Diving Into Water: Three water related updates

Keeping you in the water loop

Photo by Akira Hojo on Unsplash

DEVELOPERS CASH-IN-LIEU RAISED AS PROMISED

If you’ve been following my reports on water going back a few years, you might recall in 2021 I wrote a piece for Nextdoor called “You were subsidizing developers’ water use for years”. In 2023, to kick off water reports on Substack I shared it here. If you haven’t read it yet and are in the mood to raise your blood pressure take a look.

The shortest background I can give is that at one time developers were required to purchase shares of water to add to the city’s supply when they built new projects in town. See my previous post to dive in on the details of how this works. For some reason in 2014 that was changed to give them a choice. They could either bring water or go for a cash-in-lieu option which allowed them to pay the city to procure water on their behalf. It turns out that the city staff, with council approval, set the cost per share for the developers really low, like reaallly low. In 2020 when this was discovered by our newly hired City Administrator Fritz Sprague and other new staff members, he called it a “smoking deal”. At that time developers were paying cash-in-lieu at $18,900 per acre-foot instead of the going rate of $85,700. Why would they want to bring their own water?

In August 2021 due to the work by the city staff, the council voted to stop this smoking deal. Perhaps you were one of the many residents who wrote to the council in support of this change. They went back to the previous method of requiring the developers to once more buy their own shares, with an option to allow the cash-in-lieu should it be needed. Council also approved a method that would raise the cost per share of water annually so this never happened again.

I’m telling you this because I wanted to point out that at the February 6th, 2024 council meeting this was on the agenda, and gained approval:

“Resolution No. 2024-08 adjusts the water cash-in-lieu (CIL) from $94,285 per acre-foot (AF)to $95,714 per AF (based on the current market value of Colorado-Big Thompson water, as provided by Northern Water)”

A STUDY FOR A SECOND WATER TREATMENT PLANT

Also on the February 6th agenda was the approval of a contract for $220,850 with Hazen and Sawyer, D.P.C to conduct a study for a second water treatment plant.

Currently, our Baseline water treatment plant, built in 1991, has a peak design flow of 12 million gallons a day (MGD) and serves about 35,000 residents and out-of-city customers. Winter daily demand comes in at around 2 -2.5 MGD while summer use can be over 10 MGD.

A 2004 water demand study said to meet build-out demands an additional capacity to treat another 8-10 MGD was needed.

This new study will evaluate potential locations for a second treatment plant based on the size needed for possible treatment processes, system hydraulics, and power availability.

LEAD PIPES IN OUR WATER SYSTEM

A second contract, this with Kennedy Jenks for $166,625 was also approved at the February 6th council meeting. This one is for a Lead and Copper Rule Revision Compliance Program.

In 1986 an amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act originally passed by Congress in 1974, banned lead pipes and phased out lead solder.

In 1991, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act to control lead and copper in drinking water. This regulation is known as the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR).

In 2020 the EPA revised the LCR and now requires preparation of a compliance program that must be submitted by October 16, 2024. This program is to protect public health and reduce exposure to lead in drinking water. It will establish an inventory of lead pipes in the city, a replacement plan, a compliance schedule, assistance with community education and outreach, and identify potential funding sources to replace lead pipes.

In case you are wondering, there is no city documentation showing where there may be lead pipes. What staff knows at this time is that homes built after 1986 would not have them. There are records showing when each water tap was purchased and this would most likely be the jumping-off point to start this identification process.

To learn more:

EPA: Basic Information about Lead in Drinking Water

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE): Lead in drinking water

Center for Disease Control: Sources of Lead in Drinking Water and Prevention Tips