Jim Lochhead, Denver Water’s CEO and manager, announced Thursday he plans to step down from the utility once the board of water commissioners finds a successor.

Lochhead, a legend in the Colorado water community, has led the utility since 2010. The water utility’s board plans to conduct a national search for his replacement.

“It is with deep, mixed emotions that I’ve made the decision to step away from Denver Water after 12 years of service to this amazing community and organization,” Lochhead said in a statement.  “After giving it a great amount of thought, I feel now is the right time, based on where we are as an organization. Denver Water is well positioned for the future, having successfully managed multiple initiatives through the pandemic. We recently renewed our Strategic Plan and are successfully implementing a 10-year, $2.3 billion system investment plan.”

The statement pointed out Lochhead’s “collaborative and visionary approach was a catalyst for many major initiatives, including the signing of the Colorado River Cooperative Agreement, the WISE agreement, the From Forests to Faucets program, the Lead Reduction Program, the High Line Canal transformation, and a recent water conservation pledge among 30 municipal water utilities throughout the Colorado River Basin.”

Prior to joining Denver Water, Lochhead was at attorney in private practice in Glenwood Springs, focused on natural resources issues.

He was executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources under Gov. Roy Romer, and served as Colorado’s representative on the Upper Colorado River Commission.

Lochhead has been a member of the Colorado Water Conservation Board, Great Outdoors Colorado, the Nature Conservancy and the Colorado Conservation Trust.

In 2014, the Colorado Water Congress honored Lochhead with its highest award, the Wayne Aspinall Water Leader of the Year.

Doug Kemper, executive director of Colorado Water Congress, told Colorado Politics: “We will miss Jim’s wisdom. There are a broad range of things Jim has been involved in in the water community, from developing Colorado river cooperative agreements to leadership Jim has shown on both sides of the mountains. There’s never been anybody quite like him.”

A 2015 Water Education Colorado profile on Lochhead, authored by Colorado Supreme Court Justice Greg Hobbs, said: “As a partner in a small Western Slope law firm, Jim put together water supply plans for growing communities along the Colorado main stem and its tributaries from the Divide to the Utah border. Because the Colorado River flows east by transbasin diversion to Colorado’s Front Range and southwest to the Sea of Cortez, you don’t become a river expert except through hard work, common sense, and humility.”

Lochhead holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental biology from the University of Colorado and a law degree from the University of Colorado School of Law.

Denver Board of Water President Craig Jones said the utility’s accomplishments under Lochhead’s leadership have been remarkable.

“He strengthened our operational efficiencies, while leading a new era of cooperation for water in the West, ensuring a reliable water system and securing future water supplies for the Denver metropolitan area,” Jones said. 

Lochhead oversaw the largest capital development program in Denver Water’s history, the statement said, with over $2.3 billion of investment in renewing the system.

Major projects to ensure a resilient, clean and efficient future water supply were completed or started under his direction, including Denver Water’s Operations Complex Redevelopment Project, the new Northwater Treatment Plant, Gross Reservoir Expansion Project, and a new water quality lab at CSU Spur.

Denver Water, the state’s largest water utility, serves 1.5 million customers in Denver and surrounding suburbs.