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Tlie Official Pub iczation of die Colorath) Wcaterl e Council I I diTJ!?R Water Conservation Alliance Completes Three Year Study The Water Conservation Alliance of Southern Arizona (Water CASA) has just released the results of the ECoBA Study. The ECoBA initiative (Evaluation and Cost Benefit Analysis of Municipal Water Conservation Programs), was made possible with support from each Water CASA member as well as the Bureau of Reclamation, the University ofArizona's Water Sustainability Program, the Arizona Department of Water Resources, and Tucson Water. This ECoBA research is designed to be used by those elected officials, utility managers and conservation professionals who are involved in water conservation decision making. The study looks at the ACTUAL amount of water being saved by a variety of programs (audits, device giveaways, washing machine and toilet rebates, toilet replacements and landscape conversions, rates programs and some miscellaneous conservation efforts) and the COSTS TO SAVE AN ACRE FOOT (AF) OF WATER incurred by water providers. A few of the findings include: • Higher water savings was seen with toilet replacement programs as compared with toilet rebate programs. Predicted savings for changing out a toilet to a low flow model was about 12,000 gallons per year. The toilet rebate programs studied Continued on page 7 www.Colc)rado""aterkN�'ise.org I use WATER CONSERVATION SAVES MORE THAN WATER By Laurie D'Audney, Fort Collins Utilities The benefits of water conservation are well known— extending water supplies, avoiding costly treatment facility expansions and protecting water resources for other uses. Utility providers and customers understand these benefits and have taken steps to reduce water use. Less understood are the environmental benefits of saving water, including energy conservation and greenhouse gas reduction. Water /Energy Connection Some utilities are taking a closer look at the complex connection between water and energy conservation because water use consumes sizable amounts of energy for treatment, transportation and heating. Water providers use energy to produce and deliver drinking water. Once the water is delivered, consumers burn energy to heat, cool and use the water. Alter the water heads down the drain, energy is used to treat wastewater. The energy needed for these functions is the "embodied energy" in water use and is measured in kilowatt - hours per gallon. The amount of embodied energy from water savings must be calculated for each water provider, depending on how much electricity they use for pumping, treatment and other uses. In addition, the embodied energy factor is lower for irrigation water than for water that is sent to a wastewater treatment facility, In homes, heating water for dishwashers, clothes washers and showers consumes a lot of energy. Customers who have efficient appliances will save on both their water and energy bills, since embodied energy costs are included in their utility bills. Although utilities have long provided programs to help consumers conserve water, it's now important to communicate the connection between water and energy use. Climate Change and Water According to the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization's report, Less Snow, Less Water, Climate Disruption in the West, "no other effect of climate disruption is as significant as how it endangers the region's already scarce snowpacks and water supply." To reduce climate change, actions to reduce greenhouses gases are necessary. The most prevalent of these gases is carbon dioxide, and power plants are responsible for 40 percent of the CO, emissions in the United States. Water and wastewater utilities use three percent of the nation's electricity, according to a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Pacific Institute entitled Energy Down the Drain: The Hidden Costs of'California s Water Supply. "If all this power came from relatively clean, modern natural gas - fired power plants, producing the energy used by water systems would release approximately 30 million tons of carbon dioxide —the equivalent of more than four million cars," the study states. A Fort Collins engineering consulting firm, the Brendle Group, is working Continued on page 7 Inside Turf in a Post - Drought World .. Page 4 Compost to Enrich your Soil... Page 5 Albuquerque Conference Notes Page 6