Federal water money can be transformative for rural communities, but getting through the application process can be a barrier of its own. Cynthia Koehler of WaterNow explains how the organization’s Grant Help Desk helps smaller communities navigate state and federal funding programs that can otherwise require significant staff time and…
Alamosa is showing that even a public golf course can become a serious water-conservation project when the infrastructure is designed for efficiency. Cynthia Koehler of WaterNow points to Cattails Golf Course, where the city replaced an aging irrigation system with more precise technology while preserving a heavily used community recreation…
Aspen is pairing tougher landscape rules with the workforce needed to make them work. Cynthia Koehler of WaterNow says the city’s water-efficient landscaping approach stands out because property owners are not simply handed a standard and left to figure out compliance on their own. Since 2018, WaterNow has helped Aspen…
Eagle County is finding that turf replacement works better when residents get more than a rebate. Cynthia Koehler of WaterNow points to the Beyond Lawn program as a model because it pairs financial incentives with on-site audits and property-specific guidance. Those evaluations help homeowners see where nonfunctional turf can be…
Greeley is turning a massive meter replacement project into a water-conservation strategy. Victoria Arling of WaterNow explains how the city used about $3.5 million in federal WaterSMART grants to help modernize nearly 27,000 water meters with advanced metering infrastructure, or AMI. The new system gives customers near-real-time information about their…
Denver Water’s lead service line replacement program is also testing a financing model with implications far beyond lead pipes. Cynthia Koehler of WaterNow explains how Denver Water is using long-term financing to accelerate replacement of customer-owned lead service lines rather than relying only on annual operating budgets. The approach is…
A mostly unused lawn at the University of Northern Colorado is being turned into a more useful public space while saving nearly 2 million gallons of water a year. Victoria Arling of WaterNow explains how Greeley, UNC, and project partners reworked the campus North Lawn from high-water-use bluegrass into a…
Aurora is testing a different way to build trust around water: bring public-health professionals directly into the conversation. Victoria Arling of WaterNow explains how Aurora Water, Metro Water Recovery, the Aurora Health Alliance, and River Network created the Water Champion Alliance for a city where more than 180 languages are…
Small mountain utilities are being asked to do more than operate pipes, pumps, and tanks. They are also expected to run conservation programs, manage rebates, engage residents, and build public trust. Cynthia Koehler of WaterNow says the High Country Conservation Center shows how a regional nonprofit can provide that missing…
Boulder has spent decades building strong water-conservation programs, but the next challenge is making sure more residents actually see themselves in them. Victoria Arling of WaterNow explains how the city is rethinking conservation outreach in a community where renters make up a large share of the population and the University…
Broomfield is trying to lock water conservation into future growth before new demand becomes harder to unwind. Victoria Arling of WaterNow explains how the City and County of Broomfield developed a new landscape ordinance for new development and redevelopment, where outdoor irrigation has accounted for roughly 60 to 70 percent…
Small water projects rarely attract the attention given to major treatment plants, but limited staff and tight budgets can make early collaboration especially valuable. Sherri Leonard, director of collaborative delivery at Water Resources Group, says the approach can help communities of every size get more from their infrastructure investment. Collaborative…
How much of YOU is actually water? We hit Water Street outside the Reservoir Center for Water Solutions in Washington, D.C., to find out how well people know their own H2O. The guesses were generous: 70%, 80%, 90% — even 98%. The actual answer for an average adult? About 60%.…
Water quality monitoring doesn’t stop at the treatment plant. At the Hach booth at WEFTEC, I looked at a compact system designed to continuously track drinking water as it moves through a utility’s distribution network. The panel monitors six key indicators—chlorine, turbidity, pH, conductivity, pressure and temperature—giving operators an earlier…
A doctor may be more persuasive on water quality than a utility. Shonnie Cline of Aurora Water says that reality is shaping how the city communicates about drinking water, treatment and reuse. Aurora Water and Metro Water Recovery have partnered with the Aurora Health Alliance to bring public-health professionals directly…
Boulder has cut per-capita water use by about 30 percent since the severe drought of 2002, but the next challenge is reaching the people who do not necessarily hear from the utility through traditional channels. Neal Lurie of Resource Central says effective conservation outreach has to account for how differently…
In Summit County, water conservation is being organized across town lines. Heather Allen of the High Country Conservation Center says the nonprofit can design programs, pursue grants and work directly with residents—but it still needs municipalities and water providers to supply funding, political support and local capacity. That partnership helps…
Most people never see what is actually moving through a sewer line. A display at the Discflo booth at WEFTEC offered a rare look inside: wipes, rags, trash, tools and other debris mixed in with wastewater — even the kinds of animals that can end up in sewer systems. All…
New Jersey has paired its 2031 lead-pipe deadline with an unusually active statewide effort to help communities complete the work. Deandrah Cameron, a policy manager at New Jersey Future, helps steer the Jersey Water Works Lead Service Line Implementation Workgroup. The coalition brings together utilities, state agencies, advocates and technical…
Colorado communities are treating public engagement as water infrastructure, using trusted messengers, targeted outreach, and practical programs to turn conservation strategies into action. The third episode of Resilience in the Rockies examines how Summit County, Boulder, and Aurora are reaching people who can determine whether water-saving programs actually work, plus…
Hydro20 is waterloop’s national, year-long celebration of 20 individuals driving change, disrupting norms, and doing good for water sustainability. Selected through public nominations and a cross-sector committee, the honorees represent the remarkable range of people taking action now. waterloop travels the country to produce a short film about each individual…
Every day, hundreds of millions of gallons of water travel from California’s Eastern Sierra toward Los Angeles through one of the most consequential water infrastructure systems in the American West. The Los Angeles Aqueduct stretches more than 230 miles, ending its journey through the Cascades north of the city. On…
Turning Mississippi River water into drinking water takes skill, responsibility, and dedication. I spent a shift with Ed Azemas, a drinking water operator at the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans Algiers plant, seeing firsthand what he and his colleagues put into treating the water and getting it out…
Water utilities are gaining more flexibility to choose project delivery methods suited to increasingly complex infrastructure work. Guy Voss, vice president and collaborative project delivery director at HDR and president of the Water Collaborative Delivery Association, says these approaches are expanding as utilities confront more infrastructure needs than available funding…