Denver Water’s Citizens Advisory Committee is a 10-member volunteer committee that advises Denver Water staff and the Board of Water Commissioners on a variety of issues while encouraging and coordinating public participation in the water department’s policy-making process.

The committee was created as a result of the 1979 Foothills Agreement. In the late 1970s, Denver Water needed a new treatment plant and reservoir. Public concern about growth issues and the project’s potential environmental impacts led to the Foothills Agreement — a pact between Denver Water, federal agencies, elected officials and the environmental community. Among other requirements, terms of the agreement required Denver Water to form a citizens group charged with representing public interests.

Among other responsibilities, the Citizens Advisory Committee is in charge of:

• Providing advice on the use and effectiveness of the Board’s public participation techniques;
• Assisting in and facilitating public review and discussion of Board plans;
• Participating with Denver’s Board of Water Commissioners in making plans, records, information and studies available to the public;
• Advising the Board in issues of interest to the committee, such as the supply, treatment and distribution of water;
• Providing consultation to the Board so that public reaction to Board proposals, such as rate changes, conservation activities, recreation issues, distribution system extensions, construction projects and other activities, will be recorded and available to the Board and staff early in the planning process; and
• Developing an annual work plan with specific activities defining its scope of work.