Month: December 2012

“I just need to point out environmentalists were right and you were wrong,” said Spelman, referring to the emotionally charged series of debates leading up to the 2009 Council vote on the plant. “Because,” he continued after pausing a beat, “you have done such a wonderful job with conservation … and if you want to say you’re happy you’re wrong … this would be a lovely time to say so.”

The back-and-forth over WTP4 sidetracked what was supposed to be one of the high points of the Council briefing: Mes­zaros was joined at the podium by Resource Manage­ment Commission Chair Leo Diel­mann, who was on hand to endorse the conservation program’s progress and report on improved relations between utility staff and the Council-appointed RMC. A year ago, the two sides had all but stopped speaking to one another due to their disagreements over how well, or how poorly, the program was working. RMC members complained to Council about what they believed was a lackluster conservation effort and the utility’s apparent reluctance to share information. In response, Council members prodded the utility to start working more collaboratively with the commission. “We came to y’all 18 months ago very critical of the water conservation program and of the water utility,” Diel­mann told the Council. “What we didn’t realize 18 months ago is that the water utility has made very good progress toward these goals.”

But all of this cheerfulness was enough to make water watchdog Paul Robbins gag. He said he felt like a “caged rottweiler” during the briefing, which he said was set up on the agenda in a way that did not allow for public comments. The utility, he says, is still underachieving in many areas – water-saving landscape incentives, irrigation audits, and rebates for rainwater harvesting equipment and water-efficient toilets. He said he outlined these and other shortcomings in an update to his 2011 report, “Read It and Leak,” which he provided to the RMC in November.