Karen Guz, Director of Conservation, San Antonio Water System. Presentation at Texas Water Foundation, Central Texas Water Conservation Symposium February 26, 2013

1. San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story
Karen
Guz
Director
/
Conserva/on
February
26,
2013
Central
Texas
Water
Conserva/on
Symposium

2. February
26,
2013
San
Antonio
Water
Challenge
• SAWS
provides
water
and
waste
water
services
to
1.6
million
people
• Project
20,000
people/year
growth
rate
• May
lose
between
20-­‐40%
of
supply
due
to
drought
regula/ons
and
lack
of
rain
to
replenish
• New
water
supplies
are
all
expensive
and
challenging
to
acquire
Page 2
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

3. February
26,
2013
Extreme
Weather
Ques/on:
How
to
Supply
During
all
Times?
Jan 2007 Sep 2007 Aug 2009 Sep 2010 Sep 2011
| Driest 24 months on record |
Wettest First 68 days of 3rd Wettest 13 Least rain since
8 Months of 100 degree month period recording began
Any Year temperature on record in 1871
44.6” in 8 mos 24.8” in 24 mos 58.6” in 13 mos 7.6” in 11 mos
Page 3
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

4. February
26,
2013
Drought
of
Record
Planning
Ques/on:
How
Bad
Could
it
Get?
680
670 e
l
b
100% l
a
i
a
) 660
80% v
l A
s y
l
m
' p
(
l p
e 650 70% u
v S
e s
L d
r
7 a
1
- w
J 640 65% d
E
%
630 56%
620
610
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9
89.81% 74% 68.87% 69.19% 64.34% 60.2% 57.57% 64.18% 95.64%
600
Page 4
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

5. February
26,
2013
Demand
Reduc/on
Strategy
Minimize
New
Supply
Costs
• Long
Term
Conserva/on
– Reduce
per
capita
usage
each
year
– Lessens
the
need
for
new
water
to
meet
growth
needs
• Short-­‐Term
Demand
Reduc/on
– During
drought
periods
– Staged
drought
plans
reduce
the
need
for
new
supplies
Page 5
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

6. February
26,
2013
Drought
Restric/ons
Ques/on:
What
to
do
During
Drought?
Edwards Stage Edwards Supply City Restrictions
660 ft msl
Stage I Loss of 20% Water 1X/Week
650 ft msl Water 1X/Week
Stage II Loss of 30%
Reduced Hours
640 ft msl Water 1X Every Other Week
Stage III Loss of 35%
Reduced Hours
630 ft msl All Above Plus
Stage IV Loss of 40%
Surcharge Excess Usage
Other
rules
apply
for
car
washing,
power
washing,
pools,
decora/ve
fountains,
and
hotel
linen
programs
Page 6
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

7. February
26,
2013
Water
Management
Issues
Ques/on:
What
is
the
Problem
We
Need
to
Solve?
• Given
DOR
scenario
&
available
supplies,
what
is
our
specific
challenge?
• GPCD
target
&
/meline?
Why?
• Dry-­‐year
challenge
or
year-­‐round?
• What
policies,
ordinance,
programs
and
strategies
do
we
need
to
contemplate
to
succeed
in
reaching
our
target
on
/me?
Page 7
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

8. February
26,
2013
Not
so
long
ago…
The crisis that did not go to
waste; conservation ethic
started and then thrived.
Page 8
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

9. February
26,
2013
Successful
Conserva/on
Program
Common
Themes
that
Seem
to
Work
• Educa/on
&
Outreach
Partnerships,
events,
workshops,
site
visits,
e-­‐newsleWer,
performance
contracts,
adver/sing,
PR
• Reasonable
Regula/on
Addresses
efficiencies
in
MANY
uses
of
water
• Financial
Investment
Capital
program,
/ered
rate
structure,
rebate
programs,
free
products
and
customer
consulta/ons
Page 9
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

10. February
26,
2013
Customer
Programs
Equipment
Change
vs.
Behavior
Change
• One
decision,
one
/me,
• Decision
to
use
water
ongoing,
month
to
month
or
not
needs
to
be
savings
made
daily
Page 10
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

11. February
26,
2013
Behavior
Change
Programs
• Landscape
Rebates
• Home
and
Irriga/on
Check-­‐ups
for
homeowners
• Workshops
and
Events
for
the
public
• Demonstra/on
Gardens
• WaterSaver
eNewsleWer
Page 11
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

12. February
26,
2013
Equipment
Change
Programs
• Toilet
Distribu/on:
HET
&
Urinals
• Restaurant
Retrofit:
spray
nozzles
• Plumbers
to
People:
plumbing
repairs
• Wash
Right:
washing
machine
rebate
• Custom
Retrofits:
for
unique
projects
Page 12
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

13. February
26,
2013
Stakeholder
Partnerships
Page 13
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

14. February
26,
2013
Conserva/on
=
Con/nuous
Improvement
Conserva/on
is:
• Set
in
place
to
meet
long-­‐term
water
management
goals
• Addresses
all
water
end
use
categories
• Year-­‐round
• Measures
begin
as
voluntary
(can
become
rules
over
/me)
• Oben
provides
improvements
in
quality
of
life
• Requires
innova/on,
analysis,
evalua/on,
and
change
Page 14
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

15. February
26,
2013
Drought
=
Mandatory
Temporary
Rules
Drought
Management
is:
• In
response
to
special
condi/ons
to
obtain
immediate
cut-­‐back
• Focused
on
discre/onary
usage
• Mandatory
• Staged
to
reflect
severity
of
situa/on
• Oben
inconvenient
for
customers
• Temporary
Page 15
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

16. February
26,
2013
Extreme
Droughts
How
Low
Can
a
Community
Go
in
an
Emergency?
• Each
u/lity
should
know
how
much
of
total
use
is
“discre/onary”
and
could
be
eliminated
if
drought
worsens?
• Drought
plans
can
include
phases
that
reduce
discre/onary
without
a
ban
on
it
– Stage
Three:
s/ll
allows
hand-­‐watering
– Stage
Four:
applies
surcharge
on
high
use
– Ban:
not
needed
based
on
analysis,
but
actual
implementa/on
will
the
test
Page 16
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

17. February
26,
2013
Long
Term
Targets
&
Evalua/on
Top
Down
and
Booms
Up
are
Both
Important
• Top
Down:
– Reaching
target
requires
an
average
drop
of
___
in
total
GPCD/year
– Trends
watched
each
year
against
weather
• BoWoms
Up:
– __
GPCD
=
____
acre
feet
of
savings/
year
– Adding
up
each
program
has
yielded
2000
acre
feet/
year
(using
available
budget)
– Customer
educa/on
saves
more
from
behavior
changes
Page 17
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

18. February
26,
2013
Water
Use
Per
Bill
Trends
All
Residen/al,
Commercial,
Industrial,
Apartment
• Trend line drop
appears to be
15% reduction
over ten years
Gallons
• Dry year drop is
about 9%
reduction over
ten years
Page 18
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

19. February
26,
2013
Are
Programs
Affec/ng
Trends?
Programs
Target
Billed
Water
Trends
• Program
evalua/ons
demonstrate
reduc/ons
in
individual
customer
use
from
educa/on,
incen/ves
&
retrofits
• Billed
water
averages
are
declining
over
/me
as
more
customers
use
less
water
• New
programs
will
have
to
target
outdoor
irriga/on
to
offset
trend
of
higher
use
in
summers
from
automa/c
irriga/on
Page 19
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

20. February
26,
2013
What
About
Water
Losses?
All
Systems
Need
Programs
to
Minimize
Losses
• Misconcep/on
is
that
nearly
all
“Non
Revenue
Water”
is
from
main
breaks
or
leaks
• Large
por/ons
can
be
water
used,
but
not
billed
– Older
meters,
water
theb,
fire
prepara/ons,
line
flushing
and
other
factors
are
significant
Page 20
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

21. February
26,
2013
Water
Loss
Audit
Models
Iden/fy
Opportuni/es
and
Realis/c
Goals
for
Long
Term
• Billed
Metered
Consump/on
• Billed
(including
water
exported)
• Revenue
Authorized
Water
• Authorized
Consump/on
• Billed
Unmetered
Consump/on
Consump/on
• Unbilled
• Unbilled
Metered
Consump/on
Authorized
Consump/on
• Unbilled
Unmetered
Consump/on
• System
Input
• Unauthorized
Consump/on
Volume
(corrected
• Apparent
• Customer
Metering
Inaccuracies
for
known
Losses
• Non-­‐
errors)
• Data
Handling
Errors
Revenue
Water
(NRW)
• Water
Losses
• Leakage
on
Transmission
and
Distribu/on
Mains
• Real
Losses
• Leakage
and
Overflows
at
U/lity's
Storage
Tanks
• Leakage
on
Service
Connec/ons
up
to
point
of
Customer
metering
Page 21
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

22. February
26,
2013
The
Keys
to
Conserva/on
Success
• Treat
water
conserva/on
as
a
supply
• Every
customer
can
be
part
of
the
solu/on
• Analyze
trends
in
usage,
water
losses,
and
program
impact
every
year
Page 22
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

23. February
26,
2013
History
of
San
Antonio
Conserva/on
May Nov Jun Nov
1991 1992 1993 1994 1994 1996 1997
SAWS adopts its first
SAWS holds the first WaterSaver
Conservation and Reuse Plan.
Awards, recognizing local companies
who have taken a leadership role in
Sierra Club files a lawsuit against the
water conservation efforts.
Department of Interior alleging violations
of the Endangered Species Act at San
Marcos and Comal Springs. City Council approves a residential water
rate structure that encourages
SAWS Community Conservation
conservation and establishes dedicated
Committee (CCC) is established. This
funding for water conservation programs.
advisory group provides staff and the
San Antonio City Council creates the San Antonio Board of Trustees with citizen feedback
Water System through consolidation of the City on conservation policies and programs.
Water Board, the City Wastewater Department,
and the Alamo Water Conservation and Reuse SAWS institutes its first direct
District. program: Plumbers to People. This
program provides leak repair
Conservation department strategically located in services to low-income households.
the Planning and Water Resources department to
emphasize water conservation as a viable
method of addressing water resource challenges.
Page 23
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

24. February
26,
2013
History
of
San
Antonio
Conserva/on
Jan Mar Oct Jan Dec Jan
1998 1998 1998 2001 2001 2002
SAWS per capita consumption drops to 143
SAWS Board of Trustees approves gallons per person per day.
the first Water Resource Plan, titled
San Antonio City Council approves “Securing our Water Future
a fee on all commercial water Together.” This plan identified
accounts in support of commercial methods for meeting future water With input from Region L and regional
conservation programs. needs through diversification of our planning groups throughout the state,
water resources. TWDB adopts the first state water plan. In
this plan, the San Antonio region is the only
area in the state that adopts “advanced
conservation” as a significant resource
option.
Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) appoints
SAWS representative to the South Central Texas Water use reduction goals established in
Regional Water Planning Group (Region L). Region the 1993 Conservation and Reuse Plan for
L is one of 16 regional planning groups in Texas, 2008 are achieved a full 7 years in advance.
tasked with the development of a 50-year water plan
for inclusion in the state water plan.
Page 24
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

25. February
26,
2013
History
of
San
Antonio
Conserva/on
August Jan
2005 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Mission Verde – City ordinance requirement
SAWS celebrates the 10th for WaterSaver fixtures in new construction.
anniversary of the Community This will require HET toilets, efficient
San Antonio City Council approves Conservation Committee. faucets, showerheads and urinals in all new
a comprehensive water construction starting 2010. Also limits total
conservation ordinance with the full size of irrigation for residential and requires
support of all stakeholders affected annual irrigation maintenance checks on
by the provisions, including large properties or those that use over one
homeowners, the irrigation industry, San Antonio City Council approves updates million gallons of water for irrigation.
and developers. to the drought management provisions of
the water conservation ordinance.
SAWS Board of Trustees approves an updated
Water Resource Plan that establishes even more
aggressive water use reduction goals: SAWS will
reduce normal-year per capita consumption to 116
gallons per person per day by 2016.
Page 25
San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story

26. San
Antonio:
A
Conserva/on
Success
Story
Karen
Guz
Director
/
Conserva/on
February
26,
2013
Central
Texas
Water
Conserva/on
Symposium