Denver Water leaders aimed to reduce customers’ use by 20% across the board this year in response to record-breaking drought. But so far, the customers of the state’s largest utility have fallen short. Through the end of September, Denver Water customers reduced their water use by 9%, according to Greg Fisher, the utility’s manager of demand planning. Three months remain in the year, and Fisher expressed hope that a full lawn watering ban implemented Thursday — accompanied by threats of steep fines — would help the utility meet its goal. … In total, customers used 10,800 acre-feet less water than normal so far this year, according to Denver Water. … The utility issued 2,000 warnings and levied 110 fines that totaled approximately $30,000.

Other drought and water restriction news:

• FOX13 (Salt Lake City): Record-low runoff still impacting Utah’s water supply despite wet monsoon season
• ABC4 (Salt Lake City): Utah ends water year with 14% drop in reservoir storage
• KTNV (Las Vegas): Las Vegas Valley Water District outlines fines for watering nonfunctional turf