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Amendments to District Policy No. 24 - Water Conservation and Water Resource and Emergency Management Plans
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SUBJECT
recommendation
Authorize amendments to District Policy No. 24 - Water Conservation and Water Resource and Emergency Management Plans.
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PURPOSE
In January 2024, the Board adopted changes to the NTMWD Water Conservation Plan and the NTMWD Resource and Emergency Management Plan. In order to align the adopted plans with Distritct Policies, amendments must be made to District Policy No. 24 (DP 24).
RECOMMENDATION
The Executive Director/General Manager and NTMWD staff recommend the Board of Directors amend the NTMWD District Policy 24 as presented.
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Committee: |
This item was on the January 24, 2024, Water Committee and the August 7, 2024, Policy Committee meeting agendas |
DRIVER(S) FOR THIS PROJECT
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Strategic Objective: |
2.2 Conscientious Environmental Stewardship |
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☒ Regulatory Compliance |
☐ Asset Condition |
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☐ Capacity |
☐ Redundancy/Resiliency |
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☐ Relocation or External Requests |
☐ Operational Efficiency |
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☐ Safety |
☐ Administrative |
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☒ Policy |
☐ Other _____________ |
BACKGROUND
In accordance with TCEQ regulations, the District is required to have a Conservation Plan and the Resource and Emergency Management Plan. These plans are required to be updated every five years. In January 2024, the Board adopted the most recent version of these plans.
In order for the adopted Conservation Plan and the Resource and Emergency Management Plan to align with District Policies, amendments to DP 24 are necessary. These amendments include:
• Updating Section 2 with the new 2024 water conservation plan objectives and emergency management plan objectives. On the conservation plan side, objectives include reducing water loss and waste, maximizing recycling and reuse, and raising public awareness of water conservation, which, as mentioned in recent months, is something we’re very focused on with our members and customers. The emergency management plan side focuses on several objectives, including reducing adverse impacts of shortages and emergency conditions.
• Updating Section 5 to reflect some of key conservation plan amendments, including callouts for new residential and industrial, commercial, institutional, and multifamily goals, as well as additional water-efficient landscape initiatives that are contained within the plan. This also covers our emergency management plan amendments that reflect the addition of Bois d’Arc Lake to our raw water supply and some enhancements to the emergency management measures. These enhancements include a voluntary call to action prior to stage 1 of our drought management stages. This voluntary call to action is a request for those receiving water from NTMWD to reduce their water use in an effort to prepare for or potentially avoid the need to enter a more formal drought stage with mandatory restrictions. NTMWD has had success in the past implementing a voluntary call, so this was added to the plan. There are also updated demand reduction triggers based on the addition of Bois d’Arc Lake to the water supply, and an updated demand reduction goal for stage 2 (a 5% demand reduction in use that would have occurred normally, vs. a 10% reduction that was included in the 2019 plan).
FUNDING
No funding required