If the Drought Response Plan is to be effective, Denver Water must communicate effectively with its customers. Drought affects a wide variety of water users, and Denver Water’s ability to inform the public of the water supply situation will determine the success of the plan.

A communication program designed for a drought crisis involves three components:

• Public involvement
• Customer information
• Media relations.

These efforts will overlap somewhat, and some will be conducted simultaneously. For example, the news media will always provide the most immediate means of communicating with the public because their representatives will be present at every Board meeting to report any change in drought conditions or response measures as soon as they are announced. But Denver Water cannot rely exclusively on the media for communicating with customers because news stories cannot be guaranteed to cover information in sufficient detail. Denver Water must also have direct communication with our customers.

If the drought is severe and requires the Board to impose mandatory restrictions on water use or surcharges for higher levels of water use, public involvement efforts will be necessary along with direct notices to customers. Only a printed notice mailed to every customer can assure that customers have the information they need to comply with a set of restrictions. Designing a surcharge program requires at least one public meeting to sample public opinion about water use levels and charges.

Drought, like any other crisis, demands immediate and frequent communication with customers and with the public as a whole. During a drought, Denver Water will use all its means of communicating, including direct mailings to every customer, daily Web site updates, water bill inserts, electronic newsletters, announcements in neighborhood and homeowners association newsletters, the Speakers Bureau, public meetings, interest group meetings and consultations, Citizens Advisory Committee mailings and meetings, mass market advertising and media relations.

Once the Board has identified a specific drought stage, Denver Water’s Community Relations staff will develop an appropriate communications plan based on the elements specified in the Outline for a Drought Communication Plan.

February

• Select advertising agency to assist staff with mass media advertising campaign.
• Announce "Spring Watch" (voluntary ban on lawn watering), subject to Board decision.
• Promote relevant news story topics to media and respond to media inquiries.

March

• Begin developing message-of-the-week program.
• Reinforce voluntary ban on lawn watering.
• Board contracts with ad agency.
• Community Relations staff and agency begin work on campaign.
• Hold public meeting about surcharges.
• Promote relevant news story topics to media and respond to media inquiries.

April

• Begin disseminating message of the week.
• Reinforce voluntary ban on lawn watering.
• Promote relevant news story topics to media and respond to media inquiries.
• Board determines drought stage and corresponding drought response measures.
• Post drought stage and response measures on Web site.
• Intensify media relations.
• Community Relations staff prepares and mails notices to all customers.
• Board approves ad campaign.

May

• Disseminate message of the week.
• Ad campaign begins.
• Mail notices of drought response measures to all customers.
• Promote relevant news story topics to media and respond to media inquiries.

In September 2003, Denver Water commissioned a survey to gauge customer attitudes toward the 2002–2003 drought. Focus group sessions were also conducted. The majority of survey and focus group respondents stated that Denver Water’s response to the drought was "about right." Most participants supported restrictions, viewing them as a positive step in managing water use. Survey results showed that customers wanted Denver Water to initiate a strong response in times of drought. Most respondents agreed that restrictions during the 2002–2003 drought were easy to understand and that changes in the restrictions were not confusing.

Results of the survey influenced this Drought Response Plan and will continue to shape future plans. Further consultation with customers through surveys and other means may be required if future Drought Response Plans differ significantly from this one.

Conservation and Community Relations staff and certain members of the Drought Enforcement Committee will continue ongoing discussions with groups that are particularly affected by drought restrictions, e.g., members of the green industry, car wash businesses and manufacturers. These groups will receive advance notice about any restrictions under consideration and will have an opportunity to articulate their positions at Board meetings.

Experience has shown that not all Front Range water providers face water shortages of the same severity and that each provider responds to shortages accordingly. What other water providers are doing can affect how customers perceive Denver Water’s policies, and Denver Water’s manager serves as its link to other water providers in the area. An open question is whether a meeting of all these utility managers could facilitate agreement on certain fundamental policies such as watering schedules and times. An effort to jointly sponsor a mass media campaign in 2003 was a limited success at best; some water districts lifted restrictions before the campaign was ready to begin, whereas others continued restrictions throughout the summer.

Community Relations staff will collect comments from the public through e-mail and telephone messages, compile and submit them to Board members at each Board meeting.

Communication among divisions is crucial to ensure that all activities at Denver Water support drought response efforts. Three committees will oversee implementation of the Drought Response Plan: the Drought Response Committee, the Executive Drought Committee, and the Drought Compliance Committee. During periods of drought, members of these committees will incorporate drought management as a crucial part of their jobs.

Conditions leading up to and during a drought change rapidly and unpredictably. To respond effectively, all Denver Water employees must receive timely and accurate information. Members of the Drought Ambassadors Program will disseminate drought information to all Denver Water employees.

Drought Response Committee (DRC) members will manage the Drought Response Plan’s implementation. They will meet frequently during droughts to coordinate efforts and to identify issues that need to be considered by the Executive Drought Committee. The DRC will select an internal drought coordinator to focus on all issues related to the potential drought and to lead overall drought response efforts.

Although other committee members may be added, the core committee should consist of the following staff members from specific Denver Water divisions:

The Executive Drought Committee consists of Denver Water’s manager, senior staff and the internal drought coordinator.

Enforcement managers, customer care representatives, and the internal drought coordinator will meet as needed to manage day-to-day implementation of the Drought Response Plan.

Denver Water employees live and work in the community and have daily contact with customers; thus they are all drought ambassadors. This role requires that all employees receive accurate and timely drought information. The Training Department staff, supported by members of the Drought Response Committee, will facilitate the dissemination of drought information to all Denver Water employees.

Though predicting exactly when a drought will occur is difficult, Denver Water wants its customers and stakeholders to understand drought conditions and challenges as fully as possible. Denver Water is committed to communicating with its customers about how much water needs to be saved and what specific methods must be used to achieve those savings. Although the Denver Water Board’s drought response decisions will be based on specific circumstances during a drought and cannot be known with certainty ahead of time, this plan is intended to help Board members, staff, customers and stakeholders better prepare for eventual droughts.

If drier-than-normal conditions exist, public interest in the potential for drought may intensify before Denver Water is able to make a reasonably certain projection of July 1 reservoir storage. The effects of less snowfall, reduced reservoir storage and increased forest fire danger will already have generated a general awareness of the possibility of drought. In addition, other metro-area water suppliers may already have imposed restrictions on their customers.

In the early stages of a dry period, Denver Water will communicate that it is closely watching conditions throughout the water system and that it is ready to act when conditions specific to its water system and customers call for action.

Even if dry conditions do not eventually lead to declaration of a drought for Denver Water customers, the Public Affairs staff, as well as members of the Board and the Citizens Advisory Committee, need to be prepared with consistent information to field queries from the media, customers and recreation enthusiasts.