Denver Water wants to hire lawn patrol staff to enforce restrictions next summer

Denver Water is pushing for rate increases for irrigation in expectation of drought restrictions continuing through at least the first part of next summer, as well as a new lawn patrol staff to enforce tight restrictions. 

The proposal up for a final board vote emphasizes higher rates for heavy water use, meant to lean more heavily on homeowners with large irrigated lawns who are draining resources amid the ongoing drought. Bill-payers for the average single-family home among Denver Water’s 1.5 million customers would see monthly charges rise 5.7% to $60.21. Suburban customers served by Denver Water’s resources would see their rates rise 7.9%, to an average of $61.57 a month. 

Denver Water says it is spotlighting the fairness issue by actually lowering the price for the first tier of use, which is based on average essential indoor use in a year. The top 5% of city users with profligate outdoor watering, meanwhile, will spend a total of $98 more in all of 2027. 

In addition to holding revenue steady while drought-aware customers cut back on use, the higher rates also fund Denver Water’s ongoing major projects like the expansion of Gross Reservoir in Boulder County, and replacing lead pipe line connections in older neighborhoods. 

Water warriors will go out on lawn patrol

A staff proposal to the board creates 15 temporary positions for summer 2027, at $25 an hour, to more than double warnings and violations from 2026 levels. Having a dedicated staff would “demonstrate that Denver Water is enforcing its rules,” the staff recommendation says. 

A 15-person water patrol would likely conduct “2,500-3,500 stops or violations per month,” the proposal says. 

“We expect more than 15,000 stops to result in 2,000 acre-feet of direct savings and will increase total savings to 5,000-10,000 acre-feet when paired with the communications, outreach, education, and efficiency programs,” the memo says.  

The vote comes as Denver Water staff is pointing to the success of stepped-up enforcement at the end of this summer watering season, which concluded Sept. 30. The board had previously put a hard stop on all lawn irrigation starting Oct. 1, after years of making the cutoff merely a recommendation for customers. After a summer of two-day-a-week watering limitations, any lawn watering at all starting Oct. 1 could result in warnings and fines. Denver Water requires the same restrictions in the suburban areas it serves.

After issuing only 110 fines through late September, Denver Water used the rule change on Oct. 1 to boost the amount of fines and speed up enforcement. Fines for any lawn watering became $500 for the first violation by residential customers, and $1,000 for additional violations. Every customer got a preemptive postcard as their “warning,” meaning the first observed violation brought a fine. 

“From Oct. 1 through Oct. 18, under the post-October 1 violation structure, we issued 448 fines totaling $265,000,” a Denver Water spokesperson said. 

Neither the additional fines nor the early-2026 increase in water rates brings additional revenue into the utility. Customer use cutbacks actually cost Denver Water about $4 million in revenue over the summer, despite the drought surcharges, with the drop constituting about 1% of the usual revenue over that time. 

The Oct. 1 lawn cutoff helped Denver Water make better progress toward the overall 20% cut in use targeted for 2026. Customers at first reacted poorly to the two-day-a-week restrictions and 20% target, saving at a rate of only 2% of expected use early in the watering season. 

That number improved each month. By Sept. 30, Denver Water’s demand was down 9% from the five-year average. The Oct. 1 lawn shutdown has further boosted that savings to 11% from the five-year average, and saved another 3,700 acre-feet of water. An acre-foot can serve the indoor and outdoor needs of two to four average households for a year. 

The suburban customers Denver Water delivers to pay more than city customers, as dictated by a 1950s charter change. Early in this year’s drought restrictions, a Denver Water spokesperson said, “We want to emphasize we really need more from our suburban customers with larger yards right now.” 

Denver Water said this fall that over a five-year average, its City of Denver customers are using an average of 87,000 gallons of water a year, while the agency’s suburban customers are using 127,000 gallons a year.