Ft Morgan 1996 WC Plan

• Project Type: Water Conservation Plan
• Project Name: City of Fort Morgan Water Conservation Plan
• Title: Water Conservation Plan
• Date: 8/21/1996
• County: Morgan
• Water Conservation - Doc Type: Complete Plan

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Executive Summary - Work Plan

The City of Fort Morgan (City) firmly believes that water is a valuable resource and that water
conservation will be extremely important to the future of the community. The City has
developed a water conservation plan as a means to direct and implement the most feasible water
conservation measures available to the City at this time.

The following summarizes the components of the water conservation plan that the City has
already implemented or plans to implement in the very near future. In developing the working
components of the conservation plan, the City examined numerous water conservation measures,
but selected only the most feasible measures for implementation at the present time.

Water Meter Installations

The City believes that the water meter installation program is the most important component of
the water conservation plan. When all of the water meters are installed and customers are billed
according to use, water consumption is expected to decrease as much as 60 gallons per person
per day. No other conservation measures will have as much of an impact on water consumption
as the installation of water meters.

The City completed meter installations for all commercial customers in 1995 and converted their
billing from a flat rate to metered use. Approximately 1,200 residential water meters have been
installed, but approximately 2,500 installations remain. The City budgeted sufficient money in
1996 to install approximately 500 meters at a cost of $250,000. The remaining 2,000 meters will
cost over $1,000,000 to install. The current plan calls for 500 meters to be installed per year with
the [mal completion date the year 2000. Figure ES-l summarizes the plan for the completion of
water meter installations.

Irrigation Efficiency Program

The high water use in Fort Morgan is attributed in a large part to outside irrigation. In an effort
to increase irrigation efficiency throughout the community, the City is working closely with the
Northem Colorado Water Conservancy District to inform residents ofthe proper amount of
irrigation water to apply to lawns based on evapotranspiration calculations. The information is
publicized in the local newspaper on a daily basis and is also broadcast on local radio stations.

The City, by means of the parks and the cemetery, and the School District have a combined total
of approximately 175 acres of irrigated turf within the City. In May 1996, the Northern Colorado
Water Conservancy District began assisting both the City and the School District in an attempt to
increase irrigation efficiency. The primary focus of this program is to utilize evapotranspiration
calculations to apply the proper amount of water. The results of this effort will be reviewed the
end of 1996, improvements will be made, and an informational campaign is.p1anned for the

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