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Subcommittee begins review of water service application questions, pretreatment rules and definition of ‘high water user’
Summary
Members asked staff to draft new water service application language to capture hazardous‑material discharges and to consider defining a ‘high water user’ threshold; staff agreed to bring recommended changes back in March and to fold the work into the long‑term water management planning process.
The subcommittee opened a multiissue discussion on amending the city’s water service application and related water policy to better identify hazardous discharges into the sewer system and to define a threshold for “high water users.”
Chairperson and members cited a past development agreement with an industrial user who discharged fluoride and required the city to filter wastewater; the subcommittee said it wanted clearer visibility up front to avoid shifting treatment costs to residents. Staff presented background on the city’s existing pretreatment program and cited City code 2.10.44 as the regulatory authority for pretreatment and industrial wastewater controls.
Council members proposed adding questions to the one‑page water service application so prospective commercial or industrial applicants must disclose hazardous materials to be used and discharged, and to require that applicants be contractually responsible for pretreatment or on‑site filtration where applicable. Acting City Attorney Matthew Podracki said adding a screening question to the application is administratively straightforward; he observed that the pretreatment permitting structure already exists but agreed the one‑page application could be revised to capture more information earlier in the review process.
Staff and council members also discussed defining “high water user” as part of the city’s long‑term water management planning. A working estimate was discussed in general terms (examples and prior projects cited), but staff said a durable definition needs to be developed as part of the broader policy work and would include thresholds and possible required mitigation such as conservation plans or phased water use limits.
The subcommittee directed staff to draft application language and suggested policy language and return with proposed text at the March meeting. Staff said it would coordinate with legal and the city manager’s office and present options that could be applied administratively or brought to full council if a formal policy change is needed. The subcommittee also received an informational update on the city’s biannual water budgets: the residential and nonresidential budgets for Jan. 1–June 30, 2025 were set at 25 acre‑feet each; as of Jan. 24, 2025, no new residential or nonresidential reservations had been recorded and existing contract commitments accounted for about 0.68 acre‑feet.
