The City of Laredo, Texas is requesting qualifications and a statement of interest for professional
Services to conduct a comprehensive water and wastewater rate study, from qualified consultant
or consulting firm.
Background:
The City of Laredo Utilities Department Incorporates automatic water meters for most of its
service area with a population of approximately 265,000.
The City of Laredo uses surface water from the Rio Grande River as its source of raw water. The
two plants in the City of Laredo are Jefferson Water Treatment Plant 65 Million Gallons per Day
(MGD) and El Pico Water Treatment Plant 28 MGD for a combined capacity of 85 MGD. The
average daily consumption during 2022 was approximately 37.56 million gallons per day and
peak demand for 2022 was 53.4 million gallons per day. Connections to the water system as of
September 30, 2022 were 79,332. The system consists of approximately 1,161 miles of
transmission and distribution lines and 8,976 Fire Hydrants.
The City of Laredo owns and operates six wastewater treatment plants, which have a combined
total design capacity of 29.19 million gallons per day ("MGD"). The sewer includes
approximately 513 miles of sewer lines and 69 lift stations. The average daily treatment is 20
MGD with a peak flow of 39.2 MGD. Connections to the sewer system as of December 31, 2022
were 65,657. The last Wastewater (Sewer) Rate Study was completed in 2018.
Scope of Work:
The development of the Rate Study must encompass the elements outlined in: 1) The American
Water Works Association (AWWA) Manual M1, Principles of Water Rates, Fees, and charges,
and 2) The Water Environment Foundation's Wastewater Financing and Charges for Wastewater
Systems and should be developed in a similar manner to the existing rates and charges of the
City.
The firm is to review the City's current rate structure and make recommendations on best
practices and be prepares to discuss the pros and cons of each and impacts to the various
ratepayer classes. The rate model should equitably distribute costs between water and wastewater
and between base and volume or fixed and variable which include comparisons of regional and
similar size cities. The study should include analysis by normalizing the comparative rates
against the local economics, thereby identifying possible differences in production cost to deliver
similar services.
The rate study will include information from the City's recent Water and Wastewater Master
Plans including a cost to value analysis and funding options for: 1) Secondary water from
regional ground water sources as well as; 2) Beneficial Reuse Water and a 'purple pipe'
distribution network as a means to conserve the City's domestic potable water supply.
Additionally, the study will discuss separate irrigation rates for customers with dedicated
irrigation accounts.
The firm should inform the City of any upcoming regulatory changes that may affect the City's
rate or rate structure. The City is seeking a user-friendly rate model that can incorporate various
fees, CIP estimates as developed from the City's Master Plan and corresponding debt
components with the ability to make adjustments to these amounts and expenses. Allowing these
adjustments to the model should allow for dynamic or scenario modeling to the rate structure
thereby calculating bond coverage and cash reserves with flexibility over an 8-year period. RFQ shall be submitted in writing or via email to Michael Rodgers (mrodgers@ci.laredo.tx.us) on or before Friday, November 17. It is expected that the selected consultant should be ready to proceed on or before January 15, 2024.
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