Written on 4/20/2026

With the advent of warmer temperatures as spring shifts into high gear and the lack of our typical spring snow and rain showers persists, it becomes most apparent in the dry, brown lawns of our community. Granted the usual response would be to turn on our sprinkler systems and green things up. After all, the northern Colorado municipalities don’t seem intent on placing water restrictions on our outdoor water use and Horsetooth Reservoir and Carter Lake are nearly full to the brim, so why not?

Let’s be clear; this is NOT your typical year when it comes to the Colorado snow pack and its associated anticipated runoff. With the snow pack at record lows, we can expect little or no spring runoff to help refill our freshwater supplies once they are depleted. In addition, Carter Lake and Horsetooth Reservoir are only full since they are the beneficiaries of a dam reconstruction project on Lake Granby.

That being said, we are in the midst of what could be a long lasting and potentially devastating drought that deserves our immediate attention. While 86% of Colorado’s total available water resources is used by agriculture, 50-55% of water usage on the Front Range is for residential outdoor irrigation. While we enjoy lush green lawns, we might well consider changes in our own usage that would assist to some extent in dealing with the potential water shortage problems our community will probably face:

Increasing population with greater demand for interior household water.
Water to sustain recreation, the health of our rivers and streams, and sustaining fish and wildlife populations.
Potential low reservoir levels impacting wildfire fighting efforts.

In light of these potential problems, many municipalities are asking their water customers to voluntarily postpone the watering of their lawns until May. And some are enacting water restrictions as to the time of day and which days their citizens are allowed to water their lawns. This is just the first step of what might become a summertime of changing levels of water restrictions.

To prepare for the possibility of an extreme and long lasting drought, I believe we all need to chip in and do our part to use our water consciously, both inside and outside the house. One way we can do this is to postpone the turning on of the lawn watering portion of our sprinkler systems as long as possible, perhaps to the point of allowing only certain “more important” areas of the lawn to receive irrigation water at all this summer, while letting other less important areas of lawn go fallow.

Once lawn watering is initiated, watering frequencies of twice a week or less should be considered and “cycle and soak” strategies (multiple start times per night with greatly reduced run times) will help conserve water while prompting a deeper root zone and a healthier turf. This schedule will also “train” the lawn for the eventual first phase of twice a week watering restrictions on lawns. Stand alone drip systems for landscaped areas of trees, shrubs, and perennials shouldn’t be restricted from using water in order to maintain their health and vigor.

In conclusion, if we all do our part and use our water consciously, we can make a significant impact and be part of the solution to our current water crisis.

***Please check out our Winter Watering blog, as it can apply year round when faced with our present drought situation.