Tucsons One Watershed Future Candice Rupprecht Tucson Water New - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Tucson’s One Watershed Future Candice Rupprecht Tucson Water New Mexico WRRI Annual Conference August 15, 2017

Welcome to Tucson, Arizona

Preferences shift… A typical landscape today Typical Tucson landscape in the 1960s & 1970s Tucson’s GPCD (1980 - 2015) 195 Outdoor water use has dropped over 50% in the last 3 decades. 175 155 GPCD 135 115 95 75 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

The Conservation Ethic Sticks And begins to drive new approach to resiliency… 2010: Ordinance Commercial Rainwater Harvesting Residential 2012: Rainwater Harvesting Rebate Program 2013: Green Streets New Policy const. policy Neighborhood- Scale Rainwater Harvesting 2017: Grant Program One Watershed Solutions

“I want to harvest water because… ___________________” • The water is free. • The water is better for my plants. • I need to deal with a flooding problem. • I want more shade. • I want a garden. • I’m tired of my water bills going up. • I think it’s the “right” thing to do. • I don’t think we should depend on water from faraway rivers. Quality of Life & Community Ethic

Residential Water Harvesting

Moving toward One Watershed • Equity Issues – Limited-income grants, loans & rebates for water harvesting • Scalable solutions & Stormwater opportunities • Integrated planning efforts w/ community partners We find ourselves with an opportunity to re-think how we manage rainwater...