What Is Water Conservation?
Quite simply, water conservation is doing more with less – not doing without. Water conservation efforts include the practices, techniques and technologies that improve water use efficiency. Increased efficiency expands the use of water resources, freeing up water supplies for other uses, such as population growth, new industry and environmental needs. Water conservation programs are an important tool in meeting long-term water supply needs while maintaining quality of life standards.
What Are the Benefits of Water Conservation? Water conservation can enable local water providers to meet supply needs adequately and save capital improvement project and operational costs at the same time. Water conservation can help a water provider 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 and source water production.
- Improve supply reliability/margin and mitigate impacts of future droughts.
- Comply with regulations.
- Improve public credibility by demonstrating stewardship of natural and financial resources.
- Promote sustainable use of finite water supplies.
How Can We Plan for Water Conservation?
Long-term
water conservation planning is needed to extend Colorado’s water supply as demands increase from a growing population. As the
Statewide Water Supply Initiative (SWSI) outlined, water conservation planning should be integrated into local water resource planning to achieve overall water resource management goals. Water conservation planning can help water providers identify where future planning efforts need to be focused, examine the effect of water conservation on future water supply and demand, and estimate how water conservation may affect (e.g. reduce) the need for and costs of new water supplies and other investments.
Best Management Practices are good tools for developing comprehensive water conservation plans.
For more information about how to develop a water conservation plan, visit the CWCB
Water Conservation Planning page.