Need adjustment to water strip

If you live in a city of Boulder neighborhood that has so-called "hell strips" -- those elongated rectangles of ground between your sidewalk and the street -- you might be interested to know that your new city-generated water budget does not allocate water for them.

Surprised? So was I. And if I hadn't been gathering bids for the installation of a sprinkler system to water the very limited grounds surrounding my home in Boulder’s Whittier neighborhood I would be blissfully ignorant of the fact, too.

I knew the city owned that land (did you?). But I also knew that, at least in my neighborhood, residents either landscaped or sodded these hell strips at their own expense -- and mowed and watered them. Some have tended them so lovingly that they have become sources of great neighborhood pride.

I phoned the city to confirm that the information I received from the sprinkler system people was true. The woman I spoke to at the Department of Public Works told me indeed it was. But all is not lost, she said.

There is a process by which you can apply to have that strip of land in front of your house included in your water budget. I am, therefore, passing it along to BCBR readers. Go to www.boulderwater.net, click on "water budgets" and then select "budget adjustments." Print out the Water Budget Adjustment Application form, fill it in and fax or mail it to the city. I can't tell you whether the city will grant your request, but it's worth a try.

Nancy Nachman-Hunt
Boulder