Erica Meltzer in the Boulder Daily Camera: In severe drought situations, Boulder will have a financial stick to apply to residents who don't curb their water use, according to a drought-response ordinance approved in a second reading by the Boulder City Council on Tuesday night.The ordinance gives the city manager the ability to reduce water budgets in cases of drought. By going into higher tiers, at which they pay more for water, residents would have a financial incentive to reduce their water use. And those who go over their water budget eventually would face fines, but a first offense would result in a warning.
City Council members said the city's water utility should look into ways to notify residents when they start to use more water, before they go into violation, but they voted unanimously to approve the new drought-response powers.
…But Councilman Ken Wilson, who previously served on the city's Water Resources Advisory Board, said the city has plenty of water for normal use, and it doesn't make sense to buy more water rights for the extreme case of a multi-year drought.
Water budgets are set by the city based on the type of property and its expected water needs each month. Most single-family homes have a budget of 7,000 gallons a month, plus an allotment for outdoor water use. Commercial customers may have water budgets set based on average monthly use, three-month averages or custom evaluations.
Water budgets are connected to a tiered pricing structure, which the city began using in 2007 as a way to encourage water conservation. The rates include five tiers -- ranging from $2.18 per 1,000 gallons to $14.50 per 1,000 gallons -- depending on how much users exceed their monthly water budget....
Rainbow over Boulder, shot by Madhubala Naicker
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