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Planning your utility systems for the future of Arvada As an Arvada resident, you rely on your water and wastewater utilities to be there when you need them. Turn on the tap and clean water comes out. Flush your toilet and wastewater leaves your house. And that is just the way the system should work! Master planning provides a roadmap for future investments in our utility systems In Fall 2020, City Council provided strategic direction to complete master plans for water, wastewater and storm infrastructure by 2023. Master plans provide the City team with a roadmap to prioritize work that needs to be done in our water and wastewater systems. Master plans also surface potential outcomes of not doing the work. Just like staying on top of home or car repairs, our infra- structure requires regular maintenance and, at times, major spending in order to keep the systems functioning 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year. Th e infrastructure as- sets that the City built between the 1960s and 1980s provid- ed reliable service for many decades. Th ese assets are now in need of major rehabilitation or replacement in order to continue to serve Arvada residents into the future. Th e City team and City Council are engaged in a process to prioritize and determine funding needed for these projects. To learn more about master planning, view presentations the City team has made to City Council and learn about next steps, visit arvada.org/utilities-transparency. Did you know: • The city’s water and wastewater systems date to the early 20th century with current components installed starting in the 1950s. • Between the 1960s and 1980s, Arvada residents pro- vided a funding boost through bonds to our water and wastewater systems. Those infrastructure components are reaching the end of their useful life. • Each year, the City team prioritizes projects in our system to keep delivering the level of service residents have come to expect. • The city’s water and wastewater systems are vast with raw water components, two drinking water treatment facilities, over 600 miles of water pipe and over 450 miles of wastewater pipe. • Replacing and rehabilitating our vast water and waste- water systems is paid for through customer rates and service fees. • New building projects in our city pay for their impact on our water and wastewater systems. System development charges are collected from new homes and businesses, and these funds pay for the new capacity needed to serve them. Once in the city system, these customers pay rates like everyone else.i