Irrigation Water

HOA Irrigation Water System Overview

The HOA irrigation system is a supplemental system to help assist homeowners when resources are available.
The irrigation water is considered an extra benefit to the HOA, but there is no guarantee of water.
Learn details about the water at Owl Lake Estates (water notice sent to homeowners in 2020)
Homeowners can also water their lawns and landscape using their Firestone Town tap/water system, but sometimes it can be cost prohibitive.
If homeowners choose to water with both town water and irrigation water, a special type of backflow assembly and yearly testing is required.

Water Quality

The irrigation water is non-potable water. It’s is not filtered or cleaned.

Owned vs Leased Water

The HOA currently owns some shares of water and purchases additional leased to meet the demand of the neighborhood when available.

11 Shares of New Coal Ridge Ditch (River water)
65 Shares of Panama Class B, which equals to 26 Class A (65x.3995 conversion) of storage shares

Class B Shares AF Conversion to A Shares Total AF 12″ Storage

65 0.3995 25.9675 311.61 (2018)
The HOA Leases or rents 30-60 shares on average of storage water each year (when available) and at a cost of $3-5K

Mandatory RPD Backflows and Backflow Testing

Homeowners with dual systems (connected to town potable water and irrigation water) must have a RPD backflow installed and have a certified backflow test every year. This is mandated by the town of Firestone. The HOA schedules these yearly tests and reports are sent to the town of Firestone and homeowners. The HOA will then bill the homeowners for the backflow test and any repairs needed.

General Watering Guidelines

Only run irrigation systems between ~5:00 PM to ~11:00 AM daily
Please do not water more than 15-25 minutes per zone, per day max! (The CSU extension recommendation for Colorado lawns is 1-1.5 inches per week)
Check your sprinkler system program start times and lengths. Check programs A, B, C, and D to make sure everything is correct and no random watering times are set.
Turn off your system when it is windy or raining (for those who don’t have smart sensors)
Routine fertilizing plays a significant role in keeping a healthy lawn
Keep grass taller, but only remove the upper ½” of grass with each mowing, and mow often.
Aerate to allow air and water to penetrate the soil. Hard or compacted soil causes watering to run off

What is considered in-efficient or abuse of the irrigation system?

Flood irrigating (open faucets or hoses, letting water run freely all day or extended period of time)
Hand watering via lawn sprinklers for extended periods of time (if you would like to do so, please use your city water)
Multiple watering (running twice, during the evening and mornings at full zone times)
Watering during the heat of the day (between 11:00 AM and 5 PM)
24/7 watering (watering all day and night)
Inefficient watering also increases our pump electric bill and decreases the lifetime of our pump.

HOA Water Committee & Emergency Contacts

Sean Flagg (chair) – 3.619.4455
Garrett Bragalone – 7.378.3641

Contact

Sean Flagg (chair)
6755 Owl Lake Drive
3.619.4455

Other resources

Boulder White Rock and Ditch Company

Frequently asked questions from homeowners

Does the Lake/Pond leak? (We see it lose water over winter?)

and bids The simple answer is yes. Owl Lake is not an engineered pond/lake and the HOA is aware of the water loss and factors this into their water delivery calculations. There are several contributing factors to loss of water, such as; natural evaporation, absorption, surrounding trees, and shallowness.

CSU Extension Visit: Evaporation / Absorption Rates

When the HOA asked the CSU Extension about average evaporative rates for large bodies of water several years ago, their response for a lake our size was “Due to Colorado’s dry climate, and your pond’s exposure to wind, sun, as well as its natural base and shallowness, expect ~1-3 inches of evaporation per week.” Additional tidbit: CSU gave us an example of putting out a shallow bowl or dish of water in the middle of your yard, it will evaporate in a few days.

Additional calculations:

If we fill the lake at the end of the year to its max depth, it’s roughly about seven feet. The lake is out of commission for roughly 28 weeks and at and at a max evaporation rate of 3” of per week, that’s about 84” of loss or 7′ feet of water, which is why we are basically dry at the beginning of the watering season.

Engineering costs:

The HOA has also reached out to many engineering firms about creating an engineered lake bed. Costs and bids were exceeding $300K and not feasible for a small association.

Don't the trees surrounding the lake use a lot of water?

CSU Extension: Tree Water Consumption

When the HOA asked CSU Extension about how much water a cottonwood consumes? CSU Extension emailed response was “A well established and mature cottonwood will use 50-200 gallons per tree, per day. Cottonwoods are known for being thirsty.”

HOA Response

When the HOA presented this finding at a meeting, some homeowners suggested cutting all the trees down to conserve water and replace them with less thirsty trees (in addition, no messy cotton). This was not economically feasible as well as that’s a part of our neighborhood’s charm and uniqueness. The HOA suggested doing a slow tree replacement program where each homeowner would nurture one placement tree per year, but that was deemed challenging and never made any traction.

Why is there algae? Can we get rid of it?

The HOA works closely with Saddleback Golf Course as we share responsibility for the main ditch, lateral ditch, scheduling and they are also on the Coal Ridge Ditch Association board. We asked their owner and grounds keepers about how they maintain their decorative ponds and storage reservoirs in regards to algae and evaporaton. They gave us a tour (back in 2010) and provided the following notes:

All their decorative ponds and storage lakes are engineered.
- They all have a liner or clay bottom
- They don’t have shallow edges and are fairly deep (lessons heat absorption to cause evaporation and algae)
- They have rip-rap rock edges to prevent erosion and prevent weeds and tree suckers
They are constantly replenishing their decorative ponds to be full all the time
Their decorative ponds have a aeration/bubbling system or water fountain (helps with algae control)
They apply copper sulfate treatments in their ponds and lakes when needed.

HOA Response

Depending on many variables, algae is a constant battle. Our water originates out of Boulder Canyon and we are technically at the end of the line. Over the 22 plus miles, the ditch picks up many contaminates, nitrogen rich fertilizer runoff, and raw drainage along the way.

Owl Lake has been utilizing the ditch association’s algae mitigation efforts. In previous years, the HOA spent hundreds of dollars on spreading algaecides with little or no improvement. During the 2025 New Coal Ridge Ditch associations meeting, algae was a top complaint and the association said they would put extra effort into mitigation.

Knowing that the deeper the body of water is one step in mitigating algae control and evaporation, the HOA has been using the approach of trying to keep the lake “topped” off, but the scheduling of water delivery at shorter intervals is very challenging and labor intensive.

Can the HOA drill a well for additional water?

This idea was brought up again in the 2024 HOA annual meeting by a homeowner. The HOA researched this with the Town of Firestone and State of Colorado. It’s illegal and not a viable option for a homeowner or association.

In this Section

Backflow Reports
Section 18 Ditch
Watering Guidelines
Water Resources