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WATER CONSERVATION OFFICE
PHOENIX WATER SERVICES DEPARTMENT
Introduction
Introduction
Water supply planning is important to Phoenix to meet growth and to comply with the 1980 Arizona Groundwater Management Act. Because Phoenix is a growing desert city, planners must work to balance available water resources with the increasing demand for water. The least expensive way to provide water for growth and to assure an adequate supply for the future is through wisely managing and carefully using (and reusing) supplies we already have. Conservation is an important component of water planning because it provides flexibility in the development of water transfer and treatment projects.Water conservation cannot be imposed on people; it must be voluntarily and willingly accepted, and be a shared responsibility between the City and the citizens of Phoenix. Only when citizens embrace and practice a conservation ethic and adopt water conservation as a part of their southwestern lifestyle, can the city succeed in meeting its long-term water supply goals. The 1998 Water Conservation Plan is proposed as a partnership between the citizens of Phoenix and the city to exercise proper stewardship over our water future.
Nearly one fourth of Phoenix water users -- representing more than one third of the total usage -- are not direct customers of the Phoenix Water Services Department. They are water users in multifamily settings and in the commercial or industrial workplaces. For these users, there is an economic detachment or disconnection between water consumption and the value of the water used (or wasted.) In common-metered multifamily housing and in the work setting, the end user of water does not receive a bill for his or her own use. Water conservation does not offer these citizens a direct, immediate, and visible economic benefit.
For these reasons, the 1998 plan is based on a citizenship model, not an economic customer service model. It focuses on what Phoenix residents have said they want to see done to save water and what, as citizens, they indicate they are willing to do to help achieve these savings. The 1998 Water Conservation Plan does not view City of Phoenix water users as customers who purchase a commodity or a service, but rather as long-term partners with the Water Services Department in pursuing a sustainable water future.
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Determining Citizen Preferences
In April of 1996, two citizen focus groups were assembled and facilitated discussions were held to gauge the importance of water issues in relation to other perceived City concerns and issues. Comments and concerns raised at these sessions formed the basis for questionnaires for two follow-up surveys. One was a random sample telephone survey of 600 Phoenix residents targeted to heads of households. The other was a constructed sample of 75 community leaders, drawn from a comprehensive list of business, government, environmental, educational, and special interest leaders in the greater Phoenix area.Generally, both citizens and community leaders revealed concern about water conservation, but did not place it at the same level as other urban concerns such as crime, traffic, and pollution. Citizens placed greater importance on conservation and had a much bleaker view of Arizona's water future than did community leaders. Both groups said they believed the best and most proactive step to conserve water is rate increases, and both overwhelmingly advocated water conservation being taught in schools (92% of citizens, 95% of leaders). Forty two percent of citizens and 25% of community leaders were very concerned about water conservation.
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Historical Highlights
The Phoenix water conservation program began in 1982 with a mandate to develop a conservation plan.In 1986, the Phoenix City Council approved a comprehensive Water Conservation Plan which established the framework for program development. The plan identified conservation measures which appeared to be effective in saving water, cost beneficial to both the city and customers, and were deemed reasonable measures to assure an adequate and affordable future water supply. The plan included estimates of annual costs for implementation, estimates of annual water savings, and a timetable for implementation.
Implementation of plan components was organized around water pricing, education, indoor residential conservation, industrial and commercial water uses, plant and turf irrigation, and water efficient landscaping (Xeriscape).
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1998 Water Conservation Program Descriptions
The following program elements are the focus of the 1998 Water Conservation Plan. These elements are the result of what the citizens of Phoenix said they want from the conservation program: education and public awareness; technical assistance; regulations; planning and research; and, interagency coordination. Some program elements continue activities initiated under the 1986 plan. Some are adaptations of elements of the 1986 plan necessitated by changing circumstances and new technology. Others describe programs that will be created and collateral materials which will be developed and produced to implement new program initiatives in response to stated citizen desires. For detailed descriptions of the plan elements, you may download a copy 1of the entire plan.Education and Public Awareness
Technical Assistance
- School Education
- Education (K-12)
- Project WET: (Water Education for Teachers) Teacher training developed by the University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center.
- Curriculum Materials: Teachers guides, student books and materials.
- Field Trips: Tres Rios constructed wetlands. Desert House water and energy efficient desert living.
- School Garden Program: School site-based demonstration desert gardens.
- College-level Curricula: Water conservation education at both the community college and university level.
- Residential
- Homeowner irrigation classes will teach fundamentals of drip and sprinkler irrigation.
- Homeowner landscape workshops introduce Xeriscape and residential landscape design.
- Public Events. Community fairs and events, home and garden shows.
- Literature distribution on a variety of conservation topics and techniques.
- Promotion of 1.6 gallon per flush (6-liter) toilets.
- Information on toilet damage from household chemicals.
- Efficient appliances promotion of horizontal axis washing machines.
- Evaporative Cooler technology and efficiency information.
- Non-Residential
- Workshops for facility managers.
- City Employee/Facility Management training: Introduce the concept of water conservation; provide technical assistance, materials; provide assistance training to pollution prevention (P2) city inspectors; and, Parks Department gardeners receive training on efficient watering practices.
- Professional/Paraprofessional
- Master Gardeners, teach Master Gardeners how to design, install, and maintain efficient irrigation systems.
- AZMET. (The Arizona Meteorological Network) is a system of weather stations used to determine lawn water needs.
- Smartscape is a statewide Xeriscape training program.
- Landscape Water Management classes teach how to evaluate irrigation efficiency.
- Market penetration: Homebuilders: Water efficiency marketing strategy for Phoenix homebuilders. Nurseries: Marketing strategy of Xeriscape information distribution.
Regulation
- Fixtures
- Plumbing Retrofit: program supplies free low flow plumbing devices.
- Multi-Family Program: Technical help and materials to apartment managers.
- Toilet Leak Detection: Self-audit program on toilet leakage and repair.
- Industry/Business/Government technical assistance
- Audits: City staff and consulting engineers visit facilities and recommend actions to lower water use.
- Commercial Landscapes: Staff helps create and monitor water budgets
- Conservation plans: Staff assists in developing holistic conservation plans.
- Cooling Towers: State mandated efficiency standards.
- Technical Assistance to city departments
- Street Transportation and Parks: Assist in developing water budgets and watering schedules.
- Human Services Department: Partnering to supply conservation technology to those most in need. Utility Assistance provides plumbing repair, plumbing upgrade.
- Evaporative cooler preventative maintenance for handicapped and elderly citizens.
- Neighborhood Services Department: Good Neighbor Program: Development of a landscape video, and provides conservation materials.
- Landlord/Tenant Relations Program: Provides copies of the Renter's Guide to Water Conservation.
- Neighbors Helping Neighbors: Free plumbing fixture repair and retrofit services for inner city citizens performed by plumbing students.
- Large Turf-related facility program
- Monitor water use of 110 large turf-related facilities and offer technical assistance to save water.
- Technical Assistance within the Water Services Department
- Water Demand Analysis for Engineering: Staff provides peak water demand estimates for large landscaped areas.
- Customer audits (multifamily/commercial) for Customer Services. Technical assistance to resolve high water bill complaints, water use and billing disputes.
- Conservation assistance programs to other government agencies
- ADOT water use monitoring: Identify and control water waste along urban freeways.
- Maricopa County Flood Control District water use monitoring: Identify and control water waste along flood control properties.
- Arizona Department of Commerce Energy Office: Assists Seniors Helping Seniors by providing water conservation help.
- Design Review
- Turf Limitation: Non-residential turf limitation requirements.
- Right-Of-Way: Appropriate plants in rights-of-way.
- Water Feature siting requirement: Siting and operation requirements.
Planning & Research
- Large Turf-Related Facility Ordinance
- Annual water allotments based on the size and type of landscape with water use surcharges for overuse.
- Water Conservation Plumbing Requirements
- The Phoenix Construction Code specifies maximum flow rates.
Interagency & City of Phoenix Coordination
- Conservation Plan.
- Water Conservation Plan updated at intervals.
- Drought Plan.
- Drought Management Plan updated as needed.
- Residential
- Efficient appliance initiatives: Staff evaluates initiatives to promote and market water efficient appliances.
- Residential end-uses study : Nationwide three-year study of residential water use.
- Non-Residential
- Car wash study: To determine the amount of evaporation and other water losses.
- Non-residential end-uses study: Nationwide research on water use and conservation potentials for commercial customers.
- Water conservation research programs that impact social welfare
- Partnership programs to assist Phoenix citizens most economically in need of water conservation assistance.
- Outdoor
- Drip irrigation study: Research to evaluate design, installation, and maintenance of as-built drip irrigation systems.
- American Water Works Association (AWWA):
- Research Studies: End-uses of water, multifamily submetering, and socioeconomic impacts.
- Arizona Department of Commerce:
- Seniors Helping Seniors
- Arizona Department of Transportation:
- ADOT water use monitoring.
- Arizona Department of Water Resources:
- Research: Drip irrigation study, Residential end-uses study,
- Evaluation of water conservation measures.
- Greywater irrigation study.
- Arizona Municipal Water Users Association (AMWUA):
- Promotion: Regional Xeriscape Program
- Workshops: Landscape Water Management
- Research: Residential end-uses study.
- Conservation Publicity Program.
- City of Phoenix Departments:
- Personnel: In-City Employee/Facility Management training.
- Parks Recreation and Library: Irrigation Management.
- Street Transportation Department: Landscape water management.
- Water Customer Services: High Water Bill Investigations.
- Water Engineering: Demand Analysis.
- Maricopa County
- Flood Control District.
- U. S. Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) Department of the Interior
- Neighbors Helping Neighbors.
- Limiting water loss from urban lakes.
- U. S. Department of Energy
- Efficient appliances promotion.
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Download the complete Water Conservation Plan in Adobe format, (273K)1.
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