Year End Review

LeRoy W. Hooton, Jr.

Salt Lake City Public Utilities Advisory Committee Meeting of December 2, 2004

December 9, 2004

Mr. Hooton addressed the Salt Lake City Public Utilities Advisory Committee and guests regarding the contents of the Department of Public Utilities 2004 Annual Report. He noted that during the past year the Department has fully met all of its obligations under the Safe Drinking Water and the Clean Water Acts – and in fact has excelled in performance as measured by a number of national awards. He credited the Department’s success to employees throughout the entire organization and acknowledged them for their outstanding work. The Water Reclamation Plant has a perfect compliance record; the drinking water treatment plants are exceeding federal drinking water standards; and customer satisfaction ratings have improved despite the drought and rate increases. Moreover, he praised the employees for their safety record.

The highlights of the past year:

The Drought:

Mr. Hooton stated that like last year, the drought was the dominant event affecting the Department’s operations. He noted that for the past several years the Department was concerned about the water level in Utah Lake. This water is used to make exchanges with the waters flowing from the Wasatch Canyon streams. He said that meeting these exchange obligations is absolutely essential. Late in September the pumps at the Lehi Pumping Station were turned off due to the low water level in the lake. This is the third time in the past century that the lake reached this low point; during the drought of the early thirties; the drought of 1988-1992 and the current drought. In order to meet the City’s late season exchange obligations, the Department installed two portable pumps to lift water out of the lake. The pumps were operated for two weeks. Mr. Hooton said that the drought has impacted most of the state. On a statewide basis, water storage in lakes and reservoirs declined to 32 percent of capacity. There is growing concern among the Colorado River seven basin states over the drought and the low levels of Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

Water Supply Management and Conservation:

Mr. Hooton showed a chart depicting the quantities of spot market water purchased and water conserved . He said that in 2001 the Metro holdover water was only 12,000 acre-feet, which put the Department at risk of not being able to meet its water supply requirements. Over 4 years with a combination of 22,000 acre-feet of spot market water purchases and over 35,000 acre-feet of conserved water, the Department was able to meet its water supply needs. Mr. Hooton said that if the Department had not done these things, it would not have made it through the drought without severe restrictions. Looking to the future, things are looking better. Statewide, the weather this past year has been wetter and cooler. Last year at this time the soil saturation was about 15 percent compared to 80 percent this year, greatly improving the potential snowmelt run-off next spring. The snowpack is above normal – particularly in the southern part of the state where the snowpack is well above normal. There are indications that weak El Niño conditions in the Pacific Ocean could lead to a wetter weather regime. At the end of this water year Metro had about 23,000 acre-feet of holdover water for the coming year. Mr. Hooton credited the Department’s customers for conserving and employees who managed the water resources for successfully coping with the drought.

Capital Improvements Program:

Mr. Hooton noted that the Department had a very ambitious capital improvements program this year. He said that on-going capital investments for system improvements are necessary if the Department wants to avoid leaving a legacy of problems for future generations. He spoke about several major capital improvement projects that will provide the public years and years of utility service:

The 900 South Storm Drain project consists of the installation of box culvert in 900 South from the Jordan River to 500 East Street. The project cost is $8.2 million. As part of this project a residents-business community [Citizens Advisory Committee] was established to interface with the contractor. If the contractor’s performance met the satisfaction of the Advisory Committee financial incentives were made available to the contractor. The project has gone extremely well and the Committee has voted to give the contractor the incentive payments.
The Water Reclamation Plant has had extensive construction activity this past year. Currently there is a $24 million project to construct secondary treatment improvements. These improvements are necessary to accommodate future plant loadings. Over the past years the organic loadings have doubled, and will continue to increase with commercial and population growth. With these improvements plant will have adequate capacity until 2025. Also, the cogeneration facility was completed this year. This project uses the methane gas generated from the treatment process to produce electrical power for the operation of much of the reclamation plant. A new force main between the main pumping plant and reclamation plant was constructed. This will provide additional flow and redundancy capacity.
Finally, the work began on the $8.5 million upgrade of the City Creek Water Treatment plants. As part of this project is the demolition of the Pleasant Valley Reservoir. Mr. Hooton said the plant will be kept in service during the construction period. It has been in continuous operation for 50 years and it’s worn out.

Environmental Cleanup:

Mr. Hooton praised Jeff Niermeyer for his outstanding job in managing the cleanup of the Northwest Oil Drain. In the beginning when it was considered as a federal Super Fund site, the estimated cost was $100 million to remove all of the contaminated sediments from the canal and haul them away to a hazardous waste site. However, by getting the local stakeholders together and developing strong data and science, the project cost was reduced to about $3 million with about $1 million of cost being paid by the Department. This is a classic example of local people taking responsibility and control of the process to take care of an environmental problem correctly while keeping the cost down.

The Metropolitan Water District:

Mr. Hooton said that the Department has an obligation to fund a share of this project under an interlocal agreement. Contracts have been let for both the Point of the Mountain Water Treatment Plant and Aqueduct. The District has issued $90 million in bonds and is preparing to issue another $90 million. This project will provide treatment and conveyance capacity for the future.

Looking Forward:

Mr. Hooton noted that looking forward to next year, the Department’s leadership team expressed as their top concern the Department’s financial strength. He said that the Department understands that it will have to do everything possible to be effective and efficient to keep operating costs down in order to meet both the Department’s and Metro’s capital needs. He stressed the necessity of protecting the City’s water rights and watersheds. The Department needs to do everything possible to protect its watersheds and the quality of the public drinking water supply. Another issue is the fire flows in the Mill Creek area. The County Council recently voted to move forward with a special district to finance its $10 million share to construct the improvements necessary to bring this area’s fire flows up to code. Salt Lake City’s share is $3 million.

Mr. Hooton said that the Department had a terrific year. He appreciated the employees for the great job they have done; he appreciated the Public Utilities Advisory Committee for their volunteer time and effort; and the administration and council for their support.