City Hall: Scottsdale residential customers are leading the way
Staff Reports | Digital Free Press
While temperatures continue to soar across the Valley of the Sun, water use dropped in Scottsdale, saving 7% when compared to July 2022 and nearly 18 million gallons of water, a new report states.
Scottsdale leaders say the water savings are “extraordinary” considering the average high temperature in Phoenix for the month was 115 degrees and temperatures peaked at 119 degrees on three different days. Compare this to an average of 108 degrees in July 2022, which hit 110 degrees on only 14 days. As temperatures went up, water use in Scottsdale went down.
“Scottsdale residents are amazingly adaptive and are true leaders in water conservation,” said Brian Biesemeyer, executive director of Scottsdale Water, in a prepared statement. “To save millions of gallons of water during a period when temperatures hit +110 degrees 30 times in one month shows that people are listening and that they care about water sustainability here in Arizona.”
While last year’s water savings had a lot to do with internal city efforts, a large portion of this year’s savings come from single-family residents, Scottsdale officials say.
July’s water savings are remarkable considering the record-breaking heat, and the numbers for the entire year are just as good. For the first seven months of 2023, Scottsdale has reduced its overall water use by more than 166 million gallons.
Since the declaration of stage one of Scottsdale’s drought management plan, the city has beefed up efforts for saving water throughout the city. In January 2022, the city asked residents and businesses to voluntarily reduce their water use by at least 5%. Internally the city led these efforts by saving more than 6% in 2022.
Scottsdale water savings can be contributed to many factors including:
- Scottsdale’s highly popular grass removal rebate saw a 450% increase in program execution leading up to July. Customers removed 400,000 square feet of grass in one year, which no longer needs water during the hottest months.
- Scottsdale Water promoted an outreach campaign educating homeowners on proper desert landscape watering – no more than two time a week. Heat and drought are tolerated differently with plants, but while more water is needed during Arizona’s hot summers, irrigations need to run longer, not more frequently.
- Residents were asked to not water during the hottest hours of the day (between 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.) to help prevent evaporation loss and increase plant absorption.
- Citywide voluntary water reductions of at least 5% continue to be communicated to the public and customers have heeded the call.
