The impact of the drought is being felt by farmers on Colorado's eastern plains and by municipalities dealing with dwindling water supplies in reservoirs.
"Obviously we are quite a bit lower right now. Our reservoirs did not fill this summer as they normally do, and we're just waiting to see what the snowpack brings us in 2013," Denver Water Spokesperson Travis Thompson said.
The City of Lafayette, seeking to proactively prepare for a continuation of the drought into 2013, has suspended the watering of all parks with the exception of high traffic sports fields. Lafayette issued an emergency ordinance restricting irrigation in July, but has still seen a 38 percent increase in residential use over 2011.
The City of Thornton has issued a Stage 2 drought warning to residents and commercial users. It brings with it a mandatory water restriction. The restrictions went into effect on September 1, 2012, with a goal of reducing overall water usage by 30 percent.
Denver Water remains in a Stage 1 drought warning, meaning residents are being asked to voluntarily reduce their water usage.
While cities are preparing for a continuation of the drought conditions, Bob Glancy with the National Weather Service sees a change coming.
"The good thing is we are transitioning very quickly to warmer sea temperatures, so we're going from a La Nina to an El Nino," Glancy said. "What we see with El Nino is we tend to get wetter across the southern tier of states and typically some of that moisture makes its way up into Colorado as well."
While Glancy sees an end to this current drought, he says it will drag on a little longer.
"I would anticipate that winter would be better," Glancy said. "But I think that we're going to be fairly dry leading up to winter, so I think most of the fall will be fairly dry."
(KUSA-TV © 2012 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)