1 / 26

The Rise and Fall of Water Budgets in Aurora, CO

The Rise and Fall of Water Budgets in Aurora, CO. Kevin Reidy Water Conservation Supervisor Aurora Water. Background-Aurora, CO. 309,000 inhabitants East side of metro Denver area On the Eastern Plains 14-15” annual precipitation

rosina
Download Presentation

The Rise and Fall of Water Budgets in Aurora, CO

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Rise and Fall of Water Budgets in Aurora, CO Kevin Reidy Water Conservation Supervisor Aurora Water

  2. Background-Aurora, CO • 309,000 inhabitants • East side of metro Denver area • On the Eastern Plains • 14-15” annual precipitation • 95% of water supply comes from snowpack high in the Rocky Mountains • 65,000 single family residential accounts; 10,000 Multi-family, Commercial and Other accounts

  3. Aurora Water Conservation Xeriscape Youth Education Education Ordinances & Standards Aurora Water Conservation ICI Restrictions Education Customer Services Rate Structures

  4. 2002: Emergency Drought Response • 40% of snowpack lost in April • Mandatory every third day watering began May 15 • Effective Sept. 1, 2002 • No watering on Sundays • No watering from 7 a.m.- 7 p.m. • Watering can only occur for 1 hour total • New lawns banned

  5. 2003: Evolution within Drought Response • March 2003 Aurora’s reservoir system was only 27% of capacity full • Opportunity to reframe situation and engage our customers in a water conservation partnership • Not just recipients of a mandatory watering schedule

  6. 2003: Sowing Seeds • Voluntary water budget program for large irrigators • to avoid time constraints of water schedule and hour time limits • Good test case for transferring methodology to every water account the next year

  7. 2004: Broadening the Equity Umbrella • 2004 - a more equitable and individualized water budget system • Tier I- All 69,000 water accounts received • most recent winter quarter average • 70% of 2000-2001 outdoor consumption. • New accounts received a default setting • 3.2 people per household @ 70 gpcd • 3000 sq. ft. @ generally accepted bluegrass ET rates.

  8. Building blocks and issues • Building a team • Water Finance and Billing, Aurora Planning, and IT department • Communicating across disciplines • “Discipline Devotion” • Billing system issues • Communicating the program

  9. Building blocks and issues • Historical Billing Data Issues • Leadership backing the idea • Customer Acceptance

  10. Tier Rate Structure Evolution 2002- 3 Tier system • Based on fixed gallon amount (breakpoints) 2003- 3 Tier account based system • Based on non-individualized allocations for accounts. • Indoor budget was individualized but outdoor budget was standard for everyone. 2004- 3 Tier individualized account system • Based on individualized allocations for accounts. • Indoor and outdoor budgets were individualized but outdoor budget was based on history reduced by 30%.

  11. 2005-2006 • 2005 - increase budgets due to less severe drought stage but still based on a 20% of the 2000-2001 outdoor average • 2006 -based on historical usage from 2005 the outdoor portion adjusted up by 23% • Did not use full allocation in 2006

  12. 2007 • Water budgets were taken off the table as a rate structure • Replaced with a one-size fits all approach • 4 blocks of water steeply increasing

  13. 2007 continued • Residential/townhome • Base $8.50 • Tier I $3.60 WQA • Tier II $4.50 Next 15K/Next 4K • Tier III $8.25 Next 10K/Next 3K • Tier IV $10.75 all else • Conservation credit of $3.75 each month usage is 3K or less

  14. 2007 continued • Multi family • Block I = $3.60 WQA • Block II = $4.50 Next 50% of WQA • Block III = $8.25 Next 100% of WQA • Block IV = $10.75 all else • BIG Problem: Domestic meters that have very low WQA but irrigate large areas in summer

  15. So…what derailed the concept?The perfect storm • Prairie Waters Project (2005-2006) • 38 mile pipeline to return water from South Platte river to Aurora • 850 million dollar project • Need to change rate structure to fund project • For various reasons- key leadership out at crucial points • Conservation taken out of loop • Outside consultant brought in

  16. The perfect storm (contd.) • Prairie Waters Project • Initial phase began in 2005 • Focus from drought and water budget began to shift to massive project • Shift of focus lessened attention and thus diluted support • Refocused on paying for project (12%,12%, 8%, 5% annual revenue increases needed)

  17. The perfect storm (contd.) • Director out due to illness-leadership support suspended • Water director, finance director vacant • Manager over water conservation out in late 2006; I was out on paternity leave for 2 months in fall 2006

  18. The perfect storm (contd.) • Conservation uninvited/outside consultant • No communication between conservation and finance/consultant • Conservation offered advice once some of the implications to customers were realized • Customer not really considered-no appeals process-only big picture view

  19. Backlash • “We liked the way you did it a few years ago” • Large HOA properties hit with high bills; some large lot residential hit with very high bills • No appeals process; Water dept. could not do anything; very unhappy customers

  20. Backlash • 2008 rate structure • Residential (1-4 units) 3 tier structure but still one size fits all; tiers are large enough to accommodate most users • Multifamily & commercial 2 tier system with an annual allocation based on 2005-2006 usage • Return of the water budget? • Some kind of appeals process in place

  21. Are we returning to water budgets? • Probably not for residential (yet); possibly for large and commercial properties • Working again to utilize GIS • Trending toward an informational water budget approach vs. billing on water budgets

  22. Lessons learned • Gather a diverse team in order to institute GIS • Stormwater, forestry, CIP, water quality, conservation, water resources • In other words, show that this just isn’t the crazy hippies in conservation wanting this!

  23. Lessons Learned • Timing is everything • While we were able to start down the water budget path, we couldn’t fully convert to a true water budget approach • Avoid rate fatigue • Don’t change rate structure so much; find something that will work and stick with it

  24. Lessons Learned • Plan out next attempt very carefully • Gather more support from top down • Create robust GIS using coalition • Secure informational budgets first; create proven track record; then convert to billing with them • Track water consumption through informational budgets, especially Water Smart Reader users

  25. What is next? • Continue to use the past drought and momentum gained to affect a permanent change in our customer base • Continue to provide the support and tools necessary to aid in this cultural transformation (to include self-regulated water budgets!!) • Water Customers Water Stewards

  26. Contact Information • Kevin Reidy-Water Conservation Supervisor • Aurora Water-Water Conservation Division • kreidy@auroragov.org • 303-739-7387 • www.aurorawater.org

More Related