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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />[ <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />I <br />------- <br /> <br />I <br />i <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />CITY OF CORTEZ WATER CONSERVATION PLAN <br /> <br />BACKGROUND <br /> <br />The water supply for the City consists of 4.2 cubic feet per second (ets) of senior <br />direct flow water in the Dolores River, which is equivalent to 3040 acre-feet (af) of water <br />volume. In addition, the City is currently paying for 1500 at of Dolores Project water and <br />will begin payment on another 800 at of project water in 1997. In total, the City has a <br />water supply equaling 5340 af. Consumption by the City in 1995 was 2728 at for a <br />population of about 7850 people. <br /> <br />Cortez already has several water saving policies in place that have existed for <br />many years. Some of these key policies are system-wide metering, aggressive line <br />repairs for problem areas, and constant leak investigations. The City is currently in a <br />position of having to pay for a lot of raw water supply whether utilized or not. This <br />situation does not put pressure on the City to limit usage but to stress more efficient <br />usage without waste. <br /> <br />Meters have been utilized for services since the earty 1960's and all accounts <br />are metered. City buildings were metered several years ago, as well as the City parl<s' <br />restrooms. However, many of the City parks' irrigation systems are not metered at this <br />time. The larger Centennial Park and Parque de Vida use untreated water with an <br />efficient sprinkler system for their irrigation. <br /> <br />The Public Works Department has an aggressive leak repair history with a <br />program to upgrade all older galvanized iron services with copper lines. The City has <br />experienced a significant drop in the number of leaks encountered in service lines. <br />Leaks are repaired as quickly as possible once they are reported. Over the last 15 <br />years, the City has invested significant amounts of capital in its watertine upgrade <br />program to replace leaking and deteriorated water lines. <br /> <br />Leak investigations continue to be pursued to find potential bad areas. The City <br />hired a consulting firm in 1995 to check twelve miles of City mains that were of greatest <br />concem. At that time, no leaks were found in the system. <br /> <br />------- -----~-------- -------------- ~-------- <br /> <br />In 1977, Cortez signed up for 6200 at of Dolores project water after the Bureau of <br />Reclamation's forecasts showed that the population of Cortez would skyrocket and the <br />City would need large amounts of water. The City realized in 1986 that the projections <br />were overty exaggerated and that, to pay for the quantity of water signed up for, an <br />onerous burden would be placed on the residents of Cortez. Worl< began to reduce <br />that overall burden down to a projected amount that the City would use with realistic <br />growth rates in 30 to 40 years. <br /> <br />In November of 1995, the Dolores Water Conservation District (DWCD) held an <br />election for returning 3900 at of the City's project water total of 6200 at. The election <br />was passed and the water accepted back to the DWCD. The intent is for the OWCD to <br />find a user for the water within the district and still retain the rights for the community. <br />The basis for the return is that the current population base is too small for the magnitude <br /> <br />3 <br />