| Conservation Corner |
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| Opportunity to Share Water Conservation Programs & Public Outreach Materials |
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Every year, the Oregon Water Resources Department (Department) receives and reviews several water management and conservation plans from municipal water suppliers located around the state. One area of these plans that continues to impress the Department deals with the conservation strategies that water suppliers put into place and the ways in which they share that information with their customers.
With that in mind, the Department is working on designing an electronic warehouse that will be located on their website. Water suppliers will be able to elect to “share” their conservation and outreach materials with their municipal counterparts around the state of Oregon. The hope is that this conservation “share-house” will become a useful resource full of good ideas and examples that cities can readily access, customize to fit their own needs, and eventually implement to achieve real water savings in their own community.
A short time ago, the Department received two plans that featured innovative conservation elements. The City of Florence performs many conservation activities, but is committed to further improving their efforts. Their recent plan included the City’s transition from bi‑monthly billing to monthly billing and beginning to compare water production and water consumption figures on a monthly basis. The City also established five-year benchmark activities that, among other things, include creative outreach efforts such as conducting conservation workshops geared toward property managers responsible for multi-family residences. The Department also recently received a plan from the Joint Water Commission (JWC). In addition to conservation efforts under the Regional Water Providers Consortium, JWC member agencies take on conservation activities of their own. Examples include the City of Hillsboro’s award-winning school audit program which resulted in average water savings of more than 60 percent at eight area schools; Tualatin Valley Water District’s commercial rebate program that includes a landscape rebate offering up to $500 to customers who install weather-based irrigation control devices for their landscapes; the Cities of Beaverton and Tigard’s use of Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) to reduce peak-season demand on limited and environmentally-sensitive water supplies; and the City of Forest Grove’s home audit program that includes water conservation fixtures and their annual open house at which indoor and outdoor conservation kits are distributed.
These plans highlight that while water suppliers come in many different shapes and sizes, the basic principles of water conservation are universal. Aspects of conservation policies, public outreach programs and educational materials developed by a larger city may be tailored to better fit a smaller community. Conversely, a small city may have great success with a project that may also be of benefit to a bigger municipality. With the Department’s new “share-house,” these conservation ideas and materials can be shared and customized to fit a city’s individual needs. Stay tuned. There will be more to come when the “share-house” goes live on the Department’s website.
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