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Show 17.5 Water Conservation Impacts The Wasatch Front Water Demand/ Supply Model ( WFCM) was used to project future demands with current conservation trends in Salt Lake County. Four individual scenarios and one combined scenario were made as follows: 1) Baseline for comparison - no conservation 2) Indoor conservation ( low flow plumbing) 3) Outdoor conservation ( water efficient landscaping) 4) Economic conservation ( 10 percent price increase in addition to inflation) 5) Combination of measures 2, 3 and 4. Projected demand and the percentage reduction ( or increase) due to various measures for the years 2000, 2010 and 2020 are shown in Table 17- 2. The plumbing conservation measure showed an increasing percentage reduction from base case projections over time as the fraction of the population using the new water efficient fixture increases. The percent reduction in the Jordan River Basin increases from 2.3 percent in the year 2000 to 7.2 percent in the year 2020. Water conservation landscaping showed increasing water savings over time but the effect is minor. By the year 2020, the reduction of water use is projected to be 1.9 percent. This could be increased significantly without a major change of water use to irrigate lawns. Studies show people use 30- 40 percent more water on their lawns than is necessary. The 10 percent price increase simulation showed a nearly constant drop in demand of 2.60 percent. The combined effect of plumbing, water efficient landscaping and price increase results in a year 2020 savings of 11.4 percent. The combined effect of these conservation measures is only slightly less than the sum of these individual measures. 17.6 Water Conservation Credit Program The purpose of the Central Utah Project Water Conservation Credit Program is to identify, evaluate and prioritize water conservation projects included in the Water Management Improvement Plan. The Central Utah Water Conservancy District will evaluate the effectiveness of the conservation credit program on an annual basis, and may adjust any section as necessary. Project requirements and valuations will not differ between proposed projects in any given period when two or more projects are being compared. The goal of the program is to conserve 39,325 acre- feet of water annually. Up to 65 percent of costs for each project accepted by the district may qualify for federal grants. The remaining 35 percent must come from local or state funds. The district or a petitioner may retain any water they conserve to meet future uses or the petitioner may make saved water available to the Secretary of the Interior to be used as instream flows for the benefit offish and wildlife. The secretary shall reduce the annual contractual repayment obligation of the district if this happens. The reduction will be equal to the project rate for delivered water, including operation and maintenance expense, for water saved for instream flow. The district shall credit or rebate to each petitioner its proportionate share of the savings. This program contains several elements to provide a systematic approach to the accomplishment of these purposes and an objective basis for measuring their achievement. It allows the district to identify, evaluate, fund and carry out the conservation measures required to meet the district's goals. Table 17- 2 IMPACTS OF CONSERVATION ON M& I WATER DEMANDS Year 1995 2000 2010 2020 2000 2010 2020 Conservation Scenarios: Demand ( Acre - feet/ year) Percent Change Base Case 255,737 279,572 345,573 419,316 9.32 35.13 63.96 Plumbing 273,075 327,455 388,913 - 2.32 - 5.24 - 7.25 Xeriscaping 279,205 342,722 411,483 - 0.13 - 0.83 - 1.87 Price+ 10% 272,299 336,548 408,450 - 2.60 - 2.61 - 2.59 Combination ( 2- 4) 265,670 316,341 371,613 - 4.97 - 8.46 - 11.38 Source: Wasatch Front Water Demand/ Supply Model, November 1996 17- 7 |