North Weld County Water District raises rates by 5% 

LUCERNE — North Weld County Water District will raise its water rates by 5% this year to prepare for growth. 

“The cost of clean water continues to increase, and maintaining our infrastructure requires responsible rate adjustments,” district general manager Eric Reckentine said in a news release.

According to the release, the increase is  2% less than the district’s rate increases over the past two years.  

The increase will help fund several key projects underway to meet future demand and ensure a reliable water supply to its customers, the release stated. Those projects include a new water service agreement with the Eaton; finalizing the Soldier Canyon Filter Plant master plan, which will expand the district’s water treatment capacity in 2028; a new Weld County west transmission line and 7-million-gallon water tank, which will cost $30 million; and the continued construction of the eastern distribution line next year, the release stated.

“A stable revenue stream from water rates allows for proactive maintenance and upgrades to our water delivery system, allowing NWCWD to replace aging infrastructure, meet new treatment standards, diversify supplies, and maintain a well-trained workforce,” Reckentine said in the release.

The district’s 2024 work included accommodating “record-breaking area growth, and ensur(ing) a clean, robust, and affordable water supply well into the future,” according to the release.

NWCWD has worked on many capital improvement and replacement projects throughout the past year, including increased treatment capacity and Soldier Canyon Water Treatment Plant, the NEWT III pipeline project to increase system transmission capacity, the construction of new water lines, and emergency interconnect upgrades. 

The district also acquired roughly 1,380-acre feet of new water supply, initiated caps on unconstrained usages, and adjudicated and perfected native water rights that have reduced impacts on supply related to drought or curtailment, the release stated.

NWCWD has been serving its customers in northern Weld County and eastern Larimer County since 1962. Today, it operates more than 5,200 water taps and more than 1.75 billion gallons of water usage per year, according to its website.

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