New Watering Rules Expected

Pictured above is a view of Payson's Box Lake this spring. 

By Denise Windley

Payson City Council is expected to pass new rules tightening watering use when they meet again in early May.  The move is an attempt to conserve and sustain sources as the city continues to experience severe drought with little respite from snow pack in the mountains to replenish its reservoirs.

Determining where and how to restrict, and possibly incentivise wise usage, led to a lengthy discussion in the council chambers, April 15.

The Payson Lakes’ low water levels point to a drier-than-usual season ahead.  “They’re probably as low as we have ever seen them at this time of the year,” said David Tuckett, Payson City Manager.

Last Wednesday’s meeting called upon his, as well as the expertise of city superintendents whose departments concern water, and those who enforce the rules.  A resolution citing watering limits at Payson properties--a rotating schedule which allows, for example, three days of watering for residential properties, with alternating days and hours for larger institutions--is already in effect.  However, according to Mr. Tuckett, a proclamation had been deemed among city leaders as essential to the city’s pressing conservation concerns.  

“I feel personally that three days a week is a schedule and not a restriction,” Councilman Larry Skinner voiced in regard to the current resolution.  “I don’t think that’s a restriction at all.”

According to Councilman Skinner, experts suggest that lawns be watered only twice a week. “It’s early in the year,” he added.  “I’m not confident we’re going to make it through the year without spending a lot of money to buy excess water from another source, which I don’t know that we can afford to do.  I would suggest that we start out, at least, with two days a week, and maybe have two days--Sunday and another day, with absolutely no watering.  And we absolutely have to enforce this year, or it’s not going to do any good.”

And Payson City has to serve as the example for citizens to follow in terms of use and conservation.  “We can’t ask the citizens to restrict their use and see the City not adhering to our own guidelines,” he said.

Leniency, however, should be granted for those who grow vegetable gardens, Skinner added, as these are less likely to thrive in the types of restrictions that can be imposed upon lawns.

 

Greenskeeper Mark Hyland prescribed less frequent, but longer, deeper watering durations.  “Deeper, infrequent water is the way to go,” he said.

Mr. Hyland suggested restricting watering to one day a week, with the added allowance of watering for sixty minutes per station rather than the twenty-minute span proscribed under the city’s current ordinance.  But by the evening discussion’s end, the city had inferred that new regulations would likely allow watering to occur two days per week instead.  This is to provide some leeway in situations where it is difficult for citizens to complete their watering in one day, as in the case of properties without automatic sprinkling systems, or on the occasion residents are out of town and unable to meet the slim window.

As for Payson City’s public parks, recreation, and other landscapes, local leaders are expected to have prioritized them when they meet again in two weeks, and allocate watering according to use, revenue, and factors involving possible costs the city may later incur should they have to replace lawns that are allowed to go brown.

“I think we should go through every ground we have, assess it,” Hyland said, adding that some properties, including Wagon Wheel Park on the northwest corner of 100 North and Main Street, could be relandscaped from lawn to bark or rocks, with trees.

Highlighting the need to enforce as well as prioritize, Councilman Kim Hancock posed questions consequential to decisions councilmembers are expected soon to determine.  “Are we prepared to dry out and replant the cemetery?  Are we prepared to dry out Memorial Park and replant it?  The same with the golf course.”

Allowing the grass at the golf course to brown could eventually result in a higher cost in terms of replacement and revenue, according to City Manager Tuckett.

Gladstan, Payson City’s public golf course, “is a little more specialized in terms of what’s down there,” according to Councilman Hancock.  And it has already undergone restrictions in years past as the city has dealt with limited secondary water supplies, he added.

Tracy Zobell, Gladstan’s Head Professional, concurred that the golf course has already experienced a significant reduction in water usage.  “We’ve already cut back thirty percent in the last four years,” he said.

“Because of what we do up there, it’s different than a citizen,” Mr. Zobell explained.  “The stress we put the grass under.  The height we cut it.”  Where most other recreational-based sites can sustain less frequent watering, decisions affecting the golf course’s condition directly affect revenue, he said, noting that there are numerous golf courses en route to Payson at which golfers can opt to play, and will do so if they are kept greener.

With the city aquifers dropping, Councilman Mike Hardy emphasized the urgency of conservation, both immediately and for the future.  “We’ve got to solve this problem long-term,” he said.  “We’ve got to be thinking now about how we’re going to make it when we have more population in the area in ten, fifteen, or twenty years.”

A proactive approach was voiced by Councilman Scott Phillips. Citing faulty systems as among problems that can cause water waste, Councilman Scott Phillips called for a more helpful tactic, at least when first dealing with residents with infractions to the rules.

Incentivizing water conscious landscapes, xeriscaping, for example, was also among considerations discussed last week.  “We live in a desert,” said Councilman Mike Hardy.  “We’ve got to start to encourage this.”

Looking toward the future, the city may pursue the installation of smart meters that would allocate, to some degree, fees to water users, in the hope of conservation among users.  This  will likely be readdressed as water is sure to be a concern for some time.

For now, residents should expect to have tighter restrictions after the city council meets on May 6.