Last year wasn’t the only time Highlands Ranch Water changed our name. Early in our history we were Mission Viejo Water and Sanitation District – aptly named after the developer of Highlands Ranch – Mission Viejo Company. It only took a few years after the district was formed for the leadership at the time to acknowledge the confusion of having two names so similar.

“We wanted to draw some distinction between the two to let people know that there were different services from different organizations,” said Jeff Case, retired Engineering and Public Works Director for the district.

It was 1984 when Highlands Ranch was still in its infancy but growing fast and the water district needed its own identity. An article published in the Douglas County News Press on Aug. 16, 1984, reports the water district sought the name change to avoid confusion. Later that fall the change was official and Mission Viejo Water and Sanitation District became Centennial Water and Sanitation District for the next 40 years.

So where did the name Centennial come from?

Discussions began to select a new name. The filming of the NBC miniseries Centennial had recently taken place at the Highlands Ranch Mansion in 1978. The popular miniseries was based on the novel Centennial written by James Michener. The novel was about the fictional history of Centennial, Colorado.

The name Centennial also had factual ties to the state – Colorado became the Centennial state in 1876 on the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. According to the 1984 Douglas County News Press article, there were numerous streets, buildings and districts in Colorado at the time that referenced Centennial. And thus, a new name was chosen.

Centennial Water and Sanitation District proudly carried the Centennial name for 17 years before the City of Centennial was incorporated in neighboring Arapahoe County. While the shared name sometimes led to understandable confusion, it also reflects a common Colorado heritage rooted in history and location.