HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 9/22/2020 - Memorandum From Mariel Miller And Alice Conovitz Re: Declaration And Order For Water Restrictions
Utilities
electric · stormwater · wastewater · water
222 Laporte Ave.
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522-0580
970.212.2900
V/TDD: 711
utilities@fcgov.com
fcgov.com/utilities
M E M O R A N D U M
DATE: September 15, 2020
TO: Mayor Troxell and City Councilmembers
FROM: Mariel Miller, Interim Water Conservation Manager
Alice Conovitz, Water Conservation Analyst
THROUGH: Darin Atteberry, City Manager
Kelly DiMartino, Deputy City Manager
Theresa Connor, Interim Utilities Executive Director
RE: Declaration and Order for Water Restrictions
Bottom line: The City Manager reviewed a recommendation from the Water Shortage Action Committee and
determined in accordance with the Water Shortage Action Plan (City Code Section 26-167(a)), that mandatory
water use restrictions during the Horsetooth Outlet Project (HOP) are necessary starting on October 1.
Background: The HOP is a maintenance project planned by Northern Water and the Bureau of
Reclamation to repair and upgrade the Soldier Canyon Dam outlet. During the project timeframe - October 15
to around November 30 - Soldier Canyon Outlet will be offline. While offline, Utilities will rely on supplies
from the Cache la Poudre (“Poudre”) River. A temporary backup pump system will provide an alternate
delivery system for Horsetooth Water should Poudre River water quality or delivery infrastructure become
unavailable due to the Cameron Peak Fire or issues that could arise at any time. The backup pump system has
limited capacity based on typical winter demands that do not include irrigation or other warm season uses.
Regional Collaboration: HOP affects both the Fort Collins Utilities Water Treatment Facility and the Tri-
District’s Soldier Canyon Filter Plant. The project is necessary maintenance to ensure reliability of water
supplies delivered through Horsetooth Reservoir for over 220,000 residents. Given HOP’s regional impact
and shared use of the backup pumps, Fort Collins Utilities is working with the Tri-Districts to coordinate the
water restrictions approach in response to greater risk posed by wildfire impacts. East Larimer County
(ELCO) will instate water restrictions beginning Oct. 1. The other districts are also taking steps to reduce
demand, the details of which are not yet known.
Water Shortage Action Plan: City Code Section 26-167(a) is implemented through the City Council
approved Water Shortage Action Plan. This provision allows Utilities to utilize water demand management
tactics to manage known or anticipated risks and water supply shortages, if approved by the City Manager.
The Plan allows and empowers Utilities customers to be called upon to be our partners in the given situation.
Note that City Code Section 26-167(b) is an additional provision that provides a mechanism to immediately
curtail water demand in the case of an emergency.
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The Water Shortage Action Committee, a staff committee, met on August 18th and 28th to review the water
supply and demand indicators, considering the recent Cameron Peak Fire, severe drought, and the upcoming
Horsetooth Outlet Project. The Committee’s recommendation was based on the following information:
The backup pump system capacity is expected to meet typical winter water demand, but not irrigation
and other warm seasonal uses.
The wildfire, now over 100,000 acres to-date, poses greater risk to water quality and may increase
dependence on the backup pump system.
High demand (7-10% greater than average) due to hot and dry conditions, make it more difficult to
reduce use to the backup pump system’s limited capacity.
The NOAA Drought Outlook estimates drier and hotter weather than average for Larimer County for
the next three months, which could prolong high demands.
A proactive declaration allows staff to reach out to the community with a clear call to action and
lowers the likelihood of emergency water restrictions.
Delaying water restrictions until an emergency increases risk of supply disruptions. Even an efficient
emergency response will likely not result in immediate curtailment.
Education and Enforcement: Extensive community outreach efforts are needed to ensure community
awareness, support, and compliance. Utilities will take an educational approach to enforcement. Fines and
citations have not been used during previous shortages and are not anticipated now. The following outlines
the approach to education, compliance, and messaging:
If immediate curtailment is ever needed, tactics can shift to stricter enforcement methods, such as
issuing citations, but this can be reserved for only extreme need for immediate demand reduction.
Utilities has coordinated with Code Compliance for help educating community members.
Outreach tactics about mandatory restrictions include websites, press releases, direct-to-customer
postcard mailing (co-branded with Tri-Districts), print and radio advertisements, and targeted emails.
When messaging, Utilities and Tri-Districts can take a positive position on planned water restrictions,
such as using restrictions to respond to extreme weather/fire conditions and being proactive to
minimize impacts to our customers and avoid needing more severe tactics.
To learn more about HOP and water restrictions visit fcgov.com/HOP and fcgov.com/water-restrictions. For
customer inquiries and assistance: HOP@fcgov.com
CC: Gretchen Stanford, Interim Utilities Deputy Director
Mark Kempton, Interim Deputy Utilities Director
Liesel Hans, Interim Deputy Utilities Director
Eric Potyondy, Assistant City Attorney
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City Manager’s Declaration and Order of Water Use Restrictions
for Fort Collins Utilities Water Customers
The City Manager of the City of Fort Collins hereby makes this Declaration and Order of Water
Use Restrictions for Fort Collins Utilities Water Customers (Horsetooth Outlet Project)
(“Order”), pursuant to Fort Collins City Code Section 26-167(a) and the Water Shortage Action
Plan, dated April 2020 (“WSAP”).
The water use restrictions described in this Order shall be effective starting on October 1, 2020
and will remain in effect until lifted by order of the City Manager. The restrictions are anticipated
to be lifted by November 30, 2020. The City Manager will declare the end of the water shortage
and issue another order lifting water use restrictions upon determination that they are no longer
needed, pursuant to Fort Collins City Code Section 26-167(a).
Projected Water Shortage and Necessity of Water Use Restrictions
Fort Collins Utilities (“Utilities”) faces a projected water shortage if a limitation, as described
below, on Utilities’ ability to deliver Cache la Poudre (“Poudre”) River supplies occurs during the
Horsetooth Outlet Project, that requires the City Manager to impose water use restrictions to
manage Utilities’ water supplies.
Horsetooth Reservoir is a water storage reservoir that the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy
District (“Northern Water”) and United States Bureau of Reclamation (“Reclamation”) operate,
which is created by the Soldier Canyon Dam and other infrastructure. The Soldier Canyon Outlet
is a pipe and related infrastructure that conveys water from Horsetooth Reservoir under and
through the Soldier Canyon Dam to the Utilities Water Treatment Facility, which treats water for
Utilities water customers. The water from Horsetooth Reservoir typically provides about half of
the water supplies for Utilities.
Northern Water and Reclamation will be performing certain required maintenance and
rehabilitation work on the Soldier Canyon Outlet, commonly referred to as the “Horsetooth Outlet
Project” (“HOP”). Northern Water currently plans to begin work on October 15, 2020 and
continue for about 45 days, during which time the Soldier Canyon Outlet will not be available to
deliver water from Horsetooth Reservoir. Utilities anticipates switching to the Poudre River
system for all source water by approximately Oct. 9, a few days before HOP construction begins.
While the work is being performed, Utilities will mainly rely on supplies from the Poudre River.
If conditions during the HOP prevent or limit the ability to deliver water from the Poudre River, a
backup temporary pump system (which will be built prior to the HOP) will convey water from a
different Horsetooth Reservoir outlet to the Utilities Water Treatment Facility. However, the
capacity of this backup system is expected to supply only typical Utilities winter water demands
that do not include irrigation or other seasonal outdoor needs.
The backup pump system was designed to provide an alternate water supply for relatively short-
term (hours to days) periods when the Poudre River supply is unavailable. Due to the Cameron
Peak Fire and potential impacts on water quality and/or access to infrastructure in Poudre Canyon,
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there is high likelihood of relying on the backup pump system during HOP, possibly for extended
periods of time (days to weeks).
If the temporary backup pump system is needed during HOP, this could result in a daily water
shortage for Utilities of up to 38% if water restrictions are not implemented. (This 38% is a daily
water shortage based upon the difference between the daily maximum historic demands after
October 9 (which include outdoor water use) and the backup pump system capacity.) Restrictions
on outdoor water use proactively mitigate risk to Utilities’ ability to deliver full water demand if
the limited-capacity backup pump system were needed before overall demand decreases to typical
winter levels. It is most prudent to enact the water use restrictions described below before the
HOP construction begins; the start date for restrictions of October 1 allows time to track demand,
customer compliance and adjust outreach tactics as needed.
Water Use Restrictions for Utilities Water Customers
Water use restrictions on Utilities water customers are necessary in order to manage the availability
of water for use within the planning horizon for managing the Utilities water supplies.
The following water use restrictions shall apply for the duration of this Order. They are based on
Response Level IV from the WSAP, which addresses unique and extreme water shortages not
adequately or appropriately addressed by Water Shortage Watch or Levels I-III.
Regulated Water Use
Activities
Action
Landscape Water Use
Lawn Watering Not allowed
Number of Lawn
Watering Days per
Week
0 days
Sprinkler System
Maintenance
Minimize test run times per zone
Trees May be watered only by hand, drip
system or deep root fork or needle
at any time
Food Production May be watered only by hand, or
drip system at any time
Other Landscapes May be watered only by hand, or
drip system at anytime
Non-Landscape Water Use
Residential Vehicle
Washing
Not allowed
City of Fort Collins
Fleet Vehicle Washing
Not allowed unless approved by the
City Manager for health or safety
reasons
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Dealership Vehicle
Washing
Upon Sale
Spraying Impervious
Surfaces
Not allowed, except for essential
power washing. Whenever
possible, dry methods must be
deployed first.
Dust Control Measures
for Dust Generating
Activities
Not allowed, except if no
alternative (non-water) dust control
measures exist, as defined by the
City’s Dust Prevention and Control
Manual
Street Sweeping Arterial and Collector Street
Sweeping will be reduced to 1x a
month and all other sweeping
restricted to essential street
sweeping. Whenever possible, dry
methods must be deployed first
Hydrant Flushing and
Testing
Limited to critical situations as
approved by Utilities' Executive
Director
Water Features Not allowed
Splash Parks Not allowed
Community Outdoor
Swimming Pools
Unrestricted, if filled before date
restrictions were implemented. No
filling of empty pools
Individual Outdoor
Swimming Pools and
Recreational Water
Toys
Toys not allowed. Pools are
unrestricted, if filled before date
restrictions were implemented. No
filling of empty pools
Misting Devices Not allowed
Exceptions by Permit
New Lawn Installation (sod
and seed)
Water any time of day and any day
of the week for a period of time, as
defined by the approved permit.
Multifamily and Commercial can
request a temporary certificate of
occupancy
Active Area City and
Community
Athletic/Playing Fields
Recommend following Level I:
Max of 1.25" or 0.78 gallons per
sq. ft. per week. May water any
day, according to permit; no
watering between the hours of 10
a.m. and 6 p.m.
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Well or Raw Water Registration and sign provided by
Utilities required
Enforcement
Residential fines per
violation
$50 to $1,000
Business fines per violation $250 to $1,000
Water Rate Adjustments
Adjust water rates to
encourage additional
conservation
No adjustment
Approved:
________________________________
Darin Atteberry, City Manager
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9/11/2020
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