Joint Statement of Commitment
FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A STATEWIDE
COMPREHENSIVE WATER CONSERVATION PROGRAM FOR PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection; the South
Florida Water Management District; the St. Johns River Water
Management District; the Southwest Florida Water Management District;
the Northwest Florida Water Management District; the Suwannee River
Water Management District; the Florida Public Service Commission; the
Utility Council of the American Water Works Association, Florida
Section; the Utility Council of the Florida Water Environment
Association; and the Florida Rural Water Association; collectively
hereinafter referred to as the SIGNATORIES, endorse the following
Joint Statement of Commitment regarding the Statewide Comprehensive
Water Conservation Program for Public Water Supply, herein after
referred to as the PROGRAM.
Background
In 2001-2002, the SIGNATORIES to this Joint Statement, in
collaboration with many other stakeholders, participated in the
Florida Water Conservation Initiative. All water uses were addressed
in this wide-ranging process and the participants collectively
recommended many conservation tools in the April 2002 Report from the
Water Conservation Initiative. It was recognized that enhanced water
conservation would benefit all water uses, both economically and
environmentally, as well as to ensure the sustainability of Florida’s
water resources.
As discussed in the Water Conservation Initiative, public water
supply currently represents the second largest water use sector in
Florida. Conservation is a very important demand management tool for
public water supply utilities to enhance the sustainability of
Florida's water resources. Many years of developing, implementing,
and refining water conservation programs by public water supply
utilities have created the opportunity for the next phase of
effectiveness: the implementation of the Statewide Comprehensive
Water Conservation Program for Public Water Supply.
WHEREAS conservation of water is an important means of
achieving economical and efficient utilization of water and ensuring
the sustainability of the water resources of Florida; and
WHEREAS the public water supply industry, in cooperation with
the water management districts, has achieved substantial water
conservation through existing programs but recognizes that meaningful
improvements are still possible; and
WHEREAS social, economic, and cultural conditions vary by
geographic region within the State, resulting in the need for public
water supply utilities to have the flexibility to tailor conservation
programs to reflect their individual circumstances; and
WHEREAS the current water use regulatory system allows
flexibility in water use permitting with regard to water conservation
but could be improved; and
WHEREAS a range of conservation practices are available for
implementation to achieve more efficient use of water; and
WHEREAS individual utilities should be encouraged to
implement water conservation practices that are economically
efficient, effective, affordable, and appropriate; and
WHEREAS it is the intent of the PROGRAM to allow no reduction
in utility-specific water conservation effectiveness; and
WHEREAS the PROGRAM should be goal-based, accountable, and
measurable and developed and implemented collaboratively with water
suppliers, water users, and water management agencies; and
WHEREAS individual water conservation programs should focus
upon cost-effective measures for the unique characteristics of
particular utility service areas incorporating analyses of economic
efficiency of individual practices, where appropriate; and
WHEREAS it is essential to establish a centralized
clearinghouse to encompass new and existing information on water
conservation programs and practices to support sharing of results,
identification of benchmarks and performance measures for
effectiveness, and continual assessment of water conservation programs
and practices; and
WHEREAS the successful development and implementation of the
PROGRAM will require the allocation of financial resources.
THEREFORE, the SIGNATORIES agree that a goal-based,
accountable, and measurable PROGRAM should be developed and
implemented to allow public water supply utilities the flexibility to
tailor cost-effective conservation programs to reflect their
individual circumstances so as to achieve greater water use
efficiency. Towards implementing the PROGRAM, the following should be
undertaken:
- Develop standardized public water supply conservation
definitions and measurement practices.
- Collect public water supply information using standardized
conservation definitions and measurement practices.
- Develop quantitative and qualitative performance measures in
an overall system for assessing and benchmarking the effectiveness
of water conservation programs and practices.
- Develop processes for evaluation of the effectiveness of
utility-specific water conservation practices such as cost-benefit
analyses, cost-effectiveness analyses, or other suitable methods.
- Develop a consistent approach to the design, implementation,
evaluation, and adaptation of utility-specific water conservation
programs. The attached flowchart (“Utility Process for Statewide
Comprehensive Water Conservation Program for Public Water Supply”)
should serve as the framework for the design of that overall
approach.
- Develop a minimum set of water conservation practices (scaled
to utility size) to be implemented by all utilities.
- Develop and maintain a Florida-specific water conservation
guidance document, as a part of the overall PROGRAM, to support
the design and implementation of utility-specific water
conservation programs.
C. Ensure Regulatory Frameworks Adequately Support
Flexibility in the Design of Water Conservation Programs
- Collaboratively develop a consistent regulatory process to
implement the PROGRAM.
- Collaboratively develop utility-specific water conservation
goals, and require utilities to be accountable for
achieving those goals.
- Provide regulatory flexibility in the selection of water
conservation practices for each particular water supply utility by
focusing on the effectiveness of the utility’s water conservation
program.
- Establish a water conservation clearinghouse to include an
accessible, integrated database for information collection,
evaluation of conservation effectiveness, and distribution of
qualitative and quantitative information on water conservation
programs and practices.
- Utilize the clearinghouse as a resource to assist in the
development and implementation of water conservation programs and
practices.
- Identify other forms of assistance the public water supply
utilities need to assess and select appropriate water conservation
practices.
- Explore opportunities for research to support refinement of
water conservation practices and development of utility-specific
programs.
The SIGNATORIES agree that collaboration is essential for the
achievement of the above goals. The SIGNATORIES further agree to
undertake the following two-step process:
Step 1. Within twelve (12) months of the execution of this
Statement, a Work Plan will be developed with specific tasks,
interim milestones, completion dates, estimates of costs for each
task, and assignment of responsibilities to:
- An integrated statewide database for the collection,
evaluation, and dissemination of quantitative and qualitative
information on water conservation programs and practices and
their effectiveness.
- Technical assistance capabilities to aid in the design,
refinement, and implementation of water conservation programs
and practices.
- Continual assessment of the effectiveness of water
conservation programs and practices.
Step 2. The signatories will consider and approve for
implementation as appropriate the elements of the Work Plan.
It is recognized that the final Work Plan, which will include more
specific detail than the outline above, may deviate from that outline,
but will continue to represent the overall intent of the Signatories
to pursue greater efficiency in public water supply use as indicated
in this Statement. Towards that end, the ongoing collaborative
efforts to develop and implement the PROGRAM should move forward as
rapidly as feasible.
 ppendix 2: Excerpt from
House Bill 293
Section 8. Section 373.227, Florida Statutes, is created to read:
373.227 Water conservation; legislative findings; legislative
intent; objectives; comprehensive statewide water conservation program
requirements.--
(1) The Legislature recognizes that the proper conservation of
water is an important means of achieving the economical and efficient
utilization of water necessary, in part, to constitute a
reasonable-beneficial use. The overall water conservation goal of the
state is to prevent and reduce wasteful, uneconomical, impractical, or
unreasonable use of water resources. The Legislature finds that the
social, economic, and cultural conditions of the state relating to the
use of public water supply vary by service area and that public water
supply utilities must have the flexibility to tailor water
conservation measures to best suit their individual circumstances. The
Legislature encourages the use of efficient, effective, and affordable
water conservation measures. Where water is provided by a public water
supply utility, the Legislature intends that a variety of conservation
measures be made available and used to encourage efficient water use.
To achieve these conservation objectives, the state should emphasize
goal-based, accountable, tailored, and measurable water conservation
programs for public water supply. For purposes of this section, the
term "public water supply utility" includes both publicly owned and
privately owned public water supply utilities that sell potable water
on a retail basis to end users.
(2) To implement the findings in subsection (1), the department, in
cooperation with the water management districts and other
stakeholders, shall develop a comprehensive statewide water
conservation program for public water supply. The program should:
(a) Encourage utilities to implement water conservation programs
that are economically efficient, effective, affordable, and
appropriate;
(b) Allow no reduction in, and increase where possible,
utility-specific water conservation effectiveness over current
programs;
(c) Be goal-based, accountable, measurable, and implemented
collaboratively with water suppliers, water users, and water
management agencies;
(d) Include cost and benefit data on individual water conservation
practices to assist in tailoring practices to be effective for the
unique characteristics of particular utility service areas, focusing
upon cost-effective measures;
(e) Use standardized public water supply conservation definitions
and standardized quantitative and qualitative performance measures for
an overall system of assessing and
benchmarking the effectiveness of water conservation programs and
practices;
(f) Create a clearinghouse or inventory for water conservation
programs and practices available to public water supply utilities
which will provide an integrated statewide database for the
collection, evaluation, and dissemination of quantitative and
qualitative information on public water supply conservation programs
and practices and their effectiveness. The clearinghouse or inventory
should have technical assistance capabilities to aid in the design,
refinement, and implementation of water conservation programs and
practices. The clearinghouse or inventory shall also provide for
continual assessment of the effectiveness of water conservation
programs and practices;
(g) Develop a standardized water conservation planning process for
utilities; and
(h) Develop and maintain a Florida-specific water conservation
guidance document containing a menu of affordable and effective water
conservation practices to assist public water supply utilities in the
design and implementation of goal-based, utility-specific water
conservation plans tailored for their individual service areas as
provided in subsection
(3) Regarding the use of water conservation or drought rate
structures as a conservation practice, a water management district
shall afford a public water supply utility wide latitude in selecting
a rate structure and shall limit its review to whether the utility has
provided reasonable assurance that the rate structure contains a
schedule of rates designed to promote efficient use of water by
providing economic incentives. A water management district shall not
fix or revise rates.
(4) As part of an application for a consumptive use permit, a
public water supply utility may propose a goal-based water
conservation plan that is tailored to its individual circumstances.
Progress towards goals must be measurable. If the utility provides
reasonable assurance that the plan will achieve effective water
conservation at least as well as the water conservation requirements
adopted by the appropriate water management district and is otherwise
consistent with s. 373.223, the district must approve the plan which
shall satisfy water conservation requirements imposed as a condition
of obtaining a consumptive use permit. The conservation measures
included in an approved goal-based water conservation plan may be
reviewed periodically and updated as needed to ensure efficient water
use for the duration of the permit. If the plan fails to meet the
water conservation goal or goals by the timeframes specified in the
permit, the public water supply utility shall revise the plan to
address the deficiency or employ the water conservation requirements
that would otherwise apply in the absence of an approved goal-based
plan.
(5) By December 1, 2005, the department shall submit a written
report to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, and the appropriate substantive committees of the
Senate and the House of Representatives on the progress made in
implementing the comprehensive statewide water conservation program
for public water supply required by this section. The report must
include any statutory changes and funding requests necessary for the
continued development and implementation of the program.
(6) The department or a water management district may adopt rules
pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to carry out the purposes of
this section.
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