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With the first big snowstorms of the year behind us and snow accumulating in the mountains, the year’s end is a good time to reflect on Denver’s water use this year, especially in the summer, the toughest season of the year. Denver Water’s planning team has looked closely at last summer’s statistics. What’s most encouraging is that Denver Water’s customers clearly have developed habits of wise water use which we can build on to keep the water supply stable and reliable. Your water savings turned the tide and allowed your water system to recover from the drought.
Looking at the water storage numbers, what we found is also encouraging. For the first time since 2000, most of our reservoirs are full. Based solely on the condition of the reservoirs, Denver Water’s customers are out of the drought. But below-average precipitation and stream flows suggest that the watersheds -- where we collect our water -- may not be. As someone said at a Denver Water Board meeting this fall, "The next drought could have begun yesterday, and we won't know for a while."
Water supply is better, and the watersheds may be recovering from the deficits of previous years, but water scarcity is a permanent condition in the Rocky Mountain West. The "next drought" is not an "if" but a "when." The best preparation for drought is developing habits that can help us weather a future period of unusually low water conditions. And it looks like Denver Water’s customers are developing those habits.
Denver Water’s web site posts reservoir levels, stream flow, and precipitation numbers daily, with summary water reports appearing twice a month in the fall and winter, weekly in spring and summer. The last report for the summer (September 2005) showed that even though precipitation was below average in both watersheds, our reservoir storage was above normal. The reports for October and November are encouraging as well. The forecast for spring is cautiously optimistic.
What’s the secret? Customers determined to become good water citizens practicing wise water use. During the drought, Denver Water spread the word that wasteful habits cannot be supported in a semi-arid climate. Customers responded with water savings and responsible use. Denver Water supported those efforts with awareness programs, education, and rebates for customers, helping them adapt their water habits to "the Great American Desert." As we left the worst of the drought behind, new conservation habits seemed to have been born from the crisis.
| | In June of 2005, when local precipitation was higher than normal, water use in Denver dropped to much lower than normal, primarily because customers took advantage of rain to reduce their lawn watering.
When the record heat of July arrived and the rains moved on, water use began climbing slowly. At the end of summer, average water use was down 20 percent from historic norms, even though precipitation in the metro area was below normal.
We’ve come a long way from 2002, when we were coping with the worst drought year in centuries. In March of 2003, before a record snowstorm paralyzed the city, reservoir levels were still less than half full. Good water citizenship, a well-designed storage and delivery system, and a bit of mercy from Mother Nature sent storage soaring to 86 percent of capacity in fall of 2003. And then for eighteen months we maintained around 85 to 95 percent full in spite of low snowpack in 2004. This year, thanks to better-than-average snowpack in 2005 and good water habits this summer, Denver Water has had almost normal storage levels.
Of course, winter weather, the snowpack, and spring runoff will determine how full the reservoirs will be next summer. Is the drought over? Let's say simply that there is no state of emergency demanding sacrifices. But the old saying, "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes," applies to the seasons as well as today's chance of rain or snow.
In the coming months, Denver Water will continue to provide guidance with conservation and Xeriscape programs. Toward the end of winter, a new series of Xeriscape seminars and landscaping workshops will be available for customers wishing to reduce their outdoor water needs. For our commercial customers, incentive programs will encourage use of industrial and irrigation tools that reduce water needs. Lots of other programs are in the works.
But the most important "program" is the good water citizenship shown by the wise water users of Denver. Denver was born of a daring vision – that a major city could thrive on the semi-arid plains. That vision gave us Cheesman Dam one hundred years ago, and a century of good stewardship since. Colorado's water is life’s blood, this precious resource, and together we can use it wisely for decades to come. |
