Public Participation

Public participation is an important part of our planning projects. Some opportunities for public input include:

Integrated Resource Plan 

Denver Water has embarked on a new Integrated Resource Plan (IRP 2011) that will help guide decisions related to our water system over the next 40 years. The new plan will be completed by the end of the year 2011. 

Throughout the process, we will gather input from stakeholders, including customers, the Citizens Advisory Committee, our water distributors, public entities, elected officials, environmental groups, West Slope entities, neighboring utilities along the Front Range and industry experts.

For more information, send us an e-mail or contact Laurna Kaatz at 303-628-6424.

Moffat Collection System Project Environmental Impact Statement

Denver Water is proposing to enlarge Gross Reservoir to help resolve three major water supply challenges: a future water shortfall, the risk of running out of water in a future drought and an imbalance in our collection system. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is preparing an Environmental Impact Statement to analyze the effects of implementing the Moffat Project and a reasonable range of alternatives. 

Questions regarding the proposed project, public consultation process, scoping document and Environmental Impact Statement process can be directed to:

Denver Water also is interested in your comments and will answer what questions it can at this time. Send us an e-mail with questions or to be included on the Moffat Project mailing list. Denver Water will provide more information on the process on its Web site as it becomes available; however, once the Draft Environmental Impact Statement is released, all official correspondence must go through the Corps.

Watershed Assessment and Prioritization

Recent wildfires in Denver Water’s collection system highlight the need for watershed protection plans. In 1996, the Buffalo Creek fire, located in the South Platte basin, burned 12,000 acres and in one day deposited more than 13 years worth of sediment into Strontia Springs Reservoir. In 2002, the Hayman Fire burned 137,000 acres one mile south of the Buffalo Creek Fire, sending huge volumes of sediment and debris into Cheesman and Strontia Springs reservoirs. 

Prompted by the need to protect our watersheds from future fires, Denver Water has partnered with Colorado State Forest Service, U.S. Forest Service, local counties and other water providers to develop watershed management plans, which will develop specific forest management practices for reducing wildfire risks such as forest thinning, harvests, fuel breaks, prescribed fire and natural fire control.

The Blue River and Upper Colorado watershed analyses process included stakeholder meetings and a public meeting. The reports for these watersheds will be available to the public by the end of June 2009.

The St. Vrain Watershed, where Gross Reservoir is located, will be assessed next, and the public meeting date will be posted on our Web site.

For more information, send us an e-mail or visit jw-associates.org.