Feet of early-spring snow and inches of late-spring rain are the only things that can save Coloradans from the most severe water restrictions since 2002 and maybe even since 1976.
Snowpack this winter was among the thinnest on record, and then record-breaking early spring heat melted through it rapidly. The Front Range’s reservoirs are at around 80% to 85% full, but much of the water to fill them to the brim has already melted, meaning the water we use today is already drawing down our water supply for the summer.
Making matters worse is that water managers must be conservative, just in case snowpack in 2027 sets a new record low and our reservoirs start half empty next year.
Because ceremonial incantations to Mother Nature are notoriously unreliable, the best hope of avoiding extreme measures – bans on all outdoor irrigation, swimming pools going unfilled, car washes shuttering and increased water rates with drought pricing – is for Coloradans to comply with watering restrictions voluntarily. The more land you irrigate and the more water-thirsty plants you own, the more water you need to conserve. Everyone’s goal is to use 20% less water than they did last spring. Those who have already made the landscaping switch to drought-tolerant plants will find this goal much easier.
Denver Water was the latest utility to impose Stage 1 drought watering restrictions on Wednesday. Thornton imposed restrictions two weeks ago. Aurora is expected to do so next month, and the town of Erie is in a precarious position this week, urging residents to do no irrigation until their summer water flows begin.
Stage 1 restrictions in Denver call for running sprinklers and irrigation systems only two times a week, and only for the amount of time recommended based on the type of sprinkler system. Trees, shrubs and plants can be hand watered instead. Restaurants won’t serve water unless asked, and we must use buckets to wash our cars, rinsing sparingly with a hose turned off and on as needed.
Obviously, indoor reductions of water use will help too — shorter showers, no unnecessary flushes, running dishwashers and laundry machines at optimal water saving settings and fullness. But Denver is not yet to the point of having to mandate such actions. Coloradans who live in apartments will also find motivation to reduce their already small water use further by seeing those who live on an acre of Kentucky Bluegrass, allowing the field to go fallow.
We all must prioritize with a clear-headed understanding that, with the exception of our agricultural community (who use their water to put food on our tables), ornamental irrigation and outdoor watering are the bulk of Coloradans’ spring and summer water use. Much of that water goes to waste, evaporating before it reaches the plant’s roots or hitting the sidewalk and disappearing down the drain.
Everyone on the Front Range should be ready for brown grass in July. Horticultural experts assure us that letting the grass go dormant does not mean it is dead; the grass will green back up when water returns.
Not to be alarmist, but it’s entirely possible the West could be entering a period of extended drought, influenced by both human-caused global warming and nature-caused El Niño patterns predicted to bring low precipitation and high temperatures this fall by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The current heat dome bringing 80-degree weather to Denver in March is a singular weather event, but it is exacerbating an already warming and drying climate, experts say.
If we all do our part, perhaps we can resume irrigation and let our functional yards green up a bit in the fall. And if Mother Nature does her part, a little bit of rain and snow will help us return to more normal conditions in 2027.
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