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Council approves payment for DIA connection invoice as part of WISE regional water project
Summary
Council approved a payment tied to the Denver International Airport connection component of the South Metro WISE project; Castle Rock’s share is part of a multi‑partner investment and staff said sufficient funds are available in the WISE account.
Castle Rock council voted unanimously on April 15 to approve payment for an invoice related to the Denver International Airport (DIA) connection portion of the South Metro WISE regional water project.
Mark Marlowe explained the DIA connection is a roughly six‑mile pipeline that Denver Water constructed to capture water otherwise cycled at the airport and return it to Aurora’s raw water system for treatment and later delivery to WISE participants. Construction is nearly complete and WISE members — including Castle Rock — are responsible for their project shares. Staff said Castle Rock’s immediate payment request is roughly $1,000,000 and that another payment of about $700,000 is expected, bringing total payments related to the DIA connection to about $2.69 million; Castle Rock’s WISE account has sufficient funds to cover the charges.
Marlowe reminded council that WISE supplies are interruptible (WISE may be interrupted two years out of every ten) and that the town has budgeted for future WISE‑related projects including potential desalination to meet secondary (aesthetic) salt standards that Aurora Water will not guarantee after 2030; that desalination work would be a much larger, multi‑million cost for the WISE partners.
Councilmember Brooks moved to approve the resolution; Councilmember Mayor Pro Tem Kavey seconded. The motion passed by unanimous roll call vote.
Why it matters: the DIA connection is a WISE project component that helps convert water that otherwise would be wasted into a regional supply; the approved payment is the town’s share of the connection cost and is part of ongoing WISE expense management.
What’s next: staff will process the invoice payment and continue monitoring WISE operational issues, including long‑term options to address water quality (desalination) risk.
