What prompts people to save water

By Jerd Smith, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 13, 2007 at midnight

Text size  

• 0 Comments
• Email
• Print

Which would prompt you to save water? High water prices or mandatory restrictions?

A new study indicates that restrictions may work at least as well as stiff prices, especially among high-volume, high-income users.

Since 2002, when Colorado witnessed one of the driest years of the 20th Century, communities across the state have wrestled with how best to encourage residents and businesses to learn to live with less.

Aurora, one of Colorado's most water-short communities, decided to ask researchers at the University of Colorado's Western Water Assessment to help them determine which tools worked best, either alone or in combination with other tools, such as rebates for water-saving appliances.

Researchers examined water use data from 10,000 households in Aurora.

Here are some of their findings:

* Using a simple tiered price system, where prices rise as use rises, causes people to cut back about 5 percent.

* When tiered systems are in place, mandatory restrictions generate another 10 to 15 percent of savings.

* Households that took advantage of rebates for water-efficient toilets, clothes washers and dish washers, reduced water use 10 percent.

"These are really important tools," said Chris Goemans, an economist and assistant professor at Colorado State University who co-authored the study with Doug Kenney, a University of Colorado researcher.

Though restrictions are surprisingly effective, Goemans said it is price, over the long-term, that is most likely to keep water use down as droughts come and go.

"Most economists would like to see prices go, so that people can determine how much water they want to use based on cost, not a restriction. Water is getting increasingly scarce. The price of things that are scarce go up. We live in a desert. That's the reality of it."

Featured

• Winter Escapes

  

  Your insider’s guide to the copious joys of the coolest season.

• Rocky Multimedia

  

  The news comes alive in our videos and slide shows. Catch up on what's happening today.

• Broncos Video

  

  More Broncos videos. Get the latest from Dove Valley

• Sam Adams' Open Mic

  

  Open Mic: Ink-stained wretches in sports

• Season To Share

  

  The Post-News Season To Share campaign provides grants to area nonprofits.

• The Rocky @ 150 Years

  

  The Rocky was there when Colorado became a state in 1876. Read our coverage.

• A Dozen on Denver

  

  And the winner is... Robert Ziegler! See the whole fiction series by clicking here.

• Stein's View

  

  Editorial cartoons by Ed Stein

• Bronco Dean's rant

  

  Listen to Bronco Dean's midweek rant on the Raiders.