HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021.06.23 Conservation Commission Minutes Minutes for the Conservation and Climate Outreach Commission
June 23, 2021
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MINUTES FOR THE CONSERVATION AND CLIMATE OUTREACH COMMISSION
Wednesday, June 23, 2021; Held Electronically
1. Call to Order (meeting starts at approximately 0:31 on the video)
Chair Marni Koopman called the meeting to order at 3:01 p.m. Commissioners Risa Buck, Larry
Cooper, James McGinnis, Jamie Rosenthal, and Becs Walker were present along with staff
member Bridgette Bottinelli. Commissioner Bryan Sohl and Council liaison Tonya Graham
arrived shortly after the meeting began. Staff liaison Stu Green was absent.
2. Consent Agenda (00:32)
2.1. May 26, 2021 Meeting Minutes
Buck/Walker moved/seconded to approve the minutes. Ayes: Buck, Cooper, Koopman,
McGinnis, Rosenthal, and Walker. Nays: none. Motion passed unanimously.
3. Announcements
3.1. Next Regular Meeting: July 28, 2021 (1:3 1)
Walker will not be able to attend the July meeting and Koopman might also be absent. The City
will reopen to the public on July 12 including in-person meetings. McGinnis will only be able to
attend the next meeting if the meeting is virtual.
Bryan Sohl arrived at 3:04 P.m. and Tonya Graham arrived at 3:06 p.m.
3.2. Introduction of Possible Student Commissioner (2:59)
Anya Moore introduced herself and talked about her background on climate. She is interested in
joining the Commission.
3.3. Other Announcements from Commissioners (10:18)
Buck announced that the bottle and can redemption will restart soon. A bill was presented to the
State Legislature regarding increasing producer responsibilities in manufacturing and dispensing
of single use plastic items that cannot be recycled. This bill would also expand recycling
opportunities in rural communities.
Sohl announced that on June 3 representatives from the Conservation and Climate Outreach
Commission (CCOC), the Climate Policy Commission(CPC), the Transportation Commission,
the Wildfire Safety Commission, Southern Oregon Climate Action Now (SOCAN), City staff
and Councilor Graham met about the Climate Resilient Ashland campaign (previously called the
coordinated campaign). The group saw CCOC as tasked with outreach to the community. Sohl
asked if CCOC would allow the "Conservation Corner" in the Sneak Preview to be used for the
campaign throughout the year.
(16:20) Koopman added the Climate Resilient Ashland campaign to the agenda for discussion.
Graham described how the Climate Resilient Ashland was developed. The campaign will be
eleven months of outreach and one month of planning. Discussion included:
• Sneak Preview articles as a campaign outreach channel - Buck stated that she would be
willing to pass the organization of the Sneak Preview articles to someone else. The name
would need to be changed from "Conservation Corner."
• CCOC taking on the leadership role—Walker emphasized that this role would require
strong coordination and project management.
There was support for moving forward with the campaign. Koopman volunteered to be the
campaign representative until someone else would take the formal role. Sohl suggested using the
Minutes for the Conservation and Climate Outreach Commission
June 23, 2021
Page 2 of 4
Sneak Preview for the "Know Your Zone" emergency preparedness campaign. McGinnis
suggested that the Sneak Preview could do a feature article in July on "Know Your Zone"
instead.
3.4. Reports from Members of Other Commissions
None
4. Public Forum
None
5. Reports/Presentations
5.1. Council Update (3 5:3 6)
Graham said that Council passed the on-bill financing resolution that allows for City staff to
apply for a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) $10 million no interest loan to
create a revolving loan for energy efficiency upgrades to residences.
Tonya Graham left at 3:47 p.m.
5.2. Staff Update (46:08)
Bottinelli made the following announcements:
• The e-bike incentive is now a permanent offering with $200 for class one and two bikes.
• The induction cooking incentive is active for commercial and residential applicants.
• Three portable induction cooktops will be donated to Jackson County's Library of
Things.
• Bottinelli has been tabling at the Rogue Valley Grower's and Crafter's Market on
Tuesdays. She is using the Market to spread the word about the Climate and Energy
Action Plan and City incentive programs.
This will most likely be Bottinelli's last meeting and the Commission thanked and expressed
their gratitude for Bottinelli and her work.
5.3. SOU Update (49:19)
Walker gave an update on the following:
• Water conservation— Southern Oregon University(SOU) is purposely not irrigating
some areas and will have signage indicating that these areas are water conservation
zones. Transition zones are also being identified to move from lawn space to drought
tolerant plants. McGinnis asked about SOU's future water rights through the Talent
Irrigation District(TID) canal. Walker said SOU's access to TID has been shut off and
was uncertain about the future water rights to the canal.
• Expansion of the recycling center—The center has been expanded allowing more space
for student projects. A recycling material management area has been moved to one area
of the yard. SOU is also focusing on procuring reusable materials and eliminating single
use.
• Solar project for the farm—The University received an Oregon Department of Energy
grant to install solar at SOU's farm. This installation will be a third net zero array.
McGinnis asked if there were plans to install solar in parking lots. Walker said that the
priority is to put solar on rooftops that have infrastructure in place first then explore other
options.
• National reporting— SOU has submitted their national report and have maintained their
Bee and Tree City USA campus certifications.
Minutes for the Conservation and Climate Outreach Commission
June 23, 2021
Page 3 of 4
5.4. Recology Update (56:39)
Rosenthal provided an update on the following:
• New signage for the recycling center—This is to help educate the public on what can go
in recycling bins.
• Presentation on low recycling contamination—Rosenthal has been invited to speak by a
Northern California organization regarding what Recology does in Ashland and Talent to
keep recycling contamination rates low.
• Lend Me a Plate program—The program is active again and allows reservations of
tableware to local events to help reduce waste. The program is run by volunteers, but is
located at the recycling center.
• Shift of fleet fueling—The fleet will be using R99 fuel to help reduce the carbon
footprint. R stands for renewable. Buck asked what the fuel is made from and Rosenthal
will report back on the fuel composition at the next meeting.
• Automation of recycling routes— a few of the recycling routes are being automated. This
helps with keeping the operation cost low and reduces greenhouse gas emissions as each
truck can pick up more carts.
• Oregon House Bill 2065 —This bill just passed in the Oregon House of Representatives
and would require producers to finance system improvements and avoid additional costs
on ratepayers. The plan is to decrease public confusion by creating a consistent statewide
recycling collection list. The bill also will improve accessibility to recycling and
incentivize producers to design better products and packaging for the environment.
6. Business
6.1. Commission Monthly Column in Sneak Preview (1:07:3 1)
Koopman had minor edits that she will email to Buck and Walker. Rosenthal asked if details on
plastic recycling could be included in the article. Walker suggested having this be a separate
article as plastic recycling can be confusing and more details would be needed. Cooper/Walker
moved to approve the article with consideration with minor edits that will get taken care of
outside of the meeting. Further discussion: none. Ayes: Buck, Cooper, Koopman, McGinnis,
Rosenthal, Sohl, and Walker. Nays: none. Motion passed unanimously.
Buck stated that the Electrification steps will be published In September. There are three articles
that need to be assigned for either October, November, or December. Those articles are on
plastic recycling by Rosenthal, solar cooperative by Koopman and Sohl, and water conservation.
6.2. Update on Different Channels for Articles and Future Outreach (1:33:15)
None
6.3. CEAP Project Update
• Responsible Consumption and Single Use (1:33:54)
Walker mentioned that Bottinelli posted some information on single use items on the website.
The article just approved also included a lot of this information. The group will meet to discuss
their next projects.
• Climate Resilience (1:36:23)
The group has been working individually with the solar cooperative.
• Water Use and Conservation (1:38:00)
Minutes for the Conservation and Climate Outreach Commission
June 23, 2021
Page 4 of 4
Cooper expressed concern from the community regarding the drought. Cooper sent along
information from Scott Fleury, the Public Works Director, regarding the water supply (see
attached). The information explains that Ashland has a normal supply of water for this time of
the year. There are supplementary water sources that can be utilized like the Talent Ashland
Phoenix (TAP) Interne which Ashland will start using next month. Wildfire does threaten the
water supply and residents may be asked or mandated to conserve water. Sohl asked if there was
a backup pumping system in place for TAP. Cooper answered that there is not currently backups
for pump failure along the intertie, but there is a proposal for a consultant to review how to make
the interne more resilient. Public Works plans on using TAP earlier in the year to reserve the
water from Reeder Reservoir in case an emergency situation happens again. Irrigation water
from TID is not currently available for use.
6.4. Review of Urban, Land Use, and Transportation Draft (1:44:49)
Comments from the Commissioners were sent to CPC for integration into the draft.
6.5. Project Requests Lists (1:46:3 1)
Walker suggested updating the coordinated climate campaign to the Climate Resilient Ashland
campaign and add in the leadership role responsibilities in case CCOC takes that on. The Draft
Urban, Land Use, and Transportation review can also be marked as done.
6.6. 20's Plenty Update (1:47:57)
Sohl said that the initiative has been changed to Vision Zero and the Transportation Commission
is working a goal of zero deaths in transportation.
7. Wrap Up (1:49:11)
7.1. Items to be added to future agendas
Koopman will add the Climate Resilient Ashland campaign to the next agenda. Cooper wanted
to discuss how the Commission could help with outreach on LEAP and Conservation programs
now that Bottinelli is leaving. Sohl asked to have the Nuclear Energy Presentation next month
and Koopman suggested to discuss the scheduling of the presentation next month.
Chair Koopman adjourned the meeting at 5:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Taylor
CITY OF
Memo ASHLAND
Date: July 21, 2021
From: Scott Fleury PE, Public Works Director
To: Larry Cooper, Conservation and Climate Outreach Commissioner
RE: 2021 Water Supply Status Update 6-21-2021
This memo is meant to provide a brief update to the local and regional water supply for the
summer 2021 season.
Current Status:
Reeder Reservoir completely filled on May 18th, 2021 and remained 100% full until the
drawdown began on June 19th, 2021. The inflows from the East and West Forks of Ashland
Creek have started to dimmish in-line with the snow melt off, which has happened earlier this
year due to the warmer temperatures and lack of spring rainfall.
Over the past two weeks the water treatment plant is averaging 4.09 million gallons a day (mgd)
in production the inflows from the East and West Forks have dropped from 7 mgd to 5.54 mgd.
The production values for June to date are about 0.5 mgd more when compared to 2020 numbers
at the same point in time. Staff believes this due to the hotter than average temperatures to date
along with a complete lack of spring rainfall creating very dry conditions both locally and
regionally. The current National Oceanic and Atmospheric three (3) month outlook is predicting
higher than average temperatures and average rainfall conditions for this region, see figures
below.
Knowing current conditions and potential future conditions of temperature, rainfall and East and
West Fork creek flows, staff expects the drawdown of Reeder Reservoir to outpace the
theoretical drawdown curve this summer season. This will warrant the use of one of the City's
supplemental sources of water to protect the Reeder supply until fall rainfall occurs and fire
season ends.
The typical drought management strategy for the City is to utilize the Talent Irrigation District
(TID) supplemental source to augment the Reeder source and then utilize the Talent-Ashland-
Phoenix (TAP) source once TID is no longer available. The Talent Irrigation District is seeing
the lowest reservoir levels ever due to persistent drought conditions over the past few years and
irrigators will see a significant reduction in supplied water through the TID system. TID is
currently shut down for a two week period and will assess whether to start the canal system back
up or continue the shutdown (see press release notes below). Due to these historically low levels
the TID supplemental source will not be available to the City for supplemental raw water and
thus the fallback is to utilize the TAP system. The TAP system provides for up to 2.31 mgd to a
total of 1,000 acre-feet(325,851,000 mg).
G:\Admin\Commissions\Conservation Commission\Minutes\2021\6June\Larry Cooper Memo-CCOC 6-21-2021.doc
Staff expects to begin pumping TAP into the Ashland system sometime in July to supplement the
Reeder source. This has a twofold benefit, first to supplement and protect the Reeder source, but
also is important as part of the water right certification process for the 1000 acre-feet of stored
water right in Lost Creek Reservoir.
The startup of the TAP system will also coincide with the understanding that regional chlorine
supplies are returning back to normal (see note below on chlorine shortage). As always during
the irrigation season the City will continue to promote water conservation and efficiency
measures/programs and the focus is on "using water wisely". Indoor and outdoor water audits
are the primary mechanism for community members to gain a better understanding of their
indoor and outdoor water usage habits and also learn ways to reduce consumption overall. To
learn more about water conservation and efficiency programs visit:
https://www.ashland.or.us/conserve and https://ashlandsaveswater.org/
TID Press Release:
PRESS RELEASE
With the recent rains and the severe drought situation facing the Rogue
Talent
® ® ® ® ® ® ® ® ® ®
Basin,
Irrigation District will be shutting the entire Irrigation system down on Tuesday,
for a period of at least two weeks. If we should receive additional precipitation, the shutdown
period could be extended. This is being done to extend the extremely limited water supply.
Irrigation Reservoir Information: (Current status)
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