The California Department of Water Resources has awarded West Basin Municipal Water District $800,625 as part of DWR’s 2016 Water-Energy Grant Program. The award will provide funding for two of West Basin’s conservation programs beginning this summer, including the Disadvantaged Community Water-Energy Savings Initiative Program, and the Cash 4 Kitchens Program (C4K).
The current C4K program provides restaurants and other food service facilities with water use assessments to assist their water saving efforts. The assessments include information on water usage and conservation strategies to assist management in training their employees to be more water efficient. The program also provides low-flow devices such as faucet aerators, educational materials and rebate information.
The new C4K program will achieve additional water and energy savings by conducting surveys of kitchen devices and appliances at 225 institutional facilities, such as schools, community centers and hospitals. The program will replace older devices by directly installing new high-efficiency pre-rinse spray valves, faucet flow restrictors, and air-cooled ice machines.
West Basin’s new DAC program will focus on reducing water and energy usage in disadvantaged communities, and will include direct installation of water and energy efficient devices such as front-loading washing machines. The program will also provide rebate information, educational material and customer assistance for residents living in West Basin’s DAC service area.
Eligibility for the program is based on areas identified as disadvantaged communities by the State of California. These areas are identified as earning less than 80% of the statewide median household income.
West Basin is currently developing a Long-Term Water Efficiency Strategic Plan to achieve long-term water conservation. The Plan will identify current needs and goals, and focus on developing partnerships, assisting local water retailers and cities and developing cost-effective programs. For more information about West Basin’s conservation programs, please visit: www.westbasin.org/conservation.
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