Fountain Creek Vision Funds Approved

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The Pueblo Chieftain Online staff. Page 2 of 3 "This is arguably a peer facilitation process," said Rick Brown, who oversees the grant program. ' "But it ties in closely to a needs assessment to identify projects that can be brought together. (This is) a huge challenge with a modest budget." The CWCB also approved $120,000 from the same fund for a plan by the Round Mountain Water and Sanitation District to drill a well to provide water to Silver Cliff and Westcliffe in Custer County. The well is part of a larger plan the district has been working on to upgrade its water supply for current and future growth. Brown and Miskel both praised the Round Mountain project as the type of activity envisioned by state lawmakers last year when they approved using mineral severance taxes to fund projects recommended by grass -roots roundtables in each of the state's river basins. The funding plan now totals $42 million over five years, Brown said. While $10 million was available the year ending June 30, only $6 million more will be available next year. The CWCB considered applications totaling $438,000 Wednesday. So far, requests for funding have totaled $4.4 million, as most of the state roundtables have been scrambling to organize, let alone identify projects that would fit state criteria. Brown, along with Interbasin Compact Committee director Eric Hecox, presented a matrix Wednesday that identifies the status of projects in all basins. The document shows nine projects totaling more than $850,000 have been submitted from the Arkansas Basin. Five have been funded from the mineral severance fund, one funded from a separate account and three are in a roundtable committee, awaiting more thorough instructions from the CWCB on what information should be included. In other action: Board members were alarmed by a water needs study being circulated by former Denver University Chancellor Dan Ritchie and the mayors of the state's largest cities, apparently without widespread knowledge in the water community. While Executive Director Rod Kuharich and Natural Resources Director Harris Sherman were familiar with the report, board members learned of it through informal conversations Wednesday. http:// www .pueblochieftain.com /print.php ?article= /metro /1180019893/4 5/24/2007