DENVER -- If you live in Denver and you've been wondering how your grass was going to survive the recent heat wave, there's good news. The Denver Water Board on Monday relaxed water restrictions for its 1.2 million customers, allowing residents an additional day of watering.

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Odd-numbered homes can water on Mondays in addition to watering on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Even-numbered homes can water on Tuesdays in addition to Thursdays and Sundays. Businesses can water on Sundays as well as Tuesdays and Fridays.

Watering will still be prohibited between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and residents can only water up to an average of 15 minutes per zone. The new rules go into effect Tuesday.

Following Denver's decision, the city of Arvada also amended its restrictions, adding one more day of watering for homeowners. Arvada's rules are effective immediately.

At a special meeting on Monday, the Denver Water Board debated several options including allowing more time for watering or keeping the rules the same.

"Because any way you choose, it has different implications for enforcement, for public confusion and for water savings," said Denver Water's Chips Barry. "Each one has a little bit different mixture of those three things."

The Denver Water board also cautioned that users should not expect their lawns to become suddenly green and lush with an additional day of watering. Nevertheless, the additional day is welcome news to a lot of homeowners whose lawns have been recently scorched by sizzling heat and low humidity.

Thanks to the record blizzard in March, the rains in spring, and current conservation efforts by water users, Denver water's reservoirs are currently averaging 86 percent of capacity -- about 20 percent more than water officials expected.

Denver Water said the drought patrol will continue to monitor and issue tickets and fines to violators.

Additional Information

Current Reservoir Levels (PDF File)