HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 1/28/2013
CITY OF BOULDER, COLORADO
BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS MEETING MINUTES
Name of Board / Commission: Water Resources Advisory Board
Date of Meeting: 28 January 2013
Contact Information of Person Preparing Minutes: Laurel Olsen-Horen; 303-441-3203
Board Members Present: Susan loft, Chuck Howe, Dan Johnson
Board Members Absent: Vicki Scharnhorst
Staff Present: Jeff Arthur, Director of Public Works for Utilities
Bob Harberg, Engineering Project Management Coordinator
Bret Linenfelser, Water Quality and Environmental Services Coordinator
Joe Taddeucci, Water Resources Coordinator
Joanna Crean, Public Works Project Coordinator
Mike Emarine, Boulder Reservoir Water Treatment Supervisor
Steve Folle, Betasso Watcr "Treatment Supervisor
Randy Crittenden, Water Treatment Coordinator
Kim Button, Water Resources Specialist
Craig Skeie, Water Resources Facilities Manager
Russ Sands, Water Conservation Manager
Ken Baird, Utilities Financial Manager
Laurel Olsen-Horen, Board Secretary
Meeting Type: Regular
Agenda Item 1 - Call to Order 17:04 p.m.]
This meeting was called to order at 7:04 p.m.
Agenda Item 2 -Approval of the 17 December 2012 Meeting Minutes: [7:04 p.m.]
Motion to approve the 17 December minutes as presented by: Johnson; Seconded by: Howe
Motion Passes; 3:0
Agenda Item 3 -Public Participation and Comment [7:04 p.m.]
Public Comment: None
Agenda Item 4 -Matters 17:05 p.m.]
From the Board:
Board member Iott brought up the below matter(s):
• Is there something we can do with our Windy Gap Water to provide for instream flow on the
Fraser? Staff will follow up with additional information at a future meeting.
From Staff:
• Kevin Clark: Started with the city today in Joe Taddeucci's former position; Utilities Engineering
Project Manager.
• UV at WWTF: is up and running as of 15 January. It has been running at 100% without chlorine
since then. It needs to run for 30 days before the chlorine and sulfur dioxide systems can be
dismantled.
• CU MoU on greywater: the MoU is not signed yet, but it is ready to go. City concerns related to
CDPHE approval have been adequately addressed.
• City Council Retreat: Several items from WRAB's letter came up during the retreat..
o Local agriculture and food is high on council's list, so staff anticipates coming to WRAB
in the future with water related issues.
o Fracking was a topic of discussion at the retreat. The city has obtained outside counsel to
advise us on our oil and gas regulations.. PW has considerable property interests both
inside and outside of the city that are also being evaluated. The city has not been
approached by parties requesting to purchase water for fracking, but code changes to
could be proposed to better clarify a position on using water for that purpose..
o HHZ was briefly mentioned. It was not added to this year's list of priorities.
• WRAB appointment: Council will be electing one new full term board member and a second
board member to fulfill the remainder of the WRAB seat vacated by Kate Ryan.
WRAB Minutes
28 January 2013
Page No. I
Agenda item 5-Public hearing and WRAB consideration of amendments to the Water Resources
Advisory Board Bylaws 17:25 p.m.]
Jeff Arthur presented item to the board.
Executive Summary from Packet Materials:
The "Water Resources Advisory Board Bylaws" were last updated on April 18, 2011. The WRAB has
recently discussed changes to the bylaws to improve meeting efficiency and more accurately reflect current
practices. The City Attorney has also identified changes that are necessary to make the bylaws consistent
with other legal requirements. Article VII, Section 7.1 of the existing bylaws outlines the procedure for
amendments. Proposed amendments are provided as Attachment A.
WRAB Discussion Included: [7:25 p.m.]
None
Public Comment:
None
Motion: Moved by. Howe; Seconded by: Johnson Move to approve the bylaws as amended.
Vote: 3.0
Agenda Item 6 - information Item - Year in Review: 2012 Water Supply & Demand Management
Joanna Crean, Craig Skeie, Mike Emarine, Ken Baird, and Russ Sands presented item to the board.
[7:30 p.m.]
Power Point presentation given for this item.
Executive Summary from Packet Materials:
The year 2012 was the hottest and the third driest year on record in Colorado. Precipitation was
significantly below average with conditions much drier than normal in March and April. By the end of the
winter, the statewide snowpack accumulation was the lowest since 2002. Despite the dry conditions of
2012, the city was able to preserve its mountain water storage levels and maintain its instream flow
commitments while avoiding a drought stage declaration.
Managing the city's water supply and preparing for droughts is an ongoing process. The purpose of this
memorandum is to provide information as a "year in review" on the management of the 2012 water supply
and demand. Given that 2013 may be another dry year, the city will continue to implement projects and
evaluate programs to better plan and prepare for drought conditions such as proactively alerting customers
to leaks and developing a new "Drought Buster" program,
While the city continuously monitors the snowpack levels, meaningful data is not available until late April
to early May to make a final identification and classification of a drought stage. During this timeframe,
knowledge of expected maximum spring snowpack accumulations, amount of anticipated runoff that will
occur and availability of water from the western slope is known. Staff will continue to monitor snowpack,
precipitation, storage levels and stream flows throughout the winter to refine its water supply projections
for 2013.
WRAB Discussion Included: 18:22 p.m.]
• Some clarifying questions were asked throughout the staff presentation to better understand the
context of the agenda item.
• Inserts in water bills are not that affective. Could the city pursue different avenues of public
outreach to get readership up? Ideas such as reprinting the envelops which utility bills are mailed
in to be visually appealing or do a "prize" like Western Disposal does to get people to read their
newsletters.
• Quality rain gauges could be used to help the community better understand the environmental
trends more so than water meters. The difference between a 0.1" rainfall and a 0.5" rainfall can be
difficult to understand without a visual.
• A discussion of the existing drought plan at a future meeting would be hel ful.
Agenda Item 7 - Discussion on Future Schedule [9:47 p.m.l
• South Boulder Creek looks like it will tonne in Mav or June
1'he City of Boulder categorizes droughts into four stages depending on the level of severity.
WRAB Minutes
28 January 2013
Page No. 2
• Critical facilities will likely come in March
• Boating on Barker - staff will work on preparing a brief memo for the board for the February
focused on the City Council request for WRAB input on "parameters" or "thresholds."
Agenda Item 8 - Adjournment 110:37 p.m.]
There being no further business to come before the Board at this time, by motion regularly adopted, the
meeting was adjourned at 10:37 p.m.
Motion to adjourn by: Howe; Seconded by: Johnson
Motion Passes 3:0
Date, Time, and Location of Next Meeting:
The next WRAB meeting will be a special meeting date due to the President's Day Holiday on Monday, 25
February 2013 at 7:00 p.m., in the 1777 West Conference Room of the city Municipal Building located at
1777 Broadway, unless otherwise decided by staff and the Board.
APP)10,YED BY: ATTESTED BY:
Board Chair Board Secretary
?/1 : I
Date Date
An audio recording of the full meeting for which these minutes are a summary, is available on the Water
Resources Advisory Board web page.
WRAB Minutes
28 January 2013
Page No. 3