BOULDER’S WATERWORKS

their heads, not realizing that their own cities would have open space programs by the
1990s. Buying up a protective ring of open space, however, wasn’t considered enough to
preserve the City’s character against the onslaught of a burgeoning population. After much
public debate, the City adopted a building height restriction ordinance in 1972 and a residential
growth management ordinance in 1977.
These changes would eventually slow Boulder's growth rate below the explosive levels
experienced from the 1950s through the 1980s. The City's water system planners, however,
didn't have the luxury of assuming that the minimum level of growth would occur out of
the broad range of possibilities laid out by city planners. Doing so could mean shortages of
essential water supplies, particularly since water projects often took 20 years to plan and
build. So, efforts to expand water facilities and acquire water supplies continued with an
eye on the worst projections of what would be needed 30 years in the future.
In 1973, actor Woody Allen
rappelled down the side
of NCAR while filming the
movie “Sleeper.” Courtesy of
the Daily Camera
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