DENVER -- The latest survey of reservoirs used by Denver Water shows them at just half of what they should be for this time of the year -- not good news for people hoping for an end to the current drought conditions.

Cheesman Reservoir has the most water and is at 63 percent of capacity. Lake Dillon is next with 54 percent, followed by Gross Reservoir 41 percent.

According to a Denver Water spokeswoman, the overall level of reservoirs is 45 percent. That compares with the 80 percent of capacity that is typical for this time of the year.

The city of Aurora, which was one of the first cities to issue water restrictions, said that there is no doubt that water restrictions will be in effect again this summer.

Frank Ragan, the deputy city manager for Aurora, said that the reservoirs that serve the city are only at 29 percent.

"That's much lower than we had anticipated. These last few months have been pretty abysmal in terms of snowpack," Ragan said. "We're not only looking at (water) restrictions, we face the real possibility of not even having any lawn irrigation unless we can get a turnaround of these weather conditions."

Since more than 50 percent of the water is used outdoors, Aurora is sending out letters to residents notifying them that the city will not be issuing any lawn permits prior to May 1 and will not allow any lawn watering prior to that date.

Lawmakers said that they will propose several bills this legislative session to tackle the water crisis, including tax incentives for people who will change their lawn, their plants and even their toilet fixtures.

"I have a bill ... that would give people a lower tax sales rate on buying xeriscape plants, buying plants that are a little more drought tolerant," said Rep. Paul Weissman, D-Louisville.

But with Colorado's economy as low as many of our reservoirs, Republicans doubt that tax incentives are feasible.

"If we had money, I think it might be something we can take a look at, but we don't have any money," said Rep. Keith King, R-Colorado Springs.

Another proposed bill would give tax incentives to those who replace old plumbing fixtures with newer ones that save more water.

But Republicans say that would only save pennies, and the state needs to look at the bigger, long-term picture.

According to 7NEWS Meteorologist Marty Coniglio, there has been only 8.7 inches of snowfall so far this season, compared with an average of 23.5 inches at this time of the year.

Colorado's snowpack is anywhere from 10 percent below average to 24 percent below average in the Rio Grande basin.

It would take about 7.5 feet of snow in the metro area from now through May 15 to make a dent out in the drought situation, Coniglio said.