Testimony on Behalf of the City of Pueblo

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• • • V take high quality upstream water out of the system, and substitute treated sewage effluent or lower quality downstream water by exchange. The relatively high levels of selenium carried into the Arkansas River by Fountain Creek is a widely- recognized water quality issue of increasing concern to the regulatory community. Further flow reductions in the Arkansas River obviously will reduce the dilutive capacity of the River, making the impacts of the poor quality from Fountain Creek even more acute. Additionally, further flow reductions in the Arkansas River will pose potentially significant compliance problems for Pueblo's municipal wastewater treatment plant (the "Treatment Plant "), by reducing the amount of dilution flow that is available to mix with treated effluent discharged from the plant. If this occurs, Pueblo may be required to implement costly additional treatment processes in order to comply with future dischargep_ermitt_ ing _ requirements _of_ the _l_inited_ States_ Env_ir_onmentaLPsi # ection -- _ Agency and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. These issues are compounded by the fact that the discharge point for Pueblo's Treatment Plant is located immediately downstream from the confluence of the Arkansas River and the already poor quality flows from Fountain Creek. E. Conclusion /Proposed Solution. Pueblo is not conceptually opposed to reoperation or enlargement of the Fryingpan- Arkansas facilities, including Pueblo Reservoir. However, these changes that benefit entities far away from the facilities must be balanced with a recognition of the great potential for detrimental impact on the City located in the midst of those facilities. Pueblo's proposed amendments to H.R. 3881 would simply protect a minimum flow of water through the City and prevent new exchanges from drying up the River entirely. The minimum flows sought to be protected (100 cfs during the winter, and 500 cfs during the remainder of the year) are less than the average flows that exist currently in this section of the River (see the graph attached at Tab D.) Pueblo remains hopeful that an appropriate, cooperative resolution of the issues can be achieved that will allow for increased water storage opportunities in Pueblo Reservoir to improve water supply reliability for the municipal water providers, while protecting the interests of Pueblo and its residents in preserving appropriate minimum flow levels in the Arkansas River through Pueblo. Again, Pueblo recognizes that as with all similar projects, a balancing of the potential water supply benefits of the proposed reoperation and enlargement project, against the resulting negative impacts must occur; however, the balance proposed by the Southeastern District and others as proposed in H.R. 3881 is vastly unfair to Pueblo and its residents. 7