Colorado mayor accuses local schools of using too much water to keep their lawns green amid drought restrictions

As Colorado faces severe drought conditions, a mayor has lashed out at his local school district and accused officials of using too much water to keep the lawns green.

Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman suggested the local school district has been watering its grass “in defiance of Aurora’s current Stage I drought water restrictions,” after he noticed multiple schools had “very green” lawns. Coffman’s statement, which he shared Tuesday via Facebook, included a photo of a green lawn outside Rangeview High School, which is part of Aurora Public Schools.

“Aurora Public Schools have been paying fines for not complying with our Stage I drought restrictions, but we are now teetering on having to move to Stage II drought restrictions that, if enacted, will reduce all outdoor irrigation from two waterings a week down to one, killing off most lawns completely,” Coffman wrote.

The mayor said he plans to address these concerns during a Friday meeting with the Aurora Public Schools’ superintendent. He went on to suggest the school district could have its water shut off if officials don’t comply with the drought restrictions.

“My position is that if Aurora Public Schools doesn’t make a commitment, during Friday’s meeting, to become compliant, that Aurora Water immediately shut off supplying all water, used for outside irrigation, to the school district until all drought restrictions are lifted,” he wrote.

Nine Aurora Public Schools sites are out of compliance with drought restrictions, Shonnie Cline of Aurora Water told FOX 31. That includes schools and administrative buildings.

“They definitely are in a position where they want to be able to get those nine sites back into compliance and compliance across the entire system,” Cline added.

Corey Christiansen, a public information officer for Aurora Public Schools, said the district takes the ongoing drought “very seriously” and recognizes it must “wisely use our limited water resources.” He also said the district has not received or paid any fines from Aurora Water.

“We have worked with Aurora Water since drought restrictions were first put in place. It approved our plan, which includes reducing water usage by 20% and limiting outdoor watering to two days per week. As Mayor Coffman mentioned in his post, we only learned of a possible concern on Monday and are working closely with Aurora Water to address any concerns,” Christiansen told The Independent.

“We want to emphasize that one photo from one school site does not represent our district’s overall water usage. We are proud of our extremely dedicated maintenance team that works hard to keep our school grounds in the best shape possible for our community. We look forward to continuing to work with Aurora Water as engaged environmental stewards.”

The Independent has reached out to Aurora Water for comment.

Much of Colorado is suffering from “severe drought conditions” this year, caused by “unprecedented low snowpack and high temperatures,” according to the state’s agriculture department. As a result, local leaders throughout the state are implementing water restrictions.

“Because most precipitation in Colorado’s mountains falls as snow, the accumulation and gradual melting of snow determines how much water enters rivers, reservoirs, farms, and cities each year. In fact, 83 percent of Colorado’s water originates as snow or rain,” the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s website states.