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Denver Water Conserves and Plans for the Long Term
Denver Water’s water recycling plant.
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mpressive conservation achievements—along with innovations in energy use and long-term planning for future disruptions—have made Denver Water a two-time winner of the Sustainable Water Utility Management Award from the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA). In this interview, Denver Water CEO and Manager Jim Lochhead talks with us about how the agency seeks sustainability while providing water to the Denver metro region. Municipal Water Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.
14 | MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER | February 2022
Jim Lochhead: Denver Water was created in 1918 under the Denver City charter. We’re a part of the City and County of Denver, but we’re a separate enterprise. I report to a five-member board appointed by the mayor. We were established to be apolitical and to be able to take a long-term perspective. We serve about 1.5 million customers, about half of whom are located in the city and county of Denver. The other half are in various municipalities in the suburbs of Denver. Our water supply comes solely from surface water— from snowpack and rain. We get about half our water supply from the Colorado River basin and the other half from the South Platte River basin. Our reach is extensive—we sit at the backbone of the Rocky Mountains and get water from both sides of the Continental Divide. Our watersheds cover about 4,000 square miles, an area about the size of the state of Delaware. We’re the third-largest public landowner in the state of Colorado. Our reservoirs are used both for water service and recreation. They’re a big part of the economy. For example, Dillon Reservoir is located in Dillon and Silverthorne, right next to a bunch of ski areas. It’s a big economic driver of the local economy. We like to think of ourselves as more than municipalwaterleader.com
PHOTOS COURTESY OF DENVER WATER,
Jim Lochhead: I am the CEO of Denver Water. I’ve been with Denver Water since 2010. Before that, I was a lawyer doing water rights work for a variety of organizations, including states, municipalities, agricultural interests, and real estate development interests, and one of my clients was Denver Water. I also served for 4 years as the executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, so I’ve been in both government and the private sector throughout my career. I wanted to be at Denver Water because I love its sense of mission and purpose. We have 1,100 employees dedicated to providing a secure water supply for the Denver metropolitan area. It’s both a huge challenge and incredibly rewarding.
Municipal Water Leader: How has Denver Water evolved?
