Council to consider adopting regional water-conservation plan required by state

Council members at a Sept. 10 Liberty County work session reviewed a regional water-conservation plan prepared by the local Water Conservancy District and discussed next steps for adopting it at the municipal level. Council staff said the district asked member municipalities to adopt a single regional plan rather than prepare individual plans, and that the district is submitting the plan to the state for review and inclusion in the state legislative process.

The council was told the district obtained a state grant to produce the plan, that grant funds have covered consultant bills, and that the draft must be complete in time for the district to send it to the state by the district's timeline. A town official told the council the district’s deadline for the consolidated plan will require Liberty County to adopt the plan within weeks so the district can meet the state submission schedule.

Members raised several substantive questions about the draft. Councilmember Lee Mallard (mentioned during discussion) noted the plan includes provisions limiting swimming-pool size; council members said the proposed limit appears to target very large, commercial-sized pools rather than typical private pools and asked staff to confirm the numeric thresholds. Members also asked staff to clarify a “transparent water billing program” and the automated metering/AMI or AMR systems described in the plan and whether Liberty County’s existing Badger metering and customer app satisfy the plan’s recommended systems.

Council members flagged a public-agency water-efficiency rebate in the plan that would pay municipalities for measured reductions in annual water use (the draft lists rates such as $2 per square foot or $50 per thousand gallons of annual reduction, depending on program metrics). Members suggested the town could consider replacing some turf at town hall with native xeriscape landscaping to pursue rebate dollars and asked staff to follow up on eligibility and funding sources.

Town staff said the Water Conservancy District had approved the regional plan at its board meeting and recommended that municipal customers adopt the district plan by resolution rather than hire their own consultants. The council discussed timing for a public hearing and vote; staff recommended holding a public hearing and adopting the plan no later than the next month to meet the district’s submission schedule. Council members asked staff to circulate the plan’s appendices and the district’s correspondence, and to contact Doug Bennett at the Water Conservancy District for clarification of technical items.

No formal vote was taken at the Sept. 10 work session. Council members directed staff to obtain clarifications on pool-size thresholds, the rebate program, and the automated-metering language and to place the plan and a proposed resolution on the agenda for the next regular meeting so the council can consider adoption.