WATER
WATER
VISION
Recognizing that water is an essential resource and that supplies are finite, people in the Bay Area have always been proactive in planning for the future. By acquiring alternative supplies and emphasing active conservation, water is plentiful. Surrounding counties depend on us to supplement their own water resources. Improvements and expansion of our water and wastewater systems easily accommodate our continuing economic growth. Our water tastes great and our community prosperous.
STRATEGY
The direction developed by Vision 2000 is to ensure our community's water is used efficiently, our water supply is reliable, and we are proactive in planning our own water future. The approach we took was to look at the current situation with open minds and a broad perspective. Our basic assumptions were that a) Corpus Christi will continue to grow and will need more water for residential and industrial use, b) current water resources will not be sufficient for this continued growth, c) assets exist to make the necessary changes to ensure our water supply, and d) the issue is regional in nature.
We gathered input from past and present technical studies as well as industrial leaders, City officials, environmental group representatives, and academic and research experts. From our review we concluded that our community does have several active water projects; however, these are not coordinated strategically to make the best use of all our resources.
ACTIONS
Develop a community supported "Strategic Plan" for water. This plan should be used as a "road map" for the best use of our water and financial resources. Specifically it should serve as a guide for decision making to maximize multiple use and reuse of water, set priorities, and represent long-term commitment to action by individuals, industries, municipalities, and businesses. Commitment and involvement in developing this plan by all those who will be responsible for implementation is critical to its success.
Focus the strategic plan on developing a water supply system which considers all key aspects, including:
Multi-source supply by integration of existing surface sources, groundwater sources, and desalinated water. Innovative techniques can be used such as building future power plants to simultaneously and economically generate electricity and produce fresh water from sea water.
Conservation for single and multi-tenant residential water customers using rewards for water conservers and penalties for water wasters. Strategies can include tiered water rates, fines for wasteful sprinkler systems, and encouraging recycling of used water.
Waste disposal can be turned into an asset, as is being done with the pilot program to route treated waste water into the estuary system of Nueces Bay. Reuse strategies should also be developed for such by-products as wastewater treatment sludge.
Quality issues need to go beyond meeting safe drinking water standards to address customer satisfaction.