The Urban Drainage and Flood Control District was established by the Colorado legislature in 1969, for  the purpose of assisting local governments in the Denver metropolitan area with multi-jurisdictional drainage and flood control problems. The District covers an area of 1608 square miles and includes  Denver, parts of the 6 surrounding counties, and all or parts of 33 incorporated cities and towns. There are  about 1600 miles of "major drainageways" which are defined as draining at least 1000 acres. The population  of the District is approximately 2.8 million people.

The District is an independent agency governed by a twenty-three member board of directors. The make-up of the board is unique, in that twenty-one members are locally elected officials (mayors, county commissioners, city council members) who are appointed to the board. These twenty-one members select two registered professional engineers to fill out the board.

District funds come from four different property tax mill levies. The mill levies are earmarked for specific programs that are detailed in the following sections. The total mill levy cannot exceed one mill.

The concept of the District is to keep the staff small and to utilize private consultants and contractors as much as possible. As a result the District operates a $22 million annual program with only 22 full time employees and 10 part-time college student interns.The staff is responsible for management of all project funds; supervision of all work done by consulting engineers; and coordination of all planning, design, construction and floodplain management efforts with local governments.

The District operates six programs: Master Planning, Design and Construction, Maintenance, Floodplain Management, Information Services and Flood Warning, and South Platte River.

 

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