California is in its third year of extreme drought. By the end of February, 2022 was recorded as the driest year in the past 128 years and reservoir levels were well below average for the time of year1. Despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s repeated pleas for a 15% voluntary cutback in water use, Californian’s continue to ignore the message. They used 2.6% more water in January 2022 compared to before the drought emergency was declared2 and between July 2021 and January 2022 Californian’s only managed to conserve 6.5% water statewide – falling far short of Newsom’s requested 15%.
Water suppliers must step up drought responses
As another dry summer looms, Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered water suppliers across California to step up their local drought responses. However, he fell short of requiring water rationing or setting a statewide conservation target. The State Water Resources Control Board’s (SWRCB) per capita consumption limit currently stands at just 55 gallons per person per day – but it’s a target that’s currently purely aspirational and inspirational3.
Gov. Newsom’s order currently leaves the exact conservation measures up to the urban water providers and major water wholesalers that supply the vast majority of Californians. But in four years time that will change. Starting in 2027, local water suppliers’ failure to comply with SWRCB’s adopted long-term standards could result in fines of $1,000 per day during non-drought years, and $10,000 per day during declared drought emergencies and certain dry years – if the supplier does not meet its cumulative standard of 55 gallons per day.
With such extreme drought conditions, California is in water crisis. Now is the time for California’s water suppliers to ramp up their customer engagement efforts. You must take action and encourage residents to reduce their water consumption. How? By educating them on ways to reduce their usage and by promoting water efficiency products.
How Advizzo can help
Advizzo’s customer engagement platform and solutions are designed to help water providers engage with their customers, change consumer behaviors and reduce their water consumption. We’re proven to reduce consumption by between 1-3% per annum.
We are a global specialist in customer engagement solutions for water and utility companies. We work with water and energy companies throughout the world to help reduce residential consumption. We do it by applying data science and behavioral science techniques, combined with a robust customer engagement platform.
How does it work?
- We combine and analyze data, including meter and billings data, alongside information we acquire about an individual household via our customer surveys and audit, and third party data, to get a clearer picture of a household’s water consumption and behaviors.
- We send customers personalized water reports that compare their usage with households of a similar demographic. This is based on the behavioral science nudge theory – which you can read about in our blog – how a nudge can help your customers save energy and water
- We provide customers with bespoke tips based on their usage, that are designed to help them reduce their consumption. We can also help promote appropriate water saving products and appliances.
- We engage with customers on our platform and encourage the completion of audits and surveys to acquire additional data, which enables us to further refine our communications.
We are already working with Trukee Donner Public Utility District (TDPUD) in California to help their customers reduce their consumption. TDPUD is eager to assist its customers in making behavioral changes to reduce their water and power consumption. Our data science and behavioral science-based customer engagement platform solutions will empower TDPUD customers to make sustainable adjustments to their water and power consumption patterns through personalized data insights and advice.
Steven Keates, Sr. Conservation and Customer Service Analyst, TDPUD commented,
“Understanding how our patterns and habits impact our natural resources is critical if we want to meet our local (and global) climate goals. We are excited to partner with Advizzo to develop tools which will help us to gain a better understanding of our community’s unique needs. We expect that Advizzo’s customer engagement and analytics platform(s) will enable the District to craft conservation and decarbonization programs specifically optimized to support our local community.”
How are you helping your water customers to reduce their consumption? Will you be ready to reach the 55 gallon per person limit by 2027? The time to start reducing water consumption is now. Let us help you! Get in touch today.
Source ref
1https://www.sonomacity.org/keep-conserving-stage-2-mandatory-water-conservation-shortage-remains-in-effect/
2https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/07/california-water-use-drought/
3https://deeply.thenewhumanitarian.org/water/articles/2018/06/20/california-limits-daily-personal-water-use-to-55-gallons-kind-of