By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Last year was the third wettest year on record for the city of Hays.
In 2018, Hays received 37.55 inches of moisture, just a quarter-inch shy of 37.99 inches that fell in 1993 – the second wettest year.
Official daily records have been kept by the K-State Agricultural Research Center south of town since 1868.
Still, the abundant moisture does not mean an end or even slowdown of the city’s water conservation programs started in 1992.
“We’re in really great shape right now. The seasonal drought outlook is good for us showing no drought at least through April,” said Holly Dickman, Hays’ water conservation specialist. “The soils are very saturated right now.”
She presented a wrap up of the water conservation programs in 2018 to city commissioners last week and talked about what will be done in 2019.
The high efficiency toilet rebate program was the most popular in 2018 and Dickman expects the same this year. Most of the rebates were for residences.
TOILET REBATES 2018
- 449 toilets replaced at a cost of $38,200 to the city
- 289 replaced in 2017
- Potential 2,934,853 gallons of water saved
WASHING MACHINE REBATES 2018
- 91 washing machines replaced at a cost of $9,100 to the city
- 89 replaced in 2017
- 81% of machines had Integrated Water Factor (IWF) of 3.2 gallons or less
- Potential 691,849 gallons of water saved
URINAL REBATES 2018
- 3 urinals replaced at a cost of $900 to the city
- Potential 191,625 gallons of water saved
- Urinal rebate eliminated for 2019
TURF CONVERSION 2018
- 9 turf conversions of 12,734 sq. ft. at a cost of $9,023 to the city
- 26 conversions in 2017
- Average rebate of $931.40
- Pending conversions of 18,864 sq. ft.
LOW FLOW SHOWER HEAD PROGRAM 2018
- 146 shower heads distributed
- 103 distributed in 2017
- Potential 852,640 gallons of water saved
Last year was slow for turf conversions due to the plentiful rain. Several pre-inspections are pending. Property owners have one year to complete the work.
The urinal rebate is not a popular program according to Dickman and has been eliminated for 2019. She noted the Golden Q Sports Bar & Grill was the sole participant last year.
“If there is a commercial business that would like to replace their urinals, I encourage them to contact me. There are other ways we can help facilitate that,” she added.
Notable projects of 2018 included the change out in Jan. of 98 toilets by the Fort Hays Inn, 2524 Vine, to models with a 1.28 gallon per flush (gpf).
In 2017, the motel used an average 7,890 cu. ft. of water per month. In 2018, that was reduced to 2,704 cu. ft. per month.
Tiger Mart convenience store, 335 W. 8th St., changed out a water-cooled ice machine for an air-cooled model in Aug. Average monthly water use for the ice machine was reduced to 620 cu. ft. from 2,400 cu. ft.
“Those are phenomenal,” said Commissioner Sandy Jacobs.
Commissioner James Meier agreed. “Of course, we’re excited about the water savings, but the monetary savings. Think what that means to them. That has to be thousands of dollars.”
Dickman shared a list of 18 types of education and outreach she uses, “in all ways, shapes and forms,” saying it all comes down to communication. “The more variety, the better.”
Dickman also noted the revamped city of Hays website includes a blue topic button on the front page and a featured column for water conservation information.
A new mascot, Water$mart Wally,” was created last year and first introduced to the Lincoln School third-graders.
The city of Hays and KSU Big Creek Middle Smoky Hill River Watersheds will host a free World Water Day Fun Fest for children 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Thu., March 14 in the lobby of the Sternberg Museum of Natural History, 3000 Sternberg Drive.
