Broomfield is trying to lock water conservation into future growth before new demand becomes harder to unwind.
Victoria Arling of WaterNow explains how the City and County of Broomfield developed a new landscape ordinance for new development and redevelopment, where outdoor irrigation has accounted for roughly
60 to 70 percent of annual water use.
WaterNow and Western Resource Advocates worked with Broomfield through the Project Accelerator program to review other municipal codes, develop ordinance language, and incorporate public feedback.
The ordinance limits high-water-use turf to 30 percent of landscaped areas in most new and redevelopment projects and requires more water-efficient landscape and irrigation practices.
The policy does not force existing homeowners to immediately replace their lawns. Instead, it changes the baseline for what gets built next.
Broomfield City Council unanimously adopted the ordinance in 2023 after a public-engagement process designed to build support around the new standards.
For Arling, the larger lesson is that conservation can be embedded into growth itself—reducing future outdoor demand before those gallons become part of the system.
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