2009-0404-gazette-map
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subject
ARKANSAS RIVER
SOU
TH P
LATT
E RI
VER
BLU
E R
IVE
R
FRYINGPAN RIVER
Twin LakeReservoir
Homestake Reservoir
TurquoiseLake
Clear Creek Reservoir
Otero intake pipeline
EAGLE RIVER
Montgomery Reservoir
THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE
Otero pumping station
Dividepumping station
Fountain Creek
Monument Creek
North slope reservoirs
South slope reservoirs
Pueblo Reservoir
25
70
Rampart Reservoir
Pine Valley and McCullough water treatment plants
Ute Pass water treatment plants
Mesa water treatment plants
Las Vegas wastewater treatment plants
Fountain Valley water treatment plants
Upper Homestake pipeline
Blue River pipeline
Lower Homestake pipeline
MIDDLE FORK SOUTH
PLATTE RIVER
SOUTH ARKANSAS RIVER
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4
1
DENVER
COLORADO SPRINGS
PUEBLO
Proposed Williams Creek reservoir
Pikes Peak
HOMESTAKECOLLECTIONSYSTEM
FRY-ARKCOLLECTIONSYSTEM
TWIN LAKESCOLLECTIONSYSTEM
LOCALCOLLECTIONSYSTEM
Fountain Valley Authority pipeline
5
Preferred route of the Southern Delivery System
Proposed Regional Wastewater Plant
Proposed Upper Williams Creek Reservoir
SALIDA
LEADVILLE
CAÑON CITY
Colorado Springs doesn’t lack water; it has a plumbing problem. The city consumed an average 75 million gallons a day in 2008; 130 million a day in June 2008. The city’s pipelines, which bring in water from Pikes Peak and several other drainages, can deliver 82 million gallons a day. In winter, the city’s thirst for water is low enough that its mountain reservoirs can be replenished. In summer, water demand runs high, and the reservoirs are drawn down. The city has rights to more than twice the 93,000 acre-feet it now uses each year, but the current pipeline system can’t handle any more. An acre-foot of water equals about 326,000 gallons. The difficulty has always been getting it here.
The city began to assemble its supply system in the late 1800s. Now there are 10 reservoirs in the Pikes Peak watershed, which provides about 20 percent of the city’s
needs.
In 1953, the Blue River pipeline began delivering water to Colorado Springs, taking water from the high country above Breckenridge. The pipeline was the
city’s first transmountain project, taking water that otherwise would flow into the Colorado River, and ultimately the Pacific Ocean.
In 1967, the Homestake pipeline opened. The Homestake project diverts water from the Holy Cross Wilderness south of Vail and funnels it
through a pipeline that feeds Turquoise Lake near Leadville.
In 1985, the Fountain Valley pipeline began delivering water to Fountain, Security, Widefield and Colorado Springs. A
piece of the Fryingpan-Arkansas project built in conjunction with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the
pipeline draws water from Pueblo Reservoir.
To accommodate expected population growth, and provide redundancy in
the sprawling water system, Utilities hopes to build the Southern Delivery System, a water pipeline from Pueblo Reservoir. The $1.1 billion pipeline would bring 78 million gallons a day to a new reservoir
east of Colorado Springs. Pueblo County commissioners gave
tentative approval earlier this month, and Colorado Springs City Council will decide in
April whether to move forward under the conditions Pueblo attached to the project. Officials have said they
hope to begin construction this year. It will be the most expensive project ever undertaken by Utilities.
VAIL
5
In 14
In 13
In 12
1
A city’s waterworks
THE GAZETTE
A8 ❘ the gazette ❘ Saturday, april 4, 2009