Bozeman Entering Stage 2 Drought Advisory: What Does That Mean, Exactly?

What do Stage 2 drought restrictions mean for you? Well, a few very important things. Not least of which could be water usage surcharges if we're not careful. Smart landscape watering is the main goal to reduce Bozeman's water usage during this dry summer.

Most importantly: MANDATORY outdoor watering restrictions go into effect on Friday, July 16th, 2021.

The City of Bozeman and the City Commission wish to reduce our water usage by a full 20% asap. Possible? I absolutely think so but it will take a little effort and lots of common sense.

Basically, we can water our lawns and garden two days a week. It's very important to take note of which days your address should be using water for lawns. (They are listed below. Write a sticky note by your door as I did for easy reference!)

IMPORTANT: Lawn watering will now be prohibited between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Here is the schedule put forth by the City of Bozeman for watering:

• Single residential properties with odd-numbered addresses: Saturday, Wednesday
• Single residential properties with even-numbered addresses: Sunday, Thursday
• All others (multi-unit, HOAs, commercial, industrial, government): Tuesday, Friday

What about stuff that needs water other than my lawn? "Trees, shrubs, perennials and other garden plants may be watered by hand held hose or low-volume spray irrigation any day of the week, but may not be watered between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m."

All of this makes perfect sense and it's not like we didn't see it coming, right? It's been very hot and very dry. During the summer months, 50% of Bozeman's water usage if for landscaping stuff. We have to make smart choices for the rest of the season. We can do this!