Access to free education for all ages around water and water quality is now more accessible than ever thanks to the final addition on the Colorado State University Spur campus, Hydro.

The Hydro building, located at 4817 National Western Dr., is the third and final building for the campus offering free public education on food, water and health. It’s on the National Western Complex grounds.

Hydro is the largest building on the Spur campus and holds the new water quality laboratory for Denver Water in addition to nonprofit organizations invested in water and water education. There are also opportunities for exhibits, programs and professionals in water-focused careers.

Officials cut the ribbon Friday.

There are several aspects for interactive learning, including “The Backyard” — an outdoor space that wraps around the west-facing side of the building. It connects to an area of land along the South Platte River and the landscape architecture helps educate on Colorado’s watersheds.

Designers added a 1930 structure, which they bought and restored to connect to the Hydro building. Called “The Shop,” it will be used as an auto mechanic shop, a welders’ workshop and artist studio spaces.

Let’s not forget food, to go with that water.

Western Daughters’ opened their first restaurant on the Hydro ground floor: Western Daughters Kitchen. The company previously operated only a butcher shop located in the Highlands which opened in 2013, which remains open.

Joshua Curtis, a founder of Western Daughters Kitchen, said they bring in animals within 150 miles of the store, process them in house and work directly with regenerative farmers on the front range. At the kitchen, they continue to focus on regenerative practices as well as nutrition and health thanks to co-founder Kate Curtis, a certified nutritionist.

“When you eat food that is full of nutrients and is really healthy for you, it goes farther and it’s more filling, it’s more satiating and it also does more for your body,” Joshua Curtis said.

Denver Water provides drinking water to 1.5 million people across the metro area, according to spokesman Travis Thompson. As part of the opening of Hydro, Denver Water is moving its water quality lab into the building where it will be more accessible to the general public than at its current location. The water quality lab collects more than 55,000 samples every year and officials conduct about 200,000 water quality tests to confirm the safety of drinking water, Thompson said.

“It puts Denver Water in the heart of a new research environment where we are looking forward to working closely with academics and innovators who study the wide spectrum of current and emerging water quality issues,” Thompson said.

The Colorado River and overall water security is something that consumers can learn about at this campus. The risk of drought on the Colorado River has sparked headlines, but the problem itself is now easier to understand thanks to educational outlets like Hydro.

Jocelyn Hittle, associate vice chancellor of the CSU Spur campus and special projects, said water security is important — particularly in Colorado as it is a water scarce state and region.

“Water is part of everything that’s important to us, around food, around health, but also in our daily lives,” Hittle said. “Water is a critical piece of how we all live our lives.”

Tony Frank, chancellor of the Colorado State University system, said that while he is not a water expert he believes that creativity will lead the way for finding a sustainable future.

“Colorado recognizes the critical importance of water,” Frank said. “I don’t know what the answers to the questions around all of that are, I wouldn’t pretend to, but I would argue to you that none of the challenges that we’re facing that have to deal with how we inhabit this planet in a sustainable way over the long term will be solved without human creativity.”