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Spokane staff present water‑conservation outcomes; AMI portal and rate changes seen as key levers
Summary
City staff reported that SpokaneScape and the Waterwise Challenge are producing the largest household water savings, recommended pairing irrigation rebates with education, and previewed an AMI customer portal and continued rate discussions for 2026.
City of Spokane staff on the Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board’s agenda presented a detailed update on the draft Water Conservation Master Plan, telling the board that some rebate programs are producing measurable savings while others need additional outreach to change behavior.
“SpokaneScape is effective, but it can be expensive,” said Arlene, the city presenter, summarizing program performance. She told the board that SpokaneScape and the Waterwise Challenge — programs that combine incentives with personal interaction — showed the clearest reductions in summer irrigation use, while standalone irrigation rebates and smart‑controller incentives often failed to reduce use unless customers also reset schedules and received follow‑up education.
Staff pointed to changes in the city’s residential rate tiers as an important driver of behavior: a reduction of roughly seven units of summer watering use translates to about $11 a month in 2025 and about $35 over a three‑month summer period for a typical high‑use customer, Arlene said. She contrasted that with commercial rate structures, where higher use is generally charged as a flat top tier and therefore provides a weaker price signal for conservation.
To improve customer visibility and engagement, staff said they have selected a vendor for an automated‑metering infrastructure (AMI) customer portal that will let residents with AMI access near‑real‑time water use data and, potentially, opt in to push notifications when they approach usage limits. Arlene said roughly half of utility customers are on AMI now and that the portal will be rolled out to those accounts in phases.
Board members asked about access for renters (accounts are technically tied to the property owner), whether renters could receive duplicate bills or portal access, and whether the portal could support push notifications or billing‑time reminders. Arlene said those details remain under design and may require account‑level opt‑in or landlord cooperation.
On program design, staff recommended leaning into interventions that pair incentives with hands‑on support — for example, SpokaneScape landscape consultations, Waterwise coaching, and neighborhood demonstration projects — because efficiency hardware alone does not ensure behavior change. They also noted a need to evaluate potential custom rebates, enhanced city‑owned property programs, and increased coordination with Parks.
Next steps: staff will return with more detailed rate analyses and policy recommendations in 2026; the water conservation master plan will come back to the board at its January meetings for further refinement.
