Sitting 6.5 miles upstream of the mouth of Waterton Canyon in Littleton, Colorado is Strontia Springs Dam — a 243-foot-tall structure that forms Strontia Springs Reservoir.

With a capacity of just 7,863 acre-feet, Strontia Springs is the smallest of three terminal water storage facilities in Denver Water’s system, meaning it is the final stop for mountain water before it heads to the treatment process. The other two are Ralston Reservoir and Marston Forebay.

Because Denver Water’s south system is substantially larger than its north system, about 80 percent of Denver’s drinking water passes through Strontia Springs Reservoir before eventually going to customers in Denver Water's service area.

For being small, Strontia Springs sure packs a big, critically important punch.

Check out Army Corps of Engineers approves Gross Dam expansion to learn how Denver Water plans to address our imbalanced system with the Gross Reservoir Expansion Project.