Colwich, Kansas Sedgwick County
Water Conservation Plan

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 1

Water Use Conservation Goal 2

Long-Term Water Use Efficiency 3

Education 3
Management 4
Regulation 5

Drought/Emergency Contingency 6

Stage 1: Water Watch 6
Stage 2: Water Warning 7
Stage 3: Water Emergency 8

Monitoring, Evaluation and Revision 10

Appendix A: Water Drought/Emergency Ordinance A-1

Section 1.0

Introduction

The City of Colwich, Kansas has a new community water utility. The City of Colwich had a population of 1229 in 2000 and forsees a slow steady growth in the future. This plan has been developed to provide a solid foundation for the development of a resource concious water utility.

This water conservation plan has been developed to meet the guidelines of the Kansas Water Office. The plan includes a water use efficiency conservation goal, a long-term water use efficiency plan, a drought/emergency contingency plan and provisions for monitoring, evaluating and revising the plan.

Section 2.0

Water Use Conservation Goal

Since the City of Colwich currently does not have a public water supply they do not have a historic record to review to determine their past daily per person water consumption. According to Figure 1, shown in the 1998 Kansas Municipalities Water Use publication, Colwich is located in region 7. From this publication it was also determined that during 1998 the cities in the same size range as Colwich in region 7 had water usage ranging from a high of 212 gpcpd to a low of 68 gpcpd.

Since the City does not have any operational history upon which to base a water conservation goal it plans to not exceed the regional average for communities of it's size as published annually by the Kansas Water Office. The City of Colwich desires to set a water use conservation goal not to exceed the planned usage of 118 gpcpd which is the regional average for medium size cities in region 7 for 1998. This goal will be accomplished by carrying out the specific actions that are outlined in this plan. The target date for achievement and maintenance of this goal is the first full year of operation following the construction of the new utility.

Section 3.0

Long Term Water Use Efficiency

Water Conservation Practices

3.1 Education

  1. The City of Colwich plans to make the following efforts to educate it's customers on their water use habits and conservation efforts they can make.

 
Action to be taken
Target date
  1. Water bills show monthly water use in gallons.
 Begin upon completion of construction.
  1. Customers will be encouraged to use drip, bubble and soaker hoses to maintain high water demanding plants.
Currently underway and on going.
  1. Customers will be encouraged to follow the following minimum lawn mowing heights:
  • Bermuda: 1½ inches
  • Bluegrass: 3 inches
  • Buffalo: 2 inches
  • Fescue: 3½ inches
  • Zoysia: 1 ½ inches
Currently underway and on going.

3.2 Management

  1. The City of Colwich plans to makes the following management efforts to increase water use accountability and conservation.

 
Action to be taken Target date
  1. Each of the water supply wells for the City of Colwich will have meters. The meters readings will be recorded monthly. These meter readings will be taken at the same time of the month as the individual service meter readings. The accuracy of each meter will be checked in April of each year. Each meter will be repaired or replaced if its test measurements are not within two percent of the actual volume of water passing through the meter. All flow meters will be calibrated every three years as a norm.
Begin upon completion of construction.
  1. Each individual service will be metered and readings will be taken every month. All customers will be billed monthly on the basis of metered water usage. The only users who may receive unmetered water are the City of Colwich Sewer, Street and Fire Departments.
Begin upon completion of construction.
  1. All meters will be replaced every 20 years.
Begin upon completion of construction.
  1. Monthly meter readings will be compared against past water use for high or low consumption. If warranted meters will be checked for misreadings, and any leaks detected will be noted. Leaks on city property will be repaired; property owners will be notified of leaks detected on private property.
Begin upon completion of construction.
  1. Monthly production and customer readings will be compared for apparent water loss. If loss exceeds 15 percent, records and facilities will be checked for explanation of loss. If leaks are found they will be repaired as soon as possible.
 Begin upon completion of construction.

B. Regulations
 
Action to be taken Target date
  1. City of Colwich will pass a Water Drought/Emergency Ordinance. This ordinance will reflect the Drought/Emergency Contingency section of this plan. (See Appendix A for ordinance).
Prior to completion of construction.

Section 4.0

Drought/Emergency Contingency

The City of Colwich plans to addresses its short-term water shortage problems through a series of stages based on conditions of supply and demand with accompanying triggers, goals and actions. Each stage is more stringent in water use than the previous stage since water supply conditions are more deteriorated. The governing body of the City of Colwich is authorized by ordinance to implement the appropriate conservation measures.

Stage 1: Water Watch

Triggers

This stage is triggered by the following conditions:

  1. The elevated storage water level has fallen 7 feet below the full level, and has not recovered by 8 a.m. the following morning.

  2. Demand for one day is in excess of 2.00 times the previous 3 year's average daily demand for two consecutive days.

Goals

The goals of this stage are to heighten awareness of the public on water conditions and to maintain the integrity of the water supply system.

Education Actions

  1. The City of Colwich will make occasional news releases to the local media describing present conditions and indicating the water supply outlook for the upcoming season.

  2. Previous month summaries of groundwater levels and storage volumes will be made available to the public at the beginning of each month.

Management Actions

  1. Static water level in all wells will be monitored and compare against seasonal norms.

  2. Leaks will be repaired within 48 hours of detection.

  3. The City will monitor it's use of water and will curtail routine activities such as hydrant flushing and street cleaning, where possible.

  4. Long range weather forecasts will be monitored

Regulation Actions

  1. The public will be asked to voluntarily curtail some outdoor water use and to make efficient use of indoor water, i.e.; wash full loads, take short showers, don't let faucets run, etc.

  2. Implement Section 3 of Ordinance No. 480, of the Water Drought/Emergency Ordinance. (See Appendix A for ordinance)

Stage 2: Water Warning

Triggers

This stage is triggered by the following conditions:

  1. The elevated Storage water level has fallen 11 feet below the full level, and has not recovered by 8 a.m. the following morning.

  2. Well pumping water levels can not be maintained above the top of the well screens.

  3. Demand for one day is in excess of of 2.75 times the previous 3 year's average daily demand for two consecutive years.

Goals

The goals of this stage are to reduce peak demands by 20 percent and to reduce overall weekly consumption by 10 percent.

Education Actions

  1. Continue education action outlined in the water watch stage.

  2. Information will be made available to customer's outlining tips on conserving water indoors and outdoors.

  3. Water conservation articles will be provided to the local newspaper.

Management Actions

  1. Water supplies will be monitored daily.

  2. Leaks will be repaired within 24 hours of detection.

  3. Waste of water by the City will be prohibited.

  4. Reduce water used by City for street cleaning.

  5. The City will flush mains for emergency purposes only.

Regulation Actions

  1. Implement Section 4 of Ordinance No. 480, of the Water Drought/Emergency Ordinance. (See Appendix A for ordinance)

  2. Impose mandatory lawn watering restrictions.

    Lawn Watering Schedule:

    Addresses ending from 00 to 13: Water Tuesday and Friday
    Addresses ending from 14 to 31: Water Wednesday and Saturday
    Addresses ending from 32 to 99: Water Sunday and Thursday
    Customers may not water on Monday.

    Apartments, condominiums and homeowners with automatic sprinkler systems are requested to water according to the last two numbers of their lot number. Exemptions to the schedule are new lawns and plantings (i.e. planted in the current year), garden use and golf course greens and tee boxes.

  3. Allow car washing only on specified irrigation days and only using bucket or hand held hose equipped with shut-off valve.

  4. Golf Course irrigation restricted to hours of 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 a.m. on specified irrigation days. In addition, the various elements of the golf course can only be watered for the following time unless using gray water:

    greens: 2 hours
    tees: 1 hour
    fairways: 1 hour
    roughs: 0 hours

  5. Request that air conditioners be set no lower than 80 degree F. unless unit uses no water or recirculates water.

  6. Top off or fill pools, lakes, etc. only with private well.

Stage 3: Water Emergency

Triggers

This stage is triggered by the following conditions:

  1. The elevated storage water level has fallen 14 feet below the full level, and has not recovered by 8 a.m. the following morning.

  2. Demand for one day is in excess of 3.00 times the previous 3 year's average daily demand for two consecutive days.

Goals

The goals of this stage are to reduce peak demands by 50 percent and to reduce overall weekly consumption by 25 percent.

Education Actions

  1. Information will be made available to the public on a daily basis describing conditions and indicating the water supply outlook for the next day.

  2. Previous day summaries of water levels and storage will be made available to the public each day.

Management Actions

  1. Water supplies will be monitored daily.

  2. Leaks will be repaired within 12 hours of detection.

  3. The City will use only water required for health and safety.

  4. The City will flush mains for emergency purposes only.

Regulation Actions

  1. Implement Section 5 of Ordinance No. 480, of the Water Drought/Emergency Ordinance. (See Appendix A for ordinance)

  2. Ban all outside water use except from private wells.

  3. Increase water rates schedule to encourage conservation.

  4. Restrict hours of commercial car washes.

Section 5.0

Monitoring, Evaluation and Revision

The City of Colwich plans to reviews monthly totals for water production, residential sales, commercial sales, water provided free of charge and water lost through system leaks. Problems noted during the monthly review will be solved as soon as possible.

The Water Conservation Plan will be reviewed during the month of January each year. If the water conservation gpcpd goal(s) for the previous year are not met, then the City will review the data collected from the previous year in relationship to the status and effectiveness of the conservation practices that are outlined in the plan and will provide a status report to the Division of Water Resources (or whatever state agency is responsible for approving and monitoring the plan), which will also include any additional water conservation practices that may need to be taken in order for the City to achieve and maintain its water use conservation gpcpd goal(s).

APPENDIX A - WATER DROUGHT/EMERGENCY ORDINANCE

ORDINANCE NO. 480

An ordinance authorizing the declaration of a water watch, warning or emergency; establishing procedures and voluntary and mandatory conservation measures; authorizing the issuance of administrative regulations; and prescribing certain penalties.

Be it Ordained by the Governing Body of the City of Colwich, Kansas.

Section 1. Purpose. The purpose of this ordinance is to provide for the declaration of a water supply watch, warning or emergency and the implementation of voluntary and mandatory water conservation measures throughout the city in the event such a watch, warning or emergency is declared.

Section 2. Definitions:

  1. "Water," as the term is used in this ordinance, shall mean water available to the customers of the City of Colwich, Kansas for treatment by virtue of its water rights or any treated water introduced by the City into its water distribution system, including water offered for sale at any coin-operated site.

  2. "Customer," as the term is used in this ordinance, shall mean the customer of record using water for any purpose from the City's water distribution system and for which either a regular charge is made or, in the case of coin sales, a cash charge is made at the site of delivery.

  3. "Waste of water," as the term is used in this ordinance, includes, but is not limited to:
    (1)  permitting water to escape down a gutter, ditch, or other surface drain; or
    (2) failure to repair a controllable leak of water due to defective plumbing.

  4. "Water Conservation Plan" shall be the City of Colwich's Water Conservation Plan as may be supplemented or amended from time to time, on file with the City Clerk.

  5. The following classes of uses of water are established:

    Class 1:

    Water used for irrigating lawns and turf grasses, except for those plantings and areas included in Class 2; refilling fountains not using recirculated water; and washing driveways.

    Class 2:

    Water used for outdoor watering, either public or private, for gardens, trees, shrubs, plants, new plantings of lawns and turf grass, greens and tees for golf courses, swimming pools or other recreational areas; or the washing of motor vehicles, boats, trailers, or the exterior of any building or structure.

    Class 3:

    Water used for any commercial or industrial, including agricultural, purposes: except water actually necessary to maintain the health and personal hygiene of bona fide employees while such employees are engaged in the performance of their duties at their place of employment.

    Class 4:

    Domestic usage other than that which would be included in either Classes 1 or 2.

    Class 5:

    Water necessary only to sustain human life and the lives of domestic pets and maintain standards of hygiene and sanitation.

    Section 3. Declaration of Water Watch. Whenever the governing body of the City finds that conditions indicate that the probability of a drought or some other condition causing a major water supply shortage is rising, as outlined in Section 4 of the Water Conservation Plan, it shall be empowered to declare that a water watch exists and that it shall take steps to inform the public and ask for voluntary reductions in water use. Such a watch shall be deemed to continue until it is declared by governing body to have ended. The declaration of the existence and end of a water watch shall be effective upon their publication in the official city newspaper.

    Section 4. Declaration of Water Warning. Whenever the governing body of the City finds that drought conditions or some other condition causing a major water supply shortage are present and supplies are starting to decline, as outlined in Section 4 of the Water Conservation Plan, they shall be empowered to declare that a water warning exists and to establish mandatory restrictions on Class 1 water use and voluntary restrictions on Class 2 and 3 water uses during the period of the warning. Such a warning shall be deemed to continue until it is declared by the governing body to have ended. The declaration of the beginning and ending of the water warning shall be effective upon their publication in the official city newspaper.

    Section 5. Declaration of Water Emergency. Whenever the governing body of the City finds that an emergency exists by reason of a shortage of water supply needed for essential uses, as outlined in Section 4 of the Water Conservation Plan, they shall be empowered to declare that a water supply emergency exists and that they will impose mandatory restrictions on Class 1, 2, 3, and 4 water use during the period of the emergency. Such an emergency shall be deemed to continue until it is declared by the governing body to have ended. The declaration of the existence and end of a water supply emergency shall be effective upon their publication in the official city newspaper.

    Section 6. Voluntary Conservation Measures. Upon the declaration of a water watch or water warning as provided in Sections 3 and 4, mayor is authorized to call on all water consumers to employ voluntary water conservation measures to limit or eliminate such water uses as provided under the voluntary restrictions of those sections.

    Section 7. Mandatory Conservation Measures. Upon the declaration of a water supply warning and emergency as provided in Sections 4 and 5, mayor is also authorized to implement certain mandatory water conservation measures, including, but not limited to, the following:

    (a) Suspension of new connections to the water distribution system, except connections of fire hydrants and those made pursuant to agreements entered into by the City prior to the effective date of the declaration of the emergency;

    (b) Restrictions on the uses of water in one or more classes of water use, wholly or in part;

    (c) Restrictions on the sales of water at coin-operated facilities or sites;

    (d) The imposition of water rationing based on any reasonable formula including, but not limited to, the percentage of normal use and per capita or per consumer restrictions;

    (e) Complete or partial bans on the waste of water; and

    (f) Any combination of the foregoing measures.

    Section 8. Emergency Water Rates. Upon the declaration of a water supply emergency as provided in Section 5, the governing body of the City shall have the power to adopt emergency water rates designed to conserve water supplies. Such emergency rates may provide for, but are not limited to: (a) higher charges for increasing usage per unit of use (increasing block rates); (b) uniform charges for water usage per unit of use (uniform unit rate); or (c) extra charges in excess of a specified level of water use (excess demand surcharge).

    Section 9. Regulations. During the effective period of any water supply emergency as provided for in Section 5, the mayor (or water superintendent) is empowered to promulgate such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this ordinance, any water supply emergency resolution, or emergency water rate ordinance. Such regulations shall be subject to the approval of the governing body at its next regular or special meeting.

    Section 10. Violations, Disconnections and Penalties.

    (a) If the mayor, water superintendent or other city offical or officials charged with implementation and enforcement of this ordinance or a water supply emergency resolution learn of any violation of any water use restrictions imposed pursuant to Sections 7 or 9 of this ordinance, a written notice of the violation shall be affixed to the property where the violation occurred and the customer of record and any other person known to City who is responsible for the violation or its correction shall be provided with either actual or mailed notice. Said notice shall describe the violation and order that it be corrected, cured or abated immediately or within such specified time as the City determines is reasonable under the circumstances. If the order is not complied with, the City may terminate water service to the customer subject to the following procedures:

    (1) The City shall give the customer notice by mail or actual notice that water service will be discontinued within a specified time due to the violation and that the customer will have the opportunity to appeal the termination by requesting a hearing scheduled before the City or official designated as a hearing officer by the governing body;

    (2) If such a hearing is requested by the customer charged with the violation; he or she shall be given a full opportunity to be heard before termination is ordered; and

    (3) The Board or hearing officer shall make findings of fact and order whether service should continue or be terminated.

    (b) A fee of $50 shall be paid for the reconnection of any water service terminated pursuant to subsection (a). In the event of subsequent violations, the reconnection fee shall be $200 for the second reconnection and $300 for any additional reconnections.

    (c) Violations of this ordinance shall be a municipal offense and may be prosecuted in Municipal Court. Any person so charged and found guilty in Municipal Court of violating the provisions of this ordinance shall be guilty of a municipal offense. Each day's violation shall constitute a separate offense. The penalty for an initial violation shall be a mandatory fine of $100. In addition, such customer may be required by the Court to serve a definite term of confinement in the city or county jail which shall be fixed by the Court and which shall not exceed 30 days. The penalty for a second or subsequent conviction shall be a mandatory fine of $200. In addition, such customer shall serve a definite term of confinement in the city or county jail which shall be fixed by the Court and which shall not exceed 30 days.

    Section 11. Emergency Termination. Nothing in this ordinance shall limit the ability of any properly authorized city official from terminating the supply of water to any or all customers upon the determination of such city official that emergency termination of water service is required to protect the health and safety of the public.

    Section 12. Severability. If any provision of this ordinance is declared unconstitutional, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the constitutionality of the remainder of the ordinance and its applicability to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

    Section 13. This ordinance shall become effective upon its publication in the official city newspaper.

    Passed by the governing body this 2nd day of July, 2001.

    LaVina D. Keiter, Mayor

    ATTEST

    Diana K. Brooks, City Clerk
     

    City of Colwich
    (316) 796-1025
    colwichclerk@networks.net
    310 S. Second
     
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