WATER

drought conditions? Or are they simply going to divide that savings out to build more and then use that savings on new development?” e average American family uses more than 300 gallons of water per day at home, and about 70% of that use is indoors. In the arid West, states have some of the highest per capita residential water use because of landscape irrigation, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

In Colorado, water users run through 5.43 million acre-feet of wa- recommended to the Board of Commissioners to approve the project. ornton took the decision to the District Court, claiming the board abused its discretion in denying ornton’s application. While the Board said that seven of the criteria weren’t met, the District Court ruled that there were only three instances with competent evidence to support the Board’s conclusion. ornton appealed the decision at the Court of Appeals, who dealt a blow to ornton, but recognized the Board’s abuse of power. ornton o cials said they decided not to appeal that decision because of time.

However, the Board voted unanimously to deny the application on Feb. 11, 2019, saying the project did not meet seven of the 12 criteria it requires.

“Although we agree with ornton that the Board exceeded its regulatory powers in several respects, we ultimately a rm its decision to deny the permit application,” they wrote in the opinion.

“After thorough consideration of its options, the City of ornton has ter per year. One acre-foot supports two families of four to ve people for one year. at means that the impact of inhome water conservation is going to be limited in the grand scheme of water use in the Colorado River Basin, where the amount of water stored in reservoirs like Lake Powell and Lake Mead has declined dramatically.

Of that, 90%, or about 4.8 million acre-feet, is used by the agriculture industry. About 380,000 acre-feet is used in cities and towns, and of that, only about 46% goes to indoor water uses like toilets, faucets, laundry machines and showers.

“While the bulk of that water to help prevent Lake Powell from col-

5.00% decided against ling a petition with the Colorado Supreme Court in its lawsuit against Larimer County,” the city announced in a statement. e entire ornton Water Project is 74 miles long and potentially will deliver water from a reservoir near Fort Collins, nearly doubling the city’s current water supply. Twelve miles of the pipeline will run through Larimer County, 34 miles through Weld County, and ve miles through Adams County. e rest of the pipeline will go into municipalities throughout those three counties. e last hurdle is Larimer County. is time around, sta has conducted community surveys asking what residents near the pipeline would like the city to consider in the location of the pipeline and in the construction. ey also asked about their understanding of the project. ey sent the survey to around 400 people with 80 responses. From the survey, 95% of respondents said the pipeline construction should minimize impacts to private property, lapsing will come from agriculture, cities need to do their part,” said John Berggren, senior regional water policy analyst for Western Resource Advocates. “Municipalities’ water use matters. It’s small … but it matters.” ey plan to submit their application this September, and hope to complete the entire project by 2027, said Hunt.

“Lots of community engagement,” said Emily Hunt, deputy infrastructure director.

Home water use falls primarily into two categories: indoor and outdoor.

In Colorado, residents tend to use more water outdoors watering their lawns and gardens. at’s led to the rise of water-wise landscaping e orts, like those currently being showcased at the Denver Botanic Gardens.

Indoors, Colorado residents use about 60 gallons per capita each day. at leaves them with plenty of opportunities for conservation — and accidental waste.

87% said the pump station should be located so it doesn’t impact private property and 79% said the pipeline should impact tra c patterns as little as possible.

City Councilor Karen Bigelow asked if the current water supply for ornton can last until then. Hunt said yes. Other sections e city is moving forward with the construction of di erent sections of the project concurrently.

Sta hopes to begin construction for the section within the city in the rst quarter of 2024 after land acquisition from Adams County. Construction is estimated to be complete in 2026.

For the section north of ornton, the city is in the bid phase and is waiting on approval from Firestone. ey hope to begin construction in the fourth quarter of 2023 with completion estimated to be in mid-2026.

Another section is waiting on approval from Johnstown. ey hope to complete construction in late 2026.

In 2016, toilets were the main culprits of water use in homes nationwide, using 24% of household water, followed by showers, 20%; faucets, 19%; and washing machines, 17%, according to the EPA.

Americans use more than 1 trillion gallons of water each year just for showering. e average shower is eight minutes, which means it uses more than 16 gallons of water at 2.1 gallons per minute.

Letting your faucet run for ve minutes while washing dishes can waste 10 gallons of water. Each year, household leaks waste nearly 900 billion gallons of water nationwide,

SEE WATER, P7 which million water wind, ine ing matter ter edge. spot, ters. said. back some decrease your 300 their time, lion ing water dishwasher average water changing can he’d a their residents WaterSense lasts showerhead according University toilets: 3.5 e use means to ing of the can Conventional, machines load. use ing appliances water way further: the sinks then watering or tion. greases, pathogens, water installed capture outdoor which is enough to supply water to 11 million homes. And about 50% of the water used outside is lost because of wind, evaporation and runo from ine cient irrigation systems, according to the EPA. ere are a few simple ways to cut back on water use at home, including some Colorado-speci c programs. e EPA says households can boost their water e ciency by 20% when residents switch to products with WaterSense labels. And a shower that lasts for ve minutes using a low- ow showerhead uses 12 gallons of water, according to a 2014 Colorado State University water use fact sheet. ese systems capture grey water — the runo from showers, bathroom sinks and laundry machines — and then use it for other purposes, like watering ornamental plants outside or ushing toilets, at the same location. is water can contain dirt, oil, greases, lint and possibly human pathogens, so don’t use it to drink or water your vegetables, experts say.

“We’re now in a world where feet matter in Lake Powell. Drops of water matter because we’re on a knife’s edge. When you’re in that tight of a spot, every single water use matters. No matter how small,” Berggren said.

Yes, taking shorter showers can decrease water use and cut back on your water bill. e EPA says that, if all 300 million people in the U.S. reduced their shower time by one minute each time, the country could save 170 billion gallons each year.

Turning o the tap while brushing your teeth can save 8 gallons of water per day, and only running the dishwasher when it’s full can save the average family about 320 gallons of water per year, according to the EPA.

But Berggren says rather than changing habits — which we all know can have a hit-or-miss success rate — he’d start with making purchases, like a more e cient shower xture.

Similar savings are possible with toilets: ose made before 1993 use 3.5 to 8 gallons per ush, while high e ciency toilets made after 1993 use 1.6 gallons per ush or less. at means a family of four can save 14,000 to 25,000 gallons per year by switching to more e cient toilets. ( e date of manufacture of most toilets is on the underside of the tank lid.)

Updating your washing machine can also make a big di erence. Conventional, top-loading washing machines use 35 to 50 gallons per load. Newer front-loading machines use 18 to 20 gallons per load, according to CSU.

For those who have updated their appliances and are careful about water use around the house, there’s a way to take at-home e ciency a step further: grey water reuse.

Laundry-to-landscape systems installed by homeowners, which capture washing machine water for outdoor irrigation, can cost as little as $350, said Jon Novick, the environmental administrator for the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment. ese systems also come with a catch: Local governments need water rights that allow for reuse, which limits the adoption of grey water programs, and new installations are only legal if the local government has o cially approved grey water reuse. People with pre-existing systems should check with their local programs to see if their system can be grandfathered in. ose who draw water from wells will need to check their permits. Exempt well permits, for example, do not allow reuse of indoor water for outdoor irrigation.

Whole house systems pipe water from showers and bathroom sinks through a treatment process and then send it to toilets to provide water for ushing. e system alone can cost $6,000 to $8,000, not including installation costs, so they’re more feasible for new houses or developments with multiple units, Novick said. ey’re often cost prohibitive for existing homes.

As of July, six local governments have approved grey water reuse, including the city and county of Denver, Pitkin County, Fort Collins, Grand Junction and Golden.

If a grey water system saves 25 gallons per day and is installed in 500,000 homes, it could save 14,000 acre-feet per year. at’s enough water to supply 28,000 homes, Novick said.

But the counties that have approved grey water ordinances have seen little uptake. As of June, Denver had approved 30 systems; Castle Rock, 29 systems; and Pitkin County, zero, according to each county’s program manager.

Whether water e ciency measures translate into conservation in the Colorado River Basin depends on factors ranging from where a resident lives to local water management decisions.

Water pulled from the Colorado River Basin on the Western Slope never returns to the basin. Front Range residents could use less water in the hope that more water could stay on the Western Slope, but there are no incentives for Front Range water providers to give up such a valuable resource because of water savings, said MacGregor, the water law expert at CU.

“Anyone who pockets (water) savings can make a ton of money by selling those savings to another water user,” he said. “ e question is, what is the mechanism for leaving water on the Western Slope through conservaEven if a water e ciency program is enormously successful, cities and towns can still choose to use their water savings toward building new developments, rather than leaving them in reservoirs.

“ is is the really frustrating part of what’s happened in a lot of areas. It’s like, you look at it, and e ciency has increased per capita, use has decreased over time, but we’re still susceptible to drought,” MacGregor said. “It’s because we’re not actually banking those savings.”

If at-home water e ciency measures are adopted widely, and the unused water is conserved for the future, those savings can help storage at local reservoirs and even help meet environmental and ecological needs by keeping more water in streams. It could even be used by downstream water rights holders who might have their supply cut o earlier in a dry year.

But there’s no guarantee that the water will reach the Colorado River’s main storage reservoirs, like Lake Powell on the Utah-Arizona border. at would require complicated, interstate legal and administrative procedures — an option being explored by Colorado.

Experts are adamant: Residents should still try to use water e ciently at home.

If Colorado residents are more efcient in their water use, then cities and towns could pull less water from rivers and streams on the front end, which leaves water in the stream for others. Landscapes could be better able to withstand wet and dry years with the addition of native plants. Treatment plants spend less money on treating water before releasing it, which could help with water bills, experts say.

“ is isn’t a situation that there’s going to be one thing that’s going to solve the problem. It’s more of a case of incremental change, so every little bit helps,” Novick said. “If you’re saving a gallon of water by taking a shorter shower, or two gallons of water — if everyone were to do that … all of that would add up. We have to think of this more holistically.” is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

Front Range inches closer to banning gas-powered mowers

BY MICHAEL BOOTH THE COLORADO SUN

State air pollution o cials are likely to vote by the end of the year on a 2025 ban on the sale of push or hand-held, gasoline-powered lawn equipment in nine Front Range counties with ozone problems, after a key regional advisory council recommended the bar as an e ective strategy.

e Regional Air Quality Council’s policy recommendation also wants to ban institutions like schools or parks from using existing handheld gas equipment in the summer months starting in 2025, and a summer ban for all commercial landscapers beginning in 2026.

e bans would not be statewide, but would cover all the counties where the EPA says air pollution exceeds ozone attainment standards and threatens the lung and heart health of millions of residents. e ban would a ect sales and use in Denver, Douglas, Arapahoe, Je erson, Adams, Broom eld, Boulder, Weld and the non-mountainous portions of Larimer counties, if approved by the state Air Quality Control Commission after deliberations this fall.

Landscape companies objected to the costs of equipment changeovers, the need to train workers, and schedule changes required by battery charging times or resupply, saying the bans could hurt an industry where Latino and other minority ownership is strong.

Environmental groups that have been pushing the state to pass sharper restrictions on ozone-causing emissions lauded the RAQC’s recommendation as a great place to start. Small lawn equipment engines burn much dirtier than modern cars, for example, and contribute an inor- sumer group CoPIRG.

“It’s going to accelerate the shift away from the dirtiest gas-powered equipment out there,” Schatz said.

“And that’s really important because we know that these tools produce a shocking amount of pollution, and it contributes to asthma and other serious health issues. So freezing them out is one critical way that we as a community can tackle our dirty air problem.”

CoPIRG and other groups say that in the smaller push mower and hand-held blower or trimmer categories, highly rated battery models are now widely available that are comparable in price to many gas models, especially when available local government subsidies are factored in. Battery-powered models are not yet widely available in the