First Name | Edward |
---|---|
Last Name | Mainland |
Email Address | emainland@comcast.net |
Affiliation | Sierra Club California |
Subject | Sierra Club Comment on Water |
Comment | COMMENTS ON AB 32 PROPOSED SCOPING PLAN, SUBMITTED BY SIERRA CLUB CALIFORNIA, November 19, 2008 16. Water (p. 65) • We support a public goods charge for funding investments in water efficiency that will lead to reductions in greenhouse gases. • We are pleased that CARB staff calls for a 20% reduction in water use, but disappointed that agricultural water use is not included among the efficiency targets. Agricultural water use accounts for more than three quarters of the state’s total water use. • Moving, treating, heating, and desalting water consumes energy. Producing energy consumes water. Some innovative ideas to reduce water consumption: - Installation of smart water meters: Install smart radio protocol meters (aka Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)) and an associated remotely adjustable pressure reduction valve to municipal and industrial water users and similarly smart meters with appropriate transmission technology to agriculture. AMI allows leak detection and can also provide the same differentiation between domestic and irrigation water use as two separate meters. Single-family dwelling water price could depend on water use. The associated valves could be authorized by customers to reduce the pressure, should they be at risk of excessive use of water for the month (financial penalty). (A phone call or web entry would allow customers to draw on “rollover” or “banked” gallons or even to “sell” their banked gallons to others.) The smart water meters could communicate with the smart electric and smart gas meters to quickly calculate the actual energy savings of a solar hot water heater. The pair could automatically adjust the energy savings for a change in family size causing a change in water use. Local water agencies may conserve on water storage infrastructure with the AMI meters. Should the agency’s water be needed to fight a fire or should a pipe failure or earthquake interrupt supply, the agency can ration water use. For example, if calculations suggest homes need to reduce use to 100 gallons per day, the agency can turn off the water for each home when the home use reaches 100 gallons each day. Ask the California State Water Resources Board, the Public Utilities Commission, and the California Air Resources Board to coordinate. Southern California Edison is installing AMI to relay real-time data and possibly control use. Local water agencies could contract with or coordinate with electric utilities to relay water use and control-valve communications. - Implement “Pay as You Save” utility programs for water conservation, too: By including water savings in “pay as you save” programs, utilities could provide energy efficient appliances, solar water heaters, insulation, solar energy systems, co-generation furnace replacements, long-haul tractor conversions to electric-natural gas hybrids etc. Utility customers would pay for the equipment over time, via their utility bills with no up-front payment, no debt obligation, no credit checks, and no liens needed. Utilities can guarantee that the customers’ monthly utility bills will be less than before the installation of the energy and water saving technologies. Because the arrangement is attached to a property and not a person, even renters can benefit. • Include greenhouse gas emissions credits for water savings: Allow greenhouse gas emissions credits for the water purveyor based on a calculation that includes greenhouse gas emissions from the customer’s side of the water meter. |
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Original File Name | |
Date and Time Comment Was Submitted | 2008-11-19 19:13:11 |
If you have any questions or comments please contact Clerk of the Board at (916) 322-5594.