Designing for Colorado's Water Restrictions

Water Is the Constraint in Colorado Landscaping

Every Northern Colorado municipality operates water restriction programs — some permanent, some triggered by drought conditions. Erie, Longmont, Boulder, and surrounding communities all have regulations limiting irrigation frequency, time of day, and in drought years, total water allotments.

Designing a landscape that works within these restrictions isn't a compromise. It's the only approach that produces a property that looks good year-round without constant intervention.

Know Your Local Rules Before You Design

Most Front Range municipalities have adopted odd/even or day-of-week watering schedules, along with time-of-day restrictions (no watering between 10 AM and 6 PM during summer). Some have permanent restrictions on turf installation on new residential lots, and several limit turf to a percentage of the total landscaped area.

Before planning a new landscape, check with your municipality's water utility. Rules change, and designing against last year's restrictions may put you out of compliance.

Turf Area Is the Main Variable

Turf is the single highest-water-use element in most residential landscapes. Kentucky bluegrass needs 1–1.5 inches of water per week in summer — far more than any planted bed.

Design strategies:

• Reduce turf to areas where it's actually used (play areas, pet areas, main lawn)
• Replace non-functional turf strips along streets and between sidewalk and fence with xeriscape
• Use buffalograss or blue grama for low-traffic lawn areas that don't need the density of bluegrass

The Xeriscape Approach

Xeriscape doesn't mean rocks and cactus. It means water-efficient landscaping designed to thrive in your climate with minimal supplemental irrigation. In Northern Colorado, a well-designed xeriscape includes:

• Native and regionally adapted plants in beds
• 3–4 inches of organic mulch to suppress weeds and retain moisture
• Drip irrigation on plants (far more efficient than spray)
• Decomposed granite or rock in accent areas
• Turf limited to functional zones

Pro Tip: Many Northern Colorado municipalities offer rebates for removing turf and replacing with xeriscape. Erie, Boulder, and Longmont have all run cash-back programs for water-efficient conversions. Check before you start — the rebate can offset a significant portion of project cost.

Smart Controllers Pay for Themselves

A weather-based smart controller adjusts watering schedules based on ET (evapotranspiration) data — essentially, how much water the plants are using based on temperature, wind, humidity, and solar radiation. On a well-programmed smart controller, most homeowners see 20–40% water reduction compared to a traditional time-clock controller running the same schedule all summer.

Updated on: 29/04/2026