Jim Lochhead was appointed Denver Water’s CEO/Manager in 2010. He leads nearly 1,100 employees at Denver Water overseeing work to provide a reliable water supply to the City of Denver and surrounding suburbs where Denver Water has service contracts. Jim also oversees the stewardship of a resilient collection, treatment and distribution system that includes 4,000 miles of watershed land, 20 reservoirs, four treatment plants and 3,000 miles of pipe.
In addition to serving on the Water Foundation board, Jim currently serves on the boards of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, the Water Research Foundation, the Water Utility Climate Alliance, and the Denver Botanic Gardens.
Prior to Denver Water, Jim was in private law practice, dealing with natural resource issues throughout the United States and internationally. He was also executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. Jim was the Colorado governor’s representative on interstate Colorado River operations, and served on the Colorado Water Conservation Board, Great Outdoors Colorado, The Nature Conservancy and Colorado Conservation Trust.
In 2014, Jim received the Wayne N. Aspinall “Water Leader of the Year” award from the Colorado Water Congress, presented annually to a Coloradan demonstrating courage, dedication, knowledge and leadership in the development, protection and preservation of Colorado water.
In 2015, Jim received the President’s Award from the Colorado Foundation for Water Education, given to a person with a history of doing meaningful work in the field of water. Jim has a bachelor’s degree in environmental biology from the University of Colorado and a law degree from the University of Colorado School of Law.