 Good morning everyone. I believe it is 11. I think we do have all of the board members Here just checking with staff as we can go ahead and start the meeting a board member walks Let me double check. I'm looking for chair Burt for Jennifer Burke to log on Okay, great. I couldn't I wasn't sure if I saw her so thank you. Okay one moment. All right It looks like we have director Burke. So I will call the meeting to order and ask Secretary Manus if you could do a real call Thank you Board member Walsh President Board member Grable here and Chair what here but the record show all subcommittee members are present Thank you and just a reminder to all members to mute your phones and microphones is when you are not speaking All right, so we'll start by opening opening up for public comments on item two Public comments and non-agenda items. So if you wish to make a comment via zoom Please raise your hand or if you're dialing in via telephone, please dial star nine to raise your hand Secretary Manus, do we have any live email or voicemail public comments at this time? There are no public comments All right, great. Thank you So we will now take a public comment on the minutes approval So if you wish to make a comment via zoom, please raise your hand if you are dialing in via telephone Please dial star nine to raise your hand Secretary Manus, do we have any public comments? There are no public comments for the approval of the minutes Okay, great. So with that I would ask that we approve the minutes of that if unless there are any objections So now we will move on to item 4.1 and director Burke. Could you introduce the item? Thank you chair Watson members of the subcommittee our first item is a proposed high efficiency toilet rebate program and Deb Lane our sustainability Representative will be making the presentation Great. Thank you director Burke. Can you all see? Great. Well, good morning chair Watts and board members I am happy to be here today to present on a new high efficiency toilet rebate So I wanted to give you a little bit of background. We have had a number of Previous toilet incentives. We've replaced over 50,000 toilets through different types of programs Where the customer actually installed them there was direct install that was installed by plumbing contractor Or even a distribution program where customers picked up some free toilets So why do another toilet rebate? Well, we really want to we're looking to To increase indoor water savings to meet regulatory requirements sp 606 and ab 1668 And of course the mandatory 20 drop reduction requirements that we're currently under staff have identified some strong customer interest in a toilet rebate and We want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions There is embedded energy in water to move it store it and treat it So reducing water usage reduces our greenhouse gas emissions and you can see toilets are by this graph are really some of the low-hanging fruit in capturing watering water savings so the Details of this program will be that the existing toilet flush rate Has to be 1.6 gallons per flush or greater and the replacement toilet. We've opted for two tiers Tier one would be replacing with a toilet that has 1.1 gallons per flush maximum And then tier two would be going down to a point eight gallons per flush maximum and the the corresponding rebate would be $50 for tier one per toilet And $75 for toilet for tier two So all customer classes will be eligible for this rebate commercial industrial institutional multi-family residents and single-family residents and Why two tiers well particularly with ci i The best practices recommend going no lower than 1.1 in most cases Those facilities don't tend to have good drain line carry, you know in a in a home There's showers and dishwashers and kitchen sinks and others that other flow in the pipes And there can be older infrastructures that don't also have good drain line carry So it's it's the best practice to to not go below that And then also that does provide customers with some options to have two tiers We are requiring a pre-inspection staff will verify that the existing toilets meet the eligibility criteria And we're also going to be requiring requiring that the high-flow toilets that are being replaced are destroyed So wanted to provide some water savings and cost estimates with tier one we estimate Well, we'll be getting going from 1.6 to 1.1. That's about 1,095 gallons saved per toilet each year over 15 years that would be 16,425 gallons And for tier two we go up to 1,752 gallons by going from 1.6 to 1.8 And that is 26,280 gallons So looking at the rebate costs to santa rosa water when we Take the water savings and each rebate amount and do the math up to the acre foot of water saved It will cost Santa Rosa water 992 dollars per acre foot for tier one And 930 dollars per acre foot for tier two So looking at that in terms of what we pay for Purchasing water from Sonoma water we pay about a thousand dollars per acre foot. So you can see that Each proposed rebate tier amount is slightly below the that cost to purchase water from Sonoma water So it is cost-effective Just for a comparison of all of our other incentive programs you can see where the toilet rebate stacks and All of our programs are cost-effective. The cash for grass is bumped up as you probably know We've increased the dollar amount. We're paying per square foot to remove turf right now To because of the drought and trying to get the water savings that we need So in terms of funds This we have well over 400 000 dollars budgeted for all of our indoor programs And the rebate each rebate will be split out of our Indoor water and sewer capital improvement funds 50 50 evenly All the rebates are available first come first served With the budget available and then if approved We would enact this rebate immediately And the outreach will include social media bill inserts and information on our website So it's recommended by the water department that the vpu water conservation subcommittee Approve the high efficiency toilet rebate as described And if there's any questions, I'd be happy to take those Thank you very much for your presentation. Are there board member questions board member walsh Yes, thanks very much. And this one's pretty much in your your wheelhouse and chris is too I was wondering For folks that don't have a lot of money and live in smaller Smaller houses or units. Is there a way that we can stagger? The services like add a plumber install and take away destroy the old toilet that's if there is a A square footage limit like for instance a unit a thousand square foot or lower Or 1400 square feet or lower. Can we modify that program to to stagger the benefits and give say like a higher benefit? um So board member wash, thank you for that question one of the things that you know, so we do look at um all of the rebate programs to make sure they're cost effective and we um Want to make sure we we have uh equal opportunity for everyone right to make sure it's a cost effective rebate From the rate payer perspective and purchase versus what it costs us for Sonoma water What we are doing and hope to roll out before too long is we've actually um been pursuing Grant funding and we have been told we we're going to be receiving 1.5 million dollars From the state and we will be using that to launch a full direct install program So that and we're looking to target those customers that have either expressed interest before or areas where we've had a really hard time Making some inroads and getting toilet replacement. And so we'll look at those that have You know would be part of our h2o program or other opportunities where we can start targeting various customer groups So that is coming The state has Awarded it to us. We just don't know when we're getting it and as soon as we get it then we'll roll that program out So I don't know if that helps uh with some of the concerns that you have It certainly does and so then the grant program would allow direct install from a plumber And uh, so they can go in there. Is there any chance that we could have some plumbers sort of certified to actually do the pre-inspection? Or do we need to go out ourselves? um How because i'm trying to think what somebody has to go in a house once like somebody picks out a toilet Say home depot. They like this one, you know plumber picks it up and installs it with the grant provides something like that So typically what we'll do for the grant and we're still uh looking at all of the options But based on previous because we've done direct install programs before we typically decide on A toilet brand um that we're going to install that meets all of our requirements and that is the option for customers So they'll get a toilet shower head and faucet air readers. They won't get necessarily choice But if that's what they want, that's that's the package that we'll provide to them We do have a few options depending on There might be certain situations where we have to accommodate various things But it's not go out and select your toilet and then we'll install it for you It's this is the package we have Completely free and they do the whole program. So they go out they they make sure And remove all the old devices replace with the new devices and make sure that the old devices are destroyed That's great. That's much better than than what I would have come up with I appreciate that so they so they get some efficiency by installing the same thing a few times and um and then they go for And then is is there something where the where people that are are renting? Renting units for instance, they're going to have maybe a different motivation than um, let's say the landlord or maybe even But by different awareness, right? So if I'm renting and my water bill doesn't go up or down You know, I just keep pulling the handle and there goes five gowns, right or whatever it is Is are the landlords pretty much on top of this ones with a lot of units? I'd say they just depends typically, you know, they get that's it can be a complicated situation So whether the tenant's paying the water bill or not whether the landlord's paying it Are we talking about a single-family residence? Um, or a multi-family residence. I'm typically in single family. The tenant does pay the water bill We get into apartments that can be a little more tricky. And so it's it's my job to actually Get in touch with those owners and property owners and make sure that they know what's going on and show them the value of doing this um Well, that's fantastic and thank you for the presentation. It was it was great and uh chair watts. That's all the questions I have Thank you and just speaking from experience at the former direct install programs They were really successful with the help to others program and being able to self to advertise and at the same time Board member wash so that was actually heavily utilized by customers for h2o and I think that If we since we're going to be awarded this grant again, um, also looking at maybe targeting those Landlords for low-income housing for doing for doing a updating their toilets would be probably helpful there too but I can speak that that program was Heavily utilized and I'm really glad that we're going to be getting funds for it And I'm in full support of this rebate anything that we can do to encourage customers to To become more efficient and provide financial incentive. I think it's great Thank you, especially if the ones that were put in in the say the early 90s That became part of our 50 000 if we can get them again in the early 2020s Thank you Great. Thank you. Any other board member questions or comments? No, I agree with everything that's been said. Thank you Great. Thank you. So we will open it up for public comments on item 4.1 So if you wish to make a comment via zoom, please raise your hand if you're dialing in via telephone Please dial star nine to raise your hand Secretary Manas, do we have any public comments? There are no public comments on this item All right. Thank you. So I would ask for a motion to support the the two new rebates of the two tiers I would like to make a motion I move that the the water department Conservation subcommittee recommend to the full Board of Public Utilities Commission that we approve the high efficiency toilet rebate program as presented here today Second All right. Great. We have a motion in a second. So if we take a vote Board Member Walsh Aye Board Member Grable Aye Chair Walsh Aye Other records show that vote passed unanimously Thank you very much for the presentation And we will now move on to item 4.2. Um, director Burke if you'll introduce that item Yes, thank you Item 4.2 Sorry, all my creepers are getting mixed up here Item 4.2 is our water use efficiency program and drought update and Claire Nordley our sustainability coordinator We'll be making the presentation Good morning chair Watts and members of the board I'm going to share my screen All right, so I think you all are seeing the full presentation great. So I am going to be providing an update on our latest drought activities So as you all know Last year in the year before that were the two driest years on record in 128 years of record keeping And so because of that in july 2021 Santa Rosa instituted stage three of our water shortage contingency plan Which requested a 20 percent community wide reduction in water use As you all know, lake Sonoma holds a multi years of water supply storage and current storage levels Are at approximately two years worth of supply currently Um in response to uh the statewide shortage the state water resources control board adopted emergency regulations in june of this year One of the emergency regulations requires that commercial industrial and institutional or cii Non-functional turf is no longer allowed to be irrigated There are some exceptions. So for example, if there's a tree planted in with the turf That tree can still be watered and therefore the turf around that tree would obviously still be watered That enforcement authority does reside with the state board as well Excuse me, but we have provided outreach to our customers letting them know about this emergency regulation We actually created posters and hung them in Irrigation stores and in hardware stores locally. We also sent out letters to all of our dedicated irrigation meter customers In addition to that emergency regulation The state board is requiring that all urban water suppliers implement Conservation actions in their water shortage contingency plan that correspond with a level two Shortage or a 10 to 20 percent reduction santa rosa had already adopted that the year before so there was no additional action needed from us We have been really out and about in the community this year, which is exciting to be back post coven We've participated in over 30 events this year that have been in person And since january so far to date this year. We've distributed over 15,000 devices So that's shower heads faucet aerators die tabs really it seems like the demand never ends At our events we keep thinking that people won't need us as much But we really always have people clamoring for the devices. So the need is still there We've also been really focusing on individual presentations I've gone out many times this year to rotary clubs garden clubs California native plant society meetings, etc to present about drought We've also been hosting workshops. So we've been doing workshops with daily acts and with our uc master gardeners Again to just provide education to our customers about drought and water use efficiency And in particular, we've done a lot of workshops recently on landscaping And I should say those are both in English and in Spanish. We sort of alternate Languages depending on the workshop We've also been providing continued customer service and assistance to our customers as you all know you all voted and approved the increased cash for grass rebate So it's now a dollar 50 per square foot We also added a pool cover rebate a pool removal rebate and we have had program activity in both of those which is exciting We also just literally today Approved the toilet rebate. So thank you for that And then we continue to offer as usual our in-home in-person Homewater smart checkups and business audits. We also offer customers an opportunity for them to Do a water smart checkup on their own at home. We provide them a full kit and instructions. So they can do that as well We also continue to use our AMI system or advanced metering infrastructure to follow up on cases of continuous use We also had water waste patrols this summer. They just ended At the end of september So people are actual our usos are our field crews are going out there Looking for leaks and breaks as you can see this picture on the bottom Is one of those situations and so far this year we've followed up on over 500 reports of water waste So we're always looking for funding and opportunities to increase our budget to be able to offer more programs to our customers So we have received several grants so far recently. So for example, we have gotten funding from the gold ridge resource conservation district for 20 000 dollars or up to 20 000 dollars I should say to increase our rainwater harvesting rebate from 25 cents per gallon of water stored 50 cents per gallon of water stored and that's been popular I have seen it up to up tick in the number of rainwater harvesting rebates that we've been issuing in the last few months as this grant funding was received from them We also received a small-scale water use efficiency grant For 75 000 dollars and that increased our CII our commercial industrial institutional cash for grass rebate amount to three dollars per square foot And the week that we rolled that out all of the funding was spoken for so there was a really exciting huge demand for that and we're slowly processing through those pre inspections and then the required post inspection And then as director Burke mentioned, we were awarded in this fiscal year through the state budget act $1.5 million for the direct install program of water efficient appliances, which is toilets and faucet aerators and shower heads But I haven't received that funding yet We've also submitted two grant applications for regional projects These grant applications were written by the Sonoma Marine Saving Water Partnership and included santa rosa water as one of the sub grantees so for the 2022 water smart grant we applied for Or the region applied for two million dollars total 980 000 Of which santa rosa water requested and that would increase our cash for grass rebate and our high efficiency washer rebate We also just applied for a 2023 the exact same Grant and we requested $994 000 of the two million total grant request from the region and that would Also go to a toilet direct install program So the hope is that we get you know this 1.5 million dollars from the state in addition to this 994 000 Through grant and we create a much larger direct install toilet program So I just wanted to provide some you know exciting information about our long removal rebate program We are as you can see from 2017 have had a huge increase in the number of square feet removed In the recent years because of the drought, you know, it's hard to tell exactly what is increased advertising and people Thinking about what are you sufficiency more because we're in a drought versus how much program participation is being driven by the increased rebate amount but either way Program participation has soared over the last couple of years and in fact, um since 2007 when the cash for grass program was implemented The santa rosa water has incentivized over 3.9 million square feet of grass removed So we're almost at that 4 million mark, which is really exciting And the water savings the corresponding water savings for that are about 1 billion gallons over the lifetime of that Long removal project. So that's a lot of water that's being saved We're also always continuing to perform our water smart checkups This is when we go into a home and we offer our free devices. We you know Are looking for leaks, etc. We're also going out into the irrigation system providing information about how to schedule the irrigation controller for example and really since 2018 we've held steady about between 300 200 and 300 checkups performed annually Call volume continues to increase you can see from you know early 2021 Onward, it's been much higher than normal with peaks in the summertime We're currently fielding between 300 and 500 calls per month requesting, you know, water use efficiency appointments the checkups rebate information we're just general water use efficiency information or Requests for tips and advice about water use efficiency We also continue to work with the Sonoma Marin saving water partnership as we have for many years To provide a regionally consistent outreach We're part of the partnership along with 12 other utilities and we are providing You know drought is still here save water the tagline for example logos social media campaigns Radio ads we do coordinated events making sure that they're advertised regionally we do workshops together So that no matter where you are in the region you're getting this exact same message about the drought being here and the need for conservation So here are some examples of some of our current and Winter advertising that we're doing you can see on the top right hand side the turn off the irrigation to save water Is actually a gif so that's something that we're trying that's new Where there's a little bit of a motion in the photo just seeing if that attracts some more attention But all of these are both in English and in Spanish They'll be put out on social media as well as digital advertising platforms and we're really trying to focus on indoor water savings through the dishwasher picture and The fixing the toilet picture and then on the outdoor savings that are applicable during winter time such as turn off your irrigation and you know rainwater harvesting is valuable right now so Doing a little sneak peek of what's coming in 2023. Uh, there is uncertainty about Continuing drought conditions. So you can see in the top picture with the united states in the orange color That is a prediction from NOAA for this time next year. So october november december of 2023 Um, and it they're predicting currently that seasonal temperature outlook is going to be above normal for our region But if you look at the bottom graph, there's for the same time period, there's equal chances of above or below precipitation So it's it's really uncertain exactly. Um, you know, which direction we're going to go Are we going to have another year of drought? Is it still going to be dry or are we going to get a really win rainy winter? Because of this uncertainty, we are, you know, planning for the worst and hoping for the best We already have developed a complete year worth of marketing materials for 2023 We have a plan developed each month mapped out Including what events will be attending what workshops will be promoting Bill insert and the theme around that bill insert radio ads The bill snipe which is the outside of the billing envelope As well as specific marketing campaigns So for example in march, we're going to be doing a fix a leak week campaign To encourage customers to find and fix toilet leaks specifically We'll be co-advertising that with our new toilet rebate program and hopefully, you know, potentially by then we'll have our direct install program as well So we'll really be able to hit that water savings mark We're making sure that all of our 2023 marketing materials are scalable. So if we do get a huge rainy winter, which, you know, fingers crossed We could potentially pull back a little bit on that and just do our general, you know, water conservation is important It's here to stay kind of messaging Or we could ramp it up if we get a really dry winter and really make sure that we're hitting all of our outreach techniques and channels to encourage people to conserve. So we're scaling it just Waiting on that uncertainty basically over the next couple of months and hoping for rain So as usual, you know, we're here to help our customers and encourage people to visit our Drought website and our water smart resources page For any questions about water use efficiency So i'm going to stop sharing go Great. Thank you very much for the presentation. Are there any board member questions or comments? board member walsh Yes, thanks chair waltz I'm just interested. Does this Do the grants for that come in for the to reduce the the water demand? Are they in any way of offset against the mitigation fees for the water demand offset? If they weren't paid it during the calculation of those fees No, I mean those are separate Types of programs so The water demand offset fee would only be in place during you know stage five plus of the drought These grants will be received, you know before we Hopefully never get into that stage, but they're available now and would reduce our overall water usage But aren't necessarily for that offset program Fantastic. I was thinking that might be the case plus the level of service or new construction you know as far as Offsetting the demand for water Is a lot higher than the old construction that most of these grants would would would be going for right? Right, that's correct one of the check-ins. Thank you very much. That's all my questions chair was Thank you. Any other board member questions or comments? All right We'll just want to thank your department for all of the work You guys have had a very busy year and excited to see you guys out and about and really being able to make an impact with with customer participation and inquiries and Just thank you for for all of your work Thank you All right, so now we will Open it up for public comments on item 4.2. If you wish to make a comment via zoom Please raise your hand if you are dialing in via telephone. Please dial star 9 to raise your hand Secretary Manus, do we have any public comments? There are no public comments for this item Great. Well, thank you very much. Well, I think we don't have to take a vote on that Item, so I think that now actually adjourns the meeting So thank you all for being here and we will see you tomorrow for our full meeting There was Preventors necris. I hope you we want to still go in great. Yep. He's with me right