The Federal Water Management Planning Manual provides a step by step process on how to develop a comprehensive water management program.
The Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) developed this directory as a companion resource to the Federal Water Management Planning Manual. This directory provides links to documents, resources, and tools that serve as a reference to provide detailed information related to manual topics. The Directory of Resources is intended to be a living resource that will be updated regularly to provide federal agencies with the latest information.
Note: The resources are listed under main headings that are tied to the Federal Water Management Planning Manual. These resources are in order of most applicable, and some resources may be under more than one heading if they apply to multiple subject areas.
FEMP Water Related Laws and Requirements—listing of federal laws and requirements related to water management.
FEMP Federal Facility Reporting Requirements—provides federal requirements for reporting agency facility water data.
Title 10-Armed Forces-Water Conservation at Military Installations 10 U.S.C. §2866—outlines the requirements of Title 10 "Water Conservation at Military Installations," which includes water conservation activities, use of financial incentives and water cost savings, and water conservation construction projects.
General Services Administration (GSA) Sustainable Facilities Collaborative Team Building—process that discusses how to involve all stakeholders from project conception through delivery, and beyond.
City Energy Water Audit Guidance for Commercial Buildings—a comprehensive handbook on water audits that describes the auditing process and report development.
FEMP Water Evaluation and Water Balance Tool—comprehensive water evaluation tool that provides a detailed handbook on how to conduct a walk-through survey with printable forms and a water balance tool that estimated end-use water consumption.
FEMP Estimating Methods for Determining End-Use Water Consumption—methods for estimating daily water use for typical end-uses that drive building-level, end-use water consumption.
Irrigation Association Irrigation Audit Guidelines—set of minimum guidelines to create a standardized procedure to perform an audit of irrigation and landscape systems.
FEMP Water Metering Resources—technical information on metering buildings for water including water metering best practices and prioritization methods.
Federal Metering Guidance—guidance to assist agencies in understanding and meeting energy and water metering requirements of Federal buildings.
FEMP Metering in Federal Buildings—guidance, templates, and best practices related to metering.
FEMP Institutional Change for Federal Energy Management—provides information and materials to help shift behaviors to save energy and resources now and in the long term.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) WaterSense at Work—information on water education and facility outreach in chapter 2 of the WaterSense at Work document.
Alliance for Water Efficiency Public and Consumer Education Programs—education related to water conservation (requires membership).
National Extension Water Outreach Education—discusses ways to incorporate education practices into natural resource management strategies.
General Resources
These websites provide general information on water efficiency such as best management practices and case studies.
FEMP Best Management Practices for Water Efficiency—water efficiency best management practices on 14 topical areas to provide operation and maintenance, retrofit, and replacement recommendations to increase water efficiency.
EPA WaterSense at Work—a compilation of water-efficiency best management practices, to help commercial and institutional facility owners and managers understand and better manage their water use.
EPA WaterSense Simple Water Assessment Checklist for Commercial Facilities—checklist to identify and target potential projects and best management practices that can save water, energy, and utility costs at a facility.
FEMP Technical Operations and Maintenance Guidelines on Common Water Equipment—streamlined, updated operations and maintenance guidelines for water-using equipment.
FEMP Case Studies—case studies featuring federal agencies that have successfully implemented project financing options and energy- and water-efficient measures and technologies into their buildings and operations.
FEMP Template for a Comprehensive Water Assessment Statement of Work—outlines the major elements of a comprehensive statement of work for a facility-level water assessment.
EPA Top 10 Water Management Techniques—the top 10 water best management practices that the EPA has implemented to reduce water use at facilities throughout the Agency.
Alliance for Water Efficiency Resource Library—list of online resources related to water conservation and efficiency. (Membership required for accessing some resources.)
Technology Specific Resources
These websites provide technical information on water efficiency for specific technologies.
FEMP Technical Resources and Fact Sheets—technical information on specific water equipment to help optimize performance and save water.
- Cooling Tower Fact Sheet
- Cooling Water Efficiency Opportunities for Federal Data Centers
- Side Stream Filtration for Cooling Towers
- Technical Evaluation of Side Stream Filtration for Cooling Towers
- Reverse Osmosis Optimization
FEMP Water-Efficient Technology Opportunities—information on deploying innovative products and systems that may otherwise be overlooked.
GSA Green Proving Ground—this program evaluates next-generation building energy and water technologies in real-world operational settings and provides recommendations on the most promising for deployment within GSA's real estate portfolio.
Irrigation Association Technical Resources—access to technical information related to irrigation.
FEMP Best Management Practice on Leak Detection and Repair—best practices for conducting a leak detection and repair program.
FEMP Detection System Leak Detection Guide—description of technology options to detect leaks in distribution systems.
EPA WaterSense Fight Leaks and Water Waste in your Facility—provides guidance on how to find facility water leaks.
American Water Works Association Water Loss Control—provides technical information on how to minimize water loss from distribution systems.
FEMP Resources on Alternative Water Sources—technical resources and mapping tools to help strategically plan where to deploy alternative water and best practices for implementing projects. The suite of resources include:
- Rainwater Harvesting Tool
- Condensate Capture Map
- Rainwater Harvesting Calculator
- Rainwater Harvesting Technology Review
- On-Site Wastewater Treatment Technology Review
- Treatment Options
- Condensate Capture Case Study
EPA Water Reuse Action Plan—an action plan to foster greater consideration of water reuse across multiple water sectors and to improve the security, sustainability, and resilience of the nation’s water resources.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Public Works Technical Bulletins—various technical publications on water related topics to include water efficient installations, graywater applications, and stormwater.
FEMP Water Rate Escalation Study—provides water and wastewater annual price escalation rates from utilities throughout the United States that can inform life cycle cost analyses of water efficiency projects.
National Institute of Standard and Technology Handbook 135 Life-Cycle Costing Manual for the FEMP—explains the life-cycle costing method, defining the measures of economic performance used, describing the assumptions and procedures to follow in performing evaluations.
FEMP Energy and Project Procurement Development Services—technical resources, assistance, guidance, and training to help implement energy savings performance contract projects and utility energy service contracts.
FEMP Water Project Screening Tool—Excel-based tool to enable federal agencies to quickly screen sites for water-efficiency opportunities when planning energy savings performance contracts and utility energy service contracts.
EPA WaterSense Rebate Finder—detailed list of water utility providers that offer rebates on WaterSense products.
FEMP Sustainable Federal Buildings—technical resources on sustainable buildings, including a link to the Council on Environmental Quality’s Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings and Associated Instructions, and FEMP-developed tools and resources for implementation.
GSA Facilities Integrative Design Process—process that discusses how to design projects using the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings.
GSA Facilities Standards for the Public Buildings Service—contains policy and technical criteria to be used in the programming, design, and documentation of GSA buildings.
FEMP Net Zero Water Building Strategies—strategies on how to design and implement net zero water buildings.
ASHRAE Standard 189.1 – Green Construction Code—comprehensive construction code for designing sustainable buildings including water management.
Department Of Defense Design Guides—technical criteria and guide specifications pertaining to procurement, planning, design, construction, and operation and maintenance of real property facilities.
FEMP Water-Efficient Products—acquisition guidance for FEMP-designated water-efficient products.
EPA WaterSense Products—information on products that meet the EPA's specifications for water efficiency and performance.
EPA ENERGY STAR Products—information on water products that meet EPA's ENERGY STAR specifications, including clothes washers and commercial food service equipment.
GSA Green Procurement—a comprehensive green purchasing resource designed for federal contracting personnel and program managers.
FEMP Measurement and Verification Guidelines—provides the measurement and verification requirements for tracking energy and water savings of energy and water measures implemented through energy savings performance contracts.
GSA Published Water Findings—completed assessments of real-world measurement and verification in GSA buildings for various water technologies.
International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories Laboratory Benchmarking Tool—this tool provides water use data on laboratories across the US that can be used to compare against individual laboratory facilities.
FEMP Resilience Planning and Implementation—technical information on energy and water resilience planning including the Technical Resilience Navigator, which is a tool that provides a systematic approach to identifying energy and water resiliency gaps and developing and prioritizing solutions that reduce risk.
FEMP Water Vulnerability Assessment Tool—interactive decision support tool that vulnerability in water supply: trend and variability to support water efficiency and resilience project implementation.
FEMP Water Management Training—training in various topics related to water management, including strategic planning, water assessments, alternative water, and best management practices.
EPA WaterSense Webinars—webinars that address water management and water reuse.
Department of Energy Better Buildings Solution Center Webinars—experts discussing a variety of topics related to water efficiency.
Green Building Research Institute Courses—short courses related to water efficiency.
- Indoor Water Efficiency Short Course
- Outdoor Water Efficiency Short Course
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Institute for Water Resources Training—offers regular training in water management.