Laserfiche WebLink
<br />r <br /> <br />(' <br /> <br />was determined by demand from the municipal partners. Front Range cities self-selected <br />their participation in this program and the amount of audits to be conducted. <br /> <br />In the past Slow the Flow Colorado seasons, the participating municipalities chose whom <br />to market their available audits to and whether to prioritize high water users. The 2006 <br />season will employ the same general procedure however all requests as of June I sl will be <br />submitted to the municipalities to be run through the billing system. If desired, the <br />municipality can supply us with the highest water users from that list and they will be <br />prioritized within the auditing season. To date the CRC has received approximately 400 <br />audit requests. <br /> <br />In 2006 we would also like to evaluate the amount of water saved by the audit program. <br />This information will be extremely valuable in proving the programs efficacy and will <br />bolster support in growing the program statewide. Though programs like this are in place <br />around the west, and we have modeled Slow the Flow on those programs, we see value in <br />analyzing our data while the program is still in its infancy. We have been preparing for <br />this step (referred to as Phase II) in the past two audit seasons by collecting water record <br />histories and analyzing them for outdoor water use prior to receiving an audit. In order to <br />accurately represent the water savings achieved by the Slow the Flow program Phase II <br />measurement is necessary. The steps involved are: <br /> <br />( <br /> <br />Step 1- gather pre-audit water histories. The purpose of step I is to establish a <br />historical record of the amount of water used on the landscape before the landscape <br />irrigation audit was performed. This step is done for audit years, 2004, and 2005. This <br />step involved visiting the various water utilites that participated in the program and <br />gathering their water records for the homes that had received an audit. This step also <br />required a water record release form from the home-owner. The eRC retrieved between <br />4 and 5 years worth of water records to ensure an adequate representation of landscape <br />irrigation use. All records gathered in Step 1 have been gathered, calculated, and entered <br />into the CRC master Slow the Flow Colorado database. <br /> <br />Step 2- gather post-audit water consumption records. The next step involves further <br />water record collection which will allow us to compare outdoor water use before and <br />after an audit in order to estimate water savings attained by the program. Two years <br />worth of additional water record data must be attained and analyzed for year 2004 and <br />one years worth of history for 2005. This step will take place after the 2006 watering <br />season has concluded, most likely in late September. From the CRC's experience with <br />the water records search from Step I, it is understood that this step will be a challenge. <br />Each water utility uses a different system for managing their customers' water use, some <br />systems are barely automated, which makes retrieving and converting water records for <br />the CRC's use time-consuming and tedious work. Water records are mostly received in <br />paper fonn and must be entered manually into the CRC's system. <br /> <br />Step 3- statistical analysis. Working with a statistician from the University of Colorado <br />at Boulder, and with assistance from the Utah Slow the Flow Save H20 program, the <br />CRC intends to design and build a statistical model that can best analyze the records of <br /> <br />5 <br />