AWWA SOURCES59264

Water supply and distribution and human impacts to ecosystems are of increasing concern throughout the United States. Comprehensive water conservation programs offer an effective and reliable alternative to traditional, often more costly, means of supplying and distributing water while meeting environmental needs. Comprehensive water conservation planning and implementation have the potential to improve water quality and instream flow levels, decrease the need for new capital investments, reduce vulnerability to drought, and provide additional benefits to people and ecosystems. Due to a variety of factors, state and local governments must take action to improve water use efficiency in residential, agricultural, industrial, and municipal sectors of society. Many states and localities have effectively reduced water use, loss, or waste through water conservation planning. This report analyzes the elements of several programs in the United States to identify characteristics that are instrumental in achieving results through water conservation. As states and localities across the United States rise to meet the challenge of providing water and protecting natural resources, it is important to create a comprehensive and effective water supply and conservation program. Based on this research, to be truly successful, a comprehensive water supply and conservation program must include: political leadership; stakeholder involvement in the planning and implementation stages; a detailed policy outlining goals and conservation measures; detailed water use data, demand forecasting, and monitoring; stable funding sources for water conservation initiatives; sufficient staff and technical assistance to implement the program; and, broad-based education and outreach. Individually, any of these components can accomplish water savings. However, to effectively sustain water supplies, a conservation program must embrace all seven. Includes 49 references.