DENVER — A bill cracking down on poor water quality in Colorado's mobile home parks has now passed both chambers of the state legislature and is headed to the governor’s desk.
This spotlight on water quality issues in mobile home parks is not new—Denver7 Investigates has been following these concerns for years.
This ongoing coverage underscores why, for State Sen. Lisa Cutter, D‑Littleton, water that is safe to drink and usable for daily life should be non-negotiable.
“This is just such a basic issue,” Cutter said. “No one should have brown or discolored water.”
Building on last year’s efforts, advocates call the new measure — House Bill 26‑1145 — an “upgrade” to the Mobile Home Water Quality Act passed in 2023 that launched state testing in every park.
Results from last year’s mandatory testing highlighted the extent of the problem, revealing dozens of parks with drinking water concerns, including harmful bacteria.
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment found that about 9% of parks had severely impaired water not safe to drink, and roughly 13% had water that was borderline, technically meeting safety standards but failing secondary standards for quality.
Amid these findings, Cesiah Guadarrama Trejo, executive state director for 9to5 Colorado, said the bill clarifies what happens when water passes primary safety standards but fails secondary standards.
“So that could be the water smells bad, the water looks bad, so it's passing first standards, but not secondary water standards,” she explained. “And this bill was really to close those gaps and make it clearer and have steps for when secondary water standards were not met in mobile home parks.”
The bill defines secondary water standards as including household usability—water suitable for drinking, cooking, bathing, washing clothes, and use with appliances—and preventing negative financial impacts like ruined laundry machines or appliances.
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Colorado moves to hold mobile home park owners accountable for unsafe water
With these new standards, HB‑1145 allows the Water Quality Control Division to require park owners to remediate "welfare-related" violations, not just health hazards.
Officials can now issue orders to address odor, taste, and discoloration, as well as enforce notice requirements and mandate additional water testing or remediation plans.
The bill also raises penalties for noncompliance, allowing civil fines of up to $10,000 per violation and an extra $5,000 per month after the first 30 days, plus cease-and-desist orders.
Alex Sanchez, president & CEO of Voces Unidas, said the work is still not finished.
Calling HB-1145 a "great win for mobile home park residents," Sanchez reflected on his personal experience growing up in a park on the Western Slope.
"I myself grew up in a mobile home park in the Western Slope. I, too, know what it feels like to not trust your water, not be able to bathe, not be able to drink water from your own home, because the state government and local governments have really failed to grasp the challenge and the problem that has existed for decades in our mobile home park communities all across Colorado,” he said.
He described what it feels like to not trust your water, not be able to bathe, and not be able to drink water at home—issues he attributes to governments failing to address longstanding challenges in Colorado’s mobile home park communities.
He added, however, that while the legislation is a step forward, long‑term concerns about aging infrastructure and lack of investment remain.
“The goal is 100% of mobile home parks being tested,” Sanchez said. “Certainly when something dangerous is in our water, we need to understand, and when it comes to these other elements, such as odor, taste and smell, this is an opportunity for the state to begin to work with communities and owners of mobile home parks to really address these concerns long term.”
