WATER RESTRICTIONS
A draft of the drought management plan handed to the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities Board of Directors on Thursday shows just how desperate are the times that soon will require drastic measures.
Mild winters and a lack of precipitation in the region have officials convinced that if water consumption is not reduced and the drought continues, this community is headed toward a water crisis.
Here's why:
The city's seven reservoirs located west of Cheyenne will be at 36 percent of capacity by May 1. Water in those reservoirs is only 14,000 acre-feet (an acre-foot is about 325,851 gallons of water). All of this means that the drought has left the city more 3 billions gallons short of potable water.
Currently, Cheyenne is weathering what experts call a "moderate" drought. But if no measurable precipitation is received in the next few months, that status will be changed to "severe" by May.
The drought management plan offered by consultants Black and Veatch and now being considered by BOPU may seem like overreactions, but it is necessary. Some of the recommendations:
Restrict outdoor watering of lawns to two days a week, during certain
periods of the day with a limit of three hours per day.
No lawn watering in July or August.
No lawn seeding or sodding during no-water months.
Encourage homeowners to install low-flow shower heads and toilets.
Encourage xeriscaping of yards.
BOPU also needs to adopt a multi-level fee schedule . Those who use high
quantities of water will have to pay more.
All these measures may seem drastic, but the outlook for Cheyenne is grim. By May 1, 2004 -- if water demands are not curtailed and the runoff in 2004 is the same as in 2003 -- this community will only have four months of surface water remaining. That's serious.
Also, it's not that Cheyenne doesn't have enough water storage capacity. It's the fact that the runoff from the snowpack and rainfall haven't filled the reservoirs.
Cheyenne water users are in for a serious lifestyle change:
Residents will have to learn to clean up with the least amount of water possible. Use paper plates to avoid having to wash the dishes. Make sure laundry loads don't use any more water than needed.
Here in the West, we always have said water is a precious resource. This year that will hit home for every Cheyenne water user.
Residents need to accept the fact that how they have used water in the past doesn't matter. Everyone needs to be water-wise. And you might as well start now. Water restrictions are virtually guaranteed.
Byline: By Ty Stockton
outdoors@wyomingnews.com
CHEYENNE -- If you plan to go fishing this summer, bring your own water.
Officials say it's not that bad, but many outdoor recreationists are nervous anyway.
Gary Shoene, public information officer for the Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources, said outdoorspeople should expect about the same conditions on the reservoirs as the summer of 2002.
"We're probably going to be in the same boat as last year," Shoene said. "The state hydrologist is predicting more drought. He's predicting it's going to be much the same this year."
Three of the closest bodies of water to Cheyenne -- North Crow Reservoir, Crystal Reservoir and Granite Reservoir -- are big draws for boaters and anglers, and they're also part of Cheyenne's water supply. Some fear those reservoirs may dry up as the drought persists, leaving these favorite fishing holes as dry as Bump Sullivan was during goose hunting season this year.
Shoene doesn't expect that to happen. He even sees a bright side to the low water levels.
"If we have the money to put in some boat ramp extensions at the water parks, we'll try to do that," he said, adding that Boysen Reservoir's ramps were lengthened last summer.
The state hydrologist, Jan Curtis, said the drought will cause more problems this year, but it's nothing to be alarmed about. He said the reservoirs are not in danger of drying up, but the fish that live in them may face some challenges.
"Fishes are going to be stressed by higher water temperatures and a higher concentration of particles in the water, making the water less pure," he said. These factors may thin the numbers of fish in the reservoirs, rivers and streams, but Curtis doesn't believe the die-off will be devastating.
The continuing drought will be hardest on boaters. Marty Berg, the assistant park superintendent for Curt Gowdy State Park, said Granite and Crystal reservoirs are the lowest he's seen them in five years.
At Curt Gowdy, the low water levels aren't as much of a hardship as they are at other reservoirs, because all the boat docks at the two reservoirs are portable.
Berg said one boat ramp is already out of the water, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem as the majority of the watercraft on Curt Gowdy waters are small enough to be launched and trailered by hand.
A few April showers may help too.
"I expect the water levels to come up in May," Berg said.
The bottom line is that the continuing drought will affect outdoor recreationists again this year, but it shouldn't keep outdoorspeople out of the field or off the water.
BUSINESSES COULD BE LEFT FEELING PARCHED
Byline: By Michael Zamora
rep4@wyomingnews.com
CHEYENNE -- With water levels dwindling and no end to Wyoming's drought in site, local business are keeping an eye on how possible water restrictions could affect their bottom line.
While no plans for water restrictions are final, the drought management report presented at a special meeting of the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities on Thursday offered several proposals, including voluntary water audits and drought surcharges on water rates that could affect local businesses.
Frontier Refining Inc., the largest consumer of water in the city, uses more than 2 million gallons of water a day. It used more than 665 million gallons of water in 2001.
Mel Wilkenfeld, environmental manager at Frontier Refining Inc., said water is critical for use in cooling towers during the refining process of crude oil components. While much of the water used in the cooling towers is evaporated in the process, Wilkenfeld said the company reuses as much water as it can.
"Most of the water we use re-circulates in the system," he said. "We actually started a water conservation program in 1999. We've taken several steps to reduce water usage."
He said between 1999 and 2002, Frontier Refining has reduced its water usage by 8 percent, which is about 63 million gallons a year. What is most significant about that, he said, is that the company also increased production capacity during that time.
He said the company installed new cooling systems in its existing plant, which use air for cooling in the heat-exchange process rather than water.
"We had done that at an additional expense to us," Wilkenfeld said. "We wanted to continue our efforts to reduce water.
"Frontier has always been a good citizen of the city and the state," he said. "We make every attempt to cut back. Even with the cutbacks, we're still going to be the largest user (of water)."
He said in light of the possible water restrictions, Frontier Refining will take a second look at its efforts.
"We are looking to reinforce the conservation project we started in 1999," he said. "We'll be reviewing everything we intended to do and looking for new ways of saving water."
He said with the way things look now, Frontier is unlikely to see an adverse impact if water restrictions are imposed.
"Based upon what's been published to date, the answer is no," Wilkenfeld said. "Should they come up with something addition, there's no telling. If they reduce the amount of water we're able to purchase, it could be a significant issue, but that hasn't been brought to the table yet. I don't think it will be."
Car washes at risk
But other businesses that rely heavily on water could see a serious impact. For car-wash owners such as Mike Sullivan, owner of DT's Car Wash, the threat of water restrictions leaves their businesses trapped.
"Right now I'm in a holding pattern," Sullivan said. "I think any other water-related business is too. Until I find out what the city has in mind, we really can't do anything."
According to the drought management report, Cheyenne could be under severe drought conditions beginning in May. The report recommends that in severe and emergency drought conditions, commercial car washes that do not recycle water be prohibited.
While nothing is certain, the idea of shutting car washes down raises concerns among many car-wash owners.
"I don't see how they could do that.," said Ron Fast, owner of Fast Car Wash. "I don't see how they could put me out of business."
Sullivan said he would fight those restrictions if they went into place.
"That I would take to court," Sullivan said. "That's our livelihood. You're taking away people's livelihood and jobs."
He also said installing the systems necessary to treat or recycle water isn't feasible for his business.
"I don't know anybody that has them," Sullivan said. "It's not worth it. It would put us out of business."
The report claims that commercial car washes use more water -- between 40 to 100 gallons of water per wash -- than washing a car at home. Because home washing doesn't consume much water, the report stated, it would not be necessary to restrict or ban home car washing unless the BOPU completely ran out of surface water.
But those figures are news to Steve Anderson, owner of Magic Car Wash.
"That's not what I've heard," Anderson said. "Car washes uses less water. It economizes the use of water better than just a hose running. People using a regular car wash use a lot less water than they do at home."
He said manual car washes use closer to 11 gallons of water for a single wash, and he is interested to know where the figures in the report came from.
"They could be talking about an automatic car wash that probably at the high-end cycle could be putting out more," Anderson said.
Fast also disputed the report's figures.
"I've been in business over 25 years, and I've got my system to wash cars down to a minimum," Fast said. "We use about 25 gallons per car."
Anderson said he could manipulate water pressure in his machines to reduce the amount of water used, but worries customers would notice they aren't getting the same kind of wash.
"I don't know anything else we could possibly do," Anderson said.
And if water prices go up, Sullivan said customers would feel the pinch too.
"If prices go up, I'm going to have to raise my prices just like all the other car washes," Sullivan said. "I know we're going to have to cut back on our water usage here."
Outlook could be worse
Other businesses around Cheyenne aren't quite so worried.
Susan Van Deren, an owner of McIntyre's Garden Center in Cheyenne, attended the special BOPU meeting Thursday and said the outlook for Cheyenne isn't as bad as it could be.
"We don't want to paint this grim, horrible future with water in Cheyenne," Van Deren said. "We are far ahead of what's going on in Colorado. I think we can work together to solve this."
Van Deren said she doesn't expect her business to see any negative effects if water restrictions go into effect.
"I think that people will continue to garden," Van Deren said. "I think people need to garden more effectively. We need to take a different look at what we're planting.
"I think the main message is we need to start looking at alternatives to bluegrass," she said. "In a way, that's going to increase our business."
Van Deren, who is on the board of Garden Centers of Colorado, said she wants to work with the BOPU to help educate people on water conservation.
"We need to work on this together and look at it from a positive standpoint," she said. "We need to do what we can do in the here-and-now and what we can do in future."
She said after attending the meeting, it is important people are aware that conserving water is very necessary.
"We need to look at conservation the best way we can," she said. "We need to conserve in the long run. This is not a short-term solution. We need to look at conservation forever."
And Van Deren isn't the only one who is optimistic. In the summertime, the rodeo is big business in Cheyenne, but Cheyenne Frontier Days Executive Director Dave Johansen said possible water restrictions in Cheyenne will have little effect on the 10-day event.
"I can't think of a way it would impact Cheyenne Frontier Days or the city of Cheyenne as far as tourism goes," Johansen said. "It's pretty hard to judge until we know what the restrictions are."
He said they don't rely heavily on water usage for many things.
"What's critical for us is being able to water the stock when we have animals on the park," Johansen said. "That's an animal welfare issue."
Other than livestock, he said water usage is already at a minimum at the park.
"Usage only takes place when it's necessary," Johansen said. "We have a certain amount of greenery we keep watered each summer, but we're certainly going to abide by any restrictions in terms of watering."
Tourism left untouched?
Tourism in general isn't likely to affected by the restrictions in Cheyenne, said Darren Rudloff, executive director at the Cheyenne Area Convention and Visitor's Bureau.
"Water restrictions this summer would really have a minimal effect on our travel season," Rudloff said. "We don't have many water-dependent attractions or amenities in Cheyenne. We don't see the water restrictions having that much of an impact.
"What's more troubling is the conditions that led to water restrictions," Rudloff said. "Because the drought was severe enough to have water restrictions, we're very susceptible to fire."
He said even the dry conditions aren't that big of a deterrent to tourism in Cheyenne or for the entire region in general.
"We are certainly not the only community with water restrictions," he said. "It appears that we're all suffering the same plight in the entire Rocky Mountain West."
He said last year was an example of how Cheyenne can thrive in a drought, as long as it avoids the problems that plagued Colorado last year.
"We certainly didn't seem to suffer at all from the drought (last year)," Rudloff said. "As long as the threat of forest fire or grass fire is kept at bay, I really don't see a drought affecting us in a major way."
Schools could be affected
But Laramie County School District 1 could feel the impact of water restrictions. LCSD1 ranks fifth in terms of water consumption in the city, and a majority of its usage takes place in the summer months.
Dalton Jones, energy manager for LCSD1, said the district uses about 61 million gallons of water in a year. Last year the district used about 75 percent of that, or about 46 million gallons of water, between May and September.
"Due to the fact that we're in drought conditions, we did restrict water usage last summer," Jones said. "We voluntarily cut back where we could, but on practice fields, because the drought hit so hard, we continued our regular water schedule."
While Jones said no serious discussions about possible water restrictions have taken place yet, but conserving water has been talked about before. He said not watering during the day, letting non-use areas go dormant and exploring xeriscaping are all things the district is currently doing or considering.
"We are in the process of putting things in place already," Jones said. "As we move forward with new schools and renovating older schools, xeriscaping is one of the things we're looking at."
He said there is an area east of East High that already utilizes xeriscaping. He also said the district works hard to maintain the health of its turf so grass gets the maximum benefit when they do water.
Ed Restivo, head of the integrated trades department that oversees grounds maintenance for LCSD1, attended the BOPU meeting Thursday. He said guidelines for possible water restrictions are still unclear, so the district hasn't been able to make plans.
"We're really not saying a whole lot, because we really haven't heard a whole lot," Restivo said. "Nobody really wants to say anything."
But he said there are ways that the district could conserve water if restrictions are placed on usage.
"One way we can conserve water is to make sure our systems are up and running properly," Restivo said. "I think one of the big things is we have to take a close look at the facilities in our district.
"If it gets serious, we'll start looking at what is necessary. Our top priority is the athletic fields. We will take care of those first before we take care of anything else."
WATER CONSERVATION SIMPLY 'A F ... 02/09/2003
Publication: Wyoming Tribune-Eagle
Category: Local
Edition: Final
Published: 02/09/2003
Page: A7
Keywords: Tapped Out: Wyoming's water woes
WATER CONSERVATION SIMPLY 'A FACT OF LIFE'
Byline: By Becky Orr
rep6@wyomingnews.com
CHEYENNE -- When Virginia Price was a child, her father taught their family about the importance of conserving water.
Price, 63, grew up in Cheyenne. When she was little, she said, she learned ways to save water.
She brushed her teeth with only the amount of water that she had poured into a cup.
She watered her grandmother's flowers with leftover dishwater.
"It wasn't a chore," she said. It was just a fact of life.
Cheyenne is no stranger to droughts. They have been as much a part of its history as wind and railroad workers.
Cheyenne residents again find themselves in a drought. In fact, 2001 and 2002 are the driest back-to-back years on record since 1895, state climatologist Jan Curtis said.
The current drought, for its intensity, is the most severe on record since 1895, he said. "We're way below normal moisture."
To respond to the crisis, Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities leaders are considering mandatory water restrictions for the first time in at least a quarter-century.
Cheyenne residents have been asked to follow voluntary conservation recommendations through the years. But that hasn't worked out well, said Tim Wilson, BOPU executive director.
Virginia Price's husband, John, worked for the city's water department for 50 years, from 1945 to 1995. Compulsory restrictions were imposed in the summer of 1953, he said. Cheyenne residents could water their lawns only a couple of hours on odd or even days, he said.
A water warden monitored compliance, going from house to house. It wasn't unusual to see hand-dug wells in people's front lawns. Those who did put signs in their windows that said "irrigating by well."
That way, neighbors who didn't have wells wouldn't get riled to see them watering on the wrong days.
"People just dug them on their own. It's funny nobody ever got killed," John Price said.
The future looks bleak
Wyoming is in the fourth year of the current drought. So where's the moisture?
Bill Parker, meteorologist in charge at the Cheyenne office of the National Weather Service, said the forecast doesn't have the answer.
"What we know right now, in the days through February, there isn't going to be a lot of change," Parker said.
Seasonal outlooks don't hold out a promise for much moisture either.
Parker said he's personally noticed a trend over the last 15 years of hotter, drier conditions.
He said it's his observation that the climate in the mid-1980s was much more extreme than current conditions.
Others share that perception, he said. Old-timers have told him they remember more storms and snows in the 1980s and the 1990s than now.
"In a way, we've seen a gradual and subtle change in climate during the last 15 or 20 years," Parker said.
Storm paths now tend to come across land, directed out of the northwest in Canada, he said, instead of over the Pacific Ocean. Storm systems that travel over the ocean carry more precipitation.
"The storm tracks over the last few years have not been conducive to heavy snow replacements," especially in eastern Wyoming, Parker said.
"We're seeing a persistence of long-term drought in the intermountain region. I don't see that trend reversing."
Parker said there has been 6.4 inches of snowfall recorded in Cheyenne since Dec. 1, which is 11.6 inches below normal.
The National Weather Service office has logged 27.9 inches of snowfall since July 1, which is above the normal of 24.6 inches for the same time period.
But the additional three inches has not ebbed the drought. Day-to-day nuances don't indicate a new moisture trend, he said.
Droughts come in cycles
Droughts are not uncommon, Curtis said. They seem to happen in this part of the country on a 30- to 50-year cycle, he added.
"It seems like timing is possible that we might be entering a period of more frequent droughts," Curtis said.
"The drought that we're experiencing now is the worst that anybody within the state has seen," he said, given his conversations with long-time residents. "They indicated this drought is probably worse because in the 1930s and 1950s, they had more snowpack. We haven't gotten much in the way of moisture throughout the year."
The chance of getting out of the current drought within the year is less than 10 percent, Curtis said. Chances are closer to between zero and 4 percent, he said.
For every year of the drought, it takes at least a year to come out of it, he said.
"I'm hoping that this year we'll see gradual improvement. If we go 20 percent above normal snowpack, that would be a large start for improving conditions."
Rivers within Wyoming are between 30 and 40 percent of the levels they should be, he added.
"Most of the reservoirs are at a point now that unless they get above-normal snowpack this winter, there is no way for them to start replenishing the loss in precipitation," Curtis said.
The state's snowpack is about 80 percent of normal now.
"We need 80 to 120 percent above normal to get out of this drought," Curtis said. "We need more than double the amount of snowpack."
Recent snows helped somewhat and provided 10 percent of snowpack to get it to its current level, he said.
What happens with rainfall in April will have a major influence on ranchers. The April rains will determine the condition of grasslands in the state, he said. Later rains won't make a difference.
Justin Derner is a rangeland scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service at the High Plains Grasslands Research Station west of Cheyenne.
He said the drought has exposed the litter that covers the topsoil of grasslands at the station.
The topsoil is critical. "If you lose that part, that degrades or lessens the ability of the land to produce vegetation" for cattle grazing, he said.
The solution is obvious
Wyoming needs dense, wet snows and plenty of gradual precipitation to get out of the drought, Curtis said.
"If we get two inches in April, things will look very good," he said. "But if we get less than an inch, especially of having back-to-back years of drought, the green-up will be less or nonexistent."
The picture could be dismal for the economy, based on what Curtis said he's been told by the Department of Agriculture.
If the drought persists at its current magnitude, 20 to 40 percent of the existing farms and ranches are going to be in such financial trouble they could go under within the summer, he said.
"Drought will affect everyone if the farms and ranches go under because of the networking and the nature of the communities in the state," Curtis said.
The Wyoming Water Development Commission is trying to provide help for communities to undertake water development projects, he said.
Municipalities are facing tough choices, he added.
"Do you bet on the fact that this is going to be the last of the drought, or do you start conserving on a mandatory basis and preserve that important limited resource for a prolonged drought?"
Conservation should be viewed as a duty and approached with a sense of civic spirit, he said.
That's the way Price sees it. She believes in the lessons her father taught the family.
"Plant flowers that are hardy," she said. "You can learn to do with what's there."
RESIDENTS BRACE FOR WATER REST ... 02/09/2003
Publication: Wyoming Tribune-Eagle
Category: Local
Edition: Final
Published: 02/09/2003
Page: Front
Keywords: Tapped Out: Wyoming's Water Woes
Caption: MICHAEL ZAMORA/WTE
Don Payton pours out the last of the water from his watering can last summer onto some plants he relocated to the front of his 21st Street home to keep them alive as his mother Christine Payton watches. Payton said most of his lawn did not survive last winter because of the low amount of snowfall, but he watered the lawn well at least twice a week to keep it from getting worse. If the city imposes water restrictions this summer as expected, lawns such as Payton's could become common.
RESIDENTS BRACE FOR WATER RESTRICTIONS
Byline: By Ilene Olson
rep3@wyomingnews.com
CHEYENNE -- This summer, lawns in Cheyenne may match the gold of the dry Wyoming prairie during the heat of July and August.
"People's lawns have got to go brown to save water," Mark Maxwell of Black and Veatch told the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities Thursday. "Just putting people on a two-days-per-week restriction isn't enough. They're still going to put their 2 inches on per week."
That is just one of several stringent water conservation measures Maxwell recommended the board and the city make mandatory during the coming spring and summer. The restrictions are necessary because the city likely will have less than one year's worth of water stored in its reservoirs by the beginning of the 2003 water year on May 1.
The Black and Veatch report is based on successful water conservation programs in Colorado. Water conservation efforts began along the Front Range in the 1970s, initially because of insufficient treatment capacity, Maxwell said.
"Now they're short of water too," he added.
Maxwell said Cheyenne's water situation is serious, but not as bad as Aurora's. That city plans to pump out water from dead pools in its reservoirs this summer. Dead pools hold water that is too low to flow naturally into the water system.
That scenario could be repeated here if stringent mandatory conservation measures are not put in place, he said.
Reservoirs draining
When full, the city's five reservoirs hold a total of nearly 40,000 acre-feet, or 13 billion gallons, of water.
In an average year, the city's total water use is about 16,500 acre-feet, or about 5.4 billion gallons.
Last summer, that climbed to 18,500 acre-feet, or just over 6 billion gallons, despite repeated pleas for voluntary water conservation.
Weather experts predict this spring and summer to be similar to last year. But, unless weather patterns change significantly, the city's reservoir system will hold a total of only 14,000 acre-feet of water, or less than 4.6 billion gallons, by May 1.
Experts don't hold much hope that that will change.
BOPU Executive Director Tim Wilson said last year's spring runoff from the city's two main water sources was a small fraction of the average.
Crow Creek saw a runoff of 100 acre-feet of water, compared to an average runoff of 4,000 acre-feet.
Douglas Creek's watershed was dismal as well, with a 2002 runoff of 4,400 acre-feet -- about one-fifth of the average.
Maxwell said the last time the runoff in this area was that low was in 1934.
Wilson added, "The signs are that this year will be no better than last."
The Black and Veatch study outlines five levels of drought, with level one indicating no drought. At that level, reservoirs would hold enough water for more than two years.
Level five is designated as an emergency situation in which only dead pools remained in the city's five reservoirs.
The city would then be entirely dependent on its wells, which yield an average of 4,000 to 4,500 acre-feet of water per year.
Adjudicated restrictions prohibit the city from pumping more than 5,500 acre-feet annually from its wells. The city has rarely pumped that much.
Of the city's 40 wells, 32 are currently functioning, Wilson said. Water pumped from those wells has been declining, Wilson said.
Maxwell said Cheyenne will likely be at drought level four, considered severe, by this spring.
Without mandatory conservation measures, the city could be at the emergency level next year, he added.
Mandatory conservation
BOPU Board President Jerry Jessen noted that water use in the city between June and September is generally as high as or higher than the amount of water used during the other eight months of the year.
That is due primarily to watering lawns, he said. Experts agree that that water use must be curbed this year.
The Black and Veatch study recommends watering be allowed only in May, June and September at the severe drought level. Restrictions at that level are designed to save 30 to 35 percent of the water usage in the city.
If Cheyenne's water situation improves to the third, or moderate level, watering also would be allowed in August.
Water savings at that level are expected to be 20 to 25 percent.
Watering would be restricted to two hours daily twice per week, and prohibited between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Hand-watering flowers and vegetable gardens would be allowed at all levels under the proposal.
Maxwell told the board that most lawns in this area consist of Kentucky bluegrass, which grows primarily in the spring and fall.
"If bluegrass has to go without water, it should be during the heat of the summer," he said. It will go brown but can be revived in the fall.
But Maxwell cautioned that method would be detrimental to turfs that grow best in the heat of the summer.
One example is buffalo grass, which needs little water overall, but needs to be watered during the hot months to survive.
The proposed restrictions may need to be adjusted to different months for the relatively small number of people who have those types of lawns, he said.
As proposed, hand watering, subsurface and drip irrigation would be allowed at both levels.
At the severe level, washing a car by hand would be allowed, but commercial car washing would be prohibited unless the car wash recycled its water.
Both types of car washes would be allowed at the moderate level.
The study also recommends a drought surcharge be imposed during severe and emergency drought periods. That is both to encourage conservation and to supplement the utility's budget at a time of low water consumption.
"Unfortunately, utilities still need the same amount of revenue regardless of the water sold," Maxwell said. "(They) still have to provide the same services."
County conservation
Mark Smith, president of the board for the South Cheyenne Water and Sewer District, said the district probably will enact the same restrictions as BOPU and the city.
"Since we're a smaller unit of the same source, we would probably follow suit in just about all phases," including water rate structure, Smith said. "We would be in the same boat.
"I hope the measures take care of the situation. I hope all of the water users in our district and in the city understand the real problem that we're going to have if we don't conserve."
Smith said mandatory restrictions should probably have begun last year, as the drought had already existed for two years. But he praised BOPU for commissioning the drought management study.
"It ought to be a useful tool. It could keep us away from a problem like this in the future," he said.
Laramie County Commissioner Diane Humphrey said the commission doesn't plan to enact mandatory water conservation measures.
"I don't know that we can mandatorily tell people how to run their wells, but we can ask them to do some measures to conserve," she said. "They do need to remember that we live in Laramie County, Wyo., not in Florida.
"I'm afraid this is going to be serious," she said. "This last year was so dry, and we've had such a mild, dry winter. Even the ground is going to take a lot of water to get back to where it was."
Humphrey said she has heard that several wells in the county, some relatively new, have gone dry. That is particularly true on the west side of town, she said.
Dick Stockdale, deputy state engineer, said the slowdown seen in many Laramie County wells is largely due to increased demand because of the continued drought.
"When we put the additional demand on these types of wells, we do have some problems," he said.
Some wells, especially older ones, were not dug deep enough to function during a drought of this magnitude, Stockton said.
Most often, well failures are due to mechanical problems or well perforations, he said.
"For some reason, people seem to think that a well should function forever once it's drilled. Like anything else, they're subject to failure over a period of time," he said.
While water levels have lowered somewhat in Laramie County, Stockdale said the change is not substantial at this point.
"We're not in any kind of panic situation right now," he said. "If problems start to develop, it will be slowly, over a period of time. There will be time to look for different ways to mitigate the problems that are encountered."
But, he added, "people need to be aware that they should be conserving to the extent that they can. That's always a good idea.
"Man's presence has been fairly limited in terms of geologic times. It has taken literally thousands of years for these aquifers to be full of water. Even when the drought is over, it will take a substantial length of time to recharge these aquifers to the levels they were in the pre-drought condition. That's not going to happen in just a couple of years."
Long-term conservation
In addition to short-term measures to deal with the current crisis, the Black and Veatch drought management study recommends putting long-term conservation measures in place.
For instance, it suggests a three-tiered water rate system that would replace the current water rate system.
Residents who used little water would pay the lowest price per 1,000 gallons. Those with average use would pay a little more. High-volume water users would pay the highest rate.
"Where you set that number is extremely important," Maxwell told the board, as that conservation block should not include too many people or too few.
The three-tiered system would not affect a drought surcharge. The surcharge would be applied across the board, but only during times of severe and emergency drought situations.
Several other suggested measures would require changes in the city's building and landscaping codes.
Suggested changes include:
Other programs would improve leak detection system wide, set up a voluntary audit system to help commercial water users detect leaks and encourage residents to have their homes checked for leaks as well.
Maxwell said the study's recommendations are based on good information and are meant to guide the board through the process of putting in mandatory restrictions. He stressed the importance of seeking input from the public in developing both short- and long-term water conservation measures.
The board plans to have a conservation plan in place by mid-March or early April. Wilson said he hopes to have a draft measure ready for the board's meeting on Feb. 18. From there it would go before the Cheyenne City Council.
"We will work with the mayor and the City Council both between now and then to get their input," Wilson said.
A public meeting will be held at some point during the process.
"I think the recommendations need to be looked at, reviewed and discussed with the people who will be affected by them," Wilson said.
LOCALS UNDERSTAND RESTRICTIONS ... 02/09/2003
Publication: Wyoming Tribune-Eagle
Category: Local
Edition: Final
Published: 02/09/2003
Page: A9
Keywords: Tapped Out: Wyoming's water woes
LOCALS UNDERSTAND RESTRICTIONS, WORRY ABOUT LASTING EFFECTS
Byline: By Ilene Olson
rep3@wyomingnews.com
CHEYENNE -- Kevin and Lee Messman take pride in the diligent care and upkeep of their yard and lawn.
"Lee is very particular about her yard," Kevin Messman said.
The thought that their pampered lawn may have to go dormant from lack of water during the heat of the coming summer isn't a pleasant one for the Messmans.
But Kevin Messman said the couple is willing to abide by water restrictions deemed necessary by the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities.
"I'm sure that when it comes to having a water problem, we'll do what we can to help out, within reason," he said. "It's inevitable if we don't get some precipitation.
"You really have to think that if they truly are enforcing water restrictions like that, (the water shortage) has to be pretty serious."
That is exactly the message Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities officials are trying to send as they decide what mandatory water conservation measures to put in place.
But horticultural experts caution that the measures, while necessary, should not be so strict that they cause lawns and landscaping to die.
"We can let them go dormant, but we don't want plants to die," said Liberty Blain, education specialist for the Laramie County Conservation District.
If plants die, soil erosion occurs, and it takes more water to replant later, Blain said.
A drought management study by Black and Veatch recommends watering be prohibited between during July and August when the area is in a severe drought.
But Blain said grass will need a little water during that period to keep from dying.
She also cautioned against fertilizing during periods of drought.
"If there are water restrictions, you're not going to want to fertilize heavily this spring because plants will need more water to use that fertilizer," she said.
Without that extra water, plants and lawns will burn and die, she said.
But city horticulturist Steve Scott said Kentucky bluegrass can tolerate going dormant in mid-summer.
"That's normal for bluegrass," he said. "It comes back in the fall."
Of greater concern to Scott was the proposal's recommendation that no watering be allowed from October through April.
"I would say that is really wrong," he said. "Winter watering is more important than summer watering. We're talking once a month instead of every other day.
"Why water (lawns and plants) in the summer just to lose them in the winter?"
He suggested that people could use gray water (wastewater from sinks and tubs) on their lawns during the winter if watering restrictions are in place.
Scott said grass will withstand drought better if it is watered less frequently to a depth of 4 to 6 inches in the ground.
"You want it to root to that depth," he said.
Watering depth is best checked by inserting a screwdriver into the ground, he added.
Scott cautioned that mowing grass too short will not allow the grass to root deeply.
"The lower you mow, the shorter the root system," he said.
Susan Greubel of Cheyenne said she supports restrictions but hopes exceptions will be made for extenuating circumstances.
"We just laid sod down," she added.
Phillip Zurn recently moved to Cheyenne. He agrees water restrictions are needed.
"If it was for the welfare of the population, it seems to be a good idea," he said. "However, I would like to have a clean car."
Wendy Stone said she believes drastic conservation measures are necessary, both in the city and in the county.
"I think we're heading into a period of drought this part of the world has always experienced," she said. "I'm sort of surprised we haven't had restrictions before.
"I live out of town," she added. "We don't maintain a lawn. I'm actually appalled by the highly manicured lawns."
Stone said she also is concerned about the number of wells being dug in the county.
"We're tapping into a system that is finite," she said.