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Hayden might ask residents to reduce water usage

Matt Stensland
Residents living in the town of Hayden are facing voluntary water restrictions.
Matt Stensland/ file photo

With aging infrastructure at the water plant, Hayden officials will be considering whether to ask residents to decrease their water usage.

Beginning at 7 p.m. Wednesday, the Hayden Town Council will hold a special meeting to discuss the water conservation program, among other items.

The special meeting was called with the hopes of enacting the program July 1.



Town Manager Mathew Mendisco said the conservation program does not mean mandatory water restrictions for residents.

“We are asking them voluntarily to adhere to this program,” Mendisco said.



The conservation program is used by the city of Aurora and the city and county of Denver.

Aging infrastructure at the water plant and the town’s desire to keep water production costs down prompted the plan.

“Due to the recent infrastructure issues, specifically with the clarifier, the plant is not producing as much flow as it optimally is able to do,” Mendisco said.

The plant can currently produce about 400 gallons of water per minute, but that is not enough to keep water tanks filled to a desirable level.
That could be dangerous if there was an emergency.

According to a report written by Mendisco, the town runs the risk of falling below the state standard for fire protection if the plant went offline for an estimated three hours.

The minimum water level is 20 feet at the Hospital Hill tank and 10 feet at the Seneca Hill tank. Right now, there is 25 feet of water in the Hospital Hill tank and 13 feet at the Seneca Hill tank.

Mendisco said the town is in the process of designing plans to make repairs to the plant, and it plans put the project out to bid later this year. Mendisco said the fix could cost $500,000.
Water conservation plans are not unusual.

Steamboat Springs has water restrictions that are mandatory and enforced. They limit things like when a resident can irrigate their yards.

If Hayden’s program is approved, residents will be asked to only irrigate between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. to limit evaporation during the hot summer days. Residents would also be asked to limit the days they irrigate.

Residents with even-numbered addresses will be asked to only water on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays, and residents with odd-numbered addresses will be asked to only water on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

The schedule would alternate each week to give residents better opportunities for consistent watering.

Commercial users are being asked to follow the same schedule, and they could end up paying more next year if they surpass a gallon allocation based on the previous year’s usage.

Commercial users would pay an additional $2 per 100 gallons used.

To reach Matt Stensland, call 970-871-4247, email mstensland@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @SBTStensland


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