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.
Urgent Action Needed As Clock Ticks on Douglas County’s Water Resources
Finding forward-thinking solutions to Douglas County’s growing water challenges is complex. Understanding the basic facts that are behind these challenges is not.
The clock is ticking on the non-renewable Denver Basin Aquifers, which many communities in Douglas County and throughout the Front Range rely on. Because these aquifers are non-renewable, water experts have been increasingly focused on how communities are overly reliant on a finite resource.
In fact, the State Water Engineer has urged communities to reduce their dependence on the aquifer.
Aurora, which is having its own water challenges, weaned itself from the Denver Basin Aquifers beginning in the 1960s.
A second key fact is that Douglas County is one of the fastest growing counties in the entire United States.
This of course places additional burden on existing infrastructure, including on our water resources. But it also means that our residential and business tax bases are growing— which is true for the county government and for already-prosperous municipalities such as Castle Pines and Parker.
Putting these two facts together — dependence on a depleting, overburdened water source by some of the most affluent communities in the country — raises a curious question.
Where’s the urgency?
Water from the Denver Basin Aquifers is not renewable water. (And Douglas County is also dependent on the WISE water project which could be upended if water-providing communities pull out of it). Douglas County residents deserve and need clean water that is renewable, dependable, and free of toxic chemicals, fertilizers and other Total Dissolved Solids (TDSs).
Resources are available to move forward on high-quality, fiscally responsible, and renewable water projects to address Douglas County’s needs, whether at the county or municipal levels.
The rhetorical desire to “do something” without an intentional focus to move our region forward is, unfortunately a recipe for the unsustainable status quo.
Recent Headlines
The struggle to save the Colorado River stalls, but solutions emerge
One hundred years of the Colorado River Compact — the agreement that divides 15 million acre feet of water each year among the seven states of the Colorado River basin and Mexico — has wrecked on the shoals of a drier climate and 22 years of drought.
The compact as is doesn't work anymore, various water and legal experts say.
The river is over-appropriated — there’s much more demand for the water than there is supply — and that gap is growing.
“It’s critical now that elected officials take a proactive approach to meeting the water needs of their growing communities,” he wrote. “That’s why, as mayor of Aurora, I have proposed a new water conservation ordinance that will not only save a great deal of water but will preserve community amenities in a sustainable way.”
...Golfers will bemoan this part of the ban: Turf can’t be installed for new courses.
Opinion: The Colorado River is in crisis. There are no painless solutions.
After 22 straight years of drought, the Colorado River is no stranger to crisis. But even by its standards, the outlook this summer is bleak. The nation’s two largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, are nearly three-quarters empty. Satellite images show the river’s topography has changed dramatically since 2017, and scenes on the ground are no less shocking: stranded houseboats, dead plants and cracked lake beds.
Did You Know? The population of Douglas County, Colorado in 2021 was 368,990, 28.6% up from the 287,011 who lived there in 2010. For comparison, the US population grew 7.3% and Colorado's population grew 15.1% during that period. Today, 28 people move to Douglas County each day.
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.
