Trinidad cancels fireworks and water parade amid severe drought
Trinidad scrapped its Fourth of July fireworks and the water portion of its wet/dry parade as drought pressure deepened, and a petition is pressing for a limited-water version instead.
The City of Trinidad has canceled its Fourth of July fireworks and the water portion of its wet/dry parade as drought pressure and fire danger tighten across Las Animas County. A petition now circulating asks city leaders to let a controlled, limited-water version of the parade go forward instead of ending it outright.
The decision lands in the middle of a worsening regional drought. On June 4, Gov. Jared Polis activated Phase 3 of Colorado’s Drought Response Plan and declared a statewide drought emergency after record-low snowpack, early runoff and prolonged warm temperatures. Drought.gov data show 100% of Las Animas County’s population is affected by drought, the county had the 63rd driest May on record, and January through May 2026 ranked as the 7th driest year to date over the past 132 years.
The city is already under Level 2 restrictions, with odd-even watering days and no watering on Mondays. North Lake is the primary water source, Monument Lake is the secondary source, and treated water comes from a plant about 40 miles west of Trinidad. City Resolution 1585, adopted Jan. 5, 2021, created three levels of restrictions based on drought severity and water scarcity. The resolution also says the city’s storage tanks were undergoing major rehabilitation and that a new storage tank was part of the system work.
Fireworks are illegal inside Trinidad city limits and open-fire conditions are tightly controlled. The parade notice for the wet/dry event already limits water use, bans water balloons and high-pressure spraying, and sets street closures beginning at 6 a.m. The parade is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. and end with a barbecue in Cimino Park.
The petition says the Trinidad Parade Committee was told the city is moving into Level 3 water restrictions and that the water portion of the 2026 parade was canceled because of those limits. It asks the city to reconsider and allow a smaller version to continue.
A separate Trinidad Triggers July 4 event is still scheduled at Central Park with fireworks.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
