Drumroll please... WaterNow is excited to announce our next round of Project Accelerators!
Year after year, we are privileged to assist cities and water agencies in championing more sustainable, innovative water solutions through this program. Today we announce two new Accelerator projects that we will be working with this winter and spring.
City of Evans, CO: Direct Install Program for Income-Qualified Residents and Indoor Water Efficiency Audits
The City of Evans is a suburban community in the Northern Front Range of Colorado, home to more than 21,000 residents. The City recently adopted updates to its Municipal Water Efficiency Plan (MWEP), which identified numerous water efficiency activities to optimize Evans’ water resources. Along with its neighbors in the South Platte Basin, Evans expects to see population growth that will require careful, sustainable water resource planning.
WaterNow, in collaboration with Western Resource Advocates (WRA), will work with the City on two of these water conservation activities: a water-efficient fixture direct installation program for income-eligible residents, and an indoor water efficiency audit program that will be accessible to residents of all income levels. Fixtures provided through the direct installation program may include toilets, shower heads, faucet aerators, and others, at no cost to eligible residents. WaterNow and WRA will collate best practices from similar programs, identify metrics that highlight the goals of the MWEP, and help create outreach and educational materials.
As part of Evans’ larger Water Conservation Program and in conjunction with the development of the aforementioned programs, Evans also plans to implement an outdoor water efficiency audit program and distribute small indoor water efficiency kits, which will both be open to all residents. Through WaterNow’s Project Accelerator, the City of Evans will make substantive progress towards the goals articulated in its MWEP, while supporting residents with various financial needs.
City of Henderson, NV: Non-Residential Water Utility Scorecard
The City of Henderson has historically been a bedroom community, made up of primarily single family residential customers. As the City grows, diversifying the community and attracting new businesses and industries is a priority. Henderson hopes to draw companies that will both have a positive economic impact and maintain a responsible water footprint in the community.
WaterNow will help develop a Non-Residential Water Utility Scorecard that rates prospective businesses’ impact on the City’s economy and water resources. The scorecard will consider factors such as the sustainability of the business, the number of people it will employ, the average wage, and the capital investment into the community, alongside the anticipated consumptive use of water. We will conduct research to inform what information the scorecard includes, how it is structured, and how it is integrated into existing business application processes. We will also convene stakeholder meetings, and explore approaches to offering companies the option to offset high consumptive water use through other water-saving programs or activities. The scorecard will help Henderson – one of the fastest growing communities in the nation – develop in a way that ensures long-term water resources sustainability.
Congratulations to our new Accelerators and thank you to all of our excellent applicants.
Looking to Future Opportunities
This selection process was exceptionally challenging since we received more than 30 strong and creative applications for support on a wide variety of projects, ranging from community outreach and engagement campaigns to the development of rebate, water efficiency, and green infrastructure programs. If we could, we’d select every single one of them.
It’s exciting to see so many utilities from across the U.S. developing sustainable and innovative projects to improve their community’s water quality and quantity, as well as raising public awareness about these important issues. We look forward to adding this round of projects to the library of examples available from WaterNow.
The Spring 2021 Application Round for Project Accelerator is right around the corner and we strongly encourage you to consider applying. Relatedly, we’ve teamed up with River Network to provide grants to local community groups and water systems that wish to work towards shared goals in equitable and sustainable water management. You can learn more about this program and submit an application (due by January 29) here.
We look forward to more opportunities to build a sustainable, resilient water future with you.