We have made amazing progress on improving the efficiency of our current water system. Years of Jerry Shaffer’s shepherding, has resulted in substantial reductions in our facility’s water usage. Now, with the addition of Justin Jones and John Myers to the water team, Jerry no longer has to carry the load alone. We can say with assurance, our water system will be in capable hands into the future.
But we cannot rest. There is only so much that can be done with the current set up. We cannot expect any more major gains in efficiency.
Now is the time we have to commit more substantial funds to updating our system and facilities to improve our water security.
We will need to fund our current pending well projects. John Sellers, our manager, and the operations staff are handling the oversight on the Smith Well build project and continuing discovery on the Cabin Well, so a determination can be made on how we can use it.
The Water Committee has, today, been charged with developing a Water Management Plan. We will have a firmer idea of the scope of the plan once we have time for the committee to meet with the board president and the manager. More to come on that.
With all the great work done to date we are finally able to move from crisis management into implementing improvements to our water system. We have a commitment from the board to begin funding capital projects that support water security and conservation. It is up to all of us, the committee, the board, operations, and property owners to lay out the path.
We need to be aware that we are still vulnerable to catastrophic failure due to our reliance on our one potable well. Recent events in the larger community show what can happen when a necessary water supply is removed, even temporarily. Please be conscious when using our facilities for the need to conserve. Fully turning off faucets, taking shorter showers, alerting staff if you see dripping faucets, toilets running, or water bubbling up from the ground. What might appear to be an inconsequential drip can, in fact, lead to a loss of thousands of precious gallons. So please, be our eyes and let us know if you see anything.