Water for Colorado Springs and Muddy Ditch for Pueblo

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Water for Colorado Springs and muddy ditch for Pueblo Page 1 of 2 • The Pueblo Chieftain Online Select file then print to print this article. Publish Date: March 31, 2002 Water for Colorado Springs and muddy ditch for Pueblo Tom Florczak Property owners in nine counties, including Pueblo, pay property taxes to the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District. Unlike most governmental entities with the power to levy taxes, its board is not elected. Nevertheless, it has a duty to serve all of the taxpayers it claims to represent in each of the nine counties. Southeastern is the moving force behind H.R. 3881, the legislation in Congress that both authorizes a study of the physical expansion of Pueblo Reservoir and modifies the way the Fry -Ark Project and Pueblo Reservoir presently operate. The legislation implements a plan adopted by Southeastern which is known as the Preferred Storage Options Plait: Southeastern developed this plan in response to a request in 1996 by Colorado Springs to store non- project water in Pueblo Reservoir: As I mentioned in last week's article, Colorado Springs has obtained court- approved water rights which allow it to take water that now flows in the Arkansas River through Pueblo, in exchange for treated sewage it sends down Fountain Creek. H.R. 3881 would enable Colorado Springs to store this non - project exchange water in Pueblo Reservoir, from which it would then be able to pipe the water north. Unless H.R. 3881 is amended to provide guarantees that certain minimum winter and summer flows will be kept in the Arkansas River through Pueblo, it may a llo w depletion of th en tire flow of the Arkansas River through Pueblo and this cord have a €tieastirnus effect on the imminent Arkansas River Corridor Legacy Project. Because Southeastern claims the plan "serves the entire nine -county service area," and bemoans that the City of Pueblo just doesn't seem to realize how its citizens may benefit from implementation of the plan, I wish to share what the plan actually says. In formulating the plan, Southeastern examined the needs of all of the water users in the nine counties. It analyzed the water rights held by water users, projected population growth throughout the region, and it forecast the water needs and water supply shortfall for the years 2010 through 2040 in 10 -year increments, assuming no changes were made in the way the Fry-Ark Project is operated. The results of this study are enlightening. The projected shortfall in water supply for the Pueblo Board of Water Works through the year 2040? There is no shortfall. The shortfall for Pueblo West through 2040? No shortfall there, either: Any shortfall found for the "entities east of Pueblo ?" Nope. In fact, Southeastern's own plan found that of a projected water shortage of 81,760 acre-feet in the year 2040 for the entire nine county region, 79,700 acre-feet of that shortage was in Colorado Springs, Fountain and the other cities north of Pueblo in a narrow band along Fountain Creek: The plan concluded that "both Pueblo West and Pueblo appear to have adequate supplies to meet their long -range needs." It also found that "the entities east of Pueblo also appear to have adequate water to meet their needs through the year 2040." This is consistent with statements by the president of the Pueblo Board of Water Works in a recent letter to Colorado's congressional delegation that the board already has sufficient water to serve a population of up to 400,000 people with associated business and industry. It seems clear, then, that the changes proposed by the plan and H.R. 3881 are largely intended to provide more water for thirsty cities in El Paso County and not to serve any real water supply need in Pueblo County or other "entities east of Pueblo." By permitting Pueblo Reservoir and other Fry-Ark facilities to store non - project water and exchange rights, such as Colorado Springs' water- for - sewage exchange, H.R. 3881 creates the equivalent of an additional 48,500 acre-feet of water storage. Of this, 31,600 acre -feet, or roughly two- thirds of the total, is earmarked in Southeastern's plan for Colorado Springs and the other entities along Fountain Creek. H.R. 3881 thus allows more water that presently flows in the Arkansas River through Pueblo to be taken north in a pipe from Pueblo Reservoir instead. For those who just can't visualize 31,600 acre -feet, it's about 10 billion gallons a year. The plan does not call for the complete elimination of the Arkansas River through town or turning it into a dry ditch. H.R. 3881 provides for a voluntary "flow management program" to maintain "target flows" of 100 cubic feet per second just below Pueblo Dam. Before this water reaches the central - http: / /www. chieftain .com/print/archive/2002/mar/31/edi5 .htm 04/02/2002