CWCB WATER CONSERVATION PLAN DEVELOPMENT GUIDANCE DOCUMENT / June 2005
Each section of the CWCB Water Conservation Plan
Development Guidance Document is available in its complete form as a pdf
using the links in the first column. A directory
of the pdfs is also available. The linked pages in subsequent columns
contain excerpts from the pdf files.
View complete introduction as a pdf file
THE ROLE OF WATER CONSERVATION IN WATER MANAGEMENT
[Excerpt]
Water conservation is not an end in itself. Key organizations such
as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1998), U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation (1997), and the American Water Works Association (1995;
2002) all place water conservation in the context of overall water
management, as do leading experts in the water conservation field
(Vickers 2001). Conservation can enable a local water provider to
meet its obligations with regard to supplying adequate, reliable water
to its customers while minimizing costs and protecting the environment.
Water conservation can help a water supplier and the community it
serves to:
- Avoid or reduce the need to develop or acquire new water supplies;
- Postpone, downsize, or avoid altogether the need for new water treatment or wastewater treatment infrastructure;
- Reduce operating costs related to water and wastewater treatment (e.g., need for treatment chemicals) and source water production (e.g., pumping energy);
- Improve supply reliability/margin and mitigate impacts of future droughts;
- Comply with regulations;
- Improve public credibility by demonstrating stewardship of natural and financial resources.
- And above all, promote sustainable use of finite water supplies.
Given that water conservation should be considered in the larger context of sound water management, water conservation planning needs to be integrated into as many aspects of local water resources planning as possible. This Guidance Document and Model Plan, therefore, provide a process and template with instructions for use to support meaningful water conservation planning through the integration of water conservation planning with water supply planning.
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