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In response to the need for comprehensive and comparative evaluation ofdemand management strategies, the Water Conservation Alliance of SouthernArizona (CASA) has embarked on a major research initiative that will include:a survey of conservation programs/strategies currently underway, orimplemented within the past ten years; gathering water use data for several examples (up to 6) of a broadspectrum of conservation programs developed from the survey above;determining the actual water saved by each measure (as opposed toanticipated or predicted savings) for each distinct case;a comparison of water savings data from all case study samples foreach measure;establishing actual costs (both public and private) for each case studywithin all programs or measures being compared;a quantification of any benefits for each measure separate from theactual water savings (e.g. customer service, environmental sustainability); and,a determination of the amount of money actually expended per acre-footof water saved, Cost Effectiveness Analysis (CEA), for each program ormeasure in each individual case studied as well as a determination of thenet monetary benefits of the program, Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA).The findings of this study will be presented as a resource document foreveryone in Arizona and throughout the Southwest who is involved in decision-makingregarding water resource management. Water CASA wants watermanagement professionals to be able to easily use the study results to make themost informed decisions possible with regards to a particular measure'seffectiveness, costs and benefits. Completion of this project requires in-depth research of current conservationmeasures, collection of actual water use data, collection of both monetary and non-monetary costs and benefits associated with conservation programs,quantitative comparison of conservation programs, and discussion of nonquantifiablefacets of the programs.The first phase of the project involves structuring of data storage methods, whichincludes determining what types of costs and benefits to include in the analysis,what background information is needed from water providers, and how all thedata is kept and manipulated. To identify appropriate data to be included in thedatabase, this phase of the project will involve research of water conservationindicators, literature reviews of current strategies, and communications withvarious water providers and municipalities.The second phase of the project will include compiling data for analysis andperforming the analyses for each program. This will start with researching pastand current conservation programs from throughout the nation, which will bestored in a Microsoft Access database. It will also include surveying waterproviders to obtain primary data on implemented conservation programs. Excel2002 will be used to input, store, and display the data, and to performcalculations.The actual amount of water saved, that will be attributed to the conservationmeasure in question, will be determined by using both pre-measure and post-measurewater use data, and participator and control group water use data.Mean water use will be calculated for both groups pre-measure and postmeasure.The water savings is the difference in the percent increase (ordecrease) of average control group and participant water use from pre-measureto post-measure. Includes table.

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Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 01/11/2004 Number of Pages: 6File Size: 1 file , 230 KB