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<br />are committing an impressive $143,000,000 to this effort over the next 10 years. This marl(s one <br />of the most significant investments in water efficiency ever. <br /> <br />The Denver Water plan includes a detailed budget, an estimate of water savings, and a cost per <br />acre-foot of water for each of the plan measures. Notably, $19,000,000 has been designated for <br />communications and public education, $22,000,000 has been designated for irrigation efficiency <br />incentives, another $22,500,000 for natural area conversion for large landscapes, and <br />$19,500,000 has been designated for time-of-sale retrofits of toilets, showerheads, and faucet <br />aerators. <br /> <br />The overall cost per acre-foot of water saved is estimated to be $12,600/AF. This includes a <br />presumed input of $143 million from Denver Water and nearly $256 million from water <br />customers through fixture upgrades, irrigation improvements, appliance purchases, etc. The <br />estimated payback for all measures combined in 5.9 years. <br /> <br />Plan developers were appropriately conservative in projecting changes in future demand. The <br />plan calls for a target savings of 165 gcd by 2016 using a baseline demand of 200 gcd. This is <br />about 5 percent below the pre-drought usage rate of 211 gcd. However demand in 2005 was <br />only 163 gcd - already below the 2016 target. It is certainly possible (even likely) that demands <br />in 2016 will be substantially below the 165 gcd target given the ambitious program Denver <br />Water is embarking upon. Guarding against a drought water use rebound and counting <br />reductions achieved since 2001 both make sense. <br /> <br />The Tap-Smart plan plainly states that it is not a full integrated resource plan (IRP) and hence <br />does not specifically address water supply and treatment capital projects that might be delayed or <br />downsized as a result of demand reductions. Denver Water does have an IRP and presumably <br />this new conservation effort will be included in subsequent revisions. In future versions of the <br />conservation plan it would be good to see an analysis of the cost savings associated with water <br />efficiency including the avoided cost associated with an acre-foot of conserved water and the <br />overall impact of conservation savings on the Denver Water system. <br /> <br />The Tap-Smart Conservation Master Plan represents the fourth revision of Denver Water's <br />conservation planning document since 1979. The planned measures and goals are ambitious, but <br />achievable. The accelerated timeframe for implementation presents an immediate challenge to <br />Denver Water staff and customers. With the Tap-Smart plan Denver Water is embarking upon <br />one of the most ambitious and extensive conservation efforts in the United States. The <br />importance of this effort to the state as a whole should not be underestimated. Denver Water <br />clearly intends to be a leader in water efficiency in Colorado and other water providers will look <br />to the Denver Water experience for guidance as they move forward with their own efforts. <br />