Civil Engineering, Legal, and Political Collaboration: Solving Denver’s Drainage Infrastructure Dilemma

Abstract

The archaic infrastructure and disjointed drainage policies in place in the six-county Denver metropolitan area during the 1960s left the growing area in a public health and safety predicament. In 1968, city, county, state, and federal engineers; lawyers; and politicians united to address and solve the core problems. Through the development of a comprehensive manual and the formation of a governmental entity responsible for drainage and flood control oversight of a five-county area, the seeds of a solution were sown. This endeavor required the cooperation and input of many experts, state legislation, public funding, and the genuine desire of all involved to work for “the common good.”