By Jared Jacang Maher, FACE THE STATE

Denver Water officials were conspicuously vague last week when discussing their plans for a 2011 rate hike of 10.4 percent. It turns out that the proposed increase, if approved, will be the first in a series undertaken by the state’s largest water utility. At the request of Face the State, officials provided a financial document showing that Denver Water seeks to raise about $72 million in additional revenue by increasing rates approximately 35 percent by 2013.

That’s a tall glass to fill for the 1.3 million Metro Denver water customers who’ve been subject to rate increases every year since 2000.

The fact that the proposed rate increase for 2011 alone will add an estimated $41 to the average water bill in Denver had City Council members griping. But multiply that dollar amount by three and the Denver Water Commission could have a lot of angry residents at their next board meeting on Nov 17.