Okay, if you'll have a seat.

Today is Wednesday, April 1st, 2026, and I will call the Grand Junction City Council meeting to order.

And if you

would uh please rise with me, we'll uh say the Pledge of Allegiance, and we'll have a moment of silence.

Please be seated.

Okay, we will be uh starting this evening with uh few proclamations, and our first one is uh proclaiming April twenty twenty-six's national donate life month in the city of Grand Junction.

And I think we have executive director uh Chris Clue.

Oh, I am perfect.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jess.

Okay.

And whereas the Donor Alliance, along with the Colorado State Team Community Partner and the Chris Klug Foundation, um, educate residents in Colorado and Wyoming on life-saving benefits of organ and tissue donation, inspire them to register as donors, and encourage them to share their decision with their family.

And whereas one donor can save up to eight lives through organ donation, restore site in the uh in up to two people through uh cornea implants and save and heal more than seventy-five lives through tissue donation.

And whereas in Colorado and most of Wyoming in 2025, uh a record three 314 heroic organ donors provided 1,036 life-saving transplants and 1,880 heroic tissue donors saved and healed more than 140,000 lives with tissue graphs, and whereas registering gives hope to more than 1400 people in Colorado and Wyoming waiting for life-saving organ transplant while compassionately celebrating donors and their lives for the gift of life.

And whereas organ eye and tissue donation would not be possible without our community coming together for one united purpose.

Saying yes to being an organ eye and and tissue donor means that you are not just checking a box, you are saving and healing lives.

Now, therefore, on behalf of the Grand Junction City Council and the community members of Grand Junction, we recognize April 2026 as National Donate Life

Month.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you for having me.

I realize it's a deeply personal decision, and so we thank all those that do register.

Um, and if nothing else, it's just a really great conversation to have with your family.

So I appreciate being here.

And then I also just really like to give a plug for the things you can do while you're still alive.

It's great to sign up as a deceased donor, but as a living donor, you can donate blood regularly.

You can sign up for the bone marrow registry and you can be a living donor.

There are several um organs you can donate while still alive.

So thanks for having me.

Yes, yes, thank you, Jesse.

And I would encourage anybody that's uh yes.

I would encourage anybody if you don't know if you're a donor or not, look at your driver's license, make sure that if if you're willing to, please do so.

Don't miss that opportunity to save a life.

Thank you.

Thank

you.

And we also have a uh proclamation uh proclaiming April 2026 is water conservation month in the city of Grand Junction.

Mayor Pro Tem Lutz will uh read that one.

Thank you.

And it looks like um Utilities Director Randy Kim will accept the proclamation.

She's already there.

So whereas the City of Grand Junction and its partner water providers, Ute Water Conservancy District and Clifton Water District, continue to explore ways to manage consumption of water and to inspire community members to care for our natural resources.

And whereas Grand Junction is located in an arid climate where drought is critical and ever present factor in water use, and whereas municipal and other water providers can engage in efforts to inspire our community to become better environmental stewards, and whereas the city collaborated with the Ute Water Conservancy District

and

Clifton Water District to develop the Grand Junction Regional Water Efficiency Plan, and whereas the city's March 2026 snow survey indicates that the snow water equivalent across the city's Canna Creek watershed is at 41% of the 35-year historical average.

And whereas the Bureau of Reclamation's latest most probable forecast for Lake Powell shows it's sinking below power pool level of 3,490 feet, which would disable hydropower generation for seven western U.S.

states by December.

And whereas the city's water customers can track water usage through a customer portal and get alerts about continuous water use indicating a leak, and whereas the city offers water conser conservation rebates and discounts for water wise lawns, smart watering components, water efficient appliances, and water wise gardens.

Now, therefore, on behalf of this Grand Junction City Council and the community members of Grand Junction, we recognize April 2026 as water conservation month in the city of Grand Junction and encourage all community members to take an active role in water conservation, both during the month of April as well as all year to reduce water consumption.

Good evening.

Thank you so much for that proclamation.

On behalf of the city's utilities department as well as the other uh utility providers in the Grand Junction area, uh we've been working uh very hard uh this spring to prepare for this uh this water year season, and uh we are expecting lower runoff uh levels uh due to our low snowpack this year.

Uh the city does have a significant amount of water in storage in our 19 reservoirs uh that will uh support us through the season uh should our runoff uh not be able to meet our full demand.

However, uh we would like to ask all of our customers and all city residents to participate this month and and throughout the year in uh water conservation efforts to help us manage this precious water supply that we have here in the Grand Junction area.

Uh so as uh Mayor Pro Tem said, we do offer water rebates for water saving appliances and fixtures.

Um please uh give us a call and take advantage of those.

But also as we start up our our irrigation systems this month in April, uh please be very mindful of following what we call the one, two, three, three, two, one watering schedule.

And so this month in April, as we're just starting up, um of course it's raining today, um, and so we're blessed with that uh uh natural rainfall.

Uh but throughout the month of April and May, you really only need to water once a week, and that's plenty uh to keep our gardens um uh thriving.

Um maybe some extra water on our trees that have been stressed over the winter, but

you