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Council hears Water Smart workshop report urging drought planning, conservation rates and interagency coordination
Summary
Delegates to a June 'Growing Water Smart' workshop reported the need for a drought-resilience plan, conservation-oriented rates, system redundancy, and expanded outreach; council asked staff to pursue SCADA upgrades, partnerships with irrigation companies, and ordinance options to protect groundwater and riparian buffers.
Steve Burrows and council champions described the Growing Water Smart workshop they attended with regional water planners and conservation experts, emphasizing the vision of Alpine becoming "self-sufficient" in water planning and the need for resilient long-term strategies.
Burrows told the council the group's takeaway included developing a city drought-preparedness plan with specific triggers, pursuing conservation-based rate structures, and improving coordination with the Alpine Irrigation Company and neighboring jurisdictions. He said reservoir and creek levels are lower year over year and urged continuous planning: "We're in an extreme, we're in extraordinary drought rather… the average capacity across the state was 35%" while describing declines in reservoir capacity and seasonal runoff.
Council members discussed ordinance tools such as landscape ordinances, riparian-buffer protections, lot-coverage rules and the potential role of increased residential density in stretching water supply. Staff and the committee recommended next steps: an inventory of infrastructure needs, SCADA improvements, rate-study work in September and targeted community education events. Council accepted the report for follow-up and asked staff to return with draft ordinance language and cost estimates.
