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A number of Front Range water providers use inverted rate structures. However, none <br />may serve its purpose as well as that of Irvine Ranch in California. The Irvine Ranch <br />Water District (IRWD) sets a base allocation for each property based on historic use, <br />landscape area, number of residents, evapo- transpiration (ET) rates, crop coefficients and <br />irrigation efficiency. For customers who exceed their base allocation by 50 %, rates are <br />doubled; by 50 -100 %, rates are quadrupled; by more than 100% rates are eight times <br />higher.' 1 There are rewards as well as penalties. If a customer manages to use less than <br />40% of the base allocation, a 25% discount is awarded. The IRWD has found their rate <br />structure to be "very defensible" and a means to nurture positive working relationships <br />with their customers. 12 Perhaps most importantly, this rate structure reduced residential <br />water use by 19% during its first two years! is <br />Outdoor. uses <br />Outdoor water use accounts for about 54% of total residential water use in the Denver <br />area, most of which goes toward turf irrigation. 14 Conserving water outdoors requires <br />that we plant smart and water smart. <br />Xeriscaping offers a much lower water -using alternative to bluegrass lawns. Xeriscape <br />incorporates seven principles to promote quality landscapes, water conservation, and <br />environmental protection: (1) planning and design; (2) soil analysis; (3) appropriate plant <br />selection; (4) practical turf areas; (5) efficient irrigation; (6) use of mulches (to retain soil <br />moisture); and (7) appropriate maintenance. Skeptics may worry that xeriscapes are just <br />dull and dry, but.well- designed xeriscapes are lush and beautiful, incorporating the native <br />textures and colors of Colorado's grasses, evergreens, ground covers and flowers. <br />Some local water utilities, like the City of Boulder and City of Aurora, offer incentives <br />for residents who replace turf with Xeriscape. However,.we could go much further. <br />Regional leaders, like El Paso, Texas, offer $1.00 per square foot of grass replaced with <br />water - efficient landscapes. El Paso's program led to replacing almost 1 million square <br />feet of grass and saved over 20 alg lons per square foot removed each watering season. l5 <br />Most of us, even when we avoid bluegrass, apply far more water than grass and plants <br />actually need. And most of us use sprinklers, sometimes in the middle of the day, losing <br />a substantial quantity of the water applied to evaporation. We can do better. <br />A promising technique is drip irrigation, which usefully applies 30 % -50 %less water than <br />sprinkler irrigation and still meets the requirements of most plants. The City of Boulder <br />offers modest financial encourage to residential water users through a rebate on the cost <br />of these systems. Many providers offer no such help. <br />11 Arlene Wong, "promoting Conservation with Irvine ranch Water District's Ascending Block Rate <br />Structure," in Sustainable Use of Water: California Success Stories (Pacific Institute, 1999) at- 27 -35. <br />12 Id . at 31. <br />13 Id . at 34. <br />14 Denver Water Conservation Master Plan, 1997 at 4. <br />15 Anai Padilla, El Paso Water Conservation Program (April 22, 2002) at 8. <br />3 <br />