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Staff clarifies potable water concurrency and reuse policies; rejects 'toilet-to-tap' framing
Summary
Staff added potable-water concurrency language requiring available supplies and introduced reuse-water and nano-filtration policy language; staff and commissioners clarified that the county is not adopting a 'toilet-to-tap' one-water policy in 2025 and that reuse refers to irrigation and industrial uses.
Patrick Murphy and county utilities staff reviewed new potable-water policies that require potable-water concurrency only when adequate supplies and facilities exist to support new projects, and described a new policy directing implementation of the county’s water-conservation plan tied to its consumptive-use permit. Staff also proposed policies to encourage reuse water for irrigation and industrial uses and a reference to nano-filtration as a preferred treatment process at county facilities.
Several commissioners and members of the public asked whether reuse policy language or nano-filtration constituted a shift to a “one-water” or potable reuse program. County Administrator John DeCannes replied that reuse in this context means irrigation and non-potable industrial uses and that the county is not pursuing toilet-to-tap in 2025. “We are not talking 1 water… We are talking about the reuse system that we'd use like in irrigation,” he said. Staff said the county is preparing an integrated water master plan and will bring more specific capacity and project details back to the commission.
