The Manager's report back on lessons learned from 2016 and on plans in place to institute water savings measures and to inform the public as soon as practicable about the possibility of dry and drought conditions

Lessons learned from the Drought of 2016: There is very little that we can do or could have done differently to avoid the use of MWRA water in a drought of record circumstance - which the drought of 2016 was. The basis for this is that if our reservoirs are full and it doesn't rain, we have an 8 or 9 month supply of water. Our water system can fill and empty fairly quickly compared to most large water systems. This is why Cambridge is a full member of the MWRA for emergency, construction and general backup purposes.

We also follow the MWRA Drought Management Plan and they were operating on slightly below normal, starting in November of 2016. They are currently operating under normal conditions for this time of year (2020). Improve/increase our outreach to customers on drought awareness and water conservation practices. Use the drought/prediction tools available: routinely review drought and precipitation predictions and compare rainfall data back several years.

History tells us that a Drought of Record will extend over a period of years versus months.

The tools available to assist in the prediction of a significant drought include: 1) the current and seasonal US Drought Outlook, which indicates the current drought status (if any) and attempts to predicts rainfall up to 14 months into the future - this tool shows information on a national, regional and state level; 2) the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary's Drought Status by region - the drought classifications were updated in 2019 along with the MA Drought Management Plan; 3) Local monthly precipitation statistical data; 4) Reservoir Levels (Hobbs Brook, Stony Brook and Fresh Pond); 5) the Risk Based Drought Management Plan, completed in July of 2016; 6) Cambridge monthly water usage.

Having the drought of 2016, which started in 2015 and ended in 2017, allows us to compare current precipitation and reservoir level data to understand, and better predict, a future water supply problem. Water Supply conditions and predictions are reported to the Executive and Finance Departments and the Water Board for review and discussion as necessary. Water conservation has been and is always important to practice and will help any water supply system get through drought and dry conditions.

In Cambridge we have been recommending and practicing conservation for many decades. As such, the Cambridge daily water consumption is continuing its decline from its high of over 24 MGD in the early 80's to 12.4 MGD in FY20. This Cambridge decline in water consumption has been continuing even with an increasing population.

Plans in Place to Institute Water Saving Measures:

Prior to the drought of 2016 we had water conservation information on our webpage with bill stuffers used occasionally. We had fully implemented the Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) System by 2006, which reduced the Cities overall water usage. Subsequently, we implemented our AMR algorithm to notify homeowners of potential water leaks in their homes. Water conservation information is added to our Annual Water Quality Report. We also discuss water conservation on Fresh Pond Day and during water treatment plant tours.

We also have been working with the universities assisting in their water conservation efforts.

In 2016 we added or enhanced the following items to continue promoting long and short term water conservation: 1) Notice in the comment section of each and every water bill; 2) indoor and outdoor water conservation tip pamphlets added to our bills annually; 3) Enhanced Water Department webpage with water conservation tips and links to various water saving pages such as the MADEP, MWRA and the USEPA; 4) performed leak detection on our pipes annually versus bi-annually; 5) improved operations and maintenance of all City owned outdoor water irrigation and play systems with DPW; 6) AMR algorithm run twice a week versus weekly; 7) Standardized the "SMART" Irrigation System Controls for City Systems; 8) the use of social media.

Inform Public of Dry/Drought Conditions:

Updated CWD Webpage on July 27, 2020 of the start of dry conditions in Middlesex County; updated CWD webpage on August 12, 2020 to reflect the Secretary of EEA declaration of a Level 2 drought condition, based on the 2019 revised MA Drought Management Plan; added a drought link from City webpage; put drought on first page of CWD webpage scroll; started daily tweeting of drought and water conservation tips on August 20, 2020; added notice and indoor and outdoor water conservation tips to our bills sent out on August 28th for a full quarter, to reach the entire City; Updating drought information as conditions change.