John Nolte: Predicting the Future Beneath Our Feet

When you turn on the tap in Denver, Colorado, you probably aren’t thinking about GIS. But for John Nolte, a GIS Manager at Denver Water, every drop of water comes with a story—and a strategy.

“Most people don't think about the fact that we all expect to go to your tap and open it and have clean water come out,” John says. “But nobody sees the work behind that.”

John has been quietly shaping the future of Denver’s water systems using geographic information systems (GIS)—a field that has evolved from simple mapmaking into a sophisticated tool for asset management and predictive analytics.

“It used to be, you know, we were the map people,” he explains. “Now, we use GIS for everything from location analysis to performance metrics.”

His journey into GIS wasn’t a straight line. In college, John didn’t know exactly what he wanted to do. He was good with computers but didn’t want to be stuck at a desk. A career guidebook helped him realize that he could blend his tech skills with a love of the outdoors. From environmental consulting to managing GIS at a naval base, each role added depth to his expertise. But it wasn’t until he joined the water industry that everything clicked.

“Water is such a pivotal resource,” John says. “I have fallen in love with it.”

That love translates into action. Denver Water is currently replacing thousands of lead service lines across the city, a project that demands not just effort but foresight. Since many of these pipes are underground and undocumented, John's team used old plumber records, microfiche archives, and even black books from 70 years ago to predict where the lead pipes might be.

“It was a massive undertaking,” he says. “We pulled in everything we had and turned it into something meaningful."

But transforming data into public good isn’t easy. The team had to balance technical modeling with field testing—digging holes to confirm their predictions, refining estimates from 30,000 lines to a final count of 65,000. “We had to keep stepping back, refining the model, and building trust across teams,” John shares.

That trust was built not just with data, but with people. John’s approach to conflict resolution is rooted in transparency.

“One of the biggest mistakes is delaying hard conversations,” he says. “You lose trust that way. And once you lose trust, it’s really hard to rebuild it.”

What keeps John grounded is the belief that leadership is about humility. “There are a lot of smarter people than I am,” he admits. “My role is to set the vision and trust the people I work with. We’re one cohesive unit now.”

To build that unity, John began by learning his team—personally and professionally. He led SWOT analyses to uncover individual strengths and blind spots, followed by team-building exercises that shaped a shared vision.

“We aligned our goals with the organization’s strategy, but we also looked at where we needed to grow,” he says.

For John Nolte, GIS isn’t just about maps—it’s about connection. It’s how invisible systems become visible. How data becomes trust. And how a team becomes a pathfinder for the public good.