{"id":898579,"date":"2026-10-29T09:18:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T09:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/898579\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T09:18:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T09:18:18","slug":"denver-water-raises-2027-rates-for-outdoor-watering-after-drought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/898579\/","title":{"rendered":"Denver Water raises 2027 rates for outdoor watering after drought"},"content":{"rendered":"

Denver Water\u2019s 1.5 million customers will see higher water bills next year as the state\u2019s largest water provider tries to recover from this year\u2019s extreme drought<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The utility\u2019s Board of Water Commissioners voted Wednesday morning to increase rates for outdoor watering<\/a> while simultaneously lowering rates for indoor water use. Denver Water\u2019s leaders wanted to ensure that essential indoor water use for cooking, drinking and bathing remained affordable while encouraging people to conserve water sprayed on their lawns, according to a news release.<\/p>\n

In terms of net impact, the price changes<\/a>, which go into effect Jan. 1, are expected to raise monthly water bills for single-family homes by an average of about $3.25 to $4.50, according to Denver Water.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are experiencing a historic drought, which has stressed our system and our communities,\u201d Denver Water CEO Alan Salazar said in a statement. \u201cAnd we are asking our customers to conserve water and stretch the supplies we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last winter\u2019s snow drought, followed by Denver\u2019s hottest summer on record, sapped Denver Water\u2019s reservoirs. Combined, the utility\u2019s reservoirs sat at 66% full on Monday<\/a>. They are typically 89% full this time of year.<\/p>\n

Besides discouraging excessive use, the higher rates for outdoor watering will also pay for the utility\u2019s system maintenance and larger infrastructure investments, like the expansion of Gross Reservoir and replacing lead pipes. The water provider does not receive tax dollars or make a profit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all have a shared responsibility to ensure the system stays strong and resilient, because while this is one of the worst droughts Denver Water has experienced in the last 100 years, we know it won\u2019t be the last,\u201d Salazar said. \u201cOur climate is warming, and we need to ensure that the 1.5 million people who rely on us have access to safe, affordable, clean water.\u201d<\/p>\n

The board also set rates Wednesday in case the system remains under drought restrictions next spring. Drought rates would be added to the base rate for outdoor water use.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how the new rates will play out for a single-family home customer in the city of Denver (suburban rates are a bit higher). Indoor water use will cost $2.33 per 1,000 gallons, and outdoor water use will cost $5.83 per 1,000 gallons.<\/p>\n

Under drought conditions that limit lawn watering to two days a week, the outdoor water price will jump to $7.23 per 1,000 gallons.<\/p>\n

Get more Colorado news by signing up for our Mile High Roundup email newsletter.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Denver Water\u2019s 1.5 million customers will see higher water bills next year as the state\u2019s largest water provider…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":898580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[252115,1687,3832,9045,158395,1840,243217,15229,192,4142,2558,3,79,60376,38782,2316,34321,282,19818],"class_list":["post-898579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-alan-salazar","tag-climate","tag-colorado","tag-colorado-news","tag-colorado-water","tag-denver","tag-denver-water","tag-drought","tag-environment","tag-front-range","tag-latest-headlines","tag-news","tag-science","tag-snow","tag-spring","tag-summer","tag-utility","tag-water","tag-winter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=898579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/898580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=898579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=898579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=898579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}