BOARD01816

• Board Meeting Date: 11/19/2001
• Description: CF Section - Proposed Statute Revisions Construction Fund and Severance Tax Trust Fund Perpetual Base Account
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

GreenCO's Water Quality & Conservation Program

Background

GreenCO is an umbrella trade organization
representing the common interests of nine landscape-
related trades. With over 2,000 member companies
and 36,000 Colorado employees, GreenCO
represents diverse interests from landscape
architects to sod growers. Annually, the Green
Industries contribute approximately $2 billion to the
state's economy.

GreenCO's Board of Directors established a
committee in 1996 to help GreenCO members
understand and develop strategies to respond to
threats posed to the industry by water shortages
resulting from drought and growth. This committee,
Water Efficient Leaders in Landscape (WELL), seeks
to engage GreenCO membership in ,better water
management practices for the protection of water
resources and to prepare them for future
competitiveness and water shortages due to growth
and lor drought. WELL is uni~ue as the on Iv Green
Industrv oroup in the nation pro-active Iv supportino
water conservation and oualitv ooals. without
reaulatorv pressure.

WELL includes representatives from GreenCO's nine
industry-related members plus diverse partners such
as the CSU Cooperative Extension, Denver Water,
Colorado WaterWise Council and the Colorado Water
Resources Research Institute.

Water Conservation Program

With input from GreenCO member industries, WELL
has identified priority projects that will support wise
water use among green industries, stimulate pubic
interest in and demand for water conservation
practices and establish GreenCO as an information
and technical resource for wise water use. The
projects include:
1. Industry-Wide Best Management Practices.
2. Internal Marketing and Outreach.

This program will be accomplished by working in
close partnership with water providers and policy
makers.

Best Management Practices
The term "Best Management Practices" (BMPs) refers to
landscape design, installation and maintenance methods
that have been identified as the most efficient and
effective for water conservation and water quality goals.
BMPs provide the practical means to accomplish water
quality and conservation goals, recognizing that any
approach to water conservation is only as useful as the
specific tools and resources available for
implementation. As experts in landscape tools and
technologies, GreenCO seeks to develop a set of useful
and practical resources for professionals, policy-makers
and end-users alike.

For example, a BMP that encourages the development
of landscape irrigation zones according to plant type,
may call for irrigation technology that can accommodate
a corresponding water schedule. If a large number of
businesses implement this BMP, the results would be a
significant reduction in the amount of water use and
fewer overflows containing pollutants and contaminants.

In order for an improved practice such as this to be
implemented, GreenCO member businesses need first
to know:
" why they should care about water conservation and
quality;
. what they can do as landscape professionals;
. how their participation will impact their bottom-line;
and
. what resources are available to them.

WELL was designed to address these questions and
engage the Green Industry in prioritizing, refining and
implementing wise water practices.

Resource Leveraging

CWCB support for the Green Industry's water
conservation program will be combined with funding
from the state's Pollution Prevention program, the
Colorado Nonpoint Source Council's Information and
Education Committee, the Governor's Office of Energy
Management and Conservation and from GreenCO
member associations.

For more infonnation about GreenCO's water quality and conservation
efforts call [phone].