A water conservation plan for a wholesale water supplier must
provide information in response to each of the following paragraphs.
If the plan does not provide information for each requirement, the
wholesale water supplier shall include in the plan an explanation
of why the requirement is not applicable.
(1) Minimum requirements. All water conservation plans
for wholesale water suppliers must include the following elements:
(A) a description of the wholesaler's service area,
including population and customer data, water use data, water supply
system data, and wastewater data;
(B) specific, quantified five-year and ten-year targets
for water savings including, where appropriate, target goals for municipal
use in gallons per capita per day for the wholesaler's service area,
maximum acceptable water loss, and the basis for the development of
these goals. The goals established by wholesale water suppliers under
this subparagraph are not enforceable;
(C) a description as to which practice(s) and/or device(s)
will be utilized to measure and account for the amount of water diverted
from the source(s) of supply;
(D) a monitoring and record management program for
determining water deliveries, sales, and losses;
(E) a program of metering and leak detection and repair
for the wholesaler's water storage, delivery, and distribution system;
(F) a requirement in every water supply contract entered
into or renewed after official adoption of the water conservation
plan, and including any contract extension, that each successive wholesale
customer develop and implement a water conservation plan or water
conservation measures using the applicable elements of this chapter.
If the customer intends to resell the water, then the contract between
the initial supplier and customer must provide that the contract for
the resale of the water must have water conservation requirements
so that each successive customer in the resale of the water will be
required to implement water conservation measures in accordance with
applicable provisions of this chapter;
(G) a reservoir systems operations plan, if applicable,
providing for the coordinated operation of reservoirs owned by the
applicant within a common watershed or river basin. The reservoir
systems operations plans shall include optimization of water supplies
as one of the significant goals of the plan;
(H) a means for implementation and enforcement, which
shall be evidenced by a copy of the ordinance, rule, resolution, or
tariff, indicating official adoption of the water conservation plan
by the water supplier; and a description of the authority by which
the water supplier will implement and enforce the conservation plan;
and
(I) documentation of coordination with the regional
water planning groups for the service area of the wholesale water
supplier in order to ensure consistency with the appropriate approved
regional water plans.
(2) Additional conservation strategies. Any combination
of the following strategies shall be selected by the water wholesaler,
in addition to the minimum requirements of paragraph (1) of this section,
if they are necessary in order to achieve the stated water conservation
goals of the plan. The commission may require by commission order
that any of the following strategies be implemented by the water supplier
if the commission determines that the strategies are necessary in
order for the conservation plan to be achieved:
(A) conservation-oriented water rates and water rate
structures such as uniform or increasing block rate schedules, and/or
seasonal rates, but not flat rate or decreasing block rates;
(B) a program to assist agricultural customers in the
development of conservation pollution prevention and abatement plans;
(C) a program for reuse and/or recycling of wastewater
and/or graywater; and
(D) any other water conservation practice, method,
or technique which the wholesaler shows to be appropriate for achieving
the stated goal or goals of the water conservation plan.
(3) Review and update requirements. The wholesale water
supplier shall review and update its water conservation plan, as appropriate,
based on an assessment of previous five-year and ten-year targets
and any other new or updated information. A wholesale water supplier
shall review and update the next revision of its water conservation
plan every five years to coincide with the regional water planning
group.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §288.5 adopted to be effective May 3, 1993, 18 TexReg 2558; amended to be effective February 21, 1999, 24 TexReg 949; amended to be effective April 27, 2000, 25 TexReg 3544; amended to be effective October 7, 2004, 29 TexReg 9384; amended to be effective December 6, 2012, 37 TexReg 9515 |
