Abstract
California’s diverse geography and dynamic weather patterns leave the state susceptible to drought; therefore, water conservation efforts are an essential component of achieving water sustainability in not only Sacramento County, but the state as well. In order to promote the concept of making water conservation a way of life, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1668 (AB1668) and Senate Bill 606 (SB606) into effect in 2018, both of which have drastic impacts on water utilities throughout the state by penalizing water utilities for not meeting strict water use targets. The hydrologic properties and dynamic weather patterns of California continuously highlight the need for more effective water management practices; however, the technique for achieving this should be planned strategically and collaboratively. Urban water suppliers throughout the state will be required to develop an overall water use objective that encompasses both an indoor water use objective, and an outdoor water use target calculated using the Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO) approach. To carry out the State’s approach, there are numerous parameters including plant factors, irrigation efficiency, reference evapotranspiration, and population factors that significantly impact the results of the overall water use objective calculation. Because each of these input parameters heavily influence the overall water budget, each urban water supplier should invest time in ensuring the input parameters used are representative of their local conditions.
To my knowledge, the residential indoor water use targets, residential outdoor water use targets, Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional (CII) outdoor water use targets, and water loss thresholds have not undergone a feasibility study to ensure the targets are reasonable. The objective of this thesis project is to quantitatively analyze Sacramento County Water Agency’s likelihood of achieving regulatory compliance by comparing historical consumption data to calculated water use targets, and to conduct a sensitivity analysis of the various input parameters that affect these results.