The Water Management and Conservation Plan describes water management, water conservation, and curtailment programs to guide the wise use and stewardship of the city’s water supply.
This document provides an overview of Medford Water’s Water Management and Conservation Plan (WMCP), organization, and regulatory requirements. Medford Water has been engaged in conservation activities for more than twenty years; our first WMCP was submitted in March 2009, and a progress report was submitted in 2014. We anticipate submitting an update of this plan within 10 years of plan approval.
Key Highlights
- Water Rights – Medford Water is authorized to use the waters of the Big Butte Creek Watershed and the Rogue River for municipal use through six water rights, and holds a number of irrigation rights in the Big Butte Creek Watershed. Big Butte Creek Watershed. Five municipal water rights authorize diversion from Big Butte Springs and Four Bit Creek, as well as from storage in Willow Creek Reservoir; a water use permit authorizes withdrawing from the Rogue River about three miles north of Medford’s city limits, which supplies the Robert A. Duff Water Treatment Plant.
- Water Conservation – In conjunction with this plan, Medford Water reviewed and analyzed current and potential future conservation activities. Our conservation program benchmarks, both required and optional, are summarized, as well as current activities that are part of our water conservation program: annual water audits, system-wide metering, meter testing and maintenance, rates, leak detection, public information, water-wise landscape guidelines, conservation incentive programs, staff professional development, and fixture retrofit and replacement.
- Curtailment Plan – Curtailment planning is the development of proactive measures to reduce water demand if the water supply is reduced temporarily. Supply shortages could result from a number of situations; the goal of this curtailment plan is to define objective criteria and actions to prepare Medford Water for management of water supplies in the event of diminished supply or reduced delivery capacity. This curtailment plan recognizes the need to maintain essential public health and safety while applying measures in an equitable manner that minimizes impacts on economic activity and lifestyle. Actions may
include more restriction on uses deemed less essential. City of Medford Charter Section 21 of the City of Medford Charter (1976) grants Medford Water the authority to “distribute, furnish, sell and dispose of water, and provide water service…on such terms and conditions as the Board of Water Commissioners determines to be in the best interests of the city.” This provision allows for the imposition of curtailment measures necessary to preserve supply, and the plan recognizes five stages of increasingly stringent curtailment response. - Water Demand Forecast – Per capita demands for 2015 were estimated from historical water demand and service area population estimates for Medford Water’s retail and wholesale customers, and were summarized, along with base demand projections.
Other Water Management and Conservation Plans: