The San Diego County Water Authority’s Business Plan includes a new climate change and sustainability program. Although this may be a new program for the Water Authority, the concept of reducing the environmental impacts of our operations and responding to the impacts of climate change are not new. Sustainable “green” projects have been part of the Water Authority’s approach to doing business for some time. Below are highlights of our past and ongoing efforts:
Energy Projects
San Diego County Water Authority owns and operates the Rancho Peñasquitos in-line hydro generation facility. The power is generated using a single horizontal turbine with an annual net energy production of 20 million kWh of renewable energy. The generating unit is controlled by the Water Authority’s central control facility and operates year round. The facility began commercial operation in December 2006. The power generated is sold to San Diego Gas & Electric and delivered to the grid. The facility is not only a source of green energy for the region, but also generates more than $1 million in annual revenue for the Water Authority. The facility was awarded the American Public Works Association Project of the Year in the category of local environmental projects over $8 million.
The Water Authority’s Lake Hodges Pumped Storage Facility, currently under construction, is expected to begin commercial operation in July 2010. Through a power purchase agreement with SDG&E, the facility will provide 40MW of peak power to the grid. As the percent of electricity from renewable energy sources increases, peaker plants will become essential to grid reliability while avoiding the need to build more greenhouse gas-intensive fossil fuel power plants. The Lake Hodges Pumped Storage Facility will contribute to grid reliability and generate a combination of revenue and energy savings to the Water Authority of approximately $5.5 million annually.
In early 2007, SDG&E recognized the Water Authority’s San Vicente Pump Station for its energy-saving design. The pump station uses energy-efficient variable frequency drive (VFD) units, compared to traditional fixed-speed units, to turn its three 7,000- horsepower pumps. Through innovative design, when this facility becomes operational in mid-2009, it will save more than 1 million kWh of electricity annually, and will produce 435 fewer metric tons of CO2 equivalents annually than traditional pumps.
Fleet Operations
As part of the normal budget cycle, the Water Authority reviews fleet operations to determine the need for replacing vehicles and other equipment. However, starting in 2006 the organization began to conduct a significantly more in-depth review at the fleet. The intent of this review was to analyze the use of each vehicle. Although the Water Authority operates a small fleet, vehicles scheduled for replacement are evaluated for the use of the vehicle, driving patterns, and potential replacement with more fuel-efficient alternative fuel vehicles. The intent of this review is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, vehicle miles traveled, and operating costs. Using this approach during the last budget period, the Water Authority both eliminated vehicles and replaced vehicles with hybrids.
To reduce emissions from on-road diesel vehicles in the fleet, three vehicles were retrofitted, seven units are scheduled for retrofit in 2009, and a total of 16 retrofits will be complete by the end of 2011. In the near future the process of retrofitting the off-road diesel equipment will begin.
Solar
SDCWA is the lead agency in a cooperative procurement with its member agencies to install solar through an energy services provider at its headquarters and water treatment plant and at participating member agency sites. The Request for Proposal, to be released in the near future, identifies 15 sites with a combined potential for 15 MW of solar power.
Water & Energy Conservation
In August 2007, SDCWA with other stakeholder agencies within the region partnered to produce a “Blueprint for Conservation,” which serves as “a road map for creating and implementing new, long-range residential and commercial conservation programs across the San Diego region.” This was a key product of the San Diego region’s first Water Conservation Summit held in 2006. Another Conservation Summit was held in 2007 and a third is scheduled for June 2, 2009.
The Water Authority, of course, has promoted conservation incentives or rebates on water-saving devices and other kinds of assistance programs for residential and business water users since the early 1990s. The embedded annual water savings from these programs (including ones promoting low-flow showerheads, fixtures and toilets, water-efficient clothes washers, irrigation equipment and more) have grown to save more than 55,000 acre-feet of water annually.
The Water Authority, as a result of growing water supply challenges, also has more aggressively promoted voluntary water conservation to the general public since July 2007 through its “20-Gallon Challenge” campaign. The goal of the campaign is to reduce the region’s per capita urban water demand by 20 gallons per person, per day. It was supported by a $1.8 million advertising campaign in 2008, the largest such single-year conservation awareness campaign in the agency’s history. Through the advertising campaign and other outreach efforts, the Water Authority achieved 31,000 acre-feet of extraordinary water conservation in 2008. This brought regional urban water use to a five-year low and saved approximately 83.7 million kWh of energy.
Beginning in January 2008 and continuing for 18 months, the Water Authority and San Diego Gas & Electric partnered to participate in a California Energy Commission-approved pilot program to undertake specific water conservation efforts that will more accurately measure the relationship between water savings and the reduction of energy use. It is anticipated the results of this pilot program will inform decisions related to the incorporation of water conservation efforts in future energy efficiency programs.
Climate Change Research
SDCWA is participating in a Water Research Foundation (formerly AwwaRf)-funded research project to evaluate the effects of climate change on planning criteria and design standards. The total project estimate is $300,000. The project involves four west coast water agencies.
In February 2008 the Water Authority’s General Manager, in conjunction with the general managers of seven of the nation’s large water utilities, announced the formation of the Water Utility Climate Alliance (WUCA). The alliance has been working to improve research into the impacts of climate change on water utilities, develop strategies for adapting to climate change, and implement tactics to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Recently WUCA awarded a contract to Malcolm Pirnie to prepare a white paper on decision support tools and how they might be used by utilities to study and evaluate climate change science and incorporate this information into decision making. WUCA is also pursuing the award of additional contracts to advance the knowledge of its members and the water industry in adapting to climate change. In addition WUCA is coordinating with AMWA to communicate the needs of the water industry for improved scientific research and the development of adaptation strategies.
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