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<br />C' <br /> <br />Program Description <br /> <br />Work on the Slow the Flow program begins early in the year. Program goals, structure, <br />and logistics are outlined by CRC staff. Proposals to targeted municipal staff are <br />developed and submitted and often requires presentations to staff members, city council <br />presentations, and meetings to discuss the program. Once a municipality expresses a <br />desire to partner in the program, contractual agreements are drafted and finalized. In the <br />contracts, each community agrees to the procedures outlined by the Slow the Flow <br />Colorado Irrigation Audit program and is also allowed to set a limit for the number of <br />audits to be completed as well as parameters for who is eligible for the audits in their <br />community. This always includes residential water customers in city boundaries and may <br />be extended to include homeowners associations and businesses serviced by city water as <br />well as at city parks. <br /> <br />(: <br /> <br />Once the geographic boundaries of the program and the number of audits to be completed <br />are determined, labor needs are assessed and irrigation auditors are solicited. <br />Advertisements are sent through college departments with environmental or horticultural <br />programs. If needed, advertisements are also listed in newspapers and other appropriate <br />media. Interviews are conducted and a qualified staff is hired and must attend a week- <br />long training session. A consultant along with the program manager (who are both <br />certified landscape irrigation auditors) conduct the training and ensure that the staff are <br />qualified to perform irrigation audits. <br /> <br />To become trained as a landscape irrigation auditor costs approximately $500. We pay <br />our summer staff to . learn this skill in hopes that it will encourage them to consider water <br />conservation as a career in the future, Training our staff versus hiring trained auditors <br />enables the CRC to offer our audits to municipalities at a reduced cost. <br /> <br />Besides training, each newly hired auditor will receive all ofthe supplies necessary to <br />conduct the irrigation audits. Major expenses include catch cups for taking water output <br />measurements, measuring wheels for measuring landscapes, pressure gauges, cell phones <br />for communicating with clients and the scheduler, irrigation manuals, paperwork to <br />conduct the audit and identifying t-shirts with funder logos. <br /> <br />A scheduler is also hired at the start of the auditing season. The CRC begins receiving <br />requests for audits as cities publish the service through utility bills or city newsletters that <br />circulate throughout the season. Those calls are handled and organized by the scheduler <br />and disseminated to the appropriate auditors. During the course of the auditing period, the <br />program widely and readily attracts media attention from both newspapers and in T.V. <br />which continually generate new interest from citizens. <br /> <br />c <br /> <br />During the audit period each staff person conducts up to 4 audits a day for residential <br />systems. Commercial or large homeowner associations can take up to a week to <br />complete. The auditor conducts performance tests of the irrigation equipment which <br />begins with a visual inspection and includes a measurement of water output, water <br /> <br />4 <br />