Where Does Your Utility Money Go?

Revenue from utility bills funds the operation of a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure system, including projects to preserve and sustain the quality of life in Boulder.

City Council recently discussed an increase in utility rates for 2024, but what is that money used for?

Utilities are key to the safety and health of the Boulder community. City Council reviews utility rates annually to ensure the city can support the increasing costs to maintain and improve Boulder’s aging infrastructure, provide clean drinking water, keep our wastewater facility running and maintain water mains, sewers, the stormwater system and flood mitigation projects. Rate increases went into effect in January. For 2024, the average residential utility bill will rise by $10.02 per month. By paying your utility bill, you are supporting the Boulder community and funding a vast array of critical needs.

The three utilities you pay into are the Water Utility, Wastewater Utility and the Stormwater and Flood Management Utility.

Drinking Water: A key component to the Water Utility is safe, clean, low-cost drinking water. Water is essential to public health and community vitality. Part of your Water Utility fee funds Boulder’s two drinking water treatment facilities, which produce approximately 5300 million gallons of clean drinking water for the Boulder community every year.

Despite this extensive infrastructure, the city provides water at the low cost of 44 glasses of water for a penny. Reinvestment in the system promotes generational equity so that our children and future community members have access to the same or a better system than we have today.

Drinking Water Quality: Your utility fees support routine water quality monitoring and reporting to ensure the city’s drinking water is safe. Going above and beyond regulatory requirements, the city proactively monitors over 450 water quality parameters. The vast majority of these compounds are not detected in the city’s drinking water. Staff also plan and implement projects to protect source water supplies and the drinking water distribution system.

Water Infrastructure: A recent study estimated that over the next 25 years the United States must invest more than $1 trillion in underground water infrastructure. Locally, work continues on the Barker Gravity Pipeline, which delivers about one third of the city’s source water. This infrastructure is over 100 years old, and Boulder is seven years into the anticipated12-year replacement period. A recent city study identified over 50 capital projects valued over $450M to address aging water infrastructure. Other projects help to maintain water system service goals, resolve operational challenges and increase water supply resiliency during planned and unplanned outages. The city continues to invest in critical needs to deliver safe drinking water and fire protection to the Boulder community.

Many of the city’s sanitary sewer lines date back to the early 1900’s. Maintaining and rehabilitating these lines is a key area of focus for the Wastewater Utility. The city also manages the Industrial Pretreatment Program to monitor non-domestic sources of sanitary waste and prevent pollutants from entering the sanitary system that could pass through the treatment system into surface water.

Wastewater treatment is an essential and mandatory function in Boulder, necessary for public health and environmental protection. At the Water Resources Recovery Facility (WRRF):

• All of Boulder’s wastewater is treated to exceed minimum permit criteria, which results in a high-quality return of water to Boulder Creek.
• The WRRF Laboratory processes almost 4,000 samples annually to ensure regulatory compliance and support wastewater treatment optimization.
• Biosolids are generated and reused in agriculture, improving crop growth and yield.
• Biogas is recovered, offset to renewable natural gas and used as a fuel for trash, recycling and compost vehicles in place of traditional diesel fuel, which helps support Boulder’s climate goals.

The WRRF is funded by the Wastewater Utility Fee. Originally constructed in 1968, the WRRF is a complex, industrial facility valued at $300M. A critical facility of this size and scale needs to be maintained in many areas, including rehabilitation and replacement of aging infrastructure, regulatory compliance and capacity.

Boulder has a history of flooding and is the number one flood risk in the state. The city recently updated its Comprehensive Flood and Stormwater Plan to meet the latest floodplain regulations and to develop a framework to prioritize the flood projects and to incorporate a focus on equity, including the maintenance of 16 major drainageways, 160 miles of pipes and 4,800 catch basins. The Stormwater and Flood Management Utility fee supports flood and stormwater infrastructure, stormwater quality, and education programs.

Utilities maintains water distribution, wastewater collection, stormwater, flood and greenways infrastructure and provides water meter, utility locate and public space management services. It is also critical for system upkeep and emergency services related to each of the three utilities.

If you are experiencing financial hardship or find it difficult to pay your utility bill, assistance is available.