News Article

Survey apprentice lands full-time career path at Denver Water

High school student wanted hands-on, practical skills and found a job he never considered.

When a career counselor visited East High School to talk with students about local apprenticeships, Adrian Orta was drawn to a survey opportunity at Denver Water.

He had never worked in survey, had never even held survey equipment before. But the lure of collecting data, working outside and using his math skills hooked his interest.

Man in orange safety gear sits near an evergreen tree. — Adrian Orta joined Denver Water as an apprentice in its survey department in 2023 and in 2025 accepted a full-time job as a survey technician. Photo credit: Denver Water.

“I came in with a mindset that maybe today I don’t know anything about survey, but tomorrow I will,” he said. “And it’ll get easier and easier after that.”

Denver Water developed its apprenticeship program in partnership with CareerWise Colorado, which connects eager students with interested employers. Orta was in Denver Water’s first class of apprentices when he joined the utility’s survey department in 2023.

He graduated from East High School in 2024, midway through his apprenticeship, and earlier this year accepted a full-time survey technician job with Denver Water, where he’ll work as he takes survey classes at Colorado Mesa University.

Meet another high school apprentice in Denver Water’s Geographic Information Systems department.

Denver Water’s apprenticeship program started with opportunities in its warehouse, finance, GIS and survey departments. The utility plans to expand the program to other fields within the organization, said Ashley Kessens, an early career senior specialist with Denver Water.

The aim of Denver Water’s apprenticeship program is to help create a talent pipeline for the next generation of employees at the utility, which provides clean, safe drinking water to 1.5 million people in Denver and surrounding suburbs.

Kessens added that Denver Water has career paths and opportunities — such as jobs in IT, finance, trades and much more — that people don’t often know about. The utility’s apprenticeship program helps promote those fields to the next generation of employees.

Man in orange safety gear stands near survey equipment in the mountains. — Denver Water’s survey teams are tasked with collecting data in the many areas the utility operates in, from the city’s streets to mountain reservoirs, including Gross Reservoir in this photo. Photo credit: Denver Water.

Nick Lewis, Denver Water senior surveyor who supported Orta during his apprenticeship, said surveying is a unique field that rarely gets the spotlight at high school career fairs.

“By investing in apprentices and nurturing their development from the ground up, we create not only skilled surveyors but also employees who are happy, satisfied and deeply invested in Denver Water’s mission,” Lewis said.

He praised Orta’s eagerness and dedication, adding that his story is a powerful example of the benefits to both Denver Water and young students with this program.

“Opportunity often starts with something as simple as showing up,” Lewis said. “And with drive and determination, those opportunities can lead to a rewarding and impactful career.”

Join the Denver Water team, at denverwater.org/Careers.

When he started, Orta visited the Gross Reservoir Expansion Project to take measurements with members of his survey team. He marveled at the landmark expansion project and was in awe of the daily progress as crews worked to raise the height of the existing dam by 131 feet.

“Now you can see it going up and up and up,” he said. “And that’s how I would like my career to go, up and up. It’s a slow progress, but it’s exciting to see.”

As part of his experience, Orta learned computer-aided design in the office before setting out for the field to collect data.

Learning about what’s needed in the office has helped him work as a more astute field worker, and vice versa. In fact, Orta said his most rewarding days are the days when he returns to the office with a set of complete measurements for engineers to use for their next project.

“It’s almost every day I come back to the office with the data collector full of points, and those are the days I feel most productive and successful,” he said, “when I come into the office with a deliverable for the engineers that’s accurate and up to Denver Water’s quality standards.”

Man in an orange safety vest stands near a white Denver Water truck. — Orta advised students to apply for internships or apprenticeships to learn what interests them. It might lead to a career. Photo credit: Denver Water.

Orta has recommended the apprenticeship program to other students, telling them that hands-on, real-world experience has helped focus his career path and opened his eyes to opportunities he never considered in the classroom.

“I wanted to go out and explore Denver and my world a little more,” he said. “My advice is to try applying to an internship or apprenticeship so you can get familiar with what you’re interested in. If it’s something that you like, you can continue with the career and move forward.”