The cornerstone of any successful conservation program is to have the metrics in place to set targets and goals and to measure success.  Currently there are very limited standardized metrics in place today for water conservation programs.  Existing measurements for conservation are inconsistently used and create confusion and inaccurate information.  This workgroup has the objective of developing uniform metrics for all sectors of water use.  Once water use is efficiently categorized then the data will become more useful in determining areas that need focus.  Individual conservation programs can be tailored to focus on areas that would have potential savings due to conservation strategies.  Standardized metrics would also be a useful tool for the water supply planning process.

Summary of Progress
The workgroup and Council as a whole feel that communities need help in tracking water conservation progress, and the reporting of information such as water savings and water loss needs to be facilitated.  Steps that must be taken to obtain data on how water is being used, to determine what is working in water conservation, and what resources water providers need to achieve long-term water savings that will stretch water supplies.

Tracking conservation progress in Texas should be a high priority.  The 2007 State Water Plan calls for 23 percent of our future additional water supply to come from increased water efficiencies.  While conservation plans are required and will help meet this goal, it does not appear that adequate quantitative or qualitative tracking of conservation efforts is taking place.  Wholesale water providers are currently not required to submit information on water use and water sales to the Texas Water Development Board.  Moreover, only about half of water utilities required by law to submit information, such as water audits and water use surveys, to the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), have done so.

For many reasons there is inadequate information and data collection.  For some entities there are neither the tools, staffing resources or knowledge on how to acquire and submit requested information.  For other entities, there are budgeting factors that do not allow for the time and money to allocate resource to such efforts.  Some respondents that do reply to TWDB’s request for data and information provide incomplete or inaccurate data.  Additionally, some entities simply choose not to respond because there are no major consequences for non-compliance.  Three areas needing improvements are the implementation of data collection from wholesale water providers, development of standardized methodologies for data and information reporting, and enforcement of existing legislative requirements for reporting.

Next Workgroup Meeting:
10:00 a.m., Monday, April 26, 2010

Agenda

Upon request, the Texas Water Development Board will facilitate in providing onsite conference space for external participants interested in listening in on workgroup sessions.

Past Workgroup Meetings
Date	Agenda	Minutes	Related Documents
April 26, 2010	Agenda	Minutes	N/A
March 23, 2010	Agenda	Minutes	N/A
July 14, 2009	Agenda	Minutes	N/A
April 1, 2009	Agenda	Minutes	N/A
August 7, 2008	Agenda	Minutes	N/A
July 21, 2008	Agenda	Minutes	N/A
July 15, 2008	Agenda	Minutes	N/A
July 8, 2008	Agenda	Minutes	N/A
June 12, 2008	Agenda	Minutes	N/A
May 8, 2008	Agenda	N/A	San Antonio Water System developed: Chart Worksheet San Antonio Water System developed: Categories Worksheet
March 20, 2008	Agenda	Minutes	San Antonio Water System Presentation: Measuring Total Water San Antonio Water System Presentation: Water Demand Categories Texas Water Development Board: Municipal Use Survey Texas Water Development Board: Industrial Use Survey
January 16, 2008	Agenda	Minutes	San Antonio Water System GPCD Presentation: GPCD Calculation Process Explanation
October 30, 2007	N/A	Minutes	N/A

 

Workgroup Posted Comments
Date Posted	Posted By	Post	Referenced Attachments
July 23, 2008	Karen Guz	WG 2 Leg Report Draft	N/A
July 22, 2008	Karen Guz	Population Estimate Pilot Project	N/A
July 9, 2008	TWDB Staff	Additional Flow Charts for Consideration	Use Categories (ct) Use Categories (ve)
July 8, 2008	Comer Tuck	Comments Comer Tuck	N/A
July 7, 2008	Karen Guz	Water Summary	N/A
July 2, 2008	Ches Blevins	Comments Ches Blevins	N/A
June 25, 2008	Karen Guz	WG 2 First Draft Legislative Report	N/A
June 25, 2008	Karen Guz	NM State Office Of Engineer GPCD Methodology (Zip File)	N/A
June 17, 2008	Stephen Densmore	TCEQ Categories Flow Chart TCEQ Notes on Conservation	N/A
May 30, 2008	TWDB Staff	Discussion: Population Metrics	N/A
May 30, 2008	Greg Carter	Comments Greg Carter	Municipal Defined Terms (gc) Use Categories Table (gc)
May 30, 2008	Karl Fennessey	Comments Karl Fennessey	Municipal Defined Terms (kf)
May 30, 2008	C. E. Williams	Comments C. E. Williams	N/A
May 30, 2008	Scott Swanson	Comments Scott Swanson	Use Categories (ss)
May 29, 2008	Karen Guz	Comments Karen Guz	N/A
May 29, 2008	Gene Montgomery	Comments Gene Montgomery	Attachment: Water Use Category Matrix (gm)
May 29, 2008	Karen Guz	Comments Karen Guz	N/A
May 29, 2008	Gene Montgomery	Comments Gene Montgomery	N/A
May 12, 2008	Karen Guz	WCAC Meeting Flowchart WCAC Meeting Metrics and Trends Progress Report WCAC Meeting Municipal Defined Terms	N/A
April 1, 2008	Karen Guz	Plan of Action	N/A
February 20, 2008	Gene Montgomery	Comments Gene Montgomery	Attachment: Pop-Meter Ratio Modeling
January 29, 2008	Karen Guz	Comments Karen Guz	N/A
January 29, 2008	Gene Montgomery	Comments Gene Montgomery	Attachment: Municipal Water Use Example Attachment: GPCD Example
January 28, 2008	Karen Guz	Comments Karen Guz	N/A
January 28, 2008	Karen Guz	Comments Gene Montgomery	Attachment: Water Use Metrics Attachment: FAQ re GPCD Attachment: Water Conservation Utility Profile
January 28, 2008	Karen Guz	Comments Mark Olson	N/A

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2008 Water Conservation Advisory Council