Our History

Sloping gently toward the rivers to the South, between 5,400 feet and 5,900 elevations, Rogers Mesa boasts long-established organic orchards and vineyards; cattle and sheep ranches; and newer hops, hemp, and sustainable agriculture operations.

In the Spring of 1950 Rogers Mesa farmers and ranchers donated irrigation shares of Leroux Creek water, and filed paperwork with the State of Colorado, to create The Rogers Mesa Domestic Water Company (RMDWC) to provide consistent and clean domestic water to the farms and ranches of the Mesa. Previously, household water was captured by each residence from irrigation ditches during Spring runoff and stored in buried cisterns; this comprised their domestic water for the entire dry summer season.

The RMDWC is the largest water right on the Leroux Creek system. Our water originates from springs and snowmelt on the Grand Mesa, and is stored in a series of reservoirs that feed into the Leroux Creek drainage.

Prior to 1984, our water was delivered to the RMDWC treatment facility on 3100 Road just above the mesa. In 1984, when the town of Hotchkiss built the Horse Park Water Treatment facility on Barrow Mesa, the RMDWC shared in the construction cost and directed our Leroux Creek water to that facility with the understanding that treated water would be delivered to our system at cost. At that time a 150,000 gallon tank was installed at the Rogers Mesa treatment plant and a pump station was built on the upper part of 3200 Road to serve the membership on the upper third of the mesa. The lower 2/3s of the mesa receives gravity-flow water directly from the Horse Park treatment facility. Water is delivered to members through about 26 miles of pipes ranging in size from 8” to 1½.” Pressure differences caused the elevation changes over the system are regulated by large pressure reducing valves on J80 Road, 3200 Road between the highway and J Road, and on the highway at 3000 Road.