Homeowners in Aurora, Colorado, have spent the year under strict lawn watering rules, and the city has been keeping score. Aurora Water has issued 606 fines totaling more than $286,000 since April, along with 4,247 warnings, according to figures Conservation Manager Tim York gave Colorado Politics in October.
Now the rules have tightened again. Since Oct. 1, spray irrigation has been banned on lawns outside a short list of high-use spaces, and that ban runs through April 30.
A Fall-to-Spring Sprinkler Ban
The Aurora City Council passed the new ordinance at its Sept. 28 meeting. It bans spray irrigation in areas that are not high-use from Oct. 1 through April 30. Home lawns are not on the list of exemptions.
The exemptions are spaces that get heavy traffic: public parks, school grounds, athletic and playing fields, and golf courses. The same ordinance also prohibits installing new turf and new ornamental water features…