13/1000 gallons. All parties involved in the 2014 cloud seeding efforts have agreed to move forward and continue the agreement in 2015, from April through August with no anticipated break in the timeframe this year. The cost for 2015 is anticipated to be slightly less than 2014 due to the reduction of start-up costs.  Russell also gave the WRC a summary of the evaporation suppression test performed by the City of Wichita Falls in conjunction with Flexible Solutions and the Texas Water Development Board. The test was performed from August through September, 2014. Flexible Solutions provided a boat and labor, along with the City’s provided boat and Maintenance Personnel. The City’s cost was $293,000 for the WaterSavr product applied to the lake. The Water Development Board provided test results analysis which appeared to show up to a 15% reduction in evaporation. However, the Water Development Board noted that the analysis scope covered a very small amount of data and requested one to two more years of testing to provide better accuracy. The approximate cost analysis showed $2.00/1000 gallons of water saved. At this point the City Council has chosen not to continue the labor intensive testing for 2015, but that is subject to change.  Mr. Schreiber gave the WRC a summary of the long range water supply strategy, provided by Freese & Nichols and Biggs & Matthews. The study covered took into account water availability, cost, reliability of the supply, etc. for screening different water sources. Other factors were then used to further narrow the number of water sources considered. After working through the study, Freese & Nichols and Biggs & Matthews provided recommendations for long-term supplies. Those included the construction of Lake Ringgold, construction and implementation of the Wichita River water and ground water of the East side of Wichita Falls, which would yield 1-2 MGD. The Wichita River and ground water could be used as emergency supplies in conjunction with the Direct Potable Reuse project. Current supply reliability shows the surface water supplies lasting until 2019 with the addition of Lake Kemp water in the DPR. The use of Lake Kemp is currently being requested to the TCEQ and could be brought online as early as July of 2015. The Lake Ringgold permitting process is expected to be continued by the City Council and is currently figured into budgeting. The City has also partnered with TRWD to study impaired ground water supplies to include yield and water quality. This is expected to take 24 months to complete and is funded mostly by a grant.  Russell and Daniel updated the committee on the Indirect Potable Reuse project. The planning/construction is on-going (including plant improvements and right-of-way acquisition). Plant improvements should begin in the second half of 2015 and the total project is expected to take up to 24 months to complete. Once the IPR construction is completed and lake levels are at an appropriate level, the DPR pipeline will be moved and the IPR will replace the DPR project.  The WRC was briefed on the state of the current drought. A graph was provided by Daniel Nix showing customer water demands in the 1990’s, 2000’s, and Stage 3, Stage 4 and Stage 5 of the current drought. In Stage 5, demand has been 10-12 MGD, where the City’s goal was 14 MGD. In Stages 2 and 3 the City gave 4000 watering citations, where only 17 have been gi ven in Stage 5. Some of the water savings has been attributed to a new program in Water Distribution to repair leaks. This involves completely shutting off water to the leaking line while repairing. The City’s current water loss is down to 2.5%, where the industry average is 15%. All of the reductions in water demand also included wholesale customers as well. Overall the City has had a 65% reduction in water use, and if the DPR is added to the calculation, it is up to 80% reduction in water use.  A brief update was provided on the PPG reuse, which has been online since February. PPG is expected to use approximately 250,000 of treated wastewater effluent, which has taken them from the number 2 water user and dropped them off the top 100 list.  The meeting adjourned at 4:45 PM.