Successful Rebate Programs

1. Successful Rebate Programs Brent Mecham Irrigation Association

2. Metropolitan Water District Southern Nevada Water Authority San Diego Water Authority Denver Water Seattle Utilities East Bay Metropolitan Utility District Central Utah Water Conservancy District St. Johns River Water Management District Frisco, Texas McAllen, Texas Fort Collins, Colorado Greeley, Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Eugene, Oregon Santa Fe, New Mexico Oviedo, Florida Apopka, Florida Thanks and Appreciation

3. Observations What is meant by successful? Has water use been substantially reduced? Have rebate programs increased awareness? What is the motivation for reducing water use? (Controlling the peak or the quantity?) If the program is too successful, then there is a revenue shortfall. (Is that successful?)

4. Important concepts Public agencies have to set the example Parks departments, public medians, schools, etc. TELL the public lots of times what is being done. Lots of messages not just once. Residential & Commercial programs Tiered rate structures Rebate amount has to be significant $$$ Rebate at least 50% of equipment costs

5. Top Residential Programs “Free” audit or irrigation inspection In-house staff (seasonal employees) or hired contractor Visual inspection of all of the sprinklers with property owner present to see problems Perhaps measure one or two sprinkler zones Create an irrigation schedule based on average seasonal needs Follow-up to see that repairs were performed

6. Why is this successful Huge PR benefit Promote neighbor to neighbor education Focus on the top 10-20% of accounts = greater water savings potential Most volunteers for audits tend to be doing a reasonably good job, they want validation

7. Residential Equipment Rebates #1 Smart Controllers Weather based, Soil Moisture based SWAT Listed or Agency approved list #2 High efficiency nozzle retrofit #3 Microirrigation conversion #4 Pressure regulating sprinklers #5 Rain sensors

8. Successful programs Getting rebate is easy Online processing, reduce paper work to one page Quickly get money to property owner Vouchers = instant rebate, but more work for retailer and utility Saturday is the busiest day, accommodate the customer Rebate is significant amount of money Rebate covers at least 50% of equipment cost Preferred contractor list has participated in local training, becomes an advocate for the utility to the customer

9. Results Sustained water use reductions have been documented on properties getting audits Savings from controller retrofits 10-20% People doing deficit irrigation won’t yield much water savings Rain sensors don’t save much water where it seldom rains

10. Commercial Programs Contractor involvement Train and empower Lead with education & information vs a sale Reward good contractors Preferred listing or recognition (punish the bad actors)

11. Equipment Rebates Multiple options available--customize per property Smart controllers $15-$40 per station up to the cost of the controller High efficiency nozzles $4-5 per nozzle retrofit Microirrigation retrofit

12. Innovative programs Mandatory irrigation inspections every 3 years (biggest water savings) Comprehensive irrigation retrofits with technical assistance (new law with forced compliance) Irrigation Efficiency Program Performance based incentive Pre-approved before implementation Potential water savings > 3 ac/ft per year $3,000 or $6,000 per acre foot water saved pro-rated over 5 years Irrigation Management Services Water budget approach

13. Results Easier to document results on large properties with meters Average water savings 15-25% where mandatory measures are implemented Value of water saved to customer = $$ Money saved by utility = $$$$$ reducing peak demand eliminating the need to develop water source

14. THANK YOU!