CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — As Colorado begins to recover from this year's historic drought, water conservation is back in the spotlight.
On Thursday, Castle Rock Water (CRW) gave community members a peek behind the current on the steps it is taking to make sure there is enough water to go around even as the town continues to grow.
WATCH: Castle Rock residents hear plans for town's water supply
"We really want the community to understand all the great things that we're doing and all the great progress that we're making," Castle Rock Water Director Mark Marlowe told Denver7's Douglas County Reporter Tyler Melito.
Marlowe shared CRW works on updating its master plan every five years, and Thursday was their chance to highlight their goals for the new future and what they are working on.
"Probably one of the most exciting things is our Plum Creek Water Purification Facility, which is one of the most advanced water treatment plants in the country, and we use it, of course, to treat renewable, purify renewable water and reusable water supplies, and we're expanding that from 6 million gallons to 12 million gallons per day," Marlowe shared.
Marlowe says long-term the goal is to be 75% reliant on renewable water by 2050, and 100% by 2065.
"What that would allow us then to do is save this nonrenewable groundwater for droughts like we had this summer, which is a great thing, and provides us with a really reliable water system," Marlowe explained.
Residents in attendance like Mark Mansheim and Briston Jones say they were excited to learn about what CRW is doing.
"We understand that water is really important, and so we want to understand what that looks like from usage and savings, and what it's going to look like over the next 10 to 20 years," said Mansheim.
"I came out today because I knew the water resource management here in Castle Rock has done a lot of work to try to bring confidence to the citizens of the town and the county, and I just wanted to see what they had," Jones added.
Jones, a resident of Castle Rock for more than two decades, says he hopes this past summer's drought continues to be a reminder.
"I would like to see our elected officials exercise sound judgment in the decisions they make in growth strategy for the town," Jones detailed.
Mansheim has called Castle Rock home for seven months, he is optimistic about the town's water future.
"Having not lived here before, so we don't really know. From the things that I've heard, I believe that Castle Rock is very forward-thinking," Mansheim said.
