Your water-sucking green lawn is a thing of the past, Gov. Jerry Brown told California residents last week.
That theme carried through several presentations to a full house crowd at the 33rd annual Water Seminar on April 3 in Durango, sponsored by the Southwestern Water Conservation District.
Conservation is the low-hanging fruit to reduce gaps in water supply versus demand in the Southwest, speakers on a water conservation panel said.
Drew Beckwith from Western Resource Advocates said, "Efficiency is cheap. It's fast, it's flexible, and it works. It should be the first tool out of the box" before things like piping water from elsewhere, water re-use, produced water from gas wells, or desalinization.
With conservation over the past 20 years, household water use has gone down, and some Western cities are using less water than 20 years ago even with significant population growth, Beckwith said. He cited Los Angeles, Fort Collins, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, and Tempe, Ariz.
But he also presented a graph showing per capita water use in the U.S. and Canada much higher than other First World countries, where water prices are much higher. The lowest was Germany at 45 gallons per person per day.
Development patterns affect water use, Beckwith said. He showed an aerial view of the Highlands Ranch subdivision near Denver and the New Urbanism style Stapleton development. The Highlands Ranch view shows small yards, but with turf filling all the front yards. The Stapleton picture shows a house with a much smaller front yard with shrubs, not grass.
He also showed a graph of different types of homes and yards in the Las Vegas, Nev. area. They range from a low daily per capita use of 114 gallons up to 226 gallons for those with turf lawns. "Just using existing technology, homes are being built that use half the water," he said.
He showed a picture of a Denver restaurant with a nice green lawn in front. "That's water we don't need to use," he said. In contrast were pictures of attractive xeriscaping.
Dominique Gomez with WaterSmart Software described ways for municipal water providers to make customers aware of how much they actually use.
She showed a picture of a little girl brushing her teeth and said, "If you ask most Americans (how to conserve water), they'll tell you the number 1 thing you can do is turn the water off while you brush your teeth. That shows people haven't gotten serious about conserving water."
Toilets are the largest inside water use; and outdoor use is about one-third of total household use, she said. "People don't know what they should be doing. ... The main way we engage home owners is their water bill. They are billed in units they don't understand. And water is so cheap, even in the West." The typical water bill is about one-third of a person's cell phone bill, and water use is represented by a code rather than actually listing the number of gallons used, she said.
Gomez cited a survey where people said they were spending about the right amount on their water bill, versus other utilities. "That means it should be more. People don't understand how much they actually use versus what they think they use." The highest water users are most likely to underestimate their use, she said.
WaterSmart software helps utilities work with their customers to understand how much they use. Social norms are part of this as well. "Saving money isn't always the most powerful incentive. Group behavior is a powerful force on most individuals," Gomez said. "This is really important in places like Colorado where people are moving from all over the country."
Customers get a home water report with use in gallons per day, Gomez said. "It can be really eye-opening. They think, 300 gallons per day??? No way! It shows what homes around you use. The social norm. It lets you know if you are a high water user."
It shows seasonal use and helps customers understand things they can do to save water, including changing from grass to native plants.
"Most people don't even think about outdoor watering," Gomez said. "We see an average of 5 percent savings just by giving people this information. It gets people engaged in programs to save water, like turf reduction. ... The 5 percent reduction comes a lot from the high users. Often they are watering too much anyway."
Mark Marlowe, utilities director for Castle Rock south of Denver, said they have been promoting water conservation for years, and their per capita daily use last year was 108 gallons, with 55 percent for indoor use. They want to get per capita use down to or below 100 gpd.
He described their water rate structure. "We provide an indoor water budget to customers, the lowest priced water, and an outdoor budget that changes month to month. They get that based on their individual landscaping. That water is significantly more expensive. If they exceed that (tier), they pay an even higher rate." The highest users pay $16 per 1,000 gallons.
The city pays homeowners $1 per square foot to replace turf, up to 1,500 square feet. Marlowe showed a before and after picture of a front yard, with more than half the grass replaced by a sidewalk and shrubs. City rights-of-way also have been converted.
New housing developments have to provide water efficiency plans and educate their customers, and those lots get smaller water budgets than existing lots. "We expect 26 to 47 percent less use per unit than those built in the past," he said.
Asked about the effect of their price structure on home gardens, Marlowe said, "We don't see the home gardens as a primary concern versus Kentucky bluegrass lawns."
State Sen. Ellen Roberts tried unsuccessfully last year to pass a bill that would have required new subdivisions to limit lawn sizes if they use water transferred from agricultural use. It drew a lot of opposition from Front Range water interests and those who said it would infringe on property rights.
She asked, "Is it wise to depend on Brazil or Chile for our food supply while we're drying up our ag land for turf grass? You can't eat your turf grass. Do we value having a cattle and sheep industry? That doesn't happen without water." She cited dust bowl conditions in Southeast Colorado because of bare ground from agriculture dry-up.
Citing the "firestorm" of opposition to the lawn bill, Roberts said she'd prefer to have it handled locally, as in Castle Rock, so local officials "get the hit for it."
She cited a bill this year to let people collect two barrels of rain water from their roofs for yard watering. "Maybe people would learn how much water it actually takes to keep their yard green when they see how little lawn two barrels can keep green," she said.
Another concern is ongoing lack of funding to maintain water infrastructure, such as aging pipes that leak a significant amount of water, Roberts said.
"I get a little frustrated at the capitol," she said. "You get a water bill and a lot of legislators kind of shut down."
She noted the legislature's interim water committee will have meetings around the state again this year, including Durango. Committee members were impressed with the turnout in Durango last year, she said.
Jim Havey started the seminar by showing a trailer for his movie, The Great Divide, which is supposed to be released in August. It was filmed in Colorado, including La Plata County.
"It's to educate people and get them involved in creating solutions," Havey said, citing projections for the state population to double by 2050. "Every drop of water that comes out of the tap comes out of a river. As the climate changes, behaviors will have to change too," he said.
