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Committee approves sending update to WISE water delivery agreement to full council
Summary
Aurora Water Policy Committee reviewed proposed amendments to the Water Infrastructure and Supply Efficiency (WISE) water delivery agreement, discussed infrastructure delays and rate modeling updates, and approved sending the amendment to full council for final approval and signature.
The Aurora Water Policy Committee on March (date not specified) reviewed an amendment to the Water Infrastructure and Supply Efficiency (WISE) water delivery agreement and approved forwarding the measure to full council for consideration and signature.
The committee heard from Alex Davis, who summarized three main updates in the amendment: infrastructure clarifications (including the Denver International Airport [DIA] connection and a permanent Binney interconnect), revised rate inputs and modeling, and adjustments to the delivery “block” volumes tied to construction delays. "The DIA connection is a section of pipe that is connecting Denver's water system ... to our Prairie Waters pipeline," Davis said, and he explained the Binney interconnect has been delayed and a revised deadline is included in the amendment.
The amendment lowers the first delivery block to 95,000 acre-feet for the 2025–2035 block because of the Binney/permanent-connection delays; the amendment also provides for a further 5,000-acre-foot reduction if the permanent connection is not operational to the parties’ satisfaction by 2026-06-01. Davis said Denver and South Metro expect the permanent Binney infrastructure to be complete in August–September 2025.
The committee also discussed a change that would allow WISE partners to perform disinfection at the Binney facility before water enters Aurora's system; staff described this as a clarification recognizing that different systems use different disinfection strategies. Committee members raised a minor operational issue: installation work near Alexander Road had damaged irrigation and a sidewalk; staff said they will ask South Metro to repair the sidewalk and related landscaping.
On rates, staff said Aurora updates the inputs and modeling used to calculate WISE rates and that the amendment refines but does not change fundamentally the agreement’s long-term delivery obligations or the concept behind the rate structure. Alex Davis requested committee approval to forward the amendment to full council and signature; the committee agreed to move the amendment forward by consensus.
The committee’s approval at this meeting was to refer the amendment to full council; the work required for construction of permanent interconnections and any final rate adjustments will be decided at council and as contracts and signatures are executed.
Provisions cited in the meeting included the WISE Water Delivery Agreement amendment (document name not otherwise specified in the transcript) and references to operational deadlines included in that amendment. Staff said they will bring the finalized amendment and supporting analysis to full council for formal action and signature.
