Aurorans asked to cut water use

Javier Erik Olvera, Rocky Mountain News

Published June 8, 2006 at midnight

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AURORA - Residents already limited to watering their lawns three days a week are being asked to further reduce their usage because city supplies are 3 billion gallons less than anticipated.

Aurora Water wants its 73,000 customers to decrease their usage by at least 10 percent - an amount they believe will help them cope with the loss, blamed on hot weather conditions and a lack of rain and reduced snowmelt.

"Water levels are a lot lower than where we thought we would be," Aurora Water spokeswoman Melissa Elliott said Wednesday. "It's just been drier than expected."

South Platte River supplies that make up half of Aurora's water supply have "literally evaporated," and the city will be lucky if reservoirs reach 70 percent of capacity by next month, she said.

The hotter-than-normal weather also resulted in residents using more water last month. Usage was up by 35 percent compared with the same month last year, Elliott said.

"We're asking residents to continue to use water wisely and shave a few minutes off of your watering time, or skip a water day if it looks like your lawn doesn't need it," she said.

May marked the start of a fifth year of summer water restrictions, which began in 2002 at the start of the recent drought.

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