A Colorado city is so desperate to save water that it asks restaurants only to serve on customers’ request
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Why this city is encouraging restaurants to stop greeting customers with water
- Aurora, Colorado, is facing a significant water deficit, with its supply at 65 percent capacity due to an uncharacteristically dry November and a poor December forecast.
- The city council has approved a resolution encouraging local restaurants to serve water only when customers request it, rather than automatically, as a water-conservation measure.
- This initiative is currently voluntary, but Aurora Water deputy director Shonnie Cline stated it is a “small step in a larger education program” to address the significant deficit in mountain snowpack.
- Mandatory water restrictions for restaurants would only be enforced if the city enters one of its official drought stages, triggered when water storage drops below 100,000 acre-feet.
- While some restaurant owners prefer to continue serving water automatically unless legally required to stop, similar voluntary or mandatory measures have been adopted in other U.S. cities and states, including California and Hawaii.