Peoria moves forward with sustainability plan that looks to reduce water use by 5%

PHOENIX – The West Valley city of Peoria adopted a sustainability plan that targets water-use reduction and reliance on well pumping in eight years.

The Peoria City Council approved the plan at Tuesday night’s meeting. The plan outlines new goals and initiatives that include reducing energy costs, conserving resources and executing smart water principles.

“We recognize that environmental stewardship translates to financial stewardship, and perhaps most importantly – it is simply the right thing to do,” Mayor Cathy Carlat said in a press release Wednesday.

Peoria said the average person there used 180 gallons of water per day, based on numbers gathered from 2018-2020. City leaders want to reduce that by 5% by 2030.

The goal in cutting down on well pumping is to drop from 37% in 2020 to 15% in 2030.

Some parts of the eight-point plan are short term (up to 3 years), others medium term (4 to 7 years) and still others long term (8 years or more) and ongoing.

The plan was created after three months of community engagement in early 2021. Residents took part in virtual town halls and filled out surveys.

From there, the city’s green team began to pull together goals, actions and tracking points for the plan’s multiple themes, such as building and energy, transportation, urban form, and community health and wellness, among others.

The council said the plan will be updated yearly.

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