Nearly a year after Broomfielders saw a 50% increase in their water bills, the city continues to work toward updating its infrastructure, but some residents are concerned about more increases with “no end in sight.” The 50% increase that took effect January 2025 was alarming for some residents a nd brought forward concerns about how City Council and staff have managed Broomfield’s water infrastructure. City staff has maintained that the increase — and the increases slated for 2026 and the future — are necessary to tackle a backlog of deferred maintenance on the city’s water system. City staff has previously stated that the risks of not maintaining the infrastructure include inadequate water supply as the population increases, a lack of pressure for fire protection and increased risk for contamination events that could cause adverse public health outcomes. The amount of deferred maintenance and repair was cited by city staff as $23 million in a July 2024 meeting where last year’s increase was introduced. The city’s water resources superintendent, Mark Lorie, told the Broomfield Enterprise in an email last month that the amount of revenue generated by the water bill increase isn’t available yet, but “preliminary, unaudited numbers” could be available in late January. In the meantime, work has already begun on Broomfield’s water infrastructure. The work being done on water infrastructure “is incredible, and you’re doing a lot of catch-up,” then-Councilmember Bruce Leslie told staff at an enterprise fund update during an October meeting. These presentations from staff help the council understand “how far behind we have been based on previous action or lack of action.” Ins and outs of Broomfield water Enterprise funds, which includes Broomfield’s water fund, operate as a closed loop — rates and fees within the fund are set to cover the cost of providing services. Enterprise fund informational updates at City Council meetings are scheduled to occur quarterly in the interest of increasing transparency about how Broomfield manages its water funds. During the October update, Ken Rutt, the city’s director of water utilities, discussed some of the work the city’s infrastructure is undergoing that is made possible by the increased revenue generated from the rate increase, he said. As part of the steep increase that took effect in 2025, Broomfield established a dedicated stormwater fee and fund specifically for maintaining the city’s drainage system that flows rainwater and snowmelt into nearby to downstream waters such as streams, reservoirs and ponds. “This is the first year of the stormwater fee, which has significantly impacted our ability to maintain and operate our separate stormwater system,” Rutt said in the October update. Among the stormwater projects the city has planned are updates to the system’s metal storm pipes, expected to cost $1.2 million in 2026, according to the update. Other planned updates to the city’s infrastructure include wastewater treatment facility upgrades and ongoing efforts to continue supplying residents with an adequate amount of water. Broomfield acquires two types of water for the county — pre-treated water that is ready to be distributed and raw water that goes through Broomfield’s water treatment facility before being doled out, according to Lorie. The pre-treated water is purchased through the utility Denver Water, which supplies water to Denver and nearby suburbs. Broomfield purchases a minimum of 4,700 acre-feet and a maximum of 6,500 acre-feet of water from Denver Water each year, according to Lorie. An acre-foot is a unit of measurement that corresponds to the amount of water it would take to flood one acre of land to a depth of one foot. The average household generally uses about half an acre-foot of water per year. The rest of Broomfield’s water comes from the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District and is sourced from two projects: the Colorado-Big Thompson and Windy Gap projects, both of which originate on the Colorado and Fraser rivers along the Western Slope, according to Lorie. Water that comes in from those projects is then treated at Broomfield’s water treatment plant before being supplied to residents, Lorie said. The Colorado-Big Thompson project’s water is pumped from Lake Granby to Grand Lake and then delivered to the Eastern Slope through a 13-mile tunnel beneath Rocky Mountain National Park, according to Lorie. A sign for the Broomfield Water Treatment Facility stands Thursday. (Cliff Grassmick/Staff Photographer) Of the Windy Gap project’s 480 units of water, Broomfield owns 56 units, which produces about 1,400 acre-feet per year, Lorie said. The Chimney Hollow Reservoir project, long in the works, plans to provide additional storage for Windy Gap when Lake Granby is full during wetter years, according to Lorie.. Construction of the large reservoir has taken years and will benefit Broomfield and other nearby cities. Northern Water has been working to ensure the reservoir will be fit to store water after “naturally occurring uranium” was found during the reservoir’s construction, said Rutt, the city’s director of water utilities. New water tanks The city is also continuing work on a water storage project in the city — the construction of two, 3-million gallon tanks in northern Broomfield. The tanks will be a “critical component” of the city’s water supply system and provide adequate water pressure to the area, including in the case of needing fire protection, Rutt said. Construction on the tanks was expected to start this month and could last 24 to 33 months, according to Broomfield’s website. The project will be paid for with $70 million in funding from a bond expected to be issued this month, according to an email from City and County Manager Jennifer Hoffman. ‘Facing rising costs’ While the city continues to invest in water infrastructure improvements that officials describe as necessary, some area residents are still critical. “Broomfield residents are facing rising costs across nearly every aspect of our daily lives,” Rick Fernandez, founder of the nonprofit Broomfield Taxpayer Matters, said in an email. “The Broomfield Council and (the city) are adding to this burden by repeatedly voting to increase water rates.” The nonprofit’s mission is to raise awareness of policies that affect Broomfield residents, according to the organization’s website. Fernandez has followed Broomfield’s water rates closely for years. The nonprofit continues to hear from “Broomfield citizens, neighbors, and families saying they are tired of our elected officials not listening to them,” the email said. “They tell us that between higher property tax bills and continued water rate increases, it is more and more unaffordable to stay in Broomfield.” ‘On the hook’ The city offers a utility rate assistance program to provide a discount on residents’ bills that’s slated to continue for 2026, according to Broomfield’s website. The program was approved for another year by the council in an October meeting and will be available for residents making 60% or less of the area median income. For reference, Broomfield’s AMI for 2025 as determined by the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority is $140,100 for a four-person household. “Why are Broomfield families being put on the hook to pay for the (city’s) poor policy decisions through water bills that have already doubled? Why is it acceptable for the (city) to continue to increase our water bills with no end in sight according to the Broomfield City Manager?” Fernandez said in the email. In a Broomfield City Council “focus session” meeting in 2025, Hoffman said: “There is not an end in sight for the enterprise fund in not having increases.” According to city spokesperson Julie Story, for Broomfield, balancing the rate increases with the impact on residents is “top of mind.” “The team explored many options and we simply couldn’t reach stabilization by further postponing the inevitable increases while balancing ever-increasing costs, regulatory changes and system deterioration given the system experienced nearly a decade with little-to-no rate increases, while population growth, infrastructure needs, inflation and regulatory requirements continued to rise,” Story said in an email. In the meeting Oct. 28, the council approved another utility rate increase to take effect this month. Residents can expect to see an average 14% increase in their monthly bill, according to a council memo. Water usage changes According to Lorie, the water resources superintendent, water usage in the city has decreased, but it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly why. “Water use through October of 2025 has been about 11.9% lower than water use through October of 2024 and about 4.4% lower than the average over the previous five years. We believe this is attributable to a combination of the water use ordinance, the rate increase, and continued benefits of past conservation efforts (e.g., turf replacement), but it’s difficult to determine the relative impacts of those changes after only one year,” Lorie said in an email. The city’s new water use ordinance took effect last year and requires residents to reduce the amount they water outdoors even when there is no drought declared by the council. It includes only watering turf three times per week on certain days and only watering between 6 p.m. and 10 a.m., according to previous reporting. But Fernandez said residents are being put in the position of footing the bill for what he said are city officials’ mistakes. The city “is burdening residents through higher and higher water rates to make up for their bad policy decisions. This is a huge problem.” Fernandez said.Related Articles Colorado weather: Snow likely overnight across Denver area, Eastern Plains Boulder officials heading to Park City to take notes at Sundance 2026 Fixing Federal Boulevard: CDOT’s $318 million overhaul promises faster buses and a safer road Parker Gabriel’s 7 Thoughts after Broncos’ wild OT win vs. Bills, including why Sean Payton trusts Jarrett Stidham Shelter-in-place near DU lifted; Denver police sent alert to ‘broader area than intended’ Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter. ...read more read less