Trinidad enacts Level 1 water restrictions, no watering from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Trinidad households, businesses and rural water users connected to the city system are under a tighter watering schedule again: watering is allowed only on assigned days, and never between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. The city’s current Level II restrictions also ban watering on Mondays, with even-numbered addresses allowed to water Wednesday, Friday and Sunday and odd-numbered addresses allowed Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

The restrictions are not just a seasonal reminder. City documents say Resolution No. 1585, adopted Jan. 5, 2021, created three levels of water restrictions based on drought severity and water scarcity. Resolution 1680 says the city imposed the current limits to keep conserving water during the Water Storage Rehabilitation Project, and it gives the Water Utility Director, with City Manager approval, authority to tighten or ease the rules as shortages or conservation needs change.

That matters in Trinidad because the water system is spread far beyond city limits. The Trinidad Water Department says North Lake is the primary source of raw water, Monument Lake is the secondary source, and the water is transported to a treatment plant about 40 miles west of Trinidad before moving through the city’s delivery network. That system also serves a substantial developed rural area outside Trinidad, including areas east to the Department of Corrections and the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, through more than 100 miles of pipe.

The city has already invested heavily in that system. City materials say Trinidad spent about $847,000 on North Lake Dam outlet works, reservoir piping and other improvements, and a June 2011 state restriction required the city to lower North Lake Reservoir to five feet below the spillway. The city has also said the road and gate to the summit of Simpson’s Rest were closed until early June 2025 for the North Side Water Tank rehabilitation project, another sign of how visible the water work has been around town.

Residents using the Valdez Water Station on County Road 18.3 in Valdez must prepay for water, and new users must contact city staff before using the filling station. The city also tells customers to ask for a city-issued identification badge from any water department employee, who should be in official uniform and driving a city vehicle. Trinidad’s water department says the system is also subject to Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment rules, adding a state layer to the local conservation effort as the city keeps managing drought pressure and construction at the same time.