WHATEVER IT TAKES FROM WATER AVAILABILITY MODEL TO COST OF WATER

摘要

This paper summarizes ongoing efforts by the Water Resources Division atAurora Water to determine the cost of Raw Water for the City of Aurora. Aurora iscurrently developing, at a cost of approximately 700 million dollars, a new watersupply and delivery system, the Prairie Waters Project (PWP). This project will act asan additional source of water supply. The project is designed to divert Aurora’sreusable return flows from the lower South Platte River, pump them back to the City,and, after suitable treatment, reintroduce them into the City’s potable water system. Inaddition, Aurora Water staff is diligently pursuing the acquisition of storage andagricultural water rights in the South Platte River north of the Denver MetropolitanArea. Purchased agricultural water will be transferred to municipal use to supplementreclaimed water in order to provide for future population growth. Using results fromthe water availability model, and established budgeting procedures, staff at AuroraWater is taking the necessary steps to determine the cost of raw water.This complex system of water supply raises the following question: What is the actualcost of water? Finding the answer to that question is not a small task.Information to establish the cost of water is obtained by combining data from theAurora Water adopted budget, the proposed construction costs and the cost ofacquiring water rights and storage in the lower South Platte River.