THORNTON, Colo. — Thornton City Council is considering a Stage 1 Drought Response declaration as dry winter conditions raise concerns about water supplies. The proposed declaration is meant to reduce water demand now in order to protect supplies in the near future, city leaders told Denver7.
Right now, the city’s reservoir is at 83% capacity. That number is normal, according to city leaders, and in good shape for this time of year. However, low snowpack could impact water availability heading into next year, so that’s why the city is looking to prepare for if this trend continues.
“We have a pretty good sense of how this year is going to shake out in terms of the inflows that we're going to get into our reservoirs. But if we have a really hot, dry springtime and then also a really hot, dry summer, that is going to continue to put strains on the reservoir supplies,” City of Thornton Interim Director of Utilities & Infrastructure Emily Hunt said.
Under the proposed Stage 1 Drought Response, the city is targeting about a 10% reduction in water use. If approved, residents would not be allowed to water turf before May 1. After that date, watering lawns would be limited to two days per week for both residential and commercial properties.
“At this point in time, this late in the season, we're really assuming that the snowpack doesn't recover. We're. assuming projected low inflows into our reservoirs. We don't really anticipate that getting worse. What can really exacerbate things is if water demand really goes kind of through the roof with this combination of a low snowpack and so that's why we move into potential restrictions,” Hunt said.
Thornton Parks & Recreation and other large water users would also be required to cut water by 10%. City leaders said irrigation accounts for about half of the city’s total water demand, which is why outdoor watering is the focus of restrictions.
“As our Parks Department is working to achieve the water savings that we're asking them to achieve, they're also balancing management of the landscape in order to make sure that we've got defensible spaces around the open spaces, and even in people's property,” Hunt said.
Despite these proposed restrictions, Hunt told Denver7 that Thornton residents are usually water efficient.
“They are really some of the lowest water users in the Front Range. We have a lot of trust in them, and I think they look to the city to provide them guidance, and we have confidence that we'll be able to meet this savings that we're shooting for,” Hunt said.
The last time Thornton saw full drought restrictions was back in 2012. Right now, the city is under a Drought Watch.
“What's so challenging is right now we've had a really dry winter, which means that our soil moisture is dry, our grasses are down here dry, and then you have hot temperatures. That is something that we are much more aware of moving into this drought than we were perhaps with the last one in 2012,” Hunt said.
If the current dry conditions continue into next winter, carryover water storage from this year will be essential for water supplies next year.
“We need enough to get us through the winter and into the next summer with a little bit of buffer, depending on what the snowpack looks like. We’re really planning for that next year's storage right now, and how we manage year one of a drought really sets us up for the future, if we are going into a multi-year drought,” Hunt said.
The proposed drought plan is set to be discussed at Tuesday night’s Thornton City Council meeting.
