HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 6/15/2021 - Memorandum From Liesel Hans And Abbye Neel Re: Water Conservation Efforts Across The City Organization
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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: June 3, 2021
TO: Mayor and Councilmembers
FROM: Liesel Hans, Interim Utilities Deputy Director
Abbye Neel, Interim Water Conservation Manager
THROUGH: Darin Atteberry, City Manager
Kelly DiMartino, Deputy City Manager
Theresa Connor, Interim Utilities Executive Director
RE: Water Conservation Efforts Across the City Organization
The purpose of this memo is to provide information about City facility and landscape water use
Water Supply Requirements.
Bottom Line: Departments across the City organization implement a variety of water
management and efficiency practices. Efforts have resulted in creative and collaborative
approaches to facility and landscape water management, with an awareness of additional
opportunities to reduce water use.
City Water Use
City of Fort Collins (City) facilities and landscapes are served by one of three different water
providers, each of which is its own independent organization, Fort Collins Utilities (Utilities)
being the only one that is within the City organization. Approximately 271 or 89% of facilities
and landscapes are served by Utilities, 8 or 3% are served by East Larimer County Water District
(ELCO), and 27 or 9% are served by Fort Collins Loveland Water District (FCLWD).
For Utilities, City water use makes up approximately 1% of overall annual treated water demand,
or about 100 million gallons per year on average. Almost 80% of treated water used by City
departments is for irrigation, however many Parks and Golf courses are irrigated using non-
potable supplies. Transportation-related departments uses the highest amount of water for non-
irrigation purposes due to fleet washing. Other City indoor water uses comprise of standard
domestic uses (e.g. bathrooms, kitchens) and indoor pools, while outdoor water uses include
irrigation, outdoor pools, water features, and power washing.
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Water Conservation Efforts
The Municipal Sustainability and Adaptation Plan (2019) provides a roadmap for employees and
facilities to build a healthy and sustainable organization by 2050. Within the plan, the We Are
Water Smart Goal our water sources and lead
including the following main objectives:
Reduce outdoor water use on public lands.
Reduce indoor water demand in City building and facilities.
Our systems for delivering, treating, and distributing water are efficient.
Additionally, strategies are also outlined in a variety of department-specific plans including the
Parks Irrigation Master Plan (2019) and the Water Efficiency Plan (2015). Efforts include, but
are not limited to:
In 2020, the City of Fort Collins Golf division hired an irrigation consultant to redesign
irrigation systems and recommend changes to water delivery ditches and water storage
ponds at 2 of the 3 golf courses. The new designs are anticipated to reduce 15 25% of
current water use.
The City of Fort Collins Parks (Parks) division maintains over 200 irrigation systems to
support landscapes parks, streetscapes, and facilities. Parks implements a variety of best
practices including watering landscapes based on weather, using weather based smart
controllers to improve water management and achieve labor and fuel savings, and
systematically replacing and redesigning infrastructure to improve efficiencies.
Operations Services has proactively implemented a variety of best practices across City
facilities to manage water use. All pool filtering systems have been replaced with high
efficiency filters, the Transfort bus and vehicle system was retrofitted to a higher
efficiency system that also reclaims water use during wash cycles, and all showers have
been retrofitted with high efficiency shower heads and timers.
In 2020, the Utilities Water Treatment facility converted 900 square feet of high-water
use turf to xeric landscape. This is in line with the Environmental Management
System objectives and larger effort to return the majority of bluegrass onsite to native
grasses. Additionally, all land that is disrupted for construction is reseeded with native
grasses instead of high-water use turf.
The few irrigated areas that are managed by Natural Areas are all native species. In these
scenarios efficient drip systems irrigate the native plants. Rain and soil moister sensors
are also used across sites, so plants are only watered when needed.
In partnership with Operations Services and Parks, the Utilities Water Conservation team
performs audits on City Facilities to evaluate water use and identify opportunities. To
date 11 facilities have been audited and over 100 fixtures have been retrofitted to reduce
water use by 600,000 gallons a year. For example, at the Utilities operating center all
sink aerators and showerheads were retrofitted to reduce use by 100,000 gallons a year.
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Leading by Example The Horsetooth Outlet Project (HOP) Water Restriction Response
City departments collaboratively work together to implement water conservation best practices.
update to the Water Shortage Action Plan (WSAP). The WSAP
the event of projected
shortages and an update was approved by City Council in April of 2020. Fifteen different City
departments contributed to the update and representatives from 11 different departments now sit
on the Action Committee to evaluate water shortage scenarios and impacts.
In the Fall of 2020, the WSAP was activated in response to the Cameron Peak Fire, drought
conditions, and a critical infrastructure project where we had limited access to one our two main
water supplies (Horsetooth Outlet Project, or HOP). The community worked together to reduce
water use, which lowered risk, and helped maintain uninterrupted service of high-quality water
throughout the 40-day duration of HOP. Even before a community-wide water use reduction
approach was deemed necessary to lower risk, City departments and the City manager had
committed to stop nonessential outdoor and other water uses beginning Oct 1. During the 40-day
HOP period, City total monthly treated irrigation water use was 65% less than in years
when there were not active water use reductions. City accounts reduced their use by at least 1.6
million gallons of water, or an average of 53,000 gallons per day.
Future Opportunities
Staff have identified additional opportunities to enhance and improve upon the efforts described
above. Many are outlined in the Municipal Sustainability Adaptation Plan and individual
department plans. In the upcoming years, the Utilities Water Efficiency Plan will also be
updated, which sets our overall community goals, and serves as another opportunity to integrate
with existing plans and policies and implement City specific water management targets.
CC: Mike Calhoon, Director, Parks
Scott Phelps, Senior Manager, Parks/Golf
Stu Reeves, Senior Project Manager, Operations Services
Aaron Reed, Senior Supervisor, Natural Areas
Michelle Finchum, Lead Sustainability Specialist, Environmental Services
Katy McLaren, Lead Climate Specialist, Environmental Services
Gretchen Stanford, Interim Utilities Deputy Director, Customer Connection