Fiscal Note
No appropriation is required. The proposed resolution authorizes Madison Water Utility to receive up to 250 hours of technical and program support over a three to six month period, free of charge.
Title
Approving a Memorandum of Understanding between Madison Water Utility, WaterNow Alliance, and Polco regarding community engagement and the development of an updated Water Conservation and Sustainability Plan.
Body
BACKGROUND:
In 2017, WaterNow Alliance (“WaterNow”) launched its Project Accelerator Program and began accepting applications from cities and water utilities seeking outside assistance to jumpstart sustainable water projects. The Project Accelerator Program includes up to 250 hours of technical and program support over a 3 to 6-month period, free of charge, for two winning project applications. In Spring 2019, Madison Water Utility was one of two utilities selected by WaterNow to receive a Project Accelerator. In this round of Project Accelerator, WaterNow has partnered with Polco, a civic participation technology platform owned by Policy Confluence, Inc., to provide public engagement and polling technology free of charge to selected utilities.
This resolution authorizes a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) between the City of Madison, Wisconsin and WaterNow Alliance (“WaterNow”), a project of the Trust for Conservation Innovation DBA Multiplier, a California nonprofit public benefit corporation, and Polco, an online polling platform owned by Policy Confluence, Inc., a foreign business corporation, regarding community engagement and the development of an updated Water Conservation and Sustainability Plan.
RESOLUTION BODY:
WHEREAS, Madison’s drinking water comes from a deep aquifer beneath Madison and is pumped to the surface and distributed to customers by Madison Water Utility; and
WHEREAS, Madison Water Utility’s mission includes conserving and protecting our ground water resources for present and future generations; and
WHEREAS, Madison Water Utility has achieved a conservation and sustainability goal set in 2008 to reduce per-capita residential water use by 20% by 2020, based on a five-year rolling average; and
WHEREAS, Madison Water Utility is in the early stages of updating its Conservation and Sustainability Plan; and
WHEREAS, WaterNow Alliance is a forum for local water leaders who want to champion sustainable, affordable and climate resilient water strategies; and
WHEREAS, Madison Water Utility and WaterNow have a common interest in promoting sustainable water solutions and water use efficiency in the City and across the country; and
WHEREAS, WaterNow Alliance administers a “Project Accelerator Program” which provides technical and program assistance to cities and water utilities on sustainable water projects; and
WHEREAS, Madison Water Utility submitted a Project Accelerator application in Spring 2019 to receive technical and program assistance in engaging the community and developing an updated Water Conservation and Sustainability Plan, and this project was selected by WaterNow; and
WHEREAS, WaterNow is partnering with Polco, a civic participation technology platform owned by Policy Confluence, Inc., to develop a collection of products and services designed to increase civic engagement, improve government transparency, and inform municipal governments, and others, of constituents’ input to help better guide public policy in this round of Project Accelerator; and
WHEREAS, through the Project Accelerator Madison Water Utility, WaterNow, and Polco will collaborate to maximize public engagement, complete research, identify conservation programs that will provide the utility the greatest return on investment, and develop metrics to track success, and a written Memorandum of Understanding is necessary to outline each party’s role, responsibilities, and deliverables on this project;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Madison Water Utility General Manager, or designee, is hereby authorized to execute the described Memorandum of Understanding with WaterNow and Polco on behalf of the City of Madison, in a format approved by the City Attorney and the General Manager, to allow the Water Utility to participate in the Project Accelerator Program as noted herein.