Drought Management...(ME)

Mark Hunt

If someone from Colorado sent me a plane ticket, I would plan a fishing trip there.

It is guaranteed that if I go fishing, it WILL rain. How hard depends on how long I plan to fish.

Seriously, I hope they are able to get a handle on it before more folks are killed or hurt and before more homes are destroyed.

Mark H

Mark Eatherton1

How NOT to manage a drought...

About 15 years ago, I sat on the Denver Water Boards Citizen Advisory Committee. Specifically the Water Conservation side and the Drought Management Task Force Committee. And I'm glad I did.

Tomorrow, the water department goes into stage two of a four stage potential, drought management program. When we first got involved, the departments drought management policy was that it had enough water in reserve and storage to handle a 5 year back to back drought. After that it was each man for himself...

I don't think I need to remind anyone that water in the West is power. Without it you will not survive.

Anyway, we (the task force) told the water dept. that we thought maybe a less steep curve to the bottom of the porverbial barrell, if you will,would be more appropriate.

They concurred and we developed a plan. It's pretty deep and entailed, and I don't want to bore you with all the features, but it just frosts me that the "Board" just NOW realized that we should be at about a stage three alert, (3 years of back to back lower than normal snowfalls and dry Springs and increased demand ) and we're just NOW kicking it into the second stage?? HELLO!! It's a drought out there!!

The "Board" decided to kick an emergency awareness media blitz into operation. I saw a sign today that said
"Just brush every other tooth, there's a water shortage!" I kid you not. Serious as a heart attack.

Saw another one that said "Real men shave dry. There's a drought. Do something to save some water."

I came up with a few of my own "attention getters". See what you can add to it. Droughts are serious business, and the bad thing is that you don't know that you're in trouble until you're REALLY in trouble, and that's how we got into trouble. More on that later. Here's my submittals.

"If it's yellow, it's mellow. If it's brown, flush it down.

or, "Hey there's a drought out heah!! Get a drip..."

or,or, how 'bout

"Don't sleep with a drip tonight. Call a plumber. Seriously. Tomorrow..."

Or how about,

Seen on a public restroom wall, "Flush twice, the mayors lawn needs some more water. (uses recycled water)."

Our tax (in this case rate payers) dollars at work.

Whaddya think, Should I keep my daytime job as a hot water plumber???

ME



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Mark Hunt

If you gotta' Mark H

water the lawn, work up a good sweat and roll around on it!

Think I'll keep my day job!!

Did they put out all them fires???

Mark H

Mark Eatherton1

The fires in Colorado...

have just begun. Fire season ion Colorado usually starts right about now. It's been going strong all year long. We've already had over 1,000 named fires in Colorado and have lost over 300,000 acres of forested land. There are two known arsonists working on Colorado (not including federal government employees) and they're keeping the fire departmetns hopping. All the city departments have cross trained with the wild land fighters and are working the front lines. I saw fire trucks in Colorado from Wyoming and Utah. I'm guessing there's a fire close to home tonight because the sunset looked like a real margurita. Think I saw something about one near the gambling casinos. Wanna bet that one gets some real quick big time help. I saw some guy with a skid steer loader with a dover blade on the front and a rotor tiller on the back. I'd estimate he's making ont the order of $1,000.00 per hour working with homeowners trying to recover "defensible space". They've started tagging your mail box out front with flags. If you've got the wrong color of flag, thier not going to do much to save your house when it starts raining fire. They can't. Too thick a fuel load. There were a LOT of houses for sale in the foothils today down towards the Hayman area. Lot's of traumatized people. My thoughts go out to them.

Hopefully they be able to snuff it with a SEAT and a FART. If that doesn't work they hit it with a 50 year old propeller powered machine that can make it rain for about 100 yards long by 50 yards wide. They call that a SQUIRT.

Lightning doesn't help, and it's expected to increase real soon. The "monsoon season" is expected to begin 6 weeks earlier than usual due to climatic changes. No explanation than other than the ususal La Nina BS. I don't think they know any more about what's happening to our climate around here than I do. I live in it. It's a bad year for fires.

Thanks for everyones thoughts. It helps.

ME

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[Deleted User]

we got so much water here in ohio

the water utility was asking us to use more. they were not making enough money cause all the rain,.....but we still dont want to ship any west...we'd rather westerners moved here where the water is.

Dave Yates (PAH)

On a more serious note

Check out this site. www.waterless.com Waterless urinals & they work great! Tried one out myself when we were in Tucson AZ a few months ago. No odor, no water & saves a ton (or more) of water - especially in factories and public places.

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Jeff Lawrence_24

You fish,

I camp. It likes to rain when I camp.

We just got back from a camping trip. I rained Friday aand today (Sunday). At least it didn't rain Saturday, just threatened.

Good luck with the water/fire problem. We'll be thinking about you.

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PJO

ME, here's one...

Mark,
Another saying for you - "If you had to drink the water you leave running as you brush your teeth, you'll never leave the bathroom."
One of the most wasteful and ridiculous uses of water IMHO is the lawn...not to go on a rant here, but way too many people have these automatic systems as an image booster, and many of them use more water than all other household uses COMBINED! Depending on where you live, twice per week maximum at one and a half inches maximum usually is all the water needed....and that includes rain. Most areas are half that...and once a week for an hour max builds deeper roots, which is more drought resistant.
Also, watering the lawn when the sun is beating down on the grass - half of it is evaporated before the roots get it, and the grass is trying for photosynthesis, not drinking! Use the "6" rule...before 6 am or after 6 pm (there's another quote!)...before is better for disease control. Plus, you don't pull water during peak use (usually 6 to 9 am and early evening in general for residences). And guess what...if the lawn goes into "drought" mode it simply turns brown, then recovers after a few weeks of minimal rains. Too many people want that "18th fairway" look, including the lovely herbicide/pesticides (I won't even get started on that), and I find it appalling. That's because my years working in the water/wastewater industry has changed my thinking I suppose - why would you purposely put too much water that is potable on a lawn that doesn't need it? Because it's cheap, and people are not educated about it enough. Also, cut the grass at 3" minimum (or longer) to keep it more drought resistant and better against weeds.
Watering the garden...use soaker hoses, and mulch. Plant stuff that is drought resistant, using the (Doh! - I forgot the name!) xerolandscaping(?) tactics...small areas of similar water use, and larger areas of minimal water use.
Gray water use - this will get more and more attention - should get more respect. Drains from sinks, showers, etc can go right to the garden in most cases. It's just hard to retro-fit.
Washing the car? You'd be amazed at the waste there if you leave the hose running. Instead, fill a second bucket with rinse water, or better yet, go to a car wash that recycles their water. I peronally wipe my car down with an old towel when it rains...let it get wet in the rain and pull it in the garage. I also wash my car about once a month at most, unless it gets muddy then see above for riany days. If no rain for a while, just wet it and wipe it. A chamois is a great thing, too.
Sorry for the long post...hope this helps. Take Care, PJO

Steamhead

On the lighter side

here's my favorite drought slogan, which has been around since the 1970's at least:

"Save water- shower with a friend".

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Mark Eatherton1

Hit the nail on the head...

Thanks PJ!

ME

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Mark Eatherton1

I shower with my best friend

every morning :-) Not sure how much water we save, but it's a great way to start the day! Did I mention that I'm married to my best friend???

ME

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Mark Eatherton1

It's working...

The water board reported today that consumption for a typical day like we had yesterday would have been around 550,000,000 gallons. Yesterday (first day of mandatory restrictions) we used 360,000,000 gallons of water. It (the reductions) exceeded their expectations.

Water, our most precious resource.

Thanks for all your help comments!

ME

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