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

Application for Colorado Water
Conservation Board Water Efficiency
Grant: Synthetic Turf Project
Applicant: Town of Castle Rock
175 Kellogg Court
Castle Rock, Colorado 80109
Contact: Rick Schultz
720-733-6027
[e-mail]
The Town of Castle Rock (Castle Rock) developed a Water Conservation Master Plan
that was approved by the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) in December
2006. One of the goals set forth in that Plan is to significantly reduce current and
future per-capita water demands. In an effort to meet this goal and conserve water,
Castle Rock, in partnership with the Douglas CountS~ School District (DCSD),
proposes to install a synthetic turf field at the new Elementary School #45 instead of
an irrigated natural turf field.
This project will provide several key water conservation benefits to Coloradans,
including:
Castle Rock and DCSD's use of synthetic turf instead of irrigated turf for athletic
fields will reduce demands in Castle Rock by approximately 1.5 million gallons
per year for the life of the project which is equivalent to the average amount of
water used by approximately nine homes in one year.l This will assist Castle
Rock in meeting the aggressive water conservation goals outlined in its Water
Conservation Plan.
Castle Rock's conservation goals call for creating a community culture that
embraces water conservation as a "way of life." The installation of a synthetic
turf field at a new school in a growing community provides ahigh-visibility
project. Castle Rock plans to use this project to educate the public and increase
awareness of water conservation. Castle Rock intends to place signage at the
project and advertise its water-saving benefits through local media to help instill
a conservation culture in Castle Rock and surrounding communities.
^ Castle Rock is located in South Metro area which has been identified as one of the
key "gap" areas in the Statewide Water Supply Initiative (SWSI). By offsetting
potable water use, this project will directly reduce demands on non-renewable
Denver Basin groundwater resources. That in turn provides local and regional
benefits by better managing the aquifer as a long-term source of supply and
drought reserve. Viewed another way, this water conservation measure offers
i This assumes that each home uses approximately 0.5 AFY.