Headwaters Fall 2023: One Water by Water Education Colorado

ONE WATER

BUILDING RESILIENCE IN THE URBAN WATER CYCLE

FA LL 2 0 2 3

2024 Annual Convention and Membership Meeting January 31 to February 2 Hyatt Regency Aurora – Denver Conference Center

Pulse Colorado Cities Tap State Funds to Replace Bluegrass A new state program has drawn broad participation, with local communities looking to expand incentives for property owners to trade out water-thirsty landscapes for more drought-tolerant ones. Grand Lake Clarity Concerns Headed to Legislators

Local advocates hope to gain state support toward resolution of long-standing water quality impacts affecting their idyllic tourist destination on the western flank of Rocky Mountain National Park.

solutis

COMING NOV. 8-9 TO CSU SPUR

Be part of the around our water future.

Inside

Water in the West Symposium Next Gen Water: AI to Gen Z Nov. 8-9, 2023 at CSU Spur

WHAT WE’RE DOING

Full details and registration at csuspur.org/witw

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

4 WEco's upcoming events, reporting and more.

5 FROM THE EDITOR

6 2023 PRESIDENT’S RECEPTION

7 AROUND THE STATE

Denver

•

Glenwood Springs • Durango

Water news from across Colorado.

13 MEMBER’S CORNER

Celebrate the impact of WEco’s members. Providing water resources solutions since 1961.

Water Rights • Water Supply • Drainage • Design • Wetlands

www.wrightwater.com (303) 480-1700 • (970) 945-7755 • (970) 259-7411

Contents | Fall 2023 THE ONE WATER ISSUE In Colorado and across the country, One Water approaches and full-on One Water plans are taking shape as communities embrace a more holistic view of water resources management. Goals are wide-ranging, from increased water supply to water quality improvement, recreational opportunity, even economic equity. To succeed, One Water requires a new governance culture of increased communication across historically siloed entities, with an eye toward maximizing the benefits of the urban water cycle through multi-purpose projects. The 2023 Colorado Water Plan calls for all communities statewide to embrace a One Water ethic. But with only one official One Water plan published to date in Colorado, many still haven’t heard of One Water, while others are systematically breaking down barriers that pave the way for more One Water actions in the future.

One Water, Demystified

The One Water movement promises to make communities more liveable and resilient. But what really is One Water, and what is it not? A handful of enterprising Colorado communities are putting One Water to the test. By Kelly Bastone

Denver Adopts One Water

Denver’s One Water Plan launched in 2021 as the first official One Water plan in Colorado. The plan unites leaders who manage water, land use, local government, and other resources across the city with a shared vision and common roadmap for a host of waterrelated outcomes.

Connecting Every Drop

Researchers, water managers, and entire cities are implementing pilot projects, collecting data, and surmounting legal barriers that could make it easier for everyone around the state to put One Water projects into action. By Elizabeth Miller

By Olivia Emmer

31 Above: Jennifer Bousselot, an assistant professor of urban horticulture at Colorado State University, maintains plots of native vegetation at the CSU Spur campus in Denver, Colorado, where she tests the productivity of plants grown in different soils and watered with stormwater and other sources of reclaimed water. Photo by Eli Imadali On the cover: Confluence Park in downtown Denver is a public amenity at the confluence of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek, two urban waterways benefitting from the Denver One Water Plan’s alignment of water and land use planning. Photo by Devonshire - Unsplash H E A DWAT E R S FA L L 2 0 2 3

•

What we’re doing

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Jayla Poppleton Executive Director

Lisa Darling President

Sabrina White Programs Director John Carpenter Operations Manager

ater Education Colorado offers a variety of programs for a range of audiences, but it is in our publications that we have our roots. In 2003, within WEco’s first year of operation, we published our first issue of Headwaters magazine. With Colorado emerging from its worst drought on record, that inaugural issue tackled the timely topic of drought, and articles touched on the science and statistics of the historic drought, as well as how droughts over the course of Colorado history have shaped state water law and policy. In the 20 years since, we’ve published Headwaters issues on topics ranging from floods and wildfire, to land use, endangered species, water reuse, water for agriculture and energy development, and much more. This issue marks No. 60 in the books! In 2018, having recognized the need for a more flexible platform and more timely journalism to keep our audiences informed, we launched the Fresh Water News initiative. Fresh Water News has since gained a loyal readership, right alongside Headwaters, and this summer we conducted a reader survey to solicit input on the value, relevance, trustworthiness, and utility of both publications. Your feedback was overarchingly positive and indicated that we are having the hoped-for impact of keeping you current and informing your participation in water issues. To share a few stats: • 100% of Headwaters readers and 100% of Fresh Water News readers said reading the publication increased their understanding of water. • 85% of Headwaters readers and 88% of Fresh Water News readers agreed or strongly agreed that the publication’s coverage and reporting is policy-neutral, presenting diverse perspectives rather than taking positions on issues. • 52% of Headwaters readers and 61% of Fresh Water News readers said the publication impacted their decision making in the past year. We will continue to scrutinize the balance and extent of our reporting, particularly in response to any areas where you said we fell short. To continue the evolution, with the goal of growing Fresh Water News’ capacity to cover a wider breadth of issues and reach a larger audience, I’m enthused to announce a new partnership with the Colorado Sun. The Sun also launched its statewide coverage in 2018, and is in the process of moving from its former publicbenefit corporation model to a nonprofit. Together, we will bring our readers Fresh Water News via a nine-month pilot. We’ll be testing a model of joint publishing with the goal of strengthening nonpartisan water reporting across Colorado. Please keep reading and supporting Headwaters and Fresh Water News with WEco, and also check out coloradosun.com, where they bring member-supported coverage on critical issues that stretch far beyond water. And don’t be shy to let us know how we’re doing. Our aim is to produce quality journalism you can count on, and our success is dependent on keeping our readers on the same page, literally and figuratively. —Executive Director—

4 • WAT E R E D U C AT I O N C O LO R A D O

STAFF

Geoff Harlan Membership and Development Manager

Dulcinea Hanuschak Vice President Brian Werner Secretary Alan Matlosz Treasurer Cary Baird Perry Cabot

Suzy Hiskey Administrative Assistant

Nick Colglazier

Jerd Smith Fresh Water News Editor

Eric Hecox

David Graf Matt Heimerich

Julie Kallenberger Caitlin Coleman Publications and Digital David LaFrance Resources Managing Editor Dan Luecke Charles Chamberlin Headwaters Graphic Designer

Water Fluency Achieved

Karen McCormick Leann Noga Peter Ortego Dylan Roberts Kelly Romero-Heaney Ana Ruiz Elizabeth Schoder Don Shawcroft Chris Treese Katie Weeman

THE MISSION of Water Education Colorado is to ensure Coloradans are informed on water issues and equipped to make decisions that guide our state to a sustainable water future. WEco is a non-advocacy organization committed to providing educational opportunities that consider diverse perspectives and facilitate dialogue in order to advance the conversation about water. HEADWATERS magazine is published three times each year by Water Education Colorado. Its goals are to raise awareness of current water issues, and to provide opportunities for engagement and further learning. THANK YOU to all who assisted in the development of this issue. Headwaters’ reputation for balance and accuracy in reporting is achieved through rigorous consultation with experts and an extensive peer review process, helping to make it Colorado’s leading publication on water. © Copyright 2023 by the Colorado Foundation for Water

Education DBA Water Education Colorado. ISSN: 1546-0584 CSU Spur, Hydro/The Shop, 4777 National Western Drive, Denver, CO 80216 (303) 377-4433

Announcing 2023 Water Leaders Graduates It’s been another great year for WEco’s Water Leaders Program, and we are pleased to announce our graduating class of 2023! We expanded the class size from 16 to 20 people this year, and have loved working with these fantastic water professionals and our facilitator/coaches, Stephanie Scott from Scott Solutions and Ashley Seeley from Excellence Advantage. After an intensive eight months of virtual and in-person training sessions, and countless hours spent meeting with coaches, cohorts, and mentors, the 2023 class is departing with the tools and confidence to make a big impact on their organizations, the water sector, and the state of Colorado and beyond. Join us in congratulating them! Amber Pacheco Rio Grande Water Conservation District Ariel Hacker Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District Brandy Logan Colorado Water Conservation Board Cameron Wilkins Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Chris Muller South Metro Water Supply Authority Cristy Radabaugh Martin and Wood Water Consultants Donnie Dustin City of Fort Collins Utilities Holly Kirkpatrick Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District Jenny McCarty St. Vrain and Left Hand Water Conservancy District Jessica DiToro LRE Water

Justin Zeisler Colorado Springs Utilities Kayli Foulk Grand County Kimberly Mihelich Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District Logan Hartle Elbert Creek Water Company Mary Huisenga SWCA Environmental Consultants Quinn Donnelly RiverRestoration.org, LLC Rachel Pence Denver Water Rachel Zerowin High Country Conservation Center Steven Barrett HRS Water Consultants Teresa Patterson Mile High Flood District

WEco’s Water Fluency Program just wrapped up its 9th year, with a focus in 2023 on the Rio Grande Basin. This year’s class of 36 learned about the intricacies of Colorado’s legal and institutional frameworks for water management, the rich history of water development and protection in our state, and the innovative projects and technologies that are helping conserve and maximize the use of water while protecting the ecology of the natural environment. We shined the spotlight on work being done by counties and municipalities in the San Luis Valley and appreciated the warm hospitality of individuals and organizations in that region, along with the many presenters who contributed their time to teach the class. Across five days of lectures, field visits, and discussion, the class left with increased understanding and invigorated passion to continue advancing water solutions and sustainability across Colorado. Registration for the 2024 program will open in early 2024. Add your name to a notification list at wateredco.org/wf-24-notify and we’ll be sure you’re among the first to know when registration opens! Thank you to our 2023 Water Fluency Title Sponsors for their support: Colorado Water Conservation Board, Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority, and Special Districts Association of Colorado.

Applications for the 2024 program will open in November. Want to be sure not to miss the announcement? Add your name to a notification list at wateredco.org/wl-24-notify.

H E A DWAT E R S FA L L 2 0 2 3

•

What we’re doing Guía de la Comunidad: La ley de aguas de Colorado WEco’s second Spanish-language reference primer is now available! We’ve translated our Guide to Colorado Water Law and it’s now available in Spanish, both in print and online, along with our guide to Where Your Water Comes From. Know someone who needs a copy or an organization for us to partner with to spread the word? Let us know or order copies from our shop at watereducationcolorado.org. Thank you to all of the sponsors who supported production of the Spanish law guide: Colorado Water Conservation Board, Aurora Water, Alyson Scott Law, Colorado River District, Colorado Springs Utilities, Denver Water, Otten Johnson Robinson Neff & Ragonetti, Pueblo Water, Somach Simmons & Dunn, Southwest Water and Property Law, and Southwestern Water Conservation District.

Take a Virtual Tour of Colorado’s River Basins Water Education Colorado toured eight of Colorado's unique river basins for the Water '22 public awareness campaign last year to highlight the work of the Basin Roundtables and the Colorado Water Plan update. We captured the tours on film and the videos are now available online! Join us for an abbreviated, virtual tour experience that will introduce you to projects and priorities from local Basin Implementation Plans, with connections to the state water plan and an emphasis on collaboration and partnership. Find them at wateredco.org/tours.

6 • WAT E R E D U C AT I O N C O LO R A D O

FROM THE EDITOR

ello, readers! You haven't heard from me before in these pages and may be wondering where Caitlin Coleman, Headwaters Editor, is. I am thrilled to be able to share that Caitlin is a new mother and is currently out on parental leave with her infant son, the newest member of our Water Education Colorado family. Her work was instrumental in the development of this issue of Headwaters, and you will see her fingerprints throughout the pages that follow. In supporting her throughout the process, I've learned a great deal about One Water. What is One Water? This is a question that people across the country have been asking since the idea of One Water was first conceptualized. In this issue of Headwaters, we seek to explain what One Water is, demonstrate the range of projects that fall under the concept, and highlight steps being taken to reduce barriers to using One Water approaches to achieve long-term sustainable water use. In their One Water Roadmap, the US Water Alliance defines One Water as a way to “envision managing all water in an integrated, inclusive, and sustainable manner to secure a bright, prosperous future for our children, our communities, and our country.” The idea is that through a paradigm shift that moves our water systems toward an integrated, communicative system, we can achieve more efficient, nimble, and sustainable water management. For those of you involved in—or paying attention to—water resources planning work at the community or utility level, you may be asking how One Water differs from an Integrated Water Management Plan, which is nothing new. John Rehring, senior client services manager at Carollo Engineers, which supported both the Denver One Water Plan and the Aspen Integrated Water Resource Plan discussed in these pages, explains it this way: “An integrated resource plan focuses on combining water supply options, such as a river intake and groundwater wells, to meet forecasted needs. One Water plans go further, with holistic strategies to manage the water cycle—taking advantage of interconnections between drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, and local and regional water resources. In this issue, you'll learn more about what One Water is and how the shift is occurring across the country in “One Water Demystified” (page 14), efforts Denver has taken through implementing the state’s first One Water plan in “Denver Adopts One Water” (page 19), and how Aspen and other communities across the state have created holistic water plans to connect every drop of water to the greater system in “Connecting Every Drop” (page 25). While these may seem like separate efforts, as you read this issue you'll start to see a connecting thread of One Water integrated management emerging across the state. As Kevin Reidy from the Colorado Water Conservation Board says, “The local level is where the important planning decisions are made for a more sustainable and water-conscious future.” I'm excited to see the future of One Water as it continues to take hold in Colorado!

2023 President's Reception

The 2023 President’s Reception was another success, with more than 225 friends, colleagues and supporters joining us on Sept. 6 to celebrate the mission and impact of Water Education Colorado, along with the achievements and contributions of our award recipients. We were delighted to honor Anne Castle with the 2023 Diane Hoppe Leadership Award and Russ Sands with the 2023 Emerging Leader Award. Learn more about these individuals and their career highlights on the following pages. With sincere thanks to our dedicated community’s generous support, via sponsorship, ticket sales, auction bids and donations, the event generated more than $57,000 that will go directly toward supporting WEco’s many programs to inform elected and appointed officials, water sector professionals, educators, students, and interested community members. Mark your calendars now for the 2024 President’s Reception, tentatively planned for Sept. 5, 2024, and we’ll look forward to throwing another great party with the best of the best!

THANK YOU TO OUR TIDAL, PEAK AND TORRENT SPONSORS: TIDAL

PEAK

TORRENT —Programs Director—

H E A DWAT E R S FA L L 2 0 2 3

•

2023 Diane Hoppe Leadership Award

2023 Emerging Leader Award

ANNE CASTLE

BY PAUL FANNING nne Castle has amassed a remarkable body of accomplishments during her 40-plus-year career in Colorado water. She has shepherded innovative concepts into “firsts” in Colorado water law, directed science and water policy at the federal level, worked to solve complex and combative Colorado River challenges, and led efforts to obtain and enhance clean water supplies for tribal nations. Anne found her career proceeding roughly parallel to that of her friend Ken Salazar, who began as a private practice water lawyer and then dealt with major water issues when he served as Colorado Attorney General. In January of 2009, Salazar was the incoming U.S. Secretary of the Interior for the Obama administration, and he recruited Anne to serve as Assistant Secretary for Water and Science for the U.S. Department of the Interior. In this post, she exercised management, budget and policy authority over both Reclamation and the U.S. Geological Survey. She describes her work there as having been both challenging and rewarding, as she dealt every day with the most complex, important water issues facing the nation. While at Interior, Anne spearheaded Reclamation’s WaterSMART program, which provides federal funding to support sustainable

8 • WAT E R E D U C AT I O N C O LO R A D O

Anne Castle (left) is presented with the 2023 Diane Hoppe Leadership Award by WEco Executive Director Jayla Poppleton. The award photo was donated by Pete McBride.

water supplies. She was the driving force behind the 2010 Memorandum of Understanding among Interior, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers addressing the development of sustainable hydropower. She also launched the federal Open Water Data Initiative in an attempt to make the fragmented universe of water data more integrated and accessible. She found the career staff at Interior to be extremely knowledgeable and mission driven, and a crucial resource in addressing the Colorado River issues that were a focus for her. Working in the high-stakes environment of Washington, D.C., provided an acute understanding of how critical it is to include the perspectives of different “sides” approaching any issue. She strove to broaden the context of those in

the water community involved in negotiations to allow progress toward more creative solutions. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the connection between lack of access to clean drinking water and high rates of illness and deaths among Native Americans. The Biden administration’s subsequent focus on both environmental justice issues and infrastructure improvement helped create traction for legislation and policy changes to fill the gaps in federal programs designed to serve the long-neglected need for access to clean drinking water for all tribal communities. In 2022, Anne was appointed by President Biden as the U.S. Commissioner for the Upper Colorado River Commission, where she continues to serve, at a time of increased pressure

on achieving a sustainable system. Currently, Anne is a senior fellow at the Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment at the University of Colorado Law School, focusing on Western water issues, including Colorado River policy and management. She leads and supports efforts to advance water sustainability in the Western U.S. including better measurement and reporting of water data, policies supporting the value of water staying in rivers, and universal access to clean water for tribes. Anne received a Bachelor of Science degree in applied mathematics from the University of Colorado, College of Engineering, primarily to prove to her father that girls could do math. Her J.D. was also from the University of Colorado, qualifying her as a “Double Buff.” She lives with her husband of 48 years, Frank Daviess, and misses her two kids, Chris and Beth Daviess, who live in New York and California, respectively. Chris became a father in August 2023 and thereby provided Frank and Anne’s first grandchild. As a recognized leader with over four decades of Western, national, and international success in water law and policy and an ongoing quest to achieve sustainability and justice in Western water, Anne is a most worthy recipient of WEco’s 2023 Diane Hoppe Leadership Award.

RUSS SANDS

BY PAUL FANNING uss Sands, Section Chief of Water Supply Planning for the Colorado Water Conservation Board, developed an understanding of the many uses of water and challenges to water quality from an early age. Born in Spain into a military family (his father was a Marine), Russ had moved to Kenya by the time he was in seventh grade. During a family visit to a scenic waterfall there, he was amazed and concerned to see local villagers doing their laundry in the pool below the falls, creating huge amounts of soapy foam in what should have been a pristine stream. Later, while living in the Dominican Republic, it was necessary for his family to drink bottled water due to a public water supply that was not safe to consume. These early experiences helped shape his concern for both protecting water supplies in the environment and providing safe drinking water to the public. Russ interned at Denver Water while a student at Metropolitan State University of Denver, and credits his boss, Fred Sanchez, with inspiring his passion for protecting water quality. Russ transitioned from intern to employee, then transferred to backflow prevention, where he had the opportunity to work with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment on providing consistency across the state in standardizing backflow regulations. His

Tree), which he shares with his son, and creating awardwinning graphic design, which he often weaves into his water work. Looking to the future, he observes, “The lessons in Colorado on all the work we do, whether it’s Colorado River issues or the Colorado Water Plan, are transferable in that they focus on collaboration, building trust and trying to make an impact not just for our generation but for those that come after.” Sonja Chavez (left), the 2022 Emerging Leader Award recipient, together with WEco Executive Director Jayla Poppleton (right), presented the 2023 Emerging Leader Award to Russ Sands. The award sculpture was donated by Rik Sargent.

perspective was greatly broadened by working with people in water systems with divergent needs and resources. Moving on to the City of Boulder, he found himself working “in the middle,” negotiating issues involving stakeholders with varying perceptions on how to achieve water quality goals. He then succeeded a retiring Paul Lander as the leader of Boulder’s strong conservation initiatives, eventually helping Boulder County lead a 2013 water planning task force, developing a final report for the country that focused on regional water collaboration and launching the first Watershed Summit as a result. While with the City of Boulder, Russ embraced the opportunity to participate in a federal program that paired international cities facing

similar challenges. He worked to share lessons and develop strategies in Shimla, India (which led to helping them launch a water conservation campaign), and on followup work with multiple cities including Bangkok, Thailand. Russ describes his current Section Chief role at CWCB as a “Jack of All Trades,” encompassing, but not limited to, conservation, education/outreach, resilience, and project financing. His experience in so many aspects of Colorado water, working to satisfy the needs of diverse groups, prepared him well to lead his team at CWCB in developing the 2023 update to the Colorado Water Plan – a crowning achievement for a relatively young water leader. Outside his professional water life, Russ enjoys rock climbing (especially at Joshua

Thank you also to our 2023 Cascade and Ripple level reception sponsors: CASCADE • Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority • CEGR Law • Denver Water • Northern Water

RIPPLE • Alyson Scott Law • Applegate Group • City of Thornton • Colorado River District • Colorado Water Center • Forsgren Associates • LRE Water • Rio Grande Water Conservation District • Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District • Southwestern Water Conservation District • Stifel • The Nature Conservancy • Wilson Water Group • Wright Water Engineers

H E A DWAT E R S FA L L 2 0 2 3

•

Pulse

Colorado Cities Tap State Funds to Replace Bluegrass

Each year on Colorado Gives Day, Coloradans unite with a shared purpose: to elevate their community and neighbors by fueling the efforts of nonprofits that make a meaningful change.

BY JERD SMITH ore than two dozen Colorado cities and water districts have been awarded an estimated $1.5 million in new funding to pay for voluntary programs to remove lawns and replace them with drought-tolerant landscapes. The turf replacement grant program is a first-of-its-kind initiative for the state. Interest in the program was high, according to Jenna Battson, outdoor water conservation coordinator at the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB), which is administering the grants. According to the CWCB, 39 applications have been received since the program began this past spring, and 37 had already completed or were completing the contracting process as of mid-September. The application period closed Aug. 31, according to the CWCB, and winners were named across the state, from Cortez to Glenwood Springs, to Aurora and Colorado Springs, to name a few. Lawmakers approved the bipartisan HB22-1151 in 2022. It provides $1.5 million to encourage the removal of water-hungry landscapes like Kentucky bluegrass in favor of drought-resistant grasses and plants. The law stipulates that communities be allowed to design their own programs and guidelines to cut water use. In Cortez, in southwestern Colorado, the city of 8,700 people will use its $40,000 grant, along with $40,000 in local matching funds, to create its first turf replacement program. “With the turf replacement, we expect to reduce water use by up to 50% [by removing thirsty grasses and replacing lawn sprinklers with drip irrigation systems],” said George Tripp, assistant engineer with the city’s public works department. “We had money set aside,

YOUR DONATION TO WECO AND FRESH WATER NEWS THIS COLORADO GIVES DAY WILL SUPPORT QUALITY WATER JOURNALISM AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS THAT KEEP YOU INFORMED AND HELP YOU ENGAGE. Early giving opens Nov. 1. All donations made by Dec. 5 qualify for incentives.

today we work FOR OUR WATER FUTURE Scan the code to learn how we’re advancing water reuse technology. 10 • W A T E R E D U C A T I O N C O L O R A D O

Lawn sizes in Castle Rock are sharply limited to save water, with some homeowners opting to use artificial turf for convenience and to help keep water bills low. Oct. 21, 2020.

but the grant award is very helpful.” Several Colorado communities, such as Aurora, began voluntary turf replacement programs years ago and in 2022 approved a new ordinance sharply limiting what’s referred to as “non-functional” turf, or turf that is purely ornamental, in new commercial and residential development. Since the early 2000s, the city’s turf replacement efforts and other rebates have allowed it to reduce water use by 36%, according to Tim York, manager of water conservation at Aurora Water. The city spends about $136,000 annually on its rebate program, which includes turf replacement. York said the state grant program, though small, is helping generate more interest in water-wise landscaping. “You can make the changes for new development by creating

new [landscape] codes in city ordinances,” he said. “That is a stick approach. With existing landscapes you need a carrot.” And new funding sources provide that incentive. York said interest in Aurora is surging. This year the city expects more than 100 homeowners to join the turf replacement program, up from previous years when fewer than 25 participated. “It’s been a long build-up,” he said. “But we’re seeing a huge increase in participation and that is fantastic.” H This story originally appeared in Fresh Water News, an initiative of Water Education Colorado. Read Fresh Water News online at watereducationcolorado.org. Jerd Smith is editor of Fresh Water News.

csu.org JERD SMITH

H E A DWAT E R S FA L L 2 0 2 3

•

Around the state | BY CAITLIN COLEMAN

Pulse

Grand Lake Clarity Concerns Headed to Legislators

ARKANSAS RIVER BASIN

BY JERD SMITH dvocates for Grand Lake, Colorado’s largest and deepest natural lake once known for its crystal clear waters, will ask state lawmakers in 2024 to approve a resolution calling for its restoration in an effort to win statewide support to restore its clarity. The move comes one year after the legislature’s Water Resources and Agriculture Review Committee was asked to intervene in the issue, which centers on the federal ColoradoBig Thompson Project (C-BT). Lawmakers declined to act at that time, citing the need for more study. Located on the western edge of Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Lake has been a tourist haven since the late 1800s. Advocates have long been frustrated at the failure to find a permanent fix to the lake's clarity issues. They are hopeful that if they can get state lawmakers to approve the resolution, they may have more leverage with their federal partners. “[The resolution] doesn’t have any teeth,” said Mike Cassio, president of the nonprofit Three Lakes Watershed Association. “But it is something state legislators could vote on, and it would put people on the record.” The C-BT, built beginning in the 1930s, moves water collected in man-made Granby and Shadow Mountain reservoirs through Grand Lake before pumping it under

12 • W A T E R E D U C A T I O N C O L O R A D O

Grand Lake, Colorado’s largest and deepest natural lake, lies on the western edge of Rocky Mountain National Park and has long been a tourist haven. Advocates are fighting to restore its degraded water clarity.

the Continental Divide to the East Slope, where it serves 1 million people and hundreds of farmers. In the process, algae and sediments from Shadow Mountain are carried into Grand Lake, clouding its formerly clear waters and causing algae blooms and weed growth. Before the C-BT was built, clarity was 9.2 meters, roughly 30 feet. The goal now is 3.8 meters, according to Esther Vincent, Northern Water’s director of environmental services. Northern Water jointly operates and maintains the C-BT along with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. In 2008, the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission

(WQCC) moved to set a clarity standard, but it has since been replaced with the clarity goal and the aim of achieving “the highest level of clarity attainable.” Northern Water and others have implemented different management techniques, including changing pumping patterns, to find ways to improve water quality in all three water bodies. In some years, Northern has been able to improve clarity, but not to historical levels. As advocates seek to broaden support, the Three Lakes Technical Committee, a working group that includes multiple federal and state agencies and interest groups, restarted formal meetings Sept. 1 for the first time

since 2014, though other groups have met more often, examining annual operating results and testing new management scenarios. Jeff Rieker, manager of Reclamation’s Eastern Colorado Area office, said the resumption of the technical meetings, scheduled to occur monthly through April 2024, could help move everyone closer to a solution. “We certainly recognize the concerns and frustrations that are out there … my hope is that through these dialogues that we are having this year, it will lead to people being less frustrated,” Rieker said. Northern and Reclamation, along with other Grand Lake interest groups, will update the WQCC in November on their efforts since 2016. Whether the state will take additional action isn’t clear. Getting state lawmakers on board could generate a new level of support for the lake. “I am hoping we can get the resolution on the books and that it means something,” Cassio said. “If we have a couple more years of bad snowpack and rainfall, it’s going to be ugly.” H This story originally appeared in Fresh Water News, an initiative of Water Education Colorado. Read Fresh Water News online at watereducationcolorado.org. Jerd Smith is editor of Fresh Water News.

JULIE FALK—FLICKR, CREATIVE COMMONS

The Colorado Sun reports that the Arkansas Valley Conduit received another $100 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in July, bringing federal aid for the water project to $251 million to date. The pipeline, which will transport water from Pueblo Reservoir to dozens of communities in the Arkansas River Valley east of Lamar, will finally mean that those communities can access domestic water supplies free of radionuclides that are naturally occurring in the region’s rock and soils. The conduit will run 130 miles and is expected to cost around $600 million. It could be complete by 2029.

COLORADO RIVER BASIN Fresh Water News reports that Colorado’s new state Colorado River Drought Task Force got to work in early August in the first of its regular meetings to develop recommendations on how the river’s supplies will be managed inside state lines as its flows continue to decline. State lawmakers created the 17-member task force in May when they approved Senate Bill 23-295. By late December, the group must make actionable recommendations to the legislature on how the state can provide more tools for Colorado water managers responding to drought in order to protect local agriculture and communities while maintaining Colorado’s interstate Colorado River commitments.

GUNNISON RIVER BASIN The Peterson Ranch in Gunnison County will help keep water flowing in a dry section of Tomichi Creek by temporarily leasing some of its water through Colorado’s Instream Flow Program, reports Aspen Journalism. The temporary lease agreement was approved this year by the Colorado Water Conservation Board. In exchange for turning

off diversions early, the ranchers will be compensated by the Colorado Water Trust, a nonprofit. The ranch is owned by former legislator and Colorado River District board member Kathleen Curry and her husband, Greg Peterson.

NORTH PLATTE RIVER BASIN North, South and East Lakes in North Park have been ranked among the top 10 most remote lakes in the United States by travel website “The Travel.” Lakes making it to the top 10 were selected from among 125,000 total lakes in the lower 48 states due to their difficulty to reach. They require either hikes, dirt road drives or even seaplanes to get to, but the difficulty, according to The Travel, is well worth the reward of enjoying the great outdoors without the crowds. The North Park lakes, among others in the North Platte Basin, have maintained their remoteness thanks to the surrounding Rocky Mountains, wilderness areas, and other public lands.

RIO GRANDE BASIN The Alamosa Citizen reports that the state Groundwater Compact Compliance Fund, administered in the San Luis Valley by the Rio Grande Water Conservation District, accepted applications this summer from June 29 through September 29. Last year, as part of Senate Bill 22-028, Colorado set aside $30 million to help bring groundwater sustainability to irrigators in the Rio Grande Basin. The act also set aside funds to help finance groundwater use reduction in the Republican River Basin. In the San Luis Valley, the aim is to permanently retire 40–50 irrigated circles and to save 11,000–15,000 acre-feet of water every year, with the Rio Grande district paying $3,000 per acrefoot to permanently retire water pumped through groundwater wells.

SAN JUAN/DOLORES RIVER BASIN The Durango Herald reports that in July, Colorado U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, along with Colorado Rep. Joe Neguse and New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich, reintroduced the Tribal Access to Clean Water Act. The bill would increase funding to the Indian Health Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Bureau of Reclamation to help provide clean water to the many Native American households who lack access. Manuel Heart, chairman of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, said the bill would provide a critical step toward increasing tribal independence and governance. Similar bills were introduced in 2021 and 2022.

SOUTH PLATTE RIVER BASIN July’s rainstorms brought 20,000 cubic yards of sediment from the Hayman Fire burn scar above Denver Water’s Strontia Springs Reservoir down into the South Fork of the South Platte River, reports the Colorado Sun. A Denver Water spokesperson said that impacts to water quality included short spikes in turbidity and were managed through the utility’s treatment plants.

YAMPA RIVER BASIN The Steamboat Pilot reports that Friends of the Yampa is leading a local study of 11 Yampa River tributaries on U.S. Forest Service Land so that the tributaries can be considered for the Outstanding Waters designation program used to safeguard water quality. The study began last summer and will be completed in spring 2024. An Outstanding Waters designation aims to preserve the high quality of designated stream reaches for future generations.

H E A DWAT E R S FA L L 2 0 2 3

•

One Water, Demystified

Dr. Mazdak Arabi, a professor at Colorado State University, is also director and founder of the One Water Solutions Institute. The institute, housed in CSU’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is focused on addressing water sustainability challenges by facilitating the adoption of One Water strategies.

The One Water movement promises to make water supplies do more for communities and the environment—if stakeholders can break down existing siloes and integrate their efforts—but it’s far from a one-size-fits-all solution.

hemically, the water that nature creates is always H2O, regardless of whether it’s suspended in clouds, falling as droplets of rain, or coursing across the land in streams. It’s all one water that cycles through earth and atmosphere. People, however, tend to form water teams that focus on singular aspects of water’s role in our environment and communities. Some managers oversee dams and reservoirs, while others treat water for drinking. Stormwater, flood control, distribution and piping, wastewater, watersheds and the environment, agricultural ditches and canals—all of these water sectors developed as specialties that don’t, necessarily, join forces or even communicate about overlapping projects and goals. That’s largely because each specialty has had to negotiate separate regulations and policies dictating the how’s and why’s of their water niche. Over time, siloes developed that hindered communities’ and water managers’ ability to take a holistic approach to water use and planning. But by the early 2000s, a number of water professionals across the globe started to envision a new paradigm. “What if these systems

14 • W A T E R E D U C A T I O N C O L O R A D O

could be collaborating and together break down the divides?” asks Scott Berry, director of policy and government affairs for the US Water Alliance, established in 2008 to facilitate communication and development of what have been coined “One Water” principles. The One Water movement was initiated with a utility-centric focus that sought to create dialogue between stormwater, wastewater and drinking water divisions. But the notion of One Water has since evolved to include a broader, more diverse tapestry of stakeholders, says Berry. One Water is, in a nutshell, a commitment to holistic water management that acknowledges water’s interconnected role in land use, environmental conservation, and sometimes even social justice (because people of all economic circumstances deserve healthy drinking water and settings). One Water acknowledges that water is finite and seeks to ensure resilience and reliability when meeting both community and ecosystem needs. The goals of One Water often vary by

BY KELLY BASTONE

site, but in most places, One Water initiatives link water and land planning. Whereas integrated water resource plans usually focus on water alone, a One Water ethic recognizes water’s integration with broader landscapes. Communities can then put that ethic into action by developing a formal One Water plan, which aims to have all of a watershed’s major players at the table in order to craft more sustainable water systems. This means that local governments; private businesses; developers; farmers and agricultural industries; transit authorities; nonprofit organizations; drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, flood and watershed managers; land use planners; environmentalists; and others can all collaborate to share needs and solutions that help finite water resources go farther and achieve multiple benefits for communities and environments. This country’s largest cities have led the movement to attempt One Water frameworks, with Los Angeles creating its influential One Water plan in 2018. Other cities, such as New York, Seattle, Honolulu and Denver have followed. And now, surveys conducted by the US Water Alliance indicate that about 80 communities across the country are currently pursuing One Water plan

development. Most, including Denver, are managing the interrelated aspects of their water systems in a more collaborative way to improve resiliency in the face of climate change and to stretch water resources to serve growing human populations. “Collaboration can be unwieldy,” acknowledges Berry. But it can also avoid costly and wasteful inefficiencies in spending, and it may even help tackle social injustice. “One Water approaches can address the ways that different neighborhoods have historically received different treatment, and can propose durable solutions that are integrated and equitable,” says Berry. It’s up to each community to identify a set of objectives that address local priorities: One city might emphasize stormwater reuse, while another might elevate water quality higher on its list.

ELI IMADALI

One Water’s potential benefits are great, but real-life implementation is just now getting started across the country, including in Colorado. Here’s how this state’s leading governments are planning for One Water progress.

COLORADO PLANS AND VISIONS n September 2021, Denver became the first Colorado entity to pursue integrated One Water strategies through the publication of its One Water plan. Denver collaborators include those involved in water and land use on many levels: the city’s water and wastewater providers, urban drainage and flood control, various representatives from different departments within the city and county governments, the state, and those who are looking out for the river itself. And they prioritized action items that include promoting water reuse, encour-

aging overlap between land use and water planning, and developing water policies that support sustainable practices. Work implementing Denver’s plan is just getting off the ground with monthly meetings among the plan’s collaborators who share ideas, outreach opportunities, and areas where their work overlaps. Denver’s plan is such a comprehensive philosophy developed by so many varied decision makers who touch all aspects of water that it urges integrated planning and multi-benefit outcomes on nearly every level. (Read more about the Denver One Water Plan in “Denver Adopts One Water” on page 19.) For example, the 39th Avenue Greenway project in the Cole and Clayton neighborhoods of north Denver predates the city’s One Water plan (it was completed in 2020) but exemplifies the kind of multi-benefit project that the plan will prioritize. Flood control was the development’s marquee goal, but the design also installed pollutant-filtering green spaces to improve environmental health and playgrounds for families that had historically been underserved by city parks and recreational facilities. Of course, One Water approaches don’t have to be all-encompassing, as Denver’s is. “You don’t have to do everything, everywhere, all at once,” explains Berry. Localities can identify top priorities and follow One Water principles to address discrete problems. For example, North Carolina’s Jordan Lake community collaborated on a One Water plan that helped stakeholders comply with water quality standards and get involved with the creation of new nutrient regulations. Their first task focused on collaborative policy development. “It’s still part of the One Water approach to prioritize and accomplish things more piecemeal,” says Berry. Those projects simply express the overarching One Water philosophy that

H E A DWAT E R S FA L L 2 0 2 3

•

One Water, Defined “The One Water approach envisions managing all water in an integrated, inclusive, and sustainable manner to secure a bright, prosperous future for our children, our communities, and our country.” —One Water Roadmap, US Water Alliance “One Water is a movement, a paradigm shift in thinking, and the future of how we manage our water resources with practical and bold ideas coming together in a collaborative way. While water knows no boundaries, how we manage and regulate water is highly fragmented—requiring interdisciplinary solutions that create more equitable, sustainable, and resilient cities. One Water provides an innovative and exciting approach to integrated water management planning.” —Denver One Water Plan “One Water is a collaborative planning and implementation approach that fosters integrated and equitable management of water resources for longterm resilience and reliability, meeting both community and ecosystem needs. A One Water City holistically manages all water systems to meet the needs of all people and the environment, today and in the future.” —One Water Cities: A Self-Assessment Framework, Water Research Foundation

16 • W A T E R E D U C A T I O N C O L O R A D O

communities establish from the outset. “In vation and reuse. “We have funded direct this case, One Water is both the destination potable reuse pilots and other initiatives and the journey,” Berry adds. that provide capacity to create landscape And Colorado’s leaders are calling for transformation programs and enact wasweeping visions at the state level but not ter-wise landscape codes,” says Reidy. Some necessarily looking to blanket the state with of those projects advance goals outlined in full-on One Water plans. In the 2023 update the Denver One Water Plan, and they repreto the Colorado Water Plan, the authors sent real-world examples of integration. urge communities across the state to follow One CWCB-funded project created a in Denver’s footsteps by including water in small reuse plant on wheels. This direct “every city and county’s comprehensive plan potable reuse mobile demonstration trailin ways that embrace the One Water ethic er helped Colorado Springs Utilities test and support inclusion in water and land use and develop advanced water purification planning at the local level.” technologies to be able to treat wastewa“The local level is where the important ter to drinking water standards, known planning decisions are made for a more as direct potable reuse. Next, the trailer sustainable and water conscious future,” says relocated to Aurora Water, which also Kevin Reidy, senior state water efficiency used it to confirm treatment strategies for specialist for the Colorado Water Conserdirect potable reuse. Most recently, the vation Board (CWCB), the agency that led trailer moved to the South Platte Renew the development and treatment facility in update to the state water Englewood for addiplan and supports water tional testing. plan goals with project Another grantfunding and direction. ee, Boulder-based The new 2023 water plan nonprofit Western specifically calls out the Resource Advocates, “One Water ethic” for published a white paper all communities across along with WaterNow the state – going beyond Alliance on ways to a goal in the initial 2015 finance the removal Colorado Water Plan, and replacement of which set the objeclarge-scale, thirsty turf tive that by 2025, 75% grass, replacing it with of Coloradans would water-wise landscaping, —Kevin Reidy, live in communities and developed several Colorado Water that had incorporated pilot projects. And with Conservation Board water-saving actions into CWCB support, the land use planning. The organization has partstate hasn’t yet conducted a formal survey nered with several communities statewide to measure communities’ progress. But to develop landscape codes that can serve Reidy notes that 68% of Colorado’s popuas a framework for other communities as lation is represented by municipalities that they adopt similar ordinances. have attended the “Growing Water Smart” “With more One Water planning hapworkshops, hosted by the Sonoran Institute pening there can be a growing awareness, and Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy cataloging of best practices and tools and financed by the CWCB, which help local that make adoption easier as well as leaders learn about integrated land and water documenting case studies that can help management—a central One Water tenet. achieve a larger vision,” says Reidy. “UlThrough its Colorado Water Plan Grant timately, that vision is strongest when it Program, the CWCB prioritizes projects that can integrate water conservation, land use exemplify One Water principles of conserand community values around water.”

“The local level is where the important planning decisions are made for a more sustainable and water-conscious future.”

WATER INTEGRATION lents in the adjacent county. “Promoting that notes, because if you stifle housing creation IN FORT COLLINS engagement is a big part of One Water, bein a locale that already experiences rising ne community that’s begun to cause that’s what creates a balanced approach property values, you price out lower-income yoke synergies is Fort Collins. to addressing water issues,” says Graham, residents. So while limiting growth may look This northern Colorado city is who has already begun dialogues with area good from a water-use standpoint, it can unusual in that, in contrast to how things agricultural providers and neighboring water also heighten social inequities. work in Denver, it owns and operates all providers. “It can be daunting,” Graham acknowlthree traditional water utilities: drinking Surrounding Fort Collins’ urban boundedges. He doesn’t yet know what the limits water, stormwater and ary is an area served will be for local collaboration, or how big wastewater. But each had by about 20 differis too big when it comes to the number of become siloed, to the point ent water utilities stakeholders involved. “But regardless of that various arms of the that respond indewhether we can leverage all that, there is a system often competed for pendently to their need to have these conversations,” he confunding and purpose. Two communities’ widely cludes. And the future benefits of pursuing years ago, the city hired a varying attitudes integration seem worth the present uncerconsultant to conduct an toward growth—and tainty, whether surrounding communities assessment of the water Graham plans to have work with Fort Collins or not. system, and the resulting conversations in order He also expects to enjoy cost savings for recommendation was to to explore potential rate-payers once formerly separate budgets align the utilities under a collaborations with all and projects are aligned. “One area would —Jason Graham, One Water framework. of them. conduct a study that no one else knew City of Fort Collins Jason Graham was hired “Whether our about, but now, that one study can do more a year and a half ago to development code and by serving all buckets,” he explains. oversee the transformation, and although our policies on xeriscaping can be supported Integration also promises to make Fort his job title, executive director of water, by those other water providers, that’s very Collins more resilient to regional water presdoesn’t reference One Water, that movetricky,” Graham explains. Some citizens sures. “Looking at the Colorado River Comment nevertheless guides his efforts with support growth while others oppose it—and pact and the future of northern Colorado, Fort Collins’ water services at the manthat struggle links in topics such as affordwe want to be strategic about the resources agement level and regionally. That means able housing and social equity, Graham that we have,” Graham says. The time for achieving more overlap between planning, engineering and operations—sectors that had been working in a vacuum, without awareness of what one another was doing. It also requires a landscape-level view of While One Water is taking hold in various big cities across the country, from Denver to Fort Collins’ water system, upstream to New York and Los Angeles, it extends beyond city limits to touch rural communities and downstream. “The goal is to develop One agriculture as well. Water from Cameron Pass through Fort It makes sense: Urban and rural communities are interconnected, and leaning into those Collins to the South Platte,” says Graham. ties is critical when it comes to food and water security and economic vitality. The effort is still in its early stages. The leadership team and group structures are The US Water Alliance’s One Water Roadmap offers strategies to advance One Water established, and now, those teams are in six different arenas, including sustainable agriculture. The One Water strategies that about to start defining the city’s strategic it lists for these agricultural systems aren’t so different from those in cities and include principles and priorities for integration. using on-farm management practices to reduce water consumption and manage nutri“Given what we have planned, we’re leadents, creating partnerships among upstream and downstream communities, and using ing the One Water movement certainly watershed-scale planning and modeling to minimize downstream impacts and help with within Colorado, and we’re one of the future adaptability. national leaders that people haven’t yet heard about,” says Graham. In practice, that can look like using recycled water to grow crops, protecting water qualiThe potential overlaps extend far beyond ty downstream from farms through soil health strategies, or managing urban runoff and the utilities, to include businesses, develwastewater discharges from cities to protect water quality for downstream farms. opers, neighborhoods, parks, golf courses, citizens, elected leaders and their equiva-

“The goal is to develop One Water from Cameron Pass through Fort Collins to the South Platte.”

Does One Water apply to agriculture?

H E A DWAT E R S FA L L 2 0 2 3

•

inefficiency has passed. Says Graham, “The community is ready for this conversation to happen. We’re the stewards of this conversation and the protection of this resource.”

THE WATER PROVIDER QUESTION ort Collins is demonstrating that water providers can become One Water advocates. But local One Water movements don’t have to start with utilities. They just need to have an impassioned leader or team to take it on. That’s how integration has developed in Arapahoe County. “Usually an idea to solve a problem does start with one person, one department, one division,” says CWCB’s Reidy. “But the process must rapidly open up to other actors in order to solve the integrated nature of the problem.” In Arapahoe County, the initiator was the Public Works and Development department, which wanted to steward the region’s explosive growth and knew it needed updated studies for proper management. Loretta Daniel, the county’s long range planning program manager, is shepherding a water supply study that marks the first local effort to combine water and land planning by mapping groundwater reserves and how they influence the development potential on the surface acreage. “Our study will include some of the One Water principles such as reuse, bioswales and other best management practices, and updating landscape regulations including implementing turf quantity restrictions,” says Daniel. Because Arapahoe County is not a water provider, Daniel says she can’t fully implement the One Water paradigm. But the dialogue with those providers has been illuminating. “Through our study, we can see what the water providers are currently doing or planning to do, and have conversations about the One Water principles,” says Daniel. Then again, One Water movements are such integrated collaborations among the various entities that serve an area, Daniel and Arapahoe County may just be the leaders that the region’s water providers need to more broadly adopt One Water.

18 • W A T E R E D U C A T I O N C O L O R A D O

ROADMAPS FOR FUTURE ONE WATER COMMUNITIES n the campus of Colorado State University, just a few miles from Jason Graham’s office, Mazdak Arabi, PhD, is putting the final touches on a report that’s likely to help many communities across the country understand and embark on One Water integration. The research was performed at Arabi’s One Water Solutions Institute, established within CSU to develop science-driven, evidence-based pathways to water integration. Marrying pure science with practical application is “extremely rewarding for me and the other folks in the One Water Solutions Institute,” says Arabi. The report that the institute is about to submit for publication this fall offers cities a ladder that they can climb to approach One Water ideals. “It’s a self-assessment framework, not a competitive comparison,” Arabi emphasizes. But, like similar rubrics used by Leadership for Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) to recognize sustainable construction, the forthcoming self-assessment describes three levels of One Water involvement: Onboarding, Progressing and Advancing. Each level describes specific actions that municipalities can follow to identify where they’re at and how to progress. There is no ultimate state of One Water perfection. Even the most accomplished “level three” municipalities, those who have made the most One Water advances, will continue to self-monitor and engage their communities in pursuit of ongoing innovation. That quest promises dividends for entire communities, says Arabi. “At the core of our research, we’re looking at ways to make a community more livable, more resilient to changes in population or climate or other pressures,” Arabi explains. For example, research is finding that judicious use of green space can reduce temperatures in urban environments; therefore, cities that are experiencing urban heat islands, such as Phoenix, Arizona, might pursue a One Water approach to integrate landscape planning with energy use and related cost savings—because rising ambient

temperatures make it more expensive to cool buildings’ interiors. As One Water plans evolve, they will rely on data, policy, and technology to evolve as well, and in some cases they will drive these evolutions. Data—from sources such as local utility operations and the One Water Solutions Institute—can assess the benefits of completed projects and inform improvements for the future. Pilot projects are testing adjusted policies that would allow for emerging systems that do more with limited water supplies. For example, Colorado is evaluating the use of rainwater harvested at the Sterling Ranch housing development southwest of Denver. Currently, rainwater capture there is limited to the same amount of water native plants would have consumed pre-development. Water captured beyond that must be augmented, or replaced, meeting certain conditions to protect other water rights holders in the drainage from being affected. Sterling Ranch and other developments intend to use the captured rainwater at communal spaces, such as regional parks, that also offer other recreational amenities in addition to feeding efficient irrigation systems for the property. Implementing such designs on more than a pilot scale currently requires special water court approval and will come with additional terms and conditions the developers will have to meet. Still another factor is technical: One Water communities need innovative ways to treat and transport water. These systems may not yet exist, but the growth of One Water initiatives across America’s biggest cities may embolden investors to spend on emerging technologies. Perhaps the hardest aspect of One Water, and the most meaningful, is its reliance on neighborly collaboration. In other words, the movement is about more than One Water: It’s about one community. H

The Denver One Water Plan is aligning policies and bringing water planning and land use planning together along Denver’s urban waterways, such as the South Platte River and Cherry Creek pictured here at Confluence Park.

Denver Adopts One Water

Climate change and development pressures led Denver to launch Colorado’s first One Water Plan

A freelance writer living in Steamboat Springs, Kelly Bastone covers water, conservation and the outdoors for publications including Outside, AFAR, 5280, Backpacker, Field & Stream, and others. She is a regular contributor to Headwaters magazine.

BY OLIVIA EMMER

COURTESY WENK ASSOCIATES

H E A DWAT E R S FA L L 2 0 2 3

•

In September of 2021 the City and County of Denver published the Denver One Water Plan, the first and only official One Water plan in Colorado. It lays out Denver’s new approach to water management, born of the recognition that development pressures and climate change are stressing the city’s water resources and that for a sustainable future, all the water managers and planners need to work together to take advantage of the interconnected nature of the water cycle. The plan involves a number of entities that play specific roles within Denver’s urban water cycle: the City and County of Denver, Denver Water, Metro Water Recovery, the Mile High Flood District, The Greenway Foundation, and the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Collaborating on the plan was a major integration of the historically siloed management of drinking water, wastewater, recycled water, stormwater, riparian health, recreation, and other water uses. When the city’s most recent comprehensive plan was completed in 2019 – a plan meant to set the vision and goals to guide Denver into 2040 – it identified the need to create a holistic water strategy, setting the stage for the creation of the One Water plan. In fact, prior to publishing its One Water plan in 2021, the City and County of Denver did not have a citywide, holistic plan for managing water. After two years of meetings and community workshops, under the guidance of Carollo Engineers, the Denver One Water Plan was born. “It’s a framework for doing things collaboratively and holistically and aligning goals between all the different partners in the water cycle,” says Dave Jula, the City of Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure senior water services director, who played a leading role in the One Water planning process. Now, two years since it was published, the Denver One Water Plan is still in its infancy, but already it is having meaningful impacts among partners who are finding efficiencies in their newfound collaboration.

WHAT’S IN THE PLAN? Denver’s One Water Plan lays out five goals to maximize benefits of water resources: promote institutional collaboration, implement multi-benefit projects and programs, foster community support, increase resilience and climate change preparedness, and implement integrated water management solutions. “It’s really the first time that a lot of agencies have come together at once. In the past, we’d partner one by one,” says Greg Fisher, Denver Water’s manager of demand planning and efficiency. “So we would work with Parks [and Recreation] on one project and then we would work with Metro Water Recovery on another. It was very rare to get all the [water managers] together working on one project, even though clearly the benefits are so much bigger when you do.” A major benefit of the One Water lens is how it ties water use and land use planning. Take Denver’s Green Code update, for example, which is based on the International Green Construction

20 • W A T E R E D U C A T I O N C O L O R A D O

Dave Jula, senior water services director for the City of Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, talks with the rest of the Denver One Water Plan OWL group at their monthly meeting in August 2023. During the meeting, the group discussed opportunities for outreach and information exchange and heard presentations, all to broaden the reach of One Water and keep OWL members in the know.

Code and now requires commercial and multifamily development to meet some provisions from the code. “Understanding how land use planning actually impacts not only water usage, but runoff and collection and conveyance is where we're able to get these layers of interaction,” explains Colin Haggerty, watershed manager for the Mile High Flood District (MHFD), referring to the code. And the various partners in the Denver One Water Plan approach it with different interests, Haggerty says. “Denver Water is very interested in [seeing] what are the needs for the irrigation side of it for water usage? And then [MHFD] is looking at what are those runoff values? If it rains, how much water is going to run off of

xeriscape versus natural grass? If it rains, how much fertilizer is affecting water quality based on the type of landscaping … We're able to have those lines of communication and understand the impacts that our decisions are making on each other.”

THE PLAN IN ACTION These first two years have been about information-sharing and relationship-building. “The time-frame for paradigm shifts like One Water planning has to be measured in years,” explains Kevin Reidy, senior water efficiency specialist with the Water Supply Planning Section of the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB). So

ELI IMADALI

there’s been limited progress on new work that puts the plan into action. But projects are moving forward. One collaboration that exemplifies the goals of the Denver One Water Plan is the High Line Canal Stormwater Transformation project. Owned by Denver Water since the 1920s, the 71-mile-long canal was originally built in 1883 to deliver water for irrigation. Today it has become less a water delivery mechanism and more a recreational and ecological asset. “80% of that [water] seeps into the ground. It is probably one of the least efficient water distribution systems you could ever conceive of,” says Fisher. So over the past several years Denver Water started weaning people off of water delivered via the

H E A DWAT E R S FA L L 2 0 2 3

•

Breaking Down the Denver One Water Plan As the first official One Water plan in Colorado, the Denver One Water Plan serves as a roadmap for implementing solutions across Denver’s urban water cycle that are reliant on partner collaboration. To lay the groundwork for more holistic water management going forward, partners outlined five goals, then further defined what those goals mean to them. Promote Institutional Collaboration What this means: Recognizing the interrelated aspects of the urban water cycle, coordinating the actions of agencies in related aspects of the water cycle, and working together to achieve positive outcomes for the benefit of the community and environment. Implement Multi-Benefit Projects and Programs What this means: Implementing projects and programs that achieve multiple objectives; finding social, environmental and economic benefits; and integrating water policy in various sectors affected by water management including land use, energy and urban agriculture. Foster Community Support What this means: Engaging various entities around the city in achieving the One Water Plan goals, increasing water awareness through education, using cost-effective approaches to meet community water needs, and supporting equity in water access and affordability across Denver. Increase Resilience and Climate Change Preparedness What this means: Implementing water planning to meet water, wastewater and stormwater management needs for a range of future conditions; mitigating threats like drought and wildfire in the watersheds that supply Denver’s water; reducing the risk of water system interruptions or failures from aging infrastructure, stress or shock; and implementing sustainable land use and water policies and programs. Implement Integrated Water Management Solutions What this means: Leveraging interrelated water system components; preserving and protecting natural ecosystems while meeting the city’s water supply and flood protection needs; implementing holistic approaches to watershed management that consider all aspects of the water cycle; and integrating water management solutions in planning, design and policies by those who aren’t in the water sector.

22 • W A T E R E D U C A T I O N C O L O R A D O

canal, instead relying on more efficient conveyances. Today, the canal is being retrofitted into a stormwater drainage canal. This multi-benefit project is a partnership between the High Line Canal Conservancy, the City and County of Denver, Denver Water, and the Mile High Flood District, as well as 11 local jurisdictions. “The fundamental change in the canal is this reduction of irrigation water delivery, which means there won't be consistent water in the channel,” explains Josh Phillips, director of planning and implementation for the High Line Canal Conservancy. “So using the canal as green stormwater infrastructure is the ultimate multi-benefit project: It's solving a stormwater challenge for the City and County of Denver while also meeting the community need of preserving this ecological amenity.” Directing stormwater into the canal provides water to the thousands of shade trees along the recreation corridor, and improvements to stormwater infrastructure can significantly improve water quality before stormwater enters local waterways. For example, in Denver’s pilot project on the canal, berms were installed that slow the movement of water, allowing more time for stormwater to seep into the ground and for sediment to drop out of the water. Additionally, keeping water in the canal for longer durations benefits the riparian ecosystem that grew and established itself along the canal when it was used for water delivery. Since the success of Denver’s pilot project, four more agencies have formalized stormwater use along sections of the canal's path. Like the High Line Canal transformation, many of the projects featured in the Denver One Water Plan were underway before the plan’s existence—providing inspirational examples of the benefits that a One Water approach can achieve. All the partners emphasized that the water infrastructure and planning projects the One Water plan addresses tend to require years of planning and years of implementation, meaning that it’s too soon to expect completely new projects to have been the result of the plan. The major early benefit of the plan has been from the formation of the One Water Leaders, or OWL, group. This group, made up of representatives of the original partnering agencies, as well as some newly involved groups, gathers monthly to ensure the institutions are in close communication. Those meetings are attended by representatives of diverse branches within the City and County of Denver such as the Department of Aviation which manages the airport, Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, Parks and Recreation, Community Planning and Development, Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency, and Public Health and Environment. “Providing the space for these different partners to collaborate on a regular basis has been so beneficial,” says Jula, “Let’s all get in the room together—that water cooler discussion can happen now.” This sentiment was echoed by Perry Holland, director of comprehensive planning at Metro Water Recovery: “You actively have people meeting regularly to talk about opportunities. Previously, these discussions would happen because something specific would come up on a project, but to have regular conversations about it, I

A streetside planter in north Denver filters stormwater to trap pollutants before they can make it to the South Platte River. This type of nature-based solution is a goal in the Denver One Water Plan, which calls on city planners to “integrate stormwater into the built environment in a socially, economically, and environmentally beneficial way by using low-impact development/green infrastructure to improve water quality, reduce runoff, and mitigate the risk of urban regional flooding.”

think is a real benefit.” In addition to the “office-hours” effect of the monthly OWL meetings, Jula cites the educational benefit of having gone through the extensive One Water planning process with both government officials, partners and the community. “Now, [stakeholders] hear ‘One Water’ and they say, ‘That’s great. This is part of that? This was recommended in that? Great.’ You tie it to the comp[rehensive] plan too, and these two things really help get [projects] through the city efficiently.” While there is concern in the Denver area related to water supply, drought, growth and the larger water scarcity issues playing out across the western United States, Jula explains that the last several decades have also brought increased attention to the South Platte River, which runs more than 12 miles north-south through the city. “We’ve had a long sordid history with the South Platte River. We treated it like most major cities have, as our open sewer, our dumping ground, our environmental toxic waste site. But over the last few decades we’ve invested a ton of money into revitalizing it and restoring it.” Cue the Waterway Resiliency Program which has been in the works for more than a decade. The city, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other partners are investing more than $500 million to restore ecosystems along 6.5 miles of the South Platte River’s

COURTESY DENVER DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE

course through the city. The work will also reduce flood risks along the river and key tributaries, Weir Gulch and East Harvard Gulch. The One Water planning paradigm asks the city and its partners to find other benefits to layer onto this project, such as green infrastructure, public education, policies to protect riparian areas, and more. And the monthly OWL meetings will ensure that as this major infrastructure project moves forward, all the potential partners will already be in communication about ways to add on benefits. One way the city hopes to make progress on policy directly linked to the One Water Plan’s recommendations is through its new Healthy River Corridor Study. This study, published in June 2023, looks at the 12.5-mile stretch of the South Platte River that runs through Denver to identify land use strategies that could protect the investments being made in the river’s ecosystem. “There are all of these development pressures on the river,” says Jula, “but we don’t have very strong policies tied to land use when it comes to water in the city.” The next step would be to take the study results and turn them into policy, perhaps as ordinance or zoning. Another major project the Denver One Water Plan highlights is the National Western Center campus redevelopment. Led by the National Western Center Authority and various partners including

H E A DWAT E R S FA L L 2 0 2 3

•

THE URBAN WATER CYCLE MEETS ONE WATER Potable Water

Wastewater

Non-potable Reuse Stormwater Potable Reuse

Precipitation Outdoor Use

Evapotranspiration

Water Treatment Plant

Green Infrastructure

Potable Water Surface Water Supply

Extraction Wells

l Use entia Resid

Commer cial a

Groundwater Pumping

Distribution System

Urban Runoff

Spreading Basins

nd Industrial Use

Dire ct

Ind

Gray Water

oor

se ial U erc mm o C l and Industrial Reuse

ercia Comm

Was tew ate r

Stormdrain

se n Reu Irrigatio

Reus e

Water Reclamation Plant

Brine Discharge Ocean Outfall

River Discharge

Low Impact Development

Pota ble

Collection System

Use

Other

River Discharge To Ocean

Indirec t Potable Reuse

Injection Wells

Advanced Water Treatment Plant

In a test plot at the Colorado State University Spur campus in Denver, Colorado, leadplant and other plants are irrigated with stormwater and other non-traditional supplies such as roof runoff and graywater.

With One Water, all stages of the urban water cycle are considered holistically with an eye toward integrating and capitalizing on their potential benefits. Key to the success of the Denver One Water Plan is institutional collaboration among the varying entities with responsibility for overseeing the different aspects of the cycle. This begins with the natural precipitation and runoff that provides surface water and groundwater supplies, which are then treated for residential, commercial and industrial use. Some of that used water becomes wastewater, which is reclaimed or recycled for additional use. With One Water, stormwater flowing over impervious surfaces in developed areas is treated as a resource, rather than a nuisance, with the potential to provide additional benefits via multi-purpose projects. SNOWMELT PRECIPITATION is the source of Denver’s drinking water, originating in the mountains and foothills of the South Platte River and Colorado River watersheds. DRINKING WATER is cleaned and made safe by Denver Water at four water treatment plants and delivered to homes and businesses. WASTEWATER is collected by the city after use by homes and businesses, then conveyed and treated by Metro Water Recovery at two water reclamation facilities. RECLAIMED WATER, or treated wastewater, is returned to the South Platte River or irrigation ditches. Colorado State University Spur, the major redevelopment features a number of water-related improvements. The property has half a mile of South Platte River frontage whose restoration creates potential for parks and trails. The center’s collaboration with Metro Water Recovery made it possible to install sewer heat recovery technology, which uses heat from wastewater to both heat and cool the CSU Spur campus, saving energy. This project is the largest of its kind in the United States and benefits both CSU Spur and Metro Water Recovery. Spur saves on energy use and Metro benefits by having heat removed from the wastewater entering their system, which helps the wastewater treatment facility meet its discharge permit conditions related to water temperature. While this project predates Denver’s One Water plan, the OWL group hopes their regular meetings will allow future projects to find similar benefits across agencies.

24 • W A T E R E D U C A T I O N C O L O R A D O

RECYCLED WATER is reclaimed water that is further treated by Denver Water at its Recycling Plant and reused for non-potable purposes, such as outdoor irrigation and industrial applications. STORMWATER is rainwater that falls primarily onto hardscapes like streets, sidewalks, parking lots and roofs and becomes urban runoff. It is managed by the Mile High Flood District and the City and County of Denver, supplementing flows in the South Platte River, Cherry Creek, and many other waterways that provide green and blue spaces throughout Denver.

Connecting Every Drop From planting green roofs to scaling up rainwater harvesting to right-sizing treatment technologies, some Colorado pioneers are testing elements of One Water that, taken together, could significantly advance the movement.

n some ways, good water years worry Steve Hunter, utilities resource manager for the City of Aspen, as much as dry ones. The city’s Integrated Water Resource Plan, released in 2021, looks out to 2070, glimpsing potential shortages and tough possibilities amid population growth, drought, aridification, erratic snowfall, and wildfire risk. The plan maps a way forward for a resilient water supply while caring for the environment, but a key to its success is public awareness of ongoing water scarcity. “It’s amazing how short people’s memories are when it comes to drought—until they see it at the tap,” Hunter says. Even in this relatively good water year, Hunter

And there may be opportunities for similar work and projects across the state. The CWCB was an early supporter of Denver’s planning effort and continues to support its implementation. “The CWCB would like to see One Water initiatives proliferate across Colorado,” Reidy says. “That will most likely look different in other areas, but cities that focus on a more integrated water resource planning viewpoint, including the integration of water efficiency, land use planning and alternative water supplies, will be critical to Colorado’s water future.” H Olivia Emmer is a freelance reporter and photographer based in Carbondale, Colorado. Her writing has been featured in Fresh Water News, Aspen Daily News and The Sopris Sun. Emmer specializes in stories about the environment.

SOURCE: CAROLLO ENGINEERS/DENVER ONE WATER PLAN

BY ELIZABETH MILLER

ELI IMADALI

told city councilors in June he was willing to downgrade the stage two water shortage declaration that had been in place since September 2020, but not to lift water conservation mandates entirely. “We’re a headwater community,” Hunter says. “Even though we have the legal authority to use [our water], that doesn’t always benefit downstream communities, and doesn’t always benefit the environment, which has a massive effect on recreation, which has a massive effect on money coming into the state.” Aspen’s water plan offers tools to guide decisions for meeting drinking water needs while still supplying water for irrigation, the environment and snowmaking, and to go even further

H E A DWAT E R S FA L L 2 0 2 3

•

In Aspen, Colorado, water comes from two adjacent creeks, Castle and Maroon, and the only storage is this pond, which holds a one-day supply. To build resilience, Steve Hunter, the city’s utilities resource manager, is guiding an integrated water resources plan that, like One Water, centers on a holistic approach to water management.

Aspen’s main water supply, Castle Creek, is adjacent to its back-up water source, Maroon Creek; one wildfire could devastate both and leave the city without clean drinking water.

26 • W A T E R E D U C A T I O N C O L O R A D O

HOW WATER SOURCES COULD CHANGE very time a new road is paved, or a new house is roofed, the developer has to plan for where the water to serve the community will come from, and where the water that falls during Colorado’s heavy rainstorms will go when it hits those newly impermeable surfaces and runs off, often laden with pollutants including excess nitrogen, metals, salt or sediment. The amount, timing and quality of that stormwater runoff directly affects the amount and quality that ultimately becomes available for water supply—a connection that is at the heart of One Water. Stormwater has typically been viewed as a nuisance to manage, but it could be an opportunity, says Shannon Spurlock, senior researcher in public policy and practice uptake at the Pacific Institute. Spurlock is based in Denver but the Pacific Institute works on global water challenges and resiliency. In Colorado, Spurlock is leading a statewide assessment on the volumetric and economic potential of urban stormwater as a water supply. In addition to the Pacific Institute, the multi-disciplinary project team includes Wright Water Engineers and One Water Econ. The year-long project, expected to conclude in early 2024, will provide some baselines for how much stormwater is available to capture and use under various scenarios, consid-

in decades to come, when the forecast projects reduced water availability. The plan projects that by 2070, the city could see a water shortage of around 2,300 acre-feet over two back-to-back dry years and that, by the same year, as much as a 25% increase in outdoor water demand is possible due to climate change. The city’s main water supply, Castle Creek, is adjacent to its back-up water source, Maroon Creek; one wildfire could devastate both and leave the city without clean drinking water. The city has less than a day’s worth of storage space as backup supply. Both creeks rely on snowmelt, and researchers are still pinpointing the extent to which that translates to runoff, with implications for two hydroelectric facilities as well as flows that fish require and boaters and anglers crave. Public feedback ahead of drafting Aspen’s water plan called on the city to create “a connection between every drop of water that you use in town and water being directly pulled out of rivers and streams.” This more holistic view of water, which sets both voluntary and decreed streamflow goals and requires the city to add water supplies to the stream or reduce use in times of shortage, is

unique. The intention to value all of water’s forms and uses, taking a systems-wide approach that considers economic, environmental and social benefits, is fundamental to what’s become known as the One Water perspective. The One Water approach demands breaking barriers that have long divided drinking water, wastewater and stormwater management strategies, pitted one user group against another, and valued some forms of water while seeing others as useless or, worse, an expensive problem to mitigate. Across Colorado, leaders and researchers are advancing work that matches the goals of a One Water concept, even if they’re not yet calling it that. They’re readying pieces of a puzzle that may lead to more integrated water management as they overcome boundaries around information and planning, and deploy innovative technologies, all with a scarcer future in mind. For now, some efforts to advance One Water adoption face policy or technological barriers when leaping from the pilot and research stage to a more broadly applicable scale. But these pioneering projects make a first step toward illuminating possible solutions and paths forward.

OLIVIA EMMER

ELI IMADALI

ering variables such as adoption rates, whether or not storage is available, and legal limitations. The economic data might spur demand for integrating stormwater management within existing water administration policies and practices, leading to an uptick in One Water-style planning. “Colorado faces an ongoing supply-demand gap, so how can we all do our part to help minimize that gap?” Spurlock says. “How can we build out our existing water supplies, how can we develop underutilized water supplies, and what does that look like?” The project grew in part from a 2022 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report, “Pure Potential: The Case for Stormwater Capture and Use” that evaluates stormwater as a resiliency strategy. Water conservation and efficiency often aim for “lowest cost, least expensive hanging fruit,” Spurlock says, such as leak detection to avoid water loss in transit in potable water distribution systems. But EPA’s stormwater report calls for a new menu of options and Spurlock’s study could help elected officials, utility managers, housing developers and others determine whether and how to engage with the untapped potential of stormwater. It could also result in recommendations that could ultimately lead to more reliable water systems and more widespread adoption of One Water approaches.

Stormwater has typically been viewed as a nuisance to manage, but it could be an opportunity. —Shannon Spurlock, Pacific Institute

Jennifer Bousselot (left) and Sybil Sharvelle are collaborating on research at Colorado State University’s Spur campus. Atop a couple of buildings on campus, and also at ground level, the pair are irrigating a series of planters with stormwater and other sources of reclaimed water and testing plant productivity.

H E A DWAT E R S FA L L 2 0 2 3

•

Dr. Sybil Sharvelle, a professor in civil and environmental engineering at Colorado State University, specializes in water reuse projects. At the CSU Spur campus she’s leading research in the Water Technology Acceleration Platform (Water TAP) Lab, capturing water from five different sources onsite and testing its quality, along with treatment technologies, to generate “fit-for-purpose” water.

Developing monitoring and sensing technology for water quality, as well as automation to increase reliable and safe water deliveries, might be the greatest challenge. —Sybil Sharvelle, Colorado State University

28 • W A T E R E D U C A T I O N C O L O R A D O

But how to turn something as erratic as summer storms into a reliable water source? A team of researchers at the Water Technology Acceleration Platform (Water TAP) Lab at Colorado State University’s Spur campus led by Sybil Sharvelle, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, is working on that. The Water TAP Lab captures water in big cisterns and tests its quality along with different treatment technologies to generate “fit-for-purpose water” from stormwater, graywater, roof runoff, recycled water and river water drawn from the lab’s perch on the banks of the South Platte River in north Denver. A vacant tank is reserved to hold water trucked in from additional, offsite sources, like hydrofracking water and agricultural runoff. Using physical and chemical-based systems like membrane filtration or ultraviolet treatment, as well as nature-based solutions, including bioswales, rain gardens and other green infrastructure, the facility can treat up to 1,000 gallons per day from each source, a sizeable step up from lab benchtop systems that typically treat three to five gallons. The work is in part to test, validate and innovate technologies, Sharvelle says, and to make those technologies more efficient. “Fit-for-purpose” means treating the water to the appropriate level for its end use. For example, water that will be used to irrigate landscaping or gardens will only be filtered to the minimum quality level safe for that use, not to drinking water quality

standards. Developing monitoring and sensing technology for water quality, as well as automation to increase reliable and safe water deliveries, might be the greatest challenge, Sharvelle says. Just outside the Spur campus Hydro building where the Water TAP Lab is located are planters landscaped with native plants and supplied by treated water. The loveliest piece might be a patch of prairie growing there, where coreopsis and hyssop’s gold and orange blooms ripple in the breeze and bees, butterflies and hummingbirds buzz by. These plots include built-in systems to irrigate using stormwater runoff collected onsite. Through a partnership with Sharvelle, the Mile High Flood District, and the City and County of Denver, Jennifer Bousselot, an assistant professor of urban horticulture and green roof culture with Colorado State University, is testing plant productivity while Sharvelle looks at results to inform stormwater treatment. The lab also irrigates planters on the roof of the Hydro building. There, chile pepper plants and leafy greens tuck under rooftop solar panels as part of an experiment that uses the plants to keep the panels at optimal electricity-producing temperatures while shade-tolerant plants yield food. It’s a window, contends Bousselot, into creating cities as places where more than people can live. This kind of symbiotic strategy can reduce the urban heat island effect, clean air, evaporatively cool buildings, even protect

ELI IMADALI

rooftops from hail and, perhaps most crucially, slow stormwater runoff. The plants on green roofs consume some water, but most of it drifts through the roots and growth medium, trickling through instead of rushing off the surface. This is just one example of a “green stormwater management” technique, and, says Bousselot, it’s a double-win, slowing the water enough to prevent downstream flooding while making more use of all the water in the system. “I love this idea of One Water, because it really is a single water system,” she says. “Whether it’s wastewater or stormwater, it has a value, and water is what’s needed in our climate and especially with our population.” Colorado water law allows for collecting (from rooftops) and using up to 110 gallons of rainwater residentially. This is typically accomplished by attaching a rainbarrel to the downspout coming from a gutter, and can be a higher amount in situations where the captured water use matches what would be allowed for a residential well permit, though that isn’t available for all properties. Green roofs are allowable as long as the roof only intercepts precipitation that falls directly on the roof and doesn’t store water below the plants’ root zone, mimicking the amount of pre-development absorption and consumption that would have occurred on the existing landscape. Certain governments are allowed to detain stormwater, but these systems must be designed so that water drains within a short period of time. To be “net zero” in water use, however, green roofs need to store water from big, intermittent rainstorms for drier days, and Bousselot is convinced they can accomplish this without affecting users downstream. “The biggest barrier to successful green roof implementation in our state has to do with our Colorado water law, because we can’t capture and reuse,” Bousselot says. “My argument is, it’s an effective use of water and provides a lot of other benefits at a small cost, but I keep banging my head into that issue, so I want to do whatever I can to sort of demonstrate the feasibility of these systems with as low water impact as possible.” If these plots prove effective and green roofs become legally more accessible, Bousselot says, a quick scan of buildings in downtown Denver shows 5,000 acres of rooftops that might be able to host a green roof, which would make a palpable difference on sweltering summer days. Denverites liked that idea, voting in 2018 to require commercial buildings over 25,000 square feet to install green roofs, but the ordinance ran into so many hurdles that it was revised to include a suite of options, and most

buildings have opted instead for investing in energy efficiencies as an alternative to planting and maintaining green roofs. From here, research and policies will both need to advance incrementally, one informing or allowing for the other. To start, CSU’s data will help shape the Mile High Flood District’s next criteria manual, which steers designers and engineers on how to meet Clean Water Act requirements to address stormwater runoff from new buildings into waterways, or what’s known as the “in-stream standards.” The district has already experimented with rainwater capture, working with the Denver Green School to install a 3,000-gallon cistern to collect rainwater from its roof. The 8,000-square-foot roof yielded enough water to spray-irrigate an area of landscaping about one-third that size each time it filled. The system was linked with real-time forecasting so it could purge itself to match the anticipated volume of incoming rainstorms. But more than cutting the water bill, says Holly Piza, research and development director with the Mile High Flood District, running stormwater through vegetated landscaping reduces the volume, reuses it locally, and reduces pollutants flowing downstream, a persistent concern for communities. “I think reusing stormwater is a great solution for the stormwater problem—it is very difficult for local governments to meet the in-stream standards.” A partnership with Denver Water and some careful accounting made the Denver Green School pilot project possible. It required navigating the maze of existing water rights and using what’s known as a substitute water supply plan, through which Denver Water provided replacement water to the system to avoid harming other water rights. After five years, the system was dismantled. “With any kind of rainwater harvesting system of this scale,” Piza says, “you run into issues with water rights in Colorado.” These projects demonstrate cost-effective ways to treat stormwater, and perhaps justification for tangling with Colorado’s tricky water rights system to find a way to move forward.

“I think reusing stormwater is a great solution for the stormwater problem—it is very difficult for local governments to meet the in-stream standards.” —Holly Piza, Mile High Flood District

HOW COMMUNITIES COULD CHANGE riving around Sterling Ranch, a master-planned community 20 miles southwest of downtown Denver, it might not immediately be visible that the neighborhood is trailblazing how communities

H E A DWAT E R S FA L L 2 0 2 3

•

MEMBER’S CORNER A C O M M U N I T Y O F P E O P L E W H O C A R E A B O U T WAT E R

I N T H E S P O T L I G H T : WAT E R D M

Our Members Influence Change Through Policy And Practice

Brock Smethills (left), president of the Sterling Ranch Development Company, and Andrea Cole, general manager of Dominion Water and Sanitation District, pose on a trail at Sterling Ranch, a master-planned community southwest of Denver that has been integrating a One Water-type view from its start. The community has maintained native landscaping, installed dual water meters in all homes, and is working on a regional rainwater harvesting project.

“There’s two parts to the equation—there’s the demand management and the supply management. A true One Water solution takes both of those pieces into mind.” —Andrea Cole, Dominion Water and Sanitation District

30 • W A T E R E D U C A T I O N C O L O R A D O

in Colorado could thrive in a drier future. But residents there are using 70% less water than what Douglas County requires to be committed for new development. Dominion Water and Sanitation District was formed in 2004 in part to address the water, wastewater, and stormwater services of Sterling Ranch, and to help a 33,000-acre service area in northwest Douglas County shift from nonrenewable groundwater to renewable sources. To that end, explains Andrea Cole, general manager of the district, Dominion is building a closed-loop, One Water-type solution to collect and treat return flows to the South Platte. But the community really stepped up by planning for demand management from the start. “There’s two parts to the equation—there’s the demand management and the supply management,” Cole says. “A true One Water solution takes both of those pieces into mind.” Rather than planting and later tearing out turf, which is expensive, or trying to retrofit parks with more sustainable water supplies, planners jumped in to cutting demand in the design phase. Homes come with dual water meters that separate outdoor and indoor water use so outdoor use can be charged at a higher rate if users overspend their water budget. Irrigation systems include sensors to determine when watering is needed. Residents are offered a “playbook” of native, drought-resistant plants drafted by the Denver Botanic Gardens, in lieu

of looking to thirsty bluegrass that will suffer with every watering restriction. Dominion is also pursuing regional-scale rainwater harvesting, with plans to irrigate facilities that could include recreational turf and community gardens. Design and construction are advancing on this first-of-its-kind, large-scale rainwater harvesting project, which could potentially double the amount of rainwater the community is currently permitted to collect and use. The project will make use of a 2009 legislative bill, which paved the way for such pilot projects to be approved by Colorado’s water court, a process Cole has been cautioned to expect to take two to three years from when they file an augmentation and substitute water supply plan with the state later this year. If it goes through, 15 years of data that Dominion has collected working closely with the Colorado Water Conservation Board on whether rainwater is physically, technically and feasibly available will be made available to other developers considering rainwater harvesting. Their approval could, at least, give similar efforts a map to follow. Says Cole, “I think folks are watching to see if it can be done and if it can be done cost-effectively.” H Independent journalist Elizabeth Miller has written about environmental issues around the American West for publications including The Washington Post, Scientific American, Outside, Backpacker and The Drake.

ELI IMADALI

his issue we’re spotlighting WaterDM, short for Water Demand Management. Peter Mayer launched WaterDM in 2013. After consulting to the water industry since 1995, he found himself wanting to focus on water demand management Peter Mayer specifically, which he views as “broader than just efficiency or in the Supreme Court as a conservation.” municipal water use expert Peter grew up in Boulder, in a case between Georgia spent time living out of state and Florida. “Georgia won and abroad, did a stint as a the case,” he says. “Our newspaper reporter, then arguments prevailed.” He returned to earn his Master’s recently developed a water in Civil Engineering from conservation ordinance for the University of Colorado, Boulder. City of Monte Vista, Colorado, He has worked in Colorado, and is now helping Colorado but also nationwide, on Water Wise update a best projects ranging from practices guidebook for water supporting the state of efficiency, for which he was the California in developing water lead author in 2010. use guidelines to testifying WaterDM has been a

member of WEco since 2018. Peter has found the Citizen’s Guide series (he contributed to the Guide to Colorado Water Conservation) to be a particularly valuable resource, as well as Fresh Water News reporting. “WEco provides this level of understanding and knowledge that is essential for us to address the challenges that we are facing and will continue to face,” he says. Peter also values the connection to WEco’s community of water sector professionals. “People are really in this field because they understand it’s the right thing to do, it’s important work. It’s an incredible community and a positive experience, even though we face challenges.”

MISSION: IMPACT Water Education Colorado is the leading organization for informing and engaging Coloradans on water. Through leadership training, educational resources, and programming, we are working toward a vibrant, sustainable and water-aware Colorado.

93%

Portion of Headwaters readers responding to the 2023 Reader Survey who said reading Headwaters made them more equipped to participate in discussions that influence water-related policy.

ENGAGE

VOLUNTEER

GIVE

Dive in to our diverse programming. Find more information on our website. A few ideas to pique your interest: Consider joining the 2024 Water Leaders Program to gain effectiveness and influence. Applications will be open from November through January.

We rely on our volunteers! Email us at info@wateredco.org to express your interest:

Your gift advances an engaged Colorado, leading to informed decisions and sustainable solutions. Three ways to give:

your expertise and we’ll plug you 1 Share in—as a blog contributor, a speaker, or

Mark your calendars for Dec. 5 to 1 celebrate Colorado Gives Day with a

Are you an educator or outreach 2 professional? Become an affiliate of the Water Educator Network for trainings, networking and collaborations.

your voice heard! Visit our social 3 Make media pages or craft a letter to the

Fresh Water News editor to share your thoughts, opinions or experiences.

a peer reviewer for publications.

Join a contact list to provide local support when we bring one of our programs to your area.

us connect with Colorado's 3 Help Spanish-speaking communities to

provide new educational resources and opportunities tailored to them.

charitable donation to support WEco at coloradogives.org.

an upcoming program or event 2 Sponsor to showcase your organization's support

for water education. Visit wateredco.org/ get-involved/sponsorship-opportunities to learn more.

accepts charitable gifts of 3 WEco appreciated stock—you get double the tax benefit! Contact Geoff@wateredco.org.

Not a member yet? Join the WEco community at watereducationcolorado.org. H E A DWAT E R S FA L L 2 0 2 3

•

CSU Spur, Hydro/The Shop 4777 National Western Drive Denver, CO 80216

NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID DENVER, CO PERMIT NO 178

WATEREDUCATIONCOLOR ADO.ORG Publication of Water Education Colorado's Headwaters magazine is made possible by the generous support of sponsors and advertisers. We would like to extend our appreciation and thanks to these sponsors for contributing financially to this issue.