Colorado WaterWise - Spring 2017

waterwise The official publication of Colorado WaterWise

The Voice of the Colorado Water Conservation Community

www.coloradowaterwise.org

In this issue...

WaterSense Standards Create a Win-Win Water Education page 5

Pg. 3 Colorado Water Plants Sell Xeriscape Live Like You Love It! page 9

Going Native in with Pg. 9 Interview Colorado Springs Ray Tschillard page 15

Pg. 13 Water Efficiency Workshop ColoradoWaterWise.org Pg. 14 Interview with Gary Klein

Spring 2017

s r o t i d e e h t From

With this long stretch of warm days in mid-February, spring fever stirs within us and in the landscape. Trees and shrubs are budding and early spring bulbs are popping through the soil. It is important not to get too excited and start spring cleanup and watering, because snow and freezes will still come. Trees and shrubs may need a little drink of water because it is dry, but not so much to fully wake them up.

The spring issue provides us with the opportunity to present some exciting new concepts and programs featuring landscape and irrigation.

Center for ReSource Conservation (CRC) is providing professional landscape design consultations and Colorado Springs is changing the bluegrass paradigm. Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado (ALCC) is offering a Vo-Tech program for teachers and students while Greeley markets a very technical program of water budgets to their single family residential customers.

Colorado WaterWise welcomes three new board members; two new members from the green industry and a new representative from Center for Resource Conservation. We would also like to welcome Darren Nowels as the newest editor to the newsletter. We are sorry to lose Kim Frick, City of Loveland and Michael Thomas, Denver Water. We would like to thank them for the valuable contributions they have made over the years as editors and contributors.

Ruth Quade Leslie Martien Darren Nowels

Colorado WaterWise Ongoing Meetings

WaterWise is the official publication of Colorado WaterWise and is published four times a year (Mar, Jun, Sep, and Dec). Articles are due one month before the newsletter comes out.

Officers: Co-chairs: Amelia Nuding-Western Resource Advocates & Frank KinderColorado Springs Utilities Co-secretaries: Diana Denwood-Aurora Water & Lindsey Bashline-Loveland Utilities Co-treasurers: Lyndsey Lucia-Northern Water & Renee Davis-Fort Collins Board Members: The officers above and Laura WingCity of Thornton; Becky Fedak-Brendle Group, Alyssa Quinn-Platte Canyon, Ruth Quade-Greeley; Darren NowlesCenter for ReSource Conservation; Rose Marie Clouse-City of Fountain; Kurt DeLucero-ALCC & Becky Hammond; ALCC. Newsletter Committee: Editors, Leslie Martien, Ruth Quade, Natalie Stevens (designer) & Darren Nowels. For advertising sales or to submit a story: Ruth Quade, 970-3509874, ruth.quade@greeleygov.com.

WaterWise articles may be reproduced in other publications with credit given to the author and Colorado WaterWise.

The viewpoints of the authors are not necessarily those of the Colorado WaterWise. This newsletter is intended to spark dialogue about various issues concerning water resources and conservation in Colorado. Any advertisement of or reference to a product or service is not intended as an endorsement.

Colorado WaterWise Board Meetings: Second Thursday of each month, 10 a.m.-noon March 9

April 13

May 11

June 8

ColoradoWaterWise.org

LoveColoradoWater.org

MEET THE NEW BOARD MEMBERS Colorado WaterWise is excited to welcome three new board members.

Welcome aboard! Let’s do some great things for water in Colorado.

Becky Hammond

Becky Hammond has been a landscape architect for 30 years. She used to work at a Low Impact Design landscaping company, and for the last 3 years or so has been working at Native Edge in Boulder. Native Edge is a landscape designbuild company, which means they offer services related to landscape design, as well as the option to install the landscape project.

Becky is a landscape architect and the first point of contact for clients. She develops the landscape design, does the bid, and if the client chooses Native Edge to build it, she is the supervising architect, checking that the installation conforms to the design.

Darren Nowels

Originally from Maryland, Darren received a BA in Political Science from the University of Washington and decided to make Colorado his home base in 2010. Having joined the Center for ReSource Conservation in 2016, Darren manages a variety of water conservation programs designed to make it easy and affordable for homeowners to save water both inside and outside the home. Chief among these programs is the Slow the Flow sprinkler inspection program that enables homeowners to get the most out of their sprinklers, save water and make their grass healthier. Before joining CRC, Darren served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mongolia for 3 years, designing school curriculum used to teach children to be environmental stewards. In his spare time, Darren enjoys cycling, hiking, skiing, and cooking.

Kurt DeLucero

Kurt has been in the landscape industry his whole life. He went to CSU for business management, started his own irrigation company, later worked at RBI (a landscape irrigation company), where he developed his knowledge of regional landscaping and irrigation practices (UT, TX, CA, CO) and in 2004 decided to open his own business: Arrowhead. Arrowhead has about 80 employees in mid-summer with 12 irrigation technicians. While water conservation has always been a focus, it became central to his business model about three years ago. Now the company has a strong focus on HOA water conservation education and technology. They mostly do in-house training of their staff, and about half are IA certified.

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Colorado WaterWise 2017 Lunch ‘n Learns return, focusing on technology and conservation! These FREE events are for water efficiency professionals and all others interested! Let’s learn together!

Join us and featured presenter, Boulder-based and Colorado-manufacturer Rachio, for….

Beyond the Controller Join the Rachio team and CEO Chris Klein as we discuss how smart sprinkler controllers are changing how homeowners, professionals, and water utilities think about water management. As the Internet of Things and smart home technology increase consumer engagement and awareness around outdoor water use, we'll discuss the downstream opportunities of big data and its impact on future water resource management.

Date: Thursday March 9th Time: 12:30-2:00 PM Location: Aurora Public Library, 14949 E Alameda Pkwy, Aurora, CO 80012

Lunch is provided, but you must RSVP

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WATERSENSE STANDARDS CREATE A WIN-WIN

By Frank Kinder, Colorado Springs Utilities Among the many tenets of property management, knowledge of utility consumption is paramount to both affordability, and profitability, with water use being an increased area of focus. In the last 10 years, Colorado’s popularity and continued growth has led to substantial increases in populations around the state and especially the Front Range.

It’s a great place to live, and people love the mountain lifestyle. After the housing crash, many of these new citizens are choosing apartments, and the market has shown considerable transactions and repositioning as ownerships change and investors seek to maximize rent and attract these new potential tenants. Reflecting this market and these investments, apartment rents have risen considerably over the last few years.

At the same time, a continuing drought since the year 2000 has placed new demands on water utilities to modify and maximize existing supply systems while developing new sources. Many utilities have raised rates to meet these needs and serve these new customers, placing price pressure on all customers. Serious regional droughts required many Colorado water providers to implement water use restrictions in the early 2000s and again in 2013. On a broader scale, and perhaps a benefit of this serious drought across the west, is a raised awareness of water use, with an emphasis on conservation as a component of effective water management.

In effect, we’re paying more attention, and solutions abound to continue our high quality of life while using energy and water more efficiently, and often a little differently than in the past. To that end, as of 2017 in Colorado, law has made WaterSense fixtures the standard, as the state has phased out less efficient models as part of the State Water Plan.

Industry has responded with collaboration among manufacturers, utilities, government, and suppliers to provide high-performing, water saving, and affordable new fixtures and water use methods.

The EPA’s WaterSense program was launched in 2006 to overcome stubborn stigmas about water savings fixtures. They created standards and methodologies for new products that perform well while using twenty percent or less water than existing models and require no sacrifice by the user, owner, installer, or management.

In the last ten years, WaterSense has overseen the advent of new toilets, showerheads, faucets, urinals, irrigation controllers, new home certifications, and even industry recognition for landscaping professionals. This evolution of water efficient devices has been well-accepted by the retail segment, commercial suppliers, plumbers, and residential and business customers alike, culminating in over one trillion gallons of water saved in that time. WaterSense is an excellent example of win-win collaboration to achieve market transformation.

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In the multi-family sector, water conservation has become a focus area for management and capital investment. While obvious operations expenses, such as water costs and maintenance issues for aging fixtures drive some of the focus, additional newer factors such as corporate social responsibility and sustainability initiatives also support better care of water use. The industry’s Units magazine regularly profiles such programs and their conservation initiatives. While some firms are strictly driven by improved return on investment scenarios from direct water and labor costs, others recognize the significant marketing value in responsibly doing their part to conserve a very scarce resource, while also keeping shared utility costs manageable. These attributes can be especially important to millennials or environmentally conscious demographics. In addition, water efficiency investments can keep water costs to an appropriate ratio of overall expenses, allowing room for rate increases or distribution necessities.

In low-income, restricted income, or other assisted housing communities, rising water costs can affect utility allowances, especially in older buildings. In 2016, Cohn Reznick found that water’s increasing portion of utility expenses has produced a focus on efficiency upgrades in older buildings to maintain affordability and competitiveness for state-qualified housing credit allocations (The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program at Year 30: An Operating Expense Analysis). Hence, partnerships that upgrade to WaterSense fixtures can help with affordability and compliance of low-income housing programs In addition, benchmarking energy efficiency is also being reported to HUD through EnergyStar Portfolio Manager, and water metrics are likely not far behind. So addressing this conservation opportunity addresses multiple concerns.

As manufacturers have expanded models and features, and transitioned factories so that the majority produce WaterSense-approved products, unit costs for most of these items are very competitive. From some major suppliers, WaterSense toilets can cost as little as $75. Historically, many owners kept existing toilets, unless they were failing or other prevailing conditions required replacement. Now, many owners and managers perform change outs at turn overs, remodels, or during rehabilitation, or even one-off, whole-property, upgrade projects, often with in-house labor or through contract plumbing or service firms. Depending upon the age and condition of the existing toilet, return on investment can be a year to as little as a few months.

Surprisingly, many tenants place significant importance on the quality of their commode, and managers have reported receiving sincere appreciation for new toilets. As a conservation specialist for Colorado Springs Utilities, I have personally seen and heard from multiple customers about the significant financial and intrinsic benefits they’ve received from installing WaterSense toilets, with some tenants more excited about new commodes than other traditional amenities. Maybe it could be said ‘forget the pool, install a WaterSense stool’? By adding WaterSense showerheads and faucets to a WaterSense restroom upgrade you gain energy savings through hot water efficiency, an aesthetics improvement, and durable, immediate and long-term savings. With WaterSense fixtures now a requirement in Colorado, they should be widely available from all resources. Some utilities offer incentives to help with retrofits, and porcelain recycling is available in some communities. Find utility incentives and learn more about WaterSense at epa.gov/watersense/.

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HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER GETS ON BOARD WITH LANDSCAPING

By Becky Garber for Colorado Green Now by ALCC The Irrigation 101 training, provided by ALCC for high school teachers January 2016, was a hit with Dave Kranz, a teacher at Falcon High School near Colorado Springs. “My mind was running 100 miles an hour the whole time I was there,” he says.

Soon after loading up his Irrigation System in a Box from that session, he was on the phone with Tim Emick, owner of Timberline Landscaping, Inc. Kranz was determined Falcon would be the first Landscape Career Pathways school in his area. “I just don’t want to do this – I want to do it the right way,” he says.

Timberline’s owner, Tim Emick, says that call was “Awesome! It was something I’ve been thinking about for a long time and waiting for. In our schools, we’ve gotten away from teaching skills.” And he means across all the trades.

That conversation united two, outdoor-oriented visionaries. After college, Kranz worked cattle and trained colts in Montana. Emick, who grew up in the country 30 miles out of town, firmly believes “not everyone is cut out to spend their days in a cubicle looking at a computer screen.”

Emick and Kranz are anxious to get young people outdoors exposing them to an industry where they can find productive careers enabling them to support a family. Says Kranz, “I’m a big fan that you don’t need to get heavy student debt to get a college degree only to end up working in an unrelated job and living in your parents’ basement.” Emick agrees, saying there’s too much emphasis on “if you don’t go to college, you’re a failure.”

Last year, during spring break, Kranz jumped into a truck with Timberline’s John Butters for a ride-along to see firsthand what the industry does. That trip included site visits to a variety of projects and getting into the mud with Butters to help repair a mainline. “Since then,” says Kranz, “Tim, Stephanie Early and I, along with a lot of other Timberline employees, are about to embark on what could be the first, year-long, high school landscaping design, installation and irrigation class in the State of Colorado.”

His plan was recently approved by the school board and will begin school year 2017-2018 with 15-20 students including boys and girls “who are taking classes because they are really interested and want to do this.”

Students in the program will be able to do a work/study program at Timberline during spring break and spend their last two months of spring semester doing internships – mainly irrigation.

Emick supports the irrigation emphasis because it relates to the big picture of the industry’s need to manage and conserve Colorado’s most precious resource. “The stress over water is tremendous and we need to be better stewards of the environment. Irrigation is the weakest link in our industry.”

Kranz says Timberline’s help as an industry advisor has been key. “There’s no way I could do this by myself.”

Reprinted with permission from Becky Garber and ALCC

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BUILDING BRIDGES TO WATER-WISE LANDSCAPES

By Darren Nowels, Center for ReSource Conservation As a homeowner, we all have projects around the house we want to tackle. Whether it’s painting walls, figuring out how to organize the garage, or building that adorable breakfast nook you’ve always wanted, how do you find the time and resources to accomplish a project?

With increased awareness of the need to conserve water in Colorado and understanding that landscapes don’t have to be synonymous with a bunch of thirsty turf grass to be beautiful, xeric landscapes are becoming increasingly popular. And they’re fully attainable for homeowners with a little do-it-yourself spirit. But homeowners looking to make the switch from a turfcentric yard to a more water-wise landscape face a couple of hurdles to even get the project off the ground.

If a homeowner is new to landscaping, and doesn’t know where to begin, they would most likely need a professional landscape designer. But hiring a landscape pro can take quite a toll on the wallet. And, though there is a treasure trove of information on DIY landscaping in books and online, so much information can be overwhelming without a professional guiding you through a landscape redesign.

That’s why, in 2017, the Center for ReSource Conservation (CRC), in partnership with water providers in Denver and Arvada, is offering a new, innovative program to equip homeowners with the knowledge, resources, and support to make a water-wise landscape project a reality.

CRC has contracted with a few landscape designers to provide several hundred consultations at no cost to residents of Denver and Arvada. During each consultation, the participants and the landscape professional will discuss what the participant would like to change and what is most practical in order to achieve a waterwise landscape. After each consultation, the participant will be left with a sketch of their property, including suggested changes, a list of tangible goals and tasks, as well as resources to help accomplish these changes.

Then CRC and the landscape professionals will follow-up with participants once a month, for three months, to discuss progress and offer any further assistance.

The ultimate aim of this program is to bring the professional directly to the homeowner interested in a more xeric landscape and make the project less intimidating and more realistic. In the end, having the resources and professional knowledge at their fingertips, homeowners will be far more likely to see their dream landscape come to fruition. And, who knows, maybe they’ll even be inspired to finally tackle those other projects they kept putting off.

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PLANTS SELL XERISCAPE

By Scott Millard, Ironwood Press It’s always a huge positive when you can provide your utility customers with a resource that makes their lives a little better. When a resource helps them save money by reducing their water bills, it becomes that much sweeter.

And if that resource provides information (and inspiration!) that shows them how to increase the value of their homes by beautifying their outdoor space, it officially enters the “bonus round.”

So what is this versatile and valuable resource that works for you and your customers 24/7? One that gives your utility credibility when it comes to outdoor water efficiency? A resource that is extremely easy to access?

A resource that can increase overall traffic to your web site—potentially in great numbers? The answer: an online, interactive plant database. It is a customized and comprehensive guide to selecting and growing waterefficient landscape plants adapted to grow successfully in your service area.

Content Marketing at its Best A plant database can range in size from a few hundred plants to more than a thousand. Customers can browse through typical plant categories such as trees, shrubs, groundcovers, vines, ornamental grasses and perennials, for example. In addition, most sites are highly interactive and include a filtering program that allows the user to sort through plants. It becomes quick and simple to select plants that will solve a problem area. It can be a cultural requirement, such as plants that accept partial shade and low water, for example. Or users can use a filtering feature to select plants that fulfill specific design needs: attract wildlife, grow to a certain height or width to fit a space or become a screen, or produce flowers of a certain color during a certain season.

The photos that accompany the plant descriptions appear as if in typical home landscapes. Many times the majority of plants on the database site are shown with multiple images, so viewers can get a good notion how plants will appear in their garden, often throughout the seasons, or with close ups of flowers, seedheads, fruit or bark.

A Selection of Active Databases in Colorado More utilities are realizing the positive effects the information and goodwill these sites provide to their customers. The City of Greeley recently launched a database on their website, PlantsForGreeley.com, which features more than 350 plants. Project-managed by Ruth Quade, Water Conservation Coordinator, Greeley’s

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recommended plant list was the base to select and vet the plant offerings. All plants featured include at least one photo; most have several. As a result, Greeley offers their utility customers a valuable guide that helps simplify creating a xeriscape design, as well as helping them understand the basics such as exposure to the sun, water requirements, growth rate, flower color and season, and more.

Colorado Springs Utilities launched their site, waterwiseplants.org, in March 2016. It provides descriptions and photographs of over 350 plants, with more scheduled for the future. Catherine Moravec, Senior Water Conservation Specialist and project manager for the site is pleased with the response of their water customers. Currently, new users make up 68 percent of visitors, while 31 percent are returning users. The total page views for 2016 reached over 54,000. Molly Morris, Landscape Education Specialist, photographed the plants shown on the site.

Aurora Water and their office of Water Conservation & Efficiency provide a reference to the Top Xeric Plants for Aurora & the Front Range. This online resource includes photos and descriptions of almost two dozen plants—trees, shrubs, ornamental grasses and perennials—that grow in their xeriscape demonstration garden.

The site also provides a guide for users to understand the water requirements of different plant types. Plant Select®, plantselect.org, is a well-known brand of plants designed to thrive in high plains and intermountain regions. Their website, particularly the Find A Plant feature, allows users to sort through 150 plants to select those that fit the bill for a particular situation.

The Payoff and a Bonus The payoff for these inspiring references? For utility customers, it is a resource in selecting and growing plants that are adapted to their region, not to mention increasing the beauty and seasonal interest of their landscapes. At its most basic it is the promise of a reduced water bill. For utilities, it is becoming trusted and valued sources of water conservation information. Providing a go-to information hub, their customers can refer to the site throughout the year to help answer questions about their plant selection, irrigation and care. Considering these many benefits, a plant database provides a bonus all around.

—Scott Millard is publisher of Ironwood Press, which has been producing informational materials for utilities for more than 25 years. Creating regionalized, online, plant databases is their current passion. Ironwood produced and maintains the site that is currently active for the City of Greeley.

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interview

A Spotlight on

DARREN NOWELS WW: Tell us a little about yourself.

I was born and raised on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. Then, trading one coast for another, I moved to Seattle and earned a B.A. in political science from the University of Washington. From there, I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mongolia for three years. At some point in there, my family moved to Colorado, and eventually reeled me in to calling the Front Range home for the past 11 years.

WW: How did you get started in the water conservation business?

I first got my feet wet with water conservation while working for a conservation corps on the Western Slope.

One of the main projects I worked on was the removal of invasive species of trees that had been planted along the Colorado River a hundred years ago to shore up real estate properties, but were now taking a toll on the water supply, not to mention taking over ecosystems. Then, after spending a summer auditing sprinkler systems for the Center for ReSource Conservation(CRC), I knew I had found the right path. So, after leaving the Peace Corps, I was incredibly lucky to find my way back to CRC in my current role managing that same sprinkler audit program.

WW: Regarding water conservation, what do you feel are the biggest challenges facing Colorado?

With a background in political science, I look at many issues through the lens of public perception of a problem, and the willingness of the public to combat a problem before it becomes seriously detrimental to our daily lives. With a ballooning population in Colorado, water supply simply won’t be able to keep up with demand in the future, and I worry that there isn’t enough awareness of that reality at present. We need universal understanding of the problem now, and general buy-in to the solutions that will prevent a water shortage in the future.

WW: What technologies do you think will have the biggest impact on water conservation in Colorado?

At the utility level, I think smart metering technology will be instrumental in determining usage patterns that can be used to respond to problems accordingly. But for the homeowner, I think high-efficiency toilets that only use 0.8 gallons of water per flush and weather-based smart controllers for irrigation systems are going to make a huge impact on water conservation. And as these technologies are further developed, they will make water conservation in the home both convenient and affordable.

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Interview with Darren Nowels “With a ballooning population in Colorado, water supply simply won’t be able to keep up with demand in the future, and I worry that there isn’t enough awareness of that reality at present.”

WW: What technologies do you think will have the biggest impact on water conservation in Colorado?

We are in the process of evaluating different options for replacing our existing meters with Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). We are hoping that the frequent, real time data that is provided by AMI will help better evaluate our customers’ use patterns. This data could also be used to determine creative solutions for conservation. During this process, we were introduced to the customer web and mobile platforms that provide two-way communication, real time usage patterns, and other conservation tools.

WW: What has given you the most satisfaction during your career?

Though I’m relatively new to the water conservation field, I have to say the most satisfying moments of my job are getting to interact with homeowners that are truly committed to conserving water. Whether they’ve replaced all of the fixtures and appliances in their home with efficient models, or have completely redone their landscape to use less water without sacrificing aesthetics, the passion and pride with which they speak reaffirms my commitment to this work and makes me hopeful for the future.

WW: Beyond work, what other interests do you have? Passions, goals, missions?

I’ve always loved the outdoors, so hiking and cycling are my two big hobbies. Right now, the thing I’m most excited about is learning to ski, and it’s only taken me 11 years of calling Colorado home to finally start to learn! But I think one of the biggest passions of my life has always been travel. I’ve been to about 20 different countries, having lived in three of them. I have always found that taking yourself out of your comfort zone and truly immersing yourself in another culture and a different way of life can teach you so much about yourself and the way you engage in the world around you.

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SPOTLIGHT ON VERONICA • Use in rock gardens for a natural look.

By Ruth Quade, City of Greeley Do you want a plant that will creep between flagstone or cascade over a rock wall? Veronica will fit the bill. Veronica is a slow-growing, xeric ground cover that is an early spring bloomer and a hearty evergreen, native to Turkey. All of the veronicas will take full sun to part shade unless otherwise noted. The following are four species to explore in your xeric garden: Veronica oltensis (Thyme-leaf Speedwell) is royal purple and often compared to thyme because of its evergreen leaves. This is a xeric plant that does well in full sun or part shade.

Veronica liwanensis (Turkish Speedwell), a 2015 Plant Select® winner, is a vigorous, fast growing species that thrives in difficult climates. The groundhugging stems take root as they creep across the garden, creating a thick green carpet. Irrigate regularly if conditions are dry and provide afternoon shade in the heat of the summer, especially if grown in or between rocks and hardscape.

Veronica pectinata (Blue Woolly Speedwell) has woolly, grey-green foliage which adds depth and texture to the garden after the early spring blooms fade. True blue flowers are punctuated by a white center. This veronica isn’t attractive to rabbits and deer.

Veronica bombycina (Woolly Turkish Speedwell) is a mid-spring bloomer that is covered with pale blue flowers. This is the most durable of the veronicas and thrives in problems areas of the garden with hot sun and poor, fast-draining soils. It doesn’t like its feet wet. When the flowers fade, it can be mowed or sheared to reveal the fuzzy leaves.

• Fill in spaces between flagstone or pavers.

• Plant on hills to hold soil in place or where mowing and watering is difficult.

• In areas where turf is difficult to maintain use it as a turf alternative.

• Plant around taller plants to add color and fullness.

• Plant on retaining walls to cascade and soften the hardscape.

• Use it as “living mulch” to cool the ground and suppress weed growth. (i.e. around clematis) • Use in fairy gardens as a small scale plant

Photo by David Winger WaterWise

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AGRICULTURE AND WATER EDUCATION

By Pam Wright, Colorado Foundation for Agriculture Because water is such an important resource for farmers and ranchers, Colorado Foundation for Agriculture (CFA) has actively worked to educate the next generation of Coloradan’s on this vital resource.

CFA's Understanding Water activity book, published using a grant from the Department of Public Health and Environment 319 education fund, is in its fourth printing.

The water activity book is 72, action-packed pages, developed using the Colorado Content Standards. Activities reinforce math, science, geography, vocabulary, writing, visual arts and economics. Students learn about water, the water cycle, water treatment, non-point source pollution, conservation, wastewater treatment and importance of water to agriculture.

Students are provided information, including the water cycle, where water in Colorado comes from, the difference between weather and climate, how water is used to grow food and how our bodies use water. It also discusses the biggest threat to our freshwater.

One of the main tools CFA provides to schools is the Colorado Reader series. Colorado Readers are student newspapers designed for 4th to 6th grades that focus on agriculture and natural resource topics. For over 20 years the February issue of the Colorado Reader series has focused on different aspects of water education.

The 2017 February reader explores groundwater and 62 ways to conserve water. Math activities illustrate to students how conserving water can make a big difference. Geography skills are developed in determining where in Colorado the most groundwater is being used. This reader shows how important water is to life on Earth. It talks about the importance of the snow and how snow equals water that we will use the rest of the year. It illustrates how water is an essential part of everyone's body. It discusses Colorado as a headwater state.

It talks about droughts and the impacts of drought and fire on watersheds. The Reader highlights how water grows food and the importance of keeping this vital resource clean.

This Colorado Reader will be distributed to over 45,000 students across the state. Other water education projects of the Colorado Foundation for Agriculture include Understanding Water Activity Book and Watershed Defender Comic.

Through education, students are introduced to storing water for irrigation, recreational uses, energy production, and how the reservoirs in Colorado help us store this vital resource.

The Foundation also builds relationships with educational institutions to introduce agriculture education tools and resources, and encourages adoption at the community, county, state, and national level.

These resources and more can be found at: growingyourfuture.com.

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GOING NATIVE IN COLORADO SPRINGS

By Scott Winter, Colorado Springs Utilities Constrained maintenance budgets, associated with the economic downturn, beginning in 2008, combined with increasing water prices, have made it difficult for many of our customers to manage large Kentucky bluegrass lawns at the same level they once did.

From 2007 to 2017, the non-residential summer commodity price for water in Colorado Springs has increased by almost 150 percent.

Almost certainly, other aspects of maintenance have also gotten more expensive over that period. This has resulted in some landscape managers making the difficult decision to deficit-irrigate waterintensive landscapes, which has inevitably compromised landscape Median converted to native grass health and appearance.

Colorado Springs Utilities (Utilities) has helped customers increase the efficiency of irrigation systems for many years. But improved efficiency alone cannot make large Kentucky bluegrass landscapes sustainable for all customers given the various financial pressures they face. To do so, a fundamental change to the composition of the landscape, resulting in significantly lower water and other maintenance costs is required.

Rethinking the Traditional Landscape The best approach to changing a large, turf-grass landscape, while maintaining or enhancing the vast majority of its benefits, is to convert it to native grass. After all, we are on the edge of the Great Plains, in one of the world’s few great steppe biomes, which are dominated by many species of rugged, resilient and beautiful grasses.

In addition to the reducing water demands and costs, native grass landscapes increase biodiversity and drought resilience, require fewer chemicals, and may provide better habitat for birds, insects and other wildlife.

The Front Range resides in one of the world's few steppe biomes

Turf to Native Grass Conservation Pilot Program To encourage business customers to cultivate more attractive, healthy, resilient and efficient landscapes, Utilities launched the Business Turf to Native Grass Conversion Pilot Program in late 2016. Conversion of turf grass to more resilient and lower maintenance treatments can provide significant water savings. Additionally, it is perhaps the easiest and most cost effective water and maintenance reduction option available to Utilities customers. Such conversions can also provide an opportunity for older landscapes to better serve customers and allow them to more appropriately allocate limited resources to higher priority areas.

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Native Grass Options, Savings Estimates and Incentive Amounts Multiple conversion options are available and provide different savings and incentive amounts as shown below.

In order to select the best conversion type for a site, customers are encouraged to thoroughly evaluate potential uses and the specific site characteristics. The following native and alternative grasses can be useful to create mowed turf grass areas or naturalized, un-mowed prairie.

Each of these options is prescriptive in terms of species permitted and described in program guidelines provided to Large section of Wasson Park converted to native grass prospective participants.

Some Irrigation Required Due to the semiarid nature of our climate and the inconsistency of suitable establishment conditions of grass seed under natural conditions, all converted areas are required to be established and maintained with an automated in-ground irrigation system. Watering guidelines for establishment and maintenance are provided to participating customers.

Commonly used “grow low� seed mixes do not qualify for this program as they contain high water use turf grass species and do not reduce water requirements.

Previous Projects Prove the Concept Prior to implementing this program, Utilities and the City of Colorado Springs Parks and Recreation Department (Parks) converted nearly 60 acres of low-use, high maintenance Kentucky bluegrass turf to native grass over a four-year period using a variety of techniques and seed mixes proving that this approach can be done effectively and will be accepted or even embraced by the public. These projects have also proven to be cost-effective, often paying for themselves in less than one year and subsequently reducing combined costs for water and maintenance by up to $5,000 per acre converted each year after establishment. These real-world examples are valuable for other customers facing similar challenges who are looking for solutions that balance the need to save money, conserve water, and maintain a beautiful and sustainable landscape.

A large turf to native grass conversion project - in process and completed - at Keller Park WaterWise

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Spring 2017

GARDENS ON THE SPRING CREEK-EDUCATION LACED WITH INSPIRATION

By Michelle Provaznik, Director of the Gardens on Spring Creek As I meet with people around the region, many are surprised to learn that we have a botanic garden in northern Colorado.

The Gardens on Spring Creek is an 18 acre site in the middle of Fort Collins, just south of Colorado State University. For thirteen years we have been growing gardens and providing educational programs and special events for our northern Colorado community.

Currently, we have several gardens on our site: • The Children’s Garden was our first garden. Designed around the issues of community and sustainability, this interactive garden is a place where children can connect to nature through play, exploration and imagination.

• The Sustainable Backyard offers ideas and tips for homeowners to make their landscapes more sustainable. This garden also includes a turf demonstration site and compost bin demonstration area for those wanting to learn more.

• The Garden of Eatin’ is a ¾ fruit and vegetable garden showcasing the many different edibles that can be grown in our area. The Outdoor Teaching Kitchen allows us to offer garden to table programs utilizing fresh produce. Many thousands of pounds of garden-grown fruits and vegetables are donated to the Food Bank of Larimer County each year.

• The Rock Garden creates a unique sense of place while featuring foothills and alpine plants. This garden starts waking up in February and keeps going throughout the season.

Throughout the year The Gardens on Spring Creek offers a variety of educational programs for youth and adults. Youth programs include camps, standards-based school field trips and preschool programs. Adult education programs include gardening, arts and crafts, yoga and cooking classes.

Community events have become special experiences for many who visit The Gardens. Our Spring Plant Sale, in partnership with CSU and Front Range Community College Horticulture Departments and the High Plains Environmental Center, kicks off the gardening season on Mother’s Day weekend. Nature’s Harvest Fest celebrates the harvest season, autumn and all things nature. Halloween Enchanted Garden turns the gardens into a magical place for 2-8 year olds and their families. And finally, we celebrate the holiday season with Garden of Lights – a winter wonderland of flowers and insects made of LED holiday lights.

Some exciting expansion plans are in the works for The Gardens on Spring Creek, including five acres of new gardens: the Great Lawn, Foothills and Prairie Gardens and the Undaunted Garden (a xeriscape demonstration garden),and a larger visitor’s center which will include a North America butterfly house. For more information about The Gardens, please visit our webpage at fcgov.com/gardens . We hope to see you soon.

WaterWise

The Children’s Garden at the Gardens on Spring Creek

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Spring 2017

GREELEY'S MARKETING MIX

By Natalie Stevens, City of Greeley The City of Greeley launched a new, water budget rate structure, for single-family, residential (SFR) water customers in February of 2017. The water budget is the amount of water a household needs during any particular billing period, based on family size (defaulted at 3 persons per household), the irrigable (potentially irrigated) square footage of the yard, and real-time weather conditions.

While this might seem like an easy concept for water professionals to grasp, we wanted to make sure that our residents fully understood it before it launched. As a way to prepare residents for the launch, messages were planned to provide them with information during the first year of the water budget rates.

While the actual rates went into effect in February 2017, Greeley began communicating this change to its residents in August of 2016. The City hired a creative agency to help develop some of the materials. The agency developed the content for advertising materials, taglines, illustrations, print ads, radio ads, and other messaging. Greeley staff developed the budget, planned an open house event, presented to community groups, did the media relations, posted and responded to questions on social media, and more. Greeley kept in mind the skills of internal staff, when developing the scope of work for the creative agency for best use of time, resources and money.

To promote Greeley’s new Water Budget rate structure, Greeley’s Water Conservation staff used multiple techniques to reach as many Greeley residents as possible. The tried and true methods of communication were used: paid advertising, media relations, public meetings, direct mail, water bill stuffers, social media and more. The group worked on taking a slight twist on some already successful tactics to enhance efforts and reach our target audiences. For example: • Special social media posts were created in Spanish and targeted only to those folks in Greeley who listed Spanish as their primary language. Spots on Spanish language radio stations were also purchased.

• Customized letters were sent to customers that often water above their water budget; instead of using traditional City envelope stationary, custom envelopes were created to keep branding consistent and to get customers attention when looking at their mail.

• A whiteboard/sketch video was also created in an effort to explain the water budget concept in an easy to understand format. Greeley worked with an animator in Colorado, Noah Besser, to create the video.

• The open house event began at 3:30 p.m. The event had extended hours to accommodate seniors and others with a non-traditional schedule.

To learn more about Greeley’s Water Budget, please visit EfficiencyRewarded.com.

WaterWise

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Spring 2017

NEWS AND NOTES

NEW & RENEWING MEMBERS Major Sponsor

Colorado WaterWise Colorado Water: Live Like You Love It Campaign lovecoloradowater.org Join-network-participate with Colorado WaterWise coloradowaterwise.org Audubon Rockies Wildscaping Ambassador Trainthe-Trainer Workshops Announced rockies.audubon.org AWWA & RMSAWWA March 1, Water Audits and Water Loss Control Webinar: Gathering your Data March 22, Water Audits and Water Loss Control Webinar: Entering Your Data into the Spreadsheet rmsawwa.org March 22, Sustainable Water Management Conference May 7-13, Drinking Water Week June 11, Annual Conference & Expo awwa.org Alliance for Water Efficiency allianceforwaterefficiency.org North American Water Loss Conference December 3-5 San Diego CA northamericanwaterloss.org

WaterWise

American Water Resources Association June 25-28, Summer Climate Change Solutions awra.org Center for ReSource Conservation March 3 Garden in a Box goes on sale conservationcenter.org/gardens CFWE Register for Water Fluency 2017 March 24, Rain Barrel Workshop yourwatercolorado.org EPA WaterSense March 20 -26: Fix-A-Leak Week epa.gov/watersense Project Wet Celebrate World Water Day on March 22 - #MyWaterStory projectwet.org Northern Water April 11 Spring Water Users meeting, The Ranch, Loveland May 20 Conservation Gardens Fair, Northern Water northernwater.org

Industry & Manufacturer Partner

Water Utility - Medium Town of Castle Rock

Water Utility - Small

Eagle River Water & Sanitation District Platte Canyon & Metro W&S Town of Firestone

Basic Membership (Non-Utility)

Adams County Cavanaugh & Associates, P.A. Central Colorado Water Conservancy District Water Demand Management Western Resource Advocates

Newsletter Subscription

Don Ireland-Cherry Creek III HOA Forest Springs HOA

Live Like You Love It Partner Wyland Foundation April 1-30 National Mayor’s Challenge mywaterpledge.com 19

Spring 2017