Lake County water manager warns snowpack lags, outlines limits for golf course and storage repairs

Bryce Ulrich, Lake CountyWater Enterprise Program Manager, told the countyboard at a Jan. 27 work session that the Upper Arkansas snowpack is well below recent dry-year baselines and that the county must prepare for a drier-than-normal 2026.

"Even if it starts snowing a ton, we're not in a position where we can get into a median snowpack by any means," Ulrich said, noting the basin sits below the 2012 water year baseline.

Ulrich said the county has drafted changes to its intergovernmental agreement with Aurora and hired new water counsel on Jan. 1; staff received draft IGA language "just yesterday evening" and will review it before negotiations with Aurora's lawyers. He called completing the IGA before building season a priority so the water enterprise can be a tool during peak construction demand.

The presentation focused on how limited firm yield and storage constrain operations. Ulrich identified Mount Massive Golf Course as the single largest historical user tied to the enterprise and proposed allocating 25 acre-feet of Aurora firm water to the course this season — "about three quarters of their need," he said — with both monthly and seasonal pumping limits if the county cannot rely on additional sources such as Dairy Ditch No. 3.

Ulrich said the course was charged…