Birds, Salamanders, and Legislators: New Paths to Increased Water Conservation

摘要

In response to concerns over a new water treatment plant, the City of austin isrnwriting a new, more aggressive water conservation plan. In the spring of 2005, the City ofrnaustin Water Utility began taking the initial steps toward building a long-planned andrnlong-delayed water treatment plant. although the new plant had been in the utility's long-rangernplans and land had been bought for it almost twenty years ago, moving forward hasrnbeen met with resistance. To complicate matters, a state required conservation plan wasrndue to be approved and submitted that spring, and it was seized upon by opponents to thernnew treatment plant as proof that the City was premature in building the new plant. Thernstate plan, required to encourage all utilities to consider conservation in their planningrnefforts, was a snapshot of current programs and did not adopt new programs or stretchrngoals. In response to public input, a new plan was to be written during the summer ofrn2005 that would examine more aggressive initiatives, such as irrigation permitting, usingrnstormwater retention for irrigation, and mandatory toilet retrofit on resale. It would adoptrna new long term peak day goal and evaluate methods to achieve a state recommended 1rnpercent annual reduction in gpcd until the city achieves a gpcd of 140. This paper willrndiscuss the difficulties encountered in this process, including timing, environmentalrnimpacts, conservation measures, cost effectiveness, long range planning, and publicrncommunications.