ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The fountain outside of the Englewood Civic Center that's been on all summer long is now shut off, ahead of a historic decision for city council.
The city has never implemented mandatory water restrictions for its residents, and on Monday night, council members will be considering just that.
Rebecca Kramer spoke out against the proposed mandatory restrictions at the Water and Sewer Board meeting, citing Denver7's previous coverage of the impact of voluntary water restrictions over the summer.
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At the time, Englewood Utilities Director Pieter Van Ry said, "Over the last few days, as we've been 100 degrees or more, we looked year over year, and our usage is actually down from last year to this year."
Their data shows a 10% decrease in water usage so far this year compared to 2024 and a 5% decrease compared to 2025. Neither of the previous years had voluntary restrictions.
Denver7's South Metro Reporter Danielle Kreutter asked Van Ry what changed between then and now.
"At the time that we did the last interview, we were right on this verge of potentially needing to move to more conservation, and it just so happened we got a few more hot days, and we started to get into a reserve supply that's a trigger for us," he said.
► Watch Danielle Kreutter's report in the video below:
Van Ry explained there is no record of the city ever needing to tap into that reserve supply, and he said the rate at which the reserve is decreasing is increasingly concerning.
"What we're trying to balance is predicting the future, predicting the rest of the year, and ensuring that we don't run out of that reserve," he said.
He's recommending that the council consider approving two-day mandatory watering restrictions.
"As you're asking residents to do mandatory water restrictions, has the city at all cut back on their water use?" asked Denver7's South Metro Reporter Danielle Kreutter.
"South Platte Renew, we cut back watering significantly. Back over there, where there's a lot of open green space, we cut that back substantially. We met with Parks [and Recreation] to not just work with the golf course, but also just the watering and the city parks," he said during the interview at the Charles Allen Water Treatment Plant.
Earlier in the summer, Englewood's city code was changed so that, if mandatory restrictions are ever needed, there are now ways to enforce them and penalize violations.
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Neighbors like Kramer are concerned about implementing such a significant change for residents at the end of the summer.
"We have never had mandatory restrictions in Englewood," said Kramer. "We're at the end of gardens, the end of watering lawns. If we have low snowpack this next winter, then in February and March we ought to be considering the next steps if we hit reserves."
She points out the challenge City officials may face in their ongoing goal of protecting Englewood's tree canopy if water restrictions are implemented now.
City Council members are expected to discuss what type of water restrictions will be in place and who will control the process for activating them at their meeting Monday night.
"I think every water provider on the Front Range is in this balance of how do we, you know, supply water to our customers as they wish to receive it, with the limited supply because the snowpack was so low, historically low, and the summer has been historically really, really dry," said Van Ry.
