Lower Ark reviews Fountain Creek progress

A partnership of agencies working on Fountain Creek could bring in as much as $6 million for projects in Pueblo and El Paso counties over the next two years.

“All this is stuff that is actually happening, not just a dream about what could happen,” said Jay Winner, general manager of the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District.

There are eight active projects along Fountain Creek, partly as a result of a partnership started three years ago between the Lower Ark district and Colorado Springs Utilities, said consultant Kevin Shanks.

A Fountain Creek Corridor Master Plan is being developed as a result of an agreement that is funded by $150,000 annually from both the Lower Ark and Colorado Springs. The groups agreed to fund the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway director’s salary, $100,000 per year this year and next as well.

Full story from the Pueblo Chieftain June 17, 2010. PDF Document

Improving and Protecting Fountain Creek

Colorado Springs has acted aggressively in recent years to resolve past problems with Fountain Creek. SDS-related mitigation and the creation of the new Fountain Creek Flood Control and Greenway District to oversee improvements to the creek promise to bring even more enhancements.

In the mid 1990s, Colorado Springs Utilities spent more than $40 million to upgrade our wastewater treatment plant. And since 2000, we’ve spent more than $100 million upgrading our wastewater collection system. The net result: The water we put into Fountain Creek today is cleaner than the water already there for most constituents. And we’re not done. By 2025, we will have invested $250 million over 20 years in our wastewater collection system.

Colorado Springs has also made big investments to control wastewater spills that could affect the creek. We’re the only utility in Colorado and one of the few in the country that has a wastewater spill-recovery program that protects the environment in the event of an accidental wastewater spill and prevents it from reaching downstream neighbors. In 2007, we spent $10 million on a wastewater spill-recovery project on Fountain Creek. As a result of these efforts, wastewater spills per miles of pipe in our system are among the lowest in the country.

And we will be able to contain the vast majority of the few wastewater spills that do occur.

State-of-the-art treatment facilities help ensure that we treat the water we use to a high standard – meeting and often exceeding state and federal regulations – before returning it to Fountain Creek.

SDS and Fountain Creek

The 1041 land-use permit approved by Pueblo County for SDS includes a number of requirements for avoiding or mitigating impacts to Fountain Creek.  The Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation also contain a number of requirements for avoiding or mitigating impacts to Fountain Creek.  Some of these requirements will improve the creek over existing conditions.

One requirement of the 1041 permit is that $50 million be paid in five annual installments after SDS is built and water is flowing through the pipeline.  This money will be managed by the Fountain Creek Watershed, Flood Control and Greenway District.

Another $75 million will be invested for Colorado Springs’ wastewater collection system rehabilitation programs or wastewater reuse systems through December 31, 2024.  This money will be used to improve and fortify wastewater lines which could adversely affect Fountain Creek or its tributaries.

One of the mitigation commitments is to provide protection against flooding by reducing the sediment load in lower Fountain Creek through dredging and the construction of sediment-control devices.  These efforts will occur prior to construction of SDS, although sampling will need to be done first on bed sediments to insure no hazardous materials exist that would make dredging technically or financially impractical.

Another early improvement will happen at Clear Spring Ranch, roughly halfway between Colorado Springs and Pueblo where we’ll improve water quality by building wetlands and realigning the creek.  Clear Spring Ranch is the highest priority area for improvements along Fountain Creek south of Colorado Springs for a number of reasons.  There are severe erosion problems on the ranch property and upstream from it that result in downstream sedimentation and flood issues and pose risks to roads and a rail line in the vicinity.  Clear Spring Ranch is one of the top five ranked projects mentioned in Army Corps of Engineers Fountain Creek Watershed Study.  A number of agencies are expected to participate in efforts to improve Fountain Creek around Clear Spring Ranch.  SDS-related activities will include the development of new wetlands, bank protection and the development of one or more creek bends to reduce erosion.

State-of-the-art treatment facilities help ensure that we treat the water we use to a high standard – meeting and often exceeding state and federal regulations – before returning it to Fountain Creek.

Regional Cooperation

Meaningful, long-term solutions for the Fountain Creek Watershed will come from continued regional cooperation. By working together on regional solutions, we’ll turn our waterways into amenities we can all be proud of and enjoy. Colorado Springs Utilities has made a major investment in staff time, expertise and funding on the following programs to improve the creek: