Overall Rating	Gold
Overall Score	77.43
Liaison	Elida Erickson
Submission Date	Feb. 28, 2022

STARS v2.2

University of California, Santa Cruz
OP-21: Water Use

Status

Score

Responsible Party

5.23 / 6.00

Ellen Vaughan
Water & Climate Action Manager
Sustainability Office

"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Level of ”Physical Risk Quantity” for the institution’s main campus as indicated by the World Resources Institute Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas:

High

Part 1. Reduction in potable water use per person

Total water withdrawal (potable and non-potable combined):

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total water withdrawal	641,510.12 Cubic meters	782,444.25 Cubic meters

Potable water use:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use	641,510.12 Cubic meters	782,444.25 Cubic meters

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):

	Start Date	End Date
Performance Period	July 1, 2018	June 30, 2019
Baseline Period	July 1, 2002	June 30, 2005

If end date of the baseline year/period is 2004 or earlier, provide:

A brief description of when and why the water use baseline was adopted:

This matches existing mandatory reporting requirements to our local municipality and UC Office of the President.

Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users":

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Number of students resident on-site	8,691	6,023
Number of employees resident on-site	203	112
Number of other individuals resident on-site	643	415
Total full-time equivalent student enrollment	19,147	14,281
Full-time equivalent of employees	3,789	3,438
Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education	0	0
Weighted campus users	20,068.50	15,238

Potable water use per weighted campus user:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per weighted campus user	31.97 Cubic meters	51.35 Cubic meters

Percentage reduction in potable water use per weighted campus user from baseline:

37.75

Part 2. Reduction in potable water use per unit of floor area

Gross floor area of building space:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Gross floor area	553,637.96 Gross square meters	430,960.67 Gross square meters

Potable water use per unit of floor area:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Potable water use per unit of floor area	1.16 Cubic meters per square meter	1.82 Cubic meters per square meter

Percentage reduction in potable water use per unit of floor area from baseline:

36.18

Part 3. Reduction in total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds

Area of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Vegetated grounds	737.74 Hectares	733.70 Hectares

Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds:

	Performance Year	Baseline Year
Total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds	869.56 Cubic meters per hectare	1,066.44 Cubic meters per hectare

Percentage reduction in total water withdrawal per unit of vegetated grounds from baseline:

18.46

Optional Fields

A brief description of the institution's water-related behavior change initiatives:

The University engages the campus community through emails, flyers, as well as outreach through residential advisors and building contacts. We also have implemented an automated meter analytics system (Beacon Cellular Endpoint System) that uses cellular communication to track hourly usage, and a web-based interface to allow students, staff, and faculty to understand their water consumption patterns.

A brief description of the institution's water recovery and reuse initiatives:

UCSC's Onsite Non-Potable Water Systems: https://sustainability.ucsc.edu/initiatives/water/water-catchment.html

UCSC is exploring the potential for two waste water treatment plants on campus.

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace plumbing fixtures, fittings, appliances, equipment, and systems with water-efficient alternatives:

A major maintenance program retrofits buildings annually. A top priority of the program is to upgrade all plumbing fixtures to the highest efficiency technology available. High usage, inefficient fixtures are prioritized for deferred maintenance and water efficiency funding projects. The campus utilizes a evapotranspiration irrigation system for watering major turf and landscape areas.
The Green Office Certification and Green Labs Program works to install aerators.

Article published 12/2020: Grounds Department Embraces Sustainability and Saves One Million Gallons of Water: https://sustainability.ucsc.edu/news-events/news/index.html

Website URL where information about the institution’s water conservation and efficiency efforts is available:

https://sustainability.ucsc.edu/initiatives/water/index.html

Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

The baseline period for UCSC tracks the annual average over three years from July 2002-June 2005.

Baseline year for Gross Floor Area of Building Space is 2003, the most relevant data available that aligns with one year of the 3-year water baseline period.

Like much of our data for this report, we are utilizing the last time period where we were not significantly effected by COVID. During COVID, our water usage dropped significantly.