Water Guzzlers, Part II

Last week's report, based on city records, only listed the top five commercial guzzlers, including a gated community and golf course, two hotels and the local hospital.

Here are numbers 6 through 10.

#6 Eldorado Hotel
San Francisco Street
Gallons consumed: 7,330,900
Annual water bill: $134,280

Eldorado reduced its 2014 water use from the previous year by 770,100 gallons and cut its annual water bill by $12,745, according to city records.

Heritage Hotels and Resorts Inc operates the West San Francisco Street hotel. It has 219 guest rooms, two restaurants, a spa, a rooftop pool and a rooftop hot tub. The hotel was No. 6 on last year's commercial users' top ten list.

"Eldorado is the largest and busiest hotel in Santa Fe, and by the very nature of the business, water is used by our guests," writes spokesman Chris Cervini. "However, we continually strive to find ways to reduce our water use and implement new strategies to reduce consumption."

#7Santa Fe Hilton
Sandoval Street
Gallons consumed: 6,989,500
Annual water bill: $95,200

The Santa Fe Hilton's 2014 water use increased from the previous year by 439,600 gallons, according to city records. The hotel went from No. 10 on the commercial users' list to No. 7 in 2014.

The hotel offers a pool, spa, dining and convention services.

The worldwide Hilton chain did not return a request for comment. Hilton's corporate responsibility report says the international chain reduced its water use by 10 percent from 2011 to 2013.

#8 Bluffs at Tierra Contenta
Jaguar Drive
Gallons consumed: 5,619,100
Annual water bill: $102,840

The affordable housing community went up a notch on this list from last year but nevertheless reduced its water use.

In 2014, Bluffs reduced its water use by 1.539 million gallons from the previous year, according to city records. Its annual water bill went down by $10,589—although the records indicate that the hotel didn't make water payments in the last three months of the year.

SFR did not receive a response for a request to comment.

Last year, James Hicks, executive director of the nonprofit Tierra Contenta Corp, told SFR there were 160 affordable housing units in the Bluffs with an average of about three people occupying each unit. If that calculation still holds true, then it used about 96 gallons per unit each day. In 2013, the average per capita use per day in Santa Fe for residential meters came in at 52 gallons.

Records indicate the city rebated the Bluffs for installing low-flow toilets.

#9 DeVargas Center Associates
Paseo De Peralta
Gallons consumed: 5,410,500
Annual water bill: $112,676

The company listed on the eponymous shopping center's water bill didn't make last year's list.

Yet it's a large operation.

Katy Fitzgerald, senior project manager for Fidelis Realty Partners, writes to SFR that the water bill is representative of the entire property—including retail tenants, grocery stores and restaurants. She writes that most retail properties have separate water lines that feed larger tenants. Not so at the DeVargas Center, according to Fitzgerald, which is roughly 40 years old.

"We are the only property of the ten listed...completely retrofitted when that program was offered," she writes. "Additionally, as you are probably aware of just from being on the property, our landscaping is completely matured/or rock landscape that requires zero water usage other than what is naturally provided, and of course our restroom toilets are low flow.

"Common area water usage is extremely low on our property and we work very hard to keep it that way," she adds. "As far as our tenants, especially our restaurants and grocery stores, increased water usage means increased business for them and I think you will agree we can hardly complain about that."

#10 The Lodge
St. Francis Drive
Gallons consumed: 5,350,500
Annual water bill: $111,284

The Lodge is another newcomer to the commercial guzzler list.

The hotel offers 125 guest rooms, according to its website. On-site amenities include a restaurant, bar, pool and theater.

Heritage Hotels and Resorts Inc also operates the Lodge. Cervini, also the spokesman for this hotel, writes that water conservation measures undertaken by the Lodge include a landscape redesign by Faith Okuma, who is "well known in Santa Fe for her low-water-use designs." The hotel only runs full loads of laundry "to ensure water efficiency," Cervini writes. Last year, he adds, the hotel replaced sprinkler heads and other equipment for "improved efficiency."

"We appreciate being informed of our high water use," he writes. "We plan on undertaking a further analysis of the property to determine the root cause. We did discover and repair a water leak in 2014 that may have been the reason for the high water use."

City records state that the hotel did not receive a leak credit last year.

Santa Fe Reporter