Water Use Efficiency Water Use Efficiency Implementation:Implementation:Lessons Learned in Lessons Learned in California California

Water Use Efficiency Water Use Efficiency Implementation:Implementation:Lessons Learned in Lessons Learned in California California

Tom Peters

Mary Lou Cotton

Overview/HistoryOverview/History

MOU Regarding Urban Water Conservation in California▼Initiated in 1991 (during last major drought)▼Agreement between water suppliers, environmental/public interest groups, consulting firms and other interested parties = California Urban Water Conservation Council (Kennedy/Jenks is a member)▼Instituted Best Management Practices (BMPs)▼Two types of BMPs: quantifiable and non-quantifiable (water savings)

Overview/History (Cont.)Overview/History (Cont.)

BMPs1.Water survey programs for single-family residential and multi-family residential customers (non-quantifiable)2.Residential plumbing retrofit (quantifiable)3.System water audits, leak detection and repair (quantifiable)4.Metering with commodity rates for all new connections and retrofit of existing connections (quantifiable)5.Large landscape conservation programs and incentives (quantifiable)

Overview/History (Cont.)Overview/History (Cont.)

BMPs (Cont.) 6. High-efficiency clothes washing machine financial

incentive programs (quantifiable)7. Public information programs (non-quantifiable)8. School education programs (non-quantifiable)9. Conservation programs for commercial, industrial,

and institutional (CII) accounts (quantifiable)10. Wholesale agency assistance programs (non-

quantifiable)

Overview/History (Cont.)Overview/History (Cont.)

BMPs (Cont.)

11. Retail conservation pricing (quantifiable)

12. Water Conservation Coordinator (non-quantifiable)

13. Water waste prohibition (non- quantifiable)

14. Residential ULFT replacement programs (quantifiable)

Observed TrendsObserved Trends

▼ BMPs have worked well for about 17 years, but recent events are driving future conservation efficiency programs in California

▼ Many conservation programs have relied heavily (or only) on public outreach and school education

▼ Conservation technologies have diversified▼ Technologies are appropriate for some geographic

areas and not for others (diversity)

Observed Trends (Cont.)Observed Trends (Cont.)

▼ CUWCC is in the midst of a major revision of the MOU and BMPs in response to these various drivers

▼ Lesson Learned: Emphasis on increased flexibility for water agencies to design “savings-based” conservation programs, rather than the proscriptive “widget counting” approach used since 1991

Observed Trends (Cont.)Observed Trends (Cont.)

▼ Analysis demonstrates the heavy focus that California water agencies have placed on residential indoor devices. Landscape and CII programs have not yet matched these efforts.

▼ However, recent efforts in landscape and CII sectors have been increasing as efforts in indoor residential programs have begun to decrease.

▼ Lesson Learned: Programs like ULFT replacements are nearing saturation, plus passive savings from changes to State plumbing code have started to accumulate.

Overview/DriversOverview/Drivers

▼ California facing new and constant water shortages Natural/Hydrologic: Colorado River, Sierra Nevada (global

warming-related) Regulatory/Legal: Endangered Species Act, Court Decisions

▼ Increasing demands on infrastructure State Water Project (major M&I supplier) nearly 50 years

old, serves a larger population than expected Continuing energy crisis

▼ Increasing legislative focus on conservation State Urban Water Management Planning Act requirements

for description of progress in conservation activities: required to qualify for State grant funding

Overview/Drivers (Cont.)Overview/Drivers (Cont.)

▼ Water conservation (water use efficiency) policies, planning, technologies and practices are evolving rapidly

▼ Many water agencies are promoting comprehensive long term water use efficiency planning: “Conservation Master Plans”

▼ Moving from a voluntary to a “near-mandatory” model: recent State legislation

Overview/Drivers (Cont.)Overview/Drivers (Cont.)

▼ Continued legislative focus as California wrestles with increased population and decreased water supplies: current session contains at least four water conservation-related bills Requirements for all new residential and commercial

development building standards Requirements for energy conservation programs to include a

water conservation component, partner with water agencies Allocation-based rate structures guidance Requirements for a 20% gpcd reduction in overall State

water demand, and individual agency reductions▼ …in addition to requirements of bills chaptered in last two

sessions

Impacts on UtilitiesImpacts on Utilities

▼ Water conservation is changing from “behavior-based” to “hardware-based”

▼ Lesson Learned: “Hardware-based” measures require more sophisticated technical analysis Cost-effectiveness Rate structure/pricing evaluations Service area/customer sector saturation levels

analysis Industrial process evaluation Landscape conservation techniques/equipment

▼ Utility conservation staff often not “technical” staff▼ Technical staff may not be available for or inclined

toward non-capital project work▼ Increased up-front staff costs for pre-implementation

analysis▼ Implementation of measures more expensive as

conservation programs get more “aggressive”

Impacts on Utilities (Cont.)Impacts on Utilities (Cont.)

SummarySummary

▼ As water supplies in the West become more limited, more and more water agencies will be looking for conservation potential in all sectors

▼ Flexibility in program components is needed to reflect differences in water agency service area characteristics

▼ “Low-hanging fruit” programs, especially those associated with plumbing code changes and device standards, are those that should be implemented first: least cost for highest savings

▼ Rate structure evaluation, submetering, commercial/ industrial processes and uses, cooling retrofits and landscape sector will provide greatest savings, but will require more rigorous analysis and increased utility commitments

Questions?Questions?