Agenda - City of Santa Monica

capacity, rainwater harvesting and s tormwater capture, and additional recycled water
sources. These supply options are explored in greater detail in the following sections.
Water Conservation Modeling and Analysis
Since the November status report, the water conservation analysis was refined to better
define the City's opportunities to reduce the projected water demands described above
through the implementation of water conservation programs. After completion of a
detailed billing and past conservation program and policy analysis, a comprehensive list
of water conservation programs was developed and modeled using the Alliance for
Water Efficiency’s Water Conservation Tracking Tool. This model allows users to
analyze the water savings potential and implementation costs of a collection of water
conservation programs. The model also uses local demographic and housing
characteristics to estimate water savings that could be attributable to enhanced
efficiency requirements in State plumbing codes and water fixture usage standards, and
predict reductions in demand from other applicable programs.
The suite of programs selected for analysis address each of the City’s water customer
sectors (single-family, multi-family, commercial, institutional, and landscape) with an
emphasis on water users that shows opportunity for additional conservation. Since
1988 the City has invested millions of dollars in resources to retrofit nearly every indoor
plumbing fixture in commercial, single-family and m ulti-family buildings with water
saving products. As a r esult water usage in the City has declined even though the
City’s population and development have increased.
Results of the billing analysis indicated that the greatest remaining potential for water
conservation exists among the City’s commercial and institutional customers, as well as
in landscape water use. Two specific large water users, St. John’s Medical Center, the
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, and laundry facilities, were identified by
City staff as customers with a high potential for additional water savings and programs
were developed to target those potential savings.
7