Opinion: Water. Water! Water?
Before the city of American Canyon was incorporated in 1992, there existed two public entities, the American Canyon County Water District and the Independent American Canyon Fire Protection District. When the city was incorporated, it absorbed the County Water District.
American Canyon does not have its own water source, which means the city must purchase much of its own water. Because of its continuing growth, more water is needed to keep up with the demand. In October 2008, the city adopted a Zero Water Footprint (ZWF) Policy to save and conserve potable water. This policy required all new construction that uses water to find some way to offset the use of potable water.
The policy states, “As part of ongoing water conservation efforts in the commercial sector, the City of American Canyon adopted a Zero Water Footprint Policy. Also known as ZWF, the primary goal of this policy is that there is no loss in reliability or increase in water rates for existing water service customers due to new demand for water within the City’s water service area. In order to meet our ZWF standards, Developers must ensure that all new developments offset the amount of increasing potable water that will be consumed by their project on a one-to-one basis. As part of the process, Developers are first required to minimize their demand for new potable water by using water efficient fixtures, consuming recycled water for non-potable water uses when available, dual plumbing buildings, installing water wise landscaping and irrigation, and other appropriate measures. Once the Developer, working with the City, has refined their plan to minimize potable water needs, the City works with them to evaluate the water footprint of the project and the proposed offset to determine if the project has achieved a ZWF…”
A current ZWF Policy was applied to the Domain Apartments on Cookie Hill. The developer was required to run recycled water pipes from Lombard to Hess Road, which will include the Little League Park, which waters their fields with potable water.
These are the types of mitigations developers might adopt to preserve our potable water. Thus, while there may be other reasons residents may oppose new development, but generally use of potable water is not justified.
So, have a drink and know that your water is being protected.
