Wednesday, August 26, 2026, 1:30 p.m. (Denver time), City & County Building, Council Committee Room, Room 391 1437 Bannock Street
Committee: South Platte River Committee
The South Platte River Committee, chaired by Council Member Jamie Torres, received a briefing from City staff (Alina McWhorter and Jennifer Williamson) on the Wastewater Enterprise Fund, which manages Denver's storm and sanitary water infrastructure. Staff explained the fund's history (established 1966), its ~1,000 miles of storm pipe and 1,500 miles of sanitary pipe, its partnership with Metro Water Recovery (nearly $80 million in annual sanitary service billings), and its 2026 budget (roughly $64 million capital, ~$80 million operating). Council members asked about flooding in their districts, the Sanderson Gulch and Val Verde outfall projects, beaver/habitat mitigation, stormwater fee billing and arrears, the storm drainage master plan, and developer impact fees, which one member argued have not been updated since 1996. No votes were taken; the chair noted one item on consent and encouraged members with questions to see her or Lisette.
0:07 Welcome back to this biweekly
0:08 meeting of the South Platte
0:09 River Committee of Denver City
0:15 Council. Join us for the
0:18 discussion as the South Platte
0:25 River Committee starts now.
0:36 Come to the South Committee. I
0:38 am a COUNCILWOMAN Jamie
0:38 Torres. I represent West
0:41 for joining We'll start with
0:41 Denver district 3. I thank you
0:43 introductions in the room.
0:48 Well, certainly right. Good
0:48 MADAM Presides Diversity
0:53 Council District 10, good like
0:57 district Do we have anyone
0:58 online? Perfect? Yes, MADAM
0:59 Chair. Kind shoppers, Denver's
1:01 district thank you. Excellent.
1:05 Thank you so much, turn it
1:07 over to presentation today. If
1:08 you would mind. Introducing
1:10 yourselves. Thank you. Council
1:11 Chair Torres. I'm Alina
1:13 McWhorter these fees on joined
1:15 by my colleague Jennifer
1:16 Williams, who will introduce
1:19 herself and really drive our
1:21 presentation here to provide
1:22 an update on our Wastewater
1:25 Enterprise Fund and how the
1:27 department invest and
1:29 sanatorium sanitary and storm
1:31 water, infrastructure. So
1:34 Jennifer, go ahead and take it
1:35 away. You have guys
1:36 Jennifer williamson engineered
1:40 I talked to a lot you guys, my
1:40 about bridges. But this is
1:41 actually my what you love see.
1:42 Areas do also be talking about
1:44 storm. Just want you guys
1:49 first time that's ever been
1:52 said. Hear about a is so very
1:54 excited by Very excited to be
1:55 here. Thank you for inviting
1:56 us to to present. And I'm I'm
1:57 so excited to share a little
2:03 bit about what I Now. I'm
2:03 going to give an overview of
2:05 the Enterprise Fund. I'm gonna
2:06 talk about 3 of our mean
2:07 investment areas where we
2:10 spend a lot of our dollars and
2:11 then kind of round things out
2:13 with a little bit of the
2:14 budget opportunities. What we
2:15 see in the future looking
2:19 like. I know you'll stay on
2:21 the rise college channels
2:22 project that we just
2:22 completed. It's fabulous
2:23 project that any kind of the
2:24 meeting the presentation as
2:25 well. So I'll talk about that
2:30 more as we walk along. So the
2:33 Enterprise fund established in
2:35 1966. And you can the purpose
2:37 has been defined for in the
2:39 Denver area, Vice Municipal
2:40 next to protect, preserve and
2:41 promote the health and safety
2:45 and welfare of our residents.
2:47 That's due to provide prevent
2:48 water and stream pollution.
2:50 And so how do we do within
2:54 dying? We do that by managing
2:55 storm maintaining our system
2:56 by keeping our waterways
2:57 clean, clean and resilient and
3:00 by implementing agreement, the
3:01 structure strategy and we also
3:02 do it through safe sanitary
3:10 management. So purpose and our
3:11 mission is pretty well-defined
3:14 time the air and sea need to
3:16 really believe that we have a
3:17 system that works storm
3:19 system, a sanitary system that
3:20 works, spend Denver's a better
3:22 placed under will be more
3:23 different. Some I kind of
3:24 talked to the right about our
3:26 goals, but we think is
3:27 important and how this
3:27 enterprise fund really makes
3:32 life better I'm so our key
3:34 goals are to reduce flood risk
3:37 to property. We do that again
3:38 by keeping our well-maintained
3:40 to be do that by improving our
3:42 infrastructure. All right.
3:43 Enough keeping our water is
3:44 clean. We protect and improve
3:46 our water quality. And again,
3:48 that's what I'm a storm side
3:52 and the sanitary side,
3:53 Anything any sort contaminants
3:56 in our storm or, you know, the
3:59 sanitary, collection system
4:00 itself is protecting residents
4:03 as So by doing we are
4:06 protecting our residents and
4:07 we're creating resilient
4:09 vibrate infrastructure about
4:10 their watery side. Our storm
4:12 infrastructure side green
4:14 infrastructure. All of these
4:14 components all together. What
4:16 they do is just really improve
4:17 our quality of life as
4:19 residents. You know, some of
4:20 it is on scene. And so that's
4:21 under our roads alleys. It's
4:24 not always the most glamorous
4:24 stuff. I you know, as I
4:25 mentioned, definitely my
4:31 passion. As first, economic
4:32 vitality again, and all of our
4:33 waterway project. Not only is
4:35 it a space for wire, but it's
4:37 a space for people to These
4:38 projects often have a lot of
4:39 co benefits that really make
4:44 our city We are part of the
4:45 urban water cycle, right where
4:47 storm and sanitary. And so as
4:48 part of that, we were really
4:50 and one of the drivers behind
4:51 original one water plan that
4:56 was completed in 2021. We we
4:56 take the overarching goals
4:58 from the plant and we
4:58 incorporate them into what we
4:59 do and to our vision. And
5:00 again, you're going to see
5:02 kind throughout the
5:03 presentation how the school's
5:06 drive, what we do. So we've
5:07 promote institutional
5:09 collaboration. You can hear me
5:10 talk about my life. A district
5:12 like you all the channel
5:12 projects Montbello Channel
5:16 Project. It was with district.
5:16 We do a lot of with Metro
5:17 Water recovery which I'm going
5:18 to be talking about. Later, we
5:21 partner with other and turtle
5:22 agencies with parks and rec to
5:25 create just Bennett projects
5:26 that meet the second goal,
5:28 which is mostly about of the
5:30 projects we foster community
5:32 support at all levels. We work
5:33 with cpd neighborhood planning
5:34 initiatives to ensure that
5:35 they're looking at storm and
5:37 sanitary. We look at kind of
5:41 that be some level. Look, for
5:42 instance, in global and I'm
5:45 from Montclair. We've done
5:46 education and outreach like
5:49 very specific, targeted
5:50 outreach to help community
5:52 understand look for
5:53 improvement opportunities. And
5:56 then we also do project level
5:57 works for working with the
5:59 community as well as if there
6:00 emergencies, right? Like if
6:02 there is a sanitary sewer
6:03 backup or if there is you
6:06 know, a small localized
6:07 drainage issue. We also work
6:08 with the community and those
6:09 spaces as well. So we're kind
6:10 of working through all of the
6:13 spaces reach our community. We
6:14 increase resilience and
6:16 climate change preparedness.
6:17 Again, these are the projects
6:17 that we do. And finally,
6:22 number 5 kind of my favorite,
6:23 but it's implementing
6:24 integrated water management
6:25 solutions. And that's kind of
6:26 that bigger picture. When we
6:27 start creating with Denver
6:27 water with mature water
6:29 recovery to kind of look at
6:31 holistically, never been water
6:35 cycle gold standards. All
6:37 right. Are things like the
6:38 letter read that line
6:39 reduction that's underwater is
6:39 recently incorporated Heat
6:41 recovery. Great examples of
6:42 that like next level,
6:47 integrated collaboration. As I
6:48 mentioned, we are part of the
6:49 urban water cycle. So which
6:51 part is the enterprise on
6:55 specifically? So we are storm
6:56 water system which is the
6:57 serious time and lives and
7:00 pipes that collect our runoff
7:00 rain events are from snow
7:05 events. Is going go directly
7:06 into our South Platte River.
7:07 We which also includes our
7:11 waterways, the sanitary system
7:13 is system that's collecting,
7:14 you know, which I would just
7:20 types of things. Fox Inc
7:22 laundrie, all those types of
7:23 things. It's collecting not
7:24 infrastructure or that the
7:24 runoff. And that is going to
7:27 go to our wastewater treatment
7:30 plant and the water is going
7:31 to clean resources are going
7:32 to cover. Recovered and it
7:33 will be returned to the South
7:35 Platte River. So I'm going to
7:37 be talking a little bit about
7:38 and a couple slides about the
7:39 difference between Dottie and
7:40 our roles and responsibilities
7:41 on much water cover and their
7:42 roles and responsibilities. So
7:47 just to clarify, I a lot of my
7:48 neighbors, I don't even really
7:48 understand the difference
7:49 between what we do versus what
7:56 they do. And what I talk about
7:56 that, too. I want I want
7:57 everyone to keep in mind on
8:01 the right hand side and our So
8:02 we have 1000 miles of pipe
8:03 that we're maintaining and
8:06 keeping track of 50 miles of
8:07 waterway. We also when we
8:08 think about sanitary, we do or
8:11 not great students to
8:13 ourselves. So we have 1500
8:15 miles of pipe. And 35,000 new
8:16 homes and 7 stations. So that
8:17 kind of our daddy
8:21 responsibility. You can also
8:22 seeing them out there. All of
8:22 our other core functions and
8:26 we a lot. We are doing the
8:27 plan. Design and
8:29 implementation of projects.
8:30 see. New neighborhoods are
8:30 Those are the things that you
8:31 also doing a lot of operations
8:35 and maintenance as well. And
8:35 support for development
8:36 services. When folks are
8:44 developing there, the parcels.
8:45 So a great opportunity talk
8:46 again about something that
8:49 maybe we don't often talk
8:49 about, which is the operations
8:50 and maintenance component of
8:51 the Wastewater Enterprise Fund
8:52 and how important that is our
8:55 city. Our system is old,
8:55 right? We're over 100 years
8:58 old. So that alone and that
9:01 and of itself, is it hard to
9:02 keep keep moving? Keep going.
9:03 Right. We have to maintain a
9:07 so we have folks on the ground
9:08 every day and working on a
9:10 system to clean it to cctv at
9:11 to make sure it's working
9:14 properly to work before storms
9:15 to get out there and clean
9:17 spaces that we know our
9:20 problems to get during storms
9:21 to protect. You know, clean up
9:24 and once that they have to to
9:26 get there after storms to,
9:28 know, do emergency response,
9:28 sanitary, same thing, you
9:29 know, on a day-to-day basis
9:31 for responding to folks having
9:34 issues in their homes. We're
9:36 the first call they make. And
9:37 so we have to go out and see,
9:38 you know what the issue is
9:40 that a lot of times, you know
9:41 of home issue, but, you know,
9:45 we're there to support them.
9:46 Redoing street sweeping
9:47 maintaining our system, right?
9:49 Because the best line of
9:50 defense we can do is if we
9:51 want to keep stuff out of our
9:52 rivers and out of our
9:53 wastewater treatment plant, we
9:57 keep it have system today. So
9:57 when thinking about all the
9:58 different angles are trying to
9:59 keep it out so we don't have
10:00 to worry about cleaning it
10:05 later. So this is going to
10:06 keep us good standing with the
10:08 federal government. You know,
10:10 it's just Super Department.
10:11 They do. And I can't I can't
10:13 say enough about the There is
10:14 a great group of guys and gals
10:15 who do this work on a daily
10:19 basis. And probably don't get
10:24 enough of the credit right? I
10:25 Lehigh wanted to kind of talk
10:27 a little bit more detail about
10:28 much our water covering kind
10:31 of the roles responsibility.
10:32 So I think about your house
10:35 business or whatever that
10:36 that's an attorney was going
10:37 likely going to an alley. It's
10:38 going to go into progressive.
10:40 Live larger pipes, all those
10:41 pipes that are serving our
10:43 Denver residents. Those are
10:45 his responsibility. So we're
10:45 operating maintain them,
10:47 making sure that they keep
10:48 working. So then there's going
10:50 to be a point where maybe our
10:52 flu combines with a roar out
10:53 for another community, a local
10:55 by a local nearby
10:57 jurisdiction. And then at that
10:57 point that it becomes much or
10:59 water recoveries,
11:02 responsibility. So then they
11:03 take over and they are
11:04 responsible from that point on
11:06 getting it to the 2 wastewater
11:06 treatment plants and clean the
11:10 water and recovery resources.
11:11 So we our connector too much
11:15 water cut recovery. So I'm,
11:17 you know, an important point
11:18 clarification about where you
11:19 know, where a great partner
11:22 always working with them. And
11:22 of course, I think it's all
11:27 the same flow and water on the
11:28 right hand side. You'll see
11:30 the Billings for the last
11:31 decade or so. I've I what
11:33 we've been built by Metro
11:34 Water recovery. And so next
11:36 year we will be paying just
11:37 shy of 80 million dollars for
11:41 our sanitary services. We are
11:42 a bill based on flow
11:44 unloading. So the quantity of
11:45 water that goes there and then
11:45 what's the constituents within
11:52 water? The last big thing that
11:52 I want to talk about and this
11:53 is some of the stuff that we
11:55 talked about in the 2026 work
11:59 plan. The direct plan. But we
12:00 also do a large amount of
12:01 capital investment to improve
12:04 our systems about the capital
12:05 maintenance. I'm all of the
12:06 other large infrastructure
12:10 projects that we as well. We
12:12 have kind of split into 3
12:13 buckets here we have our
12:15 storm. I seen it here in our
12:15 green infrastructure. So what
12:16 are the types of things we
12:18 typically do on any given
12:20 year? We're doing that master
12:22 planning work and all the
12:24 different categories were
12:27 looking at storm And so like
12:28 perhaps we get a drainage
12:29 complaint, right? We had a big
12:31 storm event. We're looking at
12:31 that range complaint looking
12:32 at the system, seeing if there
12:35 is a small Band-Aid fix MAY be
12:35 Regrading alley. Maybe it's
12:38 adding line. Maybe in a pipes
12:39 are too big and we need a
12:41 bigger system. So looking at
12:41 those things to figure out if
12:45 there's a small, I fixed, but
12:47 if we can do all the way to a
12:48 large banks about large, fixed
12:49 kind of gets in that storm
12:50 pipe cow capacity of sizing
12:54 category. We're we're doing
12:55 bigger improvements. And one
12:56 thing to consider on this
12:58 storm side of things is that
12:59 we're building from downstream
13:02 to upstream. So sometimes it
13:04 can seem like a small issue.
13:05 But you need that full system
13:10 to really solve the problem.
13:11 So think a seemingly small
13:13 issue could have a really
13:13 large dollar amounts
13:17 associated with that. On
13:18 Senate are exciting things.
13:18 That's a little bit clearer.
13:19 Maybe that's why I love it so
13:22 much. But you got to got to
13:23 keep it in the pipe, right?
13:26 There's no other option. So
13:27 mean, taking our sanitary
13:29 system, keeping it up to date,
13:31 improving our lives stations.
13:32 These are just have to have.
13:35 This is not negotiable right?