BOARD00146 (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

" . Cherokee hopes to lease 400 to 500 acre feet of raw water from Pueblo, which had agreed to provide it for about $70 per acrefoot. Colorado Springs Utilities planned to charge Cherokee $1,600 an acre-foot to deliver the treated water into Cherokee's system. The Utilities board members were scheduled to discuss the unusual request to use the city's conveyance and treatment systems on Feb. 21. Last summer, the city provided Cherokee about 11 acrefeet of water for fire protection under a one-time allotment. The Fountain Valley Authority pipeline from Pueblo Reservoir would be used to transport the raw water into the Utilities system. Cherokee serves about 15,000 people, 5,250 homes and 350 businesses in the Cimarron Hills subdivision and surrounding unincorporated areas. Funding Snags Fountain Creek: Money is becoming a barrier to improving Fountain Creek. Congres3 has balked at funding the creek's biggest study, and local agencies are struggling to come up with cash to keep the recently created Fountain Creek Vision Task Force going. About $450,000 is needed to finish the multiyear Army Corps of Engineers study to address the creek's stream flows, water quality, erosion and sedimentation problems. Congress allocated only $125,000 this year, not enough to fmish the final phase. . Reservoir Rules Being Considered: For the first time in more than a century, Colorado Springs Utilities is drawing up formal rules controlling which of its 28 reservoirs are open to the public. It plans to have a policy in place by May. Local recreation groups see the nIle-making process as a chance to push for entry to seven reservoirs on the south slope of Pikes Peak that have been off-limits since 1913. They say a trail through the 45,000- acre watershed is the only practical way to complete the 6O-mile Ring the Peak Trail. Over the years, the utility has repeatedly balked at opening the south slope, saying it would imperil water quality, even though it allows public access to some reservoirs on the north slopes of Pikes Peak. Walsenburg Water Line Break Spills 500,000 Gallons: A break in a main water line on Feb. 27 left much of the town with little or no water pressure and more than an acre of land and part of Huerfano County Road 599 submerged in floodwater. The city's water plant operator, Joey Pacheco, said as much as 500,000 gallons of water were lost during the break. Pacheco said a collar joint on the 14-inch concrete line, which had been installed in 1946, cracked, spilling water for most of Monday morning. Pueblo Water Board Approves $500,000 in Leases: On Feb. 20, more than $500,000 in water leases were approved by the Pueblo Board of Water Works, including a lease to the state already in progress that maintains winter flows through Pueblo. The water board is leasing the water partly in preparation for draining Clear Creek Reservoir in Chaffee County for repairs later this year, explained Alan Ward, water resources specialist. Clear Creek, which now contains about 9,000 acre-feet, will be drained by August to allow repairs during September and October. It should refill within the next year. . A total of 9,300 acre-feet of water were leased to 13 different parties for amounts between $41.25 and $80 per acre-foot after a bid process that began in January. 21