The largest water providers in Colorado have made strides in conservation, although a new report released Thursday indicates that more needs to be done as the drought-prone state continues to grow.
Aurora, Denver, Colorado Springs and Boulder have invested in conservation and realized big declines in per-capita consumption over the past five years, according to the study of Front Range water providers by Western Resource Advocates.
Denver consumption is down an average of 17 percent since 2000 to 137 gallons per person per day and Aurora’s is down 15 percent 127 gallons, according to the report.
Some smaller utilities are lagging behind with flat – rather than escalating – prices for water use, system-wide inefficiencies and, in the case of Fort Lupton a supply loss of 17 percent during delivery to homes.
“There’s a huge discrepancy in where utilities are at across the Front Range,” said Taryn Hutchins-Cabibi, a water-policy analyst and author of the study.
Aurora Water, which has been in a decade-long quest to bolster water supplies to meet growth, leads the pack in conservation through incentives, rebates, ordinances and a sliding rate structure in which big users pay more.
“It’s a viable and effective and sustainable way to offset the need to go out and build big supply projects” such as new reservoirs and pipelines, said city water director Peter Binney.
The aggressive campaign stemmed from the 2002 drought, when the city’s water supply dropped to 26 percent of capacity and additional supplies were uncertain.
Single family residential use has dropped from an average of 149 gallons a day in 2000 to 127 gallons last year.
On the other end of the spectrum, Fort Lupton, like many of the smaller communities, has struggled with conservation, seeing a 39 percent increase in water use in single-family homes since 2000 — and a loss of 163 million gallons annually.
“A lot of people like to have their grass green,” said Ramon Hernandez, director of public works. “We need to do a better job.”
Crews currently are placing tamper-proof water meters outside every home, which Hernandez said should cut down on losses substantially.
The Denver Water Board has 15 people working full-time on water conservation and related jobs, such as leak monitoring. It is the only utility with a public advertising campaign aimed at conservation.
Even before the drought, the agency had targeted saving 30,000 acre-feet of water by 2050 to help meet increasing demands, offering a full slate of incentives, ordinances and rates to slash usage.
“This agency has really embraced conservation as one of the ways to meet the needs for the future,” said Liz Gardiner, manager of water conservation.
The effort has paid off, she said, although Denver residents still use more water per capita – about 137 gallons a day – than most of their suburban neighbors.
“We need to make this part of peoples’ thinking process,” Gardiner said. “We’re not there yet.”
Steve Lipsher: 970-513-9495 or slipsher@denverpost.com.
