Editor's Note: Thanks to Daniel B. Stephens & Associates Inc. for providing these notes.

Silver City Comprehensive Water Conservation Planning Meeting November 14, 2012
Silver City, New Mexico
Meeting Summary
A meeting to discuss the Silver City Comprehensive Water Conservation Planning process was held on November 14, 2012 at the City Annex upstairs conference room in Silver City. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the initial results of the 2011 water audit, projected water demand, performance measures, and public outreach methods. The next project meeting will be held in early 2013, with the full plan being completed by June 2013.

Welcome and Introductions
The Town of Silver City received a grant from the New Mexico Finance Authority (NMFA) to prepare a water conservation plan and, through a request for proposals process, selected Daniel B. Stephens & Associates, Inc. as the consultant supporting the Town with this project. Denise Smith is the project contact for the Town of Silver City, and Amy Ewing and Joanne Hilton are the consultants. This was the second project meeting, and it began with self- introductions by each attendee.

Project Scope
The overall project schedule calls for the comprehensive water conservation plan to be completed by June 2013. The project scope was briefly discussed, for the people who did not attend the first project meeting.

Water Audit Overview
Amy Ewing presented an overview of the 2011 water billing data and water audit analysis, including plots showing total water production (the amount of groundwater pumped by the Town's production wells) for 1996-2011, monthly distribution of production during 2011, water billing data by sector in 2011, and water association use in 2011. Amy also provided a summary of the top users in 2011, which included the Altamirano sports fields, multiple Western New Mexico University (WNMU) facilities, Silver City Schools, the Gila Regional Medical Center, Grant County Court House, some apartments and mobile home parks, and commercial accounts (churches, real estate, lodging, and laundromats). The top user analysis will be repeated for 2012 when those data become available. A question was asked regarding whether the associations were included on the plots; Amy indicated that the plots of total water pumped do include water provided by the associations.

The group provided additional information on the 2011 water billing data for the consultants to take into account, including
• The WNMU swimming pool was shut down in August or September 2011, due to a large leak that the University does not have the funds to fix.
• One residential account had a 1 million-gallon demand error (for August) in the 2011 database
• The Tyrone demand spikes in August and October 2011 are thought to be errors as well.
Water rates were discussed, and there was a comment that the minimum volume rate block is too large (3,000 gallons of water), and that the current rate structure therefore provides no incentive to use less than 3,000 gallons per month.

Projected Water Demand
Water demand for the Town of Silver City will be projected as a part of the conservation plan, in order to bracket the community's expected future water needs. Joanne Hilton summarized how water demand is generally projected. Demand is evaluated by sector (e.g., residential and commercial) and is projected based on the current and projected per capita use, both with existing conservation measures only and with added conservation measures identified in the plan). Existing planning documents (e.g., Silver City's 40-year plan and the Arizona Water Settlement planning documents) include demand projections, and these will be reviewed and updated based on more recent data that are available.

Projections also take future plans and anticipated trends into account, and feedback was requested on any Town plans or trends to incorporate into the projection of Silver City water demand. Trends that were discussed include:
• There is a shift toward lower water use and more awareness of water issues in the community.
• Residents are focusing on the importance of food security and local production, and additional agricultural activities are being planned.
• New ball fields are planned, but will use AstroTurf instead of grass (water will be used for cooling).
• There is interest in the Town offering incentives and/or tax credits for residential graywater systems.
• Residents are interested in the impacts of long-term drought on water use.
• New water service accounts are largely being added outside the Town limits on larger lots, often to retirees with fewer residents per household and lower per capita use; in general the larger out of town lots do not have grass landscaping and they use less outdoor water.
• Total Town water production has decreased over the last few years (although 2012 production through October exceeds 2011 January-October production by 80 million gallons).
• Hurley will be added to the Town system as a part of a future regional system and will be served by the Town's water rights, although they will have separate wells and their use is expected to be covered by the return flow volume the Town expects to get credit for from the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer.

The Tyrone and Rosedale water association members in attendance (the Pinos Altos and Arenas Valley water systems were not represented at the meeting) were asked about their projected water demands. The Tyrone representative said that Tyrone cannot expand. The Rosedale members said that the Rosedale system is at their full build out and will maintain their current water use for the foreseeable future. Rosedale has a few large water users, who are happy to pay for the water they use, and many users with low water use who are on fixed incomes. The Rosedale water association watches water consumption closely. Each of the water associations has a contract with the Town that outlines their allowable use (and water rates).

Conservation and Performance Measures
Input on various potential water conservation measures was solicited, and the group strongly favored outdoor over indoor water conservation measures. The most popular outdoor water conservation measures included stormwater harvesting, rainwater harvesting, graywater harvesting, implementation of a water waste ordinance, and a reduction in irrigated areas for commercial accounts. There was also support for installation of smart irrigation systems (that take soil moisture and wind conditions into account before irrigating), time of day watering restrictions, and reduction of irrigated areas for residential accounts. Meeting participants did not support water rationing during times of drought. With indoor conservation, mild support was expressed for appliance retrofit rebates, and the group was split over increasing water rates, with some participants in favor of raising rates and others opposed.

The group was very interested in automatic meter reading and would support the installation of these types of meters in Silver City. Automatic meter reading would reduce the length of the meter reading periods and eliminate any data transcription errors. Communities that have these devices are able to evaluate customer water use profiles and can set bounds on normal water use by account (making it easy to identify when there is anomalous use that needs to be field checked for accuracy).

Performance measures will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the recommended water use efficiency programs and policies. Examples of performance measures were discussed, including the total savings in the amount of water pumped, total savings in amount of water consumptively used, program cost per acre-foot of water conserved, availability of funding/financing, and level of participation in rebate programs, educational events, etc. The group was asked whether cost or total water savings were more important in selecting performance measures. Although (as noted above) the group opinion is mixed about raising water rates, there was general support for seeking funding for implementation of the conservation plan. Also, the group indicated that savings in consumptive use (i.e., outdoor watering), which does not return to the hydrologic system, are more useful than reductions in indoor water use.

Public Outreach
Input on how to inform the public about water conservation was solicited, and school programs were identified as the favorite public outreach method. Other favored public outreach methods included community events, radio stories, and the use of a community educator. Methods with less enthusiastic support included tours of completed projects, newspaper and website articles, community meetings, and information in water bills.