HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 10/5/2021 - Memorandum From Abbye Neel Re: Water Conservation Gallons Per Capital Per Day Infographics
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Utilities
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222 Laporte Ave.
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522-0580
970.212.2900
V/TDD: 711
utilities@fcgov.com
fcgov.com/utilities
M E M O R A N D U M
DATE: September 28, 2021
TO: Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM: Abbye Neel, Interim Water Conservation Manager
THROUGH: Theresa Connor, Interim Utilities Executive Director
Kelly DiMartino, Interim City Manager
RE: Water Conservation 2020 Gallons Per Capita Per Day Infographics
Bottom Line
The purpose of this memo is to provide additional context following the Utility City Council
Onboarding session regarding residential water use, measured as gallons per capita per day, for
Fort Collins Utilities.
Gallons Per Capita Per Day (GPCD) Residential and Community GPCD
Water consumption is often characterized by daily per person use, measured in gallons per capita
per day (GPCD), and is often used as an industry standard for benchmarking. It is calculated by
taking the total annual water demand and dividing by the service area population over a year. A
residential GPCD can be calculated by taking the total residential annual water demand and
dividing it by service area population over a year.
Graph 1 on Page 2 depicts trends in residential and community (commercial + residential)
GPCD for the Fort Collins Utilities service area. Like many other utilities across the front range,
water conservation efforts became a focus after the 2002 drought. Since 2002, residential GPCD
is down 18% while the population has grown over 10%. This trend also is reflected in the
community GPCD, where we see a 25% decrease in per capita water demand over the same time
period. Reductions are a combined result of:
Utilities customers being fully metered
Adoption of tiered rates in 2003
Community behavior and conservation ethic
Incorporation of water conservation strategies into land use and building codes
Expansion of water conservation programming in both the residential and commercial
sectors
Currently, the City Council-approved 2015 Water Efficiency Plan defines a community goal of
reaching 130 GPCD by 2030. This metric includes both residential and commercial water use,
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and reaching this goal requires an 8% reduction from the current 5-year average. It is important
to note that while GPCD is used as an industry standard, it can be misleading because it does not
account for variations in population due to commuters/visitors or other factors like weather,
which affects outdoor water use. The Water Efficiency Plan is scheduled to be updated and Staff
anticipates reviewing GPCD goal and exploring other metrics that may better
measure efficiency.
Graph 1 Community and Residential Gallons per Capita per Day Trends
Additional Water Conservation Metrics and Efforts
In addition to this graphic, and the graphics included in the Water Conservation annual report,
the community water use metric is updated quarterly on the community dashboard. This metric
breaks out residential and commercial GPCD.
Homeowners who would like to take action to conserve water can take advantage of the
following exciting programs:
Our Climate Future Shift Your Water Challenge (more information at fcgov.com/SHIFT)
Fort Collins Utilities Rebate Program (more information at fcgov.com/save-water)
Fort Collins Utilities Xeriscape Incentive Program (more information at fcgov.com/xip)
Free water and energy assessment via our partnership with the Larimer County
Conservation Core (more at fcgov.com/save-water)
Register for the MyWater portal to monitor use and receive free leak alerts (more
information at fcgov.com/MyWater)
CC: Liesel Hans, Interim Utilities Deputy Director
Gretchen Sandford, Interim Utilities Deputy Director