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WEEK OF JANUARY 11, 2024
VOLUME 97 | ISSUE 6
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Former Denver Water takes newspaper editor climate change challenges head on turns to Italian-
American family life for novel idea ‘Sons of Potenza’ poses an ethical dilemma on the way to American dreams BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Melissa Botteicher, a member of Denver Water’s Youth Education team, helps plant water-wise plants at the Einfeldt Pump Station at the corner of South Buchtel Boulevard and South University Boulevard, which is near the University of Denver. COURTESY OF DENVER WATER
The utility service looks at impacts on water, adaptation strategies to safeguard against disaster BY NATALIE KERR SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
In 2020, Hillary Hamann and Meghan McCarroll surveyed residents in Aurora about their water literacy – what they know about water and where their water comes from.
Part of the survey gave an explanation of watersheds – which are areas where water sources like streams and rivers converge – and then asked respondents a question: Do you live in a watershed? A third of participants said no, a third of the participants said they weren’t sure and the last third said yes. “Everybody lives in a watershed,” said Hamann, a professor of geography and the environment at the University of Denver. “That’s a weird disconnect, and a lack of understanding.” Understanding where water comes from and how it’s used is
CALENDAR: 9 | VOICES: 10 | LIFE: 12
integral to developing and implementing climate change adaptation strategies as the western United States grapples with decreasing water supply, but high water usage. For water utility Denver Water, which serves about 1.5 million people in the metro area , adapting to a future in which climate change will drastically impact water availability involves gathering massive amounts of data, planning for multiple outcomes, developing water conservation programs and developing a new mindset around water. SEE CHALLENGES, P2
When Littleton local John Rosa was a child, he used to write comic books. He also wrote for his student newspapers in middle and high school. He went on to become a journalist, even working as an editor at Colorado Community Media. Now, Rosa has come full circle back to fiction. He’s taken his creative mind and writing skills to the next level in his first novel, “Sons of Potenza,” which he self-published on Amazon in October. Although Rosa is also busy with his current communications job at the Colorado Department of Human Services, he made time to work on the novel in pieces. “Before work, I would write,” he said. “On my lunch hour, I would write. And then, as soon as (work) was over, I would write some more.” For 18 months, Rosa immersed himself in 1960s Denver, where the plot he imagined played out on the pages between two Italian families. In the story, both families immigrate to the Denver area from Potenza, Italy and choose very different paths. “One of the families went and became the biggest organized crime family in Denver,” Rosa said. “And the other one went into the carnation industry.” SEE NOVEL IDEA, P4
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