20221221Falls Water to Staff 1-8.pdf

Preston N. Carter, ISB No. 8462
Danielle M. Sffollo, ISB No. 11496
Give,ns Pursley LLP
601 W. Bannock St.
Boise,Idaho 83702
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
prestoncarter@ sivenspursley. com
dms@ eivenspursley. com
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Attornqtsfor Falls Water Co.,Inc.
BEFORE THE IDAIIO PTTBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF FALLS WATER
CO., INC.'S APPLICATION FOR
DEFERRAL OF CERTAIN COSTS Fllrc W,lrnR Coltplnv's REspoNsEs ro
THE FIRST PROOUCUON REQT]EST OFTHE
CounnrssroN SrAFF
Falls Water Co., Inc. ("Falls Water" or "Company'), in response to the First Production
Request of the Commission Staffto Falls Water dated November 30, 2022, submits the
information below.
DATED December 21, 2022.
GrveNs Punslnv LLP
." _-e--7 -
Preston Carter
Givens Pursley, LLP
Attorneys for Falls Water Co., Inc
cAsE NO. FLS-W-22-01
RrspoNses ro FrRST PRoDUCTIoN Rrquesr Pece 1 or2
CERTIFICATE OX' SERVICE
I c€rtify that on D@€mber 21,2022, a tnre aod correct copy of the foregoing was swd
upon all parties of record in this proceeding via electronic mail as indicated below:
Commission Shfr
Jan Noriyrki, Commission Secretary
Idaho Fublic Utilities Commission
11331 W. Chinden Blvd., Bldg. 8, Suite 201-.4'
Boise,ID 83714
Vie Elcctronic lfiail
j an.noriyuki@puc. idaho. gov
Ar>,?
PrestonN. Carter
RrspoNsrs ro FrRsr PRoDUcrroN Rreunsr Pecn2 or2
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Rates & Regulatory Affairs
FLS-W-22-01
Falls Water Company Application for Deferra! of Certain Costs
Data Request Resoonse
Prepared by: Scott Bruce
Reouest No.: FLS-W-22-01 IPUC DR 1
1. The Company requests a deferral of costs associated with groundwater mitigation to
include mitigation fees for 2022, and possibly "other costs." Application at 4.
a. Please provide all known and expected costs associated with "mitigation fees
for 2022" to date in Excel format with formulas enabled.
b. PIease explain what "other costs" may be included in the request. Application at 4.
Response:
a. Falls Water has not yet been invoiced for the special assessment, but based on the
$100 per acre foot assessment cost and the respective volumes, the expected costs
are roughly $152,000 for 2022 production to be invoiced in2023. Please see FLS-
W-22-01|PUC DR 1 Attachment 1.
b. The'other costs' referenced in the Application are intended to include the cost of
acquiring additional supplies to mitigate the special assessment, such as leasing or
purchasing water rights.
FLS-W-22-01
IPUC DR I
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Rates & Regulatory Affairs
FLS-W-22-01
Falls Water Company Application for Deferral of Certain Costs
Data Reouest Response
Prepared by: Scott Bruce
Reouest No.: FLS-W-22-01 IPUC DR 2
2. The Company describes efforts to reduce the water production demand from its
customers.
a. Please explain what methods have been used to communicate with customers
for conservation efforts, i.e., flyers, advertisements, etc.
b. Please describe what additional methods or practices the Company has
considered, if any, besides the initial efforts urging customers to conserve water.
c. Please provide the costs associated with water conservation communications
and methods in a worksheet with formulas enabled.
Resoonse:
a. The Company sent notice to its customers on June 27, 2022 at 2:30 pm via the
RAVE mass communication system. The notice was sent as an email, text
message, and a phone voice message. Copies of the message are attached as
FLS-W-22-01 IPUC DR 2 Attachment 1.
The Company also placed on its website a notice about conserving water during the
drought, which is provided as FLS-!V-22-01 IPUC DR 2 Attachment 2.
b. The Company is exploring a range of methods to encourage conservation to reduce
water production, including, but not limited to, the following:
o A tiered rate structure during the next rate case.
Purchase or lease water rights to mitigate over production. This works so
long as the cost of the leased water right is less than the District's special
assessment per acre foot.
Potential use of pressurized irrigation.
Please see attachment FLS'W-22-01 IPUC DR 2 Attachment 3 tor an estimate of costs
associated with water conservation communications to date.
FLS-W-22-01
IPUC DR 2
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Rates & Regulatory Affairs
FLS-W-22-01
Falls Water Company Application for Deferralof Certain Costs
Data Reouest Resoonse
Prepared by: Scott Bruce
Reouest No.: FLS-W-22-01 IPUC DR 3
3. The Company describes how the Surface Water Coalition ("SWC') and ldaho Ground
Water Appropriators ("IGWA") Stipulated Mitigation Plan 201 6
("Stipulated Mitigation Plan in 2016") contains a requirement to reduce annual water
pumping by approximately 240,000 acre-feet. As part of that plan, the District, in which
the Company is located, is required to reduce annual water pumping by 18,000 acre-
feet.
a. Please describe the baseline production !eve! that the District, and by extension,
the Company must adhere to as calculated for 2014.
b. Please quantify the amount that the Company is required to reduce in acre-feet as
part of the District.
Response:
a. Bonneville-Jefferson Ground Water District ('BJG\ /D') was allocated 18,264 acre-
feet out of the 240,000 acre-feet of pumping reductions stipulated in the Stipulated
Mitigation Plan in 2016. The allocation was made based on the percentage of total
pumping of the 2010-2014 average usage. Those years also served as a baseline,
or starting point, from which reductions in pumping would be measured. Those
years were used because they were the most recent usage data available at the
time, the usage data were the most complete for those years, and they included a
good range of seasonal consumptive irrigation requirement.
The baseline production level that the Company must adhere to is 3,732.2 acre-
feet, which is roughly 260lo below 2021 usage levels.
b. BJGWD elected to distribute those reductions to district irrigators. Recognizing the
difficulty for non-irrigation users to reduce pumping, BJGWD set a policy that non-
irrigators would not be required to reduce pumping. lnstead, they would pay an
assessment on any pumping in addition to their 2010-2014 baseline data. Most non-
irrigation water rights are designed to increase usage over time as expansion
occurs. Any new usage requires mitigation under the Stipulated Mitigation Plan in
2016 which is a burden that is shifted to the inigators. An assessment is designed
to generate sufficient funds for the ground water district to purchase mitigation water
or incentivize other water users to reduce additional pumping.
Falls Water Company must either pump at or below its baseline of 3,732.2 acre-feet,
or pay an overage assessment for every acre-foot pumped over that amount.
FLS-W-22-01
IPUC DR3
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Please see FLS-W-22-O1 IPUC DR 3 Attachment 1.
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Rates & Regulatory Affairs
FLS-W-22-01
Falls Water Company Application for Deferralof Certain Costs
Data Request Response
Prepared by: Scott Bruce
Request No.: FLS-W-22-01 IPUC DR 4
4. Please provide the following information for each of the customer classes (residential,
commercial, and multifamily) by metersize(5/8" &314",1", 1.5",2",and 4")foreach
year from 2010-2022:
a. Average number of metered customers.
b. New connections.
c. Average monthly gallons used.
d. Sum of the total gallons used.
Resoonse:
a. The average number of metered customers can be found in FLS-W-22-01|PUC DR
4 Attachment 1. The counts by meter size and class were extracted from the current
CUSI system and the prior Caselle system from 2016 - 2022 but prior data is only
available in total from the annual report.
b. The number of new connects can be found in FLS-W-22-O1 IPUC DR 4 Attachment
1. The counts by meter size and class were extracted from the cunent CUSI system
and the prior Caselle system from 2016 -2022 but prior data is only available in
total from the annual report.
c. The average monthly gallons can be found in FLS-W-22-01 IPUC DR 4 Attachment
1. The counts by meter size and class were extracted from the current CUSI system
and the prior Caselle system from 2016 - 2022 but prior data is only available in
total from the annual report.
d. The total gallons used can be found in FLS-W-22-O1 IPUC DR 4 Attachment 1. The
counts by meter size and class were extracted from the current CUSI system and
the prior Caselle system from 2016 -2022 but prior data is only available in total
from the annual report.
FLS-W-22-01
IPUCDR 4
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Rates & Regulatory Affairs
FLS-W-22-01
Falls Water Company Application for Deferral of Certain Costs
Data Request Resoonse
Prepared by: Scott Bruce
Request No.: FLS-W-22-01 IPUC DR 5
5. The Company stiates "conservation measures have worked to some degree: Falls
Water pumped less water tn 2022 than in 2021." Application at 4. Please
provide Company workpapers supporting this stratement for 2021 and 2022in Excel
format with formulas intact. Please explain if all months were included in the calculation
for 2022.
Resoonse:
See FLS-W-22-01 IPUC DR 5 Attachment I for workpapers related to 2022 and 2021
production volumes. Falls Water estimated December 2022 prduction based on
January 2022 production.
FLS-W-22-01
IPUC DR 5
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Rates & Regulatory Affairs
FLS-W-22-01
Falls Water Company Application for Deferral of Certain Costs
Data Request Response
Prepared by: Scott Bruce
Request No.: FLS-W-22-01 IPUC DR 6
6. Please describe and explain how much each of the customer classes by meter size
are required to reduce their water consumption to meet the Stipulated Mitigation Plan
2016 in 2023. Please also describe how the Company plans to communicate
this information and the cost of incuned Mitigation Fees to its customers.
Resoonse:
Falls Water is looking to meet the Stipulated Mitigation Plan by a combination of
reduced water consumption and acquisition, by purchase or lease, of water rights to
meet customer demands.
lf the Stipulation was met exclusively with reduced consumption, then the overall
red ucti on req ui rement needed wou ld be 27 o/o as co m par ed to 2022. T he 2022
consumption was 1.5 billion gallons, or 4,676-acre feet, while the Water District
Allowance was 3,732-acre feet. The typical water losses are approximately 9% for Falls
Water. Therefore, reduction if 27% by customer class can be found at FLS-W-22-01
IPUC DR 6 Attachment 1 . The range of monthly reductions would be 2,740 gallons for
5/8 & 3/o-tnch meter customer to 56,478 gallons for 4-inch meter customers.
To communicate with customers, the Company issues RAVE alerts through its
communications system to inform customers in times where action is needed to reduce
demand. We plan to post information related to the Stipulated Mitigation Plan on the
Falls Water website. ln addition, the costs of the Mitigation Fees will be incorporated
into the next rate case filing and Falls Water intents to communicate the key drivers of
cost increase, including the Mitigation Fees in its next rate case.
FLS-W-22-01
IPUC DR 6
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Rates & Regulatory Affairs
FLS-W-22-01
Falls Water Company Application for Deferralof Certain Costs
Data Request Response
Prepared by: Scoft Bruce
Reouest No.: FLS-W-22-01 IPUC DR 7
7. The Stipulated Mitigation Plan 2016 contains benchmarks for 2020 ground water
levels.
a. Please provide the 2015 ground water !eve! that is used as the baseline
stabilization levelfor the IGWA plan as described on page 3 of Exhibit B to the
Stipulated Mitigation Plan 2016.
b. Please provide the2020 ground water levels.
c. Please confirm if the 2020 stabilization level as calculated with the 2015
ground water levels was met.
d. Please quantify the Company's contribution to meeting or failing to meet
IGWA benchmarks.
Response:
a. See FLS-]ti/-22-01-IPUC DR 7 Attachment 7 for the 2022 update related to the
2015 ground water level that is used as the baseline stabilization levelfor the IGWA
plan.
The agreement stipulates accomplishing aquifer enhancement to achieve increases
in the aquifer to the levels of the orange targets on the graph. The first benchmark
was in 2020 and was met. The second benchmark is in 2023 and will not be met.
b. See FLS-W-22-01-IPUC DR 7 Attachment f for the 2020 groundwater levels.
c. See FLS-W-22-01-IPUC DR 7 Attachment f for the 2020 groundwater levels and
benchmark, which indicate the target was met.
d. Falls Water Company's usage increased the mitigation burden on the Ground Water
District because they did not reduce pumping, but increased usage since the start of
the agreement. The Ground Water District did not meet their 18,264 acre-ft pumping
reductions in 202O or 2021and the Falls Water increase in usage contributed to the
overage. The 2022 usage for Falls Water was 4,676 acre ft, as compared to their
allowance of 3,732, which was an overage of 943, or 20o/o.
Non-irrigating pumping is not required to reduced below baseline amounts but is
charged the assessment for exceeding the baseline.
FLS-W-22-01
IPUC DR 7
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Rates & Regulatory Affairs
FLS-W-22-01
Falls Water Company Application for Deferral of Certain Costs
Data Reouest Response
Prepared by: Scott Bruce
Reouest No.: FLS-W-22-01 IPUC DR 8
8. ln ldaho Department of Water Resources Docket No. CM-MP-2016-001, IGWA, of
which the District is a member, was found to be in breach of the
Stipulated Mitigation Plan 2016. Please explain the impact that this breach has on the
Company and describe the steps that the Company will take to help the District meet its
requirement.
Response:
The issue of IGWA's alleged breach of the 2016 Stipulated Mitigation Plan is the subject
of ongoing discussions between IGWA and other parties. The ultimate resolution to the
alleged breach, and the steps that IGWA may take to resolve this issue, has not been
determined, and neither has what steps, if any, the Company may or must take as part
of that resolution. Curtailment of junior water rights, possibly including water rights of the
Company, could occur if the District, IGWA and other parties are unable to reach a
resolution.
The Company does not know when an agreement on this issue will be reached. The
Company is working to minimize the impacts on the Company's customers of any
agreement between the District, IGWA, and other interested parties.
FLS-W-22-01
IPUC DR 8
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