Water conservation will be a big part of Santa Fe's effort to keep city residents supplied with drinking water in the future, according to a new water supply plan. Part of the proposal includes rebates for rain barrels following the City Council's narrow vote to continue the rebate program, which had been proposed for suspension.

Councilors approved a "long-range" water supply plan Wednesday night before holding a public hearing on the rebate program. The plan is an effort to balance the city's resources and practices to meet current needs and to supply residents here over the next 40 years.

The city anticipates a gap of about 2,700 acre-feet between the amount of water it will have and the amount of water it will need by 2045. Among primary goals for bridging the gap are enhancing the city's water-conservation programs, purchasing more water rights and determining an appropriate price at which to sell treated effluent and "optimize" its use. The plan also establishes that the city wants to maintain "a living Santa Fe River" and seeks to use sustainable or renewable energy to produce and deliver drinking water.

Councilors voted later to keep a 6-year-old program that offers one-time, $30 rebates for the purchase of rain barrels. City staff said the program was too costly to administer in light of its water savings.

No one from the public testified at the hearing, but councilors voted 3-2 against nixing it.

Councilor Miguel Chavez, who was joined by Councilors Matthew Ortiz and Ronald Trujillo in voting no, said, "I'm speaking against it because it is the most low-tech ... way to do water harvesting."

Councilor Chris Calvert, who sponsored the measure to get rid of the rebates and voted in favor of it along with Councilor Rosemary Romero, said the city could have used the rebate money to move on to more efficient programs.

"I think that if we, for example, shift to educating people and helping them with their drip irrigation systems, we have a lot more potential to save water," he said. "We can get a bigger bang for our conservation buck."

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.