According to the Madison Water Utility, throughout 2017 the city of Madison, Wis. pumped the lowest amount of water it had in 50 years. The city pumped roughly 9.5 billion gal, marking a positive step and substantial achievement in water conservation for the city.
The reduction in consumption comes despite significant population growth for Madison, which has seen an influx of 95,000 people over the past 50 years.
According to spokeswoman Amy Barrilleaux, the city has observed a downward trend in water consumption over the past decade.
“People living in single-family homes used about 75 gallons per-person per-day 15 years ago,” Barrilleaux said. “In 2016, that number was just over 55.”
This marks an achievement ahead of schedule, as the city hoped to achieve such a figure by 2020 when it adopted a new Conservation and Sustainability Plan in 2008. With this in mind, the state may consider altering or presenting new goals of water conservation moving forward.
Conservation among Madison residents also conserves other resources as well. Allowing for the city to pump less water means spending less energy, which reduces the cities overall environmental impact.