Denver Water is ending the lawn watering season early this year, ordering a full stop to all lawn irrigation beginning Oct. 1 as the region continues to grapple with drought conditions.
Customers will still be allowed to hand-water trees, shrubs, and perennials after the ban takes effect. Currently, Denver Water customers are limited to watering lawns two days per week.
Greg Fisher, Denver Water's manager of demand planning and efficiency, said the early end to the lawn watering season is expected to produce significant water savings.
"This action that we're taking in October, we expect to save another 5,000 acre-feet of water by ending the lawn watering season in October. And that's 5,000 acre-feet of water we're going to keep in our reservoirs and really lower our risk in case we see another bad winter," Fisher said.
For reference, 1,000 acre-feet of water is about 326 million gallons — roughly enough to supply 2,000 to 4,000 households for a year.
Fisher said the timing of the Oct. 1 shutdown was deliberate.
"At this point, we're trying to keep landscapes alive. People's landscapes alive and we knew if we shut it down in the middle of August, it's really putting these landscapes at risk. So we timed that really for the season. To say normally we get that first freeze the first week of October, we think landscapes will be ok there but we also think we just need to shut it down in October and keep those water savings going," Fisher said.
Along with the upcoming ban, there is some encouraging news. Last month, Denver Water began issuing fines to customers who violated water restrictions. Fisher said customers appear to be responding.
"A month later, things are looking better. From a customer standpoint, they're getting better and better at saving. As an example, our customers reduced their usage 14% in August. We were sitting at around the 5% mark before that, so that is really encouraging to see," Fisher said.
Fisher said the conservation gains are already making a difference for the region's water supply.
"It means more water in our reservoirs. We're not drawing them down as quickly as they would be otherwise," Fisher said.
Despite the progress, Fisher said meaningful recovery remains months away. Denver Water does not expect to see significant reservoir recovery until winter snowpack builds, and the drought situation is likely to persist until at least next spring.
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