You are receiving this newsletter because you are a recognized Douglas County community leader and stakeholder.
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.
Douglas County’s Path Forward on Water Requires a Roadmap
When you’re taking a trip into new territory, a roadmap is an essential tool to show you where you are going, and how to get there.
A countywide water plan is the roadmap for water security for decades – even centuries – into the future.
This roadmap, in its earliest stages of development by Douglas County’s Water Commission, is designed to assess current water assets, study population growth projections to estimate future water demand and then determine what additional water supplies are needed to meet that demand.
It's such an important tool for planning that neighboring counties – Arapahoe, Elbert and El Paso – have invested in and developed countywide water plans to ensure water security for up to three centuries into the future.
At the core of these plans, and what is expected to be central to Douglas County’s plan, is a look at how much renewable water is currently on hand and how to significantly expand renewable assets.
Water experts continually stress the importance of relying on renewable water for a sustainable future.
This will be one of Douglas County’s biggest challenges.
Current estimates show that roughly 10 to 20 percent of the county’s water supplies are from renewable sources (excluding water from the Water Infrastructure and Supply Efficiency (WISE) partnership).
The water plan, therefore, is essential to examine the county’s entire water needs, rather than simply relying on the piecemeal data from the several water providers that serve various parts of the county.
It has the added benefit of including rural and agricultural water users that rely on their own wells and are not served by existing providers.
While some insist that Douglas County, in contrast to neighboring counties, can ride into the future without a water roadmap – a more substantive and commonsense view is – why would any county not want a detailed, countywide plan for its single most essential infrastructure asset?
That’s a question to ask public officials who continue to complain about and try to delegitimize the vital work of the County’s Water Commission.
What specific part of the Water Commission do sensible voters actually disagree with? Too much but accountability? Details? Coordination? An audit and facts?
Recent Headlines
A new pipeline is on track to bring water to northern El Paso County next year
A $73 million project is underway to create a more sustainable water system for part of northern El Paso County.
The Northern Water Delivery System will allow the Triview Metropolitan District in Monument to use renewable water rights to help replace its diminishing groundwater resources, according to District Manager Jim McGrady.
“This project is something that brings renewable water into northern El Paso County in an area that is not blessed with a lot of Denver Basin groundwater,” he said. “The production levels in the Denver Basin Wells even today are not that great and it's not going to get better. It's only going to get worse. This project is something that will help mitigate the decline in production in those (wells).”
Dozens of Colorado farmers, ranchers and one city offer to cut Colorado River water use in exchange for $8.7M
Coloradans gunning to join this year’s effort to save water in the Colorado River Basin could help conserve up to 17,000 acre-feet of water — much more than the 2,500 acre-feet saved in 2023 — and receive about $8.7 million in return.
The voluntary, multistate program pays water users to temporarily use less water. State and federal officials relaunched the effort, called the System Conservation Pilot Program, in 2023 in response to federal calls to cut back on water use in the drought-stressed river basin. After a stumbling relaunch in 2023, this year’s program is moving forward with more applications, more potential water savings and more money for participants.
Elbert County and environmental consultant Forsgren Associates recently held their first open house as they move toward creating the Elbert County Water Master Plan. About 100 people attended, and 620 people answered an online community questionnaire that was sent out before the open house.
…Larson {Economic Development Consultant} said one of the purposes of the master plan is to help inform the county planning commission and county commissioners as they create guidelines for developers. Elbert County might adjust water rules where water is depleting or change guidelines for developing certain areas.
…Colorado tried to make things simple by instituting restrictions like the 100-year rule. The state defines the minimum useful life of an aquifer as 100 years and, to achieve that life, restricts annual withdrawals. This is determined by multiplying the land area by the estimated water volume in each aquifer and its ability to release water (specific yield). The Department of Water Resources (DWR) allocates the withdrawal over 100 years. In other words, 1% of the volume can be withdrawn each year.
Elbert County has adopted a more stringent 300-year rule to reduce the risk that the groundwater will be insufficient for development. The County reduces the rate of withdrawal to one-third the amount typically authorized by DWR.
Did you know? Our neighbor, Elbert County has a 300-year water plan, as does El Paso County - and over the last year - Arapahoe County has been considering moving from a 100 year-plan to a 300-year water plan. All three counties also have official water plans mapping the future and which are publicly available for voters.
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.
