Hailey City Engineer Tom Hellen calculates that the average resident in the city consumed 2,000 gallons more in June 2007 than in the same month of the previous year.
Perhaps this doesn't seem like a remarkable increase to most, but in a season of soaring average temperatures—coming on the heels of a dry winter and spring—this trend is a cause for concern.
"Our new 2 million-gallon tank isn't enough to match demand," Hellen said.
Hellen estimates that 90 percent of water consumption in the city is used for irrigation during the summer, when the demand for water increases approximately tenfold. Despite the introduction of a water-metering system and a new method of billing to penalize high-level users—something that will go into effect July 26—the city has yet to see a reduction in consumption.
"We were hoping meters would cut down on consumption, but we haven't seen that yet," Hellen said. "We expected it would take a while for it to sink in, but once people truly realize the cost we should see a decrease."
Hellen said he's hoping for a minor drop in water use for July but doubts any substantial reduction will come soon. He will have to wait until the end of the week, when the meters are checked, to see if Hailey residents were able to lower the approximately 80,000 gallons per house used last July.
While the city has an ordinance prohibiting residents from watering their lawns between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., Hellen is not sure if people know about it and said even more rigorous restrictions might have to be put in place.
This could include a watering schedule similar to that of Bellevue, in which residents can only irrigate their properties every other day.
"We've had significant tank drawdown in the (past) two weeks and have had to enforce our ordinance," Bellevue City Administrator Tom Blanchard said, explaining that up to this point the city has simply been warning violators. They could, however, face up to $300 in fines for each offense.
For residents, the effect of high consumption during a low water year is noticed as an inconvenient drop in water pressure, but city officials like Hellen and Blanchard know there is a much more serious potential danger.
"We have to be careful of the tank level dropping to a point where we can't provide fire services," Blanchard said. "The tank level has been borderline for two weeks because the temperature is running 10 degrees above normal for this time of year."
The possibility of the tank reaching this critical point is real enough that Blanchard and City Attorney Jim Phillips are bringing an ordinance before the City Council at its meeting on Thursday, July 26, that would give Mayor Jon Anderson the power to declare an emergency. With this ordinance in place, if the water supply dipped below a certain point, the city would shut off water, first to city lands and parks, then individual lawns.
Blanchard and Hellen both attribute a large part of the consumption problem to the fact that residents are ignoring the reality of their surrounding environment.
"A lot of people come from some place else and try to re-create what's comfortable for them—a lush green lawn," Blanchard said. "This is really a sagebrush steppe."
Blanchard said that the artificial environment of non-native aspens and pines comes at the cost of high-water consumption.
"Grasses will recover," Blanchard said. "I'm watching my lawn dry up at home."
So what's the solution as temperatures rise and residents open up the hoses to keep their properties green?
"A metered water system with a rate structure to encourage lower water use—that's the starting point," Ketchum Utilities Manager Steve Hansen said. "Then it come down to how well cities are informing their citizens of the true cost of water and that there's not a never-ending supply of that resource."
While Hansen said Ketchum is seeing higher consumption than last year, the city is still far from an "alarm stage" at this point.
"We're lucky. People in the valley are pretty well in tune with environmental issues," Hansen said. "The present trend is for a smaller irrigable area."
But the message is still as clear as the water coming out of sprinklers all over the valley: Start turning down the tap or the city might end up having to do it for you.
Unusually warm and dry weather has led to an increase in the amount of irrigation water required, while at the same time decreased the supply with which to do it. Bellevue and Hailey city staff warn that unchecked consumption could affect their ability to provide adequate fire protection. Photo by Mountain Express
