As the region's population increases, withdrawals from Lake Michigan, groundwater sources, and inland rivers must be balanced with demand projections to attain long-term sustainability. Water conservation and efficiency planning is one of the central means to ensure that the region has adequate water resources in the future, and is the main focus of Water 2050, the region's plan for avoiding an imbalance between water supply and demand.

At the municipal scale, water conservation and efficiency planning works to incorporate both types of strategies into operations, guidelines for new development, and residential and commercial practices. The American Water Works Association's Water Conservation Programs - A Planning Manual (M52) and U.S. EPA's Water Conservation Plan Guidelines have outlined the key components of a plan.  CMAP has developed conservation and efficiency resources and has worked with several municipalities to develop tailored water-related plans and ordinances through the Local Technical Assistance (LTA) Program.