Click here to read the newsletter. Here’s an excerpt:
Count after count, statistics show Colorado’s population is booming. And with all those new people, the pressures on our water system are bigger than ever.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen down the road, but as a water provider, we need to be prepared for a number of different scenarios,” said Greg Fisher, Denver Water manager of demand planning.
Denver Water plans not just for population growth, but also for climate change, economic variability, changes in environmental attitudes, changes in water-use patterns, government regulations, new industries, droughts and more.
Last year was a perfect example of why it’s so difficult to predict future water consumption. We recorded the lowest demand for water since 1970, despite a population increase of 400,000 people. We also saw wild weather swings, with record-high precipitation for a watering season that also happened to end with the warmest September in our records.
With half a million more people expected in the metro area by 2040, our planners are taking an “all-in” approach that includes conservation, water reuse and development of new water supplies.