Due to Grizzly Creek Fire Impacts, Glenwood Springs Needs Your Help Conserving Water.
GLENWOOD SPRINGS, CO – In the face of a significant fire event that has affected the City’s primary water sources, and will continue to do so into the future, residents are advised that the City has limited access to water out of its No Name water source and no access to our Grizzly Creek water source. This means the City is relying solely on the Roaring Fork pump station as the City’s sole source of water for domestic and firefighting purposes.
The City of Glenwood Springs implemented new odd/even outdoor watering restrictions based on residential address as of Saturday August 15, 2020 in an effort to provide limited outside irrigation while ensuring sufficient water for in house use and firefighting purposes. Unfortunately, City wide water usage under restrictions immediately returned to typical unrestricted levels forcing the City to re-evaluate the need to implement no outside irrigation restrictions.
If the City does not see a more significant compliance and a reduction in water use with the current watering restrictions between Tuesday August 18 through Friday August 21, the City will return to a “NO LAWN WATERING” restriction for the foreseeable future and will be left with no choice but to prosecute violations. Public safety is the City’s first responsibility and any and all actions necessary to ensure that must be taken.
Due to the impacts from the Grizzly Creek Fire water, usage within the City will most likely be restricted for the foreseeable future, into 2021 and potentially beyond. Until the fire damage within the No Name and Grizzly Creek basins can be assessed and mitigation efforts implemented there is no way to determine what water source and how much water will be available to the City. And these mitigation efforts will not be free of charge, they will come with a financial cost.
The City is urging all residents to take these restrictions seriously and abide by the restrictions. Odd numbered home addresses can water on odd days of the month. Even numbered home addresses can water on even days of the month.
Household water consumption should also be limited, in addition to limiting irrigation. Please take shorter showers, do not fill pools, set dish washers set on the water saving mode, employ less frequent washing machine loads, minimize car washing, etc.
Excess water usage can drop the water storage levels in a water tank, which means less water at that moment for firefighting use.
How you can help conserve water:
- Water in the early mornings or evenings to avoid evaporation losses (up to 50%) from hot and windy weather conditions.
- Encourage landscapes that maximize water efficiency, such as using mulch
- Adjust your lawn mower to cut grass high to hold moisture.
- Water small patches and potted plants by hand with a shutoff nozzle to avoid waste.
- Check for and repair leaks. Don’t use your toilet as a trash can.
- Install a high efficiency toilet.
- Take showers instead of baths.
- Use water-saving showerheads, toilets, faucets, and high efficiency appliances such as dishwashers and washing machines. Only use dishwashers and clothes washers with a full load.
- Keep a pitcher of water in your refrigerator instead of running the tap for cold drinks, so that every drop goes down YOU and not your drain.
- Wash your produce in a sink or a pan that is partially filled with water instead of running water from the tap.
- Plug the bath tub before turning the water on, and then adjust the temperature as the tub fills up.