Water Commission Agenda Regular Meeting 7:00 p.m. – Monday, November 4, 2013 Council Chambers 809 Center Street, Santa Cruz Agenda Call to Order Roll Call Presentation Organized groups may make presentations to the Water Commission. Presenta- tions that require more than three minutes should be scheduled in advance with Water Depart- ment staff. Statements of Disqualification Section 607 of the City Charter states that “…All members pre- sent at any meeting must vote unless disqualified, in which case the disqualification shall be publicly declared and a record thereof made.” The City of Santa Cruz has adopted a Conflict of Interest Code, and Section 8 of that Code states that no person shall make or participate in a governmental decision which he or she knows or has reason to know will have a reasonably foreseeable material financial effect distinguishable from its effect on the public generally. Oral Communications No action shall be taken on this item. Announcements No action shall be taken on this item. Approval of Minutes (Pages 4-8) Recommendation: Motion to approve the October 7, 2013 Water Commission Minutes. Consent Agenda (Pages 9-11) Items on the consent agenda are considered to be routine in nature and will be acted upon in one motion. Specific items may be removed by members of the advisory body or public for separate consideration and discussion. 1. Three-month Calendar (accept info) (Page 9) 2. City Council Items Affecting Water (accept info) (Pages 10-11) Items Removed from the Consent Agenda General Business (Page 12) Any document related to an agenda item for the General Business of this meeting distributed to the Water Commission less than 72 hours before this meeting is available for inspection at the Water Administration Office, 212 Locust Street, Suite A, Santa Cruz, California. These docu- ments will also be available for review at the Water Commission meeting with the display copy at the rear of the Council Chambers. 1. Large Landscape Water Budget Program Presentation (Page 12) Recommendation: That the Commission receive information and provide comments re- garding the Large Landscape Water Budget Program. Subcommittee/Advisory Body Oral Reports No items. Director’s Oral Report No action shall be taken on this item. 1. Monthly Status of Water Supply (to be distributed at meeting) 2. Water Supply Project Update Media Articles (Pages 13-30) No action shall be taken on this item. 1. News Article – Santa Cruz Sentinel 10-6-13 (Page 13) 2. News Article – Santa Cruz Sentinel 10-8-13 (Pages 14-15) 3. News Article – Santa Cruz Sentinel 10-9-13 (Pages 16) 4. News Article – Santa Cruz Sentinel 10-10-13 (Pages 17) 5. News Article – Santa Cruz Sentinel 10-12-13 (Pages 18-19) 6. News Article – Santa Cruz Weekly 10-15-13 (Pages 20) 7. News Article – Santa Cruz Sentinel 10-15-13 (Pages 21-22) 8. News Article – Santa Cruz Sentinel 10-19-13 (Pages 23-24) 9. News Article – Santa Cruz Sentinel 10-21-13 (Pages 25) 10. News Article – Good Times 10-23-13 (Pages 26-30) Documents for Future Meetings No action shall be taken on this item. The following document is being included in this agenda packet in order to provide ample re- view time. It will be an item of business and will include a staff report at a future meeting. 1. None Items Initiated by Members for Future Agendas Adjournment The next meeting of the Water Commission is scheduled for December 2, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. in Council Chambers. Denotes written materials included in packet APPEALS - Any person who believes that a final action of this advisory body has been taken in error may appeal that decision to the City Council. Appeals must be in writing, setting forth the nature of the action and the basis upon which the action is considered to be in error, and addressed to the City Council in care of the City Clerk. Other - Appeals must be received by the City Clerk within ten (10) calendar days following the date of the action from which such appeal is being taken. An appeal must be accompanied by a fifty dollar ($50) filing fee. The City of Santa Cruz does not discriminate against persons with disabilities. Out of considera- tion for people with chemical sensitivities, please attend the meeting fragrance free. Upon re- quest, the agenda can be provided in a format to accommodate special needs. Additionally, if you wish to attend this meeting and will require assistance such as an interpreter for American Sign Language, Spanish, or other special equipment, please call Water Administration at 831- 420-5200 at least five days in advance so that arrangement can be made. The Cal-Relay system number: 1-800-735-2922. Water Commission 7:00 p.m. – Monday, October 7, 2013 Council Chambers 809 Center Street, Santa Cruz Draft Minutes Call to Order – Vice Chair D. Baskin called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the City Coun- cil Chambers. Roll Call Present: D. Baskin, D. Stearns, W. Wadlow and G. Mead Absent: D. Meyers, A. Schiffrin, and L. Wilshusen (all with notification) Staff Present: L. Almond, Acting Director; T. Goddard, Water Conservation Manager; C. Cartwright, Water Conservation Representative; T. Praxel, Interim Principal Management Analyst; R. Coletta, Administrative Assistant II. Others: Bill Maddaus, Maddaus Water Management and S. Gaur, Raftelis Financial Consultants, Inc. and members of the public. Presentation – There were no presentations. Statements of Disqualification – There were no statements of disqualification. Oral Communications – There were no oral communications. Announcements – There were no announcements. Approval of Minutes Commissioner Wadlow moved approval of August 26, 2013 Water Commission minutes. Commissioner Baskin seconded. VOICE VOTE: MOTION CARRIED AYES: D. Baskin, G. Mead, and W. Wadlow. NOES: None. ABSTAINED: D. Stearns, due to absence from the August 26 meeting. Consent Agenda Commissioner Baskin moved the Consent Agenda. Commissioner D. Stearns seconded. VOICE VOTE: MOTION CARRIED AYES: D. Baskin, G. Mead, D. Stearns, and W. Wadlow. NOES: None. General Business 4 1. Water Rate Design Study – Rate Design Overview and Discussion of Pricing Objectives S. Gaur of Raftelis Associates gave a presentation on the Rate Design Study that he is under contract with the Water Department to complete. He covered the following topics: Process for Determining Appropriate Rate Structure. Review of Pricing Objectives Water Use Efficiency Analysis for Single Family Residential Nexus Requirement for Tiered Pricing Next Steps He reviewed the Pricing Objectives priorities developed by staff and asked for Commis- sioners input on those. He reported on initial results from modeling of the Single Family Resident (SFR) category, saying he was astonished to find that only 2.5% of these accounts were determined to be inefficient using an indoor water budget factor of 55 gallons per person per day, a household size of 4 and a factor for outdoor use based on lot size less building and hardscape footprint. Even if he decreased the water budget to 50 gallons per person per day with a household size of 3 people and reduced the landscape factor by half, the level of inefficiency was still less an 11%. He noted that these levels are extremely low in comparison to other similar water districts. His observations are that a water budget rate structure for this account category may not promote further efficiency and savings from this structure would not cover the costs of implementation. Next steps in the Rate Study will be to fine tune the current inclining tiered rate structure for SFR’s and to do modeling of this structure for the other categories: Multi-Family – Inclining Tiered Rate based on # of units Irrigation Accounts – Water Budget Commercial and Institutions – Average Winter Use UCSC – to be determined Oral communications were received from four members of the public, including S. McGilvray, R. Longinotti, R. Pomerantz, and Sophie (last name unknown). Commission Discussion/Comments Mr. Gaur responded to questions from the Commissioners. Commissioner D. Baskin recommended that the pricing objective, “Perceived to be Fair to the Public” be moved up from Neutral to Important. Other Commissioners agreed. Staff confirmed that the results of this study will be returned to the Commission before being presented to Council. No action was taken. The presentation will be included in the original papers. 2. Santa Cruz Municipal Code – Revisions to Section 16.03, Plumbing Fixture Retrofit Water Conservation Representative Clara Cartwright presented a report on proposed revisions to Municipal Code Section 16.03 to change plumbing fixture retrofit requirements to a maximum of 1.28 gpf for toilets, 0.5 gpf for urinals, and 2.0 gpm in compliance with AB 715 of 2007 that requires these levels as of 2014. 5 Oral comment was received from one member of the public, R. Pomerantz. Commission Comments Commissioner W. Wadlow moved that the Commission recommend the City Council adopt an ordinance amending Chapter 16.03 of the Santa Cruz Municipal Code pertaining to plumbing fixture retrofits. Commissioner Stearns seconded. VOICE VOTE: MOTION CARRIED AYES: D. Baskin, G. Mead, D. Stearns, and W. Wadlow. NOES: None. 3. Water Conservation Master Plan Water Conservation Manager T. Goddard and consultant Bill Maddaus of Maddaus Water Management, Inc. gave a presentation on the status of the Water Conservation Master Plan update covering these topics: Update on project schedule Review Codes and Standards savings estimate Evaluation methodology of new measures including avoided costs as the basis of the benefits Next Steps He projected completion of the plan by June 30, 2014, and reported that he estimates savings that could be realized from future updates to codes and standards to be about 228 MGY by 2030, equivalent to about 6% of projected future demand.