CHAPTER 5 – Water Use Efficiency Program

As shown in Chapter 4, the City has secured sufficient supply to meet the water demands projected through 2064. Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 describe how the City is using water conservation and reclaimed water strategies to make efficient use of the water supply.

Both the Water Conservation Program and Reclaimed Water Program (Chapter 6) help meet the Drinking Water Utility’s Goal 3:

This goal is consistent with the City’s Comprehensive Plan Goal GU4 and subsequent policies.

Water conservation helps meet the City’s water needs by reducing the amount of water taken from the environment to support community demand. Using reclaimed (treated) water for non-potable purposes reduces the demand for potable water.

Olympia’s first Water Conservation Plan was adopted by City Council in December 1996, and the City began implementing conservation measures in mid-1997. Subsequent plans have been approved and implemented ever since.

The Water Conservation Program for 2015-2020 is designed to maintain past program success, and to continue to meet State water use efficiency regulations. The Program will focus on three objectives during this planning period:

•    Reduce indoor use by 100,000 gallons per day (gpd)

•    Reduce outdoor use by 5 percent

•    Maintain water loss below 10 percent of production

5.1 Water Use Efficiency Regulations

In January 2007, the State of Washington adopted water use efficiency regulations (WAC 246-290). Some of the requirements are directly related to planning, while others address metering and performance reporting. Table 5.1 lists the water use efficiency requirements and demonstrates Olympia’s compliance in each area. The required annual water use reports submitted to the State for 2009-2013 are in Appendix 5-1.

Table 5.1 Water Use Efficiency Requirements

Category	Requirement	Olympia’s Compliance
Meters	Meter all sources.	All sources are metered.
	Meter all service connections.	All service connections are metered.
Data Collection	Provide monthly and annual production for each source.	See Chapter 3, Table 3.2, Figure 3.2, Figure 3.3.
	Provide annual consumption by customer class.	See Chapter 3, Table 3.5 and Figure 3.4, Figure 3.5.
	Provide “seasonal variations” consumption by customer class.	See Chapter 3, Table 3.5, Figure 3.4.
	Provide annual quantity supplied to other public water systems.	See Chapter 3, Table 3.5.
	Evaluate reclaimed water opportunities.	See Chapter 6.
	Consider water use efficiency rate structure.	Olympia charges inclining block rates and seasonal rates. See Section 5.2 and Chapter 14.
Distribution System Leakage	Calculate annual volume and percent using formula defined in the Rule.	See Section 5.2, Table 5.6.
Goals	Establish measurable (in terms of water production or usage) conservation goals. Provide schedule for achieving goals.	See Section 5.3.
	Use a public process to establish the goals.
Efficiency Program	Describe existing conservation program.	See Section 5.4.
	Estimate water saved over last six years due to conservation program.	See Section 5.2.
	Describe conservation goals.	See Section 5.3.
	Implement or evaluate 1-12 measures, depending on size (nine measures required for Olympia).	Olympia is required to implement or evaluate nine measures. See Section 5.4 for planned activities.
	Describe conservation programs for next six years including schedule, budget and funding mechanism.	See Section 5.4 and Section 5.5.
	Describe how customers will be educated on efficiency practices.
	Estimate projected water savings from selected measures.
	Describe how efficiency program will be evaluated for effectiveness.
Demand Forecast	Provide demand forecast reflecting no additional conservation.	See Chapter 3, Figure 3.9 and Table 3.9.
	Provide demand forecast reflecting savings from efficiency program.
	Provide demand forecast reflecting all “cost-effective” evaluated measures.	N/A, Olympia only implements cost-effective measures.
Performance Reports	Develop annual report including: goals and progress towards meeting them, total annual production, annual leakage volume and percent, and, for systems not fully metered, status of meter installation and actions taken to minimize leakage.	Olympia distributed its first performance report in June 2008; and has done so annually thereafter.
	Submit annually by July 1 to DOH and customers and make available to the public.

5.2 Water Conservation Performance

The Water Conservation Program goal for the 2009-2014 planning period was to reduce water use by 5 percent per service connection. By the end of 2013, per connection consumption had decreased by 11.4 percent and overall consumption by 8.4 percent.

Olympia’s success in meeting its conservation goal can be attributed to a combination of rate incentives, customer education and distribution of efficient appliances, and controlling leakage from the system.

The City’s partnership with the LOTT Clean Water Alliance (LOTT) was largely responsible for this water savings. LOTT helped make a variety of conservation programs available to residential and commercial sewer customers in Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater to meet LOTT’s 1,000,000 gallon per day flow reduction goal as well as local conservation goals. During this period, the City also introduced programs for customers on septic systems who did not qualify for LOTT’s conservation programs.

The new activities identified for the 2009 planning period were all piloted or implemented. Some will continue in 2015-2020 and others have been retired for various reasons (see Section 5.3).

Water conservation performance can be measured in many ways. Each year, water utilities are required to report to the Washington Department of Health (DOH) and their customers their total water production and distribution system leakage, along with a narrative description of progress toward meeting water conservation goals.

This section summarizes these and other measures the City uses to track performance:

•    Total production

•    Consumption (total and per connection, and the influence of rate incentives)

•    Distribution system leakage

•    Water shortage planning

Total Production

In 2013, the City produced 2,541,449,000 gallons of water. Between 2009 and 2013, average annual water production was 2,669,197,730 gallons. Since 2009, despite population growth, production has decreased by over 14 percent.

Consumption

Some of the decrease in consumption during 2009-2014 can be attributed to the wetter/cooler summers of 2010 and 2011. With the return of a warmer summer in 2012, consumption increased slightly. However, consumption decreased the following year despite the even warmer summer of 2013 and the increase in service connections. Table 5.2 reflects the changes in water consumption and number of service connections since 1996, when the Water Conservation Program was adopted.

Connections vs Consumption

As shown in Figure 5.1, consumption has decreased or remained fairly flat despite the increasing number of service connections. Between 2009 and 2013, the total number of connections to the water distribution system increased by 3.4 percent, while consumption decreased by 8.4 percent.

Extreme changes in consumption are most often weather-related; as shown by lower consumption values in Figure 5.1 for the wetter/cooler summers of 2010 and 2011. Substantial increases in water use occur in years with abnormally warmer summers.

View Figure 5.1 Annual Water Use and Number of Connections, 2009 – 2013.

Table 5.2 Changes in Water Consumption, 1996-2013

Year	Connections	Consumption (million gallons)	Total annual usage change from 1996	Gallons used per connection per day	Per connection reduction from 1996	Per connection reduction from previous year
1996	15,279	2,557	n/a	457	n/a	n/a
1997	15,697	2,592	1.37%	452	-1.06%	-1.06%
1998	16,022	2,850	11.46%	487	6.58%	7.72%
1999	16,544	2,454	-4.03%	406	-11.12%	-16.61%
2000	16,653	2,453	-4.07%	402	-11.98%	-0.97%
2001	16,904	2,308	-9.74%	374	-18.19%	-7.05%
2002	17,139	2,348	-8.17%	375	-17.91%	0.34%
2003	17,652	2,547	-0.39%	395	-13.55%	5.32%
2004	18,051	2,375	-7.59%	358	-21.78%	-9.52%
2005	18,190	2,286	-10.64%	344	-24.73%	-3.78%
2006	18,523	2,331	-9.11%	344	-24.82%	-0.12%
2007	18,827	2,184	-14.82%	317	-30.68%	-7.80%
2008	19,000	2,127	-16.82%	306	-33.11%	-3.50%
2009	19,236	2,127	-16.82%	303	-33.75%	-0.96%
2010	19,090	1,939	-24.17%	278	-39.14%	-8.14%
2011	19,421	1,977	-22.68%	279	-39.01%	0.22%
2012	19,490	2,010	-21.39%	282	-38.38%	1.03%
2013	19,646	1,970	-22.96%	275	-39.92%	-2.50%
Total Change	31.0%	Average Change	-10.62%	Average Change	-23.16%	-2.89%

Rate Incentives and Consumption

The City uses an “inclining block” rate structure for single-family residential customers, meaning that the cost of water increases as a customer uses more. Prior to 2005, the City had a three-tier rate structure with the third tier specifically designed to discourage discretionary use of water during summer months. In 2005, the City added a fourth tier to provide a stronger price signal to those who use the most water during the summer.

Table 5.3 shows the tiered rate structure from 2009 through 2013.

In addition to the inclining block rate structure, the City uses seasonal water rates for non-residential, multi-family and irrigation customers to help curb summer water waste. These customer classes pay more for each unit of water used during the summer months than in winter. Non-residential customers also pay consumption-based sewer charges (based on water use). For more information on the utility rate structure, see Chapter 14.

Table 5.3 Drinking Water Utility Tiered Rate Structure: Single-Family Residential (SFR)

SFR Rates	Tier 1 0 to 800 cubic feet (cf)	Tier 2 801 to 1,800 cf	Tier 3 1,801 to 2,800 cf	Tier 4 2,801 + cf
2009	$1.43 per ccf*	$1.88 per ccf	$2.89 per ccf	$4.14 per ccf
2010	$1.43 per ccf	$1.88 per ccf	$2.99 per ccf	$4.43 per ccf
2011	$1.45 per ccf	$2.02 per ccf	$4.01 per ccf	$5.27 per ccf
2012	$1.48 per ccf	$2.15 per ccf	$4.01 per ccf	$5.27 per ccf
2013	$1.51 per ccf	$2.29 per ccf	$4.01 per ccf	$5.27 per ccf
*ccf – hundred cubic feet

Table 5.4 and Table 5.5 provide consumption information per rate tier and the changes between tiers annually since 2009 for single-family residential customers. The drastic decrease from Tier 4, and the continuing increases in Tier 1 consumption demonstrate the effectiveness of the rate structure.

Table 5.4 Annual Water Consumption by Rate Tier (Million Cubic Feet)

	Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	Tier 4	Total
2009	14.61	52.53	28.44	41.81	137.39
2010	15.63	54.85	25.28	29.54	125.30
2011	16.23	53.98	25.20	30.43	125.84
2012	16.33	54.14	25.70	31.82	127.99
2013	19.15	52.74	24.46	29.02	125.37

Table 5.5 Change in Water Consumption by Rate Tier (Percentage)

	Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	Tier 4
2010	6.98%	4.42%	-11.11%	-29.35%
2011	3.83%	-1.59%	-.32%	3.01%
2012	.62%	.30%	1.98%	4.56%
2013	17.26%	-2.59%	-4.82%	-8.80%

Distribution System Leakage

Water utilities are required to report their distribution system leakage (DSL) to DOH annually.  Utilities are required to meet a DSL standard of 10 percent or less of total production. To track DSL, the Utility works closely with various City staff to track and estimate authorized but unmetered uses, such as fire suppression, hydrant flushing, operation and maintenance, and water quality sampling. DSL is calculated by subtracting metered consumption and authorized non-metered consumption from total production. The result indicates how much water was lost to leaks, main breaks, meter inaccuracies and theft of water.

Chapter 3, Section 3.2 explains how the Utility accounts for leakage in forecasting future demand.

The Utility reported to DOH a total water loss of 8.7 percent for 2013; with a current rolling three-year average of 8 percent. Table 5.6 offers an overview of the Utility’s DSL for 2009-2013.

Table 5.6 Distribution System Leakage

Year	Total Production	Total Authorized Consumption	Total DSL	Percent DSL
2013	2,534,219,994	2,313,354,365	220,865,629	8.7%
2012	2,558,897,815	2,315,182,946	243,714,869	9.5%
2011	2,611,172,762	2,459,958,302	151,214,460	5.8%
2010	2,573,285,541	2,369,612,695	203,672,846	7.9%
2009	2,973,046,550	2,666,146,316	306,900,234	10.3%

View Figure 5.2 2013 Water Usage.

Water Shortage Plan

Olympia’s Water Conservation Program encourages customers to voluntarily decrease their water use in order to use the water supply more efficiently. During times of drought or other supply emergencies, established curtailment measures would be put in place quickly to reduce water usage.

In the Puget Sound area, drought usually occurs when there is less than average fall/winter precipitation, or a summer of sustained higher than normal temperatures and lower than normal precipitation. Either condition can contribute to above-average demand and an accelerated drawdown of the City’s water supplies.

The Water Shortage Plan (Appendix 5-2) details four levels of curtailment:

•    Advisory

•    Voluntary

•    Mandatory

•    Emergency

As a water shortage situation becomes more serious, higher stages of response are implemented. Each stage has progressively more stringent requirements to coincide with conditions of increasing severity.

5.3 2015-2020 Water Conservation Program

The Water Conservation Program objectives and strategies help meet the Drinking Water Utility’s Goal 3:

The Water Conservation Program for 2015-2020 is designed to maintain past program success, and to continue to meet State water use efficiency regulations. The Program will focus on three objectives during 2015-2020:

•    Reduce indoor use by 100,000 gallons per day (gpd)

•    Reduce outdoor use by 5 percent

•    Maintain water loss below 10 percent of production

For each objective, this section lists a number of strategies and performance measures. Specific conservation activities are described in Section 5.4.

Objective 3.A Reduce Indoor Use by an Additional 100,000 Gallons Per Day (GPD) Over Past Program Savings.

Strategy 3A.1 Continue to implement flow reduction programs through partnership with the LOTT Clean Water Alliance and Cities of Lacey and Tumwater for single-family, multi-family and industrial/commercial/institutional (ICI) customers who receive LOTT sewer service.

Strategy 3A.2 Continue to implement water-saving programs for residential City water customers who are on septic systems and therefore cannot participate in the LOTT programs.

Strategy 3A.3 Continue outreach to raise awareness of the importance of water use efficiency.

Performance Measure

1.    Using industry-wide water saving assumptions for various efficient devices (e.g. toilets), determine the water savings achieved through program efforts annually.

Objective 3.B Reduce outdoor use by an additional 5 percent over past program savings.

Strategy 3B.1 Continue to implement outdoor water use reduction programs for residential customers.

Strategy 3B.2 Continue to implement the Efficient Irrigation Hardware Rebate Program for ICI customers.

Strategy 3B.3 Continue outreach to raise awareness of the importance of water use efficiency.

Performance Measures

1.    Monitor irrigation meter consumption annually. Adjust consumption data for year-to-year weather conditions that affect plant irrigation needs.

2.    Monitor domestic seasonal water use through consumption records annually. Again, consumption data needs to be adjusted for weather conditions.

Objective 3.C Maintain water loss below 10 percent of production.

Strategy 3C.1 Continue to monitor water loss in the system annually as required by the DOH by evaluating production, authorized consumption (both metered and unmetered) and resulting distribution system leakage (DSL).

Strategy 3C.2 Continue to work closely with the Olympia Fire Department and surrounding fire districts to get accurate estimates of water used for fire suppression, fire flow testing, sprinkler flushing and training conducted off-site.

Strategy 3C.3 Continue to work closely with the Utility’s Operations & Maintenance section to monitor water loss due to field use, main breaks and leaks, as well as expanding leak detection efforts.

Strategy 3C.4 If the water system exceeds the DSL standard, develop and implement a Water Loss Control Action Plan as required by DOH.

Performance Measure

1.    Calculate water loss annually and submit required Water Use Efficiency Report to DOH.

5.4 Planned Water Conservation Activities

This section describes the conservation activities that will continue in this planning period and estimated water savings for each. The activities are summarized in Table 5.7.

Table 5.7 Planned Water Conservation Activities (2015 – 2020)

Indoor	Outdoor	Additional Ongoing
High-Efficiency Toilets/Rebate WashWise Rebate WaterSmart Technology Rebate Better-Than-Code Rebate Water Saving Kits	Smart Irrigation Controller Rebate Rain Sensors Rain Barrel Rebate Hose Watering Timers Water Saving Kits Efficient Irrigation Equipment Rebate	Pressure Reducing Valves Annual Water Conservation Utility Insert Annual Smart Irrigation Month Campaign Olympia’s Water Supply School Presentation Annual Fix-a-Leak Week Campaign Sustainability Event Staffing Regional Partnerships Targeted Program Outreach Water Loss Accounting

Indoor Water Conservation

For indoor conservation, the Program focuses on installation of water-efficient technologies. The bulk of the indoor program is implemented through a cooperative effort with LOTT and the Cities of Lacey and Tumwater. Because its primary motivation is reducing wastewater flow to the LOTT Wastewater Treatment Plant, LOTT funds 100 percent of all non-staff program costs for customers with sewer service. The City offers rebates for customers with septic systems that do not qualify for LOTT’s programs.

The following activities, with water savings assumptions and calculations for each, are described in greater detail in the LOTT Water Conservation Coordination Plan (Appendix 5-3), updated by the LOTT partners in 2013. Ongoing activities are:

•    High-Efficiency Toilets/Rebates

•    WashWise Rebates

•    WaterSmart

•    Technology Rebate Program

•    Better-Than-Code Rebates

•    Free Water Saving Kits

High-Efficiency Toilets

High-efficiency toilets (HETs) offer water savings in many applications, across all customer categories. Toilets installed prior to 1994, using between 3.5 and 5 gallons per flush (gpf), do not meet current national water use standards. Conventional toilets meeting current standards use 1.6 gpf, about 20 percent more than high-efficiency toilets using 1.28 gpf or less. Replacing either type of conventional toilet with a high-efficiency model results in substantial water savings, as shown in Table 5.8.

Table 5.8 Water Savings Assumptions for High-Efficiency Toilets

	Replacing 3.5 gpf +	Replacing 1.6 gpf
Single-Family Residential	34 gpd	11 gpd
Multi-Family Residential	25 gpd	7.8 gpd
Industrial, Commercial & Institutional	45 gpd	14 gpd

For the 2015-2020 planning period, three HET offerings will be available across all customer categories through the LOTT program:

1.    HET Rebates

2.    Free Toilets for Multi-Family Customers

3.    WaterSmart Technology Rebates

The program chosen will depend on customer category, water usage of existing fixtures, and in some cases the number of toilets to be replaced.

Residential water customers with septic systems who do not qualify for LOTT’s programs are eligible for a rebate from the City of $100 per toilet, the same rate as LOTT’s rebate program.

WashWise Rebates

For this planning period, residential customers on either sewer or septic systems will be eligible for a rebate on the purchase of resource-efficient clothes washers. LOTT offers sewer customers a $50 rebate and the City gives septic system customers a $100 rebate per household. Qualifying machines can be found through the Consortium for Energy Efficiency, an independent organization that rates energy and water efficiency for various appliances.

Water Savings Assumptions: 29 gpd

Watersmart Technology Rebates

Available to Olympia’s ICI customers, this program offers rebates of up to 75 percent of the installed costs of water-efficient devices and fixture upgrades, such as plumbing, water-cooled ice machines, laundry equipment, boiler and steam systems, and rinsing and cleaning processes.

Interested customers work with City staff to identify prospective projects and complete the rebate application, describing the proposed project, estimating total cost and providing water savings assumptions. Following staff review of the proposal and approval by LOTT’s Water Conservation Coordination Committee (WC3), the customer completes the project and then submits invoices and work orders to the City. City staff inspects the new equipment, confirms installation and recommends that LOTT award the rebate.

Water Savings Assumptions: Vary, calculated on a case-by-case basis.

Better-Than-Code Rebates

The Better-Than-Code program provides rebates to all customer classes for the installation of high-efficiency fixtures and/or equipment to replace equipment that already meets current plumbing code standards. These rebates may apply to existing buildings, remodels of existing buildings and new construction. Better-than-code rebates apply to three scenarios:

•    Toilets - $100 per toilet.

•    Urinals - $125 per urinal.

•    Other equipment – rebate customized based on cost differences between better-than-code equipment and standard, at-code equivalent equipment and the potential water savings.

Water Savings Assumptions: Vary, calculated on a case-by-case basis.

Water Saving Kits

Indoor Water Saving Kits, which include a low-flow showerhead, kitchen and bathroom faucet aerators, toilet leak detection tablets and installation instructions, are distributed to single-family and multi-family customers free of charge. The fixtures included use less water than current plumbing code standards without compromising function. Kits are available to water customers on either sewer or septic systems. LOTT funds the kits for sewer customers; the City funds the kits for septic customers.

Water Savings Assumptions: 18 gpd

Outdoor Water Conservation

Since water use doubles (and sometimes triples) in the summer months, this strategy focuses on reducing outdoor water waste for all customer categories. Because water used outdoors for lawns, gardens, car washing, etc. does not end up in the wastewater system, these programs are funded entirely by the City.

For the 2015-2020 planning period, ongoing offerings include:

Residential Customers

•    Smart Irrigation Controller Rebates

•    Free Rain Sensors

•    Rain Barrel Rebates

•    Free Hose Watering Timers

•    Free Water Saving Kits

ICI Customers

•    Efficient Irrigation Equipment Rebates

Smart Irrigation Controller Rebate

Residential customers with in-ground irrigation systems are eligible for a rebate of up to 50 percent of the installed cost of a “smart” irrigation controller, not to exceed $200. Smart irrigation controllers automatically adjust watering times based on weather conditions to provide optimal moisture for healthy plants and conserve water. Water savings of 15 to 30 percent is common when traditional irrigation timers are changed to smart controllers.

Rain Sensors

Residential customers with in-ground irrigation systems may request a free rain sensor for their system. Rain sensors turn off automatic irrigation systems when it is raining, so systems don’t run when nature is doing the watering. They are easy to install and adjust, and will fit all irrigation controllers. In a typical Puget Sound summer, a rain sensor can reduce water use by 5 to 10 percent, and that is often just the start of savings. On systems that are not monitored and adjusted regularly, a rain sensor can eliminate weeks of wasted irrigation when autumn rains start before a contractor comes to shut off the system—saving another 10 to 20 percent.

Rain Barrel Rebates

Residential customers are eligible for a rebate of up to $20 per rain barrel, with a maximum of three rebates per residence. A rain barrel collects rain water from the roof and stores it for later uses like watering the garden. Rain barrels help to conserve drinking water and reduce stormwater flows. Each barrel holds about 55 gallons of rain water.

Hose Watering Timers

Residential customers who water their lawns and gardens with a hose-end sprinkler can reduce overwatering by using a timer provided free by the City. Timers can be set to water only as long as needed.

Water Saving Kits

Outdoor Water Saving Kits include an adjustable spray nozzle for car washing, a hose repair kit to fix leaks and a rain/sprinkler gauge to monitor how much water lawns and gardens are receiving. Free kits are available to residential customers.

Efficient Irrigation Equipment Rebates

ICI customers with in-ground irrigation systems are eligible for rebates of up to $2,500 for installing selected efficient irrigation equipment to improve existing systems. Equipment eligible for these rebates includes spray nozzle retrofits, smart controller sensor retrofits, smart controller installation, drip irrigation conversions, flow sensor installation, pressure regulators and networked control systems. Water savings varies depending on the existing system and the upgrades made.

Additional Ongoing Program Activities

Other ongoing activities described below are:

•    Pressure Reducing Valves

•    Water Conservation Utility Bill Inserts

•    Smart Irrigation Month Campaigns

•    Water Supply School Presentations

•    Fix-a-Leak Week Campaign

•    Sustainability Event Staffing

•    Regional Partnerships

•    Targeted Program Outreach

•    Water Loss Accounting

Pressure Reducing Valves

Residential customers with water pressure above 80 pounds per square inch (psi) are eligible for a rebate of up to 50 percent of the installed cost of a pressure reducing valve (PRV), not to exceed $125.

Installing a PRV can reduce the strain on plumbing fixtures and reduce water waste. Water savings varies depending on the pressure before and after the PRV is installed.

Water Conservation Utility Bill Insert

Customers receive a special water conservation insert with their utility bill annually. The publication focuses on indoor and outdoor conservation practices, tips and incentives available to water customers. It is also often used to promote a special giveaway, such as soil moisture meters. This publication had been awarded the Excellence in Communication Award for a Large Utility by the Pacific Northwest Section of the American Water Works Association in 2011, 2013 and 2014. It is one of the Utility’s most important and far-reaching publications.

Smart Irrigation Month Campaign

July has been designated as Smart Irrigation Month by the Irrigation Association. The City celebrates this campaign by promoting efficient water use outdoors through news releases, reader boards, street banners, direct mailings, conservation giveaways and utility bill inserts. Program staff hopes to work with inter-jurisdictional partners to expand the campaign county-wide within the planning period.

Water Supply School Presentation

The Water Conservation Program has developed a presentation on Olympia’s water supply for sixth grade students. The presentation and interactive activity have been well received by participating students. During the 2015-2020 planning period, this presentation will be offered to all sixth grade science classes in the Olympia School District to increase participation.

Fix-a-Leak Week Campaign

Each March, the EPA sponsors Fix-a-Leak Week, a campaign to raise awareness on the water wasted through household leaks. Household leaks can waste more than 1 trillion gallons of water annually nationwide. The City participates by promoting the event through the website, street banner, news releases and free toilet leak detection tablets to encourage customers to check for and repair leaks in their homes.

Sustainability Event Staffing

Periodically the Water Conservation Program Office is invited to host a table at events that promote sustainability. These events are an opportunity to promote water conservation through a creative display, conversations and giveaways that remind people to think about the water they are using. Items typically distributed at these events include, brochures, shower timers, dish squeegees and rain/sprinkler gauges.

Regional Partnerships

Regional partnerships are critical to ensuring regional coordination of resource conservation and environmental protection messages. They also increase program efficiency and the consistency of messages to the public. The City will continue to foster relationships and partnerships with the LOTT Clean Water Alliance’s Water Conservation Coordination Committee (WC3), the Thurston County Chamber’s Green Business Committee, the Partnership for Water, the Pacific Northwest Section of the American Water Works Association (PNWS-AWWA), and the Environmental Education Technical Advisory Committee (EETAC).

Targeted Program Outreach

The Utility will continue to use a variety of outreach methods to promote programs that directly engage customers. These methods include utility bill inserts, web site postings, social media postings, brochures, street banners, water conservation performance reports, news releases, direct customer invitations, vendor contact and purchased advertising.

Water Loss Accounting

Water loss accounting is a regulatory priority for the City. Water loss includes leaks and main breaks, system flushing, fire-fighting, theft and meter inaccuracies. The Water Conservation Program devotes significant staff time to identifying and minimizing all components of water loss (Table 5.6). The work involves data collection and analysis and coordination with multiple City staff and surrounding fire districts to obtain accurate information about authorized but unmetered water use.

5.5 Implementation and Staffing

This Plan serves as a guide for staff as they implement specific activities and projects aimed at accomplishing Water Conservation Program objectives.

Implementation

A key element of program implementation is flexibility. Most water saving activities will continue throughout the six-year planning period. Some may be replaced if promising new water saving technologies or alternative delivery methods are identified. Also, activity priorities, scheduling and budget allocations may change as staff evaluates results and learns more about water conservation opportunities. Each year staff will evaluate the accomplishments and challenges of that year’s activities, and will identify priorities for the next year through the Water Conservation Program Annual Report.

Staffing

Program management includes coordinating all water conservation activities, designing and implementing programs to promote water conservation, collecting and analyzing water production and consumption data, generating reports, managing the water conservation budget, responding to questions and offering technical assistance related to water conservation.

The Water Conservation staff consists of 1.75 FTEs:

•    Water Conservation Program Coordinator (0.75 FTE)

•    Water Conservation Program Assistant (1.0 FTE)

The current staffing level has proven adequate, given that the water savings goals for the 2009-2014 planning period were fully achieved.