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HomeMy WebLinkAbout19-3691 ord222 ORDINANCE NO. 19-3691 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PLAINVIEW, TEXAS, AMENDING ARTICLE 13.05 ENTITLED "WATER CONSERVATION/DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN" REGARDING THE CITY OF PLAINVIEW'S WATER USE MANAGEMENT PLAN; OUTLINING THE CITY'S WATER CONSERVATION PLAN INCLUDING WATER CONSUMPTION GOALS AND TARGETS; OUTLINING THE CITY'S DROUGHT CONTINGENCY AND EMERGENCY PLAN INCLUDING DEFINING DROUGHT CLASSIFICATIONS; PROVIDING A PENALTY CLAUSE; REPEALING ALL CONFLICTING ORDINANCES; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION OF THE CAPTION THEREOF; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the City Council for the City of Plainview, Texas pursuant to the constitution and laws of the State of Texas including, but not limited to, Article 11, Section 5 of the Texas Constitution as a home rule city, has the authority to set forth ordinances and regulations and exercise its police powers for the public health, safety, morals, or general welfare of the citizens of the City of Plainview; and WHEREAS, the City of Plainview provides water to the public for public use with the source of such water coming from the Ogallala Aquifer pumped by wells owned by the City and water purchased and delivered to the City by the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority; and WHEREAS, the City of Plainview is located within the Llano Estacado Regional Water Planning Area of the Texas Water Development Board; and WHEREAS, in an effort to avoid waste and achieve water conservation through practices, techniques, and technologies that will reduce the consumption of water, prevent or reduce the loss or waste of water, maintain or improve the efficiency in the use of water, increase the recycling and reuse of water, or prevent the pollution of water so that a water supply is made available for future or alternative uses for the benefit of the public health, safety and welfare the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality ("TCEQ") requires the City of Plainview to have a Water Use Management Plan (the "Plan') that meets the requirements of Title 30 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Chapter 288; and WHEREAS, previously, the City Council of the City of Plainview adopted the Plan for the purposes of promoting the wise and responsible use of water, to enhance the sustainability of long-term water supplies, to minimize the adverse impacts of water supply emergencies and to meet the TCEQ requirements outlined above; and WHEREAS, in accordance with 30 Tex. Admin. Code § 288.30, TCEQ requires the City to submit its Plan every five years to coincide with the regional water planning group; and WHEREAS, the City Council has determined that Article 13.05 of the Code of Ordinances, City of Plainview, Texas should be amended and submitted to the TCEQ and the Ordinance 19-3691 Page 1 of 14 223 Llano Estacado Regional Water Planning Area of the Texas Water Development Board; and WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Plainview, finds the following amendments to the Code of Ordinances, City of Plainview, Texas amending Article 13.05 thereof as outlined below are reasonable, consistent with the TCEQ requirements and beneficial for the public health, safety and general welfare of the citizens of Plainview and a proper exercise of its police power; NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PLAINVIEW HEREBY ORDAINS THAT: SECTION 1. The recitals set forth above are hereby found to be true and correct and are incorporated into the body of this Ordinance for all purposes as if fully set forth herein. SECTION 2. Article 13.05 of the Code of Ordinances, City of Plainview, Texas is amended to read as follows (for reference purposes, amended portions are indicated as follows: deletions — strikeout; new additions - underlined and italicized): "ARTICLE 13.05 WATER CONSERVATION/DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN Sec. 13.05.001 Adopted The city council hereby approves and adopts as the City of Plainview Water Use Management Plan, the following water conservation and drought contingency plans as set forth below. The city commits to implementing this program according to the procedures set forth in the adopted plans. Sec. 13.05.002 Purpose (a) The purpose of the water use management plan is to promote the wise and responsible use of water, to enhance the sustainability of long-term water supplies, and to minimize the adverse impacts of water supply emergencies by providing and supporting public information and education programs that encourage customers to voluntarily pursue water conservation and protection measures in both residential and business activities; by developing, maintaining and enforcing water management policies and ordinances; by implementing structural programs that result in quantifiable water conservation results; and by implementing a drought/emergency, contingency plan when necessary to ensure adequate water supplies for public health and safety. (b) The city's service area is located within the Llano Estacado Regional Water Planning Area of the Texas Water Development Board, and the city will provide a copy of the City's Water Use Management Planshall r-epeft-to the Llano Estacado Regional Water Planning Group fimvafi4y-to assure consistency with the regional water plan. (c) The city will implement a detailed plan for each of the four steps in the drought contingency measures, including water use strategies. The target of these strategies will Ordinance 19-3691 Page 2 of 14 224 be to maintain daily water demand at or below -7A 50 percent of the available water production capability. In the event of severe drought or major infrastructure failures, certain water uses may be restricted -led by the city manager or his/her designee as outlined in this plan. Sec. 13.05.003 Definitions The following words and phrases as used in this article shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: Aesthetic water use. Water use for ornamental or decorative purposes such as fountains, reflecting pools, and water gardens. Conservation. Those practices, techniques, and technologies that reduce the consumption of water, reduce the loss or waste of water, improve efficiency in the use of water or increase the recycling and reuse of water so that a supply is conserved and made available for future or alternative use. Customer. Any individual, corporation, partnership, association, and any other legal entity utilizing water provided by the city. Domestic water use. Water use for personal needs or for household or sanitary purposes such as drinking, bathing, heating, cooking, sanitation, or for cleaning a residence, business, industry, or institution, except as provided under the definition of nonessential water use. Drough. An extended period of time of below normal precipitation (rainfall, snow, etc.) Landscape irrigation use. Water use for irrigation and maintenance of landscaped areas, whether publicly or privately owned, including residential and commercial lawns, gardens, golf courses, parks, and rights-of-way and medians. Nonessential water use. Nonessential water use consists of washing house windows, sidings, eaves, and roof with hose, and without the use of a bucket; washing driveways, streets, curbs and gutters; washing vehicles without cutoff valve and bucket; unattended sprinkling of landscape shrubs and grass; draining and filling swimming pools; and flushing water system. Sec. 13.05.004 Water conservation plan The water conservation plan, as adopted by the city, consists of the following: (1) Continuing public education and information programs. The city will inform the city users of various recommended methods for implementing a Ordinance 19-3691 Page 3 of 14 225 reduction in water consumption. The city will provide talks and programs to schools and civic organizations along with distributing materials which are available from the Texas Water Development Board and other agencies in accordance with the city's administrative policy on water conservation plan continuing education and information programs. (2) Plumbingcodes. The state law requires that cities and utilities with a population of 5,000 or more adopt a standard plumbing code or a water saving plumbing code for new construction and for replacement of plumbing fixtures in existing structures. The city has adopted the 2899 2015 edition of the International Plumbing Code as adopted by the International Code Council. (3) Water conservation retrofit program. Title V of the Health and Safety Code, chapter 372 requires that businesses stock and sell only plumbing fixtures which conform to water saving performance standards. This will ensure that plumbing fixtures installed during new construction and remodeling will be of the conservation oriented type. The city will advise customers regarding retrofit devices (such as low -flow shower heads, toilet dams, faucet aerators, etc.) that reduce water use by replacing or modifying existing fixtures. (4) Conservation oriented water rate structure. The city has adopted an ascending block rate structure, which will further discourage the wasteful use of large quantities of water. The city is now relating sewer charges to water consumption, with a 14,000 gallon ceiling on single-family residential. (5) Universal metering and meter repair and replacement. All connections to the water supply system in the city are metered. The city is testing and replacing meters on an ongoing basis, concentrating on the largest meters first. Meter readers classify the apparent conditions of all city meters, and repairs are initiated in areas with poor classification. Universal metering will continue after adoption of this plan. (A) The city's production meters are located at the booster- s t' v �, t t•tr v .+ nd .,to„ st,..age tankat the water treatment nu plant and on all city owned groundwater wells that pump a;reedy into ' distFibutien system. The city uses these meters to report its groundwater production. (B) Service meters larger than two inches (2") will be tested every two years. Service meters two inches (2") and smaller will be tested at least once every ten years. The city has installed a service meter to measure water used for backwash at the water treatment plant. Ordinance 19-3691 Page 4 of 14 226 (6) Water conserving landscaping. Educational material will include information relating to low water use landscaping. The city reviews and approves subdivision plans. At the time building permits are acquired, developers will be provided with literature pertaining to low water demand landscaping items. Nurseries and local businesses will also be provided with this literature. (7) Leak detection and repair. The city's system uses a 12 -month moving total of water treated and pumped versus water sold in order to assess more accurately the amount of unaccounted for water losses in the system. The average unaccounted for water has ranged from 11% to 15% in previous years. Leaks that go unreported for extended periods of time or large pipe failures that make for difficult estimates of total water loss can skew these numbers from year to year. The city will continue to refine our methods of calculating water loss due to these issues to better understand our actual unaccounted for water loss. (A) The city has almost immediate response to reports of water leaks, which minimizes water waste. The city is conducting audits to identify connections which bypass city meters and correct those which are found. (B) The city will continue to monitor monthly consumption. Classification of meter condition provides a reliable and effective leak detection program. The city is also aware that assistance in leak detecting surveys can be obtained from the Texas Water Development Board staff. (8) Specific quantified 5- and 10 -year targets. Ordinance 19-3691 (A) The city's average daily water usage is approximately 244 135 gpcd. ' . Notwithstanding changes in the city's water usage, citizens and businesses can reduce water usage by implementing water conservation practices. The city's water conservation goals are to: (i) Reduce annual per capita water usage to 286 132 gallons per person per day (or by 2.5 percent) by the year 2414 2024. (ii) Reduce annual per capita water use to 280128 gallons person per day (or by 5 percent) by the year 2923 2029. (B) This should be accomplished through education and information programs, a conservation retrofit program, conservation oriented water rate structure and metering as well as a meter repair and replacement program. 0 Page 5 of 14 227 (9) Recycling and reuse. The city will investigate reuse and recycling programs where legally possible and economically feasible. Water reclamation at the wastewater treatment plant is being ceded done by the city. Wepesed uses will be plant wash down wateF, efi site i i atien, and pessible off site igatien. Current uses for reclaimed water include plant wash -down water and on-site irrigation The City is studying additional uses such as off- site irrigation. (10) Pro -rata water allocation. In the event that the cicv is in a leis "Y' severe water shorta^^adifiens), as specified in threshold conditions of the drought contingency plan have been , the city manager is hereby authorized to initiate allocation of water supplies on a pro - rata basis in accordance with Texas Water Code, section 11.039. (11) Implementation and enforcement. The city, through its staff, will implement the water conservation plan in accordance with the city council's adoption of the plan, plumbing codes, and revisions thereof as set out in this plan. The city also maintains the authority to inspect any and all connections by Seth Ward Water Supply Corporation customers to the water distribution system located past the delivery point of the corporation's water system. (12) Contract with other political subdivisions. Any political subdivision and/or wholesale customer applying for new or renewed water contracts from the city must have: (A) an approved water conservation and drought contingency plan in effect; or (B) must officially adopt applicable provisions of the city's water conservation and drought contingency plan. In addition, every wholesale water contract entered into or renewed after adoption of the plan, including contract extensions, must agree that in case of a water shortage resulting from drought, the water to be distributed shall be divided in accordance with Texas Water Code, section 11.039. Sec. 13.05.005 Drought contingency and emergency plan The drought contingency plan, as adopted by the city, is as follows: (1) Threshold conditions. There are four classifications ofdrought conditions The Texas Water- Develepment Board suggest feur- levels or "trigger conditions" for determining the degree of urgency for initiation of a drought contingency plan. The "triggering criteria" below are based on an evaluation of the historical water system capacities and customer use patterns as well as a consideration of the impact of drought, emergencies, and high use upon capacities and patterns. These four classifications/conditions levels as they mate to the eity, and are as follows: (A) Mild water shortageen: Ordinance 19-3691 Page 6 of 14 228 (i) The average daily water consumption reaches approximately 7" 50% of the available water production capacity, and has been that high for a period of three days; and 0 (ii) Weather conditions indicate that high use is likely to continue. (B) Moderate water shortage eendifiens are .ecehea when: (i) The average daily water consumption reaches approximately 80% 70% of the rated available water production capacity for a three-day period; (ii) Weather conditions indicate mild water shortage will exist for five days or more; or (iii) A mechanical failure of pumping equipment which will require more than 24 hours to repair occurs when a mild water shortage is in progress. (C) Severe water shortage elassifieatienmaehed when: : (i) Average daily water consumption reaches approximately 90% of available water production capacity for a period of three days; (ii) Average daily water consumption will not enable storage levels to be maintained; (iii) System demand exceeds available high service pump capacity; or (iv) A mechanical failure of pumping equipment which will require more than 12 hours to repair occurs when a moderate drought is in progress. (D) A-eEmergency condition is aee'a~ea when: (i) The Canadian River Municipal Water Authority (CRMWA1 system fails, and the water cannot be delivered to the city; (ii) The water system is contaminated either accidentally or intentionally; or (iii) The water system fails from acts of God (tornadoes, hurricanes, etc.) or man. Ordinance 19-3691 Page 7 of 14 229 An emergency condition is treated like a severe water shortage dFOUght. (2) Water shortage contingency measures. The city manager, or his/her designee, shall monitor water supply and, in accordance with the triggering criteria set forth in subsection (1) above, shall determine that mild, moderate, or severe water shortage conditions exist or that an emergency condition exists and shall implement the following plan. The city shall notify the executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) as soon as possible to notify the director that mandatory provisions of this plan have been implemented. (A) Step I. Curtailment shall be initiated upon existence of mild water shortage conditions and will include the following actions: (i) Develop information center and designate information person. (ii) Advise public of condition and publicize availability of information from the information center. (iii) Encourage voluntary reduction of water use. (iv) Contact commercial and industrial users and explain necessity for initiation of strict conservation methods. (v) Implement system oversight and make adjustments as required to meet changing conditions. (vi) Target: Raise public awareness of the situation and maintain daily water demand at or below -78 SO percent of available water production capacity. (B) Step II. Curtailment shall be initiated by the city manager on identifying moderate water shortage conditions. The listed actions are compulsory on users and are intended to prohibit nonessential water use. (i) Outdoor residential use of water will be permitted on alternate days. Even -numbered houses will use water for outdoor residential uses on even days of the month and odd -numbered houses on odd days of the month. Outdoor residential uses consist of washing vehicles, boats, trailers, landscape sprinkler systems and irrigation, recreational use of sprinklers, outside showers (in parks) and water slides. Ordinance 19-3691 Page 8 of 14 230 (ii) The city manager, or his/her designee, will monitor system function and establish hours for outside water use, depending upon system performance. (iii) The information center and publicity elements shall keep the public advised of curtailment status. (iv) Commercial and industrial users will be visited to ensure that conservation measures have been initiated. (v) Target: Reduce and maintain daily water demand at or below 9&70 percent of available water production capacity. (C) Step III. Curtailment shall be initiated upon existence of a severe water shortage as determined by the city manager. The city manager will prohibit l. -m the use of water for: (i) Vehicle washing, window washing, outside watering (lawn, shrubs, faucet dripping, garden, etc.). (ii) Public water uses which are not essential for health, safety and sanitary purposes. These nonessential uses include: street washing, watering of parks, fire hydrant €keg flow testing, filling swimming pools, watering athletic fields and courses, and dust control sprinkling. (iii) Commercial uses not listed will be controlled to the extent dictated by the city manager. (iv) Target: Reduce and maintain daily water demand at or below 90 percent of available water production capacity, or in any emergency condition of system outages due to equipment failure, temporarily discontinue water system operating. (D) Step IV. Curtailment shall be initiated upon by the existence of coy en his ;, en fi f-yi ,. an emergency condition as determined by the ci manager. The listed actions are compulsory on users: (i) All aesthetic and nonessential water use, including landscape irrigation use, is prohibited, except where necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public. No new landscape material may be installed. (ii) All city operations will adhere to the water use restrictions. (iii) The city may reduce water system pressure to conserve water. Ordinance 19-3691 Page 9 of 14 231 (3) Businesses requiring water as a basic function of their operation, such as nurseries, commercial carwash, laundromats, high pressure water cleaning, etc., will obtain written permission from the city manager for intended water use. (4) The system priority for water service shall be made based on the following priority list. (A) Hospitals. (B) Residential. (C) Schools. (D) Industrial. (E) Commercial. (F) Recreational. (5) Alternative water sources. (A) The city has two water sources: (A) water pumped by wells from the Ogallala Aquifer; and (B) water delivered to the city's water treatment plant by Canadiann Munieipal Wat Authffity (CRMWA3. The wells are located in different areas of the city and are powered by different electrical sources. A portion of the wells should be operational at any given time. The treatment plant can be completely operational without power provided by the electric company as long as water is supplied by CRMWA. (B) With these two water sources, it is highly unlikely that both sources would be out at the same time. If that should happen, water would lave-te be trucked into the city from other sources and in accordance with State guidelines. (6) Information and education. (A) The public will be made aware of water conservation and drought conditions by information and data transferred through the city's program. During periods of water shortage curtailment, step I conditions will establish an information center, an information person, and utilize the most effective methods developed for information dissemination on a daily basis. (B) Close observation of the first year information program should develop the most effective ways to communicate with customers. Posting Ordinance 19-3691 Page 10 of 14 232 notices, newspaper articles, radio coverage and direct mail to customers will be used during the first year activities. (7) Initiation procedures. Initiation procedures for water shortage response are described in this plan. Each condition will be met with corresponding action by the city manager or his/her designee. The city will affect curtailment, give notice, publicize and follow-up with implementation of curtailment. (8) Termination notification. Termination of each water shortage condition will begin when conditions have improved to the extent that an upgraded condition can be declared by the city manager. This process will be employed until full service can be provided. System priority will be considered in returning to upgraded condition. Termination will be initiated by the city manager by giving notice, etc., as was given to enact water shortage curtailment. (9) Variances. The city manager, may, in writing, grant a temporary variance for existing water uses otherwise prohibited under this plan if it is determined that failure to grant such variance would cause an emergency condition adversely affecting the health, sanitation, or fire protection for the public or the person requesting such variance and if one or more of the following conditions are met: (A) Compliance with this plan cannot be technically accomplished during the duration of the water supply shortage or other condition for which the plan is in effect. (B) Alternative methods can be implemented which will achieve the same level of reduction in water use. (10) Exemptions. Persons requesting an exemption from the provisions of this article shall file a petition for variance with the city within 5 days after the plan or a particular water shortage response stage has been invoked. All petitions for variances shall be reviewed by the city manager, and shall include the following: Ordinance 19-3691 (A) Name and address of the petitioner(s). (B) Purpose of water use. (C) Specific provision(s) of the plan from which the petitioner is requesting relief. (D) Detailed statement as to how the specific provision of the plan adversely affects the petitioner or what damage or harm will occur to the petitioner or others if petitioner complies with this article. Page 11 of 14 233 (E) Description of the relief requested. (F) Period of time for which the variance is sought. (G) Alternative water use restrictions or other measures the petitioner is taking or proposes to take to meet the intent of this plan and the compliance date. (H) Other pertinent information. (11) Variances granted by the city shall be subject to the following conditions, unless waived or modified by the city manager: (A) Variances granted shall include a timetable for compliance. (B) Variances granted shall expire when the plan is no longer in effect, unless the petitioner has failed to meet specified requirements. No variance shall be retroactive or otherwise justify any violation of this plan occurring prior to the issuance of the variance. (12) Modification deletion and amendment. The city manager can add, delete, and amend rules, regulations and implementation as needed/desired, and shall advise the city council of such amendments at its regular or called meeting. (13) Means of implementation. The city manager is hereby authorized and directed to implement the applicable provisions of this plan. The city manager will oversee the execution and implementation of all elements of the plan to ensure that adequate records are kept for program verification. Sec. 13.05.006 Penalty Seetiefis 13.-05.004 and i 3.05 .005 Any violation of this article by any person shall constitute a misdemeanor and shall be punishable by a fine in accordance with the general penalty provision found in Section 1 01 009 of the Code of Ordinances, City of Plainview, fexakmd fine of not iess than $10.00 per- day, nor- mem than $200.00 pe.r- da-y-for each day of noncompliance. In addition to the penalty described above. the city may (i) disconnect -armor discontinue water services to individuals or businesses found in violation of this article • and (ii) pursue any other equitable remedies available to the city including injunctive reliefSUeh USeFs by the eity " SECTION 3. Filing. The City Manager or his designee is hereby authorized to file this Ordinance as the City of Plainview's Water Use Management Plan with all appropriate regulatory authorities. SECTION 4. Penalty. A violation of any provision of this Ordinance shall be deemed a Ordinance 19-3691 Page 12 of 14 234 misdemeanor punishable in accordance with Section 1.01.009 of the Code of Ordinances, City of Plainview, Texas. 0 SECTION 5. Effective Date. This ordinance shall take effect immediately from and after its passage and publication as may be required by governing law. SECTION 6. Repealed. All other terms and provisions of the Code of Ordinances, City of Plainview, Texas not in conflict herewith and not hereby amended shall remain in full force and effect. SECTION 7. Severability. If any provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause or the application of same to any person or set of circumstances for any reason is held to be unconstitutional, void or invalid or for any reason unenforceable, the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance or the application thereby shall remain in effect, it being the intent of the City Council of the City of Plainview, Texas in adopting this ordinance, that no portion thereof or provision contained herein shall become inoperative or fail by any reasons of unconstitutionality of any other portion or provision. SECTION 8. Publication. The City Secretary of the City of Plainview is hereby authorized and directed to cause publication of the descriptive caption of this Ordinance as an alternative method provided by law. Passed and approved on first reading this 9`h day of April, 2019. Passed and approved on second reading this 23rd day of April, 2019. ATTEST: Belinda Hinojosa, Ci y- ecretary APPROVED AS TO CONTENT: Ordinance 19-3691 endell Dunlap, Mayor Page 13 of 14 235 APPROVED AS TO FORM: Matt6ew L. Wade, City Attorney Ordinance 19-3691 Page 14 of 14