DENVER — As we enter the thick of the watering season in mid-July, Denver Water released an assessment of how Denverites are conserving water amid the ongoing drought.
The verdict? The utility says customers are doing a good job reducing water usage, but more savings are needed to meet long-term goals and avoid stricter restrictions.
In March, Denver Water enacted Stage 1 drought restrictions after a low snowpack winter, asking residents to reduce their total water use by at least 20%.
Denver Water said on Tuesday that 1.5 million customers are currently meeting that target when accounting for the region's exceptionally hot and dry weather.
However, the utility said water use remains closer to the five-year average than officials would like as summer irrigation ramps up.
“Overall, when you consider the conditions- the high temperatures and lack of precipitation- we think customers are doing well,” Denver Water demand planning manager Greg Fisher said in a statement. “They are showing restraint even as the spring and early summer continued the record-breaking drought numbers we saw last fall and winter, combined with extremely high temperatures.”
Denver Water noted that the first half of 2026 was the hottest on record in the metro area, contributing to a significant water deficit and lower reservoir levels.
Reservoirs were about 78% full as of July 13, well below the high-90% levels typically seen this time of year.
Officials are urging customers to continue following mandatory two-day-per-week watering restrictions, skip watering after rainstorms, and conserve water indoors and outdoors.
Denver Water warned that if reservoir levels drop too low, it could consider tightening restrictions to one day of outdoor watering per week.
“We need people to be thinking bigger than this week or this year when they think about water,” Fisher said.
The good news is that Mother Nature may help, with some climate models suggesting a rainier summer that could reduce the need to turn on sprinklers, cut demand and keep water in Denver Water reservoirs, the utility said in a blog post.
