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TO: City Council, City Manager
FROM: Richard J. Plastino, Director of Public Works
Kathy Hodgson, Director of Community Resources
DATE: April 18, 2003
SUBJECT: City of Lakewood Drought Response Plan Policies and Procedures
Recommendation
Based on decisions the Denver Board of Water Commissioners made at their April 16, 2003 meeting, it is recommended the City Council approve the following policies and operational procedures to guide City staff in managing operations of the City that are impacted by the drought. Lakewood's response to the drought represents a balance between the City's responsibility to protect and maintain land and water resources while still providing safe and appealing services, facilities and parks. To accomplish this balance, the City and its citizens will have to partner to conserve water and mitigate the impact of activities on parks and other city facilities.
Background
With the recent blizzard of 2003, it might be easy to believe the drought is over, but this is not the case. Denver Water reservoirs are a little over 43% full and it takes a huge amount of water to refill the remaining 57%. For example, if the entire City of Lakewood from 26th Avenue to Highway 285 and from C-470 to Sheridan Boulevard was covered with about 12 feet of water (not snow, but water), this would just refill Denver Water's mountain reservoirs. It will take at least 3 years of average snowfall in the mountains for the reservoirs to refill. Since no one can predict the future, Denver Water must maintain water restrictions again this year to ensure the reservoirs have adequate water if the drought continues.
The majority of the City of Lakewood (99%) is served with drinking and irrigation water provided by Denver Water and distributed through a group of 17 special districts in Lakewood. The entities that distribute water within Lakewood are Bancroft-Clover, Green Mountain, Bear Creek, Highview, Consolidated Mutual, Alameda, Bennett Bear Creek Farms, Bonvue, Grant, Lakehurst, Lochmoor, Mount Carbon, Pleasant View, South Sheridan, Fehlman, College Park and the City of Lakewood.
These entities are called "distributors" and their function is to operate the pipelines that distribute Denver water to individual homes and businesses in Lakewood.
Denver Water adopted its first comprehensive drought response plan in 1997 and updated it in February 2002. This plan categorizes droughts into four levels as follows:
If Predicted or Actual July 1 Reservoir Storage is Below: Drought Declaration
Will Be:
80% Mild Drought - Stage 1
60% Moderate Drought - Stage 2
40% Severe Drought - Stage 3
Below 35% Extreme Drought - Stage 4
The July 1 date for projecting reservoir storage was chosen because most snowmelt has reached Denver mountain reservoirs by that time and about one half year of customer water use has already occurred. Based on this year's snow pack and projected July 1 reservoir contents, Denver Water adopted a Stage 2 drought determination at its meeting earlier this month. That determination by Denver Water has the following components:
· Provide enough water to allow adequate water for maintenance of athletic fields and other public use facilities such as parks. These users, typically governmental entities like Lakewood, will be allowed the most flexible watering schedule, but there will be no daytime watering between 10 am and 6 pm and no watering on Mondays. The amount of water allocated to parks and athletic fields will be based on consultations among Lakewood, the appropriate distributor and Denver Water. The end product of this collaboration will be a "Water Budget" for each park and athletic field facility in Lakewood. The distributors that supply water to most Lakewood athletic fields and parks are Bancroft-Clover, Green Mountain, Bear Creek, Highview and Consolidated Mutual.
· Keeping trees and shrubs watered and in healthy condition is a major goal of the Denver watering program for both public and private property. The lawn watering schedule listed below is meant to accomplish this goal:
Þ Single-family odd addresses will water Wednesday and Saturday; even
addresses water on Sunday and Thursday.
Þ All others such as government, commercial and multifamily water on Tuesday
and Friday. However, government parks and playfields may be watered any day
except Monday.
Þ On Monday, no landscape watering by anyone.
Þ Watering hours are 6 pm to 10 am.
Þ Irrigation will be allowed for 15 minutes per zone with a maximum of
8 zones. A total of 2 hours for all zones is the maximum. As noted in the first
bullet point, public use facilities such as parks and athletic fields will be
allowed a more flexible watering schedule based on the "water budget"
agreed upon for each such facility.
· New seed and sod lawns would have to follow the twice a week regulation; therefore new lawns are effectively banned since seed and sod cannot become established with water applied at this frequency.
· Trees and shrubs can be watered between 6 pm and 10 am the same two days as other landscaping based on address. New trees can be given extra water the day they are planted (except Monday) but may not survive on the subsequent twice a week watering.
· Flowers and vegetables may be watered any day between 6 pm and 10 am (except Monday) with a hand held hose, drip, or soaker hose type of device. As with new trees, they can be given extra water only on the day they are planted (except Mondays).
· Swimming pools are substantially unrestricted, but operators must use common sense such as not emptying and refilling the pool every month.
· Existing water features such as decorative pools are okay as long as water is not sprayed in the air. If water needs aeration because it is supporting aquatic life such as fish, fountains are allowed provided they are set to the minimum power required.
· Personal car washing is allowed at the owner's home only on the designated watering day between 6 pm and 10 am. A hose with a spring-loaded shut off nozzle or a bucket must be used.
· Cleaning hard outdoor surfaces such as sidewalks, driveways and patios is prohibited. The only limited exceptions to this restriction are when water cleaning is needed for public health and safety reasons or when power washing is an essential element of a business.
· City street cleaning equipment will have no restrictions.
· Restaurants shall not serve water unless requested.
There are additional components to the Denver Water Stage 2 Program; however, the above covers most of the issues relevant to the city and its citizens.
Detailed Information and Recommended Response Plan Policy and Operational Procedures
Based on Denver Water restrictions, the recommended Lakewood Drought Response
Plan Policies and Procedures presented for City Council consideration are as
follows. These are grouped by category.
A. Management Issues
1. Lakewood will work closely with all water distributors on City issues and will provide ongoing information to Lakewood citizens about the drought. There are 16 entities, named earlier, that distribute Denver water in Lakewood in addition to the City of Lakewood. City government's major role will be to routinely provide information to Lakewood citizens about the drought and about the steps they can take to reduce water use.
Lakewood will also coordinate closely with all water distributors on City issues that affect water use, such as landscaping requirements or Certificate of Occupancy issuance.
2. Lakewood may lease underground water owned by Lakewood to other entities if there are no alternative sources of water. Through a Water Court action in 1979, Lakewood has the right to a majority of the deep ground water under the City of Lakewood. The amount of water under Lakewood is fairly extensive but drilling wells and hitting a high flow water source is not a sure thing. These deep underground aquifers do not refill once they are used so it is a limited resource. It is also very costly, on the order of $200,000 and up, to drill wells and pump water. Lakewood will consider leasing this water only for use by a) Denver Water if Denver Water requests such water and b) businesses in Lakewood which employ at least five full time employees and which have no alternate source of water.
B. Recreation Centers and Swimming Pools
1. Implement water conservation methods and water conservation education at recreation centers. The Community Resources Department has already undertaken a campaign promoting conservation of water in City buildings. For example, signs requesting short showers are being installed and the City is installing restrictive flow heads in showers and faucets at older city facilities. All of the recently constructed and remodeled recreation centers were built with low flow fixtures. City staff at recreation facilities will also monitor locker room water use.
2. Outdoor and indoor swimming pools will be open. The City plans to keep pools
open as long as water restrictions mandated by Denver Water allow and Stage
2 restrictions do allow operation of pools. The Carmody pool does have an outdoor
water jet feature which will cease operation during the current drought restrictions.
C. Parks, Play Fields and Golf Courses
1. Watering of parks and athletic fields will conform to general guidelines established by Denver Water. The policies of Denver Water this year allow for "adequate" water for maintenance of athletic fields and parks. The exact amount of water will be determined by guidelines established by Denver Water combined with discussions among Denver Water, the appropriate distributor and Lakewood. These discussions will result in the "water budgets" mentioned earlier.
The intent is to allow enough water for Lakewood to adequately water athletic fields and high use areas of parks while cutting back on water in other areas of parks that are used to a lesser extent. The discussions will revolve around previous water use and will likely include factors such as irrigable acreage, type of vegetation, irrigation system efficiencies and evapotranspiration rates for different kinds of grasses and plants combined with varying weather conditions.
2. Use of the City's underground water will not be tapped to provide supplemental water for athletic fields and parks. While wells are possible, there are several constraints. First, not all areas of Lakewood have underground water supplies that produce high yielding wells. Second, sprinkler systems use water at a faster rate than wells typically produce, which means a reservoir is needed and only a few Lakewood parks have lakes that would serve this purpose. The final problem is cost. Lakewood is underlain by two water aquifers. The shallowest one, which is approximately 700 feet below the surface, is called the "Arapahoe" formation. The second, which is about 1300 feet below the surface, is called the "Laramie Fox Hills" formation. An Arapahoe well and associated piping and controls costs approximately $200,000 to $250,000 while a Laramie Fox Hills well costs approximately $250,000 to $350,000.
The time to prepare bid specifications, bid, drill and install the necessary control equipment ranges from a four to six month minimum, assuming everything is done on an emergency basis, to a nine to twelve month time based on normal procedures.
3. Grass playfields will not be converted to artificial turf in 2003. Construction of artificial turf fields is being examined for future fields; however, none are planned immediately. Where existing turf exists, the turf would have to be removed, irrigation systems modified, a separate drainage system installed and new maintenance equipment purchased. The cost of retrofitting an existing athletic field is in the range of $5 to $6.50 per square foot. For one regulation size soccer field, this cost would be approximately $400,000 to $500,000.
4. Trucking in water from outside the drought area to provide additional irrigation of City parks will not occur. The City does not plan to truck in water for any irrigation needs in the city. Trucked in water is very expensive with an approximate cost of $20 to $40 per thousand gallons. This compares with $2 to $4 per thousand gallons from the Denver system. Irrigation takes so much water that a trucking operation would be hugely expensive. By way of example a single tanker truck carrying 10,000 gallons of water at a cost of $200 could provide enough water to keep a few large sprinklers at Addenbrooke Park operating for less than two hours. This would allow two zones out of about 200 zones at the park to receive water before going dry.
5. Care of grass in parks during and after the drought will be done to most effectively mitigate the impacts. In normal water years, the City uses a hollow core aerator to pull plugs in turf grass, generally twice a year. This is not done in severe drought conditions because the ground is too hard to obtain a good core and the subsurface roots become exposed to the dry air. When water is adequate, fertilization is applied two to three times a year using approximately three pounds of nitrogen per thousand square feet. No fertilization is done during a drought. Fertilizing during a drought subjects the grass to stress since the grass tries to grow without a proper balance of nutrients and water. As the drought subsides the City will start fertilizing with a low nitrogen rate program to aid in grass recovery from the drought. Mowing is greatly decreased in a drought and is done only when enough growth has occurred to warrant mowing.
6. The City will not plant and water annual flowers this summer. No plantings are planned this summer except in limited circumstances. The twice a week water restrictions from Denver Water will not generally provide enough water to keep new annual flowers alive while they are being established. The city does not have the staffing to hand water any substantial plantings of flowers.
7. City golf courses will be open and irrigated. Both City golf courses, Homestead and Fox Hollow, receive their irrigation water from Bear Creek and this will continue. Signs will be posted at the courses stating the facilities are irrigated with ditch water. The irrigation water used on the courses was purchased by the City and the conditions for water use on the courses were determined by Colorado water court requirements and the amount of water in Bear Creek. Denver water is used only within buildings on the two courses. If the amount of irrigation water available lessens toward the middle or end of summer, the amount of water applied to the courses will be reduced starting, in order, with roughs, fairway fringes, fairways, tees and finally greens. Last to receive reduced water would be the greens due to the extensive cost of rehabilitating the putting surface. Continued patronage of the golf courses is important financially for the city because almost $800,000 per year of golf course revenue is dedicated to the yearly repayment of the loan used to construct the new Homestead Golf Course and the recreation centers.
Also, per drought regulations, the restaurants at both courses will serve water only upon request of the customer.
8. The swim beach will be open at Bear Creek Lake Park. If water levels in Soda Lakes are too low for safe swimming it will not be permitted; however, the beach will be open for other activities. Water activities such as wind surfing and paddleboats will be operated, water levels permitting.
9. Lakewood will use available ditch water and Denver water in city parks and athletic fields. Lakewood parks and fields are irrigated either from ditch water or Denver water. Denver water is distributed by many different water distributors within the City and Lakewood parks are located in five of these distributor areas. The irrigation systems that use Denver water are operated based on the "water budgets" worked out with Denver Water and the appropriate distributor. Ditch water use is based on availability. The City uses all ditch water legally available; in dry years less is used and in wet years the parks are irrigated as the turf requires.
10. Open fires in charcoal grills will be determined based on State orders. The City will operate in compliance with Governor's orders. At the current time there are no fire bans in effect.
11. Athletic fields will be open for Spring/Summer season. Fields were permitted and programs scheduled for the spring season, which began on March 15th and will end on June 1st. The summer season is scheduled to begin June 1st and will end on August 1st. As requested by the City, sports teams have reduced their numbers of practices and are moving practices around on their given site to prevent overuse in any particular area. Additionally, no makeup games, season extensions, or special tournaments will be permitted. Fall permitting and sports programming decisions will be determined later in the season based upon field conditions and water availability.
12. The City will coordinate with R-1 school district on the use and availability of fields. R-1 schools provide use of their fields and schools through site-based management, meaning individual schools schedule their own facilities. City staff within the Community Resources Department work in close cooperation with R-1 for provision of facilities for a variety of sports programming including the Middle School Sports, Sports Camps, Pee Wee and Junior leagues and classes, and the Colorado Association for Recreational Athletics summer track program. User groups desiring field permits are encouraged to work directly with school district staff at the given site.
13. New park upgrades and construction will continue. Construction work will continue and short-term measures will be taken to stabilize the project sites to control dust and erosion. Generally, no planting will occur; however, this will be reevaluated later based on water availability.
D. Streets and Right of Way Landscaping
1. The City will continue to flush fire hydrants. Stale water will continue to be flushed from hydrants and dead-end lines to ensure water quality is high and health is not jeopardized. The City uses about 120,000 gallons per year flushing lines (about the same amount of water used per year in a small single family home). In 2003 water flushed from hydrants and dead-end lines will be discharged into the City's sewer cleaning truck and this water will be used for routine sewer cleaning operations rather than filling up the sewer truck with fresh fire hydrant water
2. Cleaning of sand off medians and islands will be limited and will be done by hand brooming with restricted use of high-pressure water. In accordance with Denver restrictions, the City will usually not be using high-pressure water to clean islands and medians as has been done in years past. For public safety reasons, islands used by pedestrians and bicyclists will be cleaned with water to ensure a non-slippery service. A few other extremely dirty and highly visible islands and medians will be hand broomed and the rest will not be cleaned. About 180,000 gallons of water will be saved (the amount used by a medium sized single family home per year).
3. No replacement of median grass and landscaping in roadways is planned this summer. The City does not plan such replacements to any large extent. However, conversion of trees, shrubs and flowers on medians to lower water use type plantings is always being examined. These are extremely harsh environments for vegetation and it is difficult to have any consistent success with plant material regardless of the watering requirements. The City is planning some possible conversion of plant materials in shrub beds where there has been die off due to drought and salt application in the winter, but no large-scale conversions are planned at this time. Such conversions are extremely expensive and must occur over time.
There are turf grass medians in Lakewood with the larger ones being on Kipling Parkway from Alameda to Belleview Avenue. This median is not irrigated from Asbury to Girton. Union Boulevard is also landscaped from Alameda to approximately 6th Avenue. In these medians where high percentages of bluegrass are in existence, there will be over seeding, vegetation conversion and sprinkler system modifications as funding allows.
4. A phone number is available to make reports about malfunctioning sprinklers in city parks and street medians. Calls reporting malfunctions can be made to 720-963-5240.
E. Special Events and Outdoor Festivals
1. Some festivals and other large outdoor events will be relocated as needed. The summer concert series traditionally located in the Heritage Center will be relocated to the Civic Center Plaza. The only large scale events allowed at the Heritage Center this summer will be those with purposes and themes that are tied to the historic Heritage Center and these events will be largely restricted to paved or gravel areas. Examples of these events are Lakewood on Parade and Cider Days. Some other events are being moved to alternative locations.
2. Reservations for park pavilions will continue to be taken. The City will follow the same procedures as were used last summer. If there is a fire ban by the governor, renters will be informed prior to entering into the rental agreement.
F. Planning and Building Construction Issues
1. The City's landscaping requirements will be modified. Article 15 of the zoning ordinance currently requires landscaping similar to other Denver metropolitan jurisdictions.
City staff will amend Article 15 to provide for landscaping and irrigation designs that adhere to water wise principles. This change to the zoning ordinance, when done in a thoughtful manner, will take several months since it needs to be drafted and reviewed with appropriate parties such as landscape designers, Denver Water, contractors and the development sector. These and other ordinance changes will address all the issues Denver Water has recommended as model water saving ordinances. In the meantime, the City staff will continue to work with applicants to encourage landscape designs that are water wise.
2. Certificates of Occupancy holders will be encouraged to redesign landscaping and irrigation systems when landscaping is not yet installed. The City has been receiving cash collateral since last summer for uninstalled landscaping when a Certificate of Occupancy is required. A letter has been sent to all Certificate of Occupancy holders who have placed collateral with the City encouraging them to redesign their landscaping and irrigation systems to become more water efficient.
3. Lakewood's Comprehensive Plan will broadly address water use policy. On the policy level the Comprehensive Plan states that the City should address the issues of using drought tolerant landscaping and native vegetation both in private and public developments throughout the City and in addition, address building techniques and designs to make efficient use of water. These general policies, which are appropriate for a comprehensive plan, will be turned into results by staff actions and by adoption of resolutions and ordinances by the Council in the months ahead.
4. Lakewood will continue to issue building permits during the water shortage. Unless Denver Water mandates a building permit moratorium as part of "Severe" or "Extreme" drought measures, Lakewood will continue to issue building permits. One of the goals of Denver Water is to deal with the lack of water but not cause unnecessary hardship. Terminating issuance of building permits at the local government level, absent a decree from Denver Water, has tremendous detrimental effects on our local economy. Such a termination of building permits would cause layoffs, family hardships and would have a ripple effect on other businesses in Lakewood. Denver Water is the entity that is in a position to monitor the water supplies and Denver Water is also the proper agency to determine whether a tap moratorium is necessary or not.
G. Other Issues
1. Washing of City vehicles will continue on an as needed basis. City vehicles will be cleaned only when necessary for safety or identification and not more than once a week. This applies to all city cars whether washing is done at City facilities, commercial car washes or at home. Operator judgment will be used to determine if the City logo and markings can be adequately seen to carry out the City's business and safely see out the windows. Vehicles will not be washed when simply dusty or dirty unless safety or identification is clearly compromised. Heavy equipment used for snow removal operations will be hosed down to remove salt and mud when necessary to prevent corrosion. Mowers shall be washed as necessary to maintain the efficiency of the cutting blades.
2. Advice to citizens will be provided on the care of the grass and trees around their property. Citizens are advised to water early morning or after dusk, ensure sprinkling systems are operating properly, repair leaks, and deep root water or use a soaker hose on trees. There are a number of Internet sites that provide good information on managing the drought such as www.denverwater.org, and www.watersaver.org. Additionally Lakewood will provide information periodically through "Looking at Lakewood," KLTV 8, and on the Lakewood web site.
3. Water wise training classes for residents will be provided through Denver Water. Denver Water is providing training classes for citizens throughout the metro area and Lakewood does not plan to duplicate this function. Class schedules are listed on the Denver Water web site, www.denverwater.org or by calling 303-628-6000.
4. The City will continue to employ water wise landscaping. Lakewood has been utilizing water wise plantings in new park developments for a number of years. Three recent water wise projects that have been completed are the shrub beds at Morse and Kendrick Lake Parks and the native seeding done at the new parks maintenance building on Estes near the Bear Creek Green Belt. Additionally a demonstration water wise garden is planned at the same park maintenance building. The Neighborhood Participation Program project at Jewell and Wadworth will also incorporate water wise principles in its design and installation. These projects will be planted when the drought breaks.
5. The city will suggest alternatives for planting of new lawns. Some varieties of fescue can generate a good turf, but fescue takes similar amounts of irrigation as bluegrass to initially get established and fescue does not tolerate wear or recover as quickly. Buffalo grass is another alternative to bluegrass but it remains dormant until temperatures are consistently warm. The different appearance of various grass species takes getting used to since Kentucky bluegrass is generally deep green when watered and fertilized properly while other species of grass do not replicate the texture or color of Kentucky bluegrass. In some cases such as athletic fields, Kentucky bluegrass may still be the most appropriate because it stands up to heavy use and recovers well after going dormant in a dry summer. With adequate ground preparation, bluegrass can still be a good choice for the Denver area, but typically it is over watered particularly in residential settings.
6. Information and education on the drought will be prepared for "Looking at Lakewood," on KLTV Channel 8 and on the City website. The City plans to coordinate with every department in the City affected by the drought, with Denver Water, and with other involved parties to present information on these three outlets to provide information about water restrictions, care of vegetation and operation of City facilities.
The City will coordinate with Lakewood water distributors and with Denver Water to ensure information is accurate. The City will tailor its information to address subjects that are directly relevant to our citizens.
There has been and will continue to be an "onslaught" of information from virtually every media type on the drought. It is important that Lakewood not merely duplicate such information but help interpret the meaning of the information so Lakewood citizens can use it on a practical basis. "Looking at Lakewood" will run a series of articles answering questions about water and will present information supplied by various City departments. A series of articles has started which focus on 1) questions our citizens are asking, 2) what City departments are doing to save water, 3) how to make the best use of water, 4) code or ordinance changes and 5) long range plans. A beginning article from the Department of Public Works introduced what will be covered by the series of articles.
The Public Information Office will take requests for interviews and announce new plans and news about water through press releases. The Public Information Officer will answer all questions posed by the media in a timely manner ensuring the information is accurate. The City's graphic designer will produce printed materials on the drought and there will be consistent drought information provided by the City.
KLTV Channel 8 is currently airing water saving tips and will produce a drought video in conjunction with other cities in the Greater Metro Telecommunications Consortium. Channel 8 will provide information to citizens on not only the issue of water quantity but also water quality. The City website has links to Denver Water, www.denverwater.org, and other links to Lakewood water distributors. A directory of all districts and their phone numbers are listed.
Summary
The City of Lakewood's response to the current drought has two components. The first component is a series of measures that are guided by restrictions of Denver Water and the water distributors. The second component consists of those issues where the City can determine its actions independently of Denver and the distributors while still adhering to water conservation principles. The two major items in this category are use of underground water and watering procedures for City golf courses.
Based on the City's experience during the 2002 irrigation season and the requirements currently being imposed by Denver Water and distributors, the above policies and procedures are recommended to City Council to guide the City through the 2003 irrigation season.
Richard J. Plastino, Director of Public Works
Kathy Hodgson, Director of Community Resources
Michael J. Rock, City Manager
Joni Inman, Director of Mayor and City Managers Office
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