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Best Drought Resistance is an Educated Public

A rebranding of the nation’s sewage reflects a trend in better technology for cleaning wastewater, as well as the need to secure that resource.

(TNS) -- Drought is no longer looming on the horizon for central Oklahoma, thanks to record breaking rains this spring and early summer, but water industry officials say water is still a critical issue for the state and the nation.

Norman has the unusual distinction of being the only city in the state that is required by the city charter to bring every utility rate increase to the people for a vote of approval. That means Norman Utility Director Ken Komiske must work with city leaders to educate the public for a major campaign for every infrastructure upgrade or Department of Environmental Quality regulation that results in the need for more revenue from rate payers.

In January 2013, the Army Corps of Engineers began releasing 30,000 acre-feet of water from Canton Lake in an effort to partially replenish Oklahoma City’s drinking water supply, which had been depleted by three years of drought.

Water from Canton traveled from northwest Oklahoma along the North Canadian River to Lake Hefner, which had reached a record low in 2013. Even though the Oklahoma City Water Utilities Trust owns water rights in Canton Lake and has for decades, OKC faced significant criticism for its lack of a solid conservation plan.

OKC residents, on the other hand, had experienced an unusually long pluvial, or high rain, period and weren’t used to being told when they could and could not water their lawns. Public education became critical for the state’s largest metro as it implemented changes in its water strategy.

Representatives from Norman and OKC spoke on these issues at the 36th annual Oklahoma Governor’s Water Conference and Research Symposium at Embassy Suites in Norman last week.

Komiske, along with Bob Johnson, president of the Water Reuse Association, Bret Weingart, assistant director for Oklahoma City utilities, and Dr. Justin Moss, associate professor at Oklahoma State University, spoke on education and outreach campaigns for water conservation and reuse.

Komiske said Norman has been actively pursing reuse as part of its long-term water supply. The city hopes to use highly treated effluent from its Water Reclamation Facility to augment Lake Thunderbird in the future. Right now, the effluent is discharged into the Canadian River and makes its way to Lake Eufaula, but the longer route allows nature to do much of the cleansing.

Most cities are downstream from some other city’s effluent dishcharge.

Norman hosted six public meetings as it developed its strategic water supply plan and garnered community buy-in for water conservation and reuse.

“We invited the community to be a part of this process,” Komiske said.

As reuse has come to the forefront in the nationwide battle to secure a future water supply for America’s growing population, names of sewer plants have changed from wastewater facility to water reclamation facility and, in some places, water resource recovery facility, Komiske said.

This rebranding of the nation’s sewage reflects a trend in better technology for cleaning wastewater, as well as the need to secure that resource.

“We have to change our customers’ thought process, just like we did with recycling,” Komiske said.

Norman’s curbside recycling program went from 40 percent participation to a current participation rate around 90 percent in a few short years due to public education, environmental awareness and ease of participation.

Johnson said making potable reuse a reality is the mission of the Water Reuse Association. Education can be a tough sell because people see water as a renewable resource.

“It’s really hard to get their attention unless you turn their water off,” Johnson said.

That means water industry stakeholders must find innovative approaches to gain the public’s attention.

Heavy water use means aquifers — the nation’s underground water storage cities tap through wells — are being drained faster than they naturally replenish. Drought can threaten surface water like lakes.

“Conservation alone will not provide what we need,” Johnson said. “It will not solve our water needs.”

The challenge with reuse is getting past the “yuck” factor, he said.

“If we want to garner public acceptance, we need to generate the right message,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be critical that we gain public trust that this water is clean and that it’s drinkable, no matter where it’s been, no matter what it’s previous life was. The message is ‘your water is safe.’”

Oklahoma City sought to silence its critics by implementing a stronger conservation program, but enforcement can be a challenge without public acceptance.

Education on appropriate irrigation techniques has been key to OKC’s conservation program, along with a cooperative venture with experts at Oklahoma State University through the county extension program.

“About 50 percent of water used outdoors is wasted,” Weingart said.

High-flow sprinkler heads or misdirected heads that put water on sidewalks and streets instead of grass and vegetation, irrigating when it’s raining or spraying irrigation in high winds are examples of wasted water, Weingart said.

“Landscapes are overwatered on an automated schedule,” he said. “The calendar is the worst way to water.”

OKC focused efforts to eliminate older sprinkler systems for newer technology that would pay off in savings of dollars and water.

“We cannot order our customers to change their behavior,” Weingart said.

Partnering with OSU for public education and outreach, working with local media and implementing a block rate structure that charged more per gallon for the highest water users were some of the actions OKC took to get across its message.

Statistical analysis confirms reduced water rates as a result, with 4,700 gallons per average customer use in 2015 compared to 5,450 gallons in 2013.

“Our customers are responding,” Johnson said.

The Drought Tolerant Plant guide is a tool OSU recommends, along with using irrigation sensors and rain sensors to avoid unnecessary landscape watering.

“We really got bailed out,” Moss said. “Without those rainfalls (this spring), Oklahoma would be in serious trouble.”

©2015 The Norman Transcript (Norman, Okla.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.