The town of Mancos issued a statement Wednesday warning citations will be issued to residents who don’t comply with mandatory water restrictions set in place due to continuous extreme drought conditions.
“We have seen absolutely no decrease in water usage in our citizens,” Town Administrator Heather Alvarez announced during the Mancos Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday evening. “I made the decision that we’re not issuing warnings anymore. We’re now going into the citation phase of water restriction violations.”
On June 1, Mancos enacted mandatory outdoor water restrictions, limiting watering from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. and requiring properties with even numbered addresses to only water on even numbered days and odd numbered properties to water on odd numbered days. Initially, those caught violating the restrictions on a first offense would be given a warning.
A published fine schedule for the citations was not immediately available, but according to the town code, penalty costs should not exceed $499.
The restrictions came as the town shifted from using the Mancos River as its primary source of water to drawing from the Jackson Gulch Reservoir due to drought conditions.
“I’ve had people say, well, you know, you got all that water in the reservoir; you can use it,” Trustee Ed Hallam said during the meeting. “Yeah, we can use out of the reservoir. But also, if we do use out of the reservoir, it depletes the reservoir. … We do have a large amount of water in that reservoir but it's also the only water we might have.”
Alvarez said, based on an analysis of the reservoir, that if the Mancos River went completely dry, the supply in the Jackson Gulch Reservoir would only last the town a year and a half.
“We need to keep every drop of water in that reservoir because if next year is like this year, we're not going to be able to give anybody irrigation and the town's going to be pulling off the reservoir earlier than they did this year,” Hallam warned.
The town trustees decided to have a formal discussion on water restrictions and supply during their next meeting Aug. 26. Alvarez encouraged people who notice their neighbors violating the restrictions to call non-emergency dispatch to report it.
“The marshal’s office is actively enforcing violations of our water restrictions,” Alvarez said.
avanderveen@the-journal.com
