FLOOD 2018 Austin Water Impacts and Response Chuck Chapman: - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

COLORADO RIVER FLOOD 2018 Austin Water Impacts and Response Chuck Chapman: Utility Emergency Management Coordinator Association of Safety Professionals Conference – April 4, 2019 Rick Beaman: Utility Emergency Plans Officer

AUSTIN WATER  Operating since 1900  Provide water and wastewater services to >1M customers  2018 – began operating Longhorn Dam to maintain Lady Bird Lake  Raw water intake from Lake Travis and the Colorado River  1200 employees, 3 major water treatment plants, 40+ reservoirs, 40+ pump stations, 3842 miles of pipeline on the water side  Average 120+ MGD potable water produced

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM  First titled E mergency M anagement C oordinator 2014  15 major facilities: Water – Wastewater – Reclaim – Wildland Conservation – Service Centers – Bio-solids  All-Hazards: Floods, Freeze, Drought, Wild Fire, Chemicals, BWN, Etc….  Incident Management Team – 2016  2018 – Emergency Plans Officer

FLOOD INCIDENT  October 15 – 16 : Increased rainfall to the NW of Austin  Original AW concerns – Longhorn Dam  Oct 18: begin 24 hour manned Ops at the dam – Stage AW DOC for possible activation - WTPs begin to see elevated raw water turbidity  Oct 21: DOC Activation  Oct 22: Boil Water Notice

FLOOD INCIDENT  AW DOC: Converted conference room

FLOOD INCIDENT  17 – 12 hour Operational Periods over 9 days  Multiple first-time responders in the DOC  Advanced ICS – Branch Tactical Planning  TCEQ Representatives Liaised with AW IMT in AW DOC  Utilized Skype and Smart Devices for communications

ICS CHALLENGES  Integrating utility components untrained in ICS  Systems Planning – Situation Unit  Adhoc DOC in non-permanent setting  EOC – DOC interface  Communications  Utilizing ICS forms

INCIDENT CHALLENGES  Incoming raw water damaging to plants  High Turbidity places demands on filtration, pumps, and related infrastructure  Water Quality Expectations  Requests for public reduction in usage  Water supply versus water quality

Filter Basins at Ullrich and Davis WTP’s

LESSONS LEARNED  AW needs a permanent DOC – in progress  Need to expand IMT to include multiple AW working groups – Systems Planning – Logistics – Customer Service – Wholesale Customers  Expand ICS training across utility  Technical training – Skype – applications – documentation - WebEOC

AFTER ACTION PROCESS  In-house review of response process  In-house technical review  City-wide AAR

Chuck Chapman – AW Emergency Management Coordinator (512) 972-0129 chuck.chapman@austintexas.gov Rick Beaman – AW Emergency Plans Officer (512) 972-0135 richard.beaman@austintexas.gov

Questions?