Editor’s note: The following article was provided by Colorado Springs Utilities, Fort Carson’s utility provider.
It’s important to know the facts when it comes to Colorado Springs’ water supply and whether the city can support future growth.
It’s Colorado Springs Utilities’ (Springs Utilities) responsibility to serve all customers in Colorado Springs with a safe, reliable water supply. Since the city isn’t located near a major tributary and outgrew local supply long ago, most of its water travels a great distance to reach the city, requiring extensive infrastructure of pipes, pump stations and reservoirs.
Springs Utilities plans 50 years ahead using risk-based modeling to identify the programs and infrastructure that must be in place and maintained to continue serving its community well into the future. Grounded in Springs Utilities’ planning is the reality that water is a finite resource and availability is not guaranteed with a water right.
A plan for today and tomorrow
Today, Colorado Springs has a healthy water supply that can support smart growth.
Springs Utilities plans for growth, whether it occurs organically (children growing up and raising families) or through economic development opportunities. Long-term planning includes population growth and density impacts on water use, however, only the Colorado Springs City Council has the legal authority to extend city boundaries.
What current water rights can produce annually varies dramatically between wet and dry years. In the driest of years, Springs Utilities may only be able to divert 50,000 acre-feet of water, and in a yearly average of 125,000 acre-feet.
Storage is how it balances this swing to reliably serve customers year after year. Springs Utilities’ Reliably Met Demand (RMD) amount is 95,000 acre-feet. This represents the hydrology, water rights and infrastructure it relies on to meet the city’s level of service criteria. The RMD also considers risks to the system infrastructure that could impact the ability to deliver water.
While the total water rights in Springs Utilities’ portfolio exceed 125,000 acre-feet, not all those rights are developed. Some cannot be relied upon to yield water consistently.
The city’s current total annual water use is 70,000 acre-feet of water (based on a five-year, weather-normalized rolling average).
Springs Utilities’ first-come, first-serve policy means undeveloped lands, including any new annexations, are not guaranteed water until a final water tap is issued. While it plans thoughtfully, the policy is a stop-gap measure because it cannot control future water hydrology, climate impacts or regulatory changes that could affect its supplies.
To learn more about Colorado Springs’ water supply, visit https://csu.org/waterplan.
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