CMAP Water Conservation Grant
The City of Evanston is working with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning to develop a water conservation and efficiency program to promote good stewardship of water resources in Evanston.
Overview
The City of Evanston was awarded a Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) technical assistance grant to assist the City in developing a water conservation and efficiency program. The CMAP staff will be working closely with City staff and community stakeholders to develop a plan to increase water efficiency and improve water conservation efforts of Evanston’s residents and businesses. The development of a water efficiency plan for the city of Evanston is consistent with the Evanston Climate Action Plan. Please check back at this webpage periodically because it will be updated with all of the latest news about chances for public comment during the process and the progress that Evanston is making with water efficiency.
Step 1: Existing Conditions
The first step in this process is to understand the City’s current water supply conditions and current water usage. This includes everything from a review of current water supply related ordinances to water rates history and then finally to a review of water efficiency and conservation best practices. This step will ultimately produce a summary of existing conditions findings.
Status: On-going
Step 2: Future Water Demand and Population
In this step the future population of Evanston and their water demand will be estimated through the year 2050. Then this will be compared to the water use reduction goal outlined in the Evanston Climate Action Plan to either confirm that this goal is obtainable or to modify the goal in the Action Plan. At the end of this step, future water demand and Evanston population estimates should be produced.
Status: On-going
Step 3: Community Outreach
The CMAP staff and City of Evanston staff will solicit input from the community during this phase of the project. The feedback received during this time will be incorporated into the final Draft of this Program. There will be a water efficiency advisory team formed during this time including City staff and members of the Evanston Utilities Commission, Environment Board and other community groups. There will also be a water usage survey sent out during this time to engage the Evanston community.
Status: On-going
Take the survey here>>>
Step 4: Draft Program
After the community outreach portion of the process wraps up, a Draft Program for the City of Evanston will be drawn up using your input from the previous step. Once the Draft Program is finished it will be reviewed by key City staff. This will be followed by a Public Open House which will give Evanston residents and business community a chance to voice any comments or concerns about the Draft Program. The Public Open House is scheduled for Thursday April 26th and will be held at the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center.
Status: Draft Program presentation to City Council expected for May 2012.
Step 5: Final Program
Based on the reviews and comments of the Draft Program, a Draft Final Program will be created for key City staff to review and then to present to the City Council. After making any final updates to the program, the Final Program will be presented to City Council for adoption. A Final Program Release Event will be held following adoption of the Program by City Council, marking the beginning of program implementation.
Status: Final program release expected for July 2012.
Resources
CMAP Local Technical Assistance - CMAP's description of the first wave of local communities identified for assistance.
City of Evanston - Evanston's press release outlining the awarded CMAP grant.