Chips Barry is the kind of guy we hate to see the world deprived of, and we add our voices to those mourning and saluting the affable director of Denver Water for 19 years.
Barry died Sunday in a farm tractor accident in Hawaii. He was preparing to retire from the utility in July.
From the first word that Barry would retire to start a new chapter running a Hawaiian farm that produced macadamia nuts, coffee and honey, we understood the appeal but regretted the loss of his leadership.
Barry provided wise direction and transformed the utility’s reputation from the powerhouse that threw its weight around with small Western Slope towns to a utility more willing to sort out differences. But as he himself put it: running Denver Water “is a big, public, visible high-power job. I’ve been here a long enough time that, I think, I should move on and let somebody else do it.”
We’ve been fans of Denver Water’s focus in recent years on conservation, and enjoyed the usually clever “Use Only What You Need” campaign, which has helped Denver residents cut their use by 33 percent to easily below the national average.
During Barry’s tenure, the population of Denver and the Front Range exploded and the battle for water supply raged. Barry helped bring a recycled-water system into being, and invested heavily in treatment facilities and other infrastructure.
Presently, the utility is trying to enlarge the Gross Reservoir above Boulder to better protect its northern customers.
As former Gov. Dick Lamm said Monday: “If you want a monument to Chips Barry, just turn on your water faucet.”
Barry, who was born to a prominent Denver family, kept his childhood nickname over his given Hamlet Joseph Barry III moniker, and with it an easygoing demeanor that we enjoyed.
Co-workers praised his open-door policy, and said he mixed just as easily with the staff as with board members.
That folksy mien aside, Barry accomplished much in his tenure.
No less a figure than U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar summed up Barry’s service this way: “All Coloradans owe him a debt of gratitude.”
Hear, hear.
