Motivating Private Property Owners
American utilities have used incentive programs for decades (think high efficiency toilet rebates) to inspire customer installation of distributed infrastructure of various kinds with considerable success, if often at relatively modest scale.
Legislated mandates establishing related requirements at state, local and/or utility levels have also proven to be quite effective.
Key strategies and case studies are listed below.
Consumer Mandates
Some of the most effective DI mandates are “passive,” that is, they are built into state, regional and local codes and don’t require action on the part of the consumer at all. These can include:
- Plumbing codes mandating use of efficient indoor fixtures and appliances
- Green building codes requiring efficiency measures in new development or remodels
- Zero net water use requirements for new developments
Mandates can also take the form of fees or restrictions designed to inspire behavior change:
- Conservation-based rate structures and tap fees, intended to drive adoption of efficiency measures
- Stormwater fees, intended to drive adoption of onsite stormwater reduction measures
- Restrictions on outdoor irrigation, to drive changes in outdoor water use
- Prohibiting/phasing out non-functional turf
Other mandates require private property owners to adopt specific types of distributed water infrastructure, occasionally but not always at their own expense:
- Leak repair requirements
- Lead line replacements
- Onsite stormwater retention requirements
- Onsite reuse requirements
Hear from Karen Guz with San Antonio Water Systems about how SAWS’ conservation ordinance sets requirements for leak repair, plumbing fixtures, commercial businesses including hotels and restaurants, daytime outdoor irrigation, and water offsets for new development.
