The POLIS Water Sustainability Project:
Worth Every Penny: A Primer on
Conservation-Oriented Water Pricing

 

The Challenge:
Develop a handbook on water pricing for an audience that is not financially literate in order to catalyze a national dialogue about how it be used to meet water conservation goals.

 

The Project:

We delivered this project with our partners at the POLIS Water Sustainability Project and Dr. Steven Renzetti of Brock University. Together, we wrote a primer called Worth Every Penny that explains how conservation-oriented pricing works, the benefits, and how utilities can transition to this approach over time. It also offers advice on how to address key implementation challenges.

We also prepared companion documents including a matching Briefing Note and a French language version of the primer.

These publications were the cornerstone of a national campaign that included media outreach and distribution of the primer to practitioners and decision makers across Canada. We followed up with presentations at strategically selected conferences, workshops and webinars in four different provinces.

 

The Result:
With sold-out webinars and workshops, extensive media coverage and many requests for more copies of our publications (indeed, we had to complete a second printing of the primer to keep up with demand), we tapped a national network of interest. Practitioners, elected officials and leaders in the field of water efficiency gave rave reviews. We continue to deliver presentations on this important topic at select national events.

Download a copy of the primer at http://www.poliswaterproject.org/publication/344.

Find out more about the POLIS Water Sustainability Project at: http://www.poliswaterproject.org/