This paper describes successes, challenges and practical aspects of implementing water conservation measures at a large university campus that is similar in many respects to city of 25,000 people. The water conservation program at Stanford University has reduced water usage by about 10 percent over the last four years despite adding new buildings during the same period. Stanford is on schedule to meet its goal of expanding the campus but holding water use down to a strict level, required by Santa Clara County. Stanford University is located on the San Francisco Bay Peninsula, approximately 30 miles south of San Francisco California. In 2000, the university received a General Use Permit (GUP) from Santa Clara County for development of additional 2,035,000 net square feet of academic and academic support facilities (a 20 percent expansion). The approval of the 2000 GUP and the EIR resulted in specific requirements, one of which was the completion of a Water Conservation, Reuse, and Recycling Master Plan (Master Plan). The Plan’s key requirement is for Stanford not to exceed its domestic water allocation from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC). SFPUC typically supplies 100% of the domestic water for Stanford University, with a daily average allocation of 3.033 million gallons per day (mgd).Stanford staff worked with Maddaus Water Management (MWM) to develop a 10-year Master Plan. Using MWM’s Water Conservation Cost-Effectiveness evaluation software (DSS model), Maddaus: ? Reviewed existing water consumption in key campus water use groups; ? Evaluated and recommended 14 water conservation measures that could be implemented; and ? Estimated water savings for each measure. The 14 domestic water conservation measures included: ? Replacing toilets and showerheads in student housing and academic and athletic facilities; ? Water audits of residential areas; ? Requiring the use of low water use plantings; ? Improving irrigation efficiency and moving some irrigated landscape off the SFPUC domestic supply and on to a well and lake supply. The Master Plan and water conservation measures were submitted to Santa Clara County in December 2001. Implementation of the recommended water conservation measures began in earnest in 2001. To date Stanford has partially implemented 10 of the 14 measures plus additional measures with variable success. As of June 2005, the total cost for implementation of projects is $1.5 million, while the estimated savings for completed projects are 0.26 mgd.
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