A Time Series Analysis of the Impact of a Water Conservation Campaign

Abstract

Time series analyses of total water production and domestic and commercial sales in the Goleta County Water District were performed to evaluate the extent to which a local water moratorium and conservation campaign have influenced water consumption. The findings indicated an average 15% reduction in water consumption for the three years following the implementation of the moratorium.

The Evaluation of Information Campaigns to Promote Voluntary Household Water Conservation

“…A debate had been ongoing regarding the effectiveness of the campaign. In conducting a time-series regression analysis on monthly consumption levels in the commercial and domestic sectors over the preceding 10 1/2 years, Maki, Hoffman, and Berk (1978) constructed dummy variables for the individual campaign components as outlined above. Presumably, this could have enabled separation of the effects of the rebate system, for example, from the information presented with the bill.…”

“…Presumably, this could have enabled separation of the effects of the rebate system, for example, from the information presented with the bill. However, because of the close temporal proximity of the introduction of all aspects of the campaign and the resultant problems with multicollinearity, the presence of the moratorium alone was used as an indication of all the above conservation strategies by Maki, Hoffman, and Berk (1978). The attempts to publicize the need for water conservation that were made in parallel with the above campaign were measured in terms of the monthly budget for public relations.…”

Response To Mercer and Morgan

“…In addition, the reduction in water use almost certainly had something to do with conscious efforts by policy makers to affect consumption. However, as we noted in our earlier paper (Maki et al, 1978), the precise mechanisms are unclear and probably cannot be unraveled with the data on hand.…”

Decadal review of residential water demand analysis from a practical perspective

“…Kim & McCuen (1977) recommended that reductions could best be achieved by combining pricing policies with regulations and an emphasis on low-flow technology. A flat rate structure offers little incentive for conservation and metering was recommended for demand reduction (Maki et al 1978).…”