Irrigation Installation in Highlands Ranch, CO
JLS Landscape & Sprinkler designs and installs efficient irrigation systems for residential, commercial, and HOA properties throughout Highlands Ranch. Smart controllers, water-saving technology, and Centennial Water compliance built into every system.
Water-Smart Irrigation Systems for Colorado's Largest CDP
Highlands Ranch is home to approximately 105,000 residents, making it one of the largest census-designated places in the United States. The community spans roughly 22 square miles of former ranch land along the C-470 corridor in Douglas County, with a landscape that includes everything from the original 1980s developments in Westridge and Eastridge to the newer luxury homes in Backcountry. Every one of these properties depends on an irrigation system to sustain turf and plantings through Colorado's semi-arid summers — and the systems installed 20 to 30 years ago are reaching the end of their effective life cycle.
JLS Landscape & Sprinkler was founded as an irrigation company in 1975, and sprinkler system design and installation remain central to our business. We have been installing and maintaining irrigation infrastructure in Highlands Ranch since the community's earliest development phases, giving us direct knowledge of the soil conditions, water pressure profiles, and Centennial Water and Sanitation District requirements that influence every system design. Our LICT-certified technicians hold the credentials and experience needed to engineer systems that deliver uniform coverage while staying well within Centennial Water's tiered rate structure.
Whether you need a complete new irrigation installation for a recently constructed property, a full system replacement for an aging 1990s-era system, or a targeted upgrade to add smart controls and water-saving nozzle technology, JLS provides irrigation solutions that are engineered specifically for Highlands Ranch conditions — not adapted from a generic template.
Highlands Ranch Irrigation Facts
Population: ~105,000
Elevation: ~5,920 ft
County: Douglas County
Water District: Centennial Water & Sanitation
Watering Days: 3 per week (seasonal)
Climate Zone: USDA Zone 5b/6a transition
Governing Body: Highlands Ranch Metro District / HRCA
Annual Rainfall: ~16 inches
Drive from JLS Office: ~20 min north on I-25/C-470
Irrigation Services for Highlands Ranch Properties
Every system is designed for Highlands Ranch's specific soil, slope, water pressure, and Centennial Water compliance requirements.
New System Installation
Complete irrigation system design and installation for new construction, renovated properties, and landscapes replacing failed or outdated infrastructure. We engineer zone layouts based on soil type, slope, sun exposure, plant material, and water pressure — not cookie-cutter templates. Every installation includes a backflow preventer sized and installed to Centennial Water specifications.
Smart Controller Installation
Wi-Fi-enabled controllers with weather-based ET scheduling automatically adjust watering duration and frequency based on real-time conditions in Highlands Ranch. These systems comply with Centennial Water's designated watering days while optimizing run times to prevent overwatering. Remote monitoring lets you — or JLS — check system status and make adjustments from any device.
System Upgrades & Retrofits
Many Highlands Ranch homes built in the 1980s and 1990s have irrigation systems with outdated fixed-spray heads, mechanical timers, and no moisture sensing. JLS performs phased upgrades — replacing fixed-spray zones with high-efficiency rotary nozzles (30% water savings), installing smart controllers, adding drip irrigation to planting beds, and replacing corroded valve assemblies — without disrupting your entire landscape.
Drip Irrigation
Drip systems deliver water directly to root zones of trees, shrubs, perennials, and annuals — eliminating overspray, wind drift, and evaporation losses that plague traditional spray heads in planting beds. In Highlands Ranch, where Centennial Water tracks outdoor consumption closely, drip irrigation can reduce bed-zone water use by 50% or more compared to conventional spray zones.
Backflow Prevention
Centennial Water and Sanitation District requires backflow preventers on all irrigation system connections. JLS installs RPZ (Reduced Pressure Zone) and double-check assemblies that meet district specifications, handles the initial certification test, and provides annual testing and repair service to maintain compliance. We submit all paperwork directly to Centennial Water.
Commercial & HOA Irrigation
JLS designs and installs irrigation systems for commercial properties, office parks, retail centers, and HRCA-governed common areas throughout Highlands Ranch. Commercial installations include central control systems with flow monitoring, master valve protection, and remote management capability — allowing property managers to monitor water use, detect leaks in real time, and demonstrate conservation compliance to the district.
Irrigation Challenges Specific to Highlands Ranch
Highlands Ranch presents a distinct set of irrigation design challenges that generic system installers frequently overlook. Understanding these conditions is the difference between a system that performs efficiently for 15 years and one that wastes water and requires constant repair within the first five.
Centennial Water's tiered rate structure is the single most important factor in irrigation design for Highlands Ranch. The district charges progressively higher rates as consumption increases, with significant jumps between tiers. A poorly designed system that applies water unevenly — creating runoff on slopes, overspray on hardscape, or excessive run times on clay soils — will push a property into expensive higher tiers without improving landscape health. JLS designs every zone for matched precipitation rates, meaning every square foot of turf receives the same amount of water per cycle. This eliminates the common problem of overwatering some areas just to adequately irrigate others.
Clay and clay-loam soils dominate most of Highlands Ranch, particularly in the Westridge, Eastridge, and Northridge neighborhoods. These soils absorb water slowly — typically 0.1 to 0.3 inches per hour — which means conventional spray heads applying water at 1.5 inches per hour will produce runoff and pudding within minutes. JLS addresses this by specifying rotary nozzles with application rates of 0.4 to 0.6 inches per hour for turf zones, and by programming cycle-and-soak schedules that break irrigation into multiple short cycles with soak time between each. This approach gets water into the root zone rather than running it down the gutter.
HRCA community standards require maintained landscape appearances across all Highlands Ranch neighborhoods. A failed or underperforming irrigation system directly impacts curb appeal and can trigger covenant compliance notices. Properties in Highlands Ranch — from the original Westridge and Eastridge developments to the newer homes in Backcountry — depend on reliable irrigation to maintain the community standards that HRCA enforces.
Highlands Ranch Neighborhoods
JLS installs, upgrades, and services irrigation systems throughout all HRCA communities and the commercial corridors along C-470, Lincoln Avenue, and University Boulevard.
Irrigation Experts Since 1975
JLS Landscape & Sprinkler was established in 1975 as an irrigation and landscape company. While we have expanded into commercial landscape maintenance, snow management, and fire mitigation over the past five decades, irrigation system design and installation remain at the core of our expertise. It is in our name for a reason.
Our Sedalia headquarters is approximately 20 minutes from Highlands Ranch via I-25 and C-470. We maintain a dedicated inventory of irrigation components — heads, nozzles, valves, controllers, pipe, and fittings — so installations proceed on schedule without waiting for special-order parts. For commercial accounts and HOA communities, we provide ongoing irrigation management programs that include spring activation, monthly inspections during the watering season, backflow testing, mid-season controller adjustments, and fall winterization.
- LICT-certified irrigation technicians — licensed and insured
- 50+ years of irrigation design and installation experience in Colorado
- LEED AP staff for water-efficient and sustainable landscape design
- QWEL-certified for water-efficient landscape management
- Centennial Water compliant system design and backflow certification
- Smart controller specialists — Hunter, Rachio, and Rain Bird certified
Saving Water in Highlands Ranch
Highlands Ranch receives approximately 16 inches of annual precipitation — well below the 20 to 30 inches that most traditional turf grasses require. Every gallon matters. JLS integrates water conservation technology into every irrigation system we design.
Matched Precipitation Rate Design
Every zone is engineered so that all heads within the zone apply water at the same rate per hour. This eliminates the common problem where some areas are saturated while others are dry — a design flaw that forces property owners to overwater the entire zone just to cover the weakest spots.
Soil Moisture Sensors
Buried sensors measure real-time soil moisture at the root zone depth, overriding the controller when soil already contains adequate water. This prevents irrigation after rain events and during cool, overcast periods when evapotranspiration is low — conditions that occur regularly in Highland Ranch's spring and fall shoulder seasons.
Rotary Nozzle Conversion
Replacing conventional fixed-spray heads with rotary nozzles reduces application rates from 1.5 inches per hour to approximately 0.5 inches per hour. On Highlands Ranch's clay soils, this slower application rate means water absorbs into the ground instead of sheeting off as runoff. The result is 30% or greater water savings with healthier turf and zero runoff.
Highlands Ranch Irrigation FAQ
New irrigation system installation in Highlands Ranch typically ranges from $3,500 to $8,000 for a standard residential lot, depending on the number of zones, head count, controller type, and whether drip irrigation is included for planting beds. Larger properties, commercial installations, and HOA common areas cost more based on acreage and water source configuration. JLS provides a detailed, itemized proposal after a site survey — we do not quote irrigation systems sight-unseen because soil conditions, water pressure, and slope grades directly impact design and cost.
Yes. Centennial Water and Sanitation District, which serves Highlands Ranch, enforces seasonal watering restrictions that typically limit outdoor irrigation to three designated days per week based on your address. Additional restrictions may apply during drought conditions. JLS designs irrigation systems with smart controllers that automatically comply with these schedules. Our systems also integrate rain and soil moisture sensors to prevent watering during or after precipitation — a requirement that saves water and avoids the higher-tier rates that Centennial Water charges for excessive consumption.
Absolutely. Many Highlands Ranch properties — particularly in Westridge, Eastridge, and the original HRCA communities built in the 1980s and 1990s — have aging irrigation infrastructure with outdated controllers, inefficient fixed-spray heads, and no moisture sensing capability. JLS specializes in phased upgrades that modernize your system without tearing out everything at once. Common upgrades include replacing fixed-spray zones with rotary nozzles for 30% water savings, installing a Wi-Fi smart controller with weather-based ET scheduling, adding drip lines to planting beds, and replacing corroded brass valves with modern flow-control models.
For Highlands Ranch properties, JLS recommends Wi-Fi-enabled smart controllers with weather-based evapotranspiration (ET) scheduling. These controllers automatically adjust watering duration and frequency based on real-time weather data, temperature, humidity, wind, and solar radiation specific to the Highlands Ranch area. Leading models include the Hunter Hydrawise, Rachio 3, and Rain Bird ESP-TM2. For commercial properties and HOA common areas, we install centrally managed commercial controllers that allow remote monitoring and zone-by-zone adjustment from any device — reducing water waste and enabling rapid response to leaks or malfunctions.
A typical residential irrigation installation in Highlands Ranch takes two to four days depending on lot size, zone count, and soil conditions. Highlands Ranch soils range from clay to clay-loam, which requires trenching equipment rated for compacted ground. Commercial installations and HOA common areas may take one to three weeks depending on acreage. JLS coordinates with the Highlands Ranch Metro District for any required locates and permits. We also coordinate with Centennial Water if a new tap or backflow preventer installation is needed. After installation, we conduct a full system test including pressure checks, head adjustment, and controller programming before handoff.
