Sharp increase in water use deemed a ‘setback’

By Don Patterson
Staff Reporter

Town officials are encouraging residents to use precious water resources more wisely as water usage went up last year after seeing it decline for a number of years.
The 2002-2007 Water Management Plan report card, presented to town council on March 25, shows the town has nearly reached its target rate for water use, but had a setback last year.
Under the management plan, the Town set a target consumption rate of 70 gallons (318 litres) of water per person, per day by the time Okotoks reaches its 30,000 population cap. The town nearly reached its target in 2005, with a usage rate of 72 gallons per person, per day. Following a minor increase in 2006, the rate jumped to 78 gallons per person per day last year.
Meanwhile, the total amount of water used in Okotoks has not grown as quickly as the Okotoks’ population grew by 87 per cent over the last six years, while total water consumption only grew by 32 per cent.
“We’re certainly not doing bad here. We’re not necessarily going to double our efforts, but we’re going to be that much more aggressive in 2008 and 2009 to drive that number down,” said Town Operations manager Dave Robertson.
He said the flood of 2005 helped keep water usage rates lower because people didn’t have to water outside as much.
According to Robertson, 2006 was what he would expect to see in a normal year. The recent increases are credited to population growth and a leak in the Town’s main distribution line last June, that has since been fixed.
“When you look at the per capita (rate) – the actual consumption has increased, but the per capita consumption has not increased all that much,” he said.
Robertson cited statistics from the Calgary Regional Partnership showing Okotoks had the lowest water use per capita in the region in 2006 with 329 litres per person, per day.
He said the Town will have to be more aggressive regarding outdoor watering to help the town meet its target.
“We want people to be water efficient in the house, but more outside the house,” he said. “We’re certainly going to focus more on it.”
The Town has begun using the ExactET System to control its municipal irrigation systems.
It’s a weather-based system, located at a weather station at D’Arcy Ranch, that controls irrigation using existing weather patterns.
“If it’s cloudy or there is sufficient moisture in the ground and there’s no need to water, then there’s no need for the irrigation systems to activate,” said Robertson. “This is a smart system that says, ‘It rained, there’s sufficient moisture in the ground and sends a signal back that says, you don’t need to water.’”
While the Town has implemented a number of initiatives that have reduced water use, Okotoks communications manager Nancy Weigel said it will have to redouble its efforts to raise awareness among residents to do more to conserve water.
According to the report, initiatives to reduce water use included replacing older water mains, outdoor watering restrictions, requiring low-flow plumbing fixtures in new developments and moving towards a consumption-based rate structure for water and sewer systems.
The Town also worked to conserve more water in its own operations.
Weigel said the Town doesn’t use treated water on landscaped areas and is trying to reuse water wherever possible. For example, when the Town changes the water in the pool at the Okotoks Recreation Centre, it is filtered and used to water the land around the centre.
She said the Town has also worked with the school divisions to set a watering schedule that doesn’t compete with residential schedules.
The Town will have two conservation educators who will go door-to-door to talk to residents and businesses.
“We’ve found this program to be quite successful because, they’re getting the personal touch and are able to answer any questions the residents have,” Weigel added. “There is quite a broad range of initiatives that the Town is doing and our focus for next year will once again be on residents.”