Douglas County commissioners approve $1.6 million ARPA agreement for Louviers well treatment after radium discovery

The Douglas County Board of County Commissioners voted 3-0 to approve a $1.6 million American Rescue Plan Act beneficiary agreement with Louviers Water and Sanitation District to build a wellhead treatment facility after radium was detected in the district's wellhead, a meeting transcript shows.

The action uses federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that the board received after the COVID-19 pandemic. A speaker at the meeting said Congress directed about $68,000,000 to Douglas County through ARPA and that county officials have allocated more than half of that sum to water infrastructure in the Chatfield Valley and along the Highway 85 corridor.

A board member identified in the transcript as Speaker 1 said the county began prioritizing water infrastructure in northwest Douglas County in 2013 and that radium was discovered in the Louviers wellhead in 2018. “So putting my kids in brown water to bathe was a little bit rough,” Speaker 1 said, describing local water-quality concerns. The transcript records the board member making the motion: “It’s with real pleasure to make a motion to approve the ARPA beneficiary agreement between Douglas County and Louviers Water and Sanitation District in the amount of $1,600,000.” The motion passed with vocal “aye” votes and was recorded as carrying 3-0.

County remarks in the meeting traced recent work on local projects tied to the funding. Officials said work began in 2024 on a wellhead treatment facility in Louviers intended “to strip the radium” from the water. The transcript also notes construction earlier this summer broke ground on the Chatfield Water Reclamation Facility, which county remarks say will provide reuse water to the entire northwest section of Douglas County when completed. A nearby Zebulon Youth Sports Park was mentioned as a local amenity.

The transcript further records the county citing a recent federal funding win and local coordination on Highway 85: a speaker credited Congresswoman Lauren Boebert and the Colorado Department of Transportation with support for widening Highway 85 between Sedalia and Castle Rock. The speaker said they were “in the room when CDOT committed to support it.”

The record does not name the board member who moved the agreement, does not list a seconder for the motion, and does not provide a line-by-line roll call; the recorded outcome was “motion carries 3 0.” County officials asserted they will continue to provide updates on project progress.

Louviers, Sedalia and Roxborough were cited in the discussion as communities served by the county’s northwest water infrastructure priorities. The transcript excerpts presented here show the board framed the ARPA agreement as part of a multi-year effort to address drinking-water and wastewater needs in that area.