Industrial Workgroup

Date Agenda Minutes Related Documents
March 3, 2016 Agenda Minutes  
August 15, 2013 Agenda Minutes  
April 29, 2013 Agenda Minutes
March 4, 2013 Agenda Minutes BMPs for Commercial and Institutional Water Users 3/14/13
June 18, 2012 Agenda Minutes Hoffman Draft 5/28/12: ICI Best Management Practices
March 1, 2012 Agenda Minutes State of California Draft: ICI Best Management Practices
October 24, 2011 Agenda Minutes
May 16, 2011 Agenda Minutes N/A
February 24, 2011 Agenda Minutes N/A

The Water Conservation Advisory Council (Council) seeks to invite industrial stakeholders to participate in activities and discussions in the following areas:

  • Evaluating and defining metrics for industrial water uses,
  • Improving resource information such as developing industrial Best Management Practices (BMPs),
  • Improving awareness and recognition for industrial water conservation, and
  • Identifying case studies and trends in industrial water conservation efforts

2008 Industrial Water Use by Sector

TWDB 2008 Water Use Survey

2008 Mining Water Use by Sector

Current and projected water use in the Texas mining and oil and gas industry - prepared by the Bureau of Economic Geology at UT-Austin for TWDB, April 2011 Survey

 

2008 Manufacturing Water Use by Sector

TWDB 2008 Water Use Survey

The Council would like to engage the industrial sectors that use the greatest volumes of water. Reducing water use benefits industries and consumers and creates a more stable economic and natural environment with greater certainty and long term sustainability. Water conservation is identified in the 2007 State Water Plan as accounting for nearly one quarter of the State’s water supplies by 2060; therefore, it is crucial to build a stakeholder network to provide input on standardizing how water use is measured over time and compared across the State to ensure continued and increased implementation of water conservation.

Evaluation of Water Use Metrics

The Council would like to host discussions with industrial stakeholder groups in order to evaluate current metrics for measuring water use across various industries. To better understand industrial water use it is necessary to use consistent terminology and methodologies to compute water use data across various industries.

One of the goals of this workgroup is to get various stakeholders involved in discussions on industrial water use to help define consistent parameters for water use metrics and encourage industrial water users to incorporate these metrics into their water conservation programs. Consistency in the application of metrics will allow for better understanding and reporting of water use which in turn will provide a measure by which water conservation successes can be understood and shared

The Council has proposed that industrial water use metrics be based on a unit of production (UOP). That is, the number of gallons required to refine a barrel of crude oil, or the number of gallons required to generate a megawatt of electricity. The Council would like to engage stakeholders in developing metrics for various industrial sectors and encourage industrial water users to develop water conservation programs using these metrics.

Water Conservation Best Management Practices

The Texas Best Management Practices Guide currently includes 15 industrial BMPs. These were originally prepared as general examples of how BMPs should be structured. The Council intends to expand the Guide to include other BMPs related to the Industrial sector. The Council is currently considering some specific updates and modifications to the BMP Guide that will better provide guidance and information to users.

The Council has learned that water conservation often has other important resource impacts such as infrastructure costs, operation and maintenance cost savings, energy savings and personnel issues. As a result of this lesson learned, the Council is recommending an additional section to the BMP Guide titled, Determination of the Impact on Other Resources. We believe it is important to recognize these impacts associated with a conservation program. Further, we would like to supplement the guide with actual case studies that will serve to identify those who have achieved a measure of conservation success both as an example for others to follow and to identify a resource to accelerate the learning curve of those wishing to build a water conservation program.

Public Awareness

A public awareness campaign that incorporates media, outreach, and resources for water users is a good first step to achieve a measure of success in water conservation. Lasting water conservation will be achieved through the involvement of every industry in Texas by ensuring industrial water users take all possible steps to reduce water use. Industrial water users should be encouraged to look closely at their water use by conducting water audits and identifying every opportunity to conserve water through increased efficiency and reduced waste. Stakeholder groups are invited to share information across their sector to educate and engage water users in the effort of conserving water for future generations.

How we plan to proceed:

  1. Develop a list of stakeholder organizations beginning with those groups with the greatest water use. For industry these initial outreach will focus on power generation, mining, and the refining, chemical, food and paper sectors of manufacturing. The initial contact will be through f trade associations but can later expand as interest and needs dictate.
  2. Establish communications with these groups asking their help in refining metrics, developing and revising BMPs, providing supporting case studies, documenting trends, and providing input to the Council efforts.
  3. Hold organized discussions, conference calls or webinars to host effective discussions about water conservation.