Northern Colorado Water

An independent trade guide · Northern Front Range

Who pays, who does the work, and when the money moves.

Northern Colorado Water is a plain, sourced reference for the people who buy, run and fix water systems along the Northern Front Range: a dated calendar, a map of how the money flows, and a directory of the businesses and bodies involved.

Open now

Northern Water landscape grant: a 1:1 match, up to $25,000 per project

Applications run October 1 to December 1, 2026. HOAs and multifamily properties are eligible. Contractors on funded projects must be horticulturalists or hold an Irrigation Association, ALCC or NALP credential. Notices go out in late January 2027, and work must be finished by September 30, 2027.

Read the program page at northernwater.org · checked 2026-10-01. Northern Water is a separate public district; this site is not affiliated with it.

The money calendar

Grant windows, rate changes, the shortage stage and the conferences where the trade meets. Each row links to the page it came from. Programs change, so trust the program's own page over ours.

In effect now

  • Shortage stage

    Fort Collins Water Shortage Watch. Voluntary water reductions requested; the first such stage in nearly five years.

    Source: The Collegian · checked 2026-10-01

  • Rate change

    Fort Collins-Loveland Water District. Rates rose 10 percent. The irrigation tier 2 multiplier was cut from 2x to 1.2x, so some HOA irrigation bills may fall.

    Source: fclwd.com · checked 2026-10-01

Coming up

  • Grant window

    Northern Water Collaborative Water-Efficient Landscape Grant. 1:1 match up to $25,000 per project. HOAs and multifamily eligible.

    Source: northernwater.org · checked 2026-10-01

  • Conference

    CAI Rocky Mountain Chapter, Mountain Conference. The community-association trade body's fall conference.

    Source: cai-rmc.org · checked 2026-10-01

  • Conference

    CAI Rocky Mountain Chapter, Annual Awards.

    Source: cai-rmc.org · checked 2026-10-01

  • Conference

    ProGreen EXPO. Colorado Convention Center, Denver. The landscape and irrigation trade show.

    Source: progreenexpo.com · checked 2026-10-01

  • Grant window

    Northern Water landscape grant: applicants notified.

    Source: northernwater.org · checked 2026-10-01

  • Conference

    Colorado Rural Water Association, 46th Annual Conference and Exhibition. Embassy Suites, Loveland.

    Source: crwa.net · checked 2026-10-01

  • Grant window

    Northern Water landscape grant: funded projects must be complete.

    Source: northernwater.org · checked 2026-10-01

Recently passed

  • Conference

    Special District Association of Colorado, Annual Conference. Keystone.

    Source: sdaco.org · checked 2026-10-01

  • Conference

    Colorado WaterWise, Water Conservation Symposium. Denver Marriott Westminster.

    Source: coloradowaterwise.org · checked 2026-10-01

Who pays what

Water money moves in a loop. Ratepayers pay the utility or district, which pays operators and contractors. Some of it comes back to owners as rebates and grants. Here is the loop in plain words, one source per step.

  1. Owners pay for water.

    Building owners and HOAs pay their utility or district. Use above an allotment costs more: Fort Collins Utilities charged $15.59 per 1,000 gallons over the allotment in its 2025 rate year (December 1 to November 30). Check the page for the current rate.

    Source: fcgov.com, excess water use

  2. Districts pay people to run the system.

    Small districts often hire a contract operator. Pinewood Springs Water District, for one, has its board appoint an operator for a one-year term that is renewed annually.

    Source: pinewoodwater.specialdistrict.org

  3. HOAs pay managers.

    Many HOAs hire a community-management company. Associa Colorado, for example, lists more than 150 communities from its Fort Collins office.

    Source: associacolorado.com

  4. Utilities pay rebates back to owners.

    The Fort Collins Utilities commercial menu is below. The page also lists free commercial water assessments.

    Source: fortcollins.gov, commercial water savings

  5. A wholesale district matches landscape projects.

    Northern Water's grant pays up to half of an efficient-landscape project, to a $25,000 cap. Its program page reports about $1.4 million awarded across 100 projects, saving 91 million gallons.

    Source: northernwater.org

The Fort Collins commercial rebate menu

Smart irrigation controllers
up to $500
Flow sensors
up to $130
Drip irrigation
up to $225 per zone
Smart water monitors
up to $65
Xeriscape Incentive
$1.50 per sq ft, up to $15,000
Custom incentives
1.5x for nonprofits

Source: fortcollins.gov · checked 2026-10-01. Amounts are maximums; the program page has the rules.

Other money on the table

Northern Water landscape grant
1:1 match, up to $25,000
Resource Central sprinkler evaluation
free for HOAs and businesses in partner districts
Fort Collins-Loveland Water District irrigation tier 2
multiplier 2x to 1.2x

Northern Water · Resource Central · FCLWD · checked 2026-10-01

Credentials matter on grant work. Contractors on Northern Water grant projects must be horticulturalists or hold an Irrigation Association, ALCC or NALP credential. Annual backflow testing is required in Fort Collins-Loveland Water District, with reports going to the district.

Northern Water · FCLWD backflow prevention

Directory

Utilities, funders, managers, operators, contractors, testers and trade bodies, grouped by where they sit in the money flow. Each name links to a public page that supports the line beside it. Listing is free and is not an endorsement. Checked 2026-10-01.

Utilities and water districts

They set the bill, and some pay rebates.

Funders and conservation programs

Grants and free evaluations.

HOA and district managers

They manage association and metro-district business.

  • Associa Colorado

    Community association management with a Fort Collins office and more than 150 communities.

    associacolorado.com
  • RealManage, Fort Collins

    Community management team in Fort Collins. Formerly Hammersmith, acquired 2022-03-01.

    realmanage.com
  • Trademark Property Management

    Fort Collins-based HOA management serving Northern Colorado.

    trademarkpmg.com
  • Clark Simson Miller

    Community association management in Fort Collins.

    clarksimsonmiller.com
  • Goodwin

    Publishes a guide to Colorado metro districts; manages metro districts.

    goodwin-co.com
  • Timberline District Consulting

    District management and consulting; publishes a resources page.

    timberlinedc.com
  • Wisdom Management

    Metro district management; publishes a resources page.

    wisdomcos.com

Operators

They run water systems under contract.

  • Wolf Compliance Consulting

    Contract operation of water and wastewater systems, plus district and HOA management. Based in the Fort Morgan area.

    wolfcompliance.org
  • ORC Water Professionals

    Contract operations for water treatment, in Colorado since 1991.

    orcwater.com
  • Indigo Water Group

    Contract operations; also publishes guidance on becoming an operator in Colorado.

    indigowatergroup.com

Contractors

Irrigation, drilling, repair and leak detection.

  • Ideal Irrigation (Loveland)

    Irrigation contractor. Listed by Colorado WaterWise with a certified irrigation auditor.

    coloradowaterwise.org
  • Ingram Drilling

    Drilling contractor in Fort Collins serving Larimer, Weld and Boulder counties.

    ingramdrilling.com
  • Noco Water Line Repairs

    Loveland water line repair serving retail, office and apartment properties.

    nocowaterlinerepairs.com
  • Going Green Contracting

    Smart leak detection for multifamily properties.

    goinggreencontracting.com

Backflow testers

Annual certified tests of backflow assemblies.

  • Fort Collins Backflow Service

    Listed as a backflow tester for Fort Collins Utilities irrigation accounts.

    backflowpath.com
  • Flow Check

    Listed as a backflow tester for Fort Collins Utilities irrigation accounts.

    backflowpath.com
  • Linds Plumbing & Heating

    Listed as a backflow tester for Fort Collins Utilities irrigation accounts.

    backflowpath.com
  • Hahns Plumbing & Heating

    Listed as a backflow tester for Fort Collins Utilities irrigation accounts.

    backflowpath.com
  • All American Backflow

    Listed as a backflow tester for Fort Collins Utilities irrigation accounts.

    backflowpath.com

Associations and events

Trade bodies and the rooms where the trade meets.

How this is made

We read public pages, cite them, and correct what we get wrong.

Every date, dollar amount and description here comes from a page you can open: a program page, a rate notice, a conference site or the business's own website. Each row says when we last checked it. If we could not confirm something, we left it out.

Listings are free. A listing is not an endorsement, and a missing business is not a judgment. We are not a utility, a district or a government agency, and no one on this list pays to be here.

Programs change faster than a guide can. When the program's page and ours disagree, the program's page wins, and we would like to hear about it.

Corrections and listings placeholder

To fix an error or ask to be listed: contact address coming soon.

There is no form on this page and nothing is collected here.

A note for the curious: the Cache la Poudre River is not in the directory. Rivers do not take listings, and it was here first.