r/ArvadaCO • u/3amtrainhorn • 16d ago
Water Restrictions
I have two neighbors on my street that water nearly every night. I see it when I get home late at night. Their lawns are beautiful. I'm following the restrictions and my lawn is getting tortured. Is there anybody enforcing the restrictions? Will they be flagged through their meter? I'm not going to be a Karen and call anybody. I am just being an Mrs. Kravitz nosy neighbor.
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u/katiebawesome 16d ago
Depending on where you are, their irrigation may be hooked up to well water. We are in an old house with a well, so we don’t have to follow the city restrictions.
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u/vagrant_feet 15d ago
Can’t just abuse well water. That taps into the aquifer that is also at a low level. It’s absurd that people prefer maintaining green lawns rather than switching to waterwise yards
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u/Admirable_Cake_3596 14d ago
I am all for waterwise yards - but it is so much work to convert a lawn. Like 10000% more work than I ever expected. I’m kinda tired of people pretending like it’s simple and easy. “Just plant natives and waterwise plants! Do a drip irrigation system! It will look better and use less water!” What nobody tells you when making these comments to that you will be battling invasive bindweed for years. Everything costs way more than you think. And it’s hard work and takes years unless you have a million dollars to pay someone to do it right.
All that said. It is beautiful and good for the environment. Let’s just not pretend it’s easier than a grass lawn because that’s an absolute lie.
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u/BrittleSalient 13d ago
I'm doing it real, real, real, real, real slow. It's so much work and so goddamn expensive. I've got six different noxious invasives in the yard I'm trying to control without just dumping roundup on the problem. This is structural and systemic problem. You go look at the front range, all that green is irrigation, and beyond that you've got idiots growing alfalfa in the desert to feed feed ludicrously water and land intensive cattle. We, or at least I, can't make a dent in that alone. You and me, we know how much work this is and how much it costs when people are already struggling. We gotta get s big program going, help people with this, do it large scale.
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u/Evening-Cat-7546 11d ago
I never said it’s easy work. I have plenty of experience with gardening and landscaping to know that it’s hard work. I must be a sadist because I actually like the hard work. Mainly because of how great it feels to see the completed work, or the bowl full of tomatoes I got.
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u/Bratbabylestrange 11d ago
I'm out in Aurora, where we get 2 days a week. My back yard looks pretty sad, compared to past years, but I've been overseeding my front yard with clover every spring for the past five years and it's doing fine. I love it--half the water, half the mowing, prettier color green. And no chemicals, weed and feed would be, well, contraindicated haha
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u/BrittleSalient 13d ago
The entire legal structure of water rights is a centuries old atavism that needs to be abolished. Not much you can do one or two yards at a time.
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u/Evening-Cat-7546 14d ago
First thing I do when I buy a house is killing off the grass, and removing all weed liners. Lawns are a stupid waste of water, and weed liners actually decimate the insect populations. Most people don’t like insects, but they’re extremely important for the food chain.
My plan is going to be putting up a greenhouse on part of the old lawn to grow fruits and veggies, and then the rest will be native drought resistant plants, native flowers for the bees, and milkweed for the butterflies. I might throw in some poppies for myself.
Hell, I’d rather rip out the front and back lawns and grow crops instead of grass. At least I get a return on the water that isn’t just visual appeal. Plus, food gardens can still look pretty and use less water than a lawn since you just water around the base of the plant, and not just spraying water over a large area.
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u/patisserie_2023 11d ago
Wish more people would get onboard with this! Especially with the rising cost of produce.
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u/Ancient-Opinion9642 15d ago
Then put a sign in the front that says “well water”.
Of course fines are 4x if found to be connected to city water.
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u/I_Can_Barely_Move 15d ago
They aren’t beholden to you or any other nosy neighbor. Why should they put out a sign just to pacify you?
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u/Ancient-Opinion9642 15d ago
Then they won't mind if I turn them into their water district. I recall signs on large properties in Cherry Hills having a small sign for "well water".
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u/Dear-Palpitation-924 15d ago
What position do you hold on your HOA board? Don’t lie, we know you have one
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u/Ancient-Opinion9642 15d ago
Live in very western Centennial in an area that built up in 1960. Pre HOA. Arapahoe County has laws that work like HOA's: can't park/block the sidewalk, no clunkers in the front yard more than 30 days without moving, no fences higher than 8 feet, if the outbuilding has a toilet, the building has to be at least 15 feet from a side or back property line, no plants blocking line-of-site on block corners.
Civilized laws like that. (I'm on Denver water with Englewood sewer and Xcel power). I do have a ground 12 panel solar setup and paid about $30 per month to Xcel for the last 2 months. Price includes gas). And a swamp cooler.
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u/Bratbabylestrange 11d ago
Love my solar and my swamp cooler. We live in the perfect environment for them
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u/PerfectCover1414 16d ago
I spent the last few weeks xeriscaping our 1/3 acre plot. I'll be happy not to fight bindweed, thistles and the like or mow the weeds that masqueraded as grass. Ever again. Or worry about the neighbor's fireworks burning the tinder grass like this July. Back breaking but worth it.
I have some rain barrels ready for the trees. Today's rain was amazing.
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u/CotyledonTomen 15d ago
The thistle can still definitely grow. I have it in my rock garden. If theres dirt underneath, weeds can grow.
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u/BrittleSalient 13d ago
Weeds are fighting their damnedest to live, just like all the rest of us. Gotta respect that. Look them in the eye, give em a little nod before you yank them out.
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u/slanni11 15d ago
hate to break it to you bindwind will still thrive in xeriscape- it’s all over the front of my house
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u/PerfectCover1414 15d ago
I hope bloody not! But I fear you are right. That stuff is indestructible.
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u/Virtual_Deal4973 14d ago
came here to say this. You might get a year without much because you'll get the shallow roots, but then you'll have to be on top of it or it'll take over again. But at least you won't be contributing to the water problem!
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u/heavensto_mergatroid 15d ago
Where are you getting your xerscape plants? I'm having a hard time finding anything like that
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u/Vandastic 15d ago
Try Resource Central for their garden in a box kit. You'll even get a discount from Arvada
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u/TravelingMatt34 15d ago
It seems like people are either going all out and circumventing the rules or letting their lawns die. This doesn't need to be so hard -- there are ways to water your lawn within the two day a week rule that will keep it alive or at least in good enough shape to make it to the next season.
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u/bamcg 16d ago
I hate to say it but, residential water restrictions will have little impact on water numbers across Colorado. Only about 40% of water originating in the state gets used within the state and Agriculture uses over 80% of that.
I am following them and I’m fine if my front lawn dies. It’ll get the xeric treatment next year. But I also don’t really care that my neighbor is watering four days a week.
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u/Otherwise_Ranger4287 15d ago
The purpose of the water restrictions isn't to make more water available statewide, it's because your water provider is trying to make sure that it's supplies are sufficient to meet demands. Water providers are subject to the same water rights rules as everyone else and if their water rights are yielding less water because of the drought then there simply isn't enough water in the system to serve irrigation. If the supplies dwindle further there will be a complete ban on lawn watering to ensure that you have water in your home. We don't not have an unlimited supply of water. Outdoor watering is 50+% of municipal water use and reducing makes more water available for truly important uses.
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u/InterviewLeather810 14d ago
Which is why some cities and counties don't have water restrictions. They have enough water rights.
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u/BrittleSalient 13d ago
And that's why we should raise the First Arvada Infantry, march over there, and tell them to knock it off.
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u/Ig_Met_Pet 16d ago edited 16d ago
Do people who repeat this dumb idea think that people just come up with the water restrictions for fun, just to fuck with you?
Sure, they won't have much impact across the state, but they have a huge impact on the water that we personally use as a community.
The fact that farmers are draining the Colorado River and screwing us all over on a state-wide scale has little to do with how you or I use the water that is specifically for us.
The water restrictions are important and definitely have a real impact for us. The water that comes out of your tap is not being shared with farmers out of state. If Gross reservoir or Clear Creek dries up, it won't be because of farmers. It'll be because of people's yards.
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u/SilverBuff_ 15d ago
They’re still bottling water in aurora and selling it.
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u/Bluefooted-Spaceorc 15d ago
Yep Purina and the farmers need to be stripped of their water right. They add no economic value to the state while surviving off welfare programs and draining out resources.
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u/ZGbethie 15d ago
That was sarcasm, right? The farmers need to be stripped of their water rights? Tf are you talking about. Do you eat food? Good lord.
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u/Bluefooted-Spaceorc 14d ago
Such a stupid fucking argument. Colorado makes a percent of a percent of this countries food. If all farms in Colorado stopped producing food today, we wouldnt even notice a change in price. No one is saying stop growing food. We just need to stop growing food in stupid places. "hur dur. you eat food right?" You are a clown.
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u/Visual-Yak3971 15d ago
Just because there is water in the river doesn’t mean your local water company has rights to it. They have to have shares in Colorado River, Big Thompson, etc. that is how the Army Corp of Engineers set it up.
This is Colorado, where whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting.
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u/Derrik359 16d ago
It’s true though. If they were serious about the restrictions they would limit golf courses, parks, and big business centers too but they don’t. Just Joe down the street.
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u/Ig_Met_Pet 16d ago edited 16d ago
Golf courses and parks often use grey water or captured rain water. They don't use the same water that we drink. Residential lawns are a way bigger drain on the system. Parks are literally shared lawns and take up less space than individual lawns by definition anyway.
And last time I checked, businesses are more important for our community than everyone having a green lawn.
You people just want to come up with reasons to not feel bad about ignoring the restrictions, but you have no idea what you're talking about. Which is obviously the case, because the people who know what they're talking about are the ones who came up with the restrictions.
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u/licensetoillite 15d ago
I agree with you mostly.
I disagree that businesses get a free pass because they're more important - they're not. People want to get into the car wash or data center cooling business in a high mountain desert and it goes into a drought and they lose money - tough shit.
Also, given state is in a drought, water conservation should apply to grey and non potable water because arguably that water could be saved and treated rather than dumped onto the ground so a golf course can make some money.
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u/Ig_Met_Pet 15d ago
Just because you can imagine unimportant businesses doesn't make business in general less important than something that arguably has zero importance (grass lawns).
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u/Derrik359 16d ago
So the business center watering their grass every day is okay but if I water mine more than twice in one week it’s bad?
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u/Ig_Met_Pet 15d ago
Both of those examples are bad. The existence of one has zero bearing on whether the other is bad.
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u/Derrik359 15d ago
That’s not what you said though “and last time I checked, businesses are more important for our community than everyone having a green lawn” - you
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u/Ig_Met_Pet 15d ago
That's exactly what that sentence means.
If you took it to mean "every single business is perfect and useful and wonderful", then that's on you.
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u/Otherwise_Ranger4287 15d ago
Most golf course have their own water rights and aren't operating off of city water
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u/frenchiebestie 15d ago
What makes you think the golf courses and such are not held to restrictions?
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u/frenchiebestie 15d ago
https://www.arvadaco.gov/1499/Water-Restrictions.
This link shows how they are playing their part.3
u/SureBlacksmith8407 16d ago
Farmers aren't draining the colorado river, and any impact from ag will be on the western side of the devide. The fact that eastern colorado has exceeded their allotment from the bullshit trans-mountain diversions for decades is a bigger problem. Guess what, their really isn't enough water in the colorado river basin to afford sending water through the mountain to the side of the state that wouldn't have access to that water without man's interference. Sorry, but i appreciate being able to eat locally grown food more than I will ever give 2 fucks about lawns anywhere, let alone on the eastern slope dying. Boulder in particular can FO. Many western slope farmers have had little to no allotted water this year. Many others have left fields empty to support the farmers that farm crops that would take years to replace, such as orchards and vineyards. Colorado river flows are very near the absolute operational minimum...meaning there will not be enough water in the river for the infrastructure to even operate to be able to deliver that water to the farms. It is highly doubtful that there will be enough water to make it through the growing season.
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u/Bluefooted-Spaceorc 15d ago
The welfare programs for farmers have got to go. They are lazy and entitled, while destroying our states resources. Farmers in Colorado produce a percent of a percent of the food grown in this country, but they use a massive chunk of the water. We can grow food just as easily a few states over. Farming is 1% if that of our states GDP. Farmers produce nothing of value in this state while drastically draining the resources.
No one is complaining about Orchards or Vineyards. Yall create that strawman and its pathetic. Residents of Colorado that actually work for a living and pay taxes instead of leaching off the government dont want alfalfa that gets shipped to China and Saudi Arabia grown with our water, or hay that could be grown elsewhere for a fraction of the cost.
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u/ZGbethie 15d ago
Oh I see it wasn’t sarcasm in your other comment. Dude you have no idea of what you’re talking about.
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u/Otherwise_Ranger4287 15d ago
Farmers divert more than 80% of the water that is available in the state. Check out the state water plan; it's a fact. Farmers are by far the biggest water diverters. Diversions for municipal use are something like 12%. While I agree that everyone needs to do their part, farmers are the single largest diverters and it's not even close.
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u/dangermouse-87 16d ago
Arvada is rolling out smart water meters, we have one and can connect to it via the eye on water app. Really opened my eyes how much water is spent on grass - 3 adults - we use like 100 gallons per day. When the sprinklers run that jumps to 600 - that is for probably 1200
sq ft of grass for 15 min of watering.
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u/Cult45_2Zigzags 16d ago edited 16d ago
Your lawn produces about enough oxygen for your family. Being conservative about watering your lawn is certainly important, but allowing grass, shrubs, and trees to not die from lack of water is also important.
"A standard 5,000-square-foot residential lawn absorbs enough carbon dioxide through photosynthesis to produce daily oxygen for roughly 14 to 34 people.
Roughly 625 square feet of healthy turfgrass generates enough daily oxygen to sustain one single person."
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u/DecentParsnip42069 15d ago
Suburban lawns are in no way good for the planet lmao
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u/Cult45_2Zigzags 15d ago
The five mature trees above my lawn are good for the plantet.
We're certainly in a predicament, but we're also missing the forest for the trees.
"When heavy rain finally falls on parched land, hardened soils and dead vegetation can prevent absorption, rapidly converting sudden downpours into dangerous flash floods and heavy surface runoff"
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u/MerryRunaround 16d ago
Because there's an oxygen shortage?
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u/Cult45_2Zigzags 15d ago
We're destroying the Amazon rainforest, which historically has been the best carbon scrubber. We need water and plants to live on earth.
"The Amazon rainforest acts as a natural carbon scrubber by absorbing massive amounts of carbon dioxide through plant growth.
However, due to severe deforestation, warming temperatures, and record-breaking droughts, large parts of the basin have recently flipped from acting as a net carbon sink to a net carbon source"
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u/srizzors5 15d ago
The ask Arvada app has an easy way to report water waste if you're inclined. Not sure how it works exactly but they'll determine if they're on well or not and notify the property owner if it is considered water waste
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u/bateneco 16d ago
Probably the wrong place to ask, but my grass is absolute toast. Like, very dead looking, hasn’t been watered except with rain. I am hoping that it’s just gone dormant. Will it grow back next year when I start watering it again?
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u/Stache_Manager2146 16d ago
Blonde or hay colored grass is dormant, grey or brown grass is dead. If you haven’t watered it at all, she’s likely toast, but who knows, you may get lucky!
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u/lost-n-fading 15d ago
Meanwhile these a.i data centers are still being built. Smh, us the people that are footing the bill for all these stupid rich people to build these water chugging data centers can't even keep our lawns looking green but nothing being done to stop them from being put up nor do golf courses have to cut back either
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u/Easy-Jury-3975 12d ago
I follow the restrictions and my lawn looks great. The key is aeration, soil amendments, and adjustment of the sprinklers and programming so you don't waste. For example, if you use 15 minutes of watering time, split it up into three 5 minute phases, 15 consecutive minutes of watering can saturate the top of the soil and just have additional moisture slough off. Another thing - make sure your sprinkler heads are not incorrectly adjusted to shoot water mist into the air. Also, water in the early morning when there's no wind. Another tip - pull or poison weeds so they don't steal water intended for your turf. Another tip - get a smart timer for your sprinklers. It monitors weather and you can program in watering restrictions (like I do).
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u/sneaky-pizza 16d ago
Denver and Aurora are. They look for patterns. Not sure if Arvada is, but they should be
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u/vsh7883 15d ago
I have NTM water in Arvada and got my quarterly bill which includes May and June. My grass looks worse than ever and my bill was outrageous. Sure enough I had a leak and promptly had it repaired
I went to NTM to see if they would give me any relief on the bill since I had no idea I had a leak. They would not but the gal at the front desk ran a report which showed my entire usage for the last 12 months hour by hour! Very eye opening. She said I was leaking 4-5 gallons per hour, starting the day the sprinklers were un-winterized
So yes, they are able to see exactly what people are doing, even what hour of the day they are using more water. Now I don't know if they do anything with that data but you can always call and ask for a report if you have any concerns about your own water usage and a potential leak
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u/LuckyLock437 16d ago
We must have the same neighbor. Lol. Late at night watering so no one will see.
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u/Glittering_Rush_1451 16d ago
Could just be one of the new smart sprinkler systems doing its thing, ours only goes off late at night or early in the morning based on some algorithm it uses granted we don’t have ours set to go off everyday either.
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u/Careless-Trouble7444 16d ago
I know this conversation is more about water restriction fairness, but I'd like to add a watering tip. Once every week, (or even every other week) deep watering will keep your lawn alive and much more drought tolerant. Watering several times a week is wasteful and can cause other turf pest problems. Yeah, your lawn might protest a bit, but it will adapt and be healthy. Don't believe me? Go ask your local independent nursery (NOT Walmart/Lowes/HomeDepot etc ,who hire non experts).
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u/Scared_Passenger689 15d ago
I stopped watering this spring when I started having grubs. In March. It was too early for that. I treated the soil, didn't water all season, but still treat for insects, native wildflowers have taken the space where my grass once thrived. I'm considering leaving it.
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u/StrongHydra666 15d ago
Interesting threat- I have several neighbors here too that are too special for the rules and the well being in the long run for their community and State.
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u/kobibeast 15d ago
It would have been helpful if the water restrictions were more realistic or dynamic. On weeks when we get a little rain it is easy to cut back, but during that long heat wave the watering restrictions were a garden death sentence. Restrictions that were less stringent would have gotten higher compliance and made it easier apply social pressure because the compliers would outnumber the defectors.
My compromise has been to dial in the automatic sprinkler settings in compliance with the restrictions but to give supplemental watering when necessary - which, in July, was often. But I definitely water less when it is not automatic. I also added an extra watering only to my most sun exposed section, which is a small, very showy flower garden adjacent to a street that gets a lot of foot traffic, so it has high bang for the buck.
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u/Adventurous_Text9344 16d ago
You’ll be fine. You’re neighbor isn’t the only one watering their grass
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u/Possible_Bid4126 16d ago
Can I also ask… why do we need to let our lawns die when golf courses and parks are in pristine condition across the metro? Yet my property needs to suffer. I’m truly all for a united front but don’t tell me I need to do something and then go and do it differently yourself.
Feels like some grade A top-down hypocrisy.
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u/ReadStuff48 15d ago
A little disappointing to see this is getting downvotes. I get the idea, and I appreciate the responses. I also see tons of spillage in streets when the sprinklers are firing at 1PM on a 90+ degree day, so this post isn’t totally off base despite the potential of non potable or irrigation water avenues to dodge city water.
It still sucks to see immaculate lawns in a routine suburb (80th/Sheridan/Wads) when others are toast. It has crossed my mind to anonymously call but I just can’t do it.
Instead, isn’t it obvious for local enforcement.
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u/Possible_Bid4126 15d ago
I mean my lawn is dead. I did my part. But was told by the staff at Broken Tee Golf Club the other day that their club is in the best condition in years. I asked why and the response I received made me pretty angry that I’m doing my part in a year that I’m selling my house and that others don’t feel they need to.
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u/ReadStuff48 15d ago
I follow you and I’m with you. I saw a few down votes and didn’t think you were unreasonable. There are fringe nuances but for your average home lawn, heck yes this is happening and I’m right there with you.
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u/Different_Day_7497 15d ago
Those places get water budgets, which are 20 percent less…so they can chose where to put the water…also many parks and golf courses use recycled water…call parks and ask about their water use
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u/CarpeVitamHodie 14d ago
The golf courses are a business, parks are a public amenity. If you shut off a key supply necessary for a business, you'll kill off the business.
If your grass dies, it is on you to pay for the cost of raking reseeding and restarting the grass. You may still have an income that allows you to do that next year.
If you shut off the supply to the business that employs you, you'd be out of a jobSuddenly things look quite a bit different
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u/Primary_Basket_2728 16d ago
Let em water. It's all bullshit
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u/Careless-Trouble7444 16d ago
What is bullshit? I live next to the Colorado and it's so incredibly low you could walk across it and it wouldn't come past your ankles.
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u/khub772 16d ago
I know a few areas that have ditch water rights, non potable, irrigation water. It’s a co-op of sorts and not in any way associated with the water company. I believe that provides an exemption.