Dina Burns, Queen Creek’s water conservation manager, told the town council that the conservation team exceeded its last-year target and is now pushing outreach and incentive programs aimed at homeowners associations, commercial landscapes and schools.

The update focused on 2024 work and near-term plans. Burns said HOAs that engaged with conservation staff reduced water use on average while those that did not engage increased use, and she presented district-level outreach results and pilot partnerships intended to scale savings. "We exceeded that (100 acre‑foot) goal by 45 acre‑feet," Burns said, referring to the program target set last year.

Why it matters: Much of Queen Creek’s avoidable water demand is landscape irrigation on HOA common areas. The conservation team told council that targeted technical assistance, quick repairs and small capital investments can reduce purchased water needs or free water for other uses without reducing essential green space.

Key details and examples: Burns and utilities director Mark Skocific said the town logged dozens of site visits and meetings with landscapers and HOA boards. Staff reported that HOAs which met with the team saved about 2% on overall water use, while HOAs that did not meet increased more than 8% — a net difference the presentation summarized as roughly a 10.5% improvement in the engaged group. Staff identified recurring problems including looped irrigation systems that make leak isolation difficult, stuck fountain float valves and oversized turf in nonfunctional landscape areas.

Staff described several concrete measures underway:
• A pilot with SRP (Salt River Project) to evaluate about four HOA sites and provide up to $20,000 per HOA in matching funding for repairs or upgrades if the HOAs opt in.
• Eight short DIY leak‑detection videos and a set of “efficient watering” one‑page guides for residents and landscapers, posted at queencreekaz.gov/reduce.
• Smartscape landscape training delivered with the University of Arizona Extension to 16 town employees and about 20 outside landscape professionals.
• A planned fourth‑grade water education program with the Queen Creek School District and a proposed water festival using high‑school volunteers as docents.

WIFA grant proposal: Burns outlined a tentative application to the Arizona Water Infrastructure Finance Authority (WIFA) for conservation incentives if the town receives a tentative award. The proposed application would request $500,000 for nonresidential turf conversion, $100,000 for residential turf conversion and $68,000 for water‑efficient technologies. Staff said the grant has a 25% local match that could be met through participant contributions and in‑kind town staff services, and that staff will return to council to accept any award before funds are accepted.

Water savings and technical assumptions: Burns summarized the town’s 2024 accounting and said the program exceeded the previous target of 100 acre‑feet by 45 acre‑feet. She also told council that the conservation plan and the Phoenix Active Management Fifth Management Plan use a threshold of 30% turf cover to differentiate higher‑use landscapes; staff estimated converting higher‑turf landscapes can save roughly 35–50 gallons per square foot of turf removed, and that an HOA with extensive turf can save on the order of 15 acre‑feet per year by converting nonfunctional grass areas.

Council questions and next steps: Council members pressed staff for more granular data for HOA bills, asked whether the town could publish consumption by HOA for resident awareness, and requested a follow‑up report that breaks out the largest users. Burns said staff are assembling detailed metrics for council and that a public HOA web page and a Water Fluence portal for board members and property managers will be available soon. Staff also noted that the town’s customer portal enhancements are expected in coming months and that those will enable seasonal messaging and automated rain‑delay notices.

Ending: Burns said staff will bring the WIFA grant application and any award acceptance back to council for approval and will return next year with a more complete accounting of acre‑feet saved by the program.