Sustainable Water Infrastructure and Opportunities in Rural Idaho April 2011 Cyndi Grafe.
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Transcript of Sustainable Water Infrastructure and Opportunities in Rural Idaho April 2011 Cyndi Grafe.
Sustainable Water
Infrastructure and
Opportunities in Rural Idaho April 2011
Cyndi Grafe
Presentations
Overview – Cyndi Grafe, EPA R10 Sustainable Infrastructure Team Lead
Examples – Ron Gearhart, Utility Manager, City of Emmett
Tools and Opportunities – David Eberle, Director, Environmental Finance Center (BSU)
What’s Water Infrastructure?
Drinking water, wastewater, stormwater
Pipes, plants, pumps, tanks, drainage systems, meters, hydrants…
• Meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
4
What is Sustainability?
Sustainable Infrastructure
1. Human health, environmental, and service goals
2. Fiscally sound over the long-term
What is Sustainable Infrastructure (SI)?
Time
$ Costs
Revenues
For the nation, the gap is roughly $540 billion over 20 years (by EPA estimates using data through 2000).
$540 BILLION
Gap
Unsustainable InfrastructureA UTILITY‘S PATH TO FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
Time
$Costs
Revenues
Limited by affordability
Limited by potential for efficiency
?
A Path to Financially Sustainable InfrastructureA UTILITY‘S PATH TO FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
Utilities need to be able to assess: 1) how much they can reduce costs through efficiency2) how much the community can afford
Greater effort in an existing framework is not always the answer
Is there a better way?
1. To be sustainable (economically and environmentally) as a community, you need sustainable water infrastructure.
2. To achieve sustainable water infrastructure, you need sustainable utilities.
SI and Rural Idaho Communities
Infrastructure Stability Community Sustainability
Financial Viability Operational Optimization
Water Resource Adequacy Operational Resiliency
Stakeholder Understanding Employee Development
Product Quality Customer Satisfaction
SI Includes:Principles of Sustainable Infrastructure
~3% of the nation’s energy consumption ~$4 billion is spent annually ~56 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) ~45 million tons of GHG
Energy represents the largest controllable cost of providing water or wastewater services to the public >16,000 plants in the US 25-30% of the total plant O&M As energy costs rise, operating costs rise Most wastewater plants have untapped
opportunities to harness wastewater as an energy resource.
Energy Management and Sustainability
energy usage
operating costs
increased heat and power generation
climate impacts / carbon footprint
water usage
sustainability of water infrastructure
sustainability of community
Water and Energy Efficiency (and Generation) at Utilities =
OregonEnergyTrust
EPA
BonnevillePower
ODEQOR Assn
Clean WaterAgencies
Zero WasteAlliance
OR Dept ofEnergy
McMinnville
Gresham
Lewiston, ID
MedfordNewberg
PortlandShady CoveRedmond
Silverton
Vancouver, WA
7 Workshops Energy Management, Renewable Energies,
Climate Action Planning, Energy Benchmarking, Financing/
Incentives, Communication Strategies
Oregon Sustainable Energy Project 2010 - 2011
OR Sustainable Energy Management Systems Cohort
$100,000 Project
Progress…Workshops
• WA Energy Management Workshop : – 75 participants– Co-sponsored with 5
strategic partners– Anticipate WA Cohort
in 2011
Progress…Case Studies
• Small System: Weiser, ID (24% reduction, $19k savings)
• Northeast Pilot anticipated savings: – 14 facilities– $3.7M – 33% annual energy reduction– 20M kWh saved– 17k tons annual CO2
reductions
EPA Region 10 Sustainable Infrastructure Team
• Promote sustainable infrastructure practices
• Help utilities implement sustainable activities
• Resource, partner, and facilitator
Next Steps
• Continue strategic collaboration focusing in:– Energy management– EPA/State strategic
coordination
• Develop support for Idaho training and technical assistance.
Thank You
Cyndi GrafeEPA Region 10 Sustainable Infrastructure [email protected]