The city of Boulder is walking its talk about water conservation, as a new report shows that the city has reduced water consumption at municipal facilities by nearly 49 million gallons in just the last three years.

“We’ve decreased our usage by 19 percent,” said Joanna Crean, a project manager for the city’s public works department.

A recent report to the City Council shows that some city departments saw double-digit reductions in their water consumption between 2008 and 2010.

Conservation efforts and fixing leaky pipes helped the Housing and Human Services division reduce its water use by 34 percent, while the Boulder Municipal Airport used 33 percent less water and Boulder police used 15 percent less water over the past three years.

In total, the city has reduced its indoor water use by 5.5 million gallons, while its outdoor water usage has dropped by 43.3 million gallons.

The savings are the result of several factors, Crean said, including better irrigation practices on city property.

“I think all of us pay much more attention to water use than we did in the past,” she said.

The most significant decrease in water use was by the transportation division’s outdoor irrigation account, which dropped by 48 percent — or 18.3 million gallons. Those savings, Crean said, is due in part to better irrigation practices.

In 2010, the city installed two new artificial turf fields at East Boulder Community Park, and redesigned the irrigation systems around the East Boulder Community Center and Keewayden Park. Ongoing upgrades include turf renovation work in city parks, adding moisture-retaining organic soil and switching to drought-resistant plants for landscaping.

City buildings and facilities make up about 4 percent of the overall water use in Boulder each year, which in 2010 amounted to 5.4 billion gallons.

While the city does not pay for the water that it uses, officials have put more emphasis on water efficiency and conservation, such as moving to drip irrigation systems and waterless urinals, since the 2002 drought.

The city has also poured money into education and outreach campaigns designed to get the public to save water, too. This year, Boulder will spend about $406,000 to provide rebates, residential water audits and informational materials.

“The city certainly is, first of all, trying to set an example,” Crean said.

But there’s still work to be done, as several large leaks continue to plague city facilities.

A water storage tank at Chautauqua is leaking an estimated 28,800 gallons a day, for example. The water lost from those types of leaks is considered non-metered, and is not included in the city’s tally of total water use.

Veva Deheza, section chief for the office of water conservation and drought planning at the Colorado Water Conservation Board, said Boulder’s efforts to save water should serve as an example of best practices for other cities.

“They’re trying to set a good example,” Deheza said. “It encourages customer behavior and it gets to this idea of getting your own house in order before you go out and ask your customers to do the same.”

Contact Camera staff writer Heath Urie at 303-473-1328, or urieh@dailycamera.com.