Catch up on all the good information shared during our September 2023 installment of our What Matters Webinar Series, led by our Water Energy Efficiency Task Force chairs Scott Houston and Kris Murray. Watch the webinar video on demand, read the Q&A and chat transcripts, and view the powerpoint slide decks shared by our panelists.

What Matters Webinar Series

Innovation Matters: Charting the Path in Energy Advancements at the Water-Energy Nexus

The new webinar is part of SCWC’s “What Matters” webinar series, designed to provide online exchanges of best practices as water and power utilities, nonprofits, businesses and others grapple with changes to the way we live, work and deliver services.

Speakers are:

• Erin Brooks, Director, Customer Energy Solutions, Southern California Gas
• Liz Crosson, Sustainability, Resiliency, and Innovation Officer, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
• Bryan Falconer, Senior Advisor, Southern California Edison
• Tom Fang, Supervising Engineer, Los Angeles County Sanitation District
• Shea Hughes, Director of West Coast Business Development, SCALE Microgrid
• Lauren Seymour, Assistant Director, The Energy Coalition, on behalf of the Southern California Regional Energy Network (SoCalREN) Public Agency Programs

• County of San Bernardino
• Inland Empire Utilities Agency
• Irvine Ranch Water District
• Los Angeles County Public Works
• Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
• Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
• Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District
• Water Replenishment District of Southern California
• West Basin Municipal Water District

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The report leverages data and technology to provide thoughtful recommendations on how California can meet new mandates on outdoor water use and conservation amidst the increasing impacts of climate change — providing a roadmap for how water agencies and other stakeholders can support and encourage responsible water management.

“Southern California has a long tradition of being on the front lines of vital conservation efforts, and we cannot let our foot off the gas pedal,” said Charles Wilson, Executive Director of the Southern California Water Coalition. “To continue our progress, we must support water managers as they strive for greater water efficiency. The recommendations for outdoor water use outlined in this report prove that using data and technology will lead us in the right direction.”

California’s historic drought called for immediate change, and our state leaders answered — mandating that water conservation become a “way of life” in California. In spring 2018, Governor Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 1668 (AB 1668) and Senate Bill 606 (SB 606), requiring standards and regulations be developed to set individual, long-term urban water use efficiency goals or “water budgets” that each retail water supplier must meet before the end of 2025.

SCWC’s Water Energy Efficiency Taskforce industry experts partnered with the CaDC, which amplifies a unique repository of data and skilled technological methods, for this research. Together, the team developed a set of recommendations for water agencies working toward these new water efficiency goals.

 Recommendations include:

• Promoting customer education and incentives are critical to achieve the opportunity in urban outdoor usage.
• Cooperative purchasing for aerial imagery and other technology is needed to leverage shared resources.
• Quantifying carbon and energy embedded in outdoor water use is a path for unlocking new conservation funding.
• Best in class tools and new technology are required to support water managers in achieving their goals.

“By combining the political, environmental and water minds that make up SCWC’s Water Energy Efficiency Task Force with the CaDC’s expansive data infrastructure, we found solutions for improving California’s water and energy use to promote sustainability,” said Patrick Atwater, Project Manager for the California Data Collaborative. “In light of our current climate reality, water agencies are facing a high level of uncertainty and the recommendations in this whitepaper aim to ease that uncertainty and arm water agencies with strategies for the future.”

SCWC’s Water Energy Efficiency Task Force was founded to explore the interconnected role of water and energy sustainability as the impacts of drought and climate change persist. The Task Force will continue to investigate the intersections between water, energy, and alongside the CaDC, the role data can play in finding new and innovative solutions.

READ FULL REPORT HERE

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Established in 1984, the Southern California Water Coalition is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public education partnership dedicated to informing Southern Californians about our water needs and our state’s water resources. Spanning from San Diego to Kern County, SCWC’s members include representatives from business, government, agriculture, water agencies, labor and the general public. Visit us at www.socalwater.org.

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