Progress Worth Celebrating

This year has brought challenging drought conditions to our region, but Thornton Water customers have committed to conserving water and proven that small actions can add up to big results. We are proud to say that Thornton water customers have successfully reduced overall water usage by 10% compared to 2025. Thank you so much to everyone for making such a difference – let’s keep going!

2026 Thornton Water Use Update

As of mid-August, Thornton customers have used 10% less water compared to 2025, meeting the city’s goal to reduce outdoor water use by 10% this year and demonstrating the positive impact of our community’s conservation efforts.

This amounts to nearly 537 million gallons of water saved. To put it in perspective, that amount of water is equivalent to enough water to supply all Thornton Water customers in the winter for 44 days! If you’re more of a visual person, that would be like filling the bowl of Coors Field to the upper deck with water over six times!

Where We Stand Now

We are very grateful for the water savings the Thornton community has achieved — but it’s not over yet. At the end of August, Thornton’s raw water storage was at 73% full following the end of a low spring and summer runoff. Streamflows in the Clear Creek basin closely matched the lowest year on record (2002) this year, with peak streamflows reaching less than 300 cubic feet per second (cfs) compared to an average of more than 800 cfs.

The Water Resources accounting and operations teams work every day to make the most of Thornton’s water supplies from the Clear Creek and South Platte river basins. Our water supply field team, sometimes known as ditch riders, regularly removes debris from water ditches and adjusts headgates to control water flow into our reservoirs when Thornton’s water rights are in priority. There are times they go out at all hours of the day to open headgates to capture Thornton’s water. In some locations, new headgate technology allows for the adjusting of water flow remotely, making sure we capture as much water as possible for our community.

Looking to the future, work continues on a 70-mile pipeline to deliver water that the city purchased in the mid-1980s, located in the Cache la Poudre River Basin. This new pipeline is expected to be operational by 2028, and will help Thornton provide reliable, high-quality water for future generations, even in the face of future drought conditions. For more information, visit the Thornton Water Project website.

Thornton will continue to monitor drought conditions and customer water usage in order project next year’s reservoir storage levels and evaluate what level of drought response may be necessary next year.

All of the front range water providers need average to above average snowpack levels this winter to start to recover from this drought. If drought conditions worsen through the winter, we may increase drought response to Stage 2. For the current status and drought updates visit our Restrictions and Drought webpage. 

How Can You Keep Making a Difference?

Stay up to date with the Stage 1 Drought Restrictions and continue to follow the watering rules: 

• Limit lawn watering to two days per week.
• No lawn watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
• Reduce outdoor watering times in September, and wind down and winterize sprinkler systems in October as temperatures start to drop.
• Watering of trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals and vegetable gardens is allowed on any day, as needed.

Weathering the Drought Together

Thornton’s water savings are the result of a community-wide effort. On March 15, Thornton declared Stage 1 Drought Restrictions due to record-low snowpack in the upper South Platte and Clear Creek watersheds, which supply Thornton’s water. Thornton depends on snowpack in the Rocky Mountains for its annual water supply, and this winter was unusually dry and warm, resulting in some of the lowest snowpack levels in the state’s history. Since then, Thornton has been closely monitoring drought conditions and taking steps to conserve resources.

Drought restrictions required residents and businesses to limit lawn watering to a two-day schedule, between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m., and follow Thornton’s Watering Guide. All customers have also been encouraged to use WaterSmart to catch and repair leaks quickly, resulting in major savings across the city.

The city has focused on watering high-use areas and cutting back in low-traffic and right-of-way areas, helping conserve water without compromising the spaces residents use most. The Thornton Water Resources team has also actively monitored WaterSmart to help residents and businesses catch and resolve leaks quickly to save water and money.