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<br />Town of Castle Rock <br />Water Conservation Plan <br /> <br />Section 4 <br />Water Conservation Impacts <br /> <br />One of the recommendations of the Water Resource Management Plan (WRMP) was that <br />the Town should pursue all appropriate water conservation programs as a cost effective <br />alternative to utilization of Denver-Basin water resources. Recommendations in the 1992 <br />version of the WRMP were that conservation programs should include, as a minimum, <br />promotion of efficient lawn watering facilities, lawn watering restrictions, water rate <br />structures, potential building code amendments, leak detection programs, and public <br />education. <br /> <br />4.1 Water Use Efficiency Programs <br /> <br />Management of the use of potable water for irrigation have been a major focus of Castle <br />Rock's efforts in water conservation for several years, and must continue in the future. The <br />Town has used a watering restriction program since 1985. These restrictions, as defined by <br />ordinance, are part of the Town's operating policy. Not only do these restrictions promote <br />conservation, they also control the amount of excess capacity in the system required to <br />accommodate peak demands. Efficient use of available water and proper utilization of an <br />every third day lawn watering schedule has proven to be adequate in this semi-arid <br />geographic location. <br /> <br />The Xeriscape landscaping approach is another important aspect of water conservation. <br />Town ordinance limits the amount of water use allowed on public open space. Investigation <br />should continue on the feasibility of developing a similar ordinance for private property <br />development. Such regulations would limit the amount of bluegrass on a given lot, while <br />encouraging the use of low water consumption plants. <br /> <br />Water rates are another method by which conservation can be encouraged. At present the <br />Town has a tiered rate structure in which it charges a higher unit price for high levels of <br />water consumption, (see Table A 1-8, page 61). When re-evaluated, a water rate structure <br />should be specifically considered to reward water conservation efforts on the part of the <br />Town residents. <br /> <br />There have been building code amendments to address potable water conservation through <br />water efficient fixtures and appliances. As these types of technologies advance, the Town <br />should continue to incorporate them into building code standards. <br /> <br />The Town should continue to pursue a distribution leak detection program. Previous efforts <br /> <br />17 <br />