Aspen 1997 WCPlan

• Project Type: Water Conservation Plan
• Project Name: City of Aspen Water Conservation Plan
• Title: Water Conservation Element Water Management Plan
• Date: 1/28/1997
• County: Pitkin
• Water Conservation - Doc Type: Complete Plan

SECTION 1. BACKGROUND AND RELATED DOCUMENTS

The Water Conservation Element is intended to supplement Aspen's Water Management Plan and
Water Policy Program and to identify specific conservation measures which will benefit the City's
water customers as well as assist in protection of in-stream flows through reduction of the volume
of water necessary to be diverted for municipal needs.

The City of Aspen provides both potable and raw water service to approximately 2,400 customers
within the City and in areas adjoining the City through service contracts. Aspen has a
comprehensive system of record-keeping for water demand factors based on a fixture count (toilets,
lavatories, outside irrigation, etc.) of each residence and business connected to the domestic system.
These fixtures are then converted to "Equivalent Capacity Units" (ECU' s) as a measure of the water
demand expected from existing and new development. An ECU can be approximated by a one-
bedroom, one-bathroom home with a fully equipped kitchen, an exterior hose bib, and a 3/4"
domestic service line. The 1996 inventory of water demanding fixtures on meters equates to 12,420
ECU's. An additional 330 ECU's are billed on a flat rate basis, consi~ering the average number of
. construction and other flat rate accounts over the course of the year. As a result of tracking water
demand factors for building pennits for all new construction and remodel, as well as limiting the
total water demand in all new extraterritorial water service contracts, the City has a relatively
accurate picture of existing and future water demand factors on the domestic water system.

In addition to domestic water, the City provides untreated water from its irrigation ditch rights to
provide water to the municipal golf course, selected municipal parks and for use by private
landowners under raw water license agreements. Further, the City provides both treated and
untreated water for snowmaking operations through its facilities at Aspen Mountain and Aspen
Highlands. The Aspen Consolidated Sanitation District (a separate special district) provides
wastewater treatment for virtually the entire area served by the Aspen Water Department.

The City has two primary sources of raw water supply for its potable system, one supply intake on
Castle Creek and one intake on Maroon Creek, which feed the City's 'water treatment plants located
on the Thomas property. Both intakes utilize "run of the river" and are not backed up by a
significant raw water storage reservoir. The City also has water rights and a water treatment facility
on Hunter Creek which is~presently not in operation.~ Since tl1.e,other treatment plants have adequate
capacity, there are no plans to operate this plant in the immediate future. The potable water system
. is also supplied by up to four municipal weJls, but only Little Nell WeJl is presently operable. The
other three wells, located primarily in the original townsite area, are in various phases of
redevelopment.

The raw water system operated by the City to provide for irrigation of the golf course, selected parks,
and private properties provides for maintenance of "aesthetic features" such as fountains, the City
malls, and many of the City's street trees located along the ditch system. On the east end of town,
the City operates the Wheeler, East Aspen and Durant ditch system, which provide water for the
downtown mall, fountains and aesthetic features at Rio Grande Park. In the west end of the Aspen

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