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The Town of Jackson has passed an ordinance requiring sprinklers to reduce use by 50% to save water for household use and emergencies.
Councilors unanimously passed an emergency ordinance Monday night. It went into effect immediately. There are a few reasons for the sudden call.
In general, Jacksonites are using 20% more water than they did five years ago, according to the town. One of the town’s five wells is at half capacity, and has spiked after July 4. That’s when the town first called for a reduction in sprinkler use to deal with some more damaged wells. That put a dent in the problem but, according to irrigation managers, some later moved to quickly replenish their drying lawns and irrigation use then surged.
The resolution comes with the threat of a $750 a day fine for violations. The ordinance is set to end in October, but councilors could call it off sooner. Town officials say the goal is to not enforce it and just seek compliance.
Users can come into compliance in three ways. The first two involve cutting the days of irrigation in half – either every other day or on only odd or only even dates – and the third is through what’s called seasonal adjustments.
The strategies followed input from irrigation managers who said different systems, for example older sprinklers used by Jackson/ Teton County Parks and Recreation, needed more flexibility to come into compliance than originally proposed.
Peter Romaine manages over 300 meters in town, including in the private Three Creek neighborhood.
He was one of many who said the discussion could be a launch point for education.
“All our clients that I’ve talked to think this is an environmental issue. It’s not. It’s an infrastructure issue,” he said.
The ordinance is the first in the town or county to regulate sprinkler use. Many Western towns already have water use restrictions due to increased heat on average caused by climate change and increased consumption as communities grow.
Romaine said that some clients in the Three Creek neighborhood use over 200,000 gallons of water a day, though he works to bring that down when possible.
That number seemed to shock Jackson Mayor Arne Jorgensen, also an architect, who wanted to see the conversation continue past the emergency ordinance.
“I have a hard time envisioning that that’s the level and type of water that we should be saying is okay in this community,” he said.
