Affordable Housing Water Fixture Upgrades

Affordable Housing High-Efficiency Water Fixture Upgrades

In 2020, the City of Westminster, Colorado, launched a pilot program to upgrade water fixtures in multi-family, affordable housing buildings, free of charge. The program is funded by the City and is implemented by Mile High Youth Corps, an AmeriCorps service organization. In its first year, Mile High Youth Corps replaced 83 toilets, 20 kitchen aerators, 84 bathroom aerators, and 8 showerheads across 72 residential units at an affordable-housing complex in Westminster. The new fixtures are all EPA WaterSense certified models that use at least 20% less water than the current industry standard with the same or better level of service.

Centering equity and affordability is a key driver of Westminster's program. The upgrades provide significant water and sewer bill savings for Maiker Housing Partners, the local Housing Authority that owns and manages the property. Staff evaluation of water savings from metered data at one of  Maiker Housing Partners' locations following the efficiency upgrades show a 48% reduction of indoor water use that translates into ~$34,000 of reduced sewer bills for the 12-month billing period and ~$31,000 of reduced water bills, totaling $65,000 less on utility bills for this location. While the reduced water usage is likely not solely the result of the efficiency upgrades, they certainly played an important role. Another multi-family building that received efficiency upgrades reduced indoor water use by 18% resulting in a ~$5,000 reduction in utility bills. These utility bill savings will translate into greater access to affordable housing in Westminster, as the costs to the Housing Authority responsible for paying the water bills go down, the ability to add more units goes up. In addition, this work is cost effective. Westminster invested ~$30,000 on this project and realized a 2x return in year 1 for the customer. City staff plan to use this information to make the business case for market-rate multi-family housing owners to do similar efficiency retrofits.

This program also helps the City secure a long-term water supply for all customers. Given the community-wide water supply benefit of water efficiency programs, the City dedicated $100,000 in year two of the program to be funded as a Capital Improvement Program (CIP) project. Treating this efficiency retrofit program just like any other capital project with long-term water supply benefits provides access to larger dollar amounts for implementation and ensures program funding can carry over year to year for the CIP term. Click the link below to download a copy of Westminster's FY21 CIP; the multi-family water conservation program is listed on page 245.

WaterNow Alliance will continue to support Westminster's development and implementation of this important equity-focused, water efficiency program. Stay tuned for updates on this evolving program. In the meantime, learn more about Mile High Youth Corps' similar work in Aurora, Colorado.

Affordability and CAP Development: Getting From Here to There

Affordability and Customer Assistance Program Development: Getting From Here to There

Janet Clements of Corona Environmental Consulting provides insights into how water and wastewater utilities can develop customer assistance programs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK1Hir09Auc

Top 10 Trends for 2021

Water Innovations Top 10 Trends for 2021

Water Innovation's Top 10 Trends for 2021 edition features WaterNow Alliance's article, "In the Green: Embracing Innovation To Finance The New Localized Water Infrastructure." The article details how communities are deploying localized infrastructure to meet water management needs -- extending water supply, managing stormwater, and eliminating pollutants -- and to capture multiple benefits including more equitably distributing improvements throughout a community and ensuring affordable water services. WaterNow also highlights how communities can ramp up their investments in these localized solutions by paying for them in the same way utilities pay for conventional options--with debt-financed capital budgets.

Click below to read the article.

Exploring the Green Infrastructure Workforce

Exploring the Green Infrastructure Workforce

The Exploring the Green Infrastructure Workforce from Jobs for the Future, a national nonprofit that works to ensure educational and economic opportunity for all, provides a detailed examination of the workforce needed to install, maintain, and inspect green infrastructure systems, including both traditional “nature in the city” and newer, environmentally friendly approaches to stormwater management. The report explores current and emerging educational, occupational, and compensation trends and social justice opportunities nationally. It also profiles six NatureWORKS focal cities—Ann Arbor, Austin, Charlotte, Denver, Lincoln (NE), and Portland (OR)—as well as Detroit that together represent diverse geographies and approaches to green infrastructure.

Click below to download the report.

Navigating Legal Pathways to Rate-Funded CAPs

Navigating Legal Pathways to Rate-Funded Customer Assistance Programs

This report by the UNC Environmental Finance Center and a team of national legal and finance specialists is a resource guide to help water and wastewater utilities navigate the complex legal frameworks that govern when and how these utilities can use ratepayer dollars to fund customer assistance programs. Based on these experts' research the guide presents detailed summaries of regulatory policy on the design and funding of CAPs in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Click below to download the report.

MMSD Green Bond Framework

Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Green Bond Framework

In April 2020, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) issued the first-ever Certified Climate Bond for a combined wastewater and stormwater program in the United States. The bond was verified by Kestrel Verifiers, a Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) Approved Verifier, and Woman-Owned Small Business, based in the US. The proceeds will be used to finance capital projects including green infrastructure to reduce flooding and stormwater runoff.

Download the Green Bond Framework by clicking below.

New Jersey Green Streets Case Studies

New Jersey Green Streets Case Studies

Jersey Water Works and EPA Region 2 report, New Jersey Green Streets Case Studies, highlights how green streets can help smaller cities like Camden and Hoboken and towns like Highland Park to meet flooding and stormwater challenges while providing community benefits. The Jersey Water Works Green Infrastructure Committee and EPA Region 2 partnered to develop these case studies with help from local officials from Camden, Hoboken, and Highland Park. Jersey Water Works is committed to mainstreaming the implementation of green infrastructure throughout New Jersey.

Download the report by clicking the link below. Jersey Water Works' Green Streets in New Jersey Portfolio has additional examples of successful cases of green infrastructure.

Has your town implemented a green street? Email Andrew Tabas to connect.

Solving Water Challenges in Disadvantaged Communities

Solving Water Challenges in Disadvantaged Communities: A Handbook to Understanding the Issues in California and Best Practices for Engagement

Water Education Foundation's report, Solving Water Challenges in Disadvantaged Communities: A Handbook to Understanding the Issues in California and Best Practices for Engagement, offers background and expert advice for those working to help the estimated 1 million Californians who face significant challenges accessing clean, affordable drinking water or meeting sanitation or stormwater needs. The handbook is intended as a resource for anyone working to aid communities that have historically struggled to make their water resource needs known to agencies with the means to help.

Click the link below to download the handbook.

About Water Education Foundation

"Taking a steady pulse of the water world, the Foundation _ an impartial nonprofit _ offers educational materials, tours of key watersheds, water news, water leadership training and conferences that bring together diverse voices. By providing tools and platforms for engagement with wide audiences, our team aims to help build sound and collective solutions to water issues."

Webinar Slides: Advancing Evidence-Based Decision Making

Advancing Evidence-Based Decision Making

Click the link below to download the slides from WaterNow and EPI Center's August 13, 2020, Advancing Evidence-Based Decision Making webinar.

An Assessment of Urban Water Demand Forecasts in California

An Assessment of Urban Water Demand Forecasts in California

Published: August 2020, Pacific Institute

Authors: Sonali Abraham, Sarah Diringer, and Heather Cooley

In California, urban per capita water demand has declined dramatically over the past several decades, driven in part by greater uptake of water-efficient devices. These reductions have important implications for estimating future water demand. However, failure to account for the long-term trend of declining per capita water demand has led to routine overestimation of future water demand. This can lead to unnecessary and costly investment in unneeded infrastructure and new sources of supply, higher costs, and adverse environmental impacts. This report examines the accuracy of long-range water demand forecasts for California’s 10 largest urban water suppliers. It finds that per capita water demand declined for all water suppliers between 2000 and 2015.