ASPEN CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Margaret Medellin, Utilities Portfolio Manager THRU: Scott Miller, Director of Public Works; Dave Hornbacher, Director, Utilities and Environmental Initiatives; DATE OF MEMO: January 27, 2017 MEETING DATE: January 31, 2017 RE: Resolution 141, Series 2016 Progress Update SUMMARY: On October 10, 2016, Council passed Resolution #141, Series of 2016 (see Attachment A: Resolution #141, Series of 2016) directing staff to implement certain water management measures to improve resiliency against future climate change impacts and other system changes while continuing efforts to maintain diligence for two conditional water storage rights on Castle and Maroon Creeks. During today’s work session, staff will provide Council progress updates on the four (4) identified tasks and seek Council feedback to refine this community-based approach to securing Aspen’s water future. BACKGROUND: The City Utilities and Environmental Initiatives Department is responsible for assuring Aspen has a safe, legal and reliable water supply, now and into the future. To this end, the City has developed an integrated water supply. As a part of this integrated water supply, since 1965 the City of Aspen has held and maintained conditional water rights for reservoirs on Maroon and Castle Creeks. Today, the City’s primary source of stored water is snowpack, which varies significantly from year to year. Aspen uses direct flow rights from Maroon and Castle Creeks, which are diverted to the Leonard Thomas Reservoir located at Aspen’s Water Treatment Facility, treated, and then delivered to Aspen customers. The Leonard Thomas Reservoir is an operational reservoir with a capacity of 9 acre-feet, which is less than a day of storage during peak summer use. Storage reservoirs, however, can retain water from season to season and year to year, and can provide water supplies even during times of shortage. The Aspen community will face significant challenges maintaining its water supply as we experience changing precipitation and runoff patterns, and possible increased fire, drought, change in runoff timing and lower snowpack levels due to climate change. Without water storage, Aspen’s water supply for households and businesses will be threatened. There will be no meaningful back up if surface supplies are greatly reduced. This is a risk the City considers when making long-range plans. Science confirms that Aspen’s climate is already changing and will continue to do so. Aspen now sees 23 fewer winter days than in the years before 1980. This trend is projected to continue and Aspen’s current water storage – our snowpack - will diminish. PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION: Council work sessions to discuss the Maroon Creek and Castle Creek conditional storage rights were held on September 20th and 27th of 2016. City staff provided Council with feedback obtained earlier from a City hosted stakeholder meeting, a community meeting, and from staff’s attendance at other meetings and discussions with interested groups and individuals. Resolution #141, Series of 2016 was unanimously approved by City Council at its regular meeting on October 10th, 2016. DISCUSSION: Resolution #141 directed staff to pursue actions in four (4) task areas. A substantial multi-year effort is being undertaken to implement these tasks, and will require concurrent processes: legal proceedings, on-going integrated water system development and operation, refinement of future water demand, collaborative process to identify system needs and potential solutions, and investigation of reservoir resizing and/or relocation. Staff will provide quarterly updates on work progress, and will check-in regularly to update Council on significant work items, decision points and to provide timely information. The goal of this work session is to update Council on the work accomplished since the Resolution signing and to review the framework that is being structured to accomplish the Resolution direction. See Attachment B: Aspen Water Future Work Plan – Working Draft which provides a draft timeline and primary deliverables for each task. Following is an update for each of the four (4) Resolution tasks: 1) On-going Integrated Water System Development and Operation Continue development and implementation of the City’s integrated water supply system, including water conservation measures (including, but not limited to, rate revisions and new landscape ordinance), the reuse project, and other current plans for development of water supplies, as well as further refinement of climate change impacts on supply and demand patterns. • • Water Conservation Measures o Rate Revisions – Since 2006, the City has implemented a conservation-oriented, 4 tiered inclining block rate structure. An ongoing rate study initiated in 2016 will be completed in 2017 with recommendations for Council review and approval. o Aspen Water Efficiency Plan – the City water efficiency plan was completed and adopted by Council in 2015. Staff initiated work in several recommended areas including: § Revision to Water Shortage Ordinance – completed § Landscape Ordinance – initiated in 2016, staff will present to Council this spring a proposed Phase 1 Landscaping Ordinance. § Water Distribution System review – as recommended in the efficiency plan, staff retained consultant services in 2016 to initiate a review according to standards of the American Water Works Association. Staff will continue this review and provide updates. § Annual Water Conservation Program 2017 – staff are designing the 2017 water conservation program. Re-use Water System o City staff continue to work with ACSD to finalize an updated Letter of Intent (LOI) and Site Application Amendment to Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), which will allow the City to reuse treated wastewater effluent. o A contract was signed in December 2016 with Carollo Engineers to develop a work plan for securing a CDPHE Notice of Authorization (NOA) for the proposed reuse system. • • • Integrated Groundwater Resources o Queen Street Well is included in the City’s water court application in Case No. 15CW3119. o Contract signed with HRS Consultants to determine timing of depletions and augmentation for Queen Street Well. Alternative underground storage resources o Mine resources, in-situ storage, etc. o Contract signed with Deere and Ault Consultants in January 2017 to complete a preliminary feasibility analysis of the potential of this resource. o On January 26, 2017, consultants Don Deere and Victor DeWolf met with staff and performed on site investigative tour of local mines. Refinement of Future Water Supply and Demand Scenarios o Entered into a contract with Headwaters Inc. to perform a preliminary review of risks in Aspen’s demand and supply through 2065. Dr. George Oamek performed a risk analysis assessment. 2) Collaborative Community-Based Process to identify system needs and potential solutions Initiate a collaborative process to evaluate existing and identify new alternatives and any other necessary actions to fill the currently projected and updated anticipated water supply and demand gap • Entered into a contract with Consensus Building Institute (CBI) to perform a convening assessment. Information about the convening assessment is included in Attachment C. It is critical to use an effective community-based approach in order to leverage the expertise in the community and develop a long-term water supply plan with the greatest chance of success to secure Aspen’s water future. The first step in this collaborative process is to include stakeholders in the development of a framework and design for the engagement process. This convening assessment is an opportunity to expand mutual trust and credibility amongst all participants. CBI will gather input from potential participants to inform a collaborative process that: o Fosters trust and transparency. o Leads to a thoughtful, inclusive, comprehensive exploration and understanding of relevant data and potential additional options to supplement the City’s current water sources. Generates an atmosphere of collaborative and creative problem-solving. Provides City with informed community views regarding different viable options for meeting the City’s long-term water supply needs. Identifies and understands the expectations of stakeholders. o o o • • Information gathered through the convening assessment will be used to develop the community based collaborative process. The convening assessment is the first step in the collaborative process and is expected to take 2 months. It is anticipated that the collaborative process will kick-off in early summer 2017. 3) Legal Proceedings File and pursue an application for finding of reasonable diligence in the development of the Castle and Maroon Creek conditional water rights on or before October 31, 2016. Applications for findings of reasonable diligence were timely filed in the Division 5 Water Court for the Maroon Creek Reservoir (Case No. 16CW3128) and Castle Creek Reservoir (16CW3129). Statements of opposition were filed to both applications by 6 parties. An additional 2 statements of opposition were filed for each case. The Division Engineer has issued his consultation report in both cases, and the cases are set for a joint initial telephone conference with the water referee on February 9, 2017. 4) Investigation of reservoir resizing and/or relocation Enhance and increase the City’s efforts to investigate alternative locations and sizing requirements of the Maroon Creek Reservoir and/or Castle Creek Reservoir, and to report findings back to City Council for further consideration and action as appropriate. • • Update of surveying o Entered into a contract with Sopris Engineering to update surveying for Castle Creek Reservoir Review of geological data o Met with dam and reservoir expert, Terry Arnold, to review certain existing geological data. COUNCIL DIRECTION REQUESTED: This presentation is intended to be informational and no formal action is requested of Council. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS: The City is committed to reducing its footprint (carbon and water) and fighting climate change, but even with this effort and action the City recognizes that it is best practice to plan for a future that looks very different than today. The City’s efforts to refine its demand and supply projections, along with undertaking a collaborative effort to identify new water infrastructure and management options is necessary to ensure the City’s resiliency. BUDGET IMPACT: The initial study work is absorbed under the current 2017 budget authority. Staff is developing a project specific budget that will include estimates of the cost of community facilitation (based on results of the RFP), identified supporting engineering consultant and expert services, legal expenses, and staffing. This budget will be presented to Council review and approval at a follow-up work session. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS: Attachment A – Resolution #141, Series of 2016 Attachment B – Aspen Water Future Work Plan – Working Draft Attachment C – Convening Assessment