To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Mark Marlowe, P.E., Director of Castle Rock Water
Title
Resolution Adopting the 2020 Water Use Management Plan (WUMP)
Body
________________________________________________________________________________
Executive Summary
The purpose of this memorandum is to request Town Council approval of a Resolution (Attachment A) adopting the 2020 Water Use Management Plan (WUMP). Several revisions and administrative updates are proposed from the 2019 WUMP (Exhibit 1 to Attachment A) and those are summarized in Attachment B. The big proposed change to the WUMP includes: moving the Section on Landscape Professionals - Maintenance/Design/Irrigation to the Landscape and Irrigation Performance Standards and Criteria Manual.
Notification and Outreach Efforts
The change to the Landscape and Irrigation Performance Standards and Criteria Manual will be communicated to the landscape contractor, developer, and building community through the following sources; Email, United States Mail, Landscape Professionals stakeholder’s meeting, Developer’s Roundtable, Economic Development Council, HOA outreach meetings. Additionally, this information will be available on the Town’s websites (CRgov.com) and promoted through Community Relations’ outreach avenues.
As defined in Chapter 13.15 of the Town’s Municipal Code, all customers will receive the 2020 watering schedule via United States Mail within 30 days of the commencement of the schedule implementation period (May through September). Additionally, this information will be available on the Town’s website (CRgov.com and CRconserve.com) and promoted through Community Relations’ outreach avenues, such as Facebook, Twitter, Town Talk, and press releases.
History of Past Town Council, Boards & Commissions, or Other Discussions
Castle Rock Water staff presented the WUMP to the Castle Rock Water (CRW) Commission at their meeting held on January 22, 2020, and the Castle Rock Water commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the resolution by Town Council.
Discussion
The Town of Castle Rock has used mandatory water demand management for landscape irrigation since 1985. Peak season demands for residential customers are staggered on an every-third-day format. This is the traditional circle, diamond, square schedule that is familiar to our customers. Consistent to what was approved in 2019, the schedule period will remain May through September. Non-residential watering hours will begin at 10 p.m. on the designated day and must be complete by 6 a.m. the following morning. Other than hand watering, no watering during the daytime hours of 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. is allowed. This format helps ensure our customers use irrigation water when it is most efficient and effective, ultimately saving customer’s money. In addition, it allows positive pressures to be maintained throughout the water distribution system while maintaining appropriate fire flows. It also allocates time for the finished water storage tanks to recover volume.
Another way to maximize the efficient use of water is to limit the issuance of irrigation exemptions during the hottest and driest part of the year. July is typically the hottest month of the year, and as such, it takes significantly more water to establish new plant material during this period. As originally implemented in 2018, irrigation exemptions will again not be issued or applicable from July 1 - July 31.
As noted in the Executive Summary, the section that covers Landscape Professional registration requirements and landscape and irrigation inspections is being moved to the Landscape and Irrigation Performance Standards and Criteria Manual. This is the location where most of the requirements for the Landscape Registration Program are housed. The landscape and irrigation inspections belong in that Manual as well. The code section references the Landscape and Irrigation Performance Standards and Criteria Manual is 15.48 which is a different code section then the WUMP, which is 13.15.
The full plan will be available on the website, and can be found at CRgov.com/waterplans.
The Watering Violations Summary from 2019 as well as the previous four years is included as Attachment C.
For the last several years, the focus of the monitoring program has undergone a philosophical shift. Primarily for residential customers, the program has transitioned from a punitive violations role to a more educational role. While the monitors have always issued violations, their direction is to contact the customer, explain the problem, and provide a solution whenever reasonable and possible.
Budget Impact
The budget for 2020 seasonal water conservation staff is $48,772 and is covered under account number 211-4330-443.10-30. The seasonal water conservation salaries are expected to exceed the budget amount due to the additional two months of monitoring for the 2020 irrigation season. The 2019 seasonal water conservation expenses were $55,696.90.
Recommendations
Staff recommends approving the Water Use Management Plan as presented.
Proposed Motion
“I move to approve the Resolution as introduced by title.”
Attachments
Attachment A: Resolution
Exhibit 1: Water Use Management Plan
Attachment B: Summary of proposed changes
Attachment C: Watering violations summary