City and County of Denver Board of Water Commissioners

Denver Water proudly serves high-quality water and promotes its efficient use to 1.5 million people in the city of Denver and many surrounding suburbs. Established in 1918, the utility is a public agency funded by water rates and new tap fees, not taxes. It is Colorado’s oldest and largest water utility.

Almost all of its water comes from mountain snowmelt, and Denver is the first major user in line to use that water. Denver Water’s collection system covers about 4,000 square miles, or 2.5 million acres, and extends into more than eight counties, including Park, Grand, Jefferson, Summit, Teller, Douglas, Clear Creek and Gilpin counties. The collection system is divided in two areas, the South and the North System. On average 80% of Denver Water’s supply is from the South System, which includes Chatfield Reservoir, and 20% is from the North System.

Water exchanges and recreation

Under a state agreement, Denver Water can fill Chatfield Reservoir with water, as long as we maintain water levels for community recreation. Denver Water primarily uses its water in Chatfield Reservoir for water exchanges. Think of an exchange reservoir as a bank. The water we “deposit” (store) at Chatfield can be used to “pay” (trade) downstream users with rights to the water, instead of sending it from our upstream reservoirs that supply Denver’s drinking water. This allows us to keep water higher in our reservoir system and to later deliver it by gravity to our water treatment plants.

Chatfield provides recreational benefits beyond the obvious. In addition to preserving water levels for recreation, Denver Water uses its space in Chatfield to capture water it releases from Strontia Springs Reservoir, located a few miles upstream of Chatfield. These so-called “bypass flows” keep the river at optimum levels all year long, supporting the trout fishery in Waterton Canyon.

Recycled water

Water is a precious resource here in the West, much too precious to use just once. That’s why Denver Water has a program to treat and recycle wastewater.

Recycled water has successfully been used across the country for more than 100 years to supply water for irrigation, commercial and industrial uses. There are more than a dozen water recycling programs in Colorado, and Denver Water operates the largest recycled water system in the state.

Denver Water's Recycling Plant treats and delivers billions of gallons of water every year for industrial and outdoor irrigation uses. Once build-out is complete, the recycled water system will free up enough drinking water to serve the equivalent almost 43,000 households. The utility uses recycled water for parks, golf courses, schools and power plants.