Water Usage and Important Information

Official Notice - Town of Lochbuie

Mandatory outdoor watering restrictions effective Monday, June 1^st

Why is this happening

Colorado is experiencing its worst snowpack season in recorded history, just 22% of the historic median as of April 1. An unprecedented warm winter and record March heat caused the snowpack to peak and melt weeks earlier than usual. Dry soils have absorbed most of the runoff, leaving reservoirs well below seasonal targets with no meaningful natural recharge on the way. Lochbuie's current outdoor water demand is running 18% above our historical monthly maximum, a level that is not sustainable given the available supply.

What is required now

Effective June 1, all Lochbuie residents and businesses are required to limit outdoor irrigation to no more than two assigned days per week. This restriction applies to all automatic sprinkler systems, hose-end sprinklers, and similar irrigation devices. The goal is to reduce total outdoor water demand by at least 5% relative to our historical monthly maximum demand.

If the 5% reduction is not achieved

Beginning in August, outdoor watering will be reduced to one day per week. The best way to avoid this outcome is for every resident and business to act now. The more we conserve in May, June, and July, the less likely it is that stricter measures will be needed.

Working together as a community

The Town of Lochbuie understands that adjusting your outdoor watering routine takes time and attention, and we want to make that process as straightforward as possible. Our approach to these restrictions is built on education and partnership, not penalties. Before anything else, the Town will make sure every resident and business has clear, accessible information about the new watering schedule, what counts as a violation, and practical tips for staying within the limits.

If a violation is observed, the Town's first response will be to issue a warning and connect you with the resources you need to come into compliance, not to pursue formal action. A court summons is available to the Town as a tool of last resort for repeated, willful noncompliance, but it is not where we want to go, and we do not expect it to be necessary if we work together in good faith. Many communities across Colorado that have implemented similar restrictions have succeeded through community cooperation, and we are confident Lochbuie can do the same.

To keep everyone informed and accountable, including the Town itself, we will publish regular updates on how our collective water demand is tracking against the 5% reduction target. You will be able to see whether we are making progress, and the Town will be transparent if conditions change and further action becomes necessary. This is a shared challenge, and the more visibility we all have into how we are doing as a community, the better positioned we are to avoid the one-day-per-week restrictions that would take effect in August if the target is not met. We are all in this together.

Big picture

Colorado's 2026 water restrictions stem from a perfect storm of climate conditions that have left the state with the worst snowpack on record. Statewide snowpack stood at just 22% of the historic median as of April 1, which is less than 40% of the amount that remained in the previous record-low year of 2012, driven by Colorado's warmest winter on record. A La Niña weather pattern combined with a persistent high-pressure system kept temperatures abnormally elevated all winter, and an extreme March heat event, with some areas recording temperatures nearly 30 degrees above average, caused the snowpack to peak and melt weeks earlier than normal. Because Colorado depends on mountain snowpack as its primary natural reservoir, feeding rivers, tributaries, and municipal water systems as it melts through spring and summer, this historic shortfall is cascading directly into reservoir storage levels well below seasonal targets. Compounding the problem, abnormally dry soils have absorbed much of the little runoff that has occurred, leaving significantly less water to replenish downstream supplies.

With the driest and hottest part of the year still ahead, water managers across the state have emphasized that acting early is essential to preventing far more severe restrictions later in the summer. Reservoir storage that enters the peak-demand months already depleted leaves virtually no buffer for an extended dry spell, and the degraded snowpack means no meaningful natural recharge is coming. Cities from Denver to the Vail Valley have framed their two- and three-day-per-week watering limits not as a worst-case response, but as a front-loaded, voluntary-scale intervention designed to reduce demand now, before conditions force emergency measures that would be far more disruptive to residents and businesses alike.

Lochbuie Municipal Code: Water Use Restrictions Sec 13-6-220  (document PDF below)