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Home My WebLink AboutWS Item 01 - Water Conservation Plan UpdateWn ire # _ 1 =.. MEMO TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL FROM: ROGER NELSON CITY MANAGER 4�, MEETING DATE: FEBRUARY 15, 2000 SUBJECT: WORKSHOP - WATER CONSERVATION PLAN UPDATE BACKGROUND: As recent articles in Metroplex newspapers demonstrate, the area's Water Utility personnel are very concerned about the extended period of low rainfall that has resulted in lower than normal lake levels. Grapevine is not immune to these factors and voluntary conservation should be considered. As you know, Grapevine receives potable water from two sources. Lake Grapevine, which currently has a water surface elevation of 527.18 feet above mean sea level (msl), provides 35% of our supply. The normal conservation pool level is 535 above msl. Grapevine also utilizes drinking water supplied by the Trinity River Authority (TRA) for approximately 65% of the City. The lakes that TRA relies on for raw water are at only 79% capacity today. The region's total rainfall is about 10" below normal. The last two years have been hot and dry causing the supply lakes to be unable to recover from the summer high water demand. Staff is advising residential and commercial customers to use water wisely and minimize waste. The water supply levels have not reached the point that triggers mandatory water conservation measures, but a proactive approach to water conservation is warranted. Current water use trends exceed last year's usage by 24.5%. Residential growth accounts for some of the increase, but per capita usage has also increased. Diminished rainfall or even bigger surges in water usage for prolonged periods could prompt a call for mandatory water restrictions. Grapevine has had a Water Conservation/Drought Contingency plan in effect for many years. The plan calls for mandatory water conservation measures if consumption significantly exceeds our ability to meet demand. In our judgment, the current conditions call for voluntary water conservation. Staff strongly urges that our citizens be aware of the need to use water wisely over the coming months and to minimize waste. February 10, 2000 (10:23AM) City of Grapevine Newsletter Water Conservation The recent lack of rainfall has concerned water producers in the North Texas Region. Normal rainfall is 10" below normal. Average annual rainfall, based on the past 10 years is approximately 33.7 ". Last year (1 999)had23.6" of rain. This left lake levels low at the end of the hot dry summer and they have not recovered as of yet. Lake Grapevine has a current elevation of 527' as opposed to the normal conservation pool elevation of 535'. Metroplex cities rely on surface water (lakes) for our potable water source. Water use patterns have been unusually high. Average daily water usage has increased from 5.31 million gallons/day in 1994 to 9.17 million gallons per day in 1999. This is a function of growth in the community and increased per capita water usage. We are concerned about water availability in Grapevine. City staff is advising residential and commercial customers to use water wisely and minimize waste. Grapevine has had a Water Conservation/Drought Contingency plan in effect for many years. The plan calls for mandatory water conservation measures if consumption significantly exceeds our ability to meet demand. Wise use of water on a voluntary basis will help protect the water stored in area lakes. Irrigation accounts for the largest domestic use of water. Automatic sprinkler systems should be reset to operate on a 5 day cycle, applying 1" of water. Place a square pan out in your yard and turn the sprinkler system on. Calculate the amount of time it takes to fill the pan 1" then reset the system to that time period. Don't irrigate to the point where water runs off the landscape. Deep infrequent watering will provide your landscape with the water it needs and will save water over the long run. Current conditions call for voluntary water conservation. Staff requests that our citizens be aware of the need to utilize water wisely and restrict water usage to essential needs. ro Kim EA r Wor -d a. M WL AM A M rv� Zila Vw N" TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2000 W Water foul taste, smell blamed BY KAREN BROOKS > Environmental Protection Agency criticizes Star -Telegram staff Writer North Texas' clean -air plan. NORTHEAST METRO, 1B Turning on the water faucet has been less But officials say that although the water is than pleasant for many in Tarrant County y g these past few days. Residents have flooded not appetizing, it's still safe to drink. several cities — including Bedford, Col- "It's purely aesthetics," said Rick leyville, North Richland Hills and to some McCleery, assistant director of utilities in extent Fort Worth — with complaints about Arlington. water that tastes like dirt and smells even The cities that are getting the most com- worse. plaints are those that get their water from the Their revulsion may not be quenched by Trinity River Authority: Bedford, Colleyville, the official explanation: more algae than usu- Euless, Grapevine and North Richland Hills. al, thanks to a recent spate of warm weather • Fred Hochreiter, a Colleyville resident, and low rainfall. (More on WATER on Page 1 I A) a Frojp gage 1 A said the water acquires a bad taste and smell about this time every year when the lake levels get low. But the condition of the water gradually improves as the lake levels rise, he said, noting that he tries to ignore the foul taste of the water. "But my wife [Irma], she's been away in Maryland for the last three months,".I-lochreiter said, explaining that she recently returned. "When she had a glass, she almost threw it away." The green, slimy culprit behind the water woes can be found floating in Lake Arlington, where the Trinity River Authority gets its water, spokesman John Jadrosich said. The Iake levels are about 5% feet low, which is typical for this time of year, McCleery said. But temperatures that have reached the 80s in the past two weeks — premature for this time of year — combined with the low water levels, encourage the growth of algae in the lake. The algae, when treated with chlorine, produces natural com- pounds that don't always make it through the filters, McCleery said. "I'm afraid folks are going to have to bear with us until we have different conditions: better lake elevation, more fresh water, a lit- tle more rain," he said. "Our apologies to the public, but we're doing the best we can." Arlington gets its water from Lake Arlington, too. But a new, high-tech ozone treatment pro- gram installed last year — the only one in the state — is credited with eliminating the water's bad smell and taste for most Arlington residents. There have been some com- plaints by Arlington residents about a stronger than usual chlo- rine smell and taste, but they are related to increased water treat- ments this month — not algae, McCleery said. A smaller number of com- plaints have been reported in Fort Worth, which gets its water from the same reservoirs that flow into Lake Arlington. But Fort Worth does not use Lake Arlington water as does the Trinity River Authority. The Tar- rant Region,1, Water District takes its water from the Cedar Creek and Richland Chambers reser voirs, as well as from Eagle Mountain Lake, Lake Benbrook,, Lake Worth and Lake Bridgeport: Mary Gugliuzza, a spokes= womari-for the Fort Worth water department, said the city might be receiving fewer complainfs because residents get their water from one of four treatment plants and one of six water sources. Cities such as Haltom City and Southlake, which get water from Fort Worth, are reporting no water problems. The biggest problems appear to be mostly isolated to those cities whose water comes directly from Lake Arlington, with the exception of Arlington. Bedford received 30 com- plaints from residents on Thurs- day, when the problems started, said Ron Sullivan, division engi- neer for city utilities. He attributed it to the Trinity River Authority's problems with Lake Arlington, but he also said mineral residue in some Bedford waterlines may have been shaken loose by a shift in the direction of water flow. "We immediately started dis- patching some of our crews to open fire hydrants and start flush- ing the lines," Sullivan said. "It's not anything that's harmful, but it doesn't look good when it comes out of your faucet." Colleyville has gotten about 25 complaints in the past week, said Kelly Howell, utilities superinten- dent. North Richland Hills got sever- al calls late last week, officials said. But the Trinity River Authori- ty's efforts to clean up the flavor and smell appeared to be working yesterday: Complaints were dwindling. Howell said the calls have tapered off in Colleyville, which gets about 15 percent of its water from the Trinity River Authority and the rest from city -owned wells. Bedford got about five calls yesterday. Jadrosich said he did not know how long it would take for the water to return to normal. "We're doing everything we can to eliminate and minimize the problem," he said. "There's only so many things you can throw at this." Staff writers Ginger Richardson and Mitch Mitchell contributed to this report. Daren 11ra>ks, (817) 685-3806 dfirvrukscb�tur-tr'<;raur.rnm {