Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Colorado Springs Utilities tells Lake County it has no immediate plans to alter Homestake; outlines conservation and storage goals
Summary
Colorado Springs Utilities officials told the Lake County Board their Arkansas Basin planning includes conservation and modest storage projects over decades, said the Homestake Reservoir as currently configured is not slated for changes, and offered to coordinate on local flow projects such as Lake Fork Creek.
Colorado Springs Utilities officials briefed the Lake County Board of County Commissioners on basinwide planning, saying any major project would require years of study and environmental permitting and that the utility currently has no immediate projects planned in Lake County.
Kim Gortz, manager of water resources for Colorado Springs Utilities, told commissioners the utility’s integrated system can serve about 95,000 acre-feet and current demands are roughly 70,000 acre-feet. “Most of our work is down in the Lower Arkansas,” Gortz said, describing a mix of reservoir work and agricultural water-sharing programs that the utility expects to add roughly 10,000 acre-feet of yield over the next decade to 15 years through projects and conservation.
Gortz said concepts developed for Homestake would not “flood out the Homestake Valley” and reiterated that any future project would proceed only through full environmental permitting with affected counties involved. She added that drilling done to test engineering feasibility informed early concepts but did not represent a finalized plan.
The presentation listed near-term work such as a proposed enlargement of Montgomery Reservoir (projected at about 4,000 acre-feet of additional yield, utility estimate) and programs in the Lower Arkansas that could contribute several thousand acre-feet through irrigation-efficiency conversions. Gortz also described conservation measures—appliance upgrades, outdoor-watering limits, Waterwise landscaping incentives and a planned shift toward water-budgeted rate structures—aimed at reducing demand by targeted acre-foot amounts.
Commissioners raised local concerns about recreation and local resources. One commissioner suggested exploring coordinated flow management for Lake Fork Creek after the recent sale of the Lake Fork/Lake Ford Ranch property to the State Land Board; the presenters agreed to follow up and said the State Land Board had been in contact with them.
On cloud seeding, Gortz said Colorado Springs Utilities contributes funding via system participation (Twin Lakes) and can provide the county with program contacts and reports; she emphasized the utility does not operate a specific cloud-seeding station in Lake County. She also noted storage partnership conversations (including possible work involving Clear Creek Reservoir and Pueblo Water) and said dam rehabilitation needs may delay enlargement timelines.
The utility team offered to provide additional details and return for follow-up conversations; commissioners thanked the presenters and asked staff to relay any community questions that arise.
