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Water Resources Commission Minutes - 06/04/2015Water Resources Committee Meeting Minutes June 4, 2015, 3:30 PM Cypress Water Treatment Plant Attendees: Russell Schreiber, Public Works Director Daniel Nix, Utilities Operations Manger Mark Southard, Water Purification Superintendent Tim Ingle, City Council Liaison Members Present: Steve Smith, Chair John Ferguson Mark McBurnett Michael Smith Cheryl Nix Tyson Traw  Steve Smith opened the meeting at 3:30 pm  Members were presented an updated list of the top 100 water users.  Michael Smith made a motion to remove drought restrictions, and Russell Schreiber gave a brief summary of the current water situation and recommendation from staff. Tyson Traw made a second, and the Committee approved the motion.  John Ferguson made a request to consider changing the time of day sprinkler irrigation is allowed during permanent water restrictions. The request would be to change the time from restricting irrigation systems between 11 am – 6 pm to 10 am – 7 pm. The Committee agreed that in the summer 11 am and 6 pm are generally still in the heat of the day.  Mark McBurnett made a motion to amend permanent water conservation efforts by changing the time for restricting watering from 11 am – 6 pm to 10 am – 7 pm. John Ferguson made a second, and the Committee approved the motion.  Russell Schreiber asked the Committee to consider an intermediate step for drought restrictions that would allow twice per week watering in Stage 1, instead of going from every day watering directly to 1 day per week. He also asked the Committee to consider moving the combined lake level for implementing Stage 1 drought restrictions up to 65%. Research with historical data from the Texas Water Development Board shows that the average combined lake levels are 67%-70%, which would allow some room to raise Stage 1 drought restrictions to 65%, still under the historical average lake levels.  John Ferguson made a motion to raise Stage 1 drought restrictions to 65% and include a change to twice per week watering. Michael Smith made a second, and the Committee approved the motion.  The Committee discussed raising the lake level requirements for implementing each drought restriction stage after 65% for Stage 1. It was generally agreed to make each the implementation of each stage 10% lower than the preceding Stage (Stage 1 – 65%, Stage 2 – 55%, Stage 3 – 45%, etc.). The Committee will discuss further and make recommendation at the next meeting.  Daniel Nix noted that language will need to be added to the drought plan for providing variances, as the city enters into drought restrictions. He also made a suggestion that for twice per week watering, instead of using a water rationing zone map, homes with an even address could water Monday and Thursday and homes with an odd address would water Tuesday and Friday. Finally, Daniel asked the Committee to consider what drought stages would require a permit and fee for installation of new lawns.  The Committee discussed and agreed for language to be added to the drought plan that there is to be no modification of soaker hoses, bubbler system and sprinkler systems and that repairs must be made when defective parts/units are found.  Daniel Nix discussed with the Committee whether the drought plan should include requirements for hotels to give guests the option to reuse towels/linens instead of replacing with fresh towels/linens on a daily basis. The Committee generally agreed that this would be a good addition to permanent conservation efforts.  The Committee also discussed removing the water rationing zone maps for once per week watering. Daniel Nix explained that during this drought, a few of the watering zones placed stress on the water distribution system, with such high demands that water pressure was affected in certain neighborhoods. The Committee agreed that with such stress on the system, new rationing would be prudent. The recommendation was made that addresses that end with 0/1 would water Monday, addresses that end with 2/3 would water Tuesday, addresses that end with 4/5 would water Wednesday, addresses that end with 6/7 would water Thursday and addresses that end with 8/9 would water Friday. Watering day by would be applied to residential and commercial addresses. The Committee was in general agreement and will further discuss/clarify at the next meeting.  Daniel Nix proposed to the Committee to make an allowance for residents to wash cars at home in Stage 2, only with a bucket of water. At Stage 3, residents would be required to use a commercial car wash. The Committee generally agreed this would be a good addition to the drought restrictions and will discuss further at the next meeting. Russell also recommended the Committee add language requiring the lower flow nozzles at all times, as some of the drought stages do.  The Committee discussed adding a new landscape waiver requirement for Stage 1 drought restrictions and agreed that language should be added to the drought plan for this requirement.  Russell asked the Committee to consider whether the drought stage names (Watch, Warning, Emergency, Disaster, Catastrophe) were effective and whether they should be dropped. The Committee agreed to keep the stage names as it provides further clarity and a sense of urgency as each drought stage progresses.  The meeting adjourned at 4:55 PM.