Budget Based Rate Structures Provide Sustainable Water Savings
Budget Based Rate Structures Provide Sustainable Water Savings
The Irvine Ranch Water District understands the importance of preserving California’s water supplies, especially in times of drought, and has taken many steps over many years to encourage water use efficiency and the wise use of water including the implementation of innovative conservation measures.
A key component of the District’s efforts has been the use of budget based rate structures which discourage overuse while providing for significantly reduced outdoor water use through meaningful tiered pricing for any inefficient water use. This rate structure, implemented in 1991 in response to drought conditions, has since achieved a 50% reduction in per capita water use for residential customers. The average residential water use per person per day is around 85 gallons – among the lowest levels in the state.
Since 1991, IRWD customer bills have been calculated using an budget based rate structure that uses property specific water budgets and tiered pricing to provide customers with an economic incentive to encourage efficient water use.
How Do Water Budgets Work?
Each month customer receives a basic water budget that provides a reasonable amount of water for the customer’s needs
Budgets are based on the default number of residents in the home, type of home, landscape area, and the amount of water plants need to stay healthy based on actual daily weather conditions
Budgets change with the weather throughout the year. When the weather is hotter or windier, the budget goes up automatically. When it’s cooler or cloudy, the budget decreases automatically. The budget is printed on the monthly bill
Water bills are calculated based upon how much water is used and whether the customer stayed within their allocation
If a customer uses more water than their allocation, the water used that month is billed at increasingly higher tiers
Revenue generated by these higher tiers is applied to expenses associated with IRWD having to purchase additional imported water (the most expensive type of water for IRWD), water conservation programs and urban runoff treatment programs
As a result of the budget based rate structure and its water conservation program, IRWD is regarded as a statewide leader in water efficiency
The budget based rate structure is a documented method that results in sustained water conservation by customers.
How is the Monthly Water Budget Determined?
The basic monthly water budget provides a reasonable amount of water for a customer’s needs both inside and outside the home. It is calculated by
The number of people in the household
The square footage of landscaped area
If there is landscaping, the water needs will change as the weather changes and the water budget will adjust accordingly.
Standard Budget Chart
The indoor water budget is 50 gallons per person per day and depends upon the number of residents in a home. Water budgeted for landscape irrigation depends upon the type of home as illustrated in the chart below:
What is a Water Variance?
IRWD encourages residential customers who need more water than their basic budget to apply for a variance. Variances are given for additional occupants, special medical needs, and larger landscaped areas, among other things.
How Does IRWD Help Customers?
Customers who find they have used more than their monthly budget of water can participate in a free water efficiency home audit where an IRWD water use efficiency specialist will visit your home and help determine the cause of the over budget water usage. Often this is a water leak, a sprinkler timer that isn’t working correctly, a leaky toilet, or a broken water irrigation system. IRWD also offers rebates, free landscaping classes, how-to videos and a free monthly watering schedule.
Students Aware of Drought – Submit Posters for Annual Contest
Five students who attend school in the Irvine Ranch Water District service area had their posters selected for judging in the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s “Water is Life” poster contest.
IRWD judges selected the posters from among approximately 200 received from schools in the Irvine Unified, Tustin and Saddleback Unified school districts.
The five finalists will be sent to Metropolitan, where they will compete with posters submitted by water agencies all over Southern California. IRWD has had at least one winner every year for more than 20 years of participation
Once Metropolitan makes its selection, students will be notified in the fall if their posters will be published in the 2016 Water is Life calendar.
The five finalists for 2014 are:
- Mikaela Milhaven, fourth grade, Foothill Ranch Elementary School
- Ananya Someshwar, fifth grade, Plaza Vista Elementary School
- Jana Ibrahim, first grade, Westpark Elementary School
- Sai Varsha Ravisankar, fourth grade, Stonegate Elementary School
- David Chang, second grade, Hicks Canyon Elementary School
Each student received a certificate and bag of IRWD goodies.
The posters which were not selected as the five finalists will have another chance – they have been sent to the Municipal Water District of Orange County for judging in the 2015 poster and slogan contest.
IRWD Receives State Approval for Water Conservation Alternate Plan
The State Water Resources Control Board has approved IRWD’s alternate conservation plan for compliance with the State Board’s Drought Emergency Water Conservation Regulations. On August 15, IRWD submitted an alternate plan for implementation of the Emergency Regulations to the State Board to demonstrate that the District’s budget based rate structure and conservation programs provide a level of conservation superior to that achieved by implementing the limitations contained in the Emergency Regulations.
What are the new Statewide Restrictions?
Effective July 28, 2014, the State Water Resources Control Board enacted Emergency Regulations due to the severe ongoing drought conditions throughout the state. These new regulations prohibit certain outdoor water uses and require urban water agencies to do one of two things:
- Implement mandatory outdoor water use restrictions that restrict outdoor watering to two days a week or implement outdoor water restrictions as dictated by their water shortage contingency plans, OR
- In lieu of number 1, agencies like IRWD who have a budget based rate structure may submit an alternate plan that shows that the level of water conserved due to the rate structure and other conservation programs is superior to that achieved by restricting outside watering to two days a week.
How State Board’s Approval Affects IRWD Customers
With the State Board’s approval of IRWD’s alternate plan, IRWD has implemented Option 2. Due to hard work by IRWD customers and the implementation of a budget based rate structure in 1991, IRWD per capita water use has declined 25% since 1991. IRWD has demonstrated in its alternative plan that the IRWD budget based rate structure achieves excellent water saving results with an average residential water use per person per day around 85 gallons – far below the state average. The State Board’s approval letter commended IRWD’s commitment to using its budget based rate structure to accelerate drought response and found that the District’s other conservation and efficiency programs are exemplary.
The IRWD Water Shortage Contingency Plan
Budget based rate structures are the foundation of IRWD’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan. This rate structure allows IRWD to quickly respond to limited supplies through strong price signals, which result in the greatest conservation response from our customers. The IRWD Water Shortage Contingency Plan meets State requirements and uses the budget based rate structure at all drought levels as well as conservation programs, rather than mandatory restrictions, to achieve necessary water use reductions. Only in the event of an extreme shortage, such as a system outage when supplies are only available for public health and safety needs, will IRWD use mandatory outdoor water restrictions.
More information on the IRWD rates structure and implementation of the new statewide water restriction can be found here.
How IRWD Helps Clean Up Urban Runoff
Irvine Ranch Water District recycles water that goes down the drains and into sewers for reuse in the community, but what happens to the water that flows through gutters and into storm drains?
That water is called urban runoff, caused by any water that flows into storm drains. Inefficient watering of landscape, washing vehicles, or hosing down of sidewalks are contributors. Urban runoff carries with it fertilizers, oils, trash, pet waste, and other contaminants, contributing to ocean pollution when it travels through waterways like the San Diego Creek.
In 1997, IRWD constructed the San Joaquin Marsh, which takes water from San Diego Creek and cycles it though a system of ponds that use plants and soils to naturally clean urban runoff before it flows to the ecologically-sensitive Upper Newport Bay. When the cleaner water returns to the creek, it contains up to 70 percent less nitrates and both sediment and phosphorus have also been reduced.
IRWD has taken the success of the San Joaquin Marsh and expanded the concept to a watershed-wide system of wetlands called the Natural Treatment System. Of the 45 targeted sites, 23 have been built. The NTS sites are anywhere from a quarter-acre to four acres in size and can be viewed from adjacent public areas, such as parks, bike trails and greenbelts.
To find out more, visit our website.
Celebrate Earth Day with IRWD
The third in a series of RightScape workshops is scheduled for Wednesday, April 22 – Earth Day.
Come to the Irvine Ranch Water District’s Sand Canyon office from 6-8 p.m. and learn about the right plants, the right equipment, and the right schedule for your landscape.
A light dinner will be provided. Don’t know what to do about the kids? Bring them along! There will be an unsupervised moving showing for children.
You can RSVP on our website.
