Demand Management for Growth in Drought-Prone Regions: Outcomes from Logan Landscape Water Check Interventions
Location
ECC 203
Event Website
https://water.usu.edu/
Start Date
3-31-2008 4:15 PM
End Date
3-31-2008 4:30 PM
Description
In response to drought and regional growth in the United States West, urban water demand management is increasingly important. Residential landscape water check programs that evaluate the efficiency of irrigation systems and watering practices enjoy popularity among municipalities as an outdoor water conservation tool. In Utah’s sixth year of drought (2004), we conducted interview research in connection with free landscape water checks offered to all households in Logan, Utah. During the summer of 2005, we selected a targeted sample of above-average Logan water users but otherwise replicated the intervention (water checks, interviews). The landscape water checks included detailed evaluations of households’ sprinkler systems and landscapes, and provided the occupants with site-specific seasonally adjusted watering schedules and conservation recommendations, which the occupants were encouraged to adopt. Preintervention (at time of water check) and post-intervention (end of growing season) openended interviews were conducted with all households during the year of their water checks and a follow-up mail survey was conducted in summer 2007. The interviews and surveys were designed to discover how participants interact with urban landscapes, their motivations to conserve water, their understanding of water costs and billing information, the acceptability of various water conservation approaches, and the effectiveness of the water check in aiding them to conserve water. Research findings shed light on the complex and contextualized nature of water use in relation to residential landscapes and on methodological issues involved in evaluating conservation program effectiveness. These findings have important implications for municipalities interested in designing and implementing outdoor water conservation programs.
Demand Management for Growth in Drought-Prone Regions: Outcomes from Logan Landscape Water Check Interventions
ECC 203
In response to drought and regional growth in the United States West, urban water demand management is increasingly important. Residential landscape water check programs that evaluate the efficiency of irrigation systems and watering practices enjoy popularity among municipalities as an outdoor water conservation tool. In Utah’s sixth year of drought (2004), we conducted interview research in connection with free landscape water checks offered to all households in Logan, Utah. During the summer of 2005, we selected a targeted sample of above-average Logan water users but otherwise replicated the intervention (water checks, interviews). The landscape water checks included detailed evaluations of households’ sprinkler systems and landscapes, and provided the occupants with site-specific seasonally adjusted watering schedules and conservation recommendations, which the occupants were encouraged to adopt. Preintervention (at time of water check) and post-intervention (end of growing season) openended interviews were conducted with all households during the year of their water checks and a follow-up mail survey was conducted in summer 2007. The interviews and surveys were designed to discover how participants interact with urban landscapes, their motivations to conserve water, their understanding of water costs and billing information, the acceptability of various water conservation approaches, and the effectiveness of the water check in aiding them to conserve water. Research findings shed light on the complex and contextualized nature of water use in relation to residential landscapes and on methodological issues involved in evaluating conservation program effectiveness. These findings have important implications for municipalities interested in designing and implementing outdoor water conservation programs.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/runoff/2008/AllAbstracts/31