Water-related events highlight Denver's unique challenges

With the summer heat finally having subsided (after setting new records for the number of +90-degree days), Denver’s water use has started to wane. Landscapes that had relied on irrigation through the relatively dry summer can now largely count on Mother Nature and wait for the imminent frost. Outdoor water use accounts for about 55% of the average Denver Water residential customer’s consumption throughout the course of the year – with peak demand obviously falling in the summer months. The water utility’s “Use Only What You Need” campaign spent all summer keeping us focused on efficient outdoor water use, but conversations on water demand and supply will no doubt continue over the fall and winter months. For those of you who want to follow or participate in these conversations, here are a few noteworthy water-related events highlighting the unique challenges Denver faces:

• Denver will share the spotlight this week at the Urban Water Sustainability Leadership Conference in Cincinnati. One of five cities featured for its creative approach to sustainable water management (along with Tucson, Kansas City, Cleveland and Syracuse), Denver is sending government agency representatives as well as community and business leaders to this third annual conference to establish best practices that can be replicated elsewhere. Steve Rogowski, Director of Operations/Maintenance, Metro Wastewater Reclamation District, will discuss how his Denver agency is “shifting the paradigm through resource recovery that takes the waste out of wastewater”.
• The 4th Annual Water Conservation Summit is coming to Denver on Friday, October 19. This Summit is for water supply planners, environmental professionals, conservation professionals, elected officials, city planners, educators, green industry professionals, and green builders and developers to learn more about what is happening at the State and local level relating to water conservation and water efficiency in general.
• The One World One Water Center for Urban Water Education and Stewardship is a new program at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Their fall speaker series includes a lecture on November 1 from a veteran EPA engineer, Marie Zanowick, on Biomimicry (sustainable design of products and processes inspired by nature). She will include examples of Biomimicry in water management in Colorado.

Denver Botanic Gardens will continue to keep close tabs on precipitation as one of 1,500 voluntary members of the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. So until rainfall (or lack thereof) is back in the news, you can get the latest precipitation data here.