City waking up to conservation

Steve and Georgia Eivins get it. They understand they live in a desert where water is scarce — and expensive, if you use a lot.

They also know conservation is the name of the game.

“We’re going to run out eventually if somebody doesn’t start to wake up,” Georgia Eivins said.

That’s one reason they decided to replace their thirsty bluegrass lawn on Mesa Road with low-water plants and an efficient drip-irrigation system. The other thing that went away: a $250 monthly water bill.

“We wanted to be Earth-conscious,” she said. “Plus, we wanted color in the yard, so the plants we picked are good in our area and don’t require a lot of water.”

With shortages looming in Colorado and the rest of the West, businesses and individuals are scrambling to find ways to curtail water use.

But conservation isn’t a silver bullet.

Scientists studying the Colorado River and the seven states it supplies recently concluded that demand outstrips supply so significantly that conservation, while useful, won’t solve the problem.

Colorado Springs gets plenty of water from the Colorado Basin, and the same message is clear: Rivers can deliver only so much.

City officials want a pipeline from Pueblo Reservoir to bring new supplies to the Springs.

But new supplies won’t last forever, so city officials want people to live by the mantra that every drop counts.

The city got help from Mother Nature in driving that point home in 2002, when drought forced water restrictions.

Conservation, city officials have said for years, is a crucial factor in assuring adequate water supplies.

Colorado Springs Utilities metered customers in the 1940s, among the first in the state if not the West to do so. Metering is considered a primary way to reduce usage, because it allows customers to know, and be charged for, the amounts they use. It also helps detect leaks.

“When people don’t know how much they’re using, they don’t know how much they’re wasting,” said Utilities principal water engineer Kevin Lusk.

Denver didn’t install meters until 1987; Fort Collins converted to meters in 1990.

Both cities reported a drop in water use after metering.

Because the Springs isn’t on a river like many cities, “Water has been hard for our community,” Anne Seymour, Utilities’ water conservation manager, said. “It (metering) was just a way to make sure people were more accountable for water they were using.”

Beyond metering, water-saving techniques have been around for a while.

National building codes were revised more than a decade ago to cut the gallons used when toilets are flushed and faucets are turned on.

Although there have been no recent changes, products under testing include extremely low-flow toilets, incinerating toilets and composting toilets, said Daryl Kuiper, plumbing and mechanical plan reviewer at the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department.

Utilities offers rebates for water-saving appliances, such as low-flow toilets, rain sensors and high-efficiency clothes washers that use 40 percent less water than normal machines. People think it’s a good idea. Since the program began in 2002, Utilities has given rebates on 2,300 washing machines a year.

Residents shouldn’t expect an immediate return on their investment. Although they’ll save thousands of gallons annually, they’ll wait seven years to recapture the cost of a lowflow toilet and even longer for a washing machine.

During the height of the drought in 2002, the city imposed restrictions on outdoor watering and adopted water rates last year that charge heavy users more.

Another regulatory change came a decade ago when the city changed the commercial landscape ordinance.

It eliminates berms and limits turf to 50 percent, although there’s no restriction if lowwater native grasses are used.

It also requires soil be mixed with composting or organic material to improve water retention and root health. Trees and shrubs must be native or low-water users, such as ponderosa pine and some oak varieties. Invasive and water-slurping species like tamarisk are banned.

“The idea is to build a Colorado landscape not seen anywhere else in the USA,” Seymour said.

Voluntary actions have followed suit. Homeowners associations and developers have relented in their pursuit of artificially verdant neighborhoods.

“We went from larger sod requirements where they wanted at least 50 percent sod to now, even in higher-end developments, they’re allowing Xeriscapes if they’re well-designed,” said Jim Robinson, owner of Distinctive Terrascapes.

Responding to a demand for water efficiency, landscapers have converted hundreds of yards from grass to mulch, rock and low-water plants and installed efficient irrigation systems.

Underground irrigation systems are gaining popularity, notably a brand name called Netafim developed more than 50 years ago by the Israelis.

It’s a grid of polyurethane pipe buried beneath soil and sod that waters root systems, pulling them down rather than encouraging them to spread on the surface as conventional sprinkler systems do, Robinson said.

Paula Kerr, plant manager at Rick’s Garden Center and Plants, says it’s clear the public is wising up.

Grass-seed companies have developed products that require less water, she said, and customers are getting a clue, too. “Everyone is big on Xeriscape for perennial beds,” she said. “They go for the natives. Ten years ago, they didn’t even care. They’re getting more knowledge.”

Whether through regulations or volunteer actions, the message is having an impact. Springs residents have dramatically cut water use in recent years.

A 2001 survey found that Colorado Springs’ usage averaged 122 gallons per capita per day, among the lowest of 14 western cities.

Las Vegas topped the list at 230 gallons.

By last year, Colorado Springs’ usage had dropped even more, to 100 gallons. The four-year curtailment saved 24 billion gallons of water that helped replenish the city’s drought-depleted reservoirs.

Per capita usage continues to decline. The city’s customers used about the same amount in 2006 as in 2005, despite the addition of about 2,000 customers.

Having converted golf courses to nonpotable water long ago, the city next wants to help industry voluntarily reduce usage through steps such as recycling and leak audits.

Utilities routinely monitors its system to stem losses. While some systems have a 30 percent loss rate, which includes fire-flow use, Utilities’ rate stands at 9 percent.

Looking ahead, city officials hope to hold the line at 100 gallons per capita per day — not an easy task when about 20 percent of the population turns over annually.

“People coming in from all over the nation don’t have the history,” Lusk said, “so we need to continue strong education programs just to stay where we are.”

Said Seymour, “Education is our biggest challenge — for people to know we live in a semiarid environment.

“Water isn’t easy. It’s not cheap,” she said. “We want our customers to have the water they need but use it efficiently.”

CONSERVATION TIPS

A WATER-SAVING LAWN

1. Install 60 percent or less high water-use turf, covering the remaining area with mulch, rock and drought-tolerant plants.

2. Amend soil with organic matter, tilling it as deeply as possible for root health and water retention.

3. Don’t use high water-use turf on slopes.

4. Use automatic irrigation systems with rain sensors and electronic clock/controllers.

5. Use drip irrigation on trees and shrubs.

6. Don’t waste water by allowing it to pool, run off or spray pavement.

7. Attend a class on xeriscaping. Colorado Springs Utilities sponsors classes at its Conservation and Environmental Center, 2855 Mesa Road, on the following dates:

- Saturday and June 16: xeriscape basics, 9 to 10 a.m.

- Saturday and June 16: xeriscape demonstration garden tour, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

SMALL STEPS AROUND THE HOUSE

Saving a little water here and there can add up to a lot. Colorado Springs Utilities provides the following savings for various low-use methods:

- Low-flow showerheads (2 gallons per minute) save 20 percent compared with standard (2.5 gpm) showerheads and up to 60 percent over pre-1994 models (5 gpm). The savings can total 2,000 gallons a year.

- High-efficiency toilets save 20 percent to 30 percent (about 2,500 gallons per year) over standard 1.6-gallon-per-flush toilets and 70 percent or more over older toilets. The annual savings can total 10,000 gallons to 18,000 gallons.

- Turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth can save more than 10,000 gallons a year for a family of four.

- Drip-irrigation devices vary in the savings they offer but can easily cut water use by 50 percent compared with above-ground irrigation.

- Rain sensors for lawns save about 3,400 gallons a year.

- Efficiency washing machines, which use 40 percent less water than standard washers, can offer savings of 5,600 gallons per year.

ONLINE

For information on rebates offered by Colorado Springs Utilities for efficient appliances, call 448-4800 or go to www.csu.org/environment/conservation_res/index.html

For more information on xeriscape resources and advice:

- Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado, www.alcc.com

- Colorado WaterWise Council, www. xeriscape.org/articlearchive/articlesprinklersystmopr.html

- Colorado Native Plant Society, www.conps.org/conps.html

- Colorado Nursery & Greenhouse Association, www.coloradonga.org

- Colorado Springs City Forestry, www.springsgov.com/SectionIndex. asp?SectionID=43

- Colorado State University Cooperative Extension, www.ext.colostate. edu

- El Paso County Master Gardeners, www.coopext.colostate.edu/elpaso/horticulture

- U.S. Department of Agriculture, plants.usda.gov