Aurora’s mayor is threatening to shut off water for Aurora Public Schools, saying he saw green lawns at schools that “were being watered in defiance” of watering restrictions.

Mayor Mike Coffman was driving past Rangeview High School Thursday and noticed “all of their lawns were very green meaning that they were being watered in defiance of Aurora’s current Stage I drought water restrictions,” he posted on Facebook Tuesday.

Coffman drove by six other schools in the APS system that had “very green lawns,” he added.

APS said the school system is following watering restrictions and has not been fined for excessive water use.

Cherry Creek Schools appear to be complying with restrictions “because their lawns looked as bad as my own lawn,” he wrote in the post.

Aurora lawmakers unanimously passed a water shortage declaration in early April, also imposing watering restrictions on outdoor watering for residents and businesses.

Aurora Water officials are also cracking down with heightened enforcement. They will issue one warning, officials said. The second violation will result in a $250 fine for residential users and a $500 fine for commercial users, and a third violation will result in a $1,000 fine for residential users and a $2,000 fine for commercial users.

After that, Aurora Water can continue fining at the third level or shut water off for the user.

Coffman met with Aurora Water and city leadership to discuss shutting off water supply to APS schools if they do not comply with drought restrictions, he said.

City Manager Jason Batchelor informed APS Superintendent Michael Giles that water conservation will be discussed in a monthly meeting scheduled for Friday.

“My position is that if Aurora Public Schools doesn’t make a commitment, during Friday’s meeting, to become compliant, that Aurora Water immediately shut off supplying all water used for outdoor irrigation to the school district until all drought restrictions are lifted,” Coffman wrote.

APS spokesperson Corey Christiansen said the school system is taking the drought “very seriously” and has worked with Aurora Water to implement a plan that includes reducing water use by 20% and limiting outdoor watering to two days per week.

APS has not received nor paid any fines from Aurora Water, Christiansen said in an email to The Denver Gazette.

“We want to emphasize that one photo from one school site does not represent our district’s overall water usage,” Christiansen said. “We are proud of our extremely dedicated maintenance team that works hard to keep our school grounds in the best shape possible for our community.”

Aurora Water did not immediately respond to The Denver Gazette’s request for further information.

This story is developing and will be updated.