2:00pm to 3:30pmWHA OfficeAttendeeson January 25, 2017

Jack Miller

Alia Vinson

Connie Curtis

Carmen Kumpula

  1. Welcome & Introductions (2:00)...... Jack Miller
  2. Miller welcomed everyone and thanked them for attending.
  3. Committee Business (2:10)...... Jack Miller
  4. West Houston 2060 Section
  5. The committee discussed the following timeline for the 2060 Plan:
  6. February 22nd- committee comments on our section submitted
  7. March 22nd- section ready for committee review
  8. April 2018- all content, including graphics, due
  9. September 2018 – 2060 Plan publication
  10. Campbell asked the committee to send any available geographical GIS layers out to 2025 or 2040 for the documents online publication. THe committee asked how much space is available for this section. Campbell anticipates the whole documentbeing 20 pages which will give them about two
  11. pages. The group looked a their section and reported that the current length is good moving forward.
  12. The committee discussed what Harvey additions should be made. This group is striving to remain balanced and not overly focused on Harvey. Ahrens reported that it will be important not to have a knee-jerk reaction for one event. Vinson stated that this committee may not want to mension Harvey specifically in our section. Campbell commented that the floods from Harvey gave this region a bad reputation and should be cautious of painting the picture that nothing is getting done. The committee discussed possibly adding the following:
  13. Resiliency Language
  14. Subsidence Concerns
  15. Sentence on Consistent Standards
  16. Emergency Preparedness
  17. Curtis reported that the operators are talking about their lack of preparedness in disaster situations. Curtis stated that the 2060 Plan does not need to say what the answer is but bring the idea into discussions. Vinson reported that this committee should be careful not to mention utility districts. Vinson reported that there is a negative story out that that MUDs are bad at emergency response and should be annexed, which is not true. Curtis reported that this committee should not specify MUDs but just the city in general.
  18. The committee discussed water shortage and regulations in the west. The water in the west will cause subsidence unless the ground water is converted. The committee discussed that there are no regulations that tell them that something should be done. The committee decided not to exacerbate the problem by including it in the 2060 Plan but should discuss it in smaller settings.
  19. Campbell reported that the 2060 Plan is a great place to discuss anything this committee wants to cover in the next 5-10 years.
  20. The committee discussed sending our section of the plan to the committee members who could not attend and askehtm to send Kumpula or Campbell any comments.
  21. Graphics:
  22. Campbell reported that this committee will need to decide upon graphics for the printed version of the plan along with content for the website version. The following graphic ideas were discussed:
  23. Conceptual photo of Northeast Plant
  24. Wastewater treatment plant photo
  25. Possible purple pipe
  26. Capers Ridge Pump Station
  27. Graphic showing where the edge of conversion is located
  28. Melinda Silva reported that she can provide a 2016 Regional Water Plan, from the Region H Plan, graphic to the committee.
  29. Committee Programming
  30. May 30th Conference
  31. Campbell reported that the focus of the May 30th event will be on resiliency. The committee discussed focusing their efforts on the November technical forum and let other committees handle the May 30th event.
  32. Operators Working Group
  33. The committee discussed if the Operators Working Group should keep meeting or not. The committee discussed that the working group has already addressed the issue it was created for and is not sure where it will go from here.
  34. Vinson suggested bringing the operators in from working group and invite them to sit on the committee. Campbell reported that the only participants who are members from that group are Todd Burr, Inframark, and Bill Callegari, TNG. Vinson reported that she will reach out to Mike Thornhill about getting Si Environmental to join WHA as members. Vinson reported she will also reach out to Dana Hollingsworth with MDS about joining as well.
  35. The committee decided to invite Todd and Bill to sit on the committee since they are already members
  36. Topics/Speakers
  37. The committee discussed that inviting the operators opens up new world of speakers and topics.
  38. In preparation for the 2019 legislative the committee discussed that AWBD and Meyers Research Center worked on a document describing how things actually went. Campbell reported that Scott Davis, AWBD, was one of the people who did the majority of number crunching on that report. The committee discussed that it would also be interesting to see how Harvey has affected development (property values).The committee decided to ask Scott Davis to present to this group at the May 24th meeting.
  39. The committee decided to have Howard Cohen at the September or July meeting to give this gropu a legislative update. Campbell reported that he will reach out to Cohen.
  40. Policy Issues for 2018/2019
  41. Campbell reported that WHA is asking all our committees to give input regarding any policy issues they would like WHA to address. The committee discussed being proactive in a bill to address issues with MUDs. The committee discussed that this may be a TWCA issue. Campbell reported that WHA wants to anticipate what might be in the legislation in order to have a planned response.
  42. The committee discussed the new Chapter 19 Flood Plain Ordinance. Campbell reported that the City’s regulations won’t apply to those rules in the ETJ but the Harris County regulations will apply in the City’s ETJ.
  43. Campbell asked the group to let us know if they hear of any legislation that WHA should support or oppose.
  44. The committee discussed that WHA can’t plan for everything, so what is a reasonable expectation.
  45. New Business
  46. Vinson reported that BechBruun, chairman of the Texas Water Development Board, is running for Congress.
  1. Adjourn (3:30)

2018 WHA Water Resources Committee Proposed Meeting Schedule
Default Meeting Locationat WHA Offices, 2 pm
Thursday, January 25
Thursday, March 22
Thursday, May 24 / Thursday, July 26
Thursday, September 27
Thursday, November 15