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With snowpack still on the mountaintops and a relatively cool spring, Denver Water is hoping Dillon Reservoir will fill this summer. As of Monday, it was at 93 percent capacity.
FRONT RANGE — Call it drought reflex: Front Range water users dropped their consumption over the winter by up to 20 percent.
That’s a potential relief for counties like Eagle and Summit that provide water to the Front Range, but whether such impressive gains will continue through the summer — with watering restrictions lifted or eased and reservoir levels rising — remains to be seen.
Denver Water, which serves about 1 million metro-area customers, reported a drop in consumption this past winter of about 20 percent, with Colorado Springs Utilities reporting an 11 percent reduction.
But while the numbers are clear enough, the reasons behind the drop in demand aren’t as obvious.
“We’re speculating that the drought message we sent out kept people from watering lawns on those warmer days in winter,” said Dave Little, manager of water resources for Denver Water. “But we don’t know.”
Little said Denver Water plans to conduct a study in the coming weeks to monitor water usage in 100 homes to try to identify changes in water-use patterns. He said they’ll have the results of that study later in the summer.
The reason water suppliers are intrigued by the wintertime drop is because little irrigation occurs in those months, so previous restrictions to address drought conditions don’t directly affect those numbers.
State Rep. Gary Lindstrom, who represents Eagle and Summit counties, said his sense is that drought conservation measures have been imprinted on Front Range residents, which is a good thing. But there are also some unintended consequences, he said.
“The bad news is that water providers like Denver Water are losing fees from all that conservation at the same time their costs remain the same,” Lindstrom said. “That means rate increases, which is like punishing people for doing the right thing. It’s a real shame.”
Conservation
versus rationing
In Colorado Springs, residents reduced their demand for water by about 11 percent between 2001 and 2004 — and that’s on top of an 8.5 percent increase in the number of customers over that same period.
“Most of the reduction is due to changed habits,” said Kevin Lusk, principal engineer for Colorado Spring Utilities. “We’ve had a lot of increased awareness because of the drought restrictions, and we’ve seen people changing habits — from fixing leaky faucets, waiting until the dishwasher is full before running it and getting low-water-use fixtures.”
All of that, Lusk said, really adds up.
At Denver Water, chief planner Greg Fisher cited a similar figure to that of Colorado Springs: an 11 percent to 12 percent drop in usage from 2001 to 2004.
“The million-dollar question is whether the changes will remain,” Fisher said. “We’ve looked at other studies in other cities that have gone through a drought, and the trend is a return to pre-drought usage levels.” But Lusk remained hopeful that Colorado Springs water users will keep up the good work.
“We do put a distinction between restrictions and conservation,” Lusk said. “The former is a response to a temporary situation while conservation, is an ongoing project here to stay, no matter what the weather’s like.”
He also noted Colorado Springs was one of the early pioneers of “xeriscaping” — a method of landscaping that uses less water. That, combined with aggressive promotion of conservation, has resulted in an average use of 120 gallons of water per person, per day, Lusk said. That compares to 145 gallons per day in Boulder and 165 per day in Denver, he said.
Another metro area that’s seen a significant reduction in water demand through conservation is Aurora. According to Doug Kemper, strategic resources planning manager for Aurora Utilities, customer demand dropped 30 percent in 2004 — compared to the last pre-drought year of 2001.
“It’s pretty phenomenal,” Kemper said. “People have really stepped up to the plate and far exceeded our expectations.”
High Country effects
How much all that reduction in demand affects the so-called upper basin counties of Eagle, Summit and Grand isn’t easy to determine. For one thing, as Denver Water’s Little points out, the utility is still filling its reservoirs, so it’s not like they’re reducing what they take for the thirsty Front Range.
“We won’t feel like we’re out of the drought until we fill and spill,” Little said, referring to the filling of the reservoirs to capacity and then releasing surplus. “If there’s a low snowpack next year, we could be right back into (a drought).”
Peter Roessmann of the Colorado River Water Conservation District said lower demand from the east is still a good thing.
“It benefits the High Country because it delays the need to search for more Western Slope water,” he said. “And for folks in Eagle and Summit counties, their water recreation will be as good as it has been in years. In the southwest corner of the state, the rafting companies are thrilled to death.”
Even if the lessening of drought anxiety causes water use to rise somewhat, Roessmann said the trend is still “intriguing.”
“It’s a good sign that the drought period has been a good lesson for folks throughout the state,” he said. “There’s more value placed on water and the ways they can be more realistic in their water use, rather than profligate.”
Alex Miller can be reached at 949-0555, ext. 615, or amiller@vaildaily.com.
Vail, Colorado
That’s a potential relief for counties like Eagle and Summit that provide water to the Front Range, but whether such impressive gains will continue through the summer — with watering restrictions lifted or eased and reservoir levels rising — remains to be seen.
Denver Water, which serves about 1 million metro-area customers, reported a drop in consumption this past winter of about 20 percent, with Colorado Springs Utilities reporting an 11 percent reduction.
But while the numbers are clear enough, the reasons behind the drop in demand aren’t as obvious.
“We’re speculating that the drought message we sent out kept people from watering lawns on those warmer days in winter,” said Dave Little, manager of water resources for Denver Water. “But we don’t know.”
Little said Denver Water plans to conduct a study in the coming weeks to monitor water usage in 100 homes to try to identify changes in water-use patterns. He said they’ll have the results of that study later in the summer.
The reason water suppliers are intrigued by the wintertime drop is because little irrigation occurs in those months, so previous restrictions to address drought conditions don’t directly affect those numbers.
State Rep. Gary Lindstrom, who represents Eagle and Summit counties, said his sense is that drought conservation measures have been imprinted on Front Range residents, which is a good thing. But there are also some unintended consequences, he said.
“The bad news is that water providers like Denver Water are losing fees from all that conservation at the same time their costs remain the same,” Lindstrom said. “That means rate increases, which is like punishing people for doing the right thing. It’s a real shame.”
Conservation
versus rationing
In Colorado Springs, residents reduced their demand for water by about 11 percent between 2001 and 2004 — and that’s on top of an 8.5 percent increase in the number of customers over that same period.
“Most of the reduction is due to changed habits,” said Kevin Lusk, principal engineer for Colorado Spring Utilities. “We’ve had a lot of increased awareness because of the drought restrictions, and we’ve seen people changing habits — from fixing leaky faucets, waiting until the dishwasher is full before running it and getting low-water-use fixtures.”
All of that, Lusk said, really adds up.
At Denver Water, chief planner Greg Fisher cited a similar figure to that of Colorado Springs: an 11 percent to 12 percent drop in usage from 2001 to 2004.
“The million-dollar question is whether the changes will remain,” Fisher said. “We’ve looked at other studies in other cities that have gone through a drought, and the trend is a return to pre-drought usage levels.” But Lusk remained hopeful that Colorado Springs water users will keep up the good work.
“We do put a distinction between restrictions and conservation,” Lusk said. “The former is a response to a temporary situation while conservation, is an ongoing project here to stay, no matter what the weather’s like.”
He also noted Colorado Springs was one of the early pioneers of “xeriscaping” — a method of landscaping that uses less water. That, combined with aggressive promotion of conservation, has resulted in an average use of 120 gallons of water per person, per day, Lusk said. That compares to 145 gallons per day in Boulder and 165 per day in Denver, he said.
Another metro area that’s seen a significant reduction in water demand through conservation is Aurora. According to Doug Kemper, strategic resources planning manager for Aurora Utilities, customer demand dropped 30 percent in 2004 — compared to the last pre-drought year of 2001.
“It’s pretty phenomenal,” Kemper said. “People have really stepped up to the plate and far exceeded our expectations.”
High Country effects
How much all that reduction in demand affects the so-called upper basin counties of Eagle, Summit and Grand isn’t easy to determine. For one thing, as Denver Water’s Little points out, the utility is still filling its reservoirs, so it’s not like they’re reducing what they take for the thirsty Front Range.
“We won’t feel like we’re out of the drought until we fill and spill,” Little said, referring to the filling of the reservoirs to capacity and then releasing surplus. “If there’s a low snowpack next year, we could be right back into (a drought).”
Peter Roessmann of the Colorado River Water Conservation District said lower demand from the east is still a good thing.
“It benefits the High Country because it delays the need to search for more Western Slope water,” he said. “And for folks in Eagle and Summit counties, their water recreation will be as good as it has been in years. In the southwest corner of the state, the rafting companies are thrilled to death.”
Even if the lessening of drought anxiety causes water use to rise somewhat, Roessmann said the trend is still “intriguing.”
“It’s a good sign that the drought period has been a good lesson for folks throughout the state,” he said. “There’s more value placed on water and the ways they can be more realistic in their water use, rather than profligate.”
Alex Miller can be reached at 949-0555, ext. 615, or amiller@vaildaily.com.
Vail, Colorado
