As summer creeps around the corner, beach days and bbqs are on everyone’s mind—and the last thing any of us is thinking about is snow. And yet, for many parts of the country, the water that gets us through these dry months comes from a snowpack built up slowly over the winter months. Of course, even when that snow is falling, it’s sometimes hard to make the connection between the white stuff on the ground and the water that flows out of your tap.
Even when snowflakes pile up on windowsills and drivers pull chains out of their trunks, many of the communities that depend upon snow for their livelihood are acutely aware of just how valuable—and scarce—those flakes can be. For example, even at the height of winter, many ski resorts must still resort to snowmaking machines to keep those lifts open and their customers happy.
The water used for snowmaking is not considered consumptive use—most of it makes its way back to the watershed—but that doesn’t mean that allocating water for snowmaking doesn’t have an impact. To cut down on costs and increase sustainability, many ski resorts have turned to recycled water—and while that choice does cut down on demand, it raises the issue of whether or not it is advisable to use reclaimed water in this capacity when the melt will inevitably make its way into the watershed.
Recently, Flagstaff, AZ, introduced a proposal to switch out drinking water for reclaimed water for snowmaking at Arizona Snowbowl, a local northern Arizona ski resort. Under the proposal, the city would allow reclaimed water would to seep into the ground rather than being sent directly to the wastewater treatment facility. That water would then be used by Snowbowl for snowmaking at the resort.
The proposal received a less-than-enthusiastic response. Spraying artificial snow derived from reclaimed water on the local San Francisco Mountains is considered sacrilegious to 13 American Indian tribes that have been fighting Snowbowl’s use of reclaimed water for several years. The tribes consider the introduction of reclaimed water to that habitat as an infringement on their religious rights, while the owners of Snowbowl insist that without snowmaking their business cannot continue.
According to the Salt Lake City Tribune the current contract between Flagstaff's current and Snowbowl “calls for the city to supply 1.5 million gallons of reclaimed wastewater per day for 120 days a year to the ski resort. Area tribes fought the plan but lost at the US Supreme Court last year.”
We’ve covered how ski resorts manage their water use in Water Efficiency and our sister publication Erosion Control:
• Wintery Water Wonderlands
• Wetlands for Water Treatment and Erosion Control
And to read about ski resorts that have been recognized for their overall resource management, check out:
• White Gold
• Making History on the Slopes