California Association Backs 20% Water Use Reduction

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The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) has formally adopted policy principles supporting the goal of reducing per capita water use by 20 percent statewide by 2020 and committing the association to aggressively support water conservation and water use efficiency as part of a comprehensive solution to the state’s water challenges.

The principles, adopted on March 30 by ACWA’s Board of Directors, express strong support for achieving the 20 percent aggregate reduction in water use statewide in a manner that recognizes local conditions. The conservation and water use efficiency principles give urban and agricultural water agencies flexibility to implement programs that work for their service areas.

The principles are intended to expand on ACWA’s 2005 water policy document, “No Time to Waste: A Blueprint for California Water,” and guide the association as it considers legislative and regulatory proposals on conservation.

“With these principles, we are significantly raising the bar on conservation as an industry,” ACWA Executive Director Timothy Quinn said. “We are making a strong statement in support of achieving real reductions in water use statewide. We want to own the goal but ensure local flexibility to get there. We are committed to working with the legislature, state agencies, and other stakeholders to create a policy framework and sound technical foundation to do that.”

The principles state ACWA’s support for measuring, reporting, and monitoring water use statewide as a way of providing accountability and transparency toward meeting conservation goals. They also state ACWA’s support for the use of volumetric pricing wherever appropriate for urban and agricultural water supplies to encourage conservation and efficiency.

The ACWA Board also adopted a formal policy statement on proposals related to Delta Vision. The statement expresses support for the physical solutions laid out by the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force and the cabinet-level Delta Vision Committee and commits ACWA to work cooperatively to develop an effective governance approach to the Delta.

ACWA is a statewide association of public agencies whose 450 members are responsible for about 90 percent of the water delivered in California. For more information, visit www.acwa.com.

Excerpted from Water and Wastewater Use.

Rosamaria Caballero Stafford
Co-Founder and the Original Green Irene