Past and Present

The Clifton Water District was formed on March 5, 1951, as a Special District within the laws of the State of Colorado. Construction of the system began in 1957 to serve 321 service connections. Currently, the District serves 12,300 Active Taps that service 13,700 residential and commercial units. Single-family, multiple-family, and trailer park units comprise 97% of the District's accounts. The remaining 3% are commercial uses such as retail stores, gas stations, and restaurants.

The Clifton Water District Service Area encompasses approximately 10,720 acres and is described as an area bounded by 30 Road on the West, I-70 on the North, 34 ½ Road on the East and the Colorado River on the South. The District also serves some residents south of the Colorado River and the Whitewater area.

The Clifton Water District is governed by a five-member Board of Directors that are elected to four-year terms by property owners within the District. The District currently employs 29 persons in the Administration, Distribution and Water Treatment departments.

District of the Year

In 2007 the Special District Association (SDA) awarded Clifton Water District "District of the Year". This award recognizes one district that through a major accomplishment, a series of outstanding efforts, or a steady determination to serve its constituency has demonstrated superior achievements for the past year.

 Clifton Water District

The Clifton Water District (Mesa County) is using leading-edge technology to insure superior quality drinking water for its customers.

The District was formed in 1951 to serve the Grand Valley and began with 351 active taps. In

January 2007. it reached 10,000 active taps and treats eight MGD. The raw water supply for the District comes from the Colorado River, which has the fourth largest run-off volume of all rivers in North America and is infamous for high levels of sedimentation and dissolved solids. This makes utilizing the most efficient processes available to clean the water to potable standards a necessity for the District.

In 2003, the District embarked on an $8.5 million plant optimization strategy to increase potable water storage and improve treatment processes to bring plant capacity up to sixteen MGD. As a part of that overall plan, last October the District held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new pre-treatment facility. The District is particularly proud of the facility’s use of steaming current technology to monitor changes in influent water quality and continuously and automatically adjust the amount of chemical coagulant added to the water. The new facilities were also designed to provide additional capacity for future demands and more stringent water quality regulations.

In order to accomplish all this, the District credits a capable and dedicated staff, supported by a progressive and proactive Board of Directors. For the past twenty-two years, the District has relied entirely on revenues from water sales and tap fees (no property taxes). The District builds reserves for capital improvement projects from tap fee revenues, while water sale revenues support operations and maintenance.