JACKSON, Wyo. — Effective Monday, July 21, Town Council unanimously passed an emergency ordinance requiring all properties connected to the Town’s public water supply to limit irrigation use. The ordinance, which is scheduled to end on October 31, was put into place to prioritize water availability for domestic/household use and fire suppression, according to the Town of Jackson.
During the meeting, Town Manager Tyler Sinclair told Town Council that insufficient water supply has become an emergency issue, impacting the health, safety and welfare of the community.
“We are asking for community cooperation by limiting irrigation throughout the summer,” Sinclair said. “Our goal is to reduce water demands on the overall system by 30 to 40%.”
The ordinance states that there are three ways for properties to become compliant: reduce irrigation to either even or odd days, irrigate every other day or decrease seasonal system settings by 50%. For those properties limiting irrigation by date, addresses with an even number can water lawns on even numbered dates, and addresses with an odd number can water lawns on odd numbered dates. These restrictions apply to sprinkler irrigation for lawns, native grasses and naturally landscaped areas, with exemptions for drip systems, hand-watering, flower beds, pots and vegetable gardens.
A penalty of $750 per day will be issued for violations on a case-by-case basis, although enforcement is considered a “gray area,” according to Town. Sinclair said that neighbor complaints could drive enforcement, initiating a phone call as the first step and then eventually a citation if non-compliance continues.
“Our hope is that the community will come into compliance without enforcement and do their part for the next four to six weeks,” Sinclair said. “We are trying to get at it with odd/even days and not the length of time you are watering. We are trying to move people out of peak demand, that is the surge. Some of the larger water users we are going to be watching.”
Sinclair stressed that Town’s water system has been strained nightly between 12 a.m. and 4 a.m., proving that increased irrigation use has been taxing the system. According to staff notes, current water supply challenges are also the result of new development causing stress on the system and moderate to severe drought conditions. The National Integrated Drought Information System reported that this past month was the 9th driest June on record for Teton County.
“We have known this has been coming,” Sinclair said. “We’ve increased water supply in town over the last five years by 20%.”
Mayor Arne Jorgensen noted that the Town’s aquifer has adequate water levels, but the Town’s existing infrastructure cannot keep up with water delivery.
“We aren’t seeing the aquifer being drawn down to failure, it is more about not being able to pull out the water fast enough,” Jorgensen explained. “All three functions of water — irrigation, household use and fire suppression — come out of the same wells.”
The Town’s water system consists of seven wells and three storage tanks. Beginning in 2021, Town conducted capacity studies revealing that adequate water delivery could be achieved with the addition of two new wells in west Jackson. Construction of the new wells was delayed until next summer due to complications in sighting the well pump house in Rangeview Park, per staff notes.
During public comment, Jackson resident George Kuvinka urged Town Council to further evaluate the Town’s infrastructure.
“If there aren’t spare pumps, there should be because of the sheer demand that we have,” Kuvinka said.
Jorgensen said it was important to move the emergency ordinance forward despite its imperfections.
“We do have infrastructure issues and we need to address it,” Jorgensen said. “I don’t know how someone can use thousands of gallons of water a day for irrigation. I have a hard time saying that this can be done right now.”
Teton County Parks & Recreation (Parks & Rec) Superintendent Andrew Erskine requested some leniency in maintaining the landscaping for the Town’s parks.
“Some of the impacts will be brown spots,” Erskine said. “You will see more weeds.”
Councilwoman Devon Viehman said that the most important priority was keeping the community safe.
“I would rather have brown grass around town versus not having enough water for fire suppression,” Viehman said.
Councilor Jonathan Schechter recommended a contingency plan to help ensure that water demands will be reduced by at least 30%. Sinclair assured Town Council that stricter regulations will be discussed if goals are not met.
“If we don’t get desired results from this ordinance a week from now, we could go back to implementing stricter regulations,” Sinclair said.
Jorgensen told staff to provide frequent reports on water trends over the next couple of months. He added that the length of the emergency ordinance could be revised dependent upon weather and community response.
