City Of Greeley
 

Watering Restrictions

Greeley’s Water & Sewer Board declared 2013 an adequate water year and residents should follow the regular, 3-days per week watering schedule.The Water & Sewer Board considers many factors when making this decision including the Colorado Big-Thompson quota, reservoir storage, snowpack and an extended weather forecast. The Water & Sewer Board will revisit the issue in July and may implement further watering restrictions at that time.

Watering Restriction Flyer in English • En Español

The Greeley Water & Sewer Department is asking its customers to voluntarily water less this summer. Below are a few of our recommendations:

  • Wait until May 1 to begin watering your lawn, don’t wake up your lawn early.  

  • Voluntarily follow these Drought Level 1 recommendations, which will keep your lawn healthy and will be water efficient:
      • One day per week until May 14
      • Two days per week until June 14
      • Three days per week until August 31
      • One day per week until October 15
      • No watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
      • It is strongly recommended that newly seeded or sodded lawns not be installed during June, July or August and compost must be verified before issuing a variance.

This watering schedule was developed after the drought of 2002 to keep lawns healthy but not lush.

Mandatory Watering Schedule

Beginning April 15, Greeley water customers may water three days a week, with no watering between noon and 5 p.m. The schedule below must be followed for anyone served by the Greeley Water & Sewer Department:
Greeley's 2013 Mandatory Watering Schedule
  Single family residences & duplexes with even numbered addresses ending in:

0, 2, 4, 6, 8 		Single family residences & duplexes with odd numbered addresses ending in:

1, 3, 5, 7, 9 		All others: home owner association common areas, multi-family residences, apartments, businesses, government, non-profit, churches, commercial, industries, and institutions.
January 1 -
April 14 		No Lawn Watering No Lawn Watering No Lawn Watering
April 15 -
December 31

Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday

Monday, Wednesday, Saturday
Sunday, Tuesday, Friday

  • Water waste of any kind is subject to fines.
  • New lawn watering variances are available with proper soil amendment (4 cubic yards of compost per 1,000 square feet of lawn). If a new lawn is installed you must apply for a permit/variance, if you want to water more than 3 days per week.

  • Waste of water is prohibited at any time.

  • Sprinkler irrigation shall not occur between 12:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. from May through August even when water supplies are adequate.

  • Drip irrigation, low-volume spray or bubbling sprinklers, hose-end sprinklers, and weeping-type soaker hoses are allowed to water trees, shrubs or flower beds at anytime.

  • Hand-watering of vegetables and flower gardens, trees and shrubs and individual brown spots in a lawn is allowed at any time, so long as water waste does not occur. Hand-watering means holding in the hand a hose with attached positive shutoff nozzle and does not include operating a hose with a sprinkler or manually operating an irrigation controller.

  • Hand-watering to clean property, such as roof gutters, eaves, windows or in preparation for painting, is allowed as long as water waste does not occur.

  • Home car washing is allowed anytime with a restrictive nozzle hose and bucket, and minimal runoff.

How Much Should I Water?

Watering Suggestions
Month Watering Days per Week Inches Required per Week
January Water trees and shrubs when needed. 0
February Water trees and shrubs when needed. 0
March Water trees and shrubs when needed. 0
April 1 Day Per Week - After 4/15 0.5"
May 1 Day Per Week 1"
June 2 Days Per Week 1.25"
July 3 Days Per Week 1.5"
August 3 Days Per Week 1.25"
September 1 Day Per Week 1"
October 1 Day Per Week--Until 10-15
Blow-out Sprinklers/Disconnect Hoses 		0.5"
November Water trees and shrubs when needed. 0
December Water trees and shrubs when needed. 0

If you don’t know how many inches of water your sprinkler system disseminates per hour, please sign up for a sprinkler system audit. Most spray heads disseminate approximately 2 inches of water per hour and most rotor sprinklers disseminate approximately 1/3 of an inch per hour, although these are generalizations.

Below is an example on how you can translate inches of water into minutes.

It is May and you have spray heads in the front yard. The lawn needs an inch of water per week. You could water each zone for 30 minutes on one day. A better option is to water 15 minutes two days per week. The best option would be to use the cycle and soak method: water each zone 7 minutes and wait 30 minutes to let it soak in. While waiting, water other areas of the lawn. Then water the first area again for 7-8 minutes. You will need to follow this procedure two days per week.

Reporting Water Violations

A person's name is kept confidential when they report a watering restriction. You can report violations in many ways, it helps to leave an exact address and the date and time of the violation.

Call: 970-336-4134
E-mail

Water Restriction Fines

On the first offense, we issue a warning reminding you to follow Greeley's watering restrictions. You will either find a notice on your door or receive a letter in the mail. If you are found in non-compliance after the warning, you will receive a first violation ticket and will have to appear in court.
  • A flow restrictor will allow water use only indoors
  • Subsequent violations will be fined at the 4th violation level.
  • The fines are the amount of times one is caught within one calendar year.

  • Although the City will try to give warnings administratively, we are no longer required by the ordinance to warn you before serving a ticket.

  • View the current watering restrictions and make sure you are in compliance.
Residential Fines
1st Violation $100
2nd Violation $250
3rd Violation $500
4th Violation $500 + Flow Restrictor
Commerical Fines
1st Violation $200
2nd Violation $500
3rd Violation $1000
4th Violation $1000 + Flow Restrictor