HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 2/27/2024 - Memorandum From Alice Conovitz And Mariel Miller Re: February 13, 2024, Work Session Summary: 2024 Water Efficiency Plan StatusUtilities
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222 Laporte Ave.
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522-0580
970.212.2900
V/TDD: 711
utilities@fcgov.com
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WORK SESSION MEMORANDUM
Date: February 19, 2024
To: Mayor and City Councilmembers
Through: Kelly DiMartino, City Manager
Tyler Marr, Deputy City Manager/Interim Utilities Executive Director
From: Alice Conovitz, Utilities Water Conservation Specialist
Mariel Miller, Utilities Water Conservation Manager
Subject: February 13, 2024, Work Session Summary: 2024 Water Efficiency Plan Status
____________________________________________________________________________
BOTTOM LINE
The purpose of this memo is to document the summary of discussions during the February 13,
2024, Work Session. All Councilmembers were present (Councilmember Ohlson attended
remotely). Staff members present were Mariel Miller, Alice Conovitz, and Gretchen Stanford.
Staff member Donnie Dustin attended remotely.
The purpose of this item was to describe the state-mandated Fort Collins Utilities (Utilities)
Water Efficiency Plan (WEP) and the 2024 update process. The updated WEP will set
conservation goals, incorporate extensive public engagement focusing on marginalized
community members, and employ numeric modeling and an equity analysis to help prioritize
future water conservation and efficiency strategies. Potential strategies include rate structures,
education, voluntary incentives, regulations, and standards. The staff presentation and Agenda
Item Summary also provided background on water conservation and efficiency and Utilities’
work to manage water demand to provide a reliable water supply. Staff sought input from
Council on the following two questions:
1. What is Council’s vision for the Water Efficiency Plan and how it addresses water
conservation and efficiency?
2. What does Council need to know from our engagement, equity, analysis, and water
demand modeling efforts?
DISCUSSION SUMMARY
Council provided feedback and comments, including the following (Council-requested follow-up
items are listed separately):
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• Providing input on a plan that doesn’t extend to all of Fort Collins, but only to the Utilities
Water Service Area is challenging. Council asked about neighboring water providers’
WEPs and whether they were available to review. Generally, these can be found online
either through the Colorado Water Conservation Board or the specific water providers’
websites.
• Better understanding of water use based on housing type is helpful for understanding
and making development decisions.
• Utilities is pursuing multiple strategies, especially adequate water storage and
conservation/efficiency, to prepare for climate change and its impacts.
• It would be helpful to know how we’re doing, and to inform the development of future
goals, if we could easily compare Fort Collins Utilities water service area’s water use to
other communities or had some sort of benchmark. Staff responded that we could
provide some examples, and acknowledged that gallons per capita, per day (GCPD) is a
challenging metric to use for comparisons because it is not measured consistently
amongst water providers. GPCD metrics for residential and commercial uses can also
be challenging to understand and compare.
• The total estimated annual water savings in 2022 seems small, at about 2.5% of our
total treated water. However, staff clarified that this volume includes the savings from
about only 16 programs and services that are quantifiable – the Water Conservation
Department also implements activities such as education that likely provide water
savings but are challenging to measure. The annual savings estimation is also not
cumulative, but only a snapshot of new savings initiated each year. Many programs,
such as converting to a water-wise landscape, have ongoing year-after-year savings that
are not included in the annual savings estimate.
• Staff responded to other questions that were asked about working with school-aged
children, businesses, the volume of Halligan Reservoir and location of additional Utilities
water storage.
• Council liked the community-outreach approach, but questions how staff will reach
marginalized community members in a meaningful way given challenges and over-
surveying concerns. Staff will emphasize listening and will work with contracted equity
consultants, experienced internal staff, and compensated community consultants who
are well connected to various groups in the community and can tailor the engagement to
what works best for a particular group.
• Utilities’ current tiered pricing structure could be re-evaluated as a conservation strategy.
• When prioritizing strategies and weighing decisions, it is helpful to understand the impact
on equity and potential benefits, similar to how Our Climate Future evaluates next
moves.
• Council asked about what prompted the work and when it will be complete. Staff
responded that the plan is state-mandated and is required to be updated every seven
years, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 2024. A plan with a clearer path
forward that includes updated goals and prioritized strategies is needed for Utilities and
Water Conservation staff to address future risks such as climate change more
strategically.
• Concerns regarding impacts to revenue were shared and are being addressed by staff;
however, the revenue impact is minimized by the base rate and could be further
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addressed through adjustments to the current tiered rate pricing structure to limit impacts
to low water users.
• One councilmember mentioned a vision for the WEP to be comfortable, but ambitious, in
setting goals and identifying strategies.
NEXT STEPS
Staff will respond to the follow-up items listed below in a separate memo expected in March.
Other next steps include continuing engagement activities with the public and other staff to
inform the WEP planning process through Q3 2024 and finalizing the water demand estimation
model. A second work session is currently planned with Council for July 9, 2024, to provide an
update on the planning process and seek further direction.
FOLLOW-UP ITEMS
The following items, requested by Council, will be addressed in a separate follow-up memo:
• Per unit water use (indoor and outdoor) by housing type
• Neighboring water providers’ WEPs
• Comparisons to other communities’ GCPD, separating residential and commercial,
where feasible; and evaluate why there are differences, to better understand and learn
from others who are doing it well.
• Utilities water rate comparisons across various customer types, to evaluate industry
rates.
• Water savings associated with xeriscape standards.
CC: Gretchen Stanford, Utilities Deputy Director Customer Connection
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