BPU_Agenda_07-18-12 - Los Alamos County

Assuming 27.3% of the Los Alamos County waste stream is organic waste (13.4% yard waste and 13.9%
food scraps), the national average in 2010 according to the US EPA, there is a potential to divert
thousands of tons of organic waste from the landfill. Moving forward, Los Alamos also hopes to have
the opportunity to expand the number of materials residents can place in their curbside recycle roll
carts. Expanding the amount of plastics accepted as well as accepting paper board products could
significantly increase the amount of materials recycled.
Water Usage
Goal
The development of this goal is dependent upon the completion of a survey of Los Alamos County
residents on their conservation goals.
Performance
Since 2006 water usage in Los Alamos County has increased 6%. The large increase from 2010 to 2011
was largely driven by an increased usage by residents during the summer months, presumably for
watering landscaping during a very dry year (Figure 6).
Thousands of gallons
1,400,000
1,200,000
1,000,000
800,000
600,000
400,000
200,000
Figure 5: Community water usage and annual precipitation (rain and snow)
Strategy
Water conservation programs and educational campaigns that will be adopted to decrease water usage
in Los Alamos County can be found in the Water and Energy Conservation Plan.
Miles of Trails
-
Los Alamos Water Usage
863,309 788,848 817,600 700,343 783,589 859,541
345,867 332,867 370,490 383,896 412,759 426,709
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Los Alamos National Lab Los Alamos County Rainfall
Goal
Reach 3.7 miles of trail per 1,000 residents by 2020.
Sustainability Plan Draft Page 8
29
25
20
15
10
5
0
Inches of rain