Kevin Lusk

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  www.gazette.com/articles/snow-55881-peak-springs.html - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 6/5/2009    Last Visited: 6/6/2009  

  "It's been amazing," said Kevin Lusk, who, as a water supply engineer for Colorado Springs Utilities, is thrilled with the late-season moisture. The reservoirs on Pikes Peak, one-fifth of the city's water supply, are 84 percent full, which is 20 percent greater than normal for early June, he said.

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  ridenbaugh.com/waterrights/?m=200906 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 6/1/2009    Last Visited: 8/12/2009  

  As Kevin Lusk, an engineer for Colorado Springs Utilities said, "All the water was spoken for here in the Arkansas Basin 100 years ago or more.

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  www.gazette.com/articles/water_7027___article.html/lusk - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 5/31/2006    Last Visited: 6/19/2008  

  "We all love runoff, because that's payday for us," said Kevin Lusk, Colorado Springs Utilities' principal engineer."That's when we get that big deposit, and we know what we can do.In the last few years, the paychecks have really been low so we had to go on a budget.Now, we have a bigger bank account and can relax our budget a little bit."
  
  Lusk said spring runoff of snowmelt typically begins in mid-May and culminates in the latter part of June.
  
  This year, though, runoff has been early.
  
  Lusk said that as of last week, twice as much water as last year was flowing into Twin Lakes, at the eastern foot of Independence Pass.
  
  The utility would like to see a slower, more controlled melt, because if the water rushes out of the mountains all at once, the utility's system of reservoirs and pipelines can't capture it all.
  
  "Right now, we haven't been spilling anything," he said."But it's like going shopping at a supermarket; you can buy everything you want, but your pickup is only so big."
  
  The Twin Lakes system, which captures water east of Independence Pass, is the city's "bread-and-butter" water collection point, Lusk said.
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  Lusk said the utility will know by the end of June or early July how much water it has collected and must then make that quantity last all year, with reserves set aside in case of emergency.
  
  As of last week, snowpack in the local Pikes Peak collection system was 60 percent of normal, reflecting the dry conditions along the Front Range.Snowpack in the high-mountain diversion systems was at or above the historical average.
  
  But because the snow is melting faster and sooner than normal, Lusk expects the utility will capture perhaps a bit less than last year.

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  drought.gazette.com/fullstory.php?id=5010 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 5/19/2005    Last Visited: 5/8/2007  

  Water resources engineer Kevin Lusk showed a 35-year chart of the company's water supplies.On average, reservoirs had enough water stored during those years to supply the city for two years.
  
  "We will be above the 35-year average this year," he said.

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  drought.gazette.com/fullstory.php?id=2740 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 6/17/2004    Last Visited: 5/8/2007  

  The recent burst of rainfall has at least helped preserve this year's supply of water, said Kevin Lusk of Colorado Springs Utilities.
  
  "A good rainstorm could save 50 million gallons or more if the weather stays cool and cloudy," said Lusk, senior projects engineer for the agency.
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  The storm Tuesday brought 1.36 inches of rain to the Colorado Springs Airport but less than a quarter of an inch to other areas, Lusk said.
  
  But even unpredictable storms can have an effect on water levels, Lusk said.

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  www.vaildaily.com/article/20070329/NEWS/70329021/0/FRON - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 3/29/2007    Last Visited: 3/31/2007  

  Melted snow from the mountains makes up more than 80 percent of Colorado's water supply, so the snowpack really is a big deal, said Kevin Lusk, a water engineer with Colorado Springs Utilities.
  
  March was a much drier month than forecasted, but Lusk said that most mountains in our area had ample amounts of snow going into the dry spell, and that not much snow was lost overall.Other checkpoints, like at Fremont Pass and Copper Mountain, had a much better snowpack than Vail Mountain, and that helps.
  
  He predicts that the snowpack in the Vail area will end up being below average this year, but that in itself isn't much to be worried about.Because the snowpack will likely be just a little below average, we'll have almost the usual amount of water, he said.
  
  What could make more of a difference is how fast that snow melts, Lusk said.
  
  When melted snow flows into streams slow and steady in the spring season, it provides a long-lasting and continuous water source that can last through dry months.
  
  If temperatures really heat up, and the snow melts quickly and all at once, the water overwhelms rivers, and it passes through before we get good use out of it.Lusk said there is a chance that a fast runoff could happen this year.
  
  "Ideally, you want water to come pretty steadily all year," Lusk said."But if the runoff is fast and early, then the flow is lower later in the season, and then you've missed your opportunity for the water."
  
  If that happens, water from reservoirs is used to keep people happy.Lusk said the reservoirs in our area are in pretty good shape.Homestake Reservoir, which is at the top of the Eagle River Watershed in southern Eagle County, is about full.
  
  "There may be less water than normal coming in, but it won't be as big of a deal as years past when our storage was low," Lusk said.

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  drought.gazette.com/fullstory.php?id=5169 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/16/2005    Last Visited: 5/8/2007  

  Water use among customers of Colorado Springs Utilities is below projections the city-owned utility made before two-day-a-week restrictions were eased June 1, said principal engineer Kevin Lusk.
  
  "It just hasn't gone up nearly as much as I thought," Lusk said."I'm very pleased."
  
  The utility's bean counters may be less so.
  
  Lusk said he suspected that revenue from adding a third water day would be lower than projected.The utility wanted a third watering day, in part, to pay for temporary water leases used to refill drought-depleted reservoirs.
  
  Lusk attributed the lowerthan-expected water use to changing perceptions among customers about how much water their lawns really need; a decline in the amount of irrigated landscape in the city after a five-year drought; and a rate system that hits the pocketbooks of heavy water users.
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  Lusk said the restraint being shown by customers, utility projects to increase supply and near normal runoff this spring all have helped fill drought-depleted storage reservoirs.
  
  Reservoirs are at 77 percent of capacity.Reservoirs below Pikes Peak, which were in dire shape a couple years ago, are now at 86 percent of capacity.
  
  That means the storage system is actually above the historic average of 73 percent recorded from 1970 to 2004.
  
  Lusk said he's not sure the city's relatively miserly use of water will last.
  
  Experts say there's a period after a bad dry spell - called a "drought shadow" - when people use water judiciously.Eventually, though, old watering habits return and consumption goes back up.
  
  "My theory up until this year was the drought shadow was not going to be very big and not last very long," Lusk said.

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  drought.gazette.com/fullstory.php?id=6418 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 3/23/2006    Last Visited: 5/8/2007  

  That was the assessment Wednesday of Kevin Lusk, principal engineer for Colorado Springs Utilities, during a briefing for the City Council, sitting as the Utilities Board.
  
  Lusk said the water outlook for Colorado Springs is rosier than it has been since 1994, despite lower-than-average precipitation locally this winter.That's because snowpack is deeper than normal in the high mountain basins where the city gets most of its water, he said.
  
  Lusk expects runoff from those basins to yield 130 percent of the water the city normally gets, the best since 1994, when the water yield was 132 percent of normal.
  
  The snowpack in the city-owned utilities' three mountain systems - Twin Lakes, Blue River and Homestake - ranges from 99 percent to 154 percent of normal.
  
  The snowpack readings from March 20 are about 80 to 85 percent of what can be expected for the season, so spring storms should add to those snow levels before runoff begins in May.The upper Colorado River also is at 119 percent of normal, Lusk said.
  
  Lusk said the situation has been different at lower altitudes: Precipitation at the Colorado Springs Airport from Oct. 1 to March 20 was 1.37 inches compared with 3.05 inches normally.
  
  Water levels in the Pikes Peak and Rampart Range reservoir systems are 83 percent of normal, and the Arkansas River is flowing at 83 percent of its norm, mostly because of drier conditions on the lower stretches of the river.
  
  Still, Lusk said the heavy snowfalls in the mountains mean the city's total reservoir storage is above the 35-year average, even as demand for water among Colorado Springs residents has dropped.
  
  "For the most part, we're in pretty good shape," he said.
  
  The average daily demand for water in the city in 2005 was 43 million gallons; in 2001, it was 48 million to 50 million, Lusk said.

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  drought.gazette.com/fullstory.php?id=2000 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 2/21/2004    Last Visited: 5/8/2007  

  Normally, they would be 76 percent full, according to Kevin Lusk, senior project engineer for Colorado Springs Utilities.
  
  The situation isn't much better high in the mountains.Lusk said Thursday snowpack as of Monday was below average in the mountain basins where Colorado Springs collects most of the water it uses.
  
  "We're trailing where we would like to be," Lusk said."We expect to end up somewhere below normal.How far below normal, we don't know yet."
  
  Despite scattered snow in the region Thursday, Lusk said snowfall will have to be heavier than normal during March and April, Colorado's snowiest months, to raise snowpack levels to anywhere near normal.
  
  The utility March 17 will recommend to the Colorado Springs City Council, acting as the Utilities Board, whether lawn watering should be restricted again this summer and at what level.The utility is looking at three watering scenarios: no restrictions, two days a week and three days a week.
  
  The City Council is expected at its March 23 meeting to give the utility direction on what watering restrictions, if any, should be imposed.
  
  Last summer, from April 15 to Sept. 30, the city imposed a two-day-a-week watering schedule on residents and businesses.This winter, beginning Oct. 1, residents have been allowed to water one day a week.
  
  Lusk said utility customers saved 5.9 billion gallons from what they used in 2001, the last year without watering restrictions.
  
  Although water and snowpack levels are far from ideal, the utility hopes to capture enough water during the spring runoff to raise reservoir levels and preclude the most onerous watering restrictions.
  
  Lusk said national weather agencies are predicting moderate drought conditions will persist in the region this summer, with above-average temperatures and average precipitation from June through October.
  
  Forecasts predict streamflow in most of the Colorado River basin this summer will be 70 percent to 89 percent of normal, and that could affect how much water Colorado Springs is allowed to divert to municipal use, Lusk said.
  
  Last year, 12.42 inches of precipitation fell in the Pikes Peak region, 71 percent of normal.
  
  Lusk said the hot, dry weather that has plagued the region the past four years hadn't been seen since a fiveyear drought in the 1950s.

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  www.gazette.com/articles/seeding_29904___article.html/c - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 11/18/2007    Last Visited: 11/19/2007  

  Budget concerns forced the utility to scale down its seeding program to $65,000 this winter, but engineer Kevin Lusk said seeding has added 3 to 11 percent to snowpack in the high mountain basins that provide the city with its water.
  
  "It's worth it for us," he said.

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