How much water Front Range communities did — and didn’t — save this summer
… Beleaguered Front Range water utilities responded to historic drought conditions in the just-ended watering season with a variety of mandates, restrictions, price increases, friendly reminders and educational seminars. The results were decidedly mixed. With no guarantee that predicted El Niño weather will bring deep powder in the spots drained by Front Range cities, utility experts will be studying their results in case they need to redeploy restrictions in 2027. We asked a handful of cities to tell us what they learned, and to add up the numbers. Not every water agency measures its savings the same way or uses the same historic period for comparison, so we’re presenting their savings in the way they talk about it in their communities.
Other water supply news around the West:
- The Denver Gazette (Colo.): Denver Water reservoirs fall to 67% amid drought, watering ban
- Courthouse News: After strong monsoon, winter rainfall could recharge Arizona aquifers
- Drought.gov (NOAA): Long- and short-term drought persists despite late-season moisture across the Intermountain West
- SnowBrains: Snowpacks in the West as high as 15,300% of median — making sense of the West’s wild early-season numbers
