Last Tuesday, the city of Grand Junction implemented mandatory water restrictions to everyone who uses the city’s water.

Before these new mandatory restrictions, Grand Junction residents were under voluntary restrictions, but nothing yet was required by the city.

“As a result of the prolonged extreme drought conditions in the Grand Valley and in an effort to help conserve our precious water resource, the City of Grand Junction is moving from Voluntary Water Restrictions to Mandatory Water Restrictions (Stage II Drought) in accordance with the Grand Valley Regional Water Conservation Plan,” gjcitynews.org reads.

These new water restrictions allow people to water their lawns, or perform any outdoor watering, three times a week for the last few days of August. In September, outdoor watering can take place twice a week, and only once a week in October.

According to the website, Grand Junction “delivers approximately 9 million gallons per day of potable water during irrigation season as compared to 3 million gallons per day of potable water during non-irrigation season.”

gjcitynews.org says that these restrictions not only conserve the water during the present drought, they also prepare people’s lawns for winter.

The mandatory water restrictions apply to all residents of Grand Junction and they include city facilities, such as Lincoln Park and Tiara Rado golf courses, according to gjcitynews.org.