Water Conservation is One of Many Water Management Strategies
The City of Santa Fe announces the launch of the 2015 “It’s Not Coming Back” seasonal public outreach campaign.
The campaign is designed to promote water conservation and water saving and rebate reminders during the fifth consecutive year of a record setting drought. With historical low precipitation conditions, the water conservation campaign is one of many demand management and water resource supply strategies implemented by the City to meet annual and peak summer watering season demands. The City has one single message: unlimited water use is a thing of the past.
“Unlike many southwestern cities that have only one or two unsustainable sources of water supply, the City is able to meet demand and plan for future delivery of drinking water because of visionary water planning, insightful elected officials, and a community culture that truly values and conserves our water,” said Rick Carpenter, Water Resource and Conservation Manager.
Santa Fe has planned and invested in a robust and diversified supply of water and the infrastructure delivering water to our homes and businesses. The City has four direct water supply sources, including two groundwater sources (City Well Field and Buckman Well Field), and two sustainable surface water sources in two separate watersheds (Canyon Road Water Treatment Plant on the upper Santa Fe River and Buckman Regional Water Treatment Plant on the Rio Grande). The City has also built up a robust assortment of water rights to support the wet water that is produced from these four sources. The water system is managed not only to meet our annual water supply needs, but also to meet peek daily demands during the summer. In addition, the City is elevating additional direct and indirect potable use of reclaimed waste water, which can be considered a fifth indirect source of water.
“As a sixth indirect source, the City of Santa Fe and its water customers enjoy one of the most effective water conservation programs in the entire nation – this cannot be over emphasized, but we can’t afford to forget we are in our fifth consecutive year of record-breaking drought, with much uncertainty regarding the climate, prolonged drought, and population growth. So the challenge remains in our community to continue to be proactive in both water management and in our water conservation efforts”, stated Carpenter.
The campaign takes a light-hearted, but urgent approach to encourage water saving behavior through a series of vintage pictures depicting the tagline “It’s not coming back”, emphasizing unlimited use of water is a thing of the past.
The ads will rotate in local publications, online venues, radio spots, and utility bill inserts.
“Every drop of water matters at this point and we hope this campaign will get people talking and take additional actions to save water,” said Carpenter.