12-07-12 BPU RPT 05 - Laserfiche WebLink

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W A T E R i E N E R G Y I L I F E RIVERSIDE PUBLIC UTILITIES Board Memorandum PUBLIC UTILITIES BOARD OF PUBLIC UTILITIES DATE: December 7, 2012 ITEM NO: 5 SUBJECT: SMART IRRIGATION PROGRAM CONTRACT ISSUE: That the Board of Public Utilities consider approval of a First Amendment to the Agreement with Valley Soil Incorporated for the Smart Irrigation Program {SIP}to extend the term by one year, to December 31, 2013. RECOMMENDATIONS: That the Board of Public Utilities: 1. Approve a First Amendment to the Agreement with Valley Soil Incorporated to extend the term of their administration of the Smart Irrigation Program, for one year, to December 31, 2013, in the amount of$200,000; and 2. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to approve any future Smart Irrigation Program Agreement extensions between the City of Riverside and Valley Soil Incorporated, as allowed under the Agreement, subject to approved fund availability. BACKGROUND: The SIP actively targets high outdoor water-using Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) residential and commercial water customers. Utility analyses have shown that over 50% of overall daily water use in Riverside is directly attributed to landscape irrigation. Smart controllers use factors such as soil and plant type, local weather data, and historical weather patterns to automatically schedule irrigation for a landscape. These controllers have proven to save as much as 25% of the water applied by conventional controllers, while high-efficiency sprinkler nozzles have proven to save up to 1,200 gallons of water annually per head. Through a concentrated effort to provide high water-use customers with directly installed smart irrigation controllers and high-efficiency sprinkler nozzles, the City can save millions of gallons of water a year and work toward achieving mandated conservation goals. On July 12, 2011, the City Council approved the multi-year, pilot SIP with funding for Fiscal Year 2011-12 and inclusion in the budget for the following two fiscal years. A one-year contract for administering the program was awarded to Valley Soil Incorporated on December 7, 2011. In the first year of the program, RPU has installed over 175 Smart Irrigation Controllers and over 14,000 high-efficiency sprinkler nozzles at more than 85 customer locations. Due to the success of the program, on June 26, 2012, the City Council approved the creation of the SIP as an ongoing RPU water use efficiency program. In the first year of the program, Valley Soil has communicated well with RPU customers and staff, provided excellent customer support and achieved program goals in audits performed and controllers and nozzles installed. RPU staff has worked well with Valley Soil over the past year and recommends a one-year extension to the Agreement for program administration.