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A LAN MERSON. regional administra. tor of the Environmental Protection . Agency. has ridden up on his white horse to rescue Denver about 15 years too late. and instead of looking courageous. he looks silly. . He is not the first bureaucrat to be in such a fix. for you can set it down as an iron rule: A society that looks to an appointed bureaucrat for its salvation is too far gone to be saved. Merson has succeeded in delaying construction of the Foothills water treatment plant and.en- sured that it cost millions' more to build it. That is all he has accomplished. Foothills will be built at a cost of at least $135 million once Merson finishes his elaborate cha- rade. which will culminate after the Army Corps of Engineers has peered into the future and then inevitably issues a dredge-and-fill permit needed for construction of a small holding reservoir which is part of the plant. There is something supremely ridiculous about the corps. that most stodgy of organizations. the folks who have dammed up practically every river in the country ~ at who knows what cost or consequences - wringing its hands over whether the future would be well served if the increasing population of the Denver area should have a new water treatment plant. The processes of government are detailed but also largely irrelevant. By the time the corps gets around to its deci- sion and it is reviewed by Merson and the next chapter unfolds. the Denver Water Board will be transferring $8 million it had planned to spend on the project this year over to next year's budget. where the total expense of lbe first year of the project may be $60 million. Denver has now completed its second full sum- mer of water restrictions and will go through the same thing for the next three years at least - four. if Merson pursues his campaign of delay at any cost. The charts above shaw tbe relative success of the restrictions during lbe last two years. In 1976. watering was restricted to every lbird day. with a limit of three hours watering per day. In the Al Knight is assistant managing edi- torol the Rocky Mountain News. ",' , ..... o o 0) ..e:a tv \ ' ,'~ ....,;j .: . l'~ .~'j."2~'tH~ five years before. the system had two peak peri. ods in July and August which simply didn't show up in the consumption figures for 1977. It smoothed out the curve and allowed the system to keep up_ Total consumption was considerably reduced, In 1978. the removal of the three-hour limita- tion meant that in the long view. not much water was saved. but the consumption curve was again smoothed. The restrictions were largely un- needed except for one peak period in late June and July. The four-month program was the-price everyane paid to avoid a problem during that short period. In the future it can be expected ,lhat lbe same pattern will be repeated in slightly varied form as the system creeps closer to its treatment ca. pacityof 520 million gallons a day. There is no estimate available on what will happen when Foothills is finished and th~ restrictions lifted. Will we be close to capacity again? THERE IS SOME evidence the answer is yes. for the board's original projec- tions urged a start on lbe second phase of Foothills as soon as the first was completed. This is not to say that Alan Merson or the EPA created all of the water board's problems. The current situation. in which demand for treated water exceeds the board delivery ca- pacity. was created by lbe board. It started sell- ing "surplus" water in lbe late 19505 and sold so much of it lbat the "surplus" disappeared. Viewed in one light. Denver is now sharing a limited trealment capacity with customers enti- tled to only surplus water. The second-class suburban customers are now first-class and in the near future will outnumber the Denver cus. tomers. The uncertainty over Foothills has effectively reduced the water board's planning to a sham. bles. Where there were once available detailed figures on everythinll under the sun, there are now only educated guesses on how much waler rates will have to increase. what consumption will be in a given year. how much projects will cost and so on. 'i!lLn~..' ...... :" \,t)!~ t"'~~., ~ ':!:)~'~Jl ~~ ~9\'~ jtj~ What follows are some of those educated guesses, .assuming a 1979 start on Foothills in what might be aptly called the Merson Era. -Look for an increase in water rates to all cus- tomers by late next year. There hasn't been one since 1976 and in the last two years inflation has been the chief contributor as operating costs have risen about $3 million. Assuming a continuation of inrlation next year the rate hike will have to be at leasttS percent, but more likely 20. The.reason the board hasn't already asked for it has something to do with public relations, and the fact that while waiting for a start on Foothills the board'sbank account has risen to about $30 million. -Look for the sale of $40 million in bonds from the 1973 bond issue, which authorized $160 million for improvements, including Foothills. That in turn will require additional millions in interest and force a hike in the system develop- ment charge. It is this charge which was started in 1973 to assure that future water board custom- ers would PaY most of the cost of developing an expanded water system. It already costs more than $1,500 for a 3/4 inch tap outside the city limits. but to raise the necessary funds for debt service, this would probably go up 50 percent. It is one of the amazing facts of life in an in- flated economy that a mere $2.250 for a water tap doesn't appear to faze developers who simply add it to the cost of the house, or homeowners who are accustomed to thinking in terms of $100.- 000 plus for a new home. -Look for. continued buildup of pressure on the board to put water meters on 89.000 unme. tered homes. The EPA wants it; the board has said it sounds like a good idea in theory. So-called "environmental spokesmen" insist it will save water. In fact. for the next three to four years. meter- ing would cost millions and save little. There hasn't been the slightest showing that consump- tion in unmetered homes exceeded consumption in metered homes under this year's summer re- strictions. Since the restrictions will be in effecl at least until 1982. onewonders why $30 million in 1979 dollars should be spent to get some minor benefits in post-l983 dollars. '-., "'1'.~4;:' ',t~.(.,,:. 'j-, ,.,.;,,~. (j. 'll"iW'(I':,.. '. ""6' mLh.t 11Q1h~SlflS:ir:~'1 G'-19111;;;';' !19 ;'li~,~'~ It is probably a silly question in an age already madly in love with environmental symbols and oblivious to malters of substance. -In the early t9805 when Foothills is a reality. the real excitement will begin. Then the con- sumption curve will show that there is not only a need for more treatment capacity. but for more raw water. That is the debate that should be taking place now in Denver. not some minute inspection of a dredge-and-fill permit by the Army Corps of Engineers. CONSIDER: Just a few years ago when the voters approved about $60 million for the Eagle-Piney transmountain ' diversion project. it was believed that the whole thing would cost about $100 million. Now lhat $60 million will be used 10 pay for Foot- hills - which originally had been budgeted at about$55 million. but will cost $135 million. And there is no orie who can say what Eagle- Piney will cost. but it is thought that it might total $500 million if it is buill in a configuration which requires substantial pumping stations. The Denver Water Board doesn't have that kind of money. and given its commitment not to make Denver pay for improvements that will benefit others. it has no way to raise it, There is no agency waiting in the wings to take over the water board's role and raise that kind of money. There is no forum able to serve as the focus of the debate on whether it will be needed. At Merson's present rate he will have moved on to his reward by the time the serious discus- sion starts on Eagle Piney and the future politi- cal compromises that will determine water policy. The EP A at its present rate will have be- come an even larger and more elabora!e govern- ment agency more interested in protecting itself than the environment. If the EP A isn't curbed or directed or in some manner controlled by popular will or common sense or SOMETHING. all of this will be taking place in the next century, and those of us who re- main will be back in the world of circles. dia- mondsand squares. t, !: .'.' ~~,:,. _ . l~~;(iil:/.fi~' ,.~ ~"...';;~ .I~. QI_,.~ 'h(. ~vs 10 :':I~ "(>O~f1.'(.- 'W:;i,