25

• Board Meeting Date: 1/23/2008
• Description: OWCDP Section - Town of Castle Rock - Synthetic Turf Project
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Castle Rock has promoted water conservation since the 1980's, including development and
implementation of a comprehensive water conservation program in 1996. The Town also began
to implement a variety of additional conservation measures in 2004. Castle Rock developed a
Water Conservation Master Plan that was approved by the Colorado Water Conservation Board
(CWCB) in December 2006. In an effort to meet this goal and conserve water, Castle Rock, in
partnership with the Douglas County School District (DCSD), proposes to install a 1.7 acre
synthetic turf field at the new Elementary School #45 instead of an irrigated natural turf field.
Castle Rock has been studying the possibility of using synthetic turf as an athletic field surface
for several years. Through implementation of this project, Castle Rock is expecting to save up to
1.5 million gallons per year (or 4.5 acre feet), which is equivalent to the average amount of water
used by approximately nine homes in one year. Castle Rock's Water Conservation Plan
identifies reduction in current and future water demands particularly in areas such as landscaping
as a target for meeting their water savings objective of 18 percent over a 5-year average use.
Additionally, Castle Rock's conservation goals call for creating a community culture that
includes water conservation.
Castle Rock, in coordination DCSD, has demonstrated their financial ability to provide
approximately 78% of the total project budget with matching funds in the form of $31,560 in-
kind contribution and $281,304 monetary contribution. The applicant is requesting $86,013,
22% of total project, for installation of a synthetic turf field at Douglas County Elementary
School #45. The OWCDP has evaluated the grant application and finds that it meets the CWCB
Guidelines for the Water Efficiency Grant Program.
Recommendation:
While Castle Rock's grant application meets the grant application guidelines, the OWCDP has
determined that the proposed project does not provide the greatest potential for water savings for
the financial investment being made. The project total is approximately $400,000. The water
savings expected from the installation of this new synthetic turf area is approximately 4.6 acft of
water annually. Therefore the approximate cost of the unit of water is $86,000/acft. The unit
cost of water saved, accounting for just the CWCB's financial investment, would be
approximately $19,000/acft.
It is also important to note that the use of synthetic turf, instead of natural turf, does not preclude
the use of water to maintain the product. In fact studies have shown that synthetic turf can heat
up to measured temperatures 140°F to 160°F and require a large quantity of water to reduce
surface temperatures to levels safe for use. In light of this analysis and information, and the fact
that Castle Rock's Water Conservation Plan has a variety of conservation measures that have the
potential to yield greater water savings return for the investment, the OWCDP recommends that
the Board award a Water Efficiency Grant in amount of $20,000 to Castle Rock to aid in
achieving their outdoor irrigation water conservation goal. In addition, the OWCDP strongly
encourages Castle Rock begin to implement the water conservation measures, which were
ranked high priority within their Water Conservation Plan. Both a potential water savings
analysis and a cost benefit analysis were performed on these selected measures.
Attachments
~ Town of Castle Rock Grant Application (including scope of work & project budget)
~ Application evaluation criteria ranking sheet, scored by the OWCDP.