MMWD water audit program
Case Study: Marin Municipal Water District
Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) uses in-house staff to run its water
survey program. An early innovator with landscape "audits," as they were then
called, MMWD has offered surveys since the late 1980s. Initially, surveys
concentrated on changes in management and irrigation scheduling. Now a more
broad-based Conservation Assistance Program (CAP) is offered which includes
field testing, water budgets, financial incentives, and education. In addition, the
water budgets are linked with water rates so that a customer pays significantly
more for water over the budgeted amount. Specifically, CAP activities include the
following:

Water budgets: Budgets are assigned to all irrigation account customers.
They are based on either historical use for older accounts or a calculated
function based on climate zone and landscaped area.

Surveys: When the customer receives financial incentives, MMWD assists
the customer in setting up their new equipment with a system survey.
This provides added insurance that installed hardware is properly
calibrated and used. Surveys might include "catch cup" tests or other field
related work.

Education: Classes in irrigation maintenance and management are
periodically offered to customers. The objective is to develop customer
understanding of the requirements for operating irrigation systems
efficiently. Current class work includes system evaluation, testing, and
schedule development on personal computers.