Our neighborhoods with grandfathered SRP irrigation lines are green treasures. However, many of these neighborhoods are struggling to maintain that irrigation infrastructure.

SRP provides no support for water delivery once the water leaves their gates - each neighborhood is responsible for the repair and maintenance of its own standpipes and water lines. These lines are over 50 years old and in many cases crumbling. To arrange a one-time repair on a broken water line or replace a broken gate in a standpipe can cost many thousands of dollars. Most neighborhoods have associations in place to try to keep up with these ever-increasing repairs, but as more and more homes are snapped up as investment rentals by corporations, there are fewer invested neighbors willing to contribute to their coffers. One break in an antiquated water line will cause an entire neighborhood to lose its water until a repair can be made (which can be weeks and is especially devastating in the summer), and with the loss of water inevitably comes the loss of vegetation and mature trees that make these neighborhoods so beautiful.

Please consider providing repair grants or better yet, replacing these lines outright to help maintain our existing irrigation infrastructure. Once overhauled these existing lines will continue to provide water for decades. The pipes are shallow in the ground and would be relatively inexpensive to replace (compared to other water/sewer lines); the standpipes are above ground and easily accessible. The one-time cost to make these repairs would be tiny compared to the potential loss of vegetation and neighborhood devaluation that could result if an overhaul is not undertaken soon.

We are fortunate to have this infrastructure in place to provide efficient and low-cost water delivery to many of our older neighborhoods. Please help us prevent it from crumbling into oblivion.