Denver Water customers are banned from watering their lawns starting Thursday, and the state’s largest utility is threatening steep fines for those who break the drought-induced rule.
The prohibition outlaws lawn watering and the use of spray irrigation at the start of October for the rest of the warm season, though customers can still hand-water trees, shrubs, flowers and vegetables.
Residential customers who break the rule once will face a $500 fine. The fine increases to $1,000 for each subsequent violation and, if the watering does not stop, Denver Water says it will shut off the customer’s water service.
The utility — which serves 1.5 million people across metro Denver — has sent postcards to customers warning them about the ban and the potential fines. Those postcards served as warnings, .
“We are in a serious situation, and we need our customers to treat this Oct. 1 date as a hard stop to preserve our supplies as we head into the fall and winter months,” Greg Fisher, Denver Water’s manager of demand planning, said in the release.
on Aug. 26 approved the watering ban in response to the severe drought that sapped the utility’s reservoirs in the past year. Denver Water’s reservoirs are typically 91% full at the beginning of fall, but they were only 67% full this week, according to the release, despite rainfall in the mountains in recent weeks.
The utility’s officials estimated the watering ban could save 5,000 acre-feet of water — enough water to serve more than 10,000 families for a full year.
“We’re all hoping for a good winter, but itap extremely unlikely that we’ll see enough snow — and more importantly, a robust spring runoff — to fully fill our reservoirs next year,” Fisher said. “Every customer’s conservation efforts remain especially important as we work together to stretch our storage supplies heading into the winter.”
Multifamily residential customers and nonresidential customers will face higher fines than individual homeowners if they violate the ban. First offenses will carry a $1,000 fine, and subsequent violations will cost $2,000 and a suspension of service.
The lawn-watering ban will remain in effect until lifted by the board of commissioners. Denver typically sees its first freeze about a week into October, but that milestone can vary widely year to year.
