4.3 ERMUSR 07-13-2021 - Laserfiche WebLink

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______________________________________________________________________________ Page 1 of 2 UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING TO: ERMU Commission FROM: Michelle Canterbury – Executive Administrative Manager MEETING DATE: July 13, 2021 AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: 4.3 SUBJECT: Water Use Restrictions Policy ACTION REQUESTED: • Adopt Resolution No. 21-13 Imposing Water Use Restrictions Within the City of Elk River and Designating the General Manager Authority to Impose Additional Temporary Water Use Restrictions (Option 1 or Option 2) • Approve the proposed changes to Policy G.4o1 Water Use Restrictions (Option 1 or Option 2) BACKGROUND: In 2017, the commission worked with staff and a consulting firm to develop governance policies based on the Carver Model of governance. In 2019, an initiative was created to develop a migration plan for relevant old policies to become part of the new Commission Policy Manual, confirm delegation of authority to management for old policies that are not governance, and eliminate or remove documents that are not policy. At the December 12, 2019, commission meeting, the commission addressed the electric and water sections of the old policy manual and approved the move of seven policies to the Commission Policy Manual, one of those being the Water Use Restrictions Policy. DISCUSSION: The final step of the policy manual initiative is the review of policies transferred over to the Commission Policy Manual. The review process includes making any necessary updates, formatting, and creating new policies that were identified. Any proposed changes or new policies will be presented to the commission for consideration and approval. After review of the G4o.1 Water Use Restrictions Policy that was transferred over to nest under G.4o Environmental Stewardship, we discovered some necessary updates that were further prompted by a large spike in outdoor water use, and the importance of ensuring sufficient water supply for essential needs. Due to the high temperatures and drought like conditions, many cities have been forced to issue complete outdoor watering bans, and currently the way our policy and resolution are written, in the case of an emergency where a ban may need to be imposed, the General Manager (GM) has not yet been designated the authority to do so. To address the designation along with any exemptions from the time-of-day and odd/even sprinkling restrictions, staff has prepared two proposed policy options with corresponding resolutions for commission consideration. 66