Buena Vista approves grant application to fund school irrigation well to reduce creek demand

Town water staff and committee members briefed trustees on a proposed stand‑alone irrigation well intended to serve a local high school’s irrigation demand and reduce withdrawals from Cottonwood/Cottonwood Creek and the town distribution system.

Staff described the project elements — drilling an 8‑inch casing well, a well house, electrical and controls, pressure tank, connection to the irrigation main, and a physical disconnect from the treated distribution system — and estimated a ballpark capital cost of about $230,000. The committee proposes pursuing a grant from the Colorado Water Conservation Board to cover roughly half of that cost; staff said the CWCB grant program could contribute about $115,000.

Andrew Rice, a committee member, quantified the system benefit in service equivalents: reducing demand by roughly 10% could free capacity for about 250 single‑family equivalents (SFEs) under the town’s drought‑year planning assumption. “If we can remove in one shot 10% of the demand, we can add 10% SFEs… we could add 250 SFEs,” Rice said.

Trustees discussed groundwater impacts, possible augmentation with Upper Ark Water Conservancy District, school‑district cost responsibilities, rate‑study timing and the effect on the town’s water fund. Staff and trustees stressed that authorizing the grant application is an exploratory step and does not commit the town to construct the well absent successful grant award and subsequent agreements.

A motion to submit a CWCB grant application and continue project development (resolution No. 46) was moved, seconded and approved by the trustees. Several trustees recused themselves from later agenda items that referenced CWCB grants because of agency affiliations; the board tabled related construction completion items to a future meeting to maintain quorum where recusals would otherwise prevent action.