You’re Going to Put a Pipe Where? Mitigating Public Opposition through a Combined Public Outreach and Right-of-Way Approach

Denver Water is replacing an existing large diameter pipeline along an 8.5-mile route between a reservoir and a water treatment plant. Property easements for this pipeline were acquired initially more than 80 years ago and, since that time, the land within and around the easements has become extensively developed with homes, businesses, and mature landscapes. Further complicating matters, the impacted property owners are not direct customers of Denver Water. This paper and presentation will present how Denver Water and HDR have developed and executed a public outreach and right-of-way (ROW) program leveraging land agents and design and communication professionals to effectively communicate Denver Water’s project needs, easement rights, and impacts. Approximately 195 commercial and residential properties fall within Denver Water’s easement boundaries for the project, with other surrounding residential neighborhoods and business also being impacted by construction. The Denver Water and HDR team (team) developed a personalized grassroots approach to educating stakeholders on easements and construction impacts. This approach was crucial to Denver Water’s commitment to being a good neighbor while avoiding negative publicity and keeping the project within budget and schedule. The ROW and strategic communications teams collaborated to prioritize communication with impacted property owners within and adjacent to the easement through a variety of methods. One of the most beneficial is through “kitchen table meetings” with each directly impacted land owner to provide one-on-one interactions with the project team to communicate their unique property impacts and rights. The meetings also provided the project team an opportunity to share the benefits of updating aging utility pipelines and the importance of the project overall.