ASPEN CITY COUNCIL APRIL STATUS REPORT 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: April 28, 2017 RE: Resolution 141, Series 2016 Monthly Progress Update – April 2017 SUMMARY: On October 10, 2016, Council passed 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. Staff will provide quarterly updates on work progress, and provide monthly status reports to Council. 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. 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, ongoing 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. This monthly report will provide updates on staff’s progress towards meeting these resolution directives. KEY ACTIONS SINCE LAST REPORT: Staff has prepared a Work Plan to structure work towards Resolution 141 (2016) goals. Following is an update of items on the Work Plan accomplished since the last status report, dated 3/24/2017. Risk-based analysis of demand and supply variables: Headwaters Corporation continues its work on developing a risk assessment tool to determine Aspen’s vulnerability associated with its water supply and demand. Conservation Efforts: Aspen’s water supply is most vulnerable from the late summer into fall when vegetation is thirsty and resulting landscape irrigation demands are still high while stream flow from melted snow pack is diminishing. Staff presented a proposed Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance to City Council at its 4/18/2017 Work Session. The ordinance is intended to reduce water demand during this vulnerable time. Investigation of Groundwater: Staff continues its work with HRS Engineers to determine the augmentation needs of Aspen area wells. Permitting of Reuse System: Staff and Carollo Engineers met with Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) on 4/21/2017 to review Aspen’s plans for a system that would use wastewater effluent to supplement water used for irrigation in the Aspen service area. CDPHE provided guidance and Carollo is proceeding with preparing permit application documents. Develop framework for collaborative process: CBI completed its Convening Assessment and distributed its final report to all participants. Staff is incorporating CBI’s findings in its RFP development. Alternatives Analysis: Deere and Ault Engineers continue their investigation of the use of local mine tunnels and in-situ reservoirs for water storage. Date April Meetings to discuss Aspen's CSWR Details 4/6/2017 Constituent Meeting 4/18/2017 City Council Work Session 4/21/2017 Meeting with Regulators Staff presented Water Topics at ACRA’s breakfast Presentation of proposed landscape ordinance Staff met with CDPHE to discuss reuse system Document Memo, Ordinance KEY ACTIONS PLANNED: During the next month, staff anticipate actions in the following areas: Risk-based analysis of demand and supply variables: collection of data, development of risk-based tool, and conversations with climate change experts to identify best models for this analysis. Conservation Efforts: Based on the 4/21/2017 Council Work Session, staff will be presenting the Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance at the 5/8/2017 Regular Council Meeting. Develop framework for collaborative process: Staff is developing a Request for Proposal (RFP) for public outreach services for a robust and transparent community-based collaborative process to discuss Aspen’s water supply. Release of RFP is anticipated in early May. Alternatives Analysis: Continue work on on-going efforts to identify and review alternatives. The following meetings are anticipated to take place in the near term. Date 5/9/2017 Upcoming Meetings to discuss Aspen's CSWR Water Court – conference call with referee 5/15/2017 City Council Work Session Details Document Meeting with opposers to discuss case status Quarterly update Memo CONTRACTS: Following are contracts associated with this work: Description Summary of Approved contracts Headwaters Corp. demand analysis Headwaters Corp. supply analysis Deere and Ault mine water storage analysis CBI Convening Assessment Deere and Ault in situ reservoir analysis Amount $45,000 $45,000 $15,000 $23,000 $53,000 $181,000 SCHEDULE: The Work Plan is divided into four categories: diligence filing, collaboration, technical analysis and operations. This schedule will be updated as work items progress. The following table lists major work items and estimated schedule of each work item. Start Date End Date Category Item 10/31/2016 12/31/2016 2/9/2017 10/31/2016 12/31/2016 2/9/2017 Diligence Filing Diligence Filing Diligence Filing 2/21/2017 2/21/2017 Diligence Filing 5/9/2017 5/9/2017 Diligence Filing 1/16/2017 5/3/2017 4/7/2017 5/3/2017 Collaboration Collaboration File due diligence Statement of opposition due Conference Call with Referee Facilitated meeting with opposers Conference Call with Referee Convening Assessment Release RFP for facilitators 6/24/2017 7/1/2017 2/1/2018 6/24/2017 2/1/2018 4/1/2018 Collaboration Collaboration Collaboration 3/6/2017 12/31/2017 Technical Analysis 10/31/2016 12/31/2017 Technical Analysis 3/27/2017 7/31/2017 Technical Analysis 1/27/2017 7/31/2017 Technical Analysis 3/6/2017 12/31/2017 Technical Analysis 10/31/2016 4/1/2018 On-going On-going Technical Analysis Operations Operations Select Facilitation Team Community-based Process Present recommendations to City Council Risk analysis for supply and demand Develop groundwater strategy Investigate in-situ reservoir potential Investigate mine tunnel storage potential Update climate change models Optimize Reuse System Conservation Efforts Integrated water system ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION: City Council is asked to provide feedback on this monthly status report and suggest additional information to be shared in subsequent reports. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS: