Sutter Creek – The Amador Water Agency board on Thursday heard a consultant’s report on the progress of a state water conservation program, and looked at the costs involved. RMC Water & Environment, a successful Walnut Creek grant writing company in the field of Integrated Regional Water Management, has been working on the AWA’s Best Management Practices for water conservation. RMC Project Manager Leslie Dumas led the board through the 14 Best Management Practices (BMPs), designed to conserve water, and showed the 2009-2010 budget for the list of practices, or BMPs. She said the practices became mandatory in January. AWA Interim General Manager Gene Mancebo said “it is costly to implement this kind of program,” and staff “will be looking closely – especially this year – at where money is going to come from.” Funding sources included grants, he said. Finance Manager Mike Lee said the costs and structure of the program might have to be reduced, “given the current budget situation.” The AWA board faces potential layoffs this fiscal year, and closed its budget gap, in part, by raising or preparing to raise water rates for all customers. Dumas said the AWA “could include implementation of these BMP programs” in its Integrated Regional Water Management Plan (IRWMP) grant application. She said there are “various ways to obtain funding to implement your program.” RMC last year helped Los Angeles County get a $25 million grant for implementation of its Integrated Regional Water Management Plan. RMC’s website said it secured funding for grants in six regions, totaling $112.5 million, with a “100 percent success rate, preparing grant applications for 6 clients, each of which was awarded grant funding.” Board Vice President Bill Condrashoff asked which BMPs would give the agency the “biggest bang for the buck.” Dumas said the “top savers” of water were led by “leak detection and repair,” which is partially implemented in this fiscal year, at a cost of $21,400, and is expected to cost about $31,000 a year over the next 5 years. Dumas said the BMP addressing that issue is providing a water survey program, including efficiency suggestions for residential customers, or onsite inspections of up to 3 hours. Dumas estimated the cost to be about $300 per survey, based on a presumed 10 hours worked on each individual survey, at $40 an hour. She said the work “even includes reaching out to customers,” if the agency is “not getting calls.” Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.