Denver Water customers have yet to embrace a strict water diet this year, cutting water use just 5% this month as the outdoor watering season begins. The utility, which serves 1.5 million customers, has asked residents and businesses to slash water use by 20% this summer to combat extreme drought. At the same time, reservoirs, unable to refill after melting snows evaporated early due to a surprising March heatwave, are dropping. The utility said its storage system is just 79% full, down from the 89% mark normally seen at this time of year. … Aurora homeowners and businesses have cut use 6.5%, Aurora Water spokesperson Shonnie Cline said. And the city’s reservoirs are similarly low, standing at just 56% full. This time last year they were 66% full.

Other drought news around the West:

• ABC News: US agriculture industry at risk as drought conditions worsen
• FOX13 (Salt Lake City): Drought maps include state borders, but drought doesn’t care
• News From the States: Drought prompts federal agency to offer emergency loans to New Mexico farmers