New water conservation factsheets offer guidance on savings

A new set of water conservation factsheets produced by the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension’s Water Resources Research Center enhances knowledge of specific audiences, but the information is useful for a much broader spectrum of people, said WRRC Director Sharon Megdal.

“We know that water conservation is a key aspect of our strategy to closing the gap between water supply and demand over time,” said Megdal, a professor in the Department of Environmental Science. “This project will contribute to water conservation regardless of where you live, regardless of what water source you're dependent upon.”

Learn where and how to cut water use

The four-page publications will help water users in six categories look for potential savings and determine conservation strategies. The target users include small community water systems; customers of small community water systems; domestic well users; rural industrial users; small-scale farms; and riparian areas and streams.

They’re not intended as an analysis of the current situation, whether it’s Colorado River allocations or groundwater. They are tools for reducing water use as Arizona charts a path into an uncertain water future.

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“I think the fact sheets will help people understand what they could do as individuals, what they could do as businesses and perhaps what governments might want to do,” Megdal said.

Strategies for individuals include installing efficient fixtures and appliances, finding and repairing leaks, using irrigation controllers and passive and active water harvesting.

The fact sheet for small community water systems suggests installing meters, as some small water utilities bill flat rates that offer little incentive to conserve. The WRRC also recommends controlling system pressure to reduce leakage and using rate structures that encourage conservation.

Using technology to save water

None of the fact sheets quantifies water savings in detail, but the domestic well users’ document includes a table showing savings that could be realized through specific behaviors or technologies, said Anne Gondor, a WRRC associate in Extension, who coordinated the development of the factsheets.

“One of the highlights of this fact sheet is that it includes tables on behaviors and things that you would look for directly to find savings and potential estimated cost and water savings of upgrading technologies," Gondor said.

Each of the fact sheets includes background relevant to the users, a map showing where the relevant users are in Arizona and tips on where to look for water savings. Each also includes a link to further resources and references.

Rural focus with relevance anywhere

The WRRC kept the focus on rural communities, in part because those parts of Arizona are outside designated Active Management Areas.

In AMAs, groundwater use is regulated by the Arizona Department of Water Resources, which mandates conservation measures for the three major water sectors – municipal, industrial and agricultural, Megdal said.

“Outside of these areas there's no required conservation, and yet we know that conservation of water is very important to the whole state, so we targeted areas outside the AMAs, which are largely rural,” she said.

Although the information is targeted at rural users, it also applies to water users inside AMAs, she said.

The audiences who can most directly use the fact sheets are named in them, though some are less specific than others, Gondor said.

“The riparian and streams factsheet is a complex topic. We really wrote it for landowners or communities adjacent to riparian areas and streams. The industrial users factsheet is also complex, but it could be used by anyone who's concerned about rural industrial water use or wanting to learn more about it in their area,” she said.

Consistent reliable information

The consistent, reliable information helps readers understand key issues and make informed decisions, said Leeann Yacuel, a senior water planning analyst for the Salt River Project, whose team helped peer-review the documents.

“By fostering a shared understanding of water conservation goals and strategies, the fact sheets can also encourage partnerships and collaboration among communities, helping the state manage its water resources more sustainably,” Yacuel said.

Funding for the project came from the federal American Rescue Plan Act via the Arizona Water Infrastructure Finance Authority through its Water Conservation Grant Fund. Matching funds came from the university’s Technology and Research Initiative Fund, which is administered by the U of A Office of Research Partnerships.

Other Cooperative Extension factsheets available

This is the second series of fact sheets the WRRC has recently produced. The first set answers common water questions for each county, including sources of water and categories of users. The center also recently released a Domestic Well Owner’s Toolkit to help owners maintain wells and improve water quality.

The WRRC is open to collaborate on fact sheets on other topics or for other audiences. For example, the recently released water conservation factsheets did not focus on conservation practices or strategies of local governments or Tribal Nations, Megdal said.

“We’d welcome an invitation to collaborate,” she said.