Durango house flipper Josh Pronozuk toiled over a landscaping project Tuesday afternoon.
Instead of laying yards of grass, he was installing drip irrigation systems for native plants that require little water. The choice aligned with drought-related water restrictions requiring new sod, seed, plants, flowers, trees and other outdoor landscaping to be limited to drought-tolerant species.
The city of Durango implemented Stage 1 water restrictions in April amid one of Southwest Colorado’s worst snowpack years on record.
But the effectiveness of the city’s water restrictions – and efforts like those of Pronozuk’s – is difficult to gauge, city officials say.
It is nearly impossible to isolate the impact of water restrictions, because weather, water availability and changing irrigation schedules can all impact supply and demand, said Tom Sluis, spokesman for the city of Durango.
“It’s really tough to tell right now how well our conservation efforts are working because of the snow and the rain that we’ve had,” John Harris, Public Works director, said last month at a City Council meeting.
Resident and commercial customer usage went up in May, Harris said, likely because people were just beginning to charge their irrigation systems.
However, Stage 1 restrictions do not have a significant impact, he said. They function more as a warning to residents.
Under current drought measures, city residents are permitted to water their lawns no more than three days a week, on specific days dictated by even or odd address numbers. But most people were already doing that.
“Folks were already irrigating three days a week. It would be impactful if we had to go to two days a week,” Harris said. “That would be the big change.”
And besides education, the main priority of stage 1 restrictions is to ensure the largest water users cut back their usage by the required 10%, Sluis said. That has been successful, he said, evident by the patches of brown grass seen across large green spaces across town.
The city has cut back water for smaller parks, like Iris Park, which boasts a sickly looking patch of brown grass. Larger, more trafficked parks are the focus of watering efforts, Sluis said.
On average, the city uses 3.8 million gallons of water every day, Harris said. That about triples during peak season – typically late July into September, he said.
The city noted supply declined at the end of May, but Laura Rieck, assistant Public Works director, said as of now the city water supply is stable and meeting demand. Rieck does not anticipate needing to enact stage 2 restrictions any time soon, if at all, which would restrict watering to two days a week.
Gov. Jared Polis issued a proclamation of a statewide emergency drought on Monday, as all 64 Colorado counties experience various drought intensities. The proclamation was included as a part of phase 3 activation of the state’s drought response plan.
Phase 3 response allows the state to take emergency response actions, and respond to funding requests, and potentially request a federal disaster declaration.
While declaration is one factor the city is watching as it evaluates conservation measures, it won’t lead to any immediate changes to local watering rules, Rieck said.
The city has no automatic way to determine whether residents are complying with Stage 1 restrictions because the rules regulate when water can be used rather than how much is used.
Therefor, enforcement is largely dependent on calls and reports made to the city’s code enforcement team.
So far, residents found violating the restrictions have received warnings.
Code enforcement officers are taking an “education-first” approach, Code Enforcement Officer Vicki Kling said in a written statement provided to The Durango Herald by Durango Police Department spokeswoman Amanda Garrison.
This is meant to ensure people understand the restrictions, rather than immediately begin penalties, Kling said.
Since April, code enforcement has received 21 reports related to possible water restriction violations, she said. The first report came in on April 21, 11 days after Stage 1 mandatory water restrictions went into effect.
Compliance has been generally good, Kling said. Of the 21 reports, the educational tactic has worked. There have been no repeat offenders.
jbowman@durangoherald.com
