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Better Ways
August 16, 2006
Best Practices: Saving Water and Money
Water conservation makes good sense on every level: environmental, social, political and economic. In water-starved nations, the problem of water shortages is dire. But even in Canada, which has almost 9% of the world’s fresh water, there are many places where water is threatened by the demands of growth. Guelph is one.
The choice is to spend lavishly on new supply or invest prudently in conservation. According to Environment Canada, “Municipal governments across Canada are beginning to take action to manage the demand for water, instead of seeking new sources of supply. Demand management, incorporating water efficient applications, is rapidly gaining popularity as a low cost, effective way to get more service out of existing systems, thus delaying or deferring the need for constructing new works.”
Five Water-Saving Leaders (and How Guelph Compares)
1) Okotoks, Alberta: The Canadian Leader
When there is political will to conserve water, it happens. The Town of Okotoks in British Columbia became one of the first municipalities in the world to establish growth targets linked to infrastructure development. This comes from the Okotoks web site: “The Town, dependent on the Sheep River for its water and its ability to treat and dispose effluent, faced an intersection in its evolution in 1998 - it could continue to “grow without limits” and plan accordingly with access to regional infrastructure, or it could take a “road less traveled” and intentionally choose to live within the carrying capacity of the Sheep River watershed. A community-driven vision - to respond to rather than manipulate the environment that sustains us, chose the latter.” Carrying capacity of the Sheep River watershed was identified as approximately 30,000 residents.
Key actions since the 1998 commitment include: a six-year water/waste education program involving 4,600 homes, a water-efficient fixture retrofit program for municipal buildings, 100% water metering, watering bylaws, a leak identification and repair program, xeriscaping plantings, and mandatory water conservation in newly developed communities. The town’s target is a 30% per capita water use reduction by 2013. And it is on track with a 30% reduction since 2000. Okotoks presently consumes 373 litres of water per day per capita. Calgary consumes 510 lites per day. The European average is 135 litres per day.
2) Alamogordo, New Mexico: Cutting Water Usage in Half
In March of 2006, the city of Alamogordo, New Mexico was awarded the Conference of Mayors and the Urban Water Council’s Municipal Water Conservation Achievement Award in the category of innovative conservation. From a per capita water usage of 261.28 gallons (989.05 litres) in 1992, the city achieved 121.4 gallons (459.55 litres) per capita in 2004 through a broad-based systematic approach to conservation. It included extensive reclaimed water system, ongoing repair and replacement of infrastructure, a meter replacement program, numerous education methods, and a great deal of citizen participation in low-flow toilet installations, xeriscaping, outdoor watering restrictions, and residential leak fixing.
3) Charlottetown: The Urinal Strategy
Last July, The City of Charlottetown Water and Sewer Utility began offering rebates to metered customers in the business and industrial sectors that replace bathroom fixtures with waterless urinals. Participants were immediately credited $100 per urinal on their water bill. For each urinal, it is estimated the customer will save $107 per year while saving the city 151,000 litres of drinking water. City staff estimate that if all city residents simply turned off the bathroom faucet while brushing their teeth or doing dishes, total water use would decrease by 1.4 billion litres annually.
4) The Solaire in Battery Park: High-Rise, Low-Use
On September 5, 2003, New York Governor George E. Pataki dedicated the first green residential high-rise building in the United States: The Solaire, at 20 River Terrace in Battery Park City. The 27-story, 293-unit building was the first to be built under the Battery Park City Authority’s Residential Environmental Guidelines. The Solaire contains an onsite wastewater treatment facility – the first to be built inside a multi-family U.S. residential building – as well as a storm water reuse system. Together with vigilant water conservation strategies, these features result in a building that consumes 50% less potable water than a traditional building of comparable size.
5) Intel: A Corporate Commitment
The 2005 Corporate Responsibility Report from Intel, the world’s largest maker of semiconductors, states: “Our approach to water management starts at the top with the commitment of our senior executives to lead the way in environmental management.” (The same of course could be said of the political leadership of a city.) Intel sets water-conservation priorities as part of factory planning. The company buys water-saving technologies (one recent chip washing technology will save 40% in water over the last generation of a similar technology). Overall, the company has reduced its need for fresh water by 35%. From the 2005 report: “In 2005, Intel adopted a new water conservation strategy that focuses not only on our internal efforts but also on how we can: share our expertise and learning with other businesses; promote water conservation education and awareness in our local communities; collaborate with universities, water suppliers, governments and water users to solve the most pressing regional water challenges.”
Water Conservation in Guelph: The Quarrie Majority Gets A Failing Grade
Rather than taking the financially prudent course of conserving water to avoid the high cost of new infrastructure, the Quarrie voting majority on Guelph’s city council has pushed the long-term option of a mega-pipeline from Lake Erie. Mrs. Quarrie introduced the idea herself in an article she submitted to the Guelph Tribune during the last election. She also mentioned a pipeline in her campaign speeches, to the shock of most residents.
The 50-year Water Supply Master Plan, initiated in the term before this council, was finally published in 2006. Under Mrs. Quarrie’s watch, the hired consultants are recommending a pipeline as a long-term solution and finding new local supplies in the short to medium term. However, finding local supplies has been compromised by the Quarrie majority’s poor relations with Wellington County.
The Mega-Pipeline: Spend, Spend, Spend
The obvious problems with the Quarrie approach to spending on new supply are:
1. the high cost to taxpayers
2. the refusal to look at growth limits
3. an apparent disdain for water conservation
4. fear-mongering about water shortages
They have slashed water conservation. While leading municipalities across the world and throughout North America are learning that conservation investments pay tremendous dividends in avoided taxes, the Quarrie majority in Guelph cut the Guelph conservation budget in 2005/2006. Previous conservation work was extremely successful. As the city has grown - adding more people and businesses - average daily water consumption has flat-lined. That means as a whole we have been successful using less to do the same thing. We should be investing more in conservation, not less.
Growth limits in Guelph are not even considered. A pipeline from Lake Erie is seen as a way to grow without limits, something land speculators and property developers want desperately. Unfortunately, citizens subsidize developers under this scenario - for decades to come. Tellingly, in the Water Supply Master Plan, the section on managing growth as an option is brief and lacking both detail and enthusiasm, possibly because the consultant hired to do the plan also did the environmental assessment for the water treatment plant on Lake Erie that would one day supply the Guelph Pipeline.
Our values are not being considered. The Water Supply Master Plan is a technical document, created by engineers and consultants who don’t live in Guelph. It’s not a values-based document. To grow appealingly, cities must have values, and those values must be reflected by the political leadership.
Currently, Guelph is heading toward a pipeline, thanks to the Quarrie majority. Whose values are being reflected?
What you can do:
- Contact members of Guelph City Council and express your concern that water planning for the future in Guelph is too focused on spending to build supply when investing in conservation makes more sense economically and environmentally.
- Demand that the conservation budget be reinstated and increased and that the city provide educational programs that emphasize reductions in residential and industrial water use. These should be long-term and include meaningful financial incentives to ensure we get good results.
- STOP the Pipeline! The Guelph chapter of the Council of Canadians, in keeping with the national organization’s concern with water issues in Canada, has created a web site with valuable information. To learn more, please visit www.stopthepipeline.ca
- Read the Environment Canada article on managing the demand for water.
- Tell a friend about the Guelph Civic League.
- Mark election day, November 13th on your calendar.
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