Drought Plan

Section I: Declaration of Policy, Purpose, and Intent

In order to conserve the available water supply and/or to protect the integrity of water supply facilities, with particular regard for domestic water use, sanitation, and fire protection, and to protect and preserve public health, welfare, and safety and minimize the adverse impacts of water supply shortages or other water supply emergency conditions, the Upper Leon River Municipal Water District (the ADistrict@) adopts the following Drought Contingency Plan (the APlan@).

The water supply for Upper Leon River Municipal Water District is purchased in the form of long-term contracts with Brazos River Authority (ABRA@, or AAuthority@) for water stored in Lake Proctor, Comanche County, Texas. In recognition of this and the facts that the District has no control over management of Proctor Lake (the ALake@), its watersheds, or drainage areas, the permitting processes of rights above, within, or below the Lake or in any way can manage the diversions from any portion of the Lake system, other than the water the District obtains on behalf of their customers through contractual commitments with Brazos River Authority, the District adopts a Drought Contingency Plan that identifies trigger levels based upon reservoir trigger levels as implemented by the committed provider, Brazos River Authority. In addition the District=s plan will address water supply shortage conditions for other reasons than depletion of the water source. These reasons may include but not be limited to damage to facilities, equipment failure, contamination of the supply, or any other reason(s) that would inhibit the District=s ability to provide for its customers equivalent needs. Therefore the District may have trigger levels or conditions that are in force or in effect prior to any implemented by Brazos River Authority for the mutual protection and benefit of the customers and citizens the District is committed to serve.

Lake Proctor has been defined as a local use reservoir by the Authority. A local-use reservoir is defined by the Authority as a reservoir which:

1. Is substantially committed to use in the immediate area; or

2. Is less than 30% full; or

3. Has less than two years= use in storage.

For a Local-Use reservoir, three drought levels are identified by Brazos River Authority. The trigger levels summarized below are detailed in Section V. It is noted that not only reservoir levels but also a determination by BRA of additional conditions that would indicate a need to proceed with implementation of the various stages of the Drought Plan must occur.

Personnel at Brazos River Authority in the Water Resources Division continuously monitor river and reservoir levels and coordinate with the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission and the U.S. Geological Survey to ensure that water is available for their customers not only in Lake Proctor but throughout the basin. They monitor and forecast reservoir storage on a monthly basis during drought periods and this information is provided and/or is available to the District in order for the District to make their own assessments of conditions that may effect their customers.

 

Section III: Public Involvement and Customer Coordination

The Upper Leon River Municipal Water District will periodically provide water customers with information about the Plan, including information about the conditions under which each stage of the Plan is to be initiated or terminated and potential drought response measures which could be implemented. This information will be provided to wholesale customers by means of personal meetings and to retail customers by mail, telephone, and the news media, or as appropriate for either wholesale or retail customers.

The water service area of the Upper Leon River Municipal Water District is located within the Brazos River basin, and the District will provide a copy of the Plan and any future amendments, updates or revisions to the Brazos G Regional Water Planning Group.

All Upper Leon River Municipal Water District water rights are purchased contracted on a long-term basis from Brazos River Authority. The Authority limits the total volume of contracted water from Lake Proctor to the ultimate firm yield of the reservoir in the year 2050 Therefore, the Authority should be able to meet all contract obligations to the District through a repeat of the drought of record. It is therefore anticipated that the District will be able to meet all contract obligations to the District's Member Cities, retail customers, and/or other contracted wholesale customers.

The Brazos River Authority General Manager, or his/her designee, shall monitor water supply and demand conditions and shall determine when conditions warrant notification of the initiation or termination of drought response stages to the District. The District will then in turn notify their customers of the initiation or termination of Drought response stages. These notifications will be made by personal meeting, telephone, mail or any appropriate method to the respective wholesale and retail customers. The news media may also be informed.

The triggering criteria described below are based on on-going hydrologic analysis and extensive experience in reservoir operations experience by the Brazos River Authority

Lake Proctor is a local-use reservoir which for the purposes of this policy is initially defined as a reservoir which:

1. has more than 90% of the yield of the currently activated water supply storage capacity committed to contract holders whose needs cannot be met from any other reservoir in the Authority's system, or

2. has in water supply storage an amount of water equal to less than 30% of its total water supply capacity while any other reservoir in the Authority's system has in water supply storage an amount of water greater than 30% of its total water supply storage capacity, or

3. has in water supply storage an amount of water equal to or less than twice the estimated local annual demand, or

4. it is determined by the General Manager of the Brazos River Authority that for some other reason, such as ongoing maintenance and repair or recent heavy drawdowns, downstream releases are to cease or be subjected to special limitations.

Three levels of potential drought severity have been identified at which specific actions will be conducted.

(a) Stage 1 B Drought Watch Conditions

Requirements for initiation B The District will be notified by Brazos River Authority which will recognize that a drought watch condition exists when:

The defined local-use reservoir is at or below 50% of its total active water supply capacity and reasonable estimates of current annual demands, coupled with inflows and evaporation representative of the drought-of-record, indicate that the amount of water supply in storage could be reduced during the next succeeding 12-month period to 40% or less of its total active water supply capacity.

Requirements for termination B Stage 1 of the Plan may be rescinded when all of the conditions listed as triggering events have ceased to exist for a period of 30 consecutive days. The Brazos River Authority will notify the District and the District will notify its customers and the media of the termination of Stage 1 in the same manner as the notification of initiation of Stage 1 of the Plan.

(b) Stage 2 B Drought Warning Conditions

Requirements for initiation B The District will be notified by Brazos River Authority which will recognize that a drought warning condition exists when:

The defined local-use reservoir is at or below 40% of its total active water supply capacity and reasonable estimates of current annual demands, coupled with inflows and evaporation representative of the drought-of-record, indicate that the amount of water supply in storage could be reduced during the next succeeding 12-month period to 30% or less of its total active water supply capacity.

Requirements for termination B Stage 2 of the Plan may be rescinded when all of the conditions listed as triggering events have ceased to exist for a period of 30 consecutive days. Upon termination of Stage 2, Stage 1 becomes operative if any of its triggering criteria are met. The Brazos River Authority will notify the District and the District will notify its customers and the media of the termination of Stage 2 in the same manner as the notification of initiation of Stage 2 of the Plan.

(c) Stage 3 B Drought Emergency Conditions

Requirements for initiation B The District will be notified by Brazos River Authority which will recognize that a drought emergency condition exists when:

The defined local-use reservoir is at or below 30% of its active water supply capacity, or if the remaining capacity is less than one year's estimated demand.

Requirements for termination B Stage 3 of the Plan may be rescinded when all of the conditions listed as triggering events have ceased to exist for a period of 30 consecutive days. Upon termination of Stage 3, Stage 1 or 2 may become operative depending on conditions at the time. The Brazos River Authority will notify the District and the District will notify its customers and the media of the termination of Stage 3 in the same manner as the notification of initiation of Stage 3 of the Plan.

The BRA General Manager, or his/her designee, shall monitor water supply and demand conditions and, in accordance with the triggering criteria set forth in Section V, shall develop, a specific drought contingency plan for Lake Proctor depending on the situation. If mandatory provisions of any such plan are enacted, the Brazos River Authority will notify the Upper Leon River Municipal Water District. Also the BRA will notify the Executive Director of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission within five (5) days of the implementation of any mandatory provisions of the Authority=s plan. Upon notification, the District will notify its customers of any enacted provisions thereof and within five (5) days of implementation of any mandatory provision also notify the Executive Director of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission.

After the District has been notified of the implementation of the provisions of the BRA Drought Plan, the District will initiate options contained herein. These options may contain any appropriate action determined necessary by the District after assessing the prevailing or predicted conditions of either the water supply, the District=s facilities, or any other event or occurrence that would reasonably require implementation of any of the provisions of this Plan.

1. Notifying wholesale and retail water customers of the declaration and actions being taken and urge activation by each of appropriate water conservation measures.

2. Contacting the Brazos River Authority, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, the Corps of Engineers, and water contract holders, informing them of the situation and requesting appropriate actions from each, such as closer monitoring to protect supplies and or facilities, making a greater effort to meet exact release requests, or activating water user conservation plans.

3. Other actions as deemed appropriate for the given situation.

In the event that a) the triggering criteria specified in Section V of the Plan for Stage 3 B Emergency Drought conditions have been met and b) the BRA General manager deems it necessary, the Authority will allocate water supplies on a pro rata basis in accordance with Texas Water Code Section 11.039. The District will then in turn make allocations in accordance with the specified code and/or as contractually obligated, as may be provided herein, or as determined necessary to address the conditions requiring the same.

This Drought Contingency Policy and all plans developed hereunder will be incorporated by reference into all water supply contracts or agreements. Violation of the Policy is a violation of the contract provision and will be treated as such.

To enforce any mandatory restrictions the District may initiate surcharges, liquidated damages, or discontinuation of services, or take any other necessary available legal action to insure that the provisions of this plan, or the remedies enacted resulting from actions taken under this plan, are observed.

The District, through their designee, may grant a temporary variance to the pro rata water allocation policies provided by this Policy if it is determined that failure to grant such variance would cause an emergency condition adversely affecting the public health, welfare, or safety and if one or more of the following conditions are met:

(a) Compliance with this Policy cannot be technically accomplished during the duration of the water supply shortage or other condition for which the Plan is in effect.

(b) Alternative methods can be implemented which will achieve the same level of reduction in water use.

In accordance with 30 TAC '288.22 (a) (8), the District will provide two clauses in every contract addressing water conservation and availability of water during shortages that read as follows:

"CONSERVATION OF WATER. It is the intent of the parties to this Agreement to provide to the maximum extent practicable for the conservation of water, and Purchaser agrees that it is a condition of this Agreement that it shall maintain and operate its facilities in a manner that will prevent unnecessary waste of water. Upper Leon River Municipal Water District, in accordance with applicable law or regulation, may from time to time adopt reasonable rules and regulations relating to water conservation. Purchaser agrees to abide by the "Upper Leon River Municipal Water District Drought Contingency Plan" adopted by the District=s Board on September 24^th, 2001, or any subsequent Drought Contingency Plans. If required by applicable law or regulation or by Upper Leon River Municipal Water District, Purchaser agrees to implement a water conservation and drought management program in accordance with a water conservation plan and that the water provided to Purchaser pursuant to this Agreement will be used in accordance with such conservation plan.@

 

AAVAILABILITY OF WATER AND SHORTAGES. Upper Leon River Municipal Water District makes no guarantee that water will be available at any particular time or place or that Lake Proctor will be maintained at any specific level at any particular time. The purchaser bears all losses for water beyond the metering point. It is fully understood by the parties hereto that the level of Lake Proctor will vary as a result of weather conditions beyond the control of the Upper Leon River Municipal Water District, the use of water from the Lake by other water customers of the Authority and, for Federal Reservoirs, as a result of releases made by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and that this instrument is merely an agreement to require the District to make available water when and if water is present in Lake Proctor, and to allow Purchaser to purchase water subject to the general law on distribution and allocation of water during shortages of supply and in conformity with District=s water contracts with Brazos River Authority.@

 

The General Manager, or his/her designee, shall review, update, and seek Board authorization for this Drought Contingency Policy, as appropriate, at least every five (5) years, or if conditions, such as adoption or revision of a regional water plan or any new or updated information, warrants it.

TNRCC Approved - December 6^th, 2001

Approved this 24^th day of September, 2001.

by:    Mr. Gyale C. Pirkle, President, Board of Directors

Mr. Ben Evridge, Secretary, Board of Directors

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The UPPER LEON RIVER MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT is a conservation and reclamation district created by Acts 1961, 57^th Legislature, Regular Session, Ch. 405 (Vernon=s Ann. Civ. St. 8280-257), as amended by Acts, 1965, 59^th Legislature, Regular Session, Ch. 542, Acts 1975, 64^th Legislature, Regular Session, Ch. 542, and Acts 1997, 75^th Legislature, Regular Session, Ch. 1152 (collectively, the AAct@), established by virtue of Article XVI, Section 59 of the Texas Constitution, for the purpose of providing a source of Water supply for municipal, domestic, and industrial uses and processing and transporting such Water for its constituents cities of Hamilton , Gorman, Dublin, De Leon and Comanche (the AConstituent Cities@) and for other persons, within the counties of Comanche, Eastland, Erath, Hamilton, Coryell, and Lampasas.