Dillon Reservoir - Water Use

Water Use

Dillon Reservoir is the largest water storage facility owned and operated by Denver Water. The reservoir is currently at approximately forty percent of capacity, holding 257,304 acre feet (317,380,000 m3) of water. Of that, 249,000 acre feet (307,000,000 m3) is “usable” water. “Usable” is defined as being free to use due to legal, operational, or physical constraints. Customers of Denver Water number upwards of 1.3 million people who consume an annual 265,000 acre feet (327,000,000 m3) of water.

To reach that level, Denver water uses several sources of which Dillon Reservoir provides forty percent of the total amount, or 106,000 acre feet (131,000,000 m3). The reservoir has an annual median usable water level of ninety-two percent.

As a measure of volume, an acre-foot of water is equal to 325,851 gallons. One acre-foot of water will, on average, service 2.5 single-family households per year.

As Dillon reservoir is on the west side of the continental divide, in 1962 the Harold D. Roberts Tunnel was completed to bring water to Denver across the Divide. Because of the large concentration of population of the eastern side of the state, and the concentration of water sources on the western slope, the State of Colorado, and Denver Water have determined it necessary to transfer water from west to east in order to support the population.