Across Colorado and the West, communities need a mix of grants, utility dollars, rates, rebates, partnerships, and local policy to make conservation work at scale.
Denver Water may offer another model.
The utility is replacing tens of thousands of lead service lines, including many on private property, at no direct cost to customers. To do it, Denver Water used bond financing and an accounting approach that allowed the work to be treated as part of its broader capital program.
Now the question is whether similar financing strategies could support other public-benefit water investments.
That could include large-scale conservation projects on public properties, or forest health work that reduces wildfire risk and helps protect reservoirs.
The larger lesson is not that one financing tool solves every water challenge.
It is that conservation and watershed protection may need to be financed more like core infrastructure, because they help secure the water systems communities rely on.
This video is part of Resilience In The Rockies, a series in collaboration with WaterNow.
Thanks to silver sponsors PCL Construction, Norris Design, and the City of Greeley.
waterloop is a nonprofit news outlet exploring solutions for water sustainability. Visit https://www.waterloop.org/
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