BOULDER, Colo. — The Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) is taking new steps to conserve water as drought conditions continue across the state.
The district said its already made progress, but rising costs and dry conditions are forcing even bigger changes.
For the first time ever, the district has had to turn on the irrigation systems in February due to the dry winter season and low snowmelt.
“This is the first time we've ever had to turn our irrigation systems on in February because of the incredibly dry conditions that we're experiencing in Colorado and in the in our region,” Boulder Valley School District Sustainability and Energy Officer Ghita Carroll said.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis activated the state’s Drought Task Force on Tuesday as low snowfall and record warmth intensified drought conditions. The task force was last activated in 2020, a year marked by the Cameron Peak, East Troublesome, Pine Gulch, Grizzly Creek and Logan wildfires.
District officials said that despite cutting water use by 30% since 2008, demand is creeping back up as conditions get drier. At the same time, water rates have jumped 73% putting added pressure on the district’s budget.
“In the past few years, we we've had a history of declining water use, but now it has started to incline again and that is in response to the drier conditions. Water use has gone up in the past couple of years, and we know this year will not be an exception to that,” Carroll said.
Last year, the Boulder Valley School District used $2.5 million in water.
“That has increased by about a half a million each year for the past couple years. We expect that to continue to increase,” Carroll said.
The district is updating its Sustainability Plan looking at solutions and continuing efforts like more recycled water, more drought-friendly landscaping, and adding real-time leak detection systems.
“It is something we're doing over time. We do have some sites on it, but it's slow going. There is a cost to it,” Carroll said.
BVSD has also made changes already.
“We've done a lot of shifting to low-flow fixtures indoors. So, faucets and toilets. At this point, all the types of things that you find indoors are low flow. We have added synthetic fields to all of our secondary schools, and that has a big impact on outdoor water use. We were able to see pretty dramatic shifts when we made that change as well,” Carroll said.
The district said an updated Sustainability Plan is expected this spring with implementation starting as soon as the fall.
For a look at the previous plan, click here.
