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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 03/11/2025 - Memorandum from Alice Conovitz re February 25, 2025 Work Session Summary: 2025 Fort Collins Utilities Water Efficiency Plan UpdateUtilities 222 Laporte Ave. PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 1 WORK SESSION MEMORANDUM Date: March 4, 2025 To: Mayor and City Councilmembers Through: Kelly DiMartino, City Manager Tyler Marr, Deputy City Manager From: Alice Conovitz, Utilities Water Conservation Specialist Subject: February 25, 2025 Work Session Summary: 2025 Fort Collins Utilities Water Efficiency Plan Update BOTTOM LINE The purpose of this memo is to document the summary of discussions during the February 25, 2025 Work Session. All Councilmembers were present. The purpose of this Work Session item was to describe the state-mandated Fort Collins Utilities (Utilities) Water Efficiency Plan (WEP) and request feedback on the WEP’s two draft goals. DISCUSSION SUMMARY The updated WEP will set conservation goals, incorporate extensive public engagement focusing on marginalized community members, and employ numeric modeling of water savings and an equity analysis to help prioritize future water conservation and efficiency strategies. The draft goals are as follows: • Goal 1: All customers contribute to lowering annual water demand by 3% by 2040 to reduce risk of shortages. • Goal 2: The City builds resilience by improving outdoor water efficiency across City- owned landscapes to benefit our community and environment. Potential strategies to meet the goals include programs and policies related to voluntary behaviors (e.g., education and technical assistance), regulatory actions (e.g., land use and plumbing code updates), infrastructure (e.g., leak detection, data portals, and line repair), and economic (e.g., rebate and grant incentives and utility fees). The City organization will do its part to contribute to the goals by seeking opportunities to lower treated water use (e.g., increased pace of high-efficiency plumbing retrofits) and to improve landscape resilience (e.g., irrigation- efficiency and turf replacement projects). Staff sought input from City Council on the following questions: Docusign Envelope ID: EFD3F7E0-86C2-44E9-B08C-2B7B7FAF0D46 2 • Do the proposed conservation goals and strategies align with what Council sees as our community values? • Does the WEP work to-date meet “ambitious but comfortable” guidance? • What else does Council need to know prior to staff seeking approval of the updated WEP? Councilmembers showed overall support for the work and plan direction. Councilmembers asked for clarity around the goals, City conservation actions, and estimated costs. Further discussion included the following content: • Discussion about the gallons per capita per day (GPCD) metric, how that will be used moving forward, and how to evaluate that by customer sector (e.g., residential and commercial) to better understand consumption. Although the GPCD metric is not used in a proposed WEP goal, staff will continue to track and report GPCD, and to include GPCD information split by customer sector (residential and commercial). • Councilmembers requested clarity about Goal 1 and how a 3% reduction would impact total water demand and be implemented year-to-year and over time. • Importance of having clear targets for lowering the City’s water use like the numeric targets outlined for the community. Also support for communicating the City’s current actions related to water conservation. • If state policy could impact goals or strategies. New and proposed state legislation would support the WEP goals and strategies by creating more opportunities for water savings. Examples discussed were Senate Bill 24-005 which was recently passed and includes prohibitions for new commercial development related to nonfunctional turf, artificial turf, and invasive species, and House Bill 25-1113 which proposes expanding these prohibitions to residential development. We anticipate this legislation is not likely to drive a significant change in water demand in the Utilities service area given the limited availability of land remaining for new development. However, as redevelopment in the service area increases, these state bills could impact landscaping and water demand. • Discussion of examples of prioritized City-owned landscape projects for Goal 2, including those shown in the presentation such as Landings Park irrigation and landscape efficiency improvements and opportunities for Nature in the City projects on City properties. Desire for more information about cost estimates and potential funding sources. • How people can contribute to saving water if they are already doing “all they can”. Staff discussed how the 3% goal target is directed at the combined treated water use annual total for the Utilities water service area. Within that cumulative target, there will be some businesses or residents that are more interested or have more potential for water savings. This consideration is reflected in the way we’ve been structuring and prioritizing Docusign Envelope ID: EFD3F7E0-86C2-44E9-B08C-2B7B7FAF0D46 3 our conservation strategies, to have a diverse portfolio that includes working with higher users. This involves being able to determine who is overusing based on their business type or square footage, and there are various ways to evaluate that. Staff identified an opportunity and need to help customers understand if they are using more than they should and help them figure out how to reduce their use, versus those who are already efficient water users. • How to support homeowner associations (HOAs). Staff referenced recent research and new HOA-focused resources offered by EPA0F1 that emphasize the importance of supporting project champions from within the HOA who can bring consistency to a project even if landscape contractors or boards change over time. Our new strategies include providing a customer liaison to support HOA project stakeholders with comprehensive technical and financial support from start to finish, as well as supporting less costly irrigation operational or equipment changes in addition to turf replacement projects. • A desire to have staff continue collaborating with other Fort Collins water districts. • The potential to leverage the City’s Municipal Innovation Fund for funding; consider using volunteers or community members to help with projects. • Discussion of water report communications to customers that include a face symbol, including questions and concerns about how the “frowny face” is attributed and how water over-users are determined. What options do we have for adapting the program that doesn’t have some of the same negative impacts people are experiencing? There was also a request to provide program data on effectiveness. NEXT STEPS Next steps for the WEP include a 60-day public comment period on the draft WEP, seeking recommendations from boards and commissions, a preliminary review by the Colorado Water Conservation Board, and returning to City Council in July to seek approval by resolution. In addition, the home water reports discussed during the Work Session will be included in a larger discussion that includes more information about home energy reports and how both of these reports (water and energy) will be integrated into the larger VertexOne Customer Information System (CIS) launch slated in Q4 2025. A broader group of staff plan to schedule a Council Work Session later this summer or fall to address the report format, related data and energy and water savings, as well as the greater customer experience. 1 www.epa.gov/watersense/homeowner-associations Docusign Envelope ID: EFD3F7E0-86C2-44E9-B08C-2B7B7FAF0D46 4 FOLLOW-UP ITEMS The following items, requested by Council, will be addressed in a separate follow-up memo expected in late March or early April: • For Goal 1, provide examples of how the 3% reduction works year-to-year and over time. • For Goal 1, clarify the City’s responsibility and reduction target to contribute to the overall percent reduction. • Provide additional detail on projects to lower City water use. Provide more information about the estimated cost of projects and potential funding sources. • Provide more information about how water overuse can be identified for residential and commercial customers (specifics about home water reports will be addressed in a future Council meeting in the context of CIS updates, as described above in Next Steps). CC: Jill Oropeza, Senior Director, Integrated Water Sciences and Planning Eric Potyondy, Senior Assistant City Attorney Nicole Poncelet-Johnson, One Water Executive Director Mariel Miller, Utilities Water Conservation Manager Docusign Envelope ID: EFD3F7E0-86C2-44E9-B08C-2B7B7FAF0D46