HomeMy WebLinkAbout01.26.26 WRAB Minutes CITY OF BOULDER, COLORADO
BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS MEETING MINUTES
Name of Board/Commission: Water Resources Advisory Board
Date of Meeting: 26 January 2026
Contact Information for Person Preparing Minutes: Karen Sheridan, 303-441-3208
Board Members Present: Steve Maxwell, Katie Bridges, Joel Smith, Katherine Halama
Board Members Absent: Amy Broughton
Staff Present: Joe Taddeucci, Director of Utilities
Joanna Bloom, Utilities Deputy Director of Policy and Planning Chris
Douville, Utilities Deputy Director of Operation
Chris Douglass, Utilities Engineering Senior Manager
Jon Stoddard, Water Treatment Manager
Kim Hutton, Water Resources Manager
Megan Wilson-Outcalt, Water Quality Senior Manager
Krystle Morey, Water Resources Senior Engineer
Nicole Young, Senior Civil Engineer
Emily McMurtrey, Water Resources Project Manager D'Anne Koblick,
IT Applications Administrator Senior
Vanessa Bonner, Billing Services Supervisor
Isabelle Lheritier, Water Resources Project Manager
Megan Chantler, Water Quality Compliance Program Manager
Heather Bearnes-Loza, Water Conservation Program Manager
Karen Sheridan, Board Secretary
Agenda Item 1 —Call to Order [6:00 p.m.]
Agenda Item 2—Technical Rules [6:00 p.m.]
Agenda Item 3—Approval of 24 November 2025 Meeting Minutes [6:01 p.m.]
Motion to approve: Bridges Seconded by: Smith
Vote: 4:0
Agenda Item 4—Public Participation and Comment [6:36 p.m.]
Moved to time between Agenda 5 and 6, with approval from Chair.
Lynn Segal: So Joanna knows, I've had this leak in my place. I wish that we had videos,
because I could show you my flush ring in my toilet that has bubbles in it, a material defect. It's
my newest toilet. And it was costing a pile. I don't know how much I'm getting back from the
city, because it's a big blur as to Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 for rebates. But it was going up to
$177 from $96 for a number of months. And Cultivate, who helps elders out, couldn't find it. I
had to hire a $170, you know, place, to find it. And the problem is, I have another toilet just like
this one that isn't even opened out of the package, and there are probably hundreds of those,
and what about all the other citizens that are getting impacted by these slow, undetectable
leaks, that you know, if no one knows about it, and can watch for it, and there are things you
can do to watch for it, but it's like another on that list of millions of things you have to do, but
still, it seems like it's an important loss. The other thing I wanted to bring up was, and I'd like to
know how much I actually lost, because I scrimp, and I'm at 20 degrees in my house, because
I'm saving for geothermal, and you know, so many people in town are constrained by
Sundance coming here, and higher and higher costs, and fees, and transportation
maintenance fee, and this and that, and you know, and Xcel. And that's my main thing, is trying
to get off Xcel. And I think with the proportion that we have of heating and cooling that we
could really benefit by doing microgrids, transactive energy with storage and EVs, and
geothermal, because that would lower our hull load, and only distributive solar, not
transmission, high voltage electric lines, and that could help things a lot. I know you interact
with the electric grids, so that's relevant, but also, I'm really concerned about the lawsuit with
the flood detention system at CU South, and the impact that that will have on the stormwater
utility fees, and that's a regressive tax to those in this environment of just scrape and rebuild,
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and $20 million houses. So, we can't fix Mother Nature, Joe. We can't. This is a huge system.
Talk to Allison Burchel. She's a geologist, a geochemist or a geo whatever. And something
needs to be done, because this is an expense that is just putting money down the toilet,
literally. Thank you.
Staff Response to Public Comment: Director Taddeucci responded that Utilities maintenance
and other staff have been supporting Lynn to help solve her leak issue and make billing
adjustments.
Agenda Item 5—2025 Utilities Year in Review [6:03 p.m.]
Meghan Chantler, Water Quality Compliance Program Manager, presented this item.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This memo provides the Water Resources Advisory Board (WRAB)with an overview of
Utilities' accomplishments and challenges in 2025 and describes major infrastructure projects,
policy initiatives, and other significant efforts anticipated for 2026. The summary overview of
operations, maintenance, construction, and administration provide context for future WRAB
recommendations on capital improvement programs and significant policy issues.
This memo is generally structured to address the water, wastewater, and stormwater/flood
utilities in sequence under each of the following focus areas:
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WRAB Board Discussion Included:
• Suggestion to provide the prior year's memo to new board members.
• Question if there is any critical work not being done due to hiring freeze.
• Question what happens with excess revenues raised.
• Comment suggesting using comparisons to prior years across the board, where
possible.
• Question about the loss of low-income funding dollars and how that impacts providing
assistance going forward.
• Question regarding Reg 93 and Boulder Reservoir being listed for chlorophyll A, what
happens next.
• Question about budget for public safety/encampments and if it will continue to grow.
• Question how many people are dedicated to the program.
• Question if a substantial impact could affect water rates.
Agenda Item 6— Water Budget Policy Recommendations [6:40 p.m.]
Heather Bearnes-Loza, Water Conservation Program Manager, presented this item.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Boulder adopted water budgets in 2007 as a tool to help the city respond to drought and
encourage efficient water use. After 18 years of implementation, changes in customer
behavior, community priorities, and administrative demands, Boulder has been re-evaluating
city's Water Budget Policy (Attachment A) to see if changes are needed. As discussed at the
October 2025 WRAB meeting, the first phase of re-evaluation was intended to narrow down
policy options to be further analyzed in the upcoming, second phase of the project, which is a
Utilities rate study.
Based on community input and data analysis, staff are recommending keeping water budgets
with minor modifications for single-family residential and metered irrigation accounts and
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exploring a broader range of alternatives for multi-family residential and commercial, industrial,
and institutional (CII) accounts. The upcoming rate study will take a deeper look into how
proposed changes would impact customers and Utilities' ability to recover costs. The purpose
of this memo is to provide the board with an overview of staff's findings to-date and an
opportunity to ask questions before moving on with further analysis.
WRAB Board Discussion Included:
• Question about demographic data collected from respondents.
• Comment about Boulder's desire for incentives to use less water and awareness of
high costs, weighing the need for conservation with high costs.
• Comment that socializing fund amounts when available would be helpful.
• Comment about awareness of seasonality.
• Comment about presenting mean values, highest 25, lowest 25, box and whisker in
addition to median.
• Question about lowest block rate for single family residential.
• Question when city last evaluated the water budget.
• Question how often to revisit the water budget to support climate change and
conservation goals.
• Question if water usage has been going up in recent years.
• Question what share of users exceed their water budgets.
• Request to clarify lot sizes versus irrigable area.
• Question if city provides incentives for low-flow toilets, appliances, shower heads.
• Comment about identifying outliers versus users regularly exceeding their water
budgets.
• Question how long meters last and how easily they could be changed to a different
size.
Agenda Item 7—Watershed Protection Ordinance [7:26 p.m.]
Kate Dunlap, Drinking Water Quality Manager, presented this item.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this memo is to update WRAB on a proposed Watershed Protection Ordinance
(WPO) and its role in water supply protection efforts. Staff previously introduced this topic to
WRAB in October 2020 and took time to evaluate alternative approaches before landing on a
recommendation of an ordinance. The proposed WPO includes limited scope updates to
Boulder Revised Code to expand the city's authority to protect the water supply watersheds
from pollution, as allowed under state law and in alignment with the City of Boulder's (city)
Source Water Protection Plan.
WRAB Board Discussion Included:
• Question if there have been any known contamination issues.
• Question if this is a relatively new legal concept.
• Question about the significance of the 5-mile area and if it covers the entire watershed.
• Question about potential for protection, enforcement under federal or state laws.
• Question if other municipalities have had to execute any action under their own WPOs.
• Question if there could be possible pushback from Council.
Agenda Item 8—Matters from Board [7:42 p.m.]
• Board Member Smith reported that current measurement for Niwot Ridge is 4 inches
of soil water equivalent with average this time of year about 6.5. This is the 2nd or 3rd
driest in the past 40 to 50 years. He asked for explanation of the process for
monitoring for drought and procedures for declaring a drought emergency.
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Agenda Item 9— Matters from Staff [7:49 p.m.]
• Public Safety Power Shutoff
- Staff teams were well prepared.
- Treatment plants operated on generators and maintained service and operation.
- Xcel maintained power to the WRRF.
• Watering Trees in Winter
- Messaging sparked inquiries around wastewater charges.
- Current structure tends to favor the customer in a way that some winter watering
will not impact their bills.
- Will continue to be monitored.
• Items Going Before City Council
- IGA with Town of Nederland for a water storage agreement.
- CBT water lease with Town of Erie
Agenda Item 10—Discussion of Future Schedule [7:55 p.m.]
• February: Retreat
• March: Utilities Rate Study; Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan (BVCP) Update
• April: Swearing in of New Board Members/Election of Officers; Water Supply Update
Agenda Item 11 —Adjournment [7:57 p.m.]
Motion to adjourn by: Bridges Seconded by: Smith
Motion Passes 4:0
Date, Time, and Location of Next Meeting:
The WRAB Retreat will be held at 5050 Pearl Street on Monday, February 9, at 5:30 p.m.
APPROVED BY: ATTESTED BY:
Board Ch. r: sjk Board Secretary:
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An audio recording of the full meeting for which these minutes are a summary is available
on the Water Resources Advisory Board web page via the Access Meeting Agendas and
Materials link. Water Resources Advisory Board I City of Boulder(bouldercolorado.pov)
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