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Smart Water and Urban Water Use

Western Resource Advocates’ (WRA) Smart Water project works to break the link between population growth and the demand for new dams and water diversions that damage the West’s precious river resources. 

Water use has always been a contentious issue in the West.  Historically, farmers, miners, and cities competed for this scarce resource, but often united to support dams and trans-basin diversions with little regard for impacts to the environment.  Today, the competition is even more intense.  The West’s urban areas are growing rapidly.  Seven million new residents are expected to arrive in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah in the next 25 years —creating ever greater demands for water. 

WRA’s Smart Water project helps cities develop solutions such as new water rates, rebates for efficient landscaping and water appliances, and water re-use.  As more cities implement conservation and water supply alternatives we can avoid sacrificing rivers like the Gunnison, Rio Grande, Bear, and Colorado. 

History of Success: In 2004, WRA released its 180-page Smart Water report providing an analysis of how cities compared on their conservation programs, along with recommendations for moving forward.  Working with colleagues, we have had a number of successes

Research and Education:

• We published Water in the Urban Southwest: An Updated Analysis of Albuquerque, Tucson, and Las Vegas, analyzing per capita water use and the success of conservation programs in these three communities.  The report led to an increasingly active role for WRA in helping shape policy.
• We published Urban Water on the Wasatch Front: Past, Present, and Future, a report examining water use in northern Utah and ways to meet future demand.
• In Colorado, joined by utility conservation directors and local governments, we co-hosted ten workshops to educate water utilities on water efficiency tools.
• In the next three months, we will publish three new reports: (1) on the cost-effectiveness of conservation programs; (2) a joint report with The Pacific Institute on possible future conservation savings by Las Vegas; and (3) the Front Range Water Meter—evaluating conservation programs, water rates, city ordinances, and other criteria in thirteen Front Range Colorado cities.
  
  Legislation:
• We were instrumental in the enactment of legislation that will provide over $3 million for cities in Colorado to plan and implement conservation programs.
• We drafted, testified for, and achieved passage of legislation in Nevada that adds requirements for conservation-orientated rate structures for growing cities.
  
  Policy Implementation:
• We convinced Denver Water (provider to 1.2 million customers) to change its water rate structure to send a much more effective conservation price signal.
• We worked with the Town of Erie, Colorado, to dramatically improve the conservation savings goals in its new conservation plan.
• Similarly, we assisted Denver Water, Colorado Springs, Aurora, and Boulder in upgrading their conservation plans and rate structures.
• We continued working closely with Ogden, Utah, on a new rate structure that will raise revenue while also decreasing water demand.
• We provided a wide range of water-wise city ordinance options to Provo, Utah.
• We presented conservation ideas to Kennecott Lands, a group proposing new housing for nearly 500,000 new residents south and west of Salt Lake City.
• As part of the Water Adaptation Group of Colorado’s Climate Action Panel, we authored sections of a report that recommends to Governor Ritter how state agencies, water utilities, and citizens can address the water-related effects of climate change.

Check back regularly for updates.

To read the Smart Water report, click here.

AVEDA honors WRA with Earth Month Partnership

In the 1960s, a senator from Wisconsin traveled around the United States on “conservation tours” in hopes of bringing attention to environmental issues. What Senator Gaylord Nelson found on his travels was that “the people were concerned, but the politicians were not.”

Inspired by the anti-war demonstrations of the late 60s, Senator Nelson believed that aligning people’s environmental concerns with the power of public demonstration would finally put environmental issues on the national agenda. He announced that, in the spring of 1970, there would be a one-day national grassroots demonstration expressing the public’s environmental concerns. It succeeded beyond the Senator’s wildest dreams: 20 million demonstrators across the United States gathered on behalf of the environment on April 22, 1970 for the first Earth Day. By Earth Day’s 20th anniversary in 1990, over 200 million people in over 141 countries were promoting the importance of environmental issues on the global agenda.

Among the growing crowd were new-found Earth Day supporters at the Aveda Corporation. For Aveda, what began as a day of support for environmental consciousness in 1990 has now turned into a month-long international effort to raise awareness, educate customers, and contribute funds to promote a healthy environment. Aveda has grown into a global corporation that is dedicated to an ethical approach to business, which includes a steadfast commitment to addressing environmental issues.

For 2008, the Aveda Corporation’s Earth Month campaign focused on water conservation, and Western Resource Advocates was proud to be named as one of 21 international Earth Month partners for a second year in a row! Throughout April, 133 salons across the Rocky Mountain region held charity events to benefit our water program, which focuses on meeting human water needs while also protecting the West’s rivers, streams, and aquifers. Finding this balance is especially challenging and important in the arid Southwest, where population is rapidly increasing.

Local Aveda Salons and Spas engaged in cut-a-thons, Earth Day parties, gift basket raffles, silent auctions, and even a raffle for a brand new Prius hybrid car to raise funds for Western Resource Advocates. Aveda's grassroots support not only brought in funding, but also brought recognition for WRA and its mission. WRA thanks Aveda and all its partner salons and spas for their work on a very successful Earth Month!