Managing Water Supplies During a Drought

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Managing Water Supplies During a Drought
Lee Keck, Environmental Manager Tennessee
Division of Water Supply
Tennessee Department of Environment and
Conservation
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TAUD Members
June 3, 2008
Managing Water Supplies During a Drought

• Division of Water Supply / Environmental Manager
• Lee Keck

Tennessee Department of Environment and
Conservation
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(No Transcript)
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The Focus of this Presentation is on Assisting
CWSs in Managing Drought Impacts
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What happens in a drought?

• Or
• What can go wrong for a water system?

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What do you need most to do?What would you most
like to avoid?
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If You Can Be Impacted By A Drought

• CWSs must have an approved EOP (Emergency
  Operation Plan). They must address drought .
• It is a System Deficiency Revised Sanitary
  Survey will deduct points for failing to adhere
  to a plan

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A Management Plan Can Help You

• Minimize the adverse effects
• Make the best use of available water
• Allow for predictability and equitability
• Provide a basis for management decisions (why and
  when things are done)

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Identify the uses of water related to your system

• Domestic (single-family, apartment houses)
• Institutions (hospitals, nursing homes, schools)
• Recreation (swimming pools, golf courses, etc.)
• Commercial (car washes, retail, bottlers)
• Industry
• Agriculture (dairy, livestock, truck farms, etc.)
• Environmental (aquatic habitat, etc.)

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Assess Demand by Use

• Base Demands
• Domestic Residential, Nursing Homes
• Hospitals
• Commercial
• Industrial
• Seasonal Demands
• Lawn Watering
• Golf Course Irrigation
• Swimming Pool
• Agriculture (Truck crops, Livestock, Dairy due
  to normal sources drying up)

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Potential Water Quality Problems Associated with
Drought

• Algal blooms Resulting in Taste and Odor
  problems and additional treatment
• Temperature Resulting in Chlorine Dissipation
• Waste Assimilation - Inability of sources to
  assimilate making treatment more difficult

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Factors in Evaluating Risk

• Source Capacity
• Diversity of Sources (Surface, Spring, Well,
  Connections to other PWSs)
• Hydraulic capacity (treatment capacity, pumping
  and transmission capacity, storage capacity)
• Deferrable Uses
• Vulnerability to other risks (spills, etc.)
• Emergency Management Provisions In-Place

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Steps in Developing a Management Plan
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2
3
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Public Participation
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Public Participation

• Identify Potential Problems
• Clarify Public Welfare Issues
• Educate the Public

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Balancing The Water Systems Supply and Demand
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Unmanaged Water Use

• Source capacity
• (declining)
• System Capacity
• Water demand (increasing)
• Wet Normal Dry
  Very Dry Exceptionally Dry
• Conditions

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Managed Water Use

• Source capacity
• (declining)
• System Capacity
  
• 1
• 2
• Water demand
• (increasing)
• 
  
  3
• Wet Normal
  Dry Very Dry Exceptionally
  Dry
• Conditions

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Identify Objectives and Phases

• 90-Day Supply or less, a system might impose a 7
  percent reduction in use (voluntary)
• 60-Day Supply or less, a 17 percent reduction
  (mandatory restrictions)
• 7-Day Supply or less, 30 percent reduction
  (emergency restrictions and/or rationing)
• 3-Day Supply or less, and actions necessary to
  provide drinking water to those individuals
  without water

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Identify Potential Source Conflicts

• Golf Course Irrigation Withdrawals
• Athletic fields
• Nurseries
• Pasture and Crop Irrigation Withdrawals
• Livestock Water Withdrawals
• Industrial Discharges Waste Assimilation
• Industrial Withdrawals
• Naturally Occurring Water Quality Issues
  Temperature, Taste and Odor

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Potential Conflicts
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Potential Trigger-Points

• Consider water in storage
• Inadequate water pressure
• Level of Demand, especially peak demand
• Declining Source Capacity

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Assess Management

• Balance of Water Supply to Demand
• Available Staff and Equipment (to monitor
  restrictions, read meters, etc.)
• Standby or Alternative Rate Structures and/or
  Rationing Schemes have been established
• Ordinances and By-laws (are in place)
• Plan is socially acceptable (Non-Essential Uses
  are not classified as Essential uses)
• Announcement system in place (notification)

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Permitted Water Uses
Normal and Alert
Voluntary Reductions
Mandatory Restrictions
Emergency
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Define Use Classes

• Essential 1st Class
• Essential 2nd Class
• Non-Essential

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Non-Essential

• Lawn watering
• Car Washing (Non-Commercial)
• Vehicle Washing Facilities (Non-Recycling)
• Driveway, Sidewalk and Patio Washing
• Fountains
• Golf Courses (Fairways)

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Essential 1st Uses

• Domestic Drinking Water
• Hospital and other health care facilities
• Nursing Homes
• Sanitation
• Fire Fighting
• Pet Drinking Water

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Essential 2nd Class

• Laundromats (in excess of 50 of previous
  years use)
• Vehicle Washing Facilities (including recycling)
• Golf Courses (any portion, including greens)
• Garden Watering
• Watering of athletic fields, trees and shrubs
  except to sustain plant material
• Water used for dust control
• Filling or refilling of swimming pools

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Restrictions in Time of Daywhere there are
hydraulic issues

• Golf Courses (allow watering of greens between 8
  pm and 6 am)
• Garden Watering (allow between 8 pm and 6 am)
• Watering of athletic fields, trees and shrubs
  except to sustain plant material (allow between
  8 pm and 6 am)
• Filling or refilling of swimming pools (allow
  between 8 pm and 6 am)
• Commercial vehicle washing facilities (allow
  between 8 pm and 6 am)

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Rationing and Pricing

• Based on a per capita amount (registration)
• A percent of the previous years usage (can be a
  software issue)
• Alternative rate structures (can be a software
  issue)
• Based on a percent of a previous average
  months use

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Public Notification and Enforcement

• Media Respond to information requests,
• disseminate information
• Letters, Leaflets, Door Hangers
• Warnings and Citations
• Complaint Responses

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Other Resources

• Local Drought Management Guide For Public Water
  Systems
• http//state.tn.us/environment/dws/DWprogram.shtml
  

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Water Conservation Programs - A Planning Manual
(AWWA)

• This manual is a water conservation planning
  guide for all city water utilities. It provides
  worksheets, steps, goals, and program participant
  responsibilities and roles. Water conservation
  rates, involvement of various outside groups,
  obstacles to overcome, and success measurement
  techniques are also provided.

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EPA Water Sense
Tips Home Consumers Businesses Utilities Communit
ies
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Water Conservation Plan Guidelines (EPA)

• The Water Conservation Plan Guidelines may be
  viewed and/or downloaded
• http//www.epa.gov/OW-OWM.html/water-efficiency/pu
  bs/guide.htm

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Management Under Normal Conditions

• Plumbing Codes (fixture replacement program)
• Water Conservation materials / education
• Ordinances / By-laws adopted
• Facility Development
• Meter replacement
• Pricing Schemes
• Leak detection program
• Temporary Sources and Interconnections

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Application and Agreement for Service

• I understand that all service is subject to the
  rules and regulations of the City of Franklin,
  which may be amended from time to time and that
  these rules and regulations are part of this
  agreement.

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BY-LAWS

• 18-127. Restricted use of water. In times of
  emergencies or in times of water shortage, the
  city reserves the right to restrict the purposes
  for which water may be used by a customer and the
  amount of water which a customer may use.
  (Adopted 1976)

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Municipal Code

• 18-130. Water shortage policy. (1) No water
  furnished by the city shall be wasted. Waste of
  water includes, but is not necessarily limited to
  the following
• (b) Failure to repair a controllable leak of
  water and
• (c) Failure to put to reasonable beneficial uses
  any water withdrawn from the city's system.

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Water Shortage Declaration

• (d) The mayor is hereby authorized to declare a
  water shortage emergency to exist, and the mayor
  may declare an end to a water shortage emergency.
  In declaring a water shortage emergency, such
  emergency shall be designated Status 1 or Status
  2 in accordance with conditions as determined by
  the Director of the Water and Wastewater System
  of the City of Little Water.

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Reporting of PWS Problems

• 1200-5-1-.18(2) requires systems to report the
  failure to comply, failure of equipment, loss of
  service or any other situation which presents an
  endangerment
• The DWS will work with systems

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• Summary of Planning Steps

• Pre-planning Authority to plan
• Task Force or Group Establish Process , Goals
  and Public Involvement
• Recognize Existing Plans, Partnerships,
  Agreements
• Coordinate with and Notify State and Regional
  Agencies
• Identify Source Risks, Water Demand,
  Trigger-points and Plan Phased Responses
• Plan for Implementation Monitoring,
  Activation of Phases, Staff and Resources
  Needed, Public Notification and Enforcement
• Management Team (Responsibilities)
• Review, Evaluate and Up-date Plan

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• QUESTIONS?
• Comments