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JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION
<br />FEBRUARY AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION 2004
<br />USE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF MUNICIPAL WATER
<br />RESTRICTIONS DURING DROUGHT IN COLORAD0
<br />Douglas S. Kenney, Roberta A. Klein, and Martyn R Clarke
<br />ABSTRACT. Drought conditions in the summer of 2002 prompted
<br />several cities along Colorado's Front Range to enact restrictions on
<br />outdoor water use, focusing primarily on limiting the frequency of
<br />lawn watering. The different approaches utilized by eight water
<br />providers were tracked to determine the level of water savings
<br />achieved, measured as a comparison of 2002 usage to 2000 to 2001
<br />average usage, and also based on a statistical estimate of 2002
<br />"expected use" that accounts for the impact of drought conditions
<br />on demand. Mandatory restrictions were shown to be an effective
<br />tool for drought coping. During periods of mandatory restrictions,
<br />savings measured in expected use per capita ranged from 18 to 56
<br />percent, compared to just 4 to 12 percent savings during periods of
<br />voluntary restrictions. As anticipated, providers with the most
<br />stringent restrictions achieved the greatest savings.
<br />(KEY TERMS: water conservation; drought; water restrictions;
<br />urban water management.)
<br />Kenney, Douglas S., Roberta A. Klein, and Martyn R Clark, 2004. Use and Effec-
<br />tiveness of Municipal Water Restrictions During Drought in Colorado. Journal
<br />of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 40(1):77 -87.
<br />INTRODUCTION
<br />There is a long tradition in municipal governments
<br />to base water plans and associated water develop-
<br />ment activities on high growth scenarios, extreme
<br />drought conditions, and only a modest level of water
<br />conservation savings (Baumann et al., 1998). This
<br />worst case scenario planning greatly limits the risk of
<br />experiencing water shortages and thus the political
<br />fallout that can accompany such an event. For this
<br />reason, most municipal residents in the United
<br />States, even in and and semi -arid regions, rarely if
<br />ever experience shortages at the tap. It takes some-
<br />thing truly out of the ordinary to seriously test the
<br />resilience of most municipal water systems.
<br />In the summer of 2002, residents in the Denver
<br />metro area experienced something out of the ordinary.
<br />A few relatively dry but otherwise uneventful years
<br />quickly developed into the most extreme drought on
<br />record, surpassing even the 1954 drought often used
<br />for planning purposes. Faced with rapidly declining
<br />water supplies and the prospects of real shortages,
<br />most municipalities in the region turned to outdoor
<br />lawn watering restrictions as an emergency coping
<br />mechanism. Restrictions, both voluntary and manda-
<br />tory, were coupled with public education campaigns
<br />and sometimes included other elements such as price
<br />increases.
<br />In this study the experiences of municipal water
<br />providers serving the following cities along Colorado's
<br />northern Front Range were tracked: Aurora, Boulder,
<br />Fort Collins, Lafayette, Louisville, Thornton, and
<br />Westminster. Denver Water also was tracked. In addi-
<br />tion to serving Colorado's largest city, Denver Water
<br />provides full or partial supplies to approximately 90
<br />surrounding communities and water districts (Hydro-
<br />sphere Resource Consultants, Inc.; HRS Water Con-
<br />sultants, Inc.; Mulhern MRE, Inc.; and Spronk Water
<br />Engineers, Inc., 1999, unpublished report). As shown
<br />in Table 1, these eight providers collectively serve
<br />more than 1:85 million customers. Each of the eight
<br />municipal water providers studied operates with a
<br />different mix of supply sources and water rights port-
<br />folios, and each enacted a slightly different suite of
<br />iPaper No. 03072 of the Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) (Copyright m 2004). Discussions are open until
<br />August 1, 2004.
<br />2 Respectively, Research Associate, Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado, UCB 401, Boulder, Colorado 80309 -0401; Man-
<br />aging Director, Center for Science and Technology Policy Research, University of Colorado, UCB 488, Boulder, Colorado 80309 -0488; and
<br />Director, Western Water Assessment, University of Colorado, UCB 488, Boulder, Colorado 80309 -0488 (E-Mail/Kenney: Douglas.kenney@
<br />colorado.edu).
<br />JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION 77
<br />JAWRA
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