by Katie Banister, Brittany Xiu and Candice Rupprecht, WRRC
Four environmental restoration projects are improving Tucson’s livability thanks to a unique program that motivates the city’s water customers to use less water in their homes or businesses and to donate some or all of the associated savings on their water bill to fund local environmental enhancement projects. Designed by the University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center (WRRC), Conserve to Enhance (C2E) was first offered to residents of Tucson, Arizona in 2011. The success of Tucson C2E allowed funds tobe distributed to recipient sites throughout the Tucson area, through an annual application process overseen by the Tucson C2E Board.
In 2013, nearly $30,000 was awarded through the Tucson C2E Community Enhancement Project grant program. Proposals were solicited from neighborhood groups interested in enhancing urban waterways and local washes that have been degraded throughout Tucson by excessive runoff, erosion, invasive species, and garbage. The three project sites selected in 2013 are currently under construction, with expected completion in the summer of 2014.
The first award was granted to Henry Elementary for their Henry Elementary WINS! – Wash Improvement and Neighborhood Sustainability Project. Neighborhood and student volunteers will remove invasive species, plant 50 native trees, and install a rainwater cistern to benefit the newly named urban wash that runs in front of the school using C2E funds. This work will improve habitat on the campus and in multiple adjacent waterways, while educating students and neighbors about the importance of native trees, litter prevention and urban heat island impacts.
A second C2E grant was awarded to the Northwest and El Cortez Neighborhoods for their 1st Ave./Seneca Greening and Beautification Project. Neighborhood volunteers will install native landscaping and create roadside curb cuts along a highly traveled pedestrian path. The improved landscaping is intended to calm the adjacent automobile traffic, make the area more walkable, and reduce storm water runoff.
The third grant went to the Mountain/1st Avenue Neighborhood for the Mitchell Park Wildlife Habitat & Green Infrastructure Project. They will use C2E funds to replace 9,000 square feet of turf with native vegetation and install curb cuts and earthen swales to divert storm water from the neighborhood streets. Improved wildlife habitat at Mitchell Park will also reduce local temperatures and enhance recreation opportunities. Neighbors, as well as the City of Tucson Parks Department, are helping with this project.
Atturbury Wash, located in southeast Tucson, was the first Tucson C2E environmental enhancement site. Conducted by the Tucson Audubon Society, this project was awarded over $12,000 in 2012 to replant native vegetation lost to drought and flash floods and create a demonstration site for passive water harvesting techniques. Tucson Audubon Society and community volunteers dug three basins and planted 50 native trees and shrubs in these basins across the 1–acre site. Volunteers built a raised trail system for visitors to enjoy and used the excavated soil to direct rainwater and runoff into the three new rainwater harvesting basins. A drip irrigation system was installed to support the new vegetation with water provided by the City of Tucson Parks and Recreation Department, who owns Atturbury Wash. Educational signage will be placed onsite this fall explaining what has been done and will feature a photo point monitoring station where citizen scientists can take pictures from a fixed location, upload them to the C2E website, and help Tucson C2E track changes at the site over time. Similar signs and photo point monitoring stations will be installed at all future Tucson C2E sites.
Tucson C2E has been in place since 2011, when collaboration between the WRRC, the local water utility Tucson Water, and nonprofits Sonoran Institute and Watershed Management Group implemented the C2E pilot program. The Tucson program has been well received by the community and program participants have conserved 2.7 million gallons of water by employing conservation strategies ranging from behavioral changes to rainwater harvesting installations. Donations to C2E result directly from participant water savings and additionally from an “Open Space and Riparian Enhancement” check box program on the Tucson Water bill. Combined check box and participant donations have raised over $60,000 for Tucson C2E.
The check box allows all Tucson Water customers to contribute to C2E on their monthly water bill, whether or not they are registered Tucson C2E participants. Tucson Water continues to work with Tucson C2E to increase participation in the utility’s check box program. If 5 percent of customers in the Tucson Water service area join C2E, an estimated 250 million gallons of water would be conserved annually and more than $500,000 would be available for restoration efforts each year.
New participants are always welcome to join the C2E program and current expansion efforts are targeted at recruiting regional business participants as well as ongoing efforts to engage residential participants. To explore how a business can function as a C2E participant, Panda Restaurant Group, Inc., the parent company of Panda Express, agreed to pilot this relationship and is working with Tucson C2E to better define how business participant roles and needs differ from residential water users.
C2E is expanding to other communities throughout the Southwest and is showcasing the Water Use Dashboard, which will go live in November, 2013. The Dashboard offers a comprehensive set of program implementation tools to interested utilities. It provides water consumers with a wealth of information about their water use, tips on how to conserve, information about rebate programs available from participating utilities, and the opportunity to donate to local or regional C2E programs. Water use information includes a breakdown of indoor and outdoor water use, average annual and monthly use, comparison of current and past use, daily water savings, and comparison of the individual and the community average use. The Dashboard will also provide a suggested donation based on water savings and will allow consumers to set up recurring donations. Water conservation tips will be seasonally timed and both tips and rebate information will be customizable for each participating community so that the Dashboard displays locally relevant information for participants. For more information please visit www.conserve2enhance.org.