Water is life in the western United States, and the key to economic growth and quality of life in Colorado!

There’s no question that big problems exist, and creative and thoughtful solutions are what’s needed to reduce water usage, especially as the Front Range population continues to grow and water becomes an even more precious resource.

You may have seen several references in publications such as Colorado Politics and The Denver Gazette which stated that Dominion Water and Sanitation District (Dominion), and more specifically, Sterling Ranch is a “likely recipient of water from a proposed Renewable Water Resources project in the San Luis Valley.” Nothing could be further from the truth.

Dominion, the water district we lead with a diverse, talented staff, in partnership with the Sterling Ranch Community Authority Board (CAB), designed a water system and implemented water-demand management to be sustainable from the beginning of this thriving new community. The CAB developed and has successfully implemented a water-demand management strategy that dramatically reduced the water its residents use to less than 30% of what Douglas County requires of new development.

Dominion, which serves the CAB, existing communities on declining wells and potential future customers in the greater northwest region of Douglas County, has already acquired all the renewable water needed for the planned Sterling Ranch Community at its full build-out. This has been accomplished through renewable water owned on the South Platte River and working collaboratively with Denver Water, Aurora Water and the South Metro WISE Authority to establish formal agreements. All these purchases and contracts were in place before a single home was built in Sterling Ranch. For these reasons, and many more, Dominion, Sterling Ranch and the CAB do not need the San Luis Valley water.

Dominion is leading the way in solving the Northwest Douglas County region’s water and wastewater challenges. To this extent Dominion, the Town of Castle Rock and the Plum Creek Water Reclamation Authority have submitted a proposal to receive federal funds for a regional wastewater and water solution along the Highway 85 Corridor. This proposal will solve regional water quality issues, provide wastewater transmission services, and supply municipal water to stranded communities who rely on declining and low-quality groundwater.

Dominion has already built an extremely robust water-supply portfolio capable of supporting Sterling Ranch’s full build-out for its maximum density which includes:

• Renewable water through the WISE Partnership: https://www.denverwater.org/your-water/water-supply-and-planning/wise
• Renewable water on the South Platte River
• Return flows delivered via the South Platte River
• Groundwater as a back-up for drought conditions
• Rainwater harvesting (the only District or Water Utility legally allowed to implement utility scale rainwater harvesting)
• Storage in Chatfield Reservoir
• Aquifer storage and recovery to replenish the aquifer from withdrawals during drought

The CAB has implemented demand management by:

• Requiring every home’s landscape design to be reviewed and approved for water conservation prior to installation
• Dual-water metering for indoor and outdoor usage and assigning a higher rate to outdoor usage
• Requiring every home to use an irrigation system with evo-transpiration data, and is manufactured by a local Colorado company: Rachio
• Worked with the Denver Botanic Gardens to develop a landscape palette for residents

Most importantly, water demand management is being embraced by the public and the residents of Sterling Ranch. To this extent, Sterling Ranch has had the highest number of home sales for a Master Planned Community in the Denver market for two years in a row, and in 2021 was ranked as one of the top planned communities in the United States according to the National John Burns Report.

Let’s be very clear: water is a severe challenge in our state. One that can only be solved by a myriad of proactive efforts led by experts to simultaneously develop robust and reusable water systems while also stretching every drop as far as it can take us. We believe that Dominion, CAB, and Sterling Ranch have done this, and we look forward to continuing to lead the way in water sustainability along the Front Range.

Brock Smethills is a member of the Board of Directors of the Dominion Water and Sanitation District. Andrea Cole is the district’s general manager.