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RESOLUTION NO. ~
Series of 1996
A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, ADOPTING
THE CITY OF ASPEN WATER CONSERVATION ELEMENT OF THE WATER
MANAGEMENT PLAN.
WHEREAS, the Council of the City of Aspen believes that the Water Conservation Element
should supplement Aspen's Water Management Plan so as to identify specific conservation measures
'which will benefit the City of Aspen's water customers, as well as assist in the protection of in-
stream flows through reduction of the volume of water necessary to be diverted for municipal needs;
and
WHEREAS, the City of Aspen encourages public participation in the selection and
implementation of water management and water conservation programs and recognizes that the
results of water conservation programs relies on an informed public that understands how their
individual water use pattems affect the availability of water in area streams; and
WHEREAS, Colorado House Bill 1154 establishes minimum requirements for the contents
of a water conservation program for entities that supply more than 2,000 acre feet of water annually
(" to domestic and commercial customers and the procedures used to adopt the City's plan and,the
contents of the plan comply with these requirements.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN,
COLORADO:
That the City Council of the City of Aspen hereby approves that the City of Aspen Water
Conservation Element of the Water Management Plan, a copy of which plan is annexed hereto and
incorporated herein, be adopted by the City of Aspen.
INTRODUCED, READ AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Aspen on the
2. S- day of J.; /V - , 1996.
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J hn S. Bennett, Mayor
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I, Kathryn S. Koch, duly appointed and acting City Clerk do certify that the foregoing is a
true and accurate copy of that resolution adopted by the City Council of the City of Aspen, Colorado,
').t a meeting held on the day hereinabove stated.
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These internal efforts have been the focus of the Water Department work program over the past three
years and constitute the majority of recent efforts towards water conservation. Now that progress
towards these goals puts the City system closer in line with industry standards, Council has directed
staff to increase its water conservation program to include more customer oriented measures.
Council has also directed staff to pursue conservation measures as an alternate to more costly
expansions of water supplies necessary to meet the water needs for the Aspen Area Community Plan
while providing for protection of in-stream flow values. The success of existing conservation
measures (leak repair) has enabled planned investments in wells to be deferred in the Asset
Management Plan.
CURRENT ISSUES: The plan recommends a revision of the current water rates to further
encourage water conservation using an inverted block rate structure where increasing use of water
results in higher unit costs for metered water sales. The current rate structure includes a very mild
inverted block rate, with unit costs increasing after 15,000 gallons per month per ECU (a single
family home with 1 bedroom, I bath, kitchen, laundry, and limited outside irrigation) in the winter
months. In the summer months, the break point for "extraordinary water use" moves to 30,000
gallons per ECD. Staff believes that the current definition of extraordinary water use under the
present rate structure needs to be reviewed to include the top 5-10% of water users. The new utility
billing software will provide the basis to define the category of customers which use excess quantities
of water, both summer and winter. Data on existing use patterns should be available for both of these
categories in the spring of 1997.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: With one exception, all of the implementation measures contained
in the conservation plan are already funded or can be implemented with existing resources. The toilet
rebate program recommended in the plan has no existing funding, but $10,000 is recommended in the
plan as a pilot effort to determine whether it would be effective in Aspen. Staff believes that given
limited staff resources, working with lodge and hotel owners may offer the best opportunity for
immediate success. Staff will work to determine the extent of recommended appropriations that
would satisfY this objective and return to Council with an appropriation request once the program is
further defined.
RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff recommends adoption of the Water Conservation Element of the
Water Management Plan.
ALTERNATIVES: If the recommendations contained in the plan are not acceptable to Council,
the plan could be referred to staff for specific additions or deletions of program elements.
PROPOSED MOTION: I move that City Council adopt ~~o. ~, adopting the Water
Conservation Element of the Water Management Plan.
CITY MANAGER COMMENTS:
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