Denver Water is set to temporarily increase prices for some customers in response to severe drought in the region.
The utility’s new proposal would focus on outdoor water usage, especially lawn irrigation. It could cost the typical single-family home anywhere from an extra few dollars a month to around $20 or more, according to our rough estimates.
“The proposed drought pricing is intended to encourage customers to conserve water. Tiered pricing ensures that higher-usage customers pay more, thus incentivizing water use reductions. Drought pricing will not apply to residential essential water use or commercial winter water use and will only apply to outdoor watering in Tiers 2 and 3,” utility staffers wrote in a presentation to the Denver Water Board of Water Commissioners.
The proposal would add an extra cost for any usage beyond a residential consumer’s “average winter consumption.” Households would pay an extra $1.10 for every 1,000 gallons of water used beyond their average winter usage. That surcharge would increase to $2.20 if customers exceed their winter average by more than 15,000 gallons.
The utility’s board is set to vote on the proposal at a meeting on Wednesday, April 8, at 9 a.m.
A deeper dive on the pricing:
Denver Water didn’t immediately provide estimates of how that would affect the average customer. But residences tend to use much more water in the summer; irrigation makes up roughly half of water used by single-family homes, according to Denver Water.
In one example provided on the utility’s website, a household might use 8,000 more gallons of water in the summer months. That household would pay an extra $8.80 under the proposed drought restrictions.
But the impact would vary greatly depending on how much grass a home has, and how residents adjust their usage. Homes without lawns would see a far smaller impact, since they have a smaller spike in summer usage. On the other hand, other households use far more water. A mid-sized sprinkler system can easily consume more than 1,000 gallons of water per hour.
Other consumers, including Denver’s city government and non-residential users, also would face surcharges. The city of Denver would pay $0.55 per 1,000 gallons for irrigation purchases, while raw water buyers would pay $0.25 per 1,000 gallons for all purposes
The rate increases could generate about $29 million in extra revenue for Denver Water, staff estimated.
Denver and other municipalities are setting big water restrictions
Denver Water already passed a set of Stage 1 drought restrictions, including a rule that customers may only run their sprinklers twice weekly. Even-numbered addresses may water on Sunday and Thursday, while odd-numbered addresses may water on Wednesday and Saturday.
The cost increase would apply to the entire Denver Water service area. Denver Water serves 1.5 million people in cities including Denver, Littleton, Lakewood, Arvada, Edgewater, Glendale, Wheat Ridge, Greenwood Village, Sheridan and numerous other water districts.
Other cities like Aurora also are considering or passing similar restrictions, including price increases.
The new rates would begin June 1 and would be set to expire in spring 2027.
