With infrastructure that is aging and needs replacement, municipal water departments in the Colorado River basin are starting to invest in new systems that will help cities.
With infrastructure that is aging and needs replacement, municipal water departments in the Colorado River basin are starting to invest in new systems that will help cities adapt to a future with a smaller water supply. But that means big spending, costs that will get passed along to the millions of people who use that water in sinks, showers and sprinklers.
Major Western cities – Phoenix, Denver, Las Vegas and others – boomed on the heels of World War II. Pipes and other water delivery systems that were rolled out quickly are starting to reach the end of their lives. Denver Water’s system includes more than 3,000 miles of pipe. Spokesman Jimmy Luthye said that network, which would stretch from Seattle to Orlando if laid end to end, requires near constant maintenance.
Manny Teodoro, who studies water utility policy and management at the University of Wisconsin, said Denver’s price hikes are similar to increases he expects across the nation and region. “They will try to lessen their dependence on Colorado River water, or make the Colorado River water they do have go further,” Sorensen said, “and that means investments in alternatives that are far more expensive.”
But Castle Rock is legally allowed to use most of its water over and over, so the city has installed new systems to do that safely. Over the past few decades, the city has spent about $211 million on renewable water supplies, including a lot of physical infrastructure – pipes, pumps and filters to clean water that has already been used.
Further south, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is investing in its own direct potable reuse system. The proposed facility would cost an estimated $3.4 billion to build and another $129 million a year to operate. Once built, the system could redirect up to 150 million gallons of wastewater back into the municipal supply each day.
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