After two years of a complicated permitting process, Stanford University received a General Use
Permit in December 2000. The General Use Permit (GUP) is required by Santa Clara County for
development of campus lands in unincorporated Santa Clara County. The GUP includes various
strict conditions for Stanford University if the University plans to add buildings on campus. One
of the conditions was to within twelve months of General Use Permit approval, prepare and
submit to the County Planning Office for review and approval a Water Conservation, Reuse and
Recycling Master Plan (Master Plan), which identifies measures for reducing potable water use
on campus. In July 2001, Stanford hired Maddaus Water Management (Maddaus) to help
analyze campus water use and prepare the Master Plan.
Maddaus worked closely with Stanford staff to collect, review, analyze existing metering and
water use data and information. Site visits were used to review specific end uses of water for
representative campus consumer categories. Information gained from site visits revealed that
generally Stanford's use of water is efficient and water conservation programs have already
"picked the low hanging fruit". Maddaus analyzed five years of monthly water consumption
data by category to establish baseline consumption for forecasting. Maddaus then developed
various water conservation measures to address end-uses.Using a Decision Support System
(DSS) model to estimate water savings and compute benefit-cost ratios, Maddaus selected the
most applicable conservation measures for Stanford University. This paper reviews the methods
used to develop the Water Conservation, Reuse and Recycling Master Plan, with its 14
recommended conservation measures. The Master Plan sets up a process for implementation of
aggressive water conservation in a university environment.
Includes tables, figures.