Broken Arrow City Council
Meeting of: 06-20-16
To: Mayor and Council Members
From: Office of the City Attorney
Title:
title
Consideration, discussion, possible approval of and authorization to execute Resolution No. 929, a Joint Resolution of the City Council of the City of Broken Arrow and the Broken Arrow Municipal Authority approving and authorizing a Water Conservation Program; authorizing the City Manager to monitor the water system and to implement appropriate water conservation measures, as conditions warrant, such as drought, water shortages, pressure and delivery problems, or any use of water that adversely affects or may adversely affect the public health, safety or welfare, all in accordance with the Water Conservation Program
End
Background:
The City of Broken Arrow Water Conservative Program (WCP) is a short-term water emergency plan that enables implementation of a three-stage water conservation approach during periods of extremely high demand or water shortages. The program is to assure City customers of an adequate water supply to meet their basic needs during these unusual periods. The temporary, short-term water conservation program is designed to be used only as long as an emergency situation arises; whereby, the system demand exceeds the total quantity of water available to the system whether produced at the BAMA owned treatment facility or in conjunction with treated water purchased from another system.
There are several benefits associated with the Water Conservation Plan, namely:
• Enables adequate quantities of potable water are available for the customers of Broken Arrow to meet their domestic needs for health, safety and well-being.
• Allows maintenance of an adequate supply of water for personal, commercial and industrial needs, as well as a sufficient supply for life safety and fire suppression needs.
• Maximizes the availability of stored water in the six (6) storage facilities located within the water distribution system.
• Educates customers about more efficient water use during periods of peak demands, typically seen during the months of July through September of each year.
During periods of water conservation, the WCP enables the City Manager to implement conservation stages when certain criteria are met. With the implementation of each conservation stage, the City Manager may sign a directive and advise the citizens by notifying them of the implementation of the specific conservation stage in the local newspaper and the city web page, as well as utilizing the city-wide “robo-call” system.
There are three stages of water conservation. These include the following:
Stage One-Voluntary Conservation
Conditions indicate that the probability of a water shortage is rising and steps should be taken to inform customers and ask for voluntary reductions in water use. The City of Broken Arrow will post “water watch” information on the city website and will make news releases describing the current conditions.
The voluntary water conservation measures could include implementing an alternate day (odd/even) schedule for outdoor watering, restricting watering between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. only and reduce outdoor water use on weekends.
When conditions are such that more stringent conservation measures are required, a Stage Two Water Conservation will be declared and mandatory conservation measures will be required.
Stage Two-Moderate Water Conservation
As the water supply problems become more severe, a Stage Two water conservation will be implemented. Stage Two is triggered when any one of the following conditions occur:
• Daily water demand for three (3) consecutive days is in excess of 95% of the treatment capacity and the water taken from the City of Tulsa connections.
• Total system storage does not recover above 70% prior to 5:00 a.m.
The Stage Two conservation measures will impose additional conservation measures and includes restrictions on golf course watering, closure of splash pads and non-essential city water use (fire hydrant testing and flushing of water lines, etc.)
If conditions begin to further deteriorate, a Stage Three Emergency Water Conservation becomes operative. Stage three is more stringent and becomes mandatory.
Stage Three-Emergency Water Conservation
As the water supply problem continues to deteriorate, a Stage Three Emergency Water Conservation measure will be implemented. In Stage Three, severe water shortage conditions are present and supplies are limited.
A Stage Three is triggered when any one of the following conditions occur:
• Areas of the water distribution system have reduced water pressure that is less than 25 psi for 24 hours or more.
• Daily water demand for two consecutive days is in excess of 100% of the treatment plant capacity and water taken from City of Tulsa connections.
• Total system storage does not recover above 60% prior to 5:00 a.m.
• There is a reduction in the long-term supply of water (supply shortage, pumps down, breaks in transmission line and contamination of raw water supply).
Stage Three water conservation will impose further restrictions that include totally prohibiting outdoor water use, watering of golf courses is restricted to greens only and closure of City splash pads and swimming pools.
As conditions improve, the City Manager will assess the conditions and scale back the restrictions to Stage Two or Stage One or remove all water conservation measures imposed.
Notably, hand watering landscape and gardens with a handheld hose with a shut off valve is allowed at any time. Soaker hoses are also allowed any time throughout all stages listed within this program.
Cost: $0
Prepared By: Beth Anne Wilkening, City Attorney
Reviewed By: Assistant City Manager--Operations
Utilities Department
Department of Parks and Recreation
Approved By: Michael L. Spurgeon, City Manager
Attachments: City of Broken Arrow Water Conservation Program
Resolution No. 929
Recommendation:
Approve Resolution No. 929 and authorize its execution.