Fort Walton Beach Resolution — 2008-10-Adopting 2008 EAR — reading text

32 CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH increases, the price per 1, 000 gallons increases which discourages inefficient use of the resource. The following table details the City's inclining block rate fee structure as of the current 2007- 08 budget year: Table VIII. FY 2007- 08 Water Rate Schedule Residential Customers(l) Commercial Customers(2) Inside City Outside City Inside City Outside City Lifeline Rate( 3) $ 7. 16 $ 8. 95 $ 7. 16 $ 8. 95 Monthly Base Char2e, Meter Size: 3/ 4" $ 7. 16 8. 95 7. 16 8. 95 1.0" $ 7. 16 8. 95 7. 16 8. 95 1.5" $ 9. 72 12. 14 9. 72 12. 14 2.0" $ 16.54 20. 67 16. 54 20. 67 3. 0" $ 25. 23 31.53 25. 23 31.53 4.0" $ 31.49 39. 38 31.49 39. 38 6. 0" $ 50. 17 62.72 50. 17 62.72 8. 0" $ 75. 13 93.91 75. 13 93. 91 Gallon~ e Rate ( Per 1, 000 2allons per unit) Block 1 ( 0- 2,000) Included in Monthly Base Charge Block 2 ( 2,001- 4,000) $ 1.58 $ 1.98 Block 3 ( 4,001- 8,000) $ 1.93 $ 2.40 Block 4 ( 8,001 +) $ 2. 89 $ 3.63 1) Multi-residential customers assessed at $5. 30 Inside City and $ 6. 62 Outside City per additional unit after the first unit per meter. 2) Assessed on a per unit basis. 3) Single Family Residence with less than 2,000 gallons per month. The wastewater rates charged by the City to its customers are based on the monthly water consumption as recorded through water meters. In anticipation of added debt related to renovations to the wastewater treatment plant, the City allocated funds during the current budget year to review and update the existing water and sewer rate schedule. This work should be commissioned some time later this year, with potential implementation some time in 2009 or beyond. While implementation of rate increases does promote water use conservation, the effects of small- increment annual rate adjustments are marginal as it relates to annual average withdrawal from the Floridan. The goal of the City' s water and sewer rate structure is to stabilize, or slighrly reduce, withdrawals over the long term, and past data supports the success of the City's rate methodology. Since 1990, the City has actually reduced its annual withdrawal from the Floridan by over 500,000 gallons per day ( 3. 55 mgd ADF in 1990 to 2. 96 mgd ADF in 2007, or a 20 percent reduction). The City will continue to employ this type of conservation rate structure in the future as yet another method to reduce demand on the resource. However, future reductions similar to the reduction realized over the past 17 years are difficult, if not impossible, to forecast. Growth trends and development restrictions play an important role in detennining future demand. Should the vision of the City change to allow vertical growth, the City could accommodate a much larger population which would result in a corresponding increase in potable water demand. Based on current growth projections of less than one percent per year, the City expects minimal impact on its current potable demand. REGIONAL WA1ERSUPPLYPLAN 33 CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH 6. 4 REDUCTION OF ''UNACCOUNTED FOR" WATER In 1957, the American Water Works Association Leak Detection Committee published a report which included the statement that unaccounted for water " may vary from 10 to 15 percent in a well operated system where consumption is between 100 and 125 GPCD." This 15 percent unaccounted for water goal was the accepted standard for many years in the water works industry. Given today's high cost of waterproduction and the many technological advances aimed at reducing water loss, the AWWA now recommends that utilities establish a goal for unaccounted for water of less than 10 percent. The City should strive to reach five percent. As is common in the industry, not all water produced is accounted for through billed water consumption. A portion of raw water production is ultimately used to flush lines, test fire hydrants, extinguish fires, and for various other non-metered uses. Additional volumes of the raw water supply will be lost through leaks, main line breaks, meter inaccuracy, and evaporation & om storage facilities. The City of Fort Walton Beach tracks known uses and losses and conducts quarterly water audits to estimate and account for a significant portion of the non-metered uses in the City. The City' s Utilities Department strives to keep unaccounted for uses of the potable supply below the ID. The difference between water produced and water 10 percent standard established by the NWFWJ\. billed has averaged 12. 6 percent since 2000. In addition, the City's water audits have accounted for another 3. 5 percent annually, bringing the unaccounted for water loss to 9. 1 percent annually which remains below the industry standard of 1 0 p~rcent. The City of Fort Walton Beach already maintains unaccounted for water loses at less than the industry standard of 10 percent. However, City personnel continue investigate potential sources of to leakage within the system or unmetered uses. This past year, the City hosted a leak detection equipment demonstration to determine the cost benefits of purchasing newer state- of-the- art leak detection equipment for use within the distribution system. If budget constraints allow, the City's Utilities Department hopes to purchase updated leak detection equipment during the upcoming budget year. In addition, Utilities Department field personnel will continue to investigate and eliminate unmetered connections within the distribution system to further reduce the unaccounted for loss of water. As a means to further reduce water losses, the City routinely replaces sections of older small-diameter water mains within the distribution system. Last year alone, the City replaced 1, 800 linear feet of 2- 1/ 4 inch water main with new 6 inch C900 PVC main. Combined, the effects of these programs should only marginally affect our current water loss ratio. It is the City's goal to maintain unaccounted for water losses at less the 10 percent. 6.5 XERISCAPE PRINCIPLES Another method of water conservation is theimplementation of water efficient landscaping practices, or Xeriscape. Xeriscape is a landscaping technique that promotes efficient use of water for irrigation through the planting of drought-tolerant native vegetation. These native species are already adapted to the local climate and typically subsist on no more than natural precipitation. Employing xeriscape techniques does not totally eliminate the need for supplemental irrigation, but when applied correctly, will minimize supplemental irrigation. The City of Fort Walton Beach utilizes these techniques at many municipal sites including parks, rights- of-way, facilities, and other locations. REGIONAL WATER SUPPLY PLAN 34 CTIY OF FORT WALTON BEACH  Chapter 12.71 of the City' s Land Development Code (Title XII of the City's Code of Ordinances) addresses Landscaping for all new development and redevelopment within the City. This chapter of the LDC adopted in October 1999 specifies that " creative site development concepts shall be used in order to promote water conservation." In addition, the design principles section of this chapter recommends that existing native vegetation shall be preserved and used to the fullest extent practical to meet landscaping requirements." All properties subject to provisions of the Site Plan Review process of the IDC must meet these requirements. Though Xeriscape is an effective landscaping technique for water conservation, it is extremely difficult to quantify its overall effectiveness at reducing demand on the potable water supply. For certain, the practice of planting native species of plants requires much less irrigation in order to maintain an attractive and healthy landscape. The difficulty with projecting the effectiveness of Xeriscape is calculating future withdrawal reductions based on a projected amount of properties that mayor may not redevelop or remodel. For this reason Xeriscape was not included in the calculations for future water production needs. 6.6 PUBLIC EDUCATION The City of Fort Walton Beach has an established water conservation awareness program that provides water- saving tips to customers, publishes guidelines and recommendations for water conservation, and offers water- saving devices to City residents. This water conservation material has been provided to increase the awareness of the public regarding the value of our water resources and how water can be used more efficiently. The practice of conservation is an inexpensive technique, but one that is necessary to ensure the sustainability of our water resources. To promote awareness, the City routinely advertises " water conservation" tips in its quarterly newsletter, Beach Bits. This publication is circulated each quarter to every resident and business owner located in the City. Staff currently utilizes this publication to notify the public of the automatic irrigation shut- off requirement referenced in Chapter 373.62, Florida Statutes. For the fourth year in a row, the City' s Utilities Department will host an Earth Day/ Arbor Day Celebration this spring at one of the City' s waterfront parks. The City participates in this event by hosting a booth to infonn those in attendance of the benefits of water conservation and the City's measures to limit non- potable uses of the Floridan Aquifer. The event attracts several area vendors, as well as regulatory agencies and educational institutions. Last year, the City started its own cable television channel, which airs locally through Cox Communications. This channel allows the City to produce and broadcast infonnative programming for the residents of our community. The Utilities Department uses this medium to highlight various conservation and efficiency measures, as well as concepts to reduce potable demand such as xeriscape landscaping practices. As stated