A bill designed to help limit outdoor water consumption for landscape irrigation was recently signed into law in the state of Colorado. The good news is that this new regulation could have been a lot harder on the landscape irrigation industry.
The bill, SB 17, initially looked to tie water supplies for new developments to minimal landscape irrigation. The original legislation would have limited irrigated landscaping to 15% of any new development that used water obtained from agricultural dry-up. The Colorado Water Congress opposed that limit because it ignores the benefits a healthy lawn provides. Proponents of property-owner rights also opposed that measure.
SB 17 was ultimately amended as it moved through the legislature, identifying best practices that can be used by cities and homeowners to limit water use.
