Overall Rating	Gold
Overall Score	72.06
Liaison	Dave Barbier
Submission Date	March 22, 2024

STARS v2.2

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
OP-21: Water Use

Status

Score

Responsible Party

5.51 / 6.00

Sergio Romero
Data Analyst
Office of Sustainability

"---" 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:

High

Part 1. Reduction in potable water use per person

Total water withdrawal (potable and non-potable combined):

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total water withdrawal	24,240.83 Cubic meters	40,664.03 Cubic meters

Potable water use:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use	24,240.83 Cubic meters	40,664.03 Cubic meters

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):

	Start Date	End Date
Performance Period	July 1, 2022	June 30, 2023
Baseline Period	July 1, 2006	June 30, 2007

If end date of the baseline year/period is 2004 or earlier, provide:

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

2007 is when we did our first greenhouse gas inventory and decided to use it as our baseline for several other metrics including water use.

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users":

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	3,277	3,211
Number of employees resident on-site	13	0
Number of other individuals resident on-site	0	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	7,059	8,165
Full-time equivalent of employees	1,075	1,001
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	1,343	0
Weighted campus users	5,915.75	7,677.25

Potable water use per weighted campus user:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per weighted campus user	4.10 Cubic meters	5.30 Cubic meters

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

22.64

Part 2. Reduction in potable water use per unit of floor area

Gross floor area of building space:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Gross floor area	262,548.34 Gross square meters	245,164.33 Gross square meters

Potable water use per unit of floor area:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per unit of floor area	0.09 Cubic meters per square meter	0.17 Cubic meters per square meter

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

44.33

Part 3. Reduction in total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds

Area of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Vegetated grounds	73.41 Hectares	29.14 Hectares

Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds	330.21 Cubic meters per hectare	1,395.60 Cubic meters per hectare

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

76.34

Optional Fields

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

The biggest change to our water use across campus has been by keeping up-to-date with the latest advancements in seed technology. The UWSP Grounds Work Unit uses grass seed that is encapsulated with both starter fertilizer to accelerate root development and a water retention polymer designed to keep grass seeds hydrated between waterings. The water retention polymer provides additional protection should you miss a watering because the special coating retains water when the soil is moist and automatically releases it when the soil is dry. This makes the seed ideal for growing grass, plus environmentally friendly because it contains just the right amount of fertilizer so there is no worry about excess fertilizer disrupting the surrounding environment. With the addition of the water retention polymer, UWSP is able to conserve water. The Grounds Work Unit also utilizes Regenerating Perennial Ryegrass, or RPR, a subspecies of traditional perennial ryegrass that was developed specifically to withstand heavy traffic and rapidly recover. This seed technology allows high traffic areas such as a football practice field to recover faster with less watering, again conserving natural resources. Furthermore, there have been small campaigns across social media and campus messaging to conserve water. These messages encourage both students and staff to reduce their water use where possible in efforts to conserver. These can be found across the year but most often during Earth Week or other sustainability related content.

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

Our grounds team has become more conservative in their water use and water placement. Additionally some stormwater management techniques have been developed to use grey water to water parts of our managed landscape.

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

several changes across campus took place across the last decade to decrease our water usage including but not limited to: Tuned toilets/urinals flushometers to achieve standard performance Incorporate dual flush technology Install low flow aerators on sinks Install reduced flow shower heads at several resdential halls Implemented planned maintenance to better maintain water Replaced dining hall dishwashers with high efficiency models Updated some laundry appliances for more efficient models

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

https://www3.uwsp.edu/facsv/Pages/Grounds-Sustainability.aspx

Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

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