Mesa County is in a severe drought right now and the forecasts for rain aren’t good.
"You’re behind for many months and seasons and then that ends up and that’s why we’re in a severe drought,” said Strautins.
It’s from simply a lack of rain.
"We made the decision to move the community into voluntary water restrictions.
If this drought were to get any worse, those restrictions can change.
“That’s when we start to consider and evaluate mandatory water restrictions,” said Burtard.
Let’s break this down, Mesa County is in a severe drought right now and the next two levels are extreme and exceptional.
To conserve what we have.
"We are really asking both commercial and residential customers to evaluate their usage and turn off their ornamental fountains and maybe consider not filling up their swimming pools this summer,” said Burtard.
Because of the lack of snowpack on the Mesa, Ute water and the City of Grand Junction have to pull from different sources.