East Cherry Creek Valley Water & Sanitation District

The season for new seed and sod has come to an end. ECCV will not be providing any watering exemptions for new seed and sod until September (at the earliest).

With drought conditions already widespread, and summer heat on its way, new sod and seed installations will struggle to establish themselves in the summer months. If possible, the best bet is to hold off on new sod or seed in 2026. Hopefully by next spring we will have experienced a much better snow season that gives new grass far better chances for success.

May included:
• A decent snowstorm ❄️
• Several good rain storms 🌧️
• Multiple weeks of mild temperatures 🌤️

Hopefully that allowed your sprinkler systems to take much of the month off.
While it would be great to get more rain and mild temperatures this month, June often sees the arrival of dry, summer heat.

As a reminder, two-day per week watering restrictions remain in effect. Even if temperatures start heating up, efficient watering using the Cycle + Soak method can keep yards healthy. Use the suggested RUN times in the graphic as a good starting point. Remember, these assume running three cycles per zone, with about one hour break between cycles to allow water to soak deeper into your soil.

For example, a system with rotary nozzle sprinklers would put down a total of 42 minutes of water for each zone (14 minutes x 3 cycles).

If you’re sticking around for the holiday weekend, stop by our Garden Party this Saturday (May 23).

Come by the new ECCV Demonstration Garden at 4750 S. Jebel Street featuring hundreds of water-efficient plantings. Enjoy refreshments, visit with our team who will be happy to answer any watering questions, and enter our prize drawing.

We’ll be there from 10am-2pm, and hope you’ll come by and say hi.

Saving water is especially important right now with water supplies not getting their typical refill from melting snowpack.

ECCV is once again partnering with Resource Central to provide free sprinkler system assessments to customers. A water-efficiency pro will come to you, test your system, answer your questions, and provide you with a report of any issues that could be creating water waste.

Many issues that these evaluations detect can be resolved with easy do-it-yourself adjustments and inexpensive fixes that could save hundreds, even thousands of gallons of water this summer.

Appointments are first-come, first-served so sign up today at www.ResourceCentral.org/sprinklers/ or call 303-999-3824.

Smart controllers are dumb about certain things.

They do a great job of giving landscapes the water they need to thrive, without overwatering. You can give them information about your soil, plant types, and terrain and they’ll use current weather information to run your sprinkler system to optimize your irrigation. That’s smart!

What they don’t understand is watering restrictions, or that during bad droughts like the one we’re in, water supplies need to be conserved. They’ll read week after week of dry conditions as meaning systems should run daily. That’s not smart.

If your system uses a smart controller, make sure to adjust its settings so it’s only watering on your scheduled days. Also be sure to double-check that it has correct information for soil type (clay-based). This will let it know it needs to allow more soaking time.

As of May 1, drought pricing is now in effect for water usage of 19,000 gallons or more. We are in a historically challenging year for water supplies and the purpose of drought pricing is to encourage customers to avoid high usage. Here’s what to know about drought pricing:

• ECCV bills water charges per 1,000 gallons used. For example, a customer using 12,999 gallons of water in a billing period will be billed for 12,000 gallons of usage.

• Usage is billed at four different pricing tiers. Rates increase as usage enters higher tiers.

• Drought pricing currently only applies to Tiers 3 and 4. Usage up to 18,000 gallons will be billed at the standard 2026 rates.

• For most ECCV customers, following 2-Day per week watering restrictions and watering efficiently will keep their total monthly usage below Tiers 3 and 4.

You can find more information on drought pricing and water rates at www.eccv.org/rates-fees-and-charges

A two-day per week outdoor watering schedule is in effect for ECCV residential and commercial customers. Watering days are based on your address. This schedule applies to any/all watering of grassy areas including lawns and backyards.

🌲 🌻—Trees, shrubs, and flower/perennial/vegetable gardens may be watered by hand or drip irrigation any day.

⏰—Watering is only permitted before 10am or after 6pm. Watering during the heat of the day wastes water.

Find more information about watering schedules at www.eccv.org/watering-schedules

All current signs point to 2026 being among the most challenging drought years Colorado has experienced. The snowpack that becomes ECCV’s primary water supply is the worst in decades. Weather patterns can change, but until that happens, conserving water will be extra important.

Outdoor watering restrictions are now in effect. Customers may water grass two days per week, with scheduled watering days determined by your address (see graphic). That said, limiting outdoor watering as much as possible in April is HIGHLY encouraged.

• If it rains or snows in April, grass likely won’t need any more watering for at least another seven days.

• Even if dry conditions persist, grass will likely be fine with one or two days of watering for the whole month.

• Running sprinklers for longer durations creates more waste than benefit. Soil can only absorb so much water at a time.

Normally you could expect to see ECCV crews moving through neighborhoods, opening hydrants and flushing out neighborhood water lines this time of year.

The annual hydrant flush helps clear naturally occurring sediment from the system ahead of outdoor watering season. However, due to ongoing drought conditions and in an effort to conserve water, ECCV is suspending hydrant flushing this spring.

While hydrant flushing is a worthwhile annual program for system performance, skipping it this spring is not anticipated to cause any issues. If water quality were to decline, or drought conditions were to improve significantly, ECCV may re-evaluate flushing at a later date in 2026.

If you experience any water discoloration issues or have concerns, please contact ECCV at 303-693-3800, email [email protected], or live chat at www.eccv.org.

Worst on record. The South Platte River basin's snowpack has set a new low for this time of year.

Here's the situation: as of now, we would need to see a historic amount of snow in the next three months for the snowpack to finish around normal levels. Snowpack is the core driver of river flows which provide a majority of your ECCV water. While the ECCV system currently has a good amount of water in storage, the concern is a poor winter could give way to a dry spring and summer.

ECCV, like other providers including Aurora Water and Denver Water, continues to monitor forecasts and water supply outlooks. While any snow would be helpful, it is still possible that outdoor watering restrictions—including delaying outdoor watering this spring—could be necessary.