By Rich Anderson
April 11, 2011

Sandy City (UT) Mayor Tom Dolan was presented with the 2011 U.S. Conference of Mayors Water Conservation Achievement Award on March 8, 2011 at a city council meeting. Sandy is one of two cities selected by a panel of independent judges as leading the nation's principal cities in water conservation achievement. Siemens Water Technologies Corp. Western Regional Manager Brian Shugrue presented the award to Dolan.

Sandy City is located in north-central Utah. It is the sixth largest city in the state with a population of about 90,000. Sandy has a thriving retail economy that continues to expand. According to Dolan, the city normally has roughly two percent unemployment, but is currently at around four percent as a result of the recent recession. Sandy is surrounded by majestic mountains that provide multiple seasonal recreation activities. Part of the economic development efforts of the city is to brand as the “base-camp” for the surrounding ski resorts, national and state parks, and other recreational activities. Now, Sandy is known as one of the leading cities in the nation for achieving water conservation.

According to the Utah State Division of Water Resources, the state population is growing at a rapid pace of over half a million people between 1990 and 2000. Utah has a semi-arid (dry) climate, and because the population is expected to top five million in 2050, it is imperative that municipal and industrial water conservation programs are aggressive. The state set a goal to reduce the 2000 per capita water demand from municipal systems by 25 percent by 2050. This requires that demand will need to decline from 321 gallons per capita per day (GPCD) to a sustained 240 GPCD or less. This goal is equivalent to a total decrease in demand of about 400,000 acre-feet per year by 2050.

Sandy City has reached and surpassed that goal in 2009. The city's conservation program is successful because it has strong political leadership from the mayor and city council; the dedication of the public utilities department; a willing partner in the retail and industrial community; and the commitment of its residents.

Sandy City is a two'sevenths owner of the Metropolitan Water District Treatment Plant while Salt Lake City retains a five'sevenths share. The plant treats 150 million gallons a day (MGD) raw water for potable use. Roughly two-thirds of the raw water comes from the Deer Creek Reservoir (fed by three rivers: Duschene, Weber and Provo). Another one-third of raw supply comes from Little Cottonwood Creek; and a small amount (around 1,000 acre feet/year) comes from the Bell Canyon Reservoir. Sandy and Salt Lake City are also joint owners of the 70 MGD Point of the Mountain Treatment Plant through Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake and Sandy. Sandy City owns and operates 21 groundwater wells that also serve as water supply. The wells are roughly 900 feet deep. They are operated seasonally to meet peak demand.

Residential irrigation represents the single largest consumptive use in Sandy. It accounts for 66 percent of use on an average annual basis, but is at its highest demand between May and September. Historical use data indicates that Seasonal rate consumption is about seven to nine MGD to over 65 MGD during peak (July 24) demand. Sandy water managers complement supply from the two treatment plants with groundwater from the city wells. The city wells produce high quality water and only require additional fluoride treatment before use.

Other high water consumption sectors include commercial use (not surprising since Sandy has a robust retail and commercial economy, providing a one percent sales tax to the city). Public sector consumption is also a significant demand sector; including parks, schools and other public facilities.

The major water supply challenges facing the city are water rights, snow fall and drought. Water rights are a significant challenge since the city relies on the groundwater wells they own and operate. The groundwater rights in their district of the underlying aquifer are currently over-allocated. Thus, aquifer recharge to sustain the water level is critical for the future. The soil conditions are advantageous for recharge due to the sand (hence the city's name) formations characterizing that portion of the Jordan River Basin. If the water level draws down below a certain level the state can intervene and prohibit pumping. “Sandy is committed to keeping its aquifer robust and sustainable into the future. Aquifer storage and recovery will become a critical element of this priority.” stated Shane Pace, Director of Public Utilities.

Like many arid climate cities in western states, Sandy is vulnerable to variable precipitation rates. Generally, there is abundant snow melt that replenishes the reservoirs and streams. With four major ski resorts populating the surrounding mountain range there is (mostly) ample snow pack for several months each year. The snow melt as water supply is augmented by the more sparse and unpredictable rainfall characteristic of the climatic regime. The city has experienced low annual precipitation in the past, and fully expects more in the future. Thus, the anticipated potential for drought conditions is a key concern and driver for a robust and sustained water conservation effort.

The city, in 2009, exceeded the state water conservation mandate of 25 percent by 2050 by achieving a 27 percent reduction in GPCD – 40 years ahead of mandate. Since the mandate was established Sandy has reduced demand by 80 GPCD: and reduced demand by 35 GPCD in 2009 alone.

How did the city achieve so much in such a short time? They established a full cost pricing policy that charges users for the actual cost of providing and distributing the water, and maintaining the system over the long-run. This policy was then fine tuned to address the water demand situation in the city.

Since residential outdoor irrigation is the highest demand sector, the utility staff, Shane Pace and Kimberly Singleton, worked with residents to devise a plan to establish a seasonal rate structure. In addition to the seasonal rate structure there is an educational component. Residents can learn how to change traditional plants with water wise plants, turn off water during rain events and learn about other water wise habits by either visiting our water conservation garden or reviewing one of the many educational brochures. The conservation garden hosts events to distribute free water wise handouts and kits as well as offering experts in water wise landscaping and irrigation at our events.

Some other exceptional characteristics of Sandy City's water conservation program are that it has the city saved money. By reducing water demand the city has potentially avoided spending an additional $2 million in water purchases. Additional cost savings derive from reductions in pumping and treatment costs. Sandy estimates the value in these savings to be $243,000 in reduced power charges; and $1,026,000 in reduced treatment costs.

Dolan stated, “The $10,000 cash award from Siemens – the sponsor of the U.S. Conference of Mayors 2011 Water Conservation Award – would be used to create an outdoor classroom at the conservation garden to enhance instruction during fairs and classes.”