Water Budget

Sprinklers watering green grass.

To encourage water conservation, Highlands Ranch Water implemented an innovative water budgeting concept for water customers. The water budget for outdoor irrigation provides enough water for healthy landscapes, but not so much that our resource is wasted. Progressively higher tiered rates over the allotted budget serve to encourage conservation. However, customers will only be billed for water consumed, regardless of their water budget amount.

How to find your water budget

To find out what your water budget is, simply look at your water bill. You can find out what your water budget is for the current billing cycle and for the next billing cycle as well. Becoming familiar with your water budget is a great tool to use to help you understand your water use.

Download a sample bill to see what's on your water bill, and find out where to look to see your current and future water budget.

Find your water bill online:

  1. Go to the online bill pay website.
  2. Log in to your account.
  3. Click Recent Open Invoices. 
  4. Under Actions, click View Invoice.
  5. A PDF of your current bill will appear. You can find your current water budget and your future budget in the section titled Water Tier on the right side of your bill.

Set up an account with Invoice Cloud

Don't have an account set up yet? It's quick and easy to register with Invoice Cloud.  Go to the online bill pay website. To set up an account you will need two things:

  1. Your account number
  2. Your house number (ex: 1234). Enter your account number without the decimal, and do not include your street name.
  3. If you need help registering for an account, email cs@hrwater.org. 

Frequently asked questions

How is the water budget calculated for residential customers? 

Residential customers are allocated 27 inches of water over the irrigation season, per square foot of irrigable sod, which is considered to be 45% of the property. After Oct. 15 when outdoor water budgets end, customers are allocated 1,000 gallons of water per billing cycle for supplemental watering during dry periods. Additionally, residential customers receive 12,000 gallons of water per bimonthly billing period for indoor use.

How are water budgets different for non-residential customers? 

The indoor non-residential budget is an annual budget and is based on meter size.  For separate outdoor irrigation only meters, the budget is calculated monthly and is based on total irrigated area. 

I have more than three individuals living in my household and want to apply for a household population adjustment. Please explain the process. 

It is possible for a customer to increase the indoor portion of the water budget by completing an annual affidavit indicating the number of people living in the home. For a household of more than three people, the water budget can be increased by 3,000 gallons per person bimonthly. An increase in the allotment requires a corresponding increase to the wastewater rate paid to account for the increased flow to the wastewater system. Affidavit applications are available on the water conservation section of the website.

Does the irrigation amount in the outdoor water budget take into account the hot summers we have experienced in the past? 

The water depths for irrigation are adequate for landscaping to be maintained and not suffer excessively during a drought, yet are ample for average conditions. The 27 inches watering depth was selected after many conversations with water experts, turf specialists, and Colorado State University Cooperative Extension staff. Careful water applications combined with a reasonable level of horticultural practices (such as soil aeration, fertilizers and/or soil conditioners, sprinkler maintenance, etc.) can meet the budget over time without excessive stress on the plants. If an area of turf experiences non-normal stress while following the application schedule, consideration could be given to either hand watering only the stressed area or changing the area to an alternative landscape treatment other than grass. For information on water efficient landscapes, please visit www.xeriscape.org.

I feel I need more water. How do I get it? Is there an appeal process to get my water budget increased? 

Increased water budgets without a larger than average household population or without a temporary permit for the installation of new landscaping (see the following question) are not available.  Rather than use a potentially arbitrary variance-granting appeal process, Highlands Ranch Water has set the policy of using straight economic incentives built into the rate structure.  In other words, customers may make their own economic decisions trading off their desired level of water use with the price of this commodity that has a limited supply.

If I am installing new landscape, can I get a water budget increase to establish the grass? 

Temporary increases in a customer’s water budget for purposes of establishing new landscaping are available in the months of April, May, September and October only.  These temporary water budget increases are not available in the hottest months.  Generally less water is required and it is far more successful to establish new landscaping in the cooler spring and fall months.  The application for a temporary increase in your water budget is available on the water conservation page of our website.

Note - drought restrictions may restrict temporary water budget increases.

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