To: Members of the Castle Rock Water Commission
From: Mark Marlowe, P.E., Director of Castle Rock Water
Matt Benak, P.E., Water Resources Manager
Adriana Alfaro, Water Resources program Analyst
Title
Resolution Approving the 2025 Drought Management Plant [Entire Castle Rock Service area]
Town Council Agenda Date: January 21, 2024
Body
________________________________________________________________________________
Executive Summary
The purpose of this memorandum is to seek Town Council approval of a resolution (Attachment A) for the 2025 Drought Management Plan (“Plan”) (Exhibit 1). The Plan was last updated in 2018.
One of Castle Rock Water’s strategic goals is to have a water supply that is 75% renewable by 2050 and 100% renewable (in an average water year) by 2065. While these changes provide a more diverse and reliable long-term water supply, it also subjects the Town to potentially larger impacts from drought.
This Plan focused on long-term drought mitigation in addition to strategies that provide short-term responses to temporary drought-related water supply shortages. The Plan was also developed with input from a wide-spectrum of the community, including: Castle Rock Water; representatives of the Water Commission; Douglas County; Castle Rock Fire Department; Parks and Recreation; home owners associations and members of the development community.
Discussion
The Plan is intended to be a guide to facilitate water use decision-making if supply or water production shortages present themselves. Plan objectives include:
• Planning for droughts before they occur;
• Protecting public health and safety, and minimizing the adverse effects of a water supply shortage;
• Providing comprehensive and flexible guidance for drought response, allowing for an appropriate range of actions to respond;
• Identifying and determining the severity of droughts through clear definitions of triggers;
• Providing effective communication to customers, the public and governmental departments/agencies, so they clearly understand the situation and the actions taken.
Some of the key actions that Castle Rock Water either currently does, or will be doing for drought management include:
• Ongoing monitoring of drought indicators;
• Development of new water supplies (this includes WISE, the development of infrastructure to fully utilize our return flows in Plum Creek, and the Box Elder project);
• Cooperative water sharing agreements with neighboring communities;
• Operation and maintenance activities that improve water efficiency;
• Conservation measures specified in the Water Efficiency Master Plan (WEMP);
• Implementation of a reduction of residential water budget levels and an increase in the water surcharge rates during various drought stages.
Droughts can vary significantly in extent, severity and duration, and as such the Plan lays out what an appropriate level of response would be for each drought category. Ultimately, it will require the entire community to embrace water conservation during periods of drought conditions to help stretch our water supplies.
Notification and Outreach Efforts
On July 10, 2024, Castle Rock Water held the first stakeholder meeting to gain input on the Plan revisions.
On September 11, 2024, Castle Rock Water held a second stakeholder meeting to seek additional input on the draft updated Plan.
On September 18, 2024, Castle Rock Water hosted an Open House which allowed the public to ask questions about the Plan.
History of Past Town Council, Boards, & Commissions, and other Discussions
Castle Rock Water staff presented this item to the Castle Rock Water Commission at their meeting held on December 11, 2024, and the Castle Rock Water Commission voted XXXX to XXX to recommend Town Council approval of the Resolution as presented.
Budget Impact
The updated Drought Management Plan was developed by Castle Rock Water Staff. Thus, there was no direct budget impact to developing the 2025 Plan.
Recommendations
Staff and Castle Rock Water Commission recommend that the Drought Management Plan be approved by Town Council.
Proposed Motion
“I move to approve the Resolution as introduced by title.”
Alternative Motions
“I move to approve the resolution as introduced by title, with the following conditions: (list conditions).”
“I move to continue this item to the Town Council meeting on _______ date to allow additional time to (list information needed).”
Attachments
Attachment A: Resolution
Exhibit 1: Drought Management Plan