Drought Challenges

Jim Lochhead, CEO/ManagerNovember 7, 2013

Denver Water overview• Serve 1.3 million people or

25% of Colorado population

• Operate in 20 municipalities

• Total watershed area: 4,000 square miles

2.5 million acres

• Supply reliant on surface water from snowpack

Dealing with 2013 drought

• Drought planning began in 2012

• Incremental, proactive process anticipating multi-year drought

Drought conditions worsen

2013 Drought Response Team • Protect the health, safety

and welfare of our customers

• Minimize economic disruptions

• Preserve landscapes

2013 drought response

The drought team implemented our drought response plan:

• Supply management and augmentation

• Demand management• Understanding financial impacts• Maintaining water quality• Communications and Marketing

Other local agencies and utilities watched Denver Water to gauge their drought response

Previous Conservation Message

2013 Drought Message

Drought recovery

Dillon Reservoir 5-22-13 Dillon Reservoir 6-17-13

Volatility in our water supply

Source: DW internal data

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

Jan

-12

Fe

b-12

Ma

r-12

Ap

r-1

2

Ma

y-12

Jun

-12

Jul-

12

Au

g-1

2

Se

p-1

2

Oct

-12

No

v-1

2

De

c-1

2

Jan

-13

Fe

b-13

Ma

r-13

Ap

r-1

3

Ma

y-13

Jun

-13

Jul-

13

Au

g-1

3

Se

p-1

3

Oct

-13

No

v-1

3

DENVER WATER SUPPLY RESERVOIR CONTENTSACRE-FEET

Full

Historic Median

2012-2013 Contents

Where we were headed…

Where we ended up

Questions?