To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Mark Marlowe, P.E., Utilities Director
Matt Benak, P.E., Water Resources Manager
Title
Update: State of Colorado Environmental Leadership Program Silver Environmental Achievement Award
Body
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Executive Summary
Castle Rock Water received the Silver Environmental Achievement Award by the State’s Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) at the 16th Annual ELP Awards Breakfast on October 16, 2014 at the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum.
This award is designed to recognize businesses, municipalities, and others that have made significant achievements in improving the environment of Colorado. We are among some other leading companies in the State, and only five other water providers in the State made the list.
In our application, we highlighted how we have improved water quality, reduced water usage and encouraged conservation, reduced energy use, and provided environmental education and outreach. Some of the programs highlighted in our application included “Spring up the Creek”, Household Chemical Roundup, Water Wiser and classroom education, Smartscape renovations, H2Oaccess (online billing), and a reduction in electricity costs by implementing a comprehensive energy management plan and converting to time of use rates.
Our key metrics that we presented to the State for award consideration were:
• Collected 112 bags of trash and 65 bags of recyclable material during the May 2015 ‘Spring Up The Creek’ event;
• Collected 148,000 pounds of hazardous chemicals during the Douglas County Household Chemical Roundup in 2014.
• Saved 68 acre-feet (~22 million gallons) of water in 2014 as compared to consumption rates in 2013.
• Decreased our 2014 electricity usage by approximately 1.6 million kWh since 2013.
• Made positive strides in preparing for upcoming changes required by the Revised Total Coliform Rule + Initiatives.
• Recycle 2,368 pounds of brass and other metals.
• Reduced paper waste by signing up over4,545 customers for paperless billing.
• Planned implementation of an Environmental Management System by 2018.
Castle Rock Water will be 1 of 160 companies, in a variety of fields, to be recognized. We received the bronze award last year and are pleased that our additional efforts have been rewarded with a silver award. The gold is a bit more challenging with the required implementation of an environmental management policy, but we have already started that process.
Attachments
Attachment A: Press release