CITIZEN’S ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Meeting Minutes
  March 18, 2004

CAC members in attendance:  Russell Burton (Chair), Michael Buchenau, Tim Flynn, Theresa Jehn-Dellaport, Larry Keesen, James Legas, Myrna Poticha, Theresa Worsham, Roberta Simonton  

DW staff:  Marie Bassett, Margaret Medellin, John Loughry, Rocky Wiley, Liz Gardener, Stacey Hinds  

Guests:  Douglas Christ, Rocky Mountain Car Wash Association, Peter Zlatev, Public Environmental Consultant, Trina Brockwell , citizen.  

Previous agenda and minutes  

The agenda was approved after the following amendments were made:  Page 2 under “Proposed Water Waste Hotline”, 6^th sentence down: Change “She believes it successes…” to “She believes its success…”  

Under “Review Current Draft of the Drought Response Plan (DRP) and Discussion on Drought Related Issues” second paragraph, 4^th and 6^th lines:  Change “permit” to “permanent” in both places.  

Staff Update- Marie Bassett, Director of Public Affairs  

New advertising contract- Marie informed the CAC that DW has entered into a new advertising contract.  She stated that it will be either a conservation focused campaign or a drought campaign, depending on the Board’s decision in April.  

UV Study- Board reviewed the cost of switching over to UV water treatment and it was not in DW’s 10-year plan.  A contract was awarded however, for a UV study to be carried out, commencing this year.  The study will look at the effectiveness and cost of UV water treatment.  

Roberta Simonton asked if UV water treatment provided better quality water than the system DW uses.  Marie responded that it did not, but that it does reduce disinfection by-products.  

Board happenings- Marie Bassett informed the CAC that the new board member, George Beardsley, had met with individual DW departments, including water conservation, to find out what DW is doing and what has been done in the past.  

Board meetings will now be held every 2^nd and 4^th Wednesday of each month.  

The Board will hold a “drought workshop” on the 25^th of April to discuss current conditions and proposed restrictions (should the drought continue).  

The Board will make decisions on whether or not to impose restrictions, on April 28^th.  The public can make comment before these decisions are made, at the regular Board Meeting on April 14^th.  

Review Current Draft of the Drought Response Plan (DRP) and Discussion on Drought Related Issues  

Margaret Medellin from DW Planning asked for comments from the CAC for the proposed 2004 Drought Response Plan.  

Pop-ups vs. rotors  

Larry Keeson stated that he objects to the 15 minutes a zone rule.  Roberta Simonton asked how DW would enforce this rule.  Margaret responded by saying that it was difficult to  enforce, but that drought monitors could wait 15 minutes outside properties if need be.  

Larry Keeson said “pop-ups” waste water because a lot more water is used with them.  Elizabeth Gardner from DW Conservation replied by saying other areas and states used different rules for rotors and pop-ups but that people cheated anyway.  

Action:             Liz Gardner to get commentary on pop-ups vs. rotors and distribute to CAC members.  

Myrna Poticha commented that counting minutes is not the right message, that there must be a better way.  

Larry Keeson suggested 15 minutes for rotors and 5 minutes for pop-ups.  

Drought triggers  

Theresa Worsham stated the 80% trigger is too late to enforce restrictions and that the public wanted DW to act sooner.  She suggested the trigger be changed to 85%.  

Margaret Medellin said that water engineers are looking at trigger issues, primarily to move stage two from 60% to 65% and that it will be proposed to the Board.  

Tim Flynn commented that DW should not change the triggers frequently or we will lose credibility.  

Spring Watch  

Myrna Poticha asked if DW was promoting deep watering of trees and shrubs during the Spring Watch.  

Stacey Hinds replied that a bill insert on Spring Watch which encouraged people to water trees and shrubs, went out with the last round of bills.  

Increasing water supply  

Jim Legas questioned the section on page 3 of the DRP about drilling wells to increase the water supply.  He stated that drilling wells is not a short term solution as it would take too long to increase supply that way.  

Theresa Jehn-Dellaport agreed and informed the CAC and DW that it takes 8-12 months to complete the process.  

Margaret Medellin suggested she change the wording to “ground water” instead of “wells”.   

Rocky Wiley clarified by saying people can rely on their own groundwater supplies in times of drought and not have to rely on the DW system, thus freeing up more water.  

Margaret Medellin said she will clarify that section in the new DRP.  

Jim Legas stated that the Douglas County comment on page 14, “ Douglas County suppliers, with deep ground water, may be largely unaffected by the drought”, is untrue.  

Margaret Medellin said that she will clarify this as she meant that they will follow different restrictions programs.  

Action:  Margaret Medellin to clarify sections in new DRP about wells and Douglas County .  

Jim Legas asked why on page 31, DW does not mention “deep root” irrigation systems.  

Margaret Medellin replied that DW does not promote any one system.   

The draft DRP will go to the Board at the end of April for approval as a planning resource document.  

CAC business  

Comments and suggestions on Drought Response Plan elements  

The CAC was asked to provide comments and suggestions to each element of the draft DRP, for what has been used in a drought situation and for what should be done for continuous conservation.  

Those topics which are not listed in these minutes were passed as being satisfactory by the CAC.  

2 day per week watering rule  

Roberta Simonton stated that in a drought, 2 days a week is OK but that it is too restrictive for permanent conservation measures.  

Myrna Poticha said 2 days per week makes people over water on those two days.

All agreed.  

Larry Keesen stated that it’s hard to make rules for a wide array of customers and that landscapers should make them to suit their clients.

10-6 no watering rule  

All support this, but some said exceptions need to be made for seeding.  

Roberta Simonton asked if “Circles, Diamonds and Squares” was still good enough to use. Michael Buchenau replied that the “Circles, Diamonds and Squares” system was close to 3 days of watering and that the 10-6 rule is preferred.  He also stated that more education is needed.  

Pete Zlatev (guest) noted that days are better because in a drought you can just remove a day and there is also a visual cue by seeing what your neighbors are doing.  

Theresa Worsham stated she supports 3 days as long as there is education which tells people that some plants don’t need to be watered that frequently.  

Tim Flynn said he is against having a “watering calendar” during non-drought because it is better to be strict during restrictions only.  

Russell Burton stated that education is very important.  

Sub-irrigation  

Myrna Poticha said there should be incentives for sub-irrigation.  Larry Keesen said there should be no restrictions for sub-irrigation systems.  Only Myrna agreed with this statement.  

Stacey Hinds said she was recently made aware of drawbacks to sub-irrigation and that in some cases, they waste more water (due to undetected leaks) than they save.  

Larry Keesen objected to this and Myrna Poticha said that DW “is not up with the times” and should have a more open mind when looking at new watering technologies.  

Tim Flynn said he would like to see more research into sub-irrigation, all agreed.  

Motion:  Liz Gardner to report sub-irrigation research findings from across U.S. to CAC by next meeting.   Larry Keesen to also report his findings.  

Outdoor Watering & Irrigation  

Turf grass- All agreed leave as is for drought, and for conservation, 3 days.  

New seed and sod- All agreed that during conservation, alternative landscaping (xeriscape) should be encouraged.  

Most agreed that is should be a rule that new sod should not be allowed to be planted during a drought.  

Tim Flynn suggested permits for new seed and sod during stage 2 drought.  

Rocky Wiley replied that DW cannot make the `no sod’ rule as it is against building codes in certain areas.  He explained that some municipalities have standards and rules which enforce new residents to plant lawns within a certain time frame after moving in.

Myrna Poticha stated that there needs to be a coordinated effort between Denver Water and Denver City Planning Department to change the rules to take drought into consideration.  

Tim Flynn replied that distributors would have no power to enforce the “no new lawn” rule.  

Larry Keesen suggested saying no to new lawns during the hotter months, and recommend that people plant in September instead.  

All agreed this was a good idea but that it would not be possible to enforce.  

Liz Gardner advised the CAC that she has the Draft Model Landscape Ordinance.  

All were interested in obtaining a copy.  

Action:              Liz Gardner to forward copies of the Draft Model Landscape Ordinance to all CAC members.  

Trees and shrubs  

All agreed that it needs to promote hand watering of established plants during the day.  

Washing impermeable surfaces  

Liz Gardner reported that 654 car washes had been certified to date and that she would like DW to publicize this.  

Most agreed as it would be a good way to get the others certified.  

Violations  

There was a discussion on whether or not warnings were necessary/appropriate in times of drought.  Some said there shouldn’t be any warnings but most agree that warnings serve an important purpose (fewer backlashes etc) and most ended up agreeing on this.  

Future CAC involvement at Board Meetings  

Russell Burton brought up the issue of getting more involved with the Board of Water Commissioners and proposed that to do this, a CAC member should be present at every meeting.  He said it would also be a good opportunity for the CAC to learn more about what the Board wants/expects from them.  

Stacey Hinds stated that the Board would appreciate this and that there is always an agenda item titled “Communications to/from the CAC” for each board meeting.  

All agreed this would be a good idea but that it was important to get a clear sense of the issue/s to be brought up at the Board meetings so that all CAC members agree beforehand.  

Accepted by all.

Action:  Rotate a CAC member to attend each Board meeting.  Russell Burton to attend first one on 3-24-04 .  

Agenda items for future meetings  

Tim Flynn suggested setting up sub-committees to deal with larger issues and to be more proactive.  

All agreed in theory but further details were not discussed at this meeting.  

The meeting was adjourned at 7:00pm .