Delaware Water Supply Coordinating Council Meeting Final ... · the Forecast Synopsis will be moved to 10:15 a.m. on the agenda. ... maintenance work, we have a pump being replaced

Delaware Water Supply Coordinating Council Meeting

January 25, 2018

Final Meeting Minutes

ADMINISTRATIVE- Steven M. Smailer, P.G., Chair

Mr. Smailer called the meeting to order at 10:03 a.m. and welcomed everyone. The meeting

attendance list is included at the end of the meeting minutes.

REVIEW OF THE OCTOBER 26, 2017 DRAFT MEETING MINUTES

Mr. Smailer motioned to review the October 26 draft meeting minutes. Edits were submitted

earlier by Mr. Joe DiNunzio and Mr. Charles Jenner and made prior to today’s meeting. Mr. Vic

Singer motioned to approve with edits he had. Ms. Ellen Kohler also had edits. Mr. Jenner also

made an additional edit at the meeting. Mr. DiNunzio seconded the motion to approve with

edits. All suggested edits will be incorporated into the final October 26 meeting minutes. Mr.

Smailer asked if “all were in favor of approval?” All were in favor to approve with edits. None

opposed.

Final meeting minutes are posted online at https://publicmeetings.delaware.gov/Meeting/54141 .

OLD BUSINESS – Steven M. Smailer, P.G., Chair

Mr. Smailer reported that he still has yet to receive any guidance from the Governor’s office and

Ms. Lydia Massey regarding the required Council members and he will keep reporting back to

Council on the status.

There was no other old business.

Mr. Smailer motioned to move two agenda items until Dr. Jerry Kauffman arrived. Dr.

Kauffman will be reporting the Water Conditions Report on behalf of Ms. Stefanie Baxter who is

unable to attend today’s meeting. The Water Conditions Report will be moved to 10:25 a.m. and

the Forecast Synopsis will be moved to 10:15 a.m. on the agenda.

FORECAST SYNOPSIS – Presented by Dan Leathers, State Climatologist

Mr. Leathers presented a Power Point presentation (see attachment titled Weather Summary and

Forecast) and discussed the following 2017 weather summary:

Mr. Leathers said, “2017 was a pretty interesting year across Delaware.”

As stated in the presentation, “2017 was 2.4̊ above the 1981-2010 “normal” and was the

2nd

warmest year since 1895.” Mr. Leathers added, “2.4̊ F might not sound like much but

that big of a difference for annual temperature is a big difference in annual temperature.”

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January 25, 2018

2

As stated in the presentation, “2017 Statewide Monthly Temperature Anomalies”, Mr.

Leathers said, “9 of the 12 months were above normal.” He also added that February and

April were the warmest since 1895 and October was the 2nd

warmest since 1895. Mr.

Leathers continued, “None of the months had very large negative temperature anomalies

and the biggest was in December. From the end of December through the beginning of

January, it was the 2nd

or 3rd

largest number of days without the temperature going above

freezing in Wilmington. Around 12-13 days temperatures were below freezing.”

As stated in the presentation, “Delaware 2017 annual precipitation was 0.24 inches above

the 1981-2010 “normal”. Mr. Leathers said, “For the State, we ended up slightly above

normal for the year. Almost at normal. Only a ¼” above normal for the State. About

44.57”. Mr. Leathers also mentioned there was a huge variability in precipitation going

from one year to the next.

As stated in the presentation, “2017 Statewide Monthly Precipitation Anomalies”, Mr.

Leathers said, “There was a late summer and it was quite wet across the State. It was the

8th

wettest July since 1895, the 13th

wettest August since 1895, and the 5th

driest

December since 1895.”

Mr. Leathers discussed the upcoming forecast for late Winter/early Spring. He stated, “A

La Niña event began last Fall and will continue through early Spring and it will then go

into a neutral mode. Not warm or cold in the tropical Pacific. This will have some

impact on upcoming hurricane forecast. The foreseeable future will have La Niña

conditions.”

Mr. Leathers continued to discuss El Niño and La Niña forecasts for Winter 2018-

Summer 2018.

Mr. Leathers added the NOAA extended forecast from February-April 2018; La Niña in

tropical Pacific and there is an enhanced probability of above normal temperatures.

Mr. Leathers asked Council if there were any questions and further discussion continued among

Mr. Singer, Mr. Smailer, and Mr. Jenner.

WATER CONDITIONS REPORT – Presented by Dr. Jerry Kauffman, WRA, Director on

behalf of Stefanie Baxter, DGS

Dr. Kauffman presented a Power Point Presentation of the Water Level in Well Db24-18 and

also a comparison of hydrologic conditions between January 2017 and January 2018 (attached).

Dr. Kauffman first discussed the Water Level in Well Db24-18 which is a monitoring well south

of Newark. He stated that the data was provided by DGS. Mr. Kauffman said, “It shows a

decline when it should be recharging and it’s about 3 ft. below normal right now. Normally the

25th

percentile is the period when recharge should be occurring. Need to watch this because this

is how droughts are foretold.”

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January 25, 2018

3

Dr. Kauffman continued his discussion with the Northern Delaware Drought Guidelines where

January 2017 and January 2018 were compared. As stated in the Power Point presentation:

Precipitation for a 12-month period at the Wilmington Airport ending January 2017 was

-3.26” and ending January 2018 is -4.07. For a 6-month period ending January 2017

precipitation was -4.87” and in Drought Warning and ending January 2018 is -5.44” and

in Drought Warning.

Brandywine Creek (30-day moving avg) ending January 2017 was at 230.2 mgd and

ending January 2018 is at 162.0 mgd.

White Clay Creek-Stanton (30-day moving avg) ending January 2017 was at 81.4 mgd

and ending January 2018 is 66.3 mgd.

White Clay Creek-Newark (30-day moving avg) ending January 2017 was at 36.0 mgd

and ending January 2018 is at 28.8 mgd.

Well Db24-18 ending January 2017 was at 15.13 (fbls) and in Drought Warning and

ending January 2018 is at 15.70 (fbls) and in Drought Warning.

Water Conditions Index ending January 2017 was 5.92 and ending January 2018 is 4.34

and in Drought Watch.

Chlorides ending January 2017 were at 57.7 ppm and ending January 2018 is Average at

137.2 ppm.

Hoopes Reservoir (City of Wilmington) ending January 2017 was at -7.2 ft. and ending

January 2018 is full.

Newark Reservoir ending January 2017 was at -2.5 ft. and ending January 2018 is at -2.0

ft.

Aquifer Storage and Recovery: SUEZ ending January 2017 was at 21 mg and AWC was

at 21 mg. SUEZ ending January 2018 is at 29 mg and AWC is at 4 mg.

Marsh Creek Reservoir - no information to report at this time.

Chlorides on the Delaware River ending January 2017 were at River Mile 74 and the

normal was River Mile 69. Ending January 2018, at River Mile 76 and the normal is

River Mile 69.

NYC DRB Reservoirs ending January 2017 storage was 172 bg or 32 bg above drought

watch and January 2018 storage is 200.5 bg or 65 bg above drought watch.

Dr. Kauffman said, “Bottom line is that some things are a little concerning right now.” Mr.

Smailer added, “If you compare year over year, we’re actually trending a little more steeply in

the negative right now in almost every one of the indicators. So, if we just skirted it last year and

if things continue, action may be necessary.” Mr. Smailer, Dr. Kauffman, and Mr. Leathers

continued to discuss.

Mr. DiNunzio added, “This is the time to be watchful. I think shallow well Db24 was impacted

by the frozen ground. The key is storage.”

Council continued to discuss.

As stated in the presentation, January 2017 was compared to January 2018 for the Kent County

and Sussex County Hydrologic Conditions

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The Kent County Hydrologic Conditions:

Ending January 2017, precipitation Dover 12-month was at -3.90”, precipitation Dover 6-

month was at -3.02”, and precipitation Dover 5-month was at -1.80”. Ending January

2018, precipitation Dover 12-month is at -3.02”, precipitation Dover 6-month is at -2.18”,

and precipitation Dover 5-month is at -6.66”.

Streamflow for the St. Jones River at Dover (30-day moving avg) ending January 2017

was 34.3 mgd (normal) and from December 25-January 23, 2018 was 14.0 mgd (below

normal).

Groundwater for Well Mc51-01a ending January 2017 was at 13.60 fbls (normal) and for

January 2018 is at 14.2 fbls (below normal).

The Sussex County Hydrologic Conditions:

Ending January 2017, precipitation Georgetown 12-month was at +8.77”, precipitation

Georgetown 6-month was at +4.08”, and precipitation Georgetown 5-month was at

+7.15”. Ending January 2018, precipitation Georgetown 12-month is at -6.05”,

precipitation Georgetown 6-month is at -6.77”, and precipitation Georgetown 5-month is

at -6.07”.

Streamflow for the Nanticoke River at Bridgeville (30-day moving avg) ending January

2017 was 65.1 mgd (normal) and from December 25-January 23, 2018 was 29 mgd

(below normal).

Groundwater for Well Qe44-01 ending January 2017 was at 7.5 fbls (normal) and ending

January 2018 is at 8.85 fbls (below normal).

The DGS’ full analysis is found on http://www.dgs.udel.edu .

DELAWARE RIVER BASIN DROUGHT STATUS – Presented by Doug Rowland

Mr. Rowland presented the following estimates as of January 22, 2018:

“Storage had been trending downward in the upper DRB (i.e. “NYC”) reservoirs since the last

WSCC meeting--resulting in volumes nearly 50 billion gallons below seasonal median--but has

since recovered to 75% combined usable capacity due to some light snow cover and subsequent

rain in the past couple of weeks. Similarly, streamflows at Montague, NJ have recovered to well

above the DRBC flow objective. Ice jams are affecting the Trenton area (leading to unreliable

data form the USGS gage), in addition to the Delaware Water Gap and Easton-Bethlehem, PA

areas, leading to potential localized flooding concerns. USACOE-DRBC reservoirs in the Lehigh

and Schuylkill valleys are at 100% usable capacity. Flows on tributary streams range from above

to below average, with the latter concentrated in the southern portion of the Basin. In the

Delaware River estuary, the “salt line” is estimated to be seven miles upstream of its typical

January location due to a prolonged deficit of freshwater entering the estuary.”

Council continued to discuss.

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January 25, 2018

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WATER UTILITY REPORTS

Artesian – Joe DiNunzio presented: “Well levels look fine. Nothing surprising. No issues

meeting demands. Demands have been a little higher than usual this time of year. January to

date about 18 ½ mgd in demand. Yesterday was 18.2 mgd. Partly due to the cold weather. We

had more main breaks than usual. Also, with the cold weather, some people may have been

running faucets to protect their own pipes. In terms of aquifer storage and recovery, we have

withdrawn 98 mg of the 102 mg we had stored from the last cycle so we have 4 mg left. Been in

the process of doing clear well maintenance at Llangollen facility so we have not yet begun

storage but we should any day now and, therefore, we are behind because of that maintenance

work. We’ll probably be about 60 mg of storage give or take come Memorial Day. Would like

it to be a little bit more than that. If it’s like last year, we’ll keep storing beyond Memorial Day.

We will continue to store as long as demands allow us to do so. In addition to the Llangollen

maintenance work, we have a pump being replaced in Artisan’s Village, that’s 1 mgd, not in

service today but should be back tomorrow. Next week, maintenance work being done down our

Chesapeake City Road facility and that will be about 1 mgd for the week. This is the seasonal

types of work done this time of the year. Nothing unusual.”

Newark – Mark Neimeister presented: “Everything for the most part is going well besides the

main breaks which are at least every other day and that’s keeping demands up a little bit for the

period averaging around 2 ½ to 3 mgd. Expecting that to increase at the end of this month once

student population returns. Well fields ok. EPA accepted the submission of adding the area

around the south well field treatment plant on their National Priorities List (Super Fund). Not

that much public comment received. Only written public comment was City of Newark.

Workshop went well.” Dr. Kauffman commented about a water main break in front of his home

and he commended the City of Newark crew. He said, “What a smart decision to build the City

of Newark reservoir and all the other storage.” Council continued to discuss.

New Castle – Jay Guyer presented: “Everything good. No water main breaks with the cold

weather. Demands are average. Routine maintenance . Three large capital projects planned this

year that have been approved and in the planning stage. About 500 lf of 12” main, 200 lf of 8”

main, and replacing about 30 water services plus re-pipe our interconnection at School Lane

treatment facility that has some age and some concerns and will be working with Artesian to

coordinate that project to make sure there is no negative impacts on anyone.”

SUEZ – Larry Finnicum presented: “2017 we had an average day just shy of 15 mgd.

Maximum day of 18.8 mgd. Demands driven by the cold weather. We’ve done 40 main repairs

since the beginning of January 2018. Finished 2017 with 13% and TCS down. ASR we have 29

mg that was not taken out during recovery period. Start recharging in February. Maintenance

and painting on Bellevue tanks in Claymont. One in Spring which is ½ million and 1 million in

the Fall. Plans to replace 30,000 ft. of main.”

Wilmington – Sean Duffy presented: “Increase in demands since the beginning of the year,

over 2 mgd. Back in October around 16-16 ½ mgd and over the past ten days up close to 18 ½

mgd. A lot of water main breaks and a lot of frozen service lines. Have had people without

water for a week. It’s a big issue. More occurred in north Wilmington. Hoopes Reservoir just

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January 25, 2018

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about full. Could switch over to Hoopes around middle of the month for about 4-5 days when

turbidity is high in Brandywine and looking at the levels today vs. the beginning of the year,

we’re probably right about where we were. So we’re essentially full. Flows at Brandywine are

good.”

Tidewater – Sheila Shannon presented: “Experienced some main breaks and frozen service

lines and all of that demand is not reflected in the following numbers. Statewide average about

6.5 mgd (.5 mgd in New Castle, 1.5 mgd in Kent County and 4.5 mgd in Sussex County).

Southern Shores plant is off.”

Sussex Shores – Not present.

UDPATE ON THE DRAFT WSCC THIRTEENTH REPORT TO THE GOVERNOR

AND GENERAL ASSEMBLY – Steven M. Smailer, P.G., Chair, and Dr. Jerry Kauffman,

WRA, Director

Dr. Kauffman began by saying, “This report has been reviewed several times. Projects water

demands out to 2030. Have examined the declining per capita use and tried to discuss that a

little bit and we decided that if we want to examine that issue we will discuss that in the

Fourteenth Report to the Governor and General Assembly. We decided to add a section on

‘Progress and Activities’. Most of the water purveyors have submitted their half page

paragraphs that were requested. Once we have everyone’s submitted, we can submit to the

Governor and General Assembly.” Mr. Smailer mentioned that the report cover letter has been

drafted and it is ready for review by the Secretary of DNREC.

Mr. Jenner asked, “Procedurally, how does the Council sign-off on this?” Mr. Smailer replied,

“We don’t want to wait until the next Council meeting to approve.” Mr. Smailer felt that the

final version should be e-mailed to everyone and get a vote response back regarding the final

version and proceed.” Mr. DiNunzio mentioned about legislators being out of session for the

month of February and will return to session the second week of March.

Mr. Singer suggested, “If the purveyors do not submit their information that is needed for the

report, we should give them a date to submit it and if it’s not submitted by that date, it won’t be

included.”

Council continued to discuss.

DISCUSSION OF THE WATER SUPPLY COORDINATING COUNCIL

GOVERNANCE (Definition of a Quorum) - Steven M. Smailer, P.G., Chair

Mr. Smailer stated that at the last meeting it was mentioned we would go through the past

meeting records that we had showing the number of required attendees and if a simple majority

is sufficient for quorum. Mr. Smailer said, “Going back to October 2013, with the attendance of

Council, what is the specific number of members for quorum by statute?” Mr. Smailer stated

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January 25, 2018

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that he believes the specific number is 39. He continued, “Since October 2013 we’ve had 16

meetings with Council and of those 16 Council meetings with 39 members, we would not have

quorum 6 times as a simple majority.” He continued, “The highest we’ve ever gotten was at the

Emergency Drought Meeting in September 2016 and we were at 59% (23 of the 39 members).

The lowest we’ve ever seen was right before the September 2016 Emergency Drought Meeting

and we were at 33% attendance. I don’t see anything we’re going to be beyond a simple

majority and I think it gets problematic if we do a majority of those attending so I think a simple

majority has to be what’s there. When we had an important meeting, we had the highest

attendance and so that speaks to what is it that this Council needs a quorum to officially do. To

‘bless’ the submission and then to make a recommendation.” Mr. Smailer continued to address

the Council that this is what Ms. Massey’s comment was about at the March 30, 2017, meeting.

That we are a large Council and we need to make sure we have the ability to get a quorum. Mr.

Smailer opened the floor to Council to discuss.

Mr. Jenner mentioned how Ms. Dorothy Miller, Coalition for Natural Stream Valleys, is

deceased and is still appearing as an attendee for the Council and also that New Castle County

Chamber of Commerce is represented twice. Mr. Jenner made the suggestion that they should be

removed. Ms. Kohler asked if the Coalition for Natural Stream Valleys still exists and Dr.

Kauffman answered that it does still exist. Ms. Kohler then continued that officially it cannot be

removed because of the statute and Mr. Smailer agreed. Mr. Smailer said, “If we were to go the

route of legislative clean-up, the whole concept of having the gubernatorial appointment vs. the

representative from those agencies would also be cleaned up at that time.” Mr. Smailer

continued, “The law is what the law is right now and we have to act upon that.” Mr. Jenner

mentioned that there are agencies listed that have never attended any Council meetings. Mr.

Jenner continued, “It may be reasonable to reach out to them to see if they ever have any

intention to attend.” Ms. Kohler added, “We can’t change the quorum requirement because the

statute has 39 members. Do we want to recommend to the Governor’s office to look at the

legislation and to recommend who’s on the list and do we want to open that up because they may

want to change the whole composition of the Council. In order to keep working like we’re

working, we have to decide whether we’re going to have a quorum of a majority given the statute

that we have. Then we can have a discussion about whether we want to mention to the

Governor’s office whether we want to clean-up.”

Mr. Smailer added that he wants to address what was specifically brought up by Ms. Massey.

Mr. Smailer reiterated what Ms. Massey requested, “Is the Council too large and do you have a

quorum and because we don’t know specifically what the quorum is, we can’t answer.” Mr.

Smailer asked Council if everyone is comfortable with a simple majority quorum. He stated, “I

am certainly comfortable with that.” Mr. Singer mentioned and discussed details about the State

having an Administrative Procedures Act. He continued to discuss about how members vote at

current meetings on approval of previous meeting minutes when they didn’t even attend the

previous meeting. Mr. Singer added, “If a typical event is to gather 39 of the members and we

do business and it does not create a larger requirement, we should be able to establish our own

quorum. I would say it doesn’t take a majority of the 39, but if we had 1/3 of the total

membership, it would be sufficient to do business as normal.” Ms. Kohler added, “Having a

majority of the people present to do regular business is a different question than what a quorum

is for.” Ms. Kohler then asked Mr. Singer, “So are you suggesting that for submitting a report or

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January 25, 2018

8

for declaring a drought that you just have the majority of the people present to do that?” Mr.

Singer replied, “No, just ordinary business. That 1/3 is sufficient and we’ve been operating that

way. For declaring a drought, we should say that procedurally that a vote by email is sufficient

to gather the votes needed to meet that statutory requirement if there is one.” Mr. Smailer told

Council that the only piece of guidance he could provide as interpreted from the existing statute

is that the Council, by majority vote, may establish a sub-committee. Mr. DiNunzio said, “I

would like to give my observation and then I will move forward to make a motion. I consider it

a positive that 5/8 of the time, the majority of the 39 members attend. As often as this Council

meets and as large as it is and how few times there is actually action being taken, to me that’s a

positive thing. People will appear if there is action that needs to be taken. And to Mr. Singer’s

point, there is something to be said that even approving meeting minutes is an action.” Mr.

DiNunzio then mentioned that perhaps there is something to be said for a quorum that establishes

a meeting may occur and standard business may occur but the majority for action of the Council

would include drought declaration, approval of reports, and establishing a sub-committee. Mr.

DiNunzio continued, “Therefore, I would like to move forward so we can complete this. I

motion that a quorum of 1/3 be set for holding a meeting conducting regular business and a

quorum of a majority be set for those specific actions that were just mentioned.” Mr. Singer

seconded the motion at the same time some Council members had comments. Council continued

to discuss.

Dr. Kauffman said, “At today’s meeting, 16 members are present. Normally DGS, Dept. of

Agriculture, Public Service Commission, and Office of Drinking Water would be present. We

can get to 20 if there is an important matter to vote on. So a simple majority should work. Also,

I believe there is a procedure that members can be disqualified for not regularly attending.”

Council discussed.

Dr. Kauffman said to Mr. Smailer that he would like to have letters to the Council members from

the Governor’s office stating they are official members. Mr. Smailer replied to Dr. Kauffman

that this ‘exact statement’ has been brought up to Ms. Massey. Mr. Smailer also added that he

has offered to Ms. Massey that he would draft the letters for them but he was told by Ms. Massey

that the Governor’s office has a specific format they use. Mr. Smailer told Dr. Kauffman that he

would reiterate his concern to Ms. Massey.

Mr. Smailer reiterated to Council that he only wanted to begin the process of the ‘definition of a

quorum’ as an answer to the Governor’s office and whether this Council had a quorum or not.

He just wanted to be able to give the Governor’s office a simple answer.

Dr. Kauffman said, “If Mr. DiNunzio’s motion is approved, wouldn’t it be in the meeting

minutes?” Mr. Smailer replied, “Yes, and that is what will memorialize this decision.” Mr.

Jenner commented to Council that Mr. DiNunzio has given him permission to try to reiterate his

original motion. Mr. Smailer then addressed Mr. Jenner and told him that we are currently in a

motion and a second and was he making a motion to amend? Mr. Jenner said that he was just

trying to clarify what Mr. DiNunzio motioned. He said, “If we had a quorum required for

Council to do routine business, such as approval of minutes, discussion of various issues, the

projection of action plans which we do routinely, if we had a final requirement for this Council

to convene and do routine business which goes beyond the approval of minutes, to do these sorts

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January 25, 2018

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of activities we do routinely and if we set that formal requirement at 33%, the actual number is

flexible, a 50% quorum is less likely to be challenged, but I think 33% for us is a realistic

number to do business. When there are matters to be decided on, perhaps 50% of the designated

membership of the Council can be accomplished via e-mail if it’s not practical to do face to

face.”

Mr. DiNunzio mentioned that he originally brought up three actions in his original motion for a

majority quorum and he wanted to add a fourth and amend his motion. Mr. DiNunzio said,

“First three were for any drought actions, the reports to the Governor and General Assembly, the

formation of a sub-committee as it is required by statute, and the approval of Self-Sufficiency

reports.” Mr. Singer seconded the amended motion by Mr. DiNunzio. Mr. Andrew Homsey,

Mr. Jenner, Mr. DiNunzio, Ms. Kohler and Mr. Smailer continued to discuss and then decided a

vote was needed.

Mr. Smailer asked if all that were present were in favor. All were in favor. None opposed. Mr.

Smailer added that since October 2013 there has not been a meeting where we did not have at

least 33%.

CLIMATIC DROUGHT VS. WATER SUPPLY AVAILABILITY SUB-COMMITTEE

ASSIGNMENT – Steven M. Smailer, P.G., Chair

Mr. Smailer addressed Council. “The intent here was to have a discussion today and then look at

establishing a sub-committee to not make the decision but to evaluate and report back to Council

for action,” Mr. Smailer said. He continued, “Before Newark’s reservoir, before the ASR, before

a lot of the substantial accomplishments of this Council, there was a much more direct coupling

of Climate vs. Water Supply. Where we’re at now they’re not necessarily one in the same. I

think it’s worthwhile to formally establish a sub-committee to evaluate this in detail and report

back to Council with recommendations for discussion.” Mr. Smailer opened this up to Council

for discussion.

Mr. Jenner mentioned that one thing Council may need to look at is to contemplate reconvening

the Council at Large in order to expedite the formation and activity in recommendations of the

sub-committees because if Council has to wait for a quarterly Council meeting just to set plans to

begin this activity and then 1-2 more months until the Council meets again, Council may be “up

the creek without a paddle.” Mr. Smailer addressed the current drought advisory guidelines that

were discussed by Council earlier in the meeting and said, “As we are facing this and worrying

about where we are going with that, I’m not proposing that we change this right now as an

actionable component of our business process because I don’t know the timeline for your point.

I’m saying that this is something we should be addressing. This is not necessarily the best time

of the year with this looming to be changing the formational basis of it.” Mr. Jenner said that he

feels this needs to be looked into in a timely manner. Mr. Smailer added, “We are not at the

point where we’re going to make a recommendation to the Governor on going into one of these

situations because we haven’t decided on what the outcome of the sub-committee is.” Mr.

Jenner said, “As I understand it, we’re not under any particular mandate to proceed in any

particular set fashion in response to the guidelines.” Mr. Jenner continued to discuss.

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Mr. Jenner then asked if Council can go ahead and talk about convening a sub-committee at

today’s meeting. Mr. Jenner said, “If we can follow through on it, great, if we can’t I think we

really need to consider moving up the next Council meeting.”

Mr. Singer said, “I think we can escape this dilemma by saying the following: By establishing

our own procedure that we can appoint a working group whos work product may later be

advanced to the work product of the sub-committee once the sub-committee is approved by

quorum by the majority as established by the statute.” Mr. Singer said to call it a working group

rather than a sub-committee.

Mr. DiNunzio said, “I think Mr. Singer is right in saying let’s start the process and at the next

meeting formalize a sub-committee.” Mr. Jenner mentioned to Council that the traditional way

of forming a sub-committee is to make an announcement of a plan to convene a sub-committee

to Council and perhaps a follow-up letter from Dr. Kauffman that this sub-committee is being

envisioned and anyone interested needs to contact Dr. Kauffman or Mr. Smailer that they would

like to participate on the sub-committee. Mr. Smailer said, “The consensus I’m hearing is there

is no opposition that this needs to be looked at. That to me is the key component to get that

discussion. This is something we need to work on. There is consensus here that this is a

reasonable component. Whether it’s a working group or a sub-committee, the idea is a more

finite set of people can start something faster than whoever wants to be assembled and

contribute. Nothing will happen, no result will happen, without this being in front of Council.”

Mr. Jenner stated, “The actual precedent is we will have a discussion about convening a working

group and that it’s clarified at the meeting that any interested parties can participate and they

should let Dr. Kauffman know so they can be notified of proposed dates, agendas, etc. The

people who show up, they’re part of that group.” Ms. Kohler added, “To start a working group,

to tab the technical advisors to this group meaning Dr. Kauffman, Mr. Leathers, Mr. Rowland,

Ms. Baxter, to take them as a working group to look at the indices, to consider all the indices,

consider changes to start the process, and at the next meeting we can decide how to take that and

create a sub-committee. It seems really inefficient to me to open up a sub-committee to

everyone on the Council.” Mr. Jenner mentioned to Ms. Kohler to attend one of the sub-

committee meetings and maybe then she will see why he is addressing this issue.

Mr. Smailer said, “We have four different assemblages: providers, users, technical expertise,

and advocates. In terms of water supply availability and capacity, that to me is the expertise of

the providers. There is also the drought component, the climatic drought working group, the

supply working group, and the users group.” Ms. Kohler again commented about focusing on

the indices.

Mr. Smailer discussed the fact that climatic drought is a timeline and the water supply is another.

“Where they intersect is the point of water supply concern. The policies as to what happens is

where the users, components, and advocates come in,” Mr. Smailer said. Ms. Kohler mentioned

to Mr. Smailer that she was just hearing a lot from Council that they were not all that

comfortable with the indices. Ms. Kohler said that her suggestion was to re-evaluate the indices.

Mr. DiNunzio said, “As a provider, my view of a working group, there would be value and I

think most providers would want to be part of that.”

WSCC Final Meeting Minutes

January 25, 2018

11

Mr. Smailer told Council that he accomplished what he originally wanted by this being a specific

agenda item to be discussed and that Council deems it necessary to look into. Mr. Jenner

motioned that Council try to propose to convene a working group within a specified period of

time that would start to define and discuss these issues and that an announcement be made after

today’s meeting so those who are not in attendance are aware and interested parties should

contact Dr. Kauffman and Mr. Smailer. Dr. Kauffman added that Ms. Baxter may want to co-

chair this and Mr. Jenner agreed.

Mr. Leathers said he wanted to vote ‘yes’ to Mr. Jenner’s suggestion but he also stated, “If you

get 12-15 people on this sub-committee, eventually, you’re not going to want to sit around and

hear discussions about which method of evapotranspiration we should be using for which basin

and so on and at some point, maybe this working group can form a sub-working group.” Mr.

DiNunzio replied to Mr. Leathers by saying that things like that are going to happen to the side

and Mr. Leathers answered, “As long as that’s ok and no one gets upset.” Dr. Kauffman

mentioned to Council that there have been several meetings at the University in the

Climatologist’s office between him, Mr. Leathers and Mr. Kevin Brinson about this very matter.

Dr. Kauffman said, “For instance, when Mr. Leathers and Mr. Brinson present

evapotranspiration, that is very valuable.”

Dr. Kauffman mentioned to Council that he quickly looked up the definition of a working group

and it seems to be more appropriate to use rather than sub-committee because it’s less formal.

Mr. Singer said if Mr. Jenner’s motion is to form a working group to address the “Climatic

Drought vs. Water Supply Availability Sub-Committee” agenda item, he wanted to second the

motion. Mr. Jenner said it was what he motioned. Mr. Smailer asked if all were in favor. All

were in favor. None opposed.

NEW BUSINESS – Steven M. Smailer, P.G., Chair

Mr. Smailer asked if there was any new business to be discussed. Mr. DiNunzio brought up the

Self-Sufficiency filings and asked what the plan was. Dr. Kauffman said that he just put out the

call to all of the water purveyors trying to wrap up the water demand reports through the end of

December 2017 and that they are almost completed. “We’ll put them on the website like we

always do. There is an archive back to 2000. Then we’ll go back and complete the five year

demands based on the latest three years and we’ll submit a memo to the Council that summarizes

the demands and three year projections, “ Dr. Kauffman said. He continued, “The good news is

we just did that with the Thirteenth Report to the Governor and General Assembly so we have

the data. We’ll memorialize that in a memo and that memo goes to the five water purveyors and

then you will go back to your Self-Sufficiency Reports from three years ago and Council

approves and then they go to the Public Service Commission.” Council continued to discuss.

No other new business was presented.

NEXT MEETING – Steven M. Smailer, P.G., Chair

WSCC Final Meeting Minutes

January 25, 2018

12

The next Council meeting will be held in April 2018 at 10:00 a.m. at the Kent County

Administration Building, Room 220. (The next meeting has now been scheduled for Thursday,

April 19, 2018, with a meeting time from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.).

ADJOURN – Steven M. Smailer, P.G., Chair

Mr. Smailer asked for a motion to adjourn. Ms. Shannon motioned and Mr. Singer seconded.

All were in favor. Meeting adjourned at 12:05 p.m.

These minutes are not intended to be a detailed record. They are for the use of the Water Supply

Coordinating Council members in supplementing their personal notes and recall of Council

discussions and presentations and to provide information to Council members unable to attend.

Minutes recorded and submitted by Kimberly Burris.

Attendees are listed below alphabetically, last name first:

Bard, Michael – Artesian Water

Budischak, Valann – Delaware Nursery and Landscape

Cocke, William – DNREC, Division of Water, Allocation Branch (not an official entity appointee)

DiNunzio, Joseph – Artesian Water

Duffy, Sean – City of Wilmington

Finnicum, Larry – SUEZ

Guyer, Jay – City of New Castle, Municipal Services Commission

Homsey, Andrew – University of Delaware, Water Resources Agency

Jenner, Charles – Delaware Grounds Management Association

Kauffman, Jerry – University of Delaware, Water Resources Agency, Director

Kohler, Ellen – Delaware Nature Society

Leathers, Dan – State Climatologist

MacDonald, Glen – Delaware State Golf Association

Neimeister, Mark – City of Newark

Rowland, Doug - DRBC

Rudd, John – Office of the State Fire Marshal

Shannon, Sheila – Tidewater Utilities

Singer, Victor – Civic League for New Castle County

Smailer, Steven – DNREC, Division of Water

Woodward, Amy – Delaware Public Service Commission

Weather Summary and Forecast

Water Supply Coordinating Council Meeting

January 25, 2018

Center for Environmental Monitoring and Analysis (CEMA) Office of the Delaware State Climatologist

2017 Weather Summary

2017 was 2.4o F above the 1981-2010 “normal”, and was the 2nd warmest year since 1895.

Preliminary data supplied by NCDC

57.8o F

50.0

52.0

54.0

56.0

58.0

60.0

Annu

al T

empe

ratu

re (F

)

Year

Delaware Statewide Annual Temperature 1895 - 2017

-2.0

-1.0

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Mon

thly

Tem

pera

ture

Ano

mal

ies (

F)

Month

2017 Monthly Temperature Anomalies

2017 Statewide Monthly Temperature Anomalies

Warmest February since 1895. 2nd warmest October

since 1895.

Warmest April since 1895.

Preliminary data supplied by NCDC

Delaware 2017 annual precipitation was 0.24 inches above the 1981-2010 “normal”.

44.57”

25.00

30.00

35.00

40.00

45.00

50.00

55.00

60.00

65.00

Annu

al P

reci

pita

tion

(inch

es)

Year

Delaware Statewide Annual Precipitation 1895 - 2017

2017 Statewide Monthly Precipitation Anomalies

-3.00

-2.00

-1.00

0.00

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Prec

ipita

tion

Anom

alie

s (in

ches

)

Month

2017 Monthly Precipitation Anomalies

8th wettest July since 1895.

13th wettest August since 1895.

5th driest December since 1895.

Late Winter / Early Spring Forecast

Our Current La Nina Event

El Nino / La Nina Forecast Winter 2018 – Summer 2018

La Nina Event Mean FMA Temperature Departures (oF)

La Nina Event Mean FMA Precipitation Departures (inches)

La Nina Event Mean FMA Snowfall Departures (inches)

NOAA Extended Outlook February – April 2018

Temperature Precipitation

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20Jan F M A M J J A S O N D Jan F M A M J J A S O N D J

25th Percentile Maximum Actual Average2016 2017 2018

Water Level in Well Db24-18

• The water level stayed above the 25th percentile from 2016 through 2017. • With the exception of August and September, 2017, the water level has remained below the 25th percentile (below normal) since January 2017. • The water level continues to decline when it should be starting to rise due to early recharge.

Below this line is considered below normal. Period when recharge

should be occurring.