Evergreen MD 2003 WCPlan - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

.. . -- ~ ~' III ~ III II II II II II II III III III ~ ~ '~ 2002 Drought Responses The drought of 2002 was a prolonged one throughout the spring and summer, and was at Response Levell & 2 in early to mid May, Drought responses reached Level 3 in June, and the District was at response Level 4 by the end of July into early August. (See Appendix B for 2002 Drought Summary Report and Public Notices), In early August the District went back to Response Level 3 and remained there through October, which was the end of the irrigation season, Due to little outside water use during the winter months the District lifted all restrictions in November. The District and Distributor Districts are using this opportunity in the winter of 2003 to review and update the drought response portion of the Water Conservation Plan, in order to be as well prepared as possible in the event of further water shortages, and to respond to changing needs of the Community, Since most water shortages in Colorado have occurred due to insufficient recipitation,they therefore can be planned for in advance of a '''crisis,'' However, because water shortages can also result from contamination or natural disasters, The District will actively coordinate water shortage response with State and County Emergency, Services agencies, State and federal disaster response procedures require that all disaster response be consistent with the Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) and the Colorado State Office of Emergency Services, Lessons Learned from the 2002 Drought and Responses 1. Drought Responses were to be based on gauged stream flow In actuality during the 2002 drought, Bear Creek flow went so low and at times completely dry that both gauges on the stream at Morrison and Evergreen were inaccurate and unusable for the implementation of the drought responses, Therefore both gauges are being rebuilt in the fall and winter of 2002 - 03 with concrete weirs across Bear Creek that will allow accurate flow measurements in low flow and flood conditions, Evergreen Metro District is rebuilding the Evergreen gauge in a cooperative effort with the Colorado Water Conservation Board and the USGS, A second factor arose regarding flow calculations and that was that during times of extremely low flow on Bear Creek there is more flow at the Evergreen gauge than the Morrison gauge, This was mainly due to all of the tributaries of Bear Creek drying up, and only the main stem of Bear Creek coming from Mount Evans had water in it This drying up of tributaries has not been seen before, but should be taken into account when basing flows off of the two gauges, Basically in the future only the Evergreen gauge will be the only one used when calculating water available in a severe drought under the plan, 2. Public Perception Problems There were several public perception problem factors that influenced the Evergreen Community that were not anticipated by the Committee, These could be categorized into three areas, 9 "-----..- '"" .