Southern Delivery System: Colorado Springs Utilities requests Reclamation move forward on contract talks

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

“To maintain our current schedule to begin construction on the Pueblo Dam connection in early 2010, we have requested that Reclamation move forward with the contracting process as soon as possible,” said John Fredell, project director…

The contract negotiations will provide an additional opportunity for public comment on SDS, a $1 billion-plus pipeline project on track to be completed by 2016…

Colorado Springs Utilities also is seeking permits in El Paso County, and expects to present its case to the El Paso County Planning Commission in February, Fredell said. The city also has scheduled meetings with the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District, its technical advisory committee and its citizens advisory group during December and January.

More Southern Delivery System coverage here and here.

Colorado Springs: Which stormwater efforts will be funded now that the enterprise fund is kaput?

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

a vote on Tuesday confirmed the [Colorado Springs city] council’s position to phase out the stormwater enterprise within two years. Unless another funding mechanism is found, Colorado Springs will absorb only the minimal funding for federal requirements, maintenance, health, safety and emergencies in its general fund beginning in 2012. Colorado Springs council adopted the new policy in response to Doug Bruce’s Issue 300, which implies the voters chose to end the stormwater enterprise, without actually saying so. Bruce campaigned for the issue as an end to what he and others called a “rain tax” and celebrated by tearing up his stormwater bill on television.

Council also agreed to include a $4.24 million-$6.7 million project to upgrade the Templeton Gap levee, which protects thousands of homes, was not on the critical projects list. In all, about $9 million of work on projects from the critical list are likely to be completed under the two-year phase-out.

Council members did not come up with an alternative for funding the remainder of critical projects on the list, although some talked about developing a regional approach with other El Paso County communities or putting a stormwater question on a future municipal ballot.

At the same time, Colorado Springs is planning on spending $46.2 million on SDS in the coming year, according to its published 2010 annual operating plan. The city has issued bonds for the project.

Colorado Springs also will spend almost more than $27 million for maintenance, repair, inspection and replacement of sanitary sewer lines in the city, including $7.5 million for ultraviolet treatment at its Las Vegas Street treatment plant, $7 million for sewer line upgrades and $6 million to fortify stream crossings, according to the operating plan. The city committed to spend at least $75 million in sanitary sewer upgrades, which are costs paid by customers and have nothing to do with the stormwater enterprise.

The city is obligated to make some of the repairs to its sanitary sewer system under state compliance orders, which are also a factor in a federal lawsuit won by the Sierra Club.

More stormwater coverage here.

Colorado Springs: City council approves dismantling of stormwater enterprise

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

The phase-out [over two years] will give the city time to finish some projects already under way, allow it to repair a levee that protects thousands of homes and meet unfunded federal mandates. It will mean the city won’t be able to start several projects that are needed or to respond to citizen requests regarding stormwater. Colorado Springs also intends to fulfill its commitments on Fountain Creek related to Southern Delivery System despite ending the stormwater enterprise, and several on council voiced support for a regional solution in El Paso County that could include a vote to create a stormwater enterprise in the future. “The two-year phaseout will give us time to work on a regional solution, allow us to complete our projects and come up with a regional stormwater plan,” said Bernie Herpin, one of five council members supporting the phase-out…

The Templeton Gap Levee is the only Army Corps of Engineers levee in Colorado Springs, said stormwater director Ken Sampley. The levee, built in the late 1940s, needs between $4.24 million and $6.74 million in work to protect up to 3,000 homes and 300 businesses. If the work is not done, they would be required to obtain flood insurance.

Under the two-year phaseout, Templeton Gap will be completed, but more than 20 other projects won’t begin as scheduled. When the stormwater enterprise was created, there was a $300 million backlog in projects, with $60 million in critical needs. Sampley showed slides of bridge supports beginning to wash out and areas that were eroding because there has been only funding for piecemeal work…

In addition to Templeton Gap, there are $2.3 million of projects that have been started remaining in the pipeline, and four projects on Sand Creek totalling about $2.4 million. Sampley also recommended maintaining minimum funding for regulatory requirements, emergency operations, health and safety, which together total almost $5 million. By 2012, all those costs will be paid for from the general fund under the plan reviewed by council Monday…

The city also is prepared to meet its obligations of $125 million of spending on Fountain Creek through the financing of SDS, a $1 billion-plus water supply project that includes a pipeline from Pueblo Dam. Colorado Springs ratepayers will bear that expense. Colorado Springs also has included funds for improvements at Clear Springs Ranch south of Fountain and dredging the Fountain Creek channel in Pueblo as part of next year’s budget.

More coverage from The Colorado Springs Gazette (Daniel Chaćon):

A split Colorado Springs City Council decided Monday to phase out the enterprise over two years, allowing the city-owned business to finish projects under construction and also reconstruct a decades-old drainage channel that’s been deemed “minimally acceptable.” Council members Tom Gallagher, Darryl Glenn, Jan Martin and Randy Purvis called for an immediate end of the enterprise…

Enterprise Manager Ken Sampley said the council’s decision could hamper the enterprise’s ability to collect fees over the next two years, even from people who have been paying them. “I’d like to think that everybody paid them (in the past) because they were good citizens and wanted to pay their Stormwater Enterprise fee,” he said. “That may not be the case. I think it’s reasonable to believe that if there is no provision for certifying (delinquent accounts) to the treasurer, we will be collecting, definitely, a lower percentage.”[...]

The initiative requires an immediate end to the enterprise, said [Douglas Bruce sponsor of Issue 300 passed by Colorado Springs voters November 3], who is threatening to start a petition drive for a permanent property tax cut if the city doesn’t get rid of the enterprise right away. “I don’t make threats,” Bruce said Monday night. “I’m just advising them that there’s going to be adverse consequences if they don’t give the people what they want.”

More stormwater coverage here.

Arkansas River: Streamflow below Lake Pueblo

From The Pueblo Chieftaian (Chris Woodka):

Flows from the dam were cut from about 350 cubic feet per second Saturday to 70 cfs on Sunday, as irrigators began a program that allows them to store winter flows for use later in the year. The winter water program was started by ditch companies under an agreement with the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District in 1975, after Pueblo Dam was completed. It became a decreed water program in 1984. Water is stored in Lake Pueblo, as well as several downstream reservoirs, from Nov. 15 to March 15 of the following year…

Under a recovery of yield program, created by an intergovernmental agreement in 2004, a minimum flow of 100 cfs below Pueblo Dam is maintained throughout the winter months. The flow is calculated at the river gauge above Pueblo, with flows through the state fish hatchery added. This week, flows above Pueblo have been between 60-65 cfs, while fish hatchery flows have been between 30-40 cfs. “What we’ve agreed to is that the flow won’t go under 100 cfs, with retroactive curtailment of exchanges after March 15,” said Alan Ward, water resources administrator with the Pueblo Board of Water Works. Ward supervises the recovery of yield program. That decision was made last year, after flows in the Arkansas River dropped to nearly nothing in 2005 and were in danger of running low again in 2007. The IGA among Pueblo, the Pueblo water board, Colorado Springs, Aurora, Fountain and the Southeastern district calls for curtailment of exchanges when the river drops below 100 cfs…

In practice, Colorado Springs is the only IGA participant that exchanges in the winter months, storing water out of priority in Lake Pueblo in exchange for return flows, mostly from treated sewage, down Fountain Creek.

More Arkansas River Basin coverage here.

Fountain Creek: Five finalists remain for executive director of the Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

The interviews will be at the board’s next meeting, 1 p.m. Dec. 4 at Fountain City Hall. The finalists chosen are:

Gary Barber, a Colorado Springs water rights and real estate broker. Barber also is the manager of the El Paso County Water Authority and chairman of the Arkansas Basin Roundtable. He helped lawmakers write the legislation that created the Fountain Creek District.

Former Pueblo County Administrator Mark Carmel. In his more than 30-year career with Pueblo County, Carmel served as the county engineer and public works director as well.

Pueblo businessman Kevin McCarthy, whose letter explained that after working with some of those involved in projects on Fountain Creek, he is interested in becoming the “point person” for projects. He is a member of the Pueblo Board of Water Works.

Pueblo Stormwater Director Dennis Maroney, who will be retiring in January. Maroney is familiar with Fountain Creek issues after eight years working with the Corps of Engineers watershed study. He is on the Fountain Creek district’s technical advisory committee. Maroney has worked for the city since 1982.

James Munch, former head of planning for the city of Pueblo. After almost 30 years with the city, Munch became director of development for the Pueblo Springs Ranch development north of Pueblo in 2007. He is now a consultant…

The board is required to give the public at least two weeks to comment on finalists, and the Dec. 4 interviews will be conducted in public session, explained Pueblo County Attorney Dan Kogovsek.

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.

Colorado Springs City Council moving to dissolve stormwater enterprise fund

After last week’s election Colorado Springs Mayor Rivera claimed that Issue 300 would have no effect on the city’s stormwater enterprise fund. This week he’s saying that the people have spoken and that controlling stormwater runoff should be borne by the city’s general fund. Here’s a report from Daniel Chaćon writing for The Colorado Springs Gazette. From the article:

“I’m convinced that when people were voting on it, their primary vote was to eliminate or phase out the Stormwater Enterprise,” said Mayor Lionel Rivera, who previously maintained that Issue 300 would not affect the Stormwater Enterprise. The council’s about-face followed last week’s crushing defeat on Election Day, when voters slammed the door on a proposed property tax increase while approving a measure anti-tax crusader Douglas Bruce succeeded in placing on the ballot that phases out payments to the city from city-owned enterprises. Although some city officials had questioned whether Bruce’s measure affected fees collected from residents for the Stormwater Enterprise’s drainage projects, the council Monday told the city manager to prepare a recommendation on how to do away with the enterprise and associated fee with critical projects still in the pipeline.

More stormwater coverage here.

Colorado Springs voters approve Douglas Bruce’s Issue 300 but Mayor Rivera says it will have no effect on the operation of the city’s stormwater enterprise fund

From The Colorado Springs Gazette (R. Scott Rappold):

The Douglas Bruce-sponsored ballot measure requires payments in lieu of taxes to the city to be phased out over eight years, beginning in July 2010, and the money returned to rate payers. The payments are designed to compensate the city for tax revenue it would receive if Utilities were privately owned. That amounts to more than $3 million in 2010. According to the city clerk’s analysis of the ballot measure, residential bills would drop 52 cents each month, beginning in January 2010.

More coverage from The Colorado Springs Gazette (Lance Benzel). From the article:

“Even though the language was extremely vague, I’m going to be recommending on Monday that we adopt a resolution repealing the Stormwater Enterprise and the fee (associated with it),” [Colorado Springs Councilman Darryl Glenn] said. Glenn said he plans to propose the immediate creation of a committee that would include county officials. The group would be tasked with developing a proposed regional stormwater authority to take to voters for their approval in November 2010. “That’s the way we should have done it in the first place instead of imposing a fee,” he said. But in the short-term, the council has a “responsibility to carry out the voters’ intent,” Glenn said. “One thing you can’t argue is that if you drove around the community, there were enough signs that clearly stated that this issue dealt with the stormwater tax and fee,” he said. “This council is in trouble if we, in my opinion, ignore the will of the voters on 300,” he added. “We need buy-in, and there has to be a relationship of trust with the electorate and to me, this will be a slap in the face if we don’t follow the direction that we’ve been given.”

More coverage from The Colorado Springs Gazette (Daniel Chacon). From the article:

Mayor Lionel Rivera, who said Tuesday night that issue 300 wouldn’t affect the Stormwater Enterprise, left open the possibility that it did. “There’s a question on whether or not the language the way it was spelled out in 300 really applies to the Stormwater Enterprise,” he said during a news conference. “I don’t know the answer,” he added. “We have to have a discussion with the city attorney to determine how we’re going to do an implementing ordinance to put all this into effect.”

The Douglas Bruce-sponsored ballot measure requires payments in lieu of taxes to the city to be phased out over eight years, beginning in July 2010, and the money returned to ratepayers. Bruce said it was “absurd” for city officials to say the ballot issue didn’t apply to the Stormwater Enterprise…

Meanwhile, Colorado Springs Utilities officials said they were still determining when ratepayers will see an impact from issue 300. The payments made by Utilities to the city, designed to compensate the city for tax revenue it would receive if Utilities were privately owned, amounts to more than $3 million in 2010. According to the city’s analysis of 300, residential bills would drop 52 cents each month, beginning in January 2010.

Folks in Pueblo County are looking north to see if Issue 300 will effect Colorado Springs’ commitments to Fountain Creek imposed on the city utility through the permitting process earlier this year. Colorado Springs Utilities is planning to build the Southern Delivery System pipeline through Pueblo County. Here’s a report from Chris Woodka writing for The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:

Wednesday morning, Mayor Lionel Rivera and Councilman Scott Hente challenged Bruce’s interpretation that Issue 300 ended the stormwater enterprise. On Tuesday night, Bruce triumphantly tore up his stormwater bill for TV cameras, proclaiming the end of what he calls a “rain tax.” The stormwater enterprise was approved by Colorado Springs City Council in 2005 and implemented in 2007. It was designed to raise $17 million a year to address a $300 million backlog of storm sewer projects in the Fountain Creek watershed. In 2008, Colorado Springs voters rejected a similar attempt by Bruce to gut the stormwater fees. This year’s version did not mention the stormwater enterprise by name, but Bruce campaigned against it while promoting Issue 300.

Colorado Springs issued a statement Wednesday that made it clear there are no intentions to remove the stormwater fee: “The passage of Issue 300 created a new ordinance relating to City Enterprises. City Council will have to take action to implement any changes as a result of the new ordinance. “Unless and until that occurs, we will continue to proceed under current City Code. Any changes made to the Stormwater Enterprise would require future action by City Council. “City Council has publicly stated that Issue 300 will not impact the stormwater enterprise so we do not anticipate any changes at this time to our operations.”[...]

In Pueblo, those who fought to gain concessions from Colorado Springs believe the stormwater enterprise is needed. “We believe the interpretation that storm sewers were not included in the ballot language is correct,” said Pueblo County Commissioner Jeff Chostner, who is also a member of the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District. “I think the people of Colorado Springs see good things happening on Fountain Creek and realize that on an important issue like this, you need to establish trust,” Chostner. Regardless of what happens to the stormwater enterprise, Colorado Springs is still obligated to meet the $125 million in payments under Pueblo County conditions, Chostner said. “I don’t think that voting down the stormwater enterprise would affect the SDS requirements,” Chostner said. “Then, the question for them internally would be how they fund it.”[...]

Ross Vincent, of the Sierra Club, said Colorado Springs still has an obligation to take care of Fountain Creek regardless of what happens as a result of Tuesday’s vote. The Sierra Club successfully sued Colorado Springs in 2005 over violation of the federal Clean Water Act. “It’s disconcerting to say the least,” Vincent said. “Clearly, the Springs has got to capture and manage its stormwater effectively, and the residents and taxpayers of Colorado Springs will have to find a way to pay for it. “If not the current stormwater enterprise, then what, and paid for by whom? They need answers – quickly – and so do we.”

More Fountain Creek watershed coverage here and here.

Fountain Creek: 25 apply for director of the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

The Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District board took its first look at 25 applications for the position Friday, and assurances that $100,000 is now in place to fund administrative expenses of the district next year. The board could decide on an interim director at its Dec. 4 meeting, if the executive committee – made up of the board’s officers – is able to pare the list to a handful of finalists in early November. In any event, finalists will be interviewed. The district also will set its budget at the meeting…

Those who have applied for the interim director’s job are, in alphabetical order:

Steve Anselmo, president of a Pueblo engineering company.
Gary Barber, manager of El Paso County Regional Water Authority and a water rights broker. Barber is chairman of the Arkansas Basin Roundtable and played a key role in drafting legislation that set up the district as a member of the Vision Task Force.
Janna Blanter, a Colorado Springs financial consultant.
Mark Carmel, former Pueblo County administrator.
Heather Gunn, a Fountain media consultant.
Scott Hahn, of Salida, who most recently served as city manager of Cordova, Alaska.
Thomas Karwaki, director of economic development for the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe near Seattle, Wash.
Ricky Kidd, engineer-administrator of the Pueblo Conservancy District and a private engineer.
Andy Long, owner Roberts Mortgage, Colorado Springs.
Kevin McCarthy, a Pueblo businessman and member of the Pueblo Board of Water Works.
James McGrady, general manager of the Castle Pines North Metro District
Dennis Maroney, Pueblo stormwater director and a key player on the Vision Task Force. Maroney serves on the district’s technical advisory committee.
Jim Munch, former Pueblo city planning director and most recently director of development for Pueblo Springs Ranch, a position he left in April. He now is a private consultant.
Randy Newman, a government contractor at Guantanamo Bay, moving back to Colorado Springs.
Allen Nichols, most recently marketing director for Cleveland Vocational Industries, Shelby, N.C.
John Plutt, a Colorado Springs businessman.
Ingrid Richter, director of development for InCompass Development, Colorado Springs.
Roberta Ringstrom, environmental scientist, Colorado Springs.
Alaina Ruscovick, a file clerk for a Colorado Springs law firm.
Rodney Scott, an Air Force supply specialist and administrative assistant in Colorado Springs.
Steven Shane, most recently a technology director for an electronic manufacturing firm, now living in Colorado Springs.
Bob Simmons, most recently, a lieutenant in the Aurora Fire Department.
Richard Stettler, Colorado Springs, University of the Rockies vice president and chief of staff.
Donald TeStrake, of Centennial, most recently site manager for an electronics consultant.
Eve Triffo, a lawyer and experienced grant writer living in Canon City.

More coverage from Chris Woodka writing for The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:

The Southern Delivery System pipeline will cross Fountain Creek and discharge into the creek from a new reservoir on Williams Creek, the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District learned Friday. Those two actions are in the direct jurisdiction of the district. The district also will have an advisory role to the El Paso County commissioners in the permit process.

“We would like to make a presentation with a summary of the project, saying ‘here are the impacts, and here are the recommendations for mitigation,’ ” Colorado Springs Utilities Fountain Creek specialist Carol Baker told the district’s board Friday. The board agreed to hear the presentation in January, after its technical advisory committee and citizens advisory group have had a chance to review the project and make recommendations. The district, by state law, has primary land-use authority in the floodplain of Fountain Creek, so will be able to tie its own conditions to the project…

The board also agreed Friday to adopt the March 2009 strategic plan of the Vision Task Force, the January 2009 Army Corps of Engineers management plan and appropriate local zoning and land use regulations in reviewing technical merits of projects.

Meanwhile, Teller County hopes to weigh in on Fountain Creek issues through the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District. Here’s a report from Chris Woodka writing for The Pueblo Chieftian. From the article:

The Teller-Park Conservation District has asked the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District to include projects for flood impacts, erosion and water quality on Upper Fountain Creek, which extends about 12 miles into Teller County. “Property owners have incurred property damage and livestock (loss) due to flooding in this area, and several horse properties are located right within the floodplain of (Teller and El Paso) counties,” Vern Vinson, conservation district president, wrote in a letter to the Fountain Creek board. Woodland Park is trying to obtain a floodplain easement through the Natural Resources Conservation Service as well, and Vinson indicated there would be a better chance if the conservation district had a cooperative agreement with the Fountain Creek district…

When it came time to form the district, only Pueblo and El Paso counties were included in the legislation, because they were the primary areas causing an impact or affected by changes on Fountain Creek. The district board indicated it would be able to make a place for Teller County on its technical advisory committee and citizens advisory group, but that the membership of the Fountain Creek board was determined by statute. “We’re pleased to see you folks here,” Pueblo County Commissioner Jeff Chostner, a member of the Fountain Creek board, told representatives of the conservation district. “We do not want to leave the impression that Teller County was left out.”

Finally, the new district is using a $25,000 CWCB loan to evaluate how stormwater relates to land-use policies in the Fountain Creek watershed. Here’s a report from Chris Woodka writing for The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:

The Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District board voted unanimously to oversee the grant from the Colorado Water Conservation Board. The grant aims at a process that has been envisioned for several years to develop uniform stormwater policies throughout the region…

“This project will implement many of the recommendations contained in the Fountain Creek Watershed Strategic Plan,” [Rich Muzzy, of the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments] said. The strategic plan, along with the Corps study, will be used as policy guidelines until the district can develop its own. The district also will use local land-use recommendations as a guide…

The CWCB-funded project would synthesize existing information and develop a policy evaluation regarding how “non-point sources” – basically any discharge that is not covered by a state permit – are treated. The results would be reviewed by the district’s technical advisory committee and citizens advisory group. Then, workshops would held to determine how to implement strategies, and finally regional groups would be formed to put the information to practical use.

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.

Colorado Springs Utilities to hike water rates

From The Colorado Springs Gazette (R. Scott Rappold):

for the first time Utilities officials are aware of, the utility will ask for approval of a multi-year schedule of water rate hikes, 12 percent a year from 2011 through 2017, to pay for the $1.4 billion Southern Delivery System water pipeline, which would double water rates in Colorado Springs. Construction is expected to begin in 2010. Officials said the future water rate hikes would kick in automatically unless city council takes action to stop them.

More Southern Delivery System coverage here and here.

Fountain Creek: Colorado Springs is seeking to recover legal fees from Pueblo County resulting from lawsuit over sewage spills

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

A motion filed late last week in the Denver U.S. District Court asks for consideration of payment of legal fees, even though Colorado Springs agreed to pay $17,750 of the Sierra Club’s fees after U.S. District Judge Walker Miller ruled in the Sierra Club’s favor on some points. Colorado Springs was fined $35,000. The settlement with the Sierra Club left open the possibility of Colorado Springs seeking to recover its costs for [Pueblo District Attorney Bill Thiebaut]’s portion of the lawsuit. Thiebaut, along with the Sierra Club, filed the federal lawsuit in 2005 after sewage spills into Fountain Creek. Thiebaut’s lawsuit was thrown out in 2007, and his motion for reconsideration was denied in early 2008.

“Thiebaut’s legal theory for his authority and standing here was baseless and without foundation, and he continued to pursue his case long after it should have been clear that he lacked authority to do so,” attorney John Walsh wrote in the latest motion. Walsh argued that as a district attorney, Thiebaut could not file a civil suit in federal court and was not authorized by the legislature to do so. “Thiebaut never did identify the specific legal basis for his alleged authority,” Walsh wrote in the motion. “Instead, rather than rely on legal authority, Thiebaut continued to rely on a baseless interpretation of his own (nearly limitless) authority, calculated to justify the action he wanted to take.” Walsh claims Colorado Springs prevailed in its motion to remove Thiebaut from the case and is therefore entitled to recovery of expenses…

“In my opinion our case was a better case, which would have resulted in an even better order,” Thiebaut said. “Nevertheless, Colorado Springs has undertaken new programs to eliminate spills as a direct result of our lawsuit.” Last week’s motion moves in the opposite direction of recent actions by Colorado Springs, Thiebaut said. “This request is rather ironic considering that Colorado Springs continues to note that now it wants to cooperate with Pueblo on projects like Fountain Creek and the Southern Delivery System,” Thiebaut said.

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.

Fountain Creek: Sierra Club cleanup this weekend

From The Pueblo Chieftain:

…[T]he Sierra Club Water Sentinels and interested volunteers will gather from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at El Centro del Quinto Sol, 609 E. Erie Ave. “Litter on streets eventually ends up in the creek area due to rain and wind. Picking up litter is one way of preventing the damage caused by litter on creek wildlife and water quality,” said Jenny Kedward, coordinator. For more information, call 582-0249.

More Fountain Creek coverage here.

Fountain Creek: Colorado Springs to pay Sierra Club legal fees for lawsuit over sewage spills

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

Colorado Springs was ordered to pay a fine of $35,500 in the complaint filed by the Sierra Club in 2005 after two large spills into Fountain Creek. The Sierra Club prevailed in its argument that some Colorado Springs releases of partially treated sewage violated the Clean Water Act. However, U.S. District Judge Walker Miller ruled that Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has been “effective” and that Colorado Springs had made “substantial improvements” in its wastewater collection system. The Sierra Club sought hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines. In a stipulation entered this week, the Sierra Club agreed to accept Colorado Springs’ offer for settlement of legal fees in the case.

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.

Fountain Creek: Pueblo County Commissioners approve the use of SDS mitigation funds to hire administrator for the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

Pueblo County commissioners Tuesday approved applying Colorado Springs funds from the Fountain Creek Corridor Master Plan effort toward its conditions on a 1041 permit for the Southern Delivery System…

The move clears the way for hiring an administrator by the end of this year, according to a timeline presented at earlier meetings of the newly created district. [Pueblo County Commissioner Jeff] Chostner is the vice-chairman of the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District, formed earlier this year by the Legislature to improve Fountain Creek. The new district, Colorado Springs and the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District reached an intergovernmental agreement to provide $100,000 for each of the next two years to hire an administrator and fund office expenses.

The money would be part of $600,000 committed jointly by Colorado Springs and the Lower Ark to complete the Corridor Master Plan. Colorado Springs’ $300,000 for that effort will be credited toward the $50 million the city would pay over five years once SDS is completed. Colorado Springs will pay another $300,000 over the next three years for a study of a dam or other means of flood control on Fountain Creek…

The district has direct land use authority in the Fountain Creek floodplain from Fountain to Pueblo, but will make recommendations on pertinent land use matters throughout the watershed. In its first three months, the district has recommended approval for a 62-unit subdivision that will be annexed into the city of Fountain, and denial of approval for a gravel-pit operation proposed near Pikes Peak International Raceway.

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.

Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District votes to recommend denial of Pueblo County permit to proposed LaFarge Aggregate and Concrete gravel pit

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

The Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District voted to recommend denial of a proposal by LaFarge Aggregate and Concrete to mine gravel and operate asphalt and concrete batch plants at a site between Fountain Creek and Interstate 25 near Pikes Peak International Raceway. “I think it’s essentially a scarring of the landscape and what this group is trying to do,” said Pueblo County Commissioner Jeff Chostner, who chaired the meeting. “(The district) is trying to protect the landscape.” Because LaFarge removed two areas of the project that were in the flood plain, the district board only had the authority to recommend approval or denial of a permit to El Paso County Com- missioners. The LaFarge decision was only the second made by the board, which was formed in July by the state Legislature, and by far the most controversial. While LaFarge representatives tried to make the case that its operation would be temporary – 15 years after excavation began – environmental groups, landowners, sewer districts and one of the state lawmakers who formed the district voiced concern or opposition toward the project.

Fountain Creek: $500,000 collector demonstration project for sediment control and water quality

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

The city last week received $190,000 from the Water Supply Reserve Account, which is administered by the Colorado Water Conservation Board on the recommendation of basin roundtables, for the project. The money will be added to $200,000 from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and $75,000 from the city’s stormwater enterprise. Another $50,000 from the state health department will go toward a floodwater detention basin below the North Side Walmart.

The project will install a 20- to 30-foot concrete collector designed by Streamside Systems at the railroad bridge about one-half mile from the confluence of Fountain Creek with the Arkansas River. The collector continuously removes bed-load sediment – the type that builds the sand bars in Fountain Creek – as water flows over it. The sediment is removed by pumps and can be sorted into different grades of material. Preliminary tests on a much smaller scale showed the collector could have a significant impact on water quality as well…

Sediment removal in Pueblo is important to maintaining the effectiveness of the levee system along Fountain Creek. The levees were built in the 1980s after the flood of 1965, but the amount of freeboard – the surge associated with flooding – has been compromised as the channel silted up.

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.

Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District: Colorado Springs city council approves funding IGA

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

The agreement will use $100,000 each from Colorado Springs and the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District to provide staff and administrative support to the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District, formed in July by the state Legislature. The district has authority over land-use issues in the Fountain Creek flood plain between Fountain and Pueblo, and its board membership is evenly split between El Paso County and downstream interests. The agreement also provides $200,000 each from Colorado Springs and the Lower Ark to continue the Fountain Creek Corridor Master Plan, started under a similar IGA in 2007. Colorado Springs Council unanimously approved the agreement as a consent item after hearing a presentation last week while sitting as the Utility Board. The Lower Ark and Fountain Creek boards have already approved the agreement.

Pueblo County commissioners are expected to make a decision next week on whether the $300,000 contribution by Colorado Springs can be applied to the $50 million Colorado Springs has pledged to the district as a condition of a 1041 permit for the Southern Delivery System. Colorado Springs also will pay $300,000 toward the study of a dam or dams to provide flood control on Fountain Creek in the next three years. The first payment has been made.

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.

Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District: Colorado Springs City Council ponies up some dough

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

“We now have a united community along Fountain Creek that stands together as we move ahead,” Carol Baker, Colorado Springs Utilities Fountain Creek coordinator, told council. Baker explained how more than $1 million has been directed toward Fountain Creek as part of a two-year effort that resulted from an agreement between Colorado Springs and the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District. Another $10 million in funding is on the horizon, but there need to be plans in place to apply for and use the money, Baker said.

Next week, council will vote on extending the agreement, which would add the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District as a partner. Over two years, $200,000 would be provided to the district, while $400,000 would help finish the Fountain Creek Master Corridor Plan. If Pueblo County commissioners agree, the $300,000 share from Colorado Springs would count toward a $50 million payment under the county’s 1041 permit for Southern Delivery System. Colorado Springs also is obligated to pay an additional $300,000 for dam studies on Fountain Creek, but the bulk of the $50 million would not be paid until after SDS is completed in 2016.

The $100,000 a year for the Fountain Creek District would fund a manager and office expenses, and the offer appears to be the sole source of funding available to the district. While the district was created by the state Legislature, no funding was provided. The district board wants results to show before asking voters for a tax to fund the Fountain Creek district…

The [demonstration project] furthest along are the Clear Springs Ranch project south of Fountain and the Confluence Park in Pueblo. “We’ve already lined up $750,000 worth of work for Clear Springs,” Baker said. That project will look at techniques to improve water quality and reduce erosion and sedimentation while building a fish passage around an 8-foot-high diversion structure. It would also improve public access for wildlife viewing.

About $525,000 has been lined up for the Confluence Park, including a $225,000 grant approved Tuesday by the Colorado Water Conservation Board for a streamside sediment removal system. Another $200,000 is available through federal water quality grants, $80,000.

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.

Fountain Creek: Pigeon poop main E. coli culprit

From The Colorado Springs Gazette (R. Scott Rappold):

“After doing some detective work and talking to the city of Manitou Springs, it became likely pigeons might be the source,” said David Mau, hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. That’s right, it was pigeons. In Manitou Springs. With their droppings. “Not a good mystery novel,” acknowledged Rich Muzzy, environmental planning manager for the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments, which worked with the USGS on the study.

The results of the study will be discussed at a public meeting Wednesday in Colorado Springs. The public is encouraged to attend to voice thoughts on the E. coli problem and ways to deal with it…

Molecular microbiology tests matched E. coli in the water with that found in humans, and while some was found in the creek, it wasn’t enough to explain the summer spike. Next they ran tests for cows, deer, elk, dogs and cats, and they still didn’t find enough matches to explain the high levels. “It has to be coming from some other source, these high E. coli concentrations, and the only potential source after looking at the area was that birds may be the source,” Mau said.

Researchers talked to Manitou officials, and learned there is in fact a healthy pigeon population. While there is no test to link E. coli with pigeon intestinal linings, Mau said one is in development…

Colorado Springs Utilities, which contributed $134,000 for the $450,000 study, has long been blamed by some downstream for the E. coli problem, because of occasional sewage and wastewater spills into the creek. “We’ve been very confident, certainly with the amount of money we’ve invested in our wastewater system, that it wasn’t from our system,” Utilities spokesman Steve Berry said. “We’ve said all along it’s a large watershed and there are potentially multiple sources of E. coli that wind up in the waterway.” Researchers also determined Manitou Springs’ aging sewage system was not to blame, Muzzy said. A few leaking lines were identified and fixed, but high levels remained, he said.

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.

U.S.G.S. to present findings from E. coli study of 12 mile stretch of Fountain Creek September 9

Meeting federal and state standards for E. coli in surface water is very difficult. Sources of contamination need to be identified in order to devise a strategy. The U.S. Geological Survey plans to present their findings from a study of Fountain Creek next week, according to a report from Chris Woodka writing for The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:

The U.S. Geological Survey will host a meeting at 6 p.m. Sept. 9 at the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments, 14 S. Chestnut St., Colorado Springs. The study, begun in 2007, focuses on a 12-mile segment of Upper Fountain Creek, from Green Mountain Falls to the confluence of Fountain Creek and Monument Creek.

Possible sources of E. coli that were investigated included cracked sewer pipes, open pipes from wastewater sources, septic systems and animals such as horses, cows, dogs, geese and cats. USGS researchers used molecular microbiology methods known as fecal source tracking to determine whether humans or animals were responsible for contamination.

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.

Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District board approves IGA to provide $100,000 a year for the next two years to pay for staff and expenses

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

The money would come from a $600,000 pot funded equally by Colorado Springs and the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District. Over two years, the remaining $400,000 would fund a continuing study for improvement of Fountain Creek. The agreement is an extension of a $600,000 program started in 2007 that led to the creation of the Fountain Creek Corridor Master Plan, which looked at what is needed to restore about 40 miles of Fountain Creek south of Colorado Springs to the Arkansas River. The area coincides in large part with the primary area of concern for the district. The agreement still must gain approval from Colorado Springs City Council and the Pueblo County commissioners, both of which are likely.

Colorado Springs’ share of the money would count toward a $50 million contribution to the district which was a condition of Pueblo County 1041 permit conditions approved in April…

“With what’s happened on Fountain Creek in the last two years, we’re very excited,” said Jay Winner, executive director of the Lower Ark district.

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.

Interior Secretary Salazar appoints Deanna Archuleta to work ‘full-time’ on Southern Delivery System mitigation requirements

Here’s a recap of yesterday’s meeting on water issues in Pueblo hosted by Ken Salazar, from Chris Woodka writing for The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:

Deanna Archuleta, deputy assistant secretary for water and science, will work “full-time” on the issue, Salazar said at a water issues summit in Pueblo…

Salazar called Fountain Creek a “shared resource” that is important to Colorado Springs and Pueblo, as well as the downstream farms and cities. As a U.S. senator, Salazar urged the Fountain Creek Vision Task Force to make the creek a “crown jewel” and he applauded the task force and state lawmakers for making the Fountain Creek Flood Control and Greenway District a reality. As secretary of the Interior, Salazar said he now has the authority to make sure the promises made by Colorado Springs to win approval for building the Southern Delivery System from Pueblo Dam are fulfilled. “Deanna Archuleta will help to identify the resources we need to get this done,” Salazar said. “I’m looking forward to working on this project,” Archuleta said after the meeting. “There has been exceptional collaboration and phenomenal work so far on this. It really is precedent-setting.” Salazar said Archuleta will lead a team directly inside the secretary of Interior’s office that includes Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Mike Connor…

Salazar voiced strong support for the Arkansas Valley Conduit, a $300 million project authorized by Congress this year that would build a drinking water line from Pueblo Dam to Lamar and Eads. “I am 100 percent behind getting the Arkansas Valley Conduit built,” Salazar said. “I will look at our budget to see if there is any money we can put into it. Unless we get this process moving, we are not going to get it done.”[...]

Secretary Salazar also said the “right kind of limits” on taking water from the Arkansas River basin have to be found before federal legislation is crafted to allow Aurora to use the Fry-Ark Project. “It’s not going to happen unless my big brother’s (Rep. Salazar’s) concerns can be satisfied,” he said.

Here’s a look at U.S. Representive John Salazar’s views on legislation that would allow Aurora to benefit from Fryingpan-Arkansas facilities, from Chris Woodka writing for The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:

No federal legislation to allow Aurora to use the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project will pass unless U.S. Rep. John Salazar is part of the discussion on how that legislation is drafted. The Colorado Democrat made that clear Friday in his closing remarks at a water summit he and his brother, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, hosted in Pueblo. “I’ve always been one to seek the middle ground on issues, but I’m adamant on agriculture,” Rep. Salazar said. “I want to make sure we don’t destroy one economy to make another.”[...]

In March, the Lower Ark and Aurora agreed to work for a change in federal legislation that would legitimize Aurora’s use of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project. They later obtained a stay in the Lower Ark’s lawsuit against the Bureau of Reclamation, which in 2007 issued a 40-year storage and exchange contract for excess capacity in Lake Pueblo. “We believe these issues can be solved and we’re working to solve them,” Aurora Mayor Ed Tauer said.

There was no mistaking Rep. Salazar’s parting words, however. “I don’t like to be excluded when legislation is proposed. I want to be part of that discussion,” Salazar said.

More Arkansas Basin coverage here, Arkansas Valley Conduit coverage here and here, Super Ditch coverage here and here, Fryingpan-Arkansas Project coverage here and here.

Fountain Creek: Pueblo District Attorney credits Sierra Club lawsuit with nudging Colorado Springs towards action

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

“It was not as important that a fine was entered as it is that the court found that Colorado Springs violated the act,” Thiebaut said. “We have argued all along that the pollution of Fountain Creek is a violation of law and the problem must be fixed.”[...]

Thiebaut, like Ross Vincent of the local Sierra Club, attributes the actions to improve Fountain Creek during the last four years as a result of the lawsuits. Colorado Springs Water Chief Bruce McCormick last week disputed that viewpoint, and said Colorado Springs prior to the suits already was committed to taking steps to reduce sewer spills and improve Fountain Creek. “In the order, the judge took note of the fact that Colorado Springs has begun to take steps to mitigate future spills,” Thiebaut said. “We have also acknowledged those positive steps but note that they began after, and we believe as a result of, our notices of intended litigation.”

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.

Fountain Creek: Colorado Springs Utilities fined $35,500 as a result of Sierra Club lawsuit

Here’s a look back at the Sierra Club’s lawsuit against Colorado Springs Utilities over sewage spills into Fountain Creek, from Chris Woodka writing for The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:

The Sierra Club says it has leveraged progress, while Colorado Springs claims it would have taken steps without the threat of a federal lawsuit…

Colorado Springs is spending millions to improve its sewer system, and is cooperating with the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District in a corridor master plan. Numerous studies are looking at water quality. The public’s attention in the past turned to Fountain Creek only after major flooding, but now it has become a major focus for water-quality issues in the Arkansas Basin. “If you look at the big picture, a lot of things on Fountain Creek have happened since the lawsuit was filed,” Ross Vincent, of the Pueblo Sierra Club, said Friday. “Without the lawsuit, I think we would have seen a continued record of violations, because their response initially was to spend ungodly sums of money on PR.”

Bruce McCormick, Colorado Springs Utilities chief of water services, emphatically disagreed. “We recognized how important this is in terms of environmental stewardship,” McCormick said. “Since 2004, we have spent $120 million, and we plan to spend $300 million more. These are commitments we have made to improve the system.”[...]

The judge retained jurisdiction for the next year, while saying enforcement by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment was “effective.”[...]

The judge sided with the Sierra Club that federal laws were violated and assessed penalties that the state had not, Vincent said. “The remedies are weak if you want to make sure violators understand they need to make investments,” Vincent said. “If it’s cheaper to ignore the law, they will continue to do so.” Vincent said the early state compliance orders, which track violations back to 1998, did little more than require studies and paperwork while spills into Fountain Creek continued…

The suits came after two sewer lines broke during flooding of a tributary of Fountain Creek, less than one year after an operator error had released tons of sludge into the creek. Pueblo political leaders were livid following the incident, creating a year of turmoil that ultimately led to the Vision Task Force.

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.

Fountain Creek: Colorado Springs Utilities takes a $35,500 hit in lawsuit over spills

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Robert Boczkiewicz):

The penalty was the only sanction in a long-awaited decision in a lawsuit the Sierra Club brought in 2005 against the city for violating the federal Clean Water Act. Senior U.S. District Judge Walker Miller denied Sierra’s request to order Colorado Springs to take specific actions designed to reduce spills of pollutants into the creek. The judge, in a 36-page decision, stated the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment already has issued those kinds of orders. He said the city has spent more than $100 million on its sewage system to make spills less likely and may spend more than $250 million. “There have been substantial improvements” in the operation of the system, he wrote. “Given the state’s involvement with its permits and compliance orders (against the city), I conclude that, absent proof of the inadequacy of the state’s enforcement, the overall public interest in avoiding pollution . . . is better served with the active enforcement by the CDPHE rather than by this court,” Miller wrote. He said the state’s enforcement is “effective.” The judge said he temporarily will keep jurisdiction of Sierra’s case against Colorado Springs “to assure that CDPHE is diligently enforcing its permits and orders.”

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.

Fountain Creek water quality study update

Here’s an update on Colorado State University’s efforts to develop water quality data and find some answers to Fountain Creeks problems, from Chris Woodka writing for The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:

Joe Garcia, CSU-Pueblo president touted the contributions of the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District in helping set up the study and aiding in the purchase of the equipment – a high-tech inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer – for the project. Since the program started in 2005, it has received support from the city of Pueblo and Pueblo County as well. With more support from all involved, the studies can be expanded from Fountain Creek to the Arkansas River, Garcia said.

Three parts of the study were reviewed Wednesday: Human bacteria in Fountain Creek, the presence of midges and the accumulation of metals in fish tissues. So far, there is no correlation in finding human bacteria looking at flows, time of year or location at the 27 Fountain Creek sites that have been sampled, said biology professor Brian Vanden Heuvel. “We just don’t know where it’s coming from,” Vanden Heuvel said. “The source of the E. coli remains a mystery.” Preliminary findings by the U.S. Geological Survey on Upper Fountain Creek are pointing to birds as the most likely source, he added.

Studies have found a wide variety of midge species – technically chironomids – on Fountain Creek, said biology professor Scott Herrmann. “They are the grocery source for fish,” Herrmann said. The presence or absence of species is a good indicator of the health of the creek, and can be used in the future to determine how the habitat is changing, he said.

Studies are also looking at the accumulation of metals like mercury, selenium and cadmium in fish tissues, said Kat McGarvy, a student working on the project.

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.