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Executive Order (E.O.) 13693 became effective on October 1, 2015, and includes following five main water-related provisions.

1. Potable Water Consumption Intensity Reduction: Reduce agency potable water consumption intensity measured in gallons per gross square foot by 36% by fiscal year (FY) 2025 through reductions of 2% annually through FY 2025 relative to a baseline of the agency's water consumption in FY 2007.
    
2. Industrial, Landscaping, and Agricultural (ILA) Water Use Reduction: Reduce agency ILA water consumption measured in gallons by 2% annually through FY 2025 relative to a baseline of the agency's ILA water consumption in FY 2010.
    
3. Meter Installation and Water Balance Analysis: Install water meters and collect and use building and facility water balance data to improve water conservation and management.
    
4. EPA WaterSense Certified Products and Services: Procure WaterSense-labeled products and services.
    
5. Net-Zero Water Buildings: Ensure that beginning in FY 2030 new construction of federal buildings greater than 5,000 square feet is designed to achieve net-zero water where feasible.

E.O. 13693 supersedes E.O. 13423 and E.O. 13514 and revokes Presidential Memorandum: Federal Leadership on Energy Management. All of the water-related provisions contained in these previous authorities are included in E.O. 13693.

Executive Order 13693 Implementing Instructions

The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) released guidance on E.O. 13693, Implementing Instructions for Executive Order 13693: Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade, which provides instructions to federal agencies. The following are the water-related implementation instructions in E.O. 13693.

Potable Water Consumption Intensity Reduction

Agencies should continue to use the Implementing Instructions: Federal Agency Implementation of Water Efficiency and Management Provisions of E.O. 13514, which provides information on potable water tracking and reduction.

ILA Water Use Reduction

Agencies should continue to use the Implementing Instructions: Federal Agency Implementation of Water Efficiency and Management Provisions of E.O. 13514, which provides information on ILA water tracking and reduction. (Find additional information on ILA water tracking and reduction below)

Meter Installation and Water Balance Analysis

Agencies should:

• Install water meters and submeters to provide data for development of a "water balance" analysis in water use assessments

• Use the Federal Building Metering Guidance to determine a prioritized approach for water meter installation

  • Learn how to prioritize building water meter applications and determine end-use water consumption

• Use water balance information to prioritize water-efficiency projects, increase water-conservation program efficiency, and identify new opportunities for water conservation
   
• Obtain water balance resources from Best Management Practice #1: Water Management Planning.

EPA WaterSense Certified Products and Services

Agencies shall give preference to:

• WaterSense products, which are 20% more water efficient than the average product.
   
• WaterSense-certified professionals who are trained in water-efficient irrigation design and installation.

Net-Zero Water Buildings

Agencies are to:

• Use the following net-zero water definition: A "net-zero water building" is designed, constructed, or renovated and operated to greatly reduce total water consumption, use non-potable sources as much as possible, and return the equivalent amount of water as was withdrawn from all sources, including municipal supply to the same watershed without compromising groundwater and surface water quantity or quality.
   
• Consider the following approaches to institute net-zero water elements in building design:
  • Reduce the demand for freshwater by specifying water-efficient equipment and processes and installing only native landscape that requires no supplemental irrigation
     
  • Implement alternative water projects; alternative water is not from freshwater surface or groundwater sources and includes sources such as harvested rainwater, captured condensate, reclaimed wastewater, and reused process discharge
     
  • Meet lower quality water needs with lower quality water sources, which can reduce demand of freshwater
     
  • Implement smart land use strategies including green infrastructure and low impact development, which minimizes hydrologic impacts such as erosion and helps to maintain stormwater on-site.

Industrial, Landscaping, and Agricultural Water Consumption

The ILA water reduction requirement of E.O. 13693 expands water reduction for federal agencies beyond potable water to include other types of freshwater consumption. The ILA water category is distinctly different from the potable water category.

Typically, ILA water is supplied from non-potable freshwater sources such as surface water lakes or rivers and groundwater wells. For example, a golf course that is irrigated with non-potable well water is an ILA water use or cooling tower make-up from raw river water that is not treated to potable water standards.

Federal agencies are required to track ILA water use separately and should not double-count potable and ILA water uses. CEQ implementing E.O 13514 instructions specify that the following criteria must be met for a water use to be considered ILA:

• The water use application is considered industrial, landscaping, or agricultural as defined in the guidance document.
   
• The water source is not supplied from on-site alternative water sources (sources not from freshwater surface or groundwater sources, including sources such as harvested rainwater, captured condensate, on-site reclaimed wastewater, and reused process discharge, among others).
   
• The water use is not currently tracked in the potable water baseline and subsequent annual water reports.
   
• The water use occurs at a "federal facility," which is defined as any building, installation, structure, land, or other property owned and operated by, or constructed or manufactured and leased to, the federal government.
   
• The water use is not "nonconsumptive," which is defined as water diverted from its freshwater source and returned to the point of diversion in the same quantity and quality as the original diversion.

On-Site Alternative Water Sources

Federal agencies should build a strategy to implement alternative water sources that will offset the use of freshwater.

Applications that use water sourced from on-site alternative water should not be included in the ILA water category. The CEQ guidance document defines "on-site alternative water" as water obtained at a federal installation that:

• Is not from a freshwater surface-water source
• Is not from a groundwater source
• Is not purchased reclaimed water from a third party.

On-site alternative water can include:

• Harvested rainwater
• Captured sump-pump water
• Gray water
• Air cooling condensate
• Reject water from water purification systems
• Reclaimed wastewater
• Water derived from other water reuse strategies.

Read FEMP’s Best Management Practice #14: Alternate Water Sources, and use the Alternative Water Sources Map Tool for more information.

Water Consumption Reporting

Under section 9(c) of E.O. 13693, agencies are required to report annually their performance and progress toward water use goals to CEQ and the Office of Management and Budget.

• Total annual potable water consumption for comparison with the FY 2007 baseline. Agencies should not include nonpotable, purchased reclaimed, or water from on-site alternative sources in the total for the agency’s reported annual potable water consumption.
   
• Total annual ILA water consumption for comparison with the FY 2010 baseline. Agencies should sum metered and estimated ILA water consumption at the agency level, which includes purchased reclaimed water. Water uses from on-site alternative water should not be included. In addition, potable water reported shall not be reported as ILA water, no matter its use.