To: Members of the Castle Rock Water Commission
From: Mark Marlowe, P.E., Director of Castle Rock Water
Title
Update on the Proposed Irrigation Water Budget
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Executive Summary
Kentucky Blue Grass vs. Hybrid Water Budgets
In December, Castle Rock Water staff presented a high level summary analysis of the non-residential irrigation accounts water budgets to determine if these accounts fell within the landscaping guidelines for using a hybrid grass versus a Kentucky blue grass. As discovered in the first analysis, 498 out of the total 876 accounts are post 2004 to current, meaning the landscaping for the customers property was designed and installed to meet a water budget significantly lower than the standard.
The proposal being evaluated is to adjust outdoor water budgets for these customer classes to match the landscapes being installed. Staff has now completed a more detailed analysis of the 498 accounts impacted by this proposal to understand the estimated financial impact of this change. The bottom line is that significant overwatering is occurring to the tune of $119,553 in lost Tier 3 revenue just last year.
Staff has selected the largest 25 customer impacts within each customer class to get an idea of the impact the proposal will have on individual customers as shown in Attachment A. It is important to understand that customers can avoid the potential financial impact by using water appropriately for the landscapes they have.
Here are some of the key findings:
1. Out of the 498 accounts whose budgets would need to be adjusted, 308 or 62 percent of those would be affected by a higher annual bill during irrigation season.
2. Approximately 72 or 47 percent of the customers within the Commercial with Irrigation customer class would have their budgets adjusted. For the top 25 customers selected, the individual account differences range from $62 up to $388 on an annual basis.
3. Approximately 214 or 70 percent of the customers within the Irrigation customer class would have their budgets adjusted. For the top 25 customers selected, the individual account differences range from $1,047 up to $6,211 on an annual basis. This is a significant impact to the customer as well as lost revenues for Castle Rock Water.
4. Approximately 22 or 54 percent of the customers within the Multifamily with Irrigation customer class would have their budgets adjusted. For the 22 customers that are impacted, the individual account differences range from $2 up to $1,212 on an annual basis.
With these substantial findings and annual lost revenue, staff recommends moving forward with adjusting the 498 accounts’ water budgets to meet the criteria of a hybrid grass. If this adjustment is not made, these customers can waste water without any consequences. Staff also recommends ensuring that this new water budget approach be used for all new accounts/customers in these account categories going forward.
The next steps will be to determine a plan for how to reach out to existing customers and potential future customers to communicate the proposed changes. It will also be important to propose the timing for when and how changes will become effective. This will need to be presented to Council as part of this year’s rates and fees study, for their consideration.
Proposed Motion
None
Attachments
Attachment A: Analysis and Top 25 Largest Differences