Provide council input on Water Conservation Strategic Plan Update.

To achieve the City Council’s goal of water conservation leadership in all sectors, City staff are working with national experts and Flagstaff community members on developing the Water Conservation Strategic Plan.
 
Water Conservation staff have finished comprehensive public input into the second phase of the Strategic Plan process. This input helped staff narrow down a list of potential conservation actions (“Measures”), which will now be processed for cost-benefit analysis by Maddaus Water Management, Inc.

Water Conservation staff engaged the public on the “Conservation Measure selection” of the Strategic Plan through:   Stakeholder engagement – Community members were recruited across Flagstaff to participate in a half-day stakeholder workshop at the Flagstaff Aquaplex Community meetings – Water Conservation staff attended meetings of various community groups during their regular meeting times Survey- Online input platform was available on the Plan website Festival of Science – Staff met with members of the public at an open house at the Downtown Public Library Advisory Committee – An advisory committee of community members was formed with membership from vested groups across Flagstaff such as the tourism industry, NAU, the landscaping industry, and COF staff and commissioners   Approximately 115 members of the public provided input in this stage of the process. These participants were strategically recruited to represent a diverse selection of the Flagstaff community including neighborhood groups, nonprofit organizations with a connection to water, various sectors of our economy such as tourism and landscaping, high volume water customers like NAU, and members of our Sustainability & Water commissions.   All the input from the community, advisory committee, stakeholders, and COF staff were assessed and scored, which allowed for the selection of actions that will move into the next phase of the strategic planning process (cost-benefit analysis and scenario building). These actions are as follows:   Current Actions New Actions Tiered Water Rates for Single Family Customers System Water Loss – including pressure control and leak detection Public Outreach and Education Water Conservation Enforcement Residential Indoor Water Checkups High-Efficiency Fixture Giveaways High-Efficiency Toilet Rebate Low Water Landscape Rebate Rainwater Containers Commercial Water Checkups Commercial Rebates Stormwater – Incentivize passive capture (ex: curb cuts) Install WaterSense fixtures in all government-owned buildings Landscape standards – Improve (ex: address issues with plant list) Hotel and motel efficiency program Showerheads and faucets – require WaterSense specification and pressure regulation in new development Water conservation plan reviews for all new developments Submetering – Incentivize or subsidize Leak assistance for low-income customers Smart meters – accelerate installation and implementation Hot water recirculation retrofit rebates Water rates – Outdoor water billed higher or tiers for other classes Water budgeting – WC staff provides upon request School retrofits program – incentivize schools (K12 & College) to install water efficient fixtures and irrigation systems Golf course efficiency program