Frequently Asked Questions

Since 2017, water budgets have helped Greeley residents save millions of gallons of water.

Greeley has a variety of property and household sizes, and a water budget program addresses that diversity without punishing large families or large lot owners for using what is needed to maintain their landscapes. 

Water budgets also help ensure our water supply continues to meet the needs of our growing community. Over the past 20 years, Greeley’s population has nearly doubled, yet our water use has remained the same which, is great, but we need to keep going. Reducing the need for costly infrastructure projects has kept Greeley’s water rates relatively low when compared to other Front Range communities. 

Since 2017, water budgets have helped Greeley residents save millions of gallons of water. Now, we’re making a few small changes to the water budgets to make them even more precise.

Starting in January 2020, the indoor portion of your water budget will change from 55 gallons per person per day to 45 to reflect more accurately how our community uses water. The outdoor portion may also be slightly decreased to reflect moderate (as opposed to high) water use on lawns. These changes will preserve Greeley’s water supply without a significant change to your water bill.

Your water budget is based on the indoor and outdoor water needs specific to your home: family size, potentially landscaped area around your house, and real-time weather.

During the non-watering season (November 1 – April 14), your water budget is your indoor use. 

Growing season (April 15 – October 31) uses both indoor and outdoor use to make up your total water budget.

Your indoor budget is based on the number of people in your household (PPH).  Each person is allocated 45 gallons per day beginning in January 2020.

Indoor budget = 45 GPCD x Persons Per Household x number of days in your billing period. This number is changing to 45 GPCD in January 2020.

For example, if you have 3 people living in your house and 31 days in your billing cycle, then your indoor budget is 5,115 gallons. 

Your outdoor budget is based on actual water needs of bluegrass irrigation water requirement (IWR) in square feet of your property minus the impervious surfaces (rooftops, sidewalks, driveways, outbuildings, patios etc.). Because bluegrass uses the most amount of water in the landscape, it is more than enough water to satisfy all of your landscape needs.  Bluegrass thrives within a range of watering conditions. Starting in spring of 2020, we will calculate it the mid-range.  These changes conserve Greeley’s water supply without a significant difference to your water bill.

Outdoor budget = Irrigable Area x Total Irrigation Water Requirement for your billing period.

For example, if you have a total Irrigable Area of 4,321 square feet, and the Irrigation Water Requirement during your billing period is 2.13 gallons per square foot, then your outdoor budget is 9,204 gallons — which is then rounded up to 10,000 gallons. Add the two up and your total water budget would be 16,000 gallons, which is displayed on your bill as 16 kgal.

Each household is allocated the same amount of water per person and the same amount of water per square foot of landscape. No two households will necessarily be allocated the same water budget.

Think of it this way: Two people live in your neighbor’s home; you have four. Because each person in each household is allocated 55 gallons a day (it will be reduced to 45 in Janurary 2020), your indoor water budget will be twice as high as your neighbor’s. But if your yard is, say, half the size of your neighbor’s, your outdoor water budget will be half the amount of your neighbor’s — because both lawns require the same amount of water per square foot.

No. The water budget provides enough water to keep your landscape healthy. The water budget calculation assumes all of your pervious surfaces are planted in bluegrass, so if you have areas that are xeriscaped or planted with native plants, you will likely have an even easier time staying within your water budget.

The reason Greeley chose the Water Budget approach to billing is so the customer maintain their landscapes. 

Greeley Water Conservation offers resources on low water gardening and Xeriscape, check out Greeley's Plant Database, or attend a Landscape Lecture.

The water budget is made up of 4 tiers: If you go over your budget, you will pay anything within your budget and then pay the rest at the rate in which tiers you fall.  See below.

Use that falls within the Water Budget tier is considered efficient and includes anything at or below your water budget amount. For example, if your water budget is 10 thousand gallons (kgal), then the Water Budget tier covers any use up to 10 kgal. This tier will have the lowest rate.

Any use over your water budget — up to 130 percent — falls into the Inefficient tier. Using the 10 kgal water budget example above, your Inefficient tier would cover any use from 10 kgal to 13 kgal. This tier will have a slightly higher rate than the Water Budget tier.

Any use from 130 – 150 percent of your water budget falls into the Excessive tier. For a water budget of 10 kgal, an Excessive tier would cover any use from 13 kgal to 15 kgal and have a higher rate than the Inefficient tier.

Any use over 150 percent of your water budget falls into the Unsustainable tier. That would be any use above 15 kgal for a water budget of 10 kgal, and would be charged at the highest rate.

No. Rolling unused water forward from one period to another does not encourage water use efficiency, nor is it responsive to weather conditions.

Your outdoor water budget is the daily amount of water required by bluegrass in Greeley (Irrigation Water Requirement) multiplied by the square footage of your potentially landscaped area (Irrigable Area).

Your outdoor water budget is the daily amount of water required by bluegrass in Greeley Irrigation Water Requirement (IWR) multiplied by the square footage of your potentially landscaped area (IA).

Factoring in rainfall and the amount of water an average sprinkler system can deliver, deliver the Irrigation Water Requirement changes as the weather changes, and is calculated using three variables.

Plant Water Requirement represents how much water the plant needs, in inches: ETgrass x Kc(grass).

ETgrass is the daily evapotranspiration (add definition) rate, in inches, for bluegrass turf, which changes depending on weather conditions.

Kc(grass) is the growing coefficient for bluegrass. It reflects how much water the plant needs, and maintains the same annual cycle each year.

Precipitation is the daily amount, measured in inches, of widespread precipitation in Greeley.

Distribution Uniformity (DU) is the fractional number that represents how efficient your sprinkler system is at uniform irrigation. The DU used for Greeley’s Irrigation Water Requirement calculation is 0.7 — which represents a relatively efficient sprinkler system. To help improve your efficiency, please look into our rebate and audit programs.

The calculation for the daily Irrigation Water Requirement is:

Irrigation Water Requirement = (Plant Water Requirement – Precipitation)/DU

IWR=PWR-Precip
               DU

If Precipitation is greater than the Plant Water Requirement, then the Irrigation Water Requirement is zero — because the rainfall was enough to satisfy the needs of bluegrass turf. On average, if it rains more than a quarter of an inch in Greeley, bluegrass turf doesn’t require irrigation.

There are a number of actions you can take:

• Contact us to verify your water budget information: conserve@greeleygov.com
• Turn off your sprinklers when it rains
• Schedule an indoor and outdoor audit through Greeley’s conservation program
• Sign up for WaterSmart, a free web portal to help you track your water use
• Change water run times on a monthly basis (July is our peak water use month; build up to it then ramp down)  See chart below.

Contact us!

• Complete the online form to update 
• Email conserve@greeleygov.com
• Call 970-336-4168

Keep in mind that your irrigable area is calculated using GIS data collected from aerial imagery.

Read Your Water Bill
Take a look at your monthly water bill. We set up an online guide to help you navigate your water bill. 

Use WaterSmart
WaterSmart works hand in hand with the water budget to help you see your water use in simple terms. It is a free web portal that provides recommended water saving actions, and lets you view your results and savings.

Your meter is read on a monthly cycle, and that information can be found on your water bill. You billing period can be anywhere from 28-32 days depending on when the route is read.  You will be billed only for your water use, no matter what your water budget is.

Because your meter is in a pit and has sensitive gauges and wires on it, the Water Department does not want customers getting into the pit.  The transponder that communicates your meter reading sits on top of the meter and moving it to read your meter could damage it or the wires connecting it.  

Your irrigable area used to calculate your water budget should include any right-of-way areas you maintain, so please contact us if you suspect it is missing.

We recommend watering trees once per month if the temperature is about 45 degrees and no snow cover. During these periods we will give approximately and 1,000 extra gallons in your water budget to accommodate for this. 

Even a small amount of rainfall will reduce or even eliminate your need to water. If it rains more than a quarter of an inch, plan on turning off your sprinklers; if it rains less than a quarter of an inch, plan on turning down your sprinklers. You can get a rebate through our Conservation Program for rain sensors or ET controllers that will do this for you!

Keep in mind that, currently, the irrigation water requirement does not roll forward or backward in time. In other words, if it rains two inches today, it doesn’t remove the irrigation water requirement from the previous day(s) — and your grass likely won’t need to be irrigated for several days afterward. For the purpose of the water budget calculation, however, even if it rains two inches today, the irrigation water requirement for tomorrow would still go into your water budget calculation. 

No. Your sewer charge is calculated based on your previous average winter (January – February) use, and isn't affected by your water budget. 

The base charge (or service charge) is a separate cost that used for maintaining you water service and meter.

Even if you do not use any water, you will still receive a base charge. The base charge is a cost per 30 days based on your meter size, and is prorated based on the number of days in you billing cycle.  Most residential customers have a ¾ inch meter size.  

The City of Greeley offers watering variances for specific reasons. See the Lawn Installation and Permits page for more details.

Please contact us if you believe that you have other special circumstances that would require an increased water budget. Keep in mind, though, that your water budget will not be adjusted for:

• pools, spas, or hot tubs
• evaporative (swamp) coolers
• gardens
• water features
• in-home businesses or hobbies that require an increased amount of water

If you have an in-home daycare, we are happy to work with you to adjust your persons per household to better reflect your water needs. Because the children attending your in-home daycare do not live permanently in the home, we will estimate your persons per household for you based on your average 5-year wintertime water use. To receive an in-home-daycare water budget variance, please contact the Water Conservation Program at conserve@greeleygov.com or 970-350-9210. You will need to provide a copy of your daycare license.