The South Adams County Water and Sanitation District was formed in 1951 under the State of Colorado Special District provisions to serve the area now known as Commerce City. Although the District serves the Commerce City population, it is a separate entity and is presently the largest combined Water and Sanitation District in the state of Colorado covering over 65 square miles and serving nearly 70,000 customers.
The District experienced little growth until 1998 selling only 50 new taps in a good year, and provided services to about 10,000 equivalent residential units (ERUs). The District’s water was mainly from Alluvial and Arapahoe well supplies capable of yielding up to 6800 acre-ft. of water per year, which could serve approximately 13,600 ERUs.
Recent History
In 1996, the Record of Decision (ROD) for the cleanup of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal was complete. Two significant components of the ROD were the designation of the Arsenal as a future Wildlife Refuge and addition of a 4000 acre-ft. additional water supply to the District. This supplemental supply is treated water purchased from Denver Water that is blended with the District’s potable well water supply before delivery to its customers.
Once the Record of Decision was complete the development community started viewing the Commerce City area as a place that held great potential for future residential and commercial development.
With a great deal of hard work and cooperation from the City of Commerce City and the development community, the District was able to build critical water and wastewater infrastructure to launch new development in the northern portion of the District.
The District Today
The District is developing water supplies which will be capable of providing up to 27,000 acre-ft. of water per year. This development allows us to serve approximately 54,000 ERUs.
These water supplies include treated water from Denver Water, surface water supplied off of the farmer’s reservoir and Irrigation Company’s water supply system, expanded potable alluvial well supplies, and a separate irrigation system.
The District is also building one of the nation’s largest separate irrigation systems in the northern area of Commerce City. This separate system provides non-potable alluvial well water to residential, commercial, and industrial customers for irrigation and other non-potable uses.