Overall Rating Bronze
Overall Score 26.56
Liaison Noah Hughes
Submission Date Dec. 31, 2022

STARS v2.2

Modesto Junior College
OP-21: Water Use

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.17 / 6.00 Noah Hughes
Prof of Earth Sciences
Earth Sciences
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Level of ”Physical Risk Quantity” for the institution’s main campus as indicated by the World Resources Institute Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas:
Extremely High

Total water withdrawal (potable and non-potable combined):
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total water withdrawal 210,142,988 Gallons 211,828,980 Gallons

Potable water use:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Potable water use 90,792,988 Gallons 92,478,980 Gallons

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Period July 1, 2020 June 30, 2021
Baseline Period July 1, 2018 June 30, 2019

A brief description of when and why the water use baseline was adopted:

We choose these fiscal years to align with other areas of the STARS report, such as building efficiency. We note that 2020-2021 performance year was dhwn campus was mostly closed during the COVID 19 pandemic.


Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users":
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site 28 28
Number of employees resident on-site 1 1
Number of other individuals resident on-site 3 3
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment 13,155.38 13,454.18
Full-time equivalent of employees 763.50 763.50
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education 8,451.30 3,850.74
Weighted campus users 4,110.93 7,785.46

Potable water use per weighted campus user:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Potable water use per weighted campus user 22,085.73 Gallons 11,878.43 Gallons

Percentage reduction in potable water use per weighted campus user from baseline:
0

Gross floor area of building space:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Gross floor area 1,115,526 Gross square feet 1,115,526 Gross square feet

Potable water use per unit of floor area:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Potable water use per unit of floor area 81.39 Gallons per square foot 82.90 Gallons per square foot

Percentage reduction in potable water use per unit of floor area from baseline:
1.82

Area of vegetated grounds:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Vegetated grounds 37.50 Acres 37.50 Acres

Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds 5,603,813.01 Gallons per acre 5,648,772.80 Gallons per acre

Percentage reduction in total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds from baseline:
0.80

A brief description of the institution's water-related behavior change initiatives:
---

A brief description of the institution's water recovery and reuse initiatives:

Stormwater is gathered in the west campus pond and reused by animals that graze around it.


A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace plumbing fixtures, fittings, appliances, equipment, and systems with water-efficient alternatives:

Low flow faucets and toilets have been installed across campus. New district building (located on west campus) uses drip irigation and collects rainwater for later use.


Website URL where information about the institution’s water conservation and efficiency efforts is available:
---

Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Potable water amounts taken from the "energy spreadsheets" file, under City of Modesto tab. Non-potable estimates based on information provided by Andy Alderson, Agricultural Operations Manager. He estimated that, in 2022, ag pulled 355 af from MID canal. This equates to 115,700,000 gallons. That water goes to all food production (crops on west campus and Beckwith). This number can vary year to year depending on MID allotment allowed, but we used it in our estimates for baseline and performance years, as it is likely a good estimate. The number might be higher or lower depending on water supply conditions. This data is from 2022, when the allotment was 30 inches/acre. In addition, on west campus wells are used to pull non-potable water for use in dairy, swine, and irrigation. (cleaning barns and livestock drinking water). He estimated 8000-10,000 gallons per day. Assuming this occurs 365 days /year, that number is 3,650,000 gallons per year. We consider all of this water to be used in food production and will not count as being used on "vegetated grounds" only.
To estimate vegetated grounds, Google Earth was used to measure out irrigated green vegetation that is not used for food production (horse pasture included). Some areas with scattered vegetated grounds were estimated using Minera lPercentage Estimate Charts (https://www.southalabama.edu/geography/allison/gy303/MineralPercentageEstimateCharts.pdf). Measurements are drawn onto two pdfs files ("east campus veg map" & "west campus veg map"). A sample was uploaded to STARS reporting tool.

Discrepancies in weighted campus users between this field and PRE-5 are due to the numbers being derived from different years, one of which was a pandemic year. For PRE-5, we used data from AY 2019-2020, which was the last academic year where population data was unaffected by COVID pandemic. For this credit, we used data from our baseline (FY 2018-1019) and performance years (FY 2020-2021). Our performance year coincides with the COVID pandemic (and the closure of our campus), which explains the discrepancy in weighted campus users.


Potable water amounts taken from the "energy spreadsheets" file, under City of Modesto tab. Non-potable estimates based on information provided by Andy Alderson, Agricultural Operations Manager. He estimated that, in 2022, ag pulled 355 af from MID canal. This equates to 115,700,000 gallons. That water goes to all food production (crops on west campus and Beckwith). This number can vary year to year depending on MID allotment allowed, but we used it in our estimates for baseline and performance years, as it is likely a good estimate. The number might be higher or lower depending on water supply conditions. This data is from 2022, when the allotment was 30 inches/acre. In addition, on west campus wells are used to pull non-potable water for use in dairy, swine, and irrigation. (cleaning barns and livestock drinking water). He estimated 8000-10,000 gallons per day. Assuming this occurs 365 days /year, that number is 3,650,000 gallons per year. We consider all of this water to be used in food production and will not count as being used on "vegetated grounds" only.
To estimate vegetated grounds, Google Earth was used to measure out irrigated green vegetation that is not used for food production (horse pasture included). Some areas with scattered vegetated grounds were estimated using Minera lPercentage Estimate Charts (https://www.southalabama.edu/geography/allison/gy303/MineralPercentageEstimateCharts.pdf). Measurements are drawn onto two pdfs files ("east campus veg map" & "west campus veg map"). A sample was uploaded to STARS reporting tool.

Discrepancies in weighted campus users between this field and PRE-5 are due to the numbers being derived from different years, one of which was a pandemic year. For PRE-5, we used data from AY 2019-2020, which was the last academic year where population data was unaffected by COVID pandemic. For this credit, we used data from our baseline (FY 2018-1019) and performance years (FY 2020-2021). Our performance year coincides with the COVID pandemic (and the closure of our campus), which explains the discrepancy in weighted campus users.

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.