Colorado Springs Utilities urges residents to conserve water
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - On Wednesday, Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) provided a water outlook report at the March 18 Utilities Board meeting.
The outlook, which can be found here on page 64, prompted the board to approve a resolution to enter Water Shortage Preparation. CSU says this action provides additional operational tools to support the city’s water system during anticipated drought conditions this year.
The action also calls for increased awareness and education for the utility’s customers to encourage additional voluntary water conservation.
CSU operates 25 reservoirs across its system that collectively are at 77% capacity, enough to meet about three years of customer demand, according to CSU.
The utility group says its storage supply this year does not meet the criteria for activating water restrictions, per Colorado Springs’ Water Shortage Ordinance. Storage must be projected to be below 1.5 years of demand by April 1 for water restrictions to be enacted.
If our reserves do fall that low, restrictions could include being unable to water your lawn or wash your car, and even having water at restaurants taken away unless you ask.
"If our projections from that expect that our storage is going to go below one and a half years of demand in storage, then we enact our water shortage ordinance, which is a city ordinance. It's part of city code that says we can restrict water use to our customers based on certain trends. Today, we're not in that situation," explained Abby Ortega, general manager of infrastructure and resource planning at Colorado Springs Utilities.
The record-low snowpack also impacts our water supply. CSU says this year it expects to receive about 54% of runoff water compared to past years. This is part of what CSU says it is always monitoring and why these preparations matter.
"Looking at what runoff actually happens into our system, what snow melts doing, you know, the next big snow storm. What does that change? We are constantly evaluating that. But that said, you know, drought is a slow-moving crisis. for lack of a better term. You can see it coming, you know, it's coming in. We can plan and prepare for that," shared Ortega.
Despite the growing population in Colorado Springs, water usage has remained relatively flat in the city for the past 20 years. CSU staff and the Board thanked residents for their conservation efforts to continually keep water usage low in the city.
CSU asks residents to continue watering their lawn only three times a week.
"We're also asking them to look at their indoor use. You know, we find that surprisingly, toilet leaks can use up to 200 gallons a day, which seems a little bit crazy to most of us. But, you know, that can add up as you look at it that across the entire city," explained Ortega.
CSU says that if you would like to learn more about which plants do well with less water and in Colorado Springs weather, you can visit the demonstration gardens and get help from their staff at the Conservation and Environmental Center, 2855 Mesa Dr. in Colorado Springs.
You can find more tips from CSU here.
Stay up to date with the latest local news, sports, and investigations by downloading the KRDO13 app. Click here to download it from the Apple App Store. Android users can download it from Google Play here.
