From Ali Longwell: Vail Daily
Denver Water — which supplies water to a quarter of the state’s population — announced this week that it would prohibit land watering starting Oct. 1 as its supplies dwindle as a result of this year’s drought.
“The drought afflicting the Denver region and its water supply system has only worsened over the course of the summer, making it clear that we need to take additional steps in response,” said Tyrone Gant, president of the Denver Board of Water Commissioners, in a press release. “Formally ending lawn watering Oct. 1 will help stretch our supplies, as we will be entering next spring with storage levels far below normal.”
Following this winter’s historically low snowpack and early melt off spurred by record-setting heat, stream flows and reservoir storage across the system has remained critically low. Natural stream flows into its reservoirs was 22% of normal, the lowest in the past 100 years of records.
Williams Fork near Kremmling and Lake Dillon in Summit County — are reportedly around 72% full, significantly below the historic median of 94% for this time of year. Denver Water’s largest reservoir is Dillion Reservoir, which was 70% of capacity as of Aug. 26 and is projected to be down around 32 feet by Labor Day.
Colorado is nearing the end of its 2026 water year on Sept. 30, a year punctuated by months of record-setting heat and below normal precipitation for much of the state. These conditions have driven critical drought conditions statewide. According to the Aug. 27 U.S. Drought Monitor, nearly 96% of Colorado is facing drought conditions of some kind, including almost 48% that is experiencing extreme or exceptional drought, the worst measured by the monitor.
The worst drought conditions cover a significant portion of the Colorado River basin, spanning from western Grand County through south Routt County, Eagle, Summit and Pitkin counties and eastern Garfield and Moffat counties. Pockets of extreme drought condition are also persisting on the Eastern Plains, as well as portions of south central and southwest Colorado.