Englewood completed development of a water conservation plan and awaits public comment on the plan before it is submitted to the state.
The plan will be available for review May 1 on the city’s website at www.englewoodgov.org. Starting May 1, comments on the plan can be made through the website, which will be listed under the “In the Spotlight” portion of the home page.
Residents also can make comments in person by attending one or both of the meetings of the Englewood Water and Sewer Board that will be held at 5 p.m. May 14 or at 5 p.m. June 11 in the community development conference room.
The conference room is on the third floor of the Englewood Civic Center, 1000 Englewood Parkway. The deadline for public comment is July 1.
The main objective of a water conservation plan is to improve water-use efficiency, which, in turn, reduces overall water demands.
Englewood developed a water conservation plan in the mid-1990s. A new plan was needed following the state decision four years ago to revise water conservation requirements.
The city’s draft plan was created by staff members and conservation consultants hired using a state grant. Those working on the draft also considered input from members of Englewood’s Water and Sewer Board.
The result was a draft developed in accordance with the Water Conservation Act of 2004. Once the plan is approved by the state, Englewood is qualified for loans, grants and other forms of financial assistance for water and water-supply delivery projects from the Colorado Water Conservation Board and from the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority.
“Those drafting the plan included consideration of at the Colorado Water Conservation Board’s list of about 50 conservation measures. The state board urges communities developing water conservation plans to select the measures in the list that are appropriate for that community,” said Yasser Abouaish, Englewood utilities engineer. “The group drafting Englewood’s plan selected about 15 measures for our community.”
He said the measures selected for Englewood focus on three main areas — expediting the installation of water meters, an aggressive public education program about water conservation and a system to minimize leaks.
“The draft, if approved by the state, will be a 10-year plan,” Abouaish said. “The plan will be reviewed once a year to see if the measures are moving toward the ultimate goal, which is a 10 percent reduction in water use over the 10-year period.”