BECAUSE YOU ASKED
Q: I moved here in 1964. I don’t remember having as many years of watering restrictions as we have had recently. My question is, since 1964 to the present, what years have we not had watering restrictions?
A: Denver Water serves all of Denver city and county and many of the surrounding suburbs, with some suburban customers served through distributors that have contracts with Denver Water. For the most part, those who are served by Denver Water follow the restrictions even if they are not Denver residents. Aurora and Englewood are among some of the suburbs that have their own water departments.
If you live somewhere that is served by Denver Water, there were mandatory restrictions during irrigation seasons from 1978 to 1981. Then, in response to the recent droughts, there were mandatory restrictions from 2002 to 2004. This year the restrictions were mostly voluntary, except for a prohibition against wasting water – for example, watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. or having leaky sprinkler heads. That means that nearly 83 percent of the past 41 years have been restriction-free.
Check your bill to find out what water department you use and contact the individual department for more information about restrictions.
Source: Trina McGuire-Collier, Denver Water
Q: Where did the name Mousetrap come from when referring to the I-70/I-25 interchange?
A: The most common theory is that the interchange, originally built in 1951 between the Valley Highway and West 46th Avenue, got its name in the late 1960s from Don Martin, a local traffic reporter. After observing it from the air, Martin said that the intertwining ramps, which included entrances and exits going several different directions, could trap a mouse.
Source: “Highways of Colorado” by Matthew Salek (www.mesalek.com/colo/icnames.html); Colorado Department of Transportation
– Compiled by Bonnie Gilbert and Kathleen St. John
HAVE A QUESTION?
Have you ever wondered how to register your child for school? What a political caucus is and how to get information about one? How many fourteeners Colorado has? How many horse owners there are in the state? If there’s something about Colorado you would like to know, send your questions to becauseyouasked@denverpost.com or mail to: Because You Asked, Denver Post, 1560 Broadway, Denver, CO 80202.
REGIONAL NOTES
FORT COLLINS
Agencies auction surplus vehicles
The annual multi-agency surplus equipment auction takes place Saturday at 10 a.m. at Larimer County’s The Ranch, on the east side of Interstate 25 across from the Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport at the Crossroads Boulevard exit.
The sale features trucks, cars, vans, pickups, tractors, heavy equipment and more offered by Lari mer and Weld counties; the cities of Loveland, Fort Collins, Windsor and Longmont; the St. Vrain Valley School District; the Greeley-Weld County Airport; and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District
Inspection opportunities are Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.
For detailed information visit www.rollerauction.com or contact Larimer County’s property resource technician, Karen Turek, at 970-498-5958 or kturek@larimer.org.
