With Cortez Parks and Recreation expecting to deplete their limited irrigation water supply by early July, City Council approved plans to supplement city parks with potable water.
During their meeting Tuesday, the council approved allocating $294,000 from the city’s general reserves toward distributing some of the city’s municipal and industrial water allotment – which would otherwise go unused – to parks.
The extreme drought plaguing Montezuma County led Montezuma Valley Irrigation, the city’s irrigation water provider, to cut the city’s allocation to 37% of normal. Wright said the allocation could be increased, but he could not guarantee that. Without the majority of the its water supply, the irrigation season – which runs into September – would be shortened by three months, risking the health of trees and grasses in city parks.
“If we don't water in the hottest part of the season, we run the risk of killing grass, killing trees, and it frankly will take longer and (be) more expensive to bring that stuff back when we have access to water,” Wright said.
Once MVI water runs out, the city would cut park irrigation by 40% and the golf course and softball complex by 20%.
Under the cuts, Conquistador Golf Course – which has generated over $400,000 in revenue for the city so far this year – will require 2.4 million gallons of municipal water per week. The parks will require 1.5 million gallons and the softball complex will need 200,000 gallons.
Council Member Bill Lewis, who sits on the Golf Advisory Committee, stressed the importance of maintaining the turf, which relies on adequate watering.
“If you lose a green, you’ve lost your business,” Lewis said. “If we don’t keep that golf course green, we’re going to have a reduction in revenue.”
The Pinto Bean Golf Classic at Conquistador Golf Course in August, which draws golfers and fans alike into Cortez and is a boost to the city’s economy, came to his mind.
“We have many people from outside the city that come here to compete and they stay overnight and they eat out and spend a lot of money,” Lewis said. “We need to keep that course as green as we can considering the conditions, or we may have people that won't come back.”
Wright said the golf course would remain functional for players under the cuts.
“It should still be enough water that the grass will stay greenish – mostly green. Same with South Softball Complex. The park areas, the functional turf areas: the same,” Wright said. “It'll be the surrounding areas that we'll start seeing more of the yellow around it.”
City staff say extending the irrigation season with potable water would not significantly impact the water treatment plant, which treats residents' and business’s drinking water throughout the city.
“They have assured me that they can certainly generate the amount of water that we need,” Wright said.
However, Wright said, city staff are accounting for the worst case scenario, assuming MVI will not extend irrigation water supply and the summer remains dry.
“Basically, if we have no rain, no moisture, no nothing for the next three months, this is what it's going to take for us to keep our parks and golf course usable,” he said.
Weather forecasters predict an active monsoon season this summer, which could alleviate some of the need for potable water at city parks. Any of the $294,000 not spent on the irrigation would go straight back to city funds.
“Whether it's a cooler September or monsoon rains or MVI gets extended, all of those start cutting this number off,” Wright said. “There is even a chance that maybe we don't need hardly any of it depending on how long MVI gets extended. This is absolutely a worst-case scenario.”
avanderveen@the-journal.com
