Dry as a bone

While summer technically began on June 21, the above average temperatures this month may be seen as a portent of things to come. 

At the June 15 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, Mayor Creed James and the rest of the governing body discussed the potential of issuing water restrictions later in the summer. The discussion came under the council comments portion of the meeting and was initiated by James.

“I was contacted by Jon Winter from public works about a concern over our water usage,” said James. “I think everyone knows it’s hotter than heck outside right now but we are currently pushing unprecedented levels of water usage.”

According to James, he believed it was the first time Saratoga had experienced such a shortage since installing the well system currently in place. In the past, Saratoga treated water drawn from the North Platte River and used two 100 foot water tanks to augment water treatment. 

Now, however, the town’s water supply comes from five wells. Additionally, only one of the two tanks is in operation. The bolted tank, which has often been a headache for the Town of Saratoga and the Saratoga-Carbon County Impact Joint Powers Board due to it’s leaking, has not been in operation, leaving only the welded tank.

James said the concern was, due to the high water usage, even if both tanks were operational an emergency or catastrophe would leave only 24 hours worth of water at the current usage rate. The concern was raised following the installation of a recently purchased back-up generator at the Town of Saratoga’s well field. In the time the wells were offline, the level in the welded tank dropped from approximately 80 feet to 47 feet.

“It looks like it’s going to be a hot, dry summer and it might be something we have to look at moving forward; adding a water restriction and what we’d need to do to make that work and what the legal instrument we’d need to have,” James said. “I don’t think we’ve had watering restrictions since the wells went in place.”

In discussing potential emergencies, James brought up the Saratoga Forest Management Sawmill Fire of 2018. According to Winter, approximately 1.2 million gallons of water was used on the fire. James, who serves on the Saratoga Volunteer Fire Department, added at the current rate of water usage, if a similar event were to occur the fire department would only be able to fight the fire until the water ran out.

“Clearly we have to be able to keep our tank at a 70 to 80 foot level for a lot of reasons. Fire protection being one of them,” said Councilmember Jon Nelson. “I think having this dialogue tonight is important. It puts people on notice.”

As discussion continued, James informed the rest of the council he had reached out to their legal counsel, Jane France, about what legal avenues the Town of Saratoga would need to implement and enforce water restrictions. 

Councilmember Ron Hutchins added he had been shown a chart outlining water usage year-over-year by Winter. While the chart showed the peak of water usage in past years was typically in late July and early August, Saratoga had already hit its peak usage on June 15.

“So we’ve peaked about a month, month-and-a-half early,” said Hutchins.

While no formal action was taken by the council, discussion appeared to show water restrictions could be a possibility as the summer progresses.

The next meeting of the Saratoga Town Council will be at 6 p.m. on July 6 at Saratoga Town Hall.