The Texas Water Conservation Scorecard has been featured as the March 2017 cover story in the Journal of the American Water Works Association, a nationally-renowned publication that features thought leadership from water industry professionals.
This feature elevates Texas water utilities and the public scorings of their water conservation efforts to national attention within the water and wastewater industries, as well as establishes a precedent for other states hoping to build a sense of collaborative transparency around municipal water conservation. You can download and read the Journal article by clicking here.
The Texas Water Conservation Scorecard, which we released in May 2016, is the result of a statewide analysis of more than 300 public water utilities to find whether Texas’ water suppliers are making their best efforts to reduce per capita water use. Its data is broken down into scores for each utility and presented visually through both a report and an interactive website, www.texaswaterconservationscorecard.org.
“We are honored to be featured by such a respected professional journal,” Jennifer Walker, Texas Living Waters Project water resource coordinator and Scorecard project leader, said. “We hope this helps other states to create their own transparent and open dialogue about the importance of water utility conservation efforts.”
As noted in the Journal – AWWA feature, the Scorecard sets a precedent for other states of how to evaluate water utility conservation efforts through an outreach approach that simultaneously engages utilities and the public. The methodology and results of the Scorecard are publicly available, and this transparency has enabled us to connect with utilities and to stimulate dialogue about how each municipality could more effectively pursue water conservation efforts. Likewise, the Scorecard has been a powerful outreach method for engaging the media and residents in discussions about local utility scores and the ways in which they could be improved.
The Scorecard is an ongoing effort that we will build upon and update as constructive discussions continue with water utilities and new utility data is submitted to the Texas Water Development Board.
Article PDF disclaimer: Reprinted from Journal, Vol. 109, by permission. Copyright © March 2017 American Water Works Association. Permission to reproduce this document is granted for informational purposes only and does not represent or imply approval or endorsement by AWWA of any particular product or service.
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