Profile: 2001 + 2002 Crew Member
Rob Krueger
Rob Krueger knows water. The facility operations supervisor for Denver Water in Winter Park’s Moffat collection system, he helps ensure those living on the Front Range have enough water to go about their daily lives. But it all trickles back to his time at RMYC, where he worked as a crew member for two years before returning for a three-year stint overseeing trail crews for the Colorado 14ers Initiative. Raised in Illinois and graduating from Western Illinois University with a BS in Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration, he was a Park Ranger with Denver Mountain Parks for five years before assuming his current role with Denver Water, where he’s worked since 2018. An avid mountain biker, Nordic skier, musician, and more, he organizes an annual three-day Blues Festival in Winter Park every June. He hosted an RMYC crew for three weeks in Winter Park during the 2024 season. We caught up with him between turning the valves on to send water to the Mile High City to see how his time at RMYC helped shape his career.
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What do you love about RMYC?
I love that RMYC remains a dynamic, energetic force for good in the management of natural resources. After having a crew here in Winter Park, I also love that younger folks choose to serve their greater community–and live communally in tents all summer, getting dirty and creating a positive impact.
What did you learn from being a crew member?
I was a crew member in 2001 and 2002. The crews I joined were full of unique characters. Just being outside and camping are the main things I can draw on and remember, but the work brought context to everything. Our crews were committed to completing our work, but for me, coming from Illinois to live in the woods and jump into ice-cold streams was refreshing. Some of my top memories are swimming in the Elk River up Seedhouse Road with the crew after a hard day’s work.
What was the worst part? Nothing was too bad, really; but the hot days spent stretching fence without any shade weren’t too great.
Do you have any special memories working with RMYC crews while you were at the Colorado 14ers Initiative?
2006, we had a great RMYC crew during my second year on Mt. Evans. We worked hard and made everything fun. We employed a rope litter when moving rocks, allowing four people to move boulders over the alpine tundra. Being huddled around it so closely created great camaraderie, from our comments to the involuntary emissions that brought out choruses of laughter, euphoria, and celebratory bravado. Also, it was funny when marmots would follow new crew members to their pee spot and then shockingly surprise them.
How did RMYC help inspire/prepare you for your current position with Denver Water?
It kept me humble and created a lasting sense of duty in service to/for others mentality. I try to remember my place and use my position to effect positive change for those within my workgroup. Big picture: I try to remember that what I do daily should link directly to the secure and predictable water delivery to the Denver Water service area east of the divide.
What does your job entail?
I’m a facility operations supervisor on the Moffat collection system in Winter Park. Our core task is to divert water within the water rights held by Denver Water through the Moffat Tunnel into Gross Reservoir on the East Slope. We maintain roads, manage vegetation, divert water, construct improvements to our infrastructure, coordinate with USFS to share resources, fix problems, and perform additional duties as assigned. The team and I look after a 100-year-old water collection system made of concrete and steel.
Why is water so important for Colorado?
That is a deep-rooted question. The short answer is that water sustains life. The uses of water range from agricultural, industrial, and residential to recreational and even recycled. It’s important that we recognize water’s relative scarcity and continue to treat it with respect and forethought. Many of the country’s longest rivers have headwaters in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. I moved here for Colorado’s high mountain lakes, rushing streams, whitewater rivers, and snow-packed high county. These exact things fuel millions of tourists to come here as well. The natural hydrologic cycle underpins our state’s greatest asset: the mountains. Without high county snow and subsequent run-off, the quality of life and economic cycle break down. This stresses the importance of planning for and building strategies to remain resilient in the face of climate change and expanding populations.
Ever get thirsty yourself working at RMYC?
I did. Our crew was working on the Radium Wildlife Refuge, walking a fence line looking for breaks to repair. Another corps member and I were pretty baked by the sun, and then we happened upon a pile of fresh bear scat. My colleague let out a guttural “Ohhhhh!” pointing her finger at it. Then, for whatever reason, we just started lunging about repeating “Hondo” in unison primitively, repeatedly. Dehydration can be a serious problem, so stay hydrated at all costs. This was a glancing, semi-serious warning that we needed to water up and take a break. Then we got back to our work.