Overall Rating	Silver
Overall Score	61.15
Liaison	Ashley Woolman
Submission Date	April 8, 2022

STARS v2.2

Western Colorado University
OP-21: Water Use

Status

Score

Responsible Party

5.00 / 5.00

Ashley Woolman
Sustainability Coordinator
Facilities Services

"---" 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:

Medium to 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	23,370,631 Gallons	45,715,425 Gallons

Potable water use:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use	23,370,631 Gallons	45,715,425 Gallons

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

	Start Date	End Date
Performance Period	July 1, 2017	June 30, 2018
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:

They were the earliest records I could find and it coincides with the adoption of the ACUPCC and our climate action plan. We have records for potable water, but not for non-potable water.

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users":

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	1,026	823
Number of employees resident on-site	5	4
Number of other individuals resident on-site	0	0
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	2,315	1,914
Full-time equivalent of employees	350	302
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	238	112
Weighted campus users	2,078	1,784.75

Potable water use per weighted campus user:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per weighted campus user	11,246.69 Gallons	25,614.47 Gallons

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

56.09

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	1,110,685 Gross square feet	1,036,492 Gross square feet

Potable water use per unit of floor area:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per unit of floor area	21.04 Gallons per square foot	44.11 Gallons per square foot

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

52.29

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

Area of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Vegetated grounds	90 Acres	100 Acres

Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds	259,673.68 Gallons per acre	457,154.25 Gallons per acre

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

43.20

Optional Fields

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

Students have conducted a dorm water use competition to raise awareness of water use trends. Western hosts a "Headwaters" course every summer/fall that discusses Colorado water issues. A new sign highlighting our headwaters, the multi-year drought, and water issues across the West is being placed in between the library and Kelley hall.

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

Western's Grounds Department uses non-potable ditch water to irrigate campus lawns. We "own" part of the rights to the water along with several adjacent ranchers/landowners.

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

In 2009, Western had Ameresco conduct an audit of campus. We replaced most of our fixtures (toilets, showers, sinks) with low flow alternatives between 2009-2011. Also, all new construction and renovations are build to LEED Gold standards, which incorporates low flow fixtures and high efficiency boilers, etc.

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

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Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Western's Grounds Dept uses non-potable ditch water to irrigate campus lawns. We "own" part of the rights to the water along with several adjacent ranchers/landowners. No data has been collected on how much water is used for irrigating lawns and playing fields.