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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 Faces Water Management Challenges
What is the real challenge for Colorado’s water future?
As well-respected Colorado water expert James Eklund has noted: “Unlike other parts of the West, Colorado doesn’t have a water supply problem - as a headwaters state, we have enough water. But like all the West, we do face a water management challenge.”
Douglas County has experienced rapid population growth while relying upon a diminishing, non-renewable aquifer. Over reliance on this source creates a significant water management challenge for the county over the long-term.
In fact, many home buyers in the county today sign a disclosure indicating that they acknowledge water supplies may not be sufficient decades into the future.
This is the water management reality.
That’s why Douglas County must look at finding renewable, high-quality water supplies.
Water management has a Colorado history that goes back more than 120 years.
A great example is the Moffat Tunnel, built with private sector funds, that today is a key piece of Denver’s water supply.
Another example is the Twin Lakes project near Buena Vista, built decades ago by Aurora and Colorado Springs, which delivers western slope water to both cities. Yet perhaps the best local example is the High Line Canal; built with private funds to move water to areas far away from the Platte River to counties in the metro area, including Douglas County.
As discussed above, the water crisis in Colorado is not just from the lack of water supply but meeting growing population and demand for water in the Douglas County and the rest of the Front Range.
Colorado has significant renewable water sources but we need strategic and innovative leaders in the public and private sector to develop the water and get it to where it can be put to the highest and best use. Moving water is nothing new in Colorado and bold projects are not either.
Wouldn’t it be nice to put an end to homeowners having to legally recognize their water supply may not be sufficient?
For Douglas County – the time has long come for bold, common-sense water supply projects to ensure our future viability.
Recent Headlines
Water vs. growth: Colorado communities, developers struggle to juggle both
Developers look for more incentives to aid bottom line; cities, towns employ variety of strategies in face of constrained water supplies
…Across the Denver area, local governments, water utilities, homebuilders and developers are employing a number of strategies to meet the demands for housing, respond to growth and strive to ensure the long-term supply of the resource essential to a future in this semi-arid region: water.
Agriculture consumes the lion’s share of Colorado’s water, about 90%, while municipal uses account for 7% of the total.
“When you start off with that number, I think it’s really easy for people to say, ‘Why does municipal water use even matter? Why are we even worried or focused on this?’ That’s a question I answer a lot,” said Lindsay Rogers, a water policy analyst with Western Resource Advocates.
…“Developers are putting a demand on water because they’re saying ‘Hey, we need more water for the people that are moving here.’ Cities are saying, ‘OK, we have to build another dam or build another pipe or drill another well,'” said Iadarola, who worked on the first statewide water plan.”
Water expense pushes up costs of housing development in Denver-area suburbs
The cost of homes in Colorado’s suburban communities is being pushed higher by the rising price of a key resource buyers are unlikely to think about when they’re shopping for a place to live.
In suburban communities around the Denver metro area and north up the Front Range, the cost of acquiring water supplies for new development adds tens of thousands of dollars to the price of each new home and is a growing part of increasing housing expenses.
But it’s an expense that remains largely invisible to homebuyers.
...But developers working to annex their communities into younger municipalities — ones that don’t already own decades-old senior water rights — are typically required to bring water with them. Many communities require an annual supply of a half acre-foot per home — 162,925 gallons — or a similar amount. Otherwise, they must pay cash in lieu of physical water so that the local utility can buy more.
Demand has been driving up water prices. Buying water for new development frequently costs $50,000 per home, or more, in fast-growing parts of the northern metro area and the Front Range.
That’s where water is most expensive, typically several times more costly than water rights acquired in more rural agricultural areas. Local prices can vary widely and depend on a deal’s unique circumstances, but the cost of acquiring water for new development is rising everywhere, experts say.
And that will continue as long as the state population grows.
Did you know? Arapahoe County is considering requiring developers to secure a 300 year water supply for new housing projects?
According to Denver7, the 300-year rule means developers would have to provide documentation about their water sources and a letter from the Colorado Division of Water Resources that vouch for the supply and guarantee that it is adequate for three centuries.
“We think that going 300-year is the most efficient way and responsible way of looking at how water is going to be utilized,” Weimer said [director of public works and development at Arapahoe County]. “We want the residents that come to Arapahoe County and those that are here to know that there is a sustainable water supply for the development that they're moving into.”
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.
