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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6 - Update on Rules and Regulations to be used during a drought CITY OF BOULDER WATER RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD AGENDA ITEM MEETING DATE: February 24, 2011 AGENDA TITLE: Update on Rules and Regulations for Declaring and Removing a Drought Alert Stage and Responding to a Drought. PRESENTERS: Ned Williams, Director of Public Works for Utilities Joanna Crean, Public Works Administrator Carol Ellinghouse, Water Resources Coordinator Bret Linenfelser, Water Quality and Environmental Services Coordinator EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: At the Feb. 24, 2011 meeting, WRAB may provide feedback on the draft rules and regulations for declaring and removing a drought alert stage as well as responding to a drought (Attachment A). The rules and regulations, established outside of the Boulder Revised Code (B.R.C.), provide the specific details that the city manager, in consultation with City Council, may use to guide an appropriate response to a drought event. The rules and regulations will be further developed in 2011 with continued input from the WRAB and public. Rules and regulations are approved by the city manager by way of the "Rulemaking" process (B.R.C. 1-4) upon completion of a public comment period. BACKGROUND: The Drought Plan, Volume 1: Drought Planning and Response Plan (Attachment B) which was updated and accepted by WRAB on March 15, 2010, provides guidance for recognizing droughts that limit the city's available water supply and for responding suitably to these droughts. As a result of the updated Drought Planning and Response Plan, the B.R.C. is being revised through an ordinance to reflect the additional drought response measures as outlined in the plan (e.g., water budget reductions). WRAB recommended approval of the ordinance at its Nov. 15, 2010 meeting. The first reading of the ordinance occurred at the City Council meeting on Feb. 15, 2011 and the second reading is anticipated to be scheduled for March 1, 2011. While the B.R.C. provides the general context and legal authority to respond to a drought, it does not provide specifics on response measures (e.g., how much water budgets should be reduced at each drought stage). Instead, rules and regulations will provide the specific detail and will be used by the city manager to respond during each drought stage. PURPOSE OF THE RULES AND REGULATIONS: The purpose of the rules and regulations is to establish a methodology for responding during a drought and to establish drought response measures that will promote water conservation and the efficient use of water. The draft "Rules and Regulations for Declaring and Removing a Drought and Responding to a Drought" (Attachment A) provides preliminary information about the AGENDA ITEM 9 PAGE 1 different strategies to decrease water demand during a drought. The strategies outlined in the rules and regulations are based on previous discussions from WRAB meetings during the update of the Drought Planning and Response Plan. As discussed previously with WRAB, each drought is unique and there are a variety of ways that water use reduction might be achieved. Some of the ways to decrease water use include reducing water budgets, adding drought surcharges, and implementing mandatory water use limitations and penalties for violations. While the B.R.C. mentions each of these response measures, the rules and regulations provide more details related to each option that would be considered at each of the four stages of drought. NEXT STEPS: Staff is requesting feedback from WRAB on the draft "Rules and Regulations for Declaring and Removing a Drought and Responding to a Drought." It is anticipated that staff will return with a revised version at the May 16, 2011 WRAB meeting for further discussion or a final recommendation. Once the rules and regulations have been finalized with WRAB, then there will be a public comment period during the city manager's approval process. Assuming the proposed changes to the B.R.C. and the rules and regulations are approved, when a drought occurs, the B.R.C. will provide the general context and legal authority for the city manager, in consultation with City Council, to declare a drought and determine the specific response measures (e.g., reduce water budgets). The rules and regulations would provide the specific details on the drought response measures (e.g., how much to reduce water budgets). The Drought Planning and Response Plan provides the basic framework and guidance for recognizing droughts and for responding suitably to these droughts. ATTACHMENT: A - Draft "Rules and Regulations for Declaring and Removing a Drought and Responding to a Drought" B - Drought Response Summary Table from the Drought Planning and Response Plan [for the frill document please see the city's website at: http://whw.bozcldercolorado.gov/files/Utilities/Water_Conservation/Drought Plan Voly me 1 March 2010. pdfl AGENDA ITEM 9 PAGE 2 ATTACHMENT A RULE TO DECLARE AND REMOVE A DROUGHT AND ESTABLISH THE RESPONSE MEASURES TO BE UTILITIZED DURING A DROUGHT, AS DECLARED BY THE CITY MANAGER. AMENDED - EFFECTIVE XXXX 1. Authority. These rules are issued pursuant to Section 11-1-3, "Rules and Regulations," B.R.C. 1981 to implement the provisions of Sections 11-1-27, "Water Restrictions in Case of Emergency," 11-1- 48, "Declaring and Removing a Drought Alert Stage," 11-1-49, "Drought Response Measures," and 11-1-51, "Enforcement of Drought Response Measures", B.R.C. 1981. 2. Purpose and Applicability. The City of Boulder has adopted a Drought Plan that provides a framework for addressing droughts. The Drought Plan consists of two volumes that complement each other. Volume I is the Drought Planning and Response Plan, which includes a categorization of drought levels according to severity, and a summary of response measures that might be taken to respond to each drought alert level. Volume II is the Drought Technical Information and Analysis that provides the supporting documentation for the Drought Planning and Response Plan. Volume II contains the detailed background information and analysis behind the development of the drought response actions, the assessment of Boulder's water supply system, and implementation of the drought response plan. The Boulder Revised Code (B.R.C.) authorizes the city manager to declare and remove a drought alert stage as well as to address necessary responses to a drought. The Drought Plan provides guidance for recognizing droughts that limit the city's available water supply and for responding suitably to these droughts. The rules and regulations provide the specific details that the city manager, in consultation with City Council, may use to declare and remove a drought alert stage as well as to guide an appropriate response to a drought event. The purpose of this rule is to establish: 1) Methodology that shall be utilized to declare and remove a drought alert stage as well as to respond during a drought. 2) Drought response measures that will promote water conservation and the efficient use of water, support community goals, reflect the value of water, and avoid the costs of new water development and expanded water treatment. 3. Definitions and Abbreviations. "Administrative Charges" means the notification sent or financial penalty assessed to a customer for using water over the budgeted amount. For the first violation, a warning notice is sent and for the subsequent violations a financial penalty is assessed (second violation is $100 and the third violation is $300 water waste charge). "AMU" means average monthly use. "AWC" means average winter consumption, which is defined as the average monthly water consumption as reflected on a customer's bill from December through March. "CII" means Commercial/Industrial/Institutional customer account. "Drought Stage" means the severity of the drought. There are four drought stages that include: Stage I - Moderate, Stage II - Serious, Stage III - Severe, and Stage IV - Extreme. "ET" means evapotranspiration (also, see ET rate). "ET rate" means the amount of water that vegetation will use through the natural processes of surface evaporation and plant transpiration (loss of water through the leaves) in an average year. The average annual minimum ET rate for a healthy bluegrass lawn less the average annual local precipitation is the basis for an annual application rate of 15 gallons per square foot (gpsf). For single-family residential customers with more than 5,000 square feet of irrigable area, reduced ET rates are assumed for the areas in excess of 5,000 square feet to encourage use of grass types with lower water needs and xeriscaping for larger irrigable areas. The percentages for distribution of the annual ET rate in non-drought years are shown by month in the table below. Monthly Percentage for Distribution of Annual ET Rate in Non-Drought Years Month Percent of Annual ET Rate January 0% February 0% March 1 % April 7% May 14% June 20% Jul 20% August 18% September 12% October 7% November 1 % December 0% Total 100% "GPSF" means gallons per square foot. "HMU" means historical monthly use. "Irrigable area" means the area (in square feet) that a customer is required to maintain pursuant to Title 6, Title 8 and Title 9, B.R.C. 1981, is not covered by a hard surface (such as a roof, driveway, patio or sidewalk) and that may require outdoor watering. "Kgal" means thousand gallons. "MFR" means multifamily residential customer account. "SFR" means single-family residential customer account. "Water budget" means the amount of water allocated to the water utility customer to meet that customer's anticipated water needs for the month. The monthly water budget shall be the sum of the indoor and/or outdoor allocation for each water utility customer. The allocation shall be based on reasonable and necessary indoor and/or outdoor use, water conservation, and other relevant factors associated with water use in the city and may be reduced during droughts. 4. Declaring and Removing a Drought Stage The city monitors the snowpack levels in its Silver Lake Watershed beginning in February of each year, but the most appropriate time for final identification and classification of drought status and for planning drought responses is late April to early May. During this timeframe, knowledge of the maximum spring snowpack accumulation provides a relatively high degree of confidence regarding the amount of runoff that will occur, and the amount of water that Boulder will get for the year from the Colorado-Big Thompson (CBT) system is known. Additionally, nearly all of the irrigation season still lies ahead. Droughts can be categorized into four stages depending on the level of severity. Drought triggers corresponding to each drought stage were developed through modeling studies of the city's water supply system and are described in more detail in Volume II of the Drought Plan (Drought Technical Information and Analysis). The drought triggers reflect the city water supply storage levels that require an active drought response by the city to avoid threatening the reliability of the city's water supply and to avoid serious water supply shortages. The triggers incorporated three quantitative factors: • Boulder's projected mountain storage during the ensuing May-June period based on snowpack measurements and the projected resulting streamflows during the spring runoff period. • Boulder's portion of water projected to be available in CBT reservoirs during the ensuing May-June period. • Boulder's unrestrained water demand. The triggers illustrated in Table I incorporate all three of the factors listed above. Boulder's portion of CBT storage is discounted by 40 percent because of the multi-year carryover function of this supply. Table I: Suggested drought response triggers for May 1 Greater than 0.85 None Between 0.85 and 0.7 I Between 0.7 and 0.55 II Between 0.55 and 0.4 III Less than 0.4 IV ")Projected storage index = (projected usable Boulder mountain storage + 40% of Boulder's portion of projected CBT storage) / Boulder's unrestrained water demand in non-drought years. When deciding to declare a drought alert stage, at a minimum, the city manager will consider the factors listed above along with other appropriate data and factors unique to the particular drought. Once a drought alert stage has been declared, city staff will continue to monitor trends in snowpack, runoff and reservoir filling and inform the city manager if conditions change. Once conditions allow, the need for drought response measures will officially be ended by the city manager and the city will restore water budgets, remove surcharges, and remove fines for certain types of water use. 5. Strategies to Decrease Water Demand durinE a Drought Each drought is unique and there are a variety of ways that water use reduction might be achieved. Some of the ways to decrease water use include reducing water budgets, adding drought surcharges, and implementing mandatory water use limitation. These response options would be considered at each of the four stages of the drought. When water budget reductions, surcharges and limitations are all used together, it is more likely customers will remain within their water budget and that the burden of water shortages will be more fairly shared across all segments of the community. If drought conditions persist over an extended period of time (multi-year drought), then it may be necessary to implement a higher level response to sustain the required reductions; therefore, both the severity of the drought and the duration over which the drought is experienced will determine the appropriate response. (a) Water Budget Reductions Water budget reductions would be determined by the city manager, in consultation with City Council, based on the information in Tables II, III, and IV below. The reduced water budgets are based on current modeling and calculations, as documented in the Drought Planning and Response Plan (see Table 2, page six of the plan). The total annual water use reduction goals may change and, therefore, customer water budget reductions may change if water system modeling is revised in the future. Any changes in water use patterns, such as indoor/outdoor distribution or relative proportions of water use for each customer class, could also require modification of the water budget amounts. Table II illustrates the water budgets for the indoor allocation for residential accounts. Table III shows the percentage of the annual outdoor water budget allocation to be applied in each month for the outdoor component of residential and indoor/outdoor commercial accounts and for all irrigation-only accounts in both non-drought and drought years. Monthly outdoor allocations for residential, indoor/outdoor commercial and irrigation-only accounts are calculated using the customer-specific irrigable area multiplied by the application rates set forth below and then allocated over the irrigation season using the appropriate monthly percentages set forth in Table III. Single-family residential outdoor allocations are calculated based on the following application rates: • For the first 5,000 square feet of irrigable area: 15 gpsf • For the next 9,000 square feet of irrigable area: 12 gpsf • For irrigable area in excess of 14,000 square feet: 10 gpsf Multi-family residential and all other outdoor allocations are calculated based on an application rate of 15 gpsf for all irrigable area. In order to reflect varying seasonal outdoor monthly watering requirements, the total annual allocation of water for irrigable area shall be distributed to each month based upon that month's percentage of the annual outdoor amount as described by the historic monthly distribution of the annual ET rate. Using the customer-specific water budget allocation and the ET rate, the response for each drought stage can be defined as reductions to the monthly distribution percentages for the ET rates used for outdoor water budget calculations. Table II: Monthly Water Budgets for Residential Indoor Allocation Residential Indoor Non-Drought Stage I Stage II Stage III Stage IV Use Water Budget Year Drought Drought Drought Drought SFR gallons/month 7000 6400 6300 6200 6000 MFR gallons/month 4000 3600 3600 3500 3400 Table III: Monthly Percentages for Allocation of Annual Outdoor Water Budgets for Residential, Irrigation-Only, and Indoor/Outdoor CII Accounts (shown as a percentage of the total annual outdoor allocation allowed in non-drought years based on gpsf of irrigable area) Non-Drought Stage I Stage II Stage III Stage IV Year Drought Drought Drought Drought Jan 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Feb 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Mar 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% Apr 7% 7% 7% 7% 6% May 14% 13% 13% 11% 8% Jun 20% 19% 18% 17% 10% Jul 20% 16% 14% 12% 7% Aug 18% 12% 10% 9% 5% Sep 12% 8% 6% 4% 1% Oct 7% 2% 0% 0% 0% Nov 0% 0% 0% 0% Dec 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Total 100% 78% 69% 61% 38% CII has four sub-customer classes: 1) CII AMU; 2) CII HMU; 3) CII indoor/outdoor; and, 4) CII efficiency standard with and without irrigation. The method used to calculate the water budget for each of these sub-customer classes is described in rule 11-1-3.A(09) (water° budget methodolog)%). Water budgets for the CII sub-classes HMU and AMU will be reduced as illustrated in Table IV. The outdoor use component of water budgets for the CII indoor/outdoor sub-class and the CII efficiency standard with irrigation will reflect the water budgets as illustrated in Table III. The CII efficiency standard without irrigation will reduce their budgets based on the overall goals for water use reduction for the entire city as illustrated in Table IV. Table IV: Water Bud et Reductions for CII Sub-Classes: HMU, AMU, & Efficiency STAGE I STAGE II STAGE III STAGE IV CII HMi1 & AMU 13% 23% 34% 50% CII Efficiency 8% 14% 22% 40% Standard w/o irrig (b) Surcharges and Rates Drought surcharges would be used by the city manager to encourage a reduction in water use. A drought surcharge is a multiplier applied to the normal charges (standard block rates) for water. During a drought, surcharges would be applied to normal water charges in blocks 3, 4, and 5. The city manager may implement drought surcharges based on Table V. In addition, with approval by City Council through an ordinance, the city may adjust standard water block rates. This may be necessary to maintain revenue stability for the water utility during a drought. Table V: Surcharges for each Drought Stage Surcharges amount x base Non-Drought Stage I Stage II Stage III Stage IV Rate Drought Drought Drought Drought Block 1 '/4x base 3/4x base 3/4x base 3/4x base '/4x base Block 2 Base Base Base Base Base Block 3 2 x base 2 x base 2 x base 2 x base 3 x base Block 4 3 x base 3 x base 3 x base 4 x base 4 x base Block 5 5 x base 5 x base 7 x base 8 x base 8 x base (c) Water Use Limitations and Fines for Violations Mandatory water use limitations may be necessary in more severe droughts to achieve the quick response needed to protect reservoir levels and to assure that the burden of water use reductions are shared by all socio-economic classes. For a summary of possible response measures, please see Table 3 on page 10 of the Drought Planning and Response Plan. The city manager may impose water limitations as described in Table VI. Table VI: Penalties for Violating Water Use Limitations Per Drought Stage Drought Water Use Limitations Penalties for Violating Stage Water Use Limitations Stage I Discourage 3 consecutive Send reminder warning Moderate months of block 5 water notice to customers who are use. using block 5 water for 3 consecutive months. Stage II Limit of 3 consecutive If block 5 water use Serious months of block 5 water continues for 3 consecutive use. months, then penalize with administrative charges*. Consider installation of flow restrictors. Stage III Limit of 2 consecutive Apply administrative Severe months of block 4 or 5 charges following 2 water use. consecutive months of water use in blocks 4 or 5. Consider installation of flow restrictors. Stage IV Limit water use in blocks 3, Apply administrative Extreme 4, or 5. Consider charges following 1 month moratorium on building of water use in blocks 3, 4 permits. or 5. Consider flow restrictors or, for extreme water waste offenders, termination of water service. *Per Section 11-1-51, "Enforcement of Drought Response Measures of the B.R. C. 1981, administrative charges include the following violations: (1) u,,arning notice; (2) $100 water waste charge; and (3) $300 water waste charge. 6. Exceptions/ Variances to Drought Response Measures. The City of Boulder may, at its discretion, grant exemptions from the drought response for individual water customers. The city manager may approve exemptions in instances of extreme economic impacts or health and safety issues. Violation of any term or condition of an exemption may result in the variance being revoked after the water customer has an opportunity for a hearing under chapter 1-3, "Quasi-Judicial Hearings," B.R.C. 1981. 7. Drought Response Measures Example - Single-Family Residential. Below is an example of a SFR customer with 5,000 square feet of irrigable area. If the city declared a Stage II - Serious drought and the city manager implemented the rules and regulations, the example shows the possible impact to a SFR customer depending on which drought response measures were implemented. Drought Response Measures Non-Drought Year Stage II Drought Monthly Indoor 7,000 gallons 6,300 gallons Water Budget Budget 1Vlonthly Outdoor 18% (Aug.) 10% (Aug.) Reductions Budget Total Annual Budget 20,500 gallons 13,800 gallons Surcharges* Surcharges for Block S 14.50 per 1,000 gallons $20.30 per 1,000 gallons 5 Water Use (5 x base rate) (7 x base rate) Water Use No limits. Block 5 water use Water Use Limitations (3 consecrative months) Limits and Penalties for No penalty. 1st violation = warning Penalties Violations notice; 2ud violation = $100 water waste charge *The example uses the 2011 utility rates, in which the base rate is $2.90. 1*)K ATTACHMENT B - Table 3: Drought Response Summary Table (from Drought Planning and Response Plan) Possible Response Measures Water Charges, Fee, and Fines for Drought Main Focus Budget Surcharges and Suggested Water Use Limitations Violating Water Use Penalties for Violating Stage Reductions Rates Limitations Water Use Limitations Stage I More emphasis on basic water use reduction Required Consider surcharges for Suggest water use limitations. Implement charges, fees, and None. Moderate measures and wise water use practices budget water use in excess of Examples: recommend postponing fines for violating water (Storage implemented through public education and reductions allotted budgets for landscape changes unless converting to conservation and water waste Index 0.85 outreach and promoting low-flow water use sufficient to blocks 3, 4 and 5. xeriscape; recommend no lawn per the Boulder Revised Code. to 0.70) fixtures and city rebate program. Enhance achieve overall Consider rate increases watering between 10 am - 6 pm; Examples: fines for sidewalk or instructions on use of water monitors to 8% reduction for revenue encourage deep root watering of driveway washing or sprinklers track usage. Target high volume water in water use. stabilization. tree/shrubs. spraying streets). users. Remind community to eliminate water waste, leakage, unnecessary outdoor water use. Stage II Keep the following vegetation alive: Trees, Required Consider surcharges for Continue to encourage Stage I water Implement Stage I and fine Penalize block 5 water use Serious shrubs, vegetable and flower gardens and budget water use in excess of use limitations and include additional block 5 water use. for several months with (Storage lawns. Limit outdoor water use and non- reductions allotted budgets for suggestions such as: recommend flow restrictors. Index 0.70 essential uses. Emphasize wise water use sufficient to blocks 3, 4 and 5. watering lawn less frequently. to 0.55) practices through public education and achieve overall Consider rate increases outreach. Eliminate wasteful; target 14% reduction for revenue excessive water use. in water use. stabilization. Stage III Keep the following vegetation alive: major Required Implement surcharges Continue to encourage Stage I and II Implement Stage II plus fines Penalize block 5 water use Severe trees, major shrubs, and limited vegetable budget for water use in excess limitations, plus additional water use for "more limited" uses. in consecutive months (Storage gardens. Greatly reduce outdoor water use reductions of allotted budgets for reduction suggestions such as: Examples: lawn watering with flow restrictors. Index 0.55 and non-essential uses. Eliminate wasteful sufficient to blocks 3, 4 and 5. suggested designated tree watering days between 10 am - 6 pm subject to to 0.40) water use and reduce excessive water use. achieve overall Implement rate (beyond lawn watering); suggestions to warnings and fines; fines for 22% reduction increases for revenue businesses to follow best practices repeat water waste offenders; in water use. stabilization. (serve water on request); no landscape fine blocks 4, 5 water use. changes unless xeriscape. Stage IV Sustain some mature trees, but recognize Required Implement surcharges Continue to encourage suggested water Implement Stage II & III plus Stage II and III penalties Extreme there may be a major die-off of lawns, trees, budget for water use in excess use limitations as outlined in Stage I, II, fines for "very limited" uses. and flow restrictom (Storage and shrubs. Minimize most outdoor water reductions of allotted budgets for and III. Examples: no fountains or consider moratorium on Index less use and non-essential uses. Implement sufficient to blocks 3, 4, and 5. filling of swimming pools; fine building permits; consider than 0.40) aggressive public education and outreach achieve overall Implement rate blocks 3, 4 and 5 water use. termination of water program. Eliminate wasteful water use and 40% reduction increases for revenue service for extreme water excessive water use. in water use. stabilization. waste offenders.