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As County leaders, we must protect our region. Our quality of life is directly connected to our commitment to build a tomorrow that preserves the best of today. This vision includes protecting our natural resources, utilizing our county’s resources in a fiscally-smart manner, and wisely planning for our future. Thank you for standing with us.
Colorado’s Water Shortage is Real and Douglas County's Water Future Must be Addressed Today
Despite the arrival of the holiday season and colder weather, the significant water supply challenges facing Douglas County don’t end when we turn off lawn sprinklers.
Across Douglas County and in neighboring Front Range areas, municipalities and unincorporated communities need to bring on new, high-quality, and renewable water supplies by 2040 at the latest. Leaders are finally beginning to heed the warnings from water experts about the need to move away from the oversubscribed, non-renewable Denver Aquifer.
Communities that are looking at water deficits in the decades ahead include:
Castle Rock
Parker
Castle Pines
Centennial
Sterling Ranch
Additionally, unincorporated areas in the northern and western parts of the county are looking at their water needs in the near term.
Leaders need to buckle down and get serious about where Douglas County communities will obtain the additional water they need; no single plan is a panacea for the significant water woes our region faces.
Here’s a quick reminder about the benefits and challenges of two proposed solutions.
The Platte Valley Water Project proposes to capture water that would otherwise flow to Nebraska in “wet” years and will allow Parker Water to divert this water to the Rueter-Hess Reservoir.
However, as many observers have noted, the poor quality of the water will require multiple, costly treatments to reach usable standards and depends on an unreliable source of water that’s available on an average of every three out of ten years. This project won’t come online, if at all, for up to two to three decades and will cost $1 billion or more.
Another proposal - the Renewable Water Resources (RWR) project - has presented the most fiscally conservative option for taxpayers and can be completed within 10 years. Scientific and environmental studies have shown that the project offers high-quality renewable water while not negatively impacting stream flows or the environment – project attributes that will also be vetted in Colorado Water Court.
This project requires political fortitude from county leaders as it has been challenged by a small but very vocal group of anti-private-property activists in the San Luis Valley.
The road to complete a water project is steep and arduous. The cases of the Thornton pipeline project - that lost in court - and the nascent yet stalled reservoir project in the Holy Cross wilderness are just two examples.
Tackling promising projects while overcoming the status-quo forces whose naysaying and delaying tactics allow our water problems to fester -- is the objective for forward-looking leaders in 2023.
Recent Headlines
America’s western water crisis is so bad that Colorado is going to start drinking recycled sewage
... Last week, Colorado’s water quality agency gave unanimous preliminary approval to regulate direct potable reuse — the process of treating sewage and sending it directly to taps without first being dispersed in a larger water body. Pending a final vote in November, the state would become the first to adopt direct potable reuse regulations, according to WateReuse, a national group advocating for the method.
...As the state’s population explodes and regional water supplies dwindle, recycling water for drinking is a significant opportunity for stretching a limited supply, said Kevin Reidy, conservation specialist for the Colorado Water Conservation Board. And he said it’s a game changer in a place like Castle Rock, a city of 75,000 just south of Denver nestled under its prominent namesake butte, that relies primarily on pumping finite groundwater for drinking.
“I think it’s an important tool for the long term because it gives water providers options to respond to future scarcity of water supplies, whether drought-driven or other reasons,” said Mark Marlowe, director of Castle Rock Water.
The utility already reuses about 14% of its wastewater, sending it to a creek from the treatment plant, and re-drawing it farther downstream. But as climate change leads to more arid conditions in the western U.S., the creek’s flow is becoming less reliable.
With a dry bed, water is “lost” into the ground rather than recaptured and sent back out to taps. Blending highly treated wastewater directly at the facility would eliminate that climate risk, Marlowe said.
Wellington residents remain frustrated over high water bills as town plays catch-up
...But Wellington’s reputation of affordability quickly ran dry for Kudola when her water bill came. While the town was growing, its vital infrastructure was becoming strained, prompting the town to increase utility rates in order to help pay for new water and wastewater treatment plants.
Kudola said her water bill has nearly doubled since she moved to Wellington. She told the Coloradoan she now pays anywhere between $115 and $150 a month depending on the season for a household of two. She said she’s even started showering at her gym as a way to cut down on her usage.
...The average household in Wellington uses about 4,000 gallons of water during winter months and 10,000 gallons of water in the summer, said Meagan Smith, Wellington's deputy director of public works. Under current water rates, the average resident is paying anywhere from $85 to $112 per month for just their water usage depending on the time of year.
For Fort Collins Utilities customers, similar bills would be about $30 to $47.
In January 2021, Wellington raised the base rate from about $31 to $66, leaving residents to make significant changes in order to cover their bills.
Did You Know? Colorado is known as "THE" headwater state. The term headwater means the area near the source of a river basin where the river originates. Colorado is "THE" headwater state because eight major river basins originate in Colorado, marking the beginnings of the Platte, Arkansas and Colorado Rivers, as well as the Rio Grande. But in our case, while we have nearby water - it doesn't necessarily translate to water rights and the ability to easily and legally distribute it. More so, the water that is available - isn't near our most populous areas (i.e. Denver's Front Range).
Upcoming News from DCFF
Every other week, DCFF will report on important news and challenges impacting our community. We hope you will stay engaged and connected with us.
