The city of Boulder won’t lay the down the law on water this summer, but hopes its residents will sprinkle it judiciously.
Although Denver and Aurora have loosened their summer watering restrictions this year, the rules are still mandatory with fines up to $100, with the potential to lose water service. Restrictions went into effect May 1 in both cities, and remain in place until Sept. 1 for Denver Water customers and through Oct. 31 for those who use Aurora Water.
Boulder’s bold move to go without mandatory water restrictions this summer is a result of its conscientious customer base, this winter’s abundant snowpack and senior water rights portfolio, according to the city and a Boulder-based environmental policy center.
The city expects its Boulder and Barker reservoirs to reach up to 96 percent full after the spring snowmelt. The reservoirs risk spilling over in early June, the city said.
Boulder has had looser restrictions than its metro neighbors. The city has avoided drought conditions since 2003, when the city enacted a drought response plan that’s kept its supply healthy with strict rules.
“We always encourage our customers to continue conserving water in their daily lives,” Boulder public works director Ned Williams said in a statement.
Boulder is asking residents to do many of the same things Denver, Aurora and others are requiring: limit watering to three days a week, no watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and don’t waster water.
Boulder also will inspect residents’ sprinklers for free to help detect leaks, and offer free advice on homeowners’ other landscaping and watering issues.
Without rules, Boulder still ranks just behind Denver, Aurora and Colorado Springs in reducing water use since before the last drought began in 2002, said Taryn Hutchins-Cabibi, a water analyst for Western Resource Advocates, a Boulder-based environmental law and policy city.
“They have a good conservation plan, and that’s one of the reasons their reservoir levels have done pretty well during the drought,” she said.
Restrictions, voluntary or mandatory, are here to stay, Hutchins-Cabibi, because water is too precious a commodity on a permanent basis in the parched but growing West.
“Across the West we’re beginning to see these water guidelines that started with the drought stay in place as commonplace,” she said.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
