A water conservation plan for a wholesale water supplier must provide information in response to each of the following paragraphs. If the plan does not provide information for each requirement, the wholesale water supplier shall include in the plan an explanation of why the requirement is not applicable.
  (1) Minimum requirements. All water conservation plans for wholesale water suppliers must include the following elements:
    (A) a description of the wholesaler's service area, including population and customer data, water use data, water supply system data, and wastewater data;
    (B) specific, quantified five-year and ten-year targets for water savings including, where appropriate, target goals for municipal use in gallons per capita per day for the wholesaler's service area, maximum acceptable water loss, and the basis for the development of these goals. The goals established by wholesale water suppliers under this subparagraph are not enforceable;
    (C) a description as to which practice(s) and/or device(s) will be utilized to measure and account for the amount of water diverted from the source(s) of supply;
    (D) a monitoring and record management program for determining water deliveries, sales, and losses;
    (E) a program of metering and leak detection and repair for the wholesaler's water storage, delivery, and distribution system;
    (F) a requirement in every water supply contract entered into or renewed after official adoption of the water conservation plan, and including any contract extension, that each successive wholesale customer develop and implement a water conservation plan or water conservation measures using the applicable elements of this chapter. If the customer intends to resell the water, then the contract between the initial supplier and customer must provide that the contract for the resale of the water must have water conservation requirements so that each successive customer in the resale of the water will be required to implement water conservation measures in accordance with applicable provisions of this chapter;
    (G) a reservoir systems operations plan, if applicable, providing for the coordinated operation of reservoirs owned by the applicant within a common watershed or river basin. The reservoir systems operations plans shall include optimization of water supplies as one of the significant goals of the plan;
    (H) a means for implementation and enforcement, which shall be evidenced by a copy of the ordinance, rule, resolution, or tariff, indicating official adoption of the water conservation plan by the water supplier; and a description of the authority by which the water supplier will implement and enforce the conservation plan; and
    (I) documentation of coordination with the regional water planning groups for the service area of the wholesale water supplier in order to ensure consistency with the appropriate approved regional water plans.
  (2) Additional conservation strategies. Any combination of the following strategies shall be selected by the water wholesaler, in addition to the minimum requirements of paragraph (1) of this section, if they are necessary in order to achieve the stated water conservation goals of the plan. The commission may require by commission order that any of the following strategies be implemented by the water supplier if the commission determines that the strategies are necessary in order for the conservation plan to be achieved:
    (A) conservation-oriented water rates and water rate structures such as uniform or increasing block rate schedules, and/or seasonal rates, but not flat rate or decreasing block rates;
    (B) a program to assist agricultural customers in the development of conservation pollution prevention and abatement plans;
    (C) a program for reuse and/or recycling of wastewater and/or graywater; and
    (D) any other water conservation practice, method, or technique which the wholesaler shows to be appropriate for achieving the stated goal or goals of the water conservation plan.
  (3) Review and update requirements. The wholesale water supplier shall review and update its water conservation plan, as appropriate, based on an assessment of previous five-year and ten-year targets and any other new or updated information. A wholesale water supplier shall review and update the next revision of its water conservation plan every five years to coincide with the regional water planning group.

Source Note: The provisions of this §288.5 adopted to be effective May 3, 1993, 18 TexReg 2558; amended to be effective February 21, 1999, 24 TexReg 949; amended to be effective April 27, 2000, 25 TexReg 3544; amended to be effective October 7, 2004, 29 TexReg 9384; amended to be effective December 6, 2012, 37 TexReg 9515