Title
Apply for Water Infrastructure Finance Authority - Water Conservation Grant Fund Opportunity: Cooling Water Conservation Program Development Grant Opportunity for Fiscal Year 2023- 24. Water Infrastructure Finance Authority - Water Conservation Grant Fund Opportunity Funding Source: American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Ordinance S-50650)
Description
Request to retroactively authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to apply for a Water Conservation Grant, in partnership with the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, from the Arizona Water Infrastructure Finance Authority, beginning in or about May 2023 through the Fiscal Year 2026-27. The Arizona Water Infrastructure Finance Authority has federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 funds available for this Water Conservation Grant. Further request authorization for the City Manager, or his designee, to enter into any agreements or attestations necessary for Bonneville Environmental Foundation to accept and implement funding, if the grant is awarded, and to include an exception to the indemnity and assumption of liability provision found in Phoenix City Code 42-18.
Report
Summary
Under Arizona Revised Statues section 49-1333, a non-governmental entity may apply to Arizona Water Infrastructure Finance Authority (WIFA) for Water Conservation Grant (WCG) funds if done in partnership with a public entity. Under this provision, the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) submitted a grant application to WIFA for a WCG Fund under their Business for Water Stewardship program in partnership with the City of Phoenix Water Services Department (WSD). This award would be used to support ongoing municipal water conservation efforts to increase the efficiency of large-scale, wet cooling systems serviced by municipal water utilities, specifically the City of Phoenix. The City has an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), No. 156940 (Ordinance S-48597) with BEF's Business for Water Stewardship and New venture Fund's Blue Commons program to promote this program. If awarded, BEF would work with BlueCommons to put grant monies toward BlueCommons' Cooling Water Conservation Fund (Fund). The Fund will provide "repay-for-performance" financing to projects that increase water use efficiency in these cooling systems. Projects supported will initially be focused on appropriate implementations of water softening and chemical treatment retrofits, media replacement, plumbing system upgrades, metering, and other potential retrofits and upgrades that help to reduce overall water use in existing wet cooling system applications. The program would be a collaborative effort, as outlines in the MOU. The City of Phoenix will not be receiving any funding distributed as a result of this grant application.
The grant program would have an outreach and recruitment phase beginning in Summer 2023 and ending in Summer 2024. Funding and project completion would occur in Fiscal Year 2024-25, and savings verification taking place from Fiscal Year 2025-26 to Fiscal Year 2027-28. The deadline to utilize the WIFA-WCG funds is June 31, 2026.
The WIFA-WCGF submittal deadline was May 19, 2023.
Due to the timing of the deadline put forth by WIFA, WSD submitted an application prior to obtaining City Council approval. If City Council does not approved this retroactive request, the application will be withdrawn by WSD.
Financial Impact
There is no financial impact to the city.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Ginger Spencer and the Water Services Department.