SUBJECT: APPROVAL OF AN AGREEMENT WITH THE SANTA CLARA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT FOR COST SHARING IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF WATER CONSERVATION PROGRAMS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2001-2002.
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt a resolution
authorizing the City Manager to approve a cost sharing agreement with the Santa
Clara Valley Water District (District) covering the period from July 1, 2001,
through June 30, 2002, for the implementation of water conservation programs.
The agreement would result in up to $1,966,775 in cost sharing. Of this, up to
$629,275 would be available to the District from the City and $1,337,500 would
be available to the City from the District.
BACKGROUND
The City’s Water Efficiency
Program promotes indoor water conservation to residents and businesses using education,
installation of water-conserving fixtures, and the provision of financial
incentives. The Program supports efforts to reduce freshwater flows from the
San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) to the South Bay and
is one element of the Revised South Bay Action Plan.
In recognition of
complementary water conservation goals and activities, the City entered into
the first of a series of Cost Sharing Agreements with the District for water
conservation programs in May of 1997. The agreement has been extended three
times and was in effect through June
30, 2001. The four years of operation under the agreement have provided program reimbursements of more than $5
million dollars to the City and over $1 million to the District. Programs conducted
by both parties estimated to have resulted in flow reduction of over 7 million
gallons per day (mgd).
This flow reduction has been accomplished primarily through the installation of Ultra Low Flush Toilets (ULFTs) in residential and commercial settings. To date (since 1992), ULFT programs administered by both the City and the District resulted in the installation of over 180,000 ULFTs in the WPCP service area. Such success has been fueled by the strong partnership of the two agencies, both in the way the programs are designed and administered, as well as in the way they are funded. This agreement seeks to continue this synergy as water conservation programs are expanded to other water conservation technologies and various sectors of the community to achieve flow reduction objectives. The joint workplan developed by the City and the Water District for FY 2001-2002 is anticipated to generate between 1.3 and 1.8 mgd in flow savings, depending upon the participation of the community in the programs.
Under the proposed
agreement, City program activity from July 1, 2001 through June 30, 2002, would
be eligible for reimbursement by the District. Conversely, District program
activity included in this agreement would be eligible for reimbursement by the
City for the same period.
The cost sharing agreement
has several components, described below. With the exception of the Waterwise
Housecalls Program, the elements of the new agreement are the same as those
found in the previous agreement.
Both the City and District
use ULFT retrofit programs as the foundation to promote water conservation. In
order to ensure cost effectiveness and flow savings persistence, the City
administers ULFT programs targeted at segments of the community identified as
unlikely to retrofit on their own, but likely to achieve cost-effective flow
reduction. The City currently administers several full service (installation
included) retrofit programs for single and multi-family dwellings, a commercial
voucher program for businesses, and a ULFT distribution program for single
family dwellings. Programs for the new agreement will focus more on lower cost
distribution style programs for single family dwellings (SFDs) and small
multi-family dwellings (SmMFDs) and will be reimbursed by the District at up to
$50 per ULFT. The City will receive up
to $1,000,000 in reimbursement for this program.
Available to businesses
throughout the WPCP service area, this program provides rebates for process and
equipment changes that reduce a company’s discharge to the sanitary sewer
system. The Flow Audit Study Program being administered to the largest
dischargers in the area has increased participation in this program. The Water
Efficiency Program has also started marketing efforts to increase participation
in the commercial sector for this program. The District will continue to
provide partial funding for this program with a maximum total reimbursement of
$337,500.
The District has also
customized its program offerings to various segments of the residential
community during the course of the last agreement and will offer the following
full-service installation programs for the next agreement. Multi-family
dwellings will be addressed through a program for apartments with 20 or more
units, high-usage businesses through a program with a per-toilet customer
co-payment, and “hard to reach” low income, disabled, and elderly communities
through the Community Partnership Program (previously administered by the
City). The City will reimburse the District up to $25 per ULFT for these
programs. The District will receive up
to $263,125 in reimbursement for these programs from the City.
In the previous Cost Sharing
Agreement, the District successfully piloted a full service (installation
included) commercial ULFT program targeted at high-usage commercial sectors
such as Restaurants, Service Stations, and Wholesale and Retail shops. The
program includes the new ULFT fixture, installation, recycling, and any
permitting requirements. This year the program will be offered with a $50
co-payment requirement to the customer. The City will reimburse the District up
to $100 per ULFT for this program. The
District will receive up to $120,000 in reimbursement for this program.
These high efficiency clothes washers save both water and energy. Their unit cost has been much higher than that of traditional top-loading washers, but this cost has been dropping over the past year. The effort to promote these washers has become somewhat easier, due to the current statewide energy crisis and the subsequent availability of additional rebate monies at the state and regional levels.
For the new agreement, the City will be reimbursing the District at $50 per washer through September 30, 2001, and then lowering its reimbursement amount to $25 per washer for residential models for the remainder of the agreement. Despite the reduction of the San Jose portion of the rebate, the overall rebate amount will still rise to between $200 and $250 per machine.
The District also administers a similar washer rebate program for multi-family common area washers and for commercial laundromats. Water savings for washers in these settings can be significantly higher than those in residential settings. Under the new agreement, the City will continue to reimburse the District for these rebates at $75 for each multi-family washer and $125 for each commercial washer in the WPCP service area. The District will receive up to $187,500 in total reimbursement for both the commercial and residential programs ($37,500 and $150,000 respectively).
District Submetering Program
In an effort to foster more frugal and responsible water use patterns among residents, the District implemented a successful submetering program at several mobile home parks in San Jose. Many mobile home parks and multi-family dwelling buildings add a monthly surcharge onto the total rent paid by residents to cover the cost of water delivered to each unit. The American Water Works Association, among others, has targeted this type of arrangement as an opportunity to reduce water consumption by making individual residents responsible for their own water bills via submetering. Under this agreement, the City will continue reimburse the District at up to half the total rebate provided to the park owners for installing submeters, but not more than $28, for each submeter rebate disbursed in the WPCP service area. This District will receive up to $8,400 in reimbursement for this program.
District Waterwise Housecalls Program
In accordance with the
California Urban Water Conservation Council’s Best Management Practices, the
District continues to offer a residential water audit program that gives
customers hands on information about how they can save water both indoors and
outdoors. The District’s contractor
will perform the surveys, including assessment of water using fixtures, flapper
valve replacement where appropriate, provision of low flow showerheads and
faucet aerators, leak detection and assessment, information on available
incentives for ULFTs and various tips on controlling outdoor water use. The District estimates that these surveys
can garner indoor water savings of 14 to 22 gallons per day. The City did not fund this program in FY
2000-01, but has agreed to fund it for FY 2001-02 because of the addition of
flapper valve replacement. Under this agreement, the City will reimburse the
District $30 for each survey completed in the WPCP service area. The City will reimburse the District a
maximum of $50,250 for this program.
Not applicable.
This memorandum has been
coordinated with the City Attorney’s Office and the Budget Office. This item
was scheduled to be heard at the August 9, 2001 Treatment Plant Advisory
Committee meeting.
COST IMPLICATIONS
The total cost to the City
for this recommendation is not to exceed $629,275. No appropriation action is
required at this time. All funding required is recommended in the 2001-2002
Proposed Operating Budget.
BUDGET REFERENCE
CARL W. MOSHER
Director, Environmental Services Department