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As County leaders, we must protect our region. Our quality of life is directly connected to our commitment to build a tomorrow that preserves the best of today. This vision includes protecting our natural resources, utilizing our county’s resources in a fiscally-smart manner, and wisely planning for our future. Thank you for standing with us.
A Local DOGE to Stop Parker Water Dodging Accountability?
It’s long been a saying about the need for transparency in government that “sunshine is the best disinfectant.”
In Washington, the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is shining a red-hot spotlight on years of often bizarre, wasteful and agenda-driven spending practices.
Forcing federal bureaucrats to publicly explain these grants is good news for taxpayers – and a strong step forward for accountability.
The DOGE is putting a dent in the practice of writing blank checks – with other people’s money.
The effectiveness of this effort raises the question: what about an in-depth examination of spending at the state and local levels?
One place to start is the Parker Water & Sanitation District – the largest entity in terms of assets in Douglas County with over $1 billion.
Parker Water has made a practice of resisting transparency and accountability – while spending lavishly on its own perks. It has, for example, spent over $53 million dollars in the last few years to build itself a luxury headquarters, over $1.5 million in new furniture, and a Director's salary upwards of $300,000 - the highest paid Douglas County employee. This is all while the District’s “old building” has yet to be sold or repurposed.
And, while the Parker Water District is over 10 years behind schedule (by their own estimates) of filling the Rueter Hesse Reservoir.
Yet Parker Water leadership was taken aback when members of the public scrutinized the District's spending and suggested that a higher fiscal priority could be investing in additional water resources for its rapidly growing constituency.
One board member even set up a website to attack critics similar to what is happening to Elon Musk and DOGE.
This raises the important question of whether a Parker Water DOGE would make it harder for the board to publicly dodge substantive questions about its fiscal practices.
A great way for Parker ratepayers to expand transparency and accountability is to run for, and win, a seat on the Parker Water Board.
Visit this LINK to learn more and download self-nomination forms. The deadline is Friday, Feb. 28.
Why is this so important? The Parker Water District has held only one contested election in over a decade. Time for change.
Recent Headlines
Nebraska threatens to condemn land in Colorado for a canal to carry away South Platte River water
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser threatened legal action and told Sedgwick County landowners to fight Nebraska’s claims to their land
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser sent a letter to county commissioners in northeastern Colorado earlier this week pledging to defend their rights if Nebraska tries to condemn land for the proposed Perkins County Canal Project.
Six landowners in Sedgwick County, where the South Platte River flows out of the state, received notices of condemnation from the state of Nebraska on Jan. 17, offering $1.4 million for about 650 acres of land, according to Nebraska Public Media.
The landowners were given 90 days to sell or face eminent domain.
…Nebraska has been inching toward building the canal since April 2022, when the state legislature approved the $500 million project, citing fears about Colorado’s increased water use.
Lake Mead and Lake Powell could be in for a tough year, with the latest estimates of Colorado's snowpack providing underwhelming reading.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Water and Climate Center, the snowpack in Upper Colorado River Basin—the primary source of flows into Mead and Powell—is presently sitting at just 83 percent of the historic median for this time of year.
This is a significant decrease since January, when numbers were closer to 95 percent, and a drop of 2 percent in the last week alone.
… Prolonged drought and increasing water demands in the region saw Lake Mead's water levels hit an all-time low back in 2022—reaching 1040.92 feet above mean sea level at the end of July that year.
Levels surged in 2023 following a historically wet winter, and stabilized somewhat in 2024, when its lowest point, in the late fall, was still well above the critical 'dead pool' level, at 1,061 feet.
Colorado’s cities, counties could be required to limit the amount and type of grass allowed around homes by 2028
Local governments across Colorado would be required by 2028 to enact or update ordinances limiting the amount and type of grass that could be planted around new or redeveloped residential property under a bill before the state legislature this year.
House Bill 1113 would leave it up to counties, municipalities and local districts to determine how to limit turf grass and how to define redevelopment.
You can now livestream the Parker Water & Sanitation District's Board meetings on YouTube. This change comes after numerous public calls for the Parker Water Board to increase transparency and communication to the public.
District Board meetings are generally scheduled for the second and fourth Thursdays of each month, and are held at 6 pm.
