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Centennial drills wells: Water district moves up plans to tap into 16 aquifers to accommodate community's needs
Lights shine on hard hats amid a dull hum of continuous noise, 24 hours a day, seven days a week in the open space near Quebec Street and Glenstone Circle for one purpose - water.
By By: Tamra Monahan
Lights shine on hard hats amid a dull hum of continuous noise, 24 hours a day, seven days a week in the open space near Quebec Street and Glenstone Circle for one purpose - water.
In search of the commodity, the Centennial Water and Sanitation District, water provider for Highlands Ranch, is drilling a new well at this location almost 2,000 feet into the ground to tap into the Laramie-Fox Hills Formation aquifer.
Centennial's facilities plan called for drilling six wells in 2002-03 and 10 more in 2004. Instead of waiting, all the wells have been or will be drilled this year.
Centennial General Manager John Hendrick said the drilling does not mean that Highlands Ranch is in a dire water situation. The water district simply wants to be prepared for future droughts if and when they occur.
Aquifers provide an extensive source of ground water for Highlands Ranch if the community should need it, Hendrick said.
Highlands Ranch has junior and senior water rights on the South Platte, which allows the community to divert a certain amount of water from the river, even when it's low.
However, when the river is as low as it was last year, and as it's predicted to be this year, Centennial most likely will have to dip into Highlands Ranch's aquifer water supply this summer a little more than last year.
Normally, Centennial does not touch its ground water supplies or takes out a minimal amount, typically about 1,000 or 2,000 acre-feet.
Last year, the drought forced Centennial to use about 7,000 acre feet of ground water, which was more than the agency had taken in the past.
"We have always emphasized surface water as our primary use and supplemented it with ground water," said Paul Grundemann, Centennial's director of water and wastewater management.
"Also, in the past years we have done the aquifer storage and recovery where, when we have a normal to wet year, we're able to use the excess capacity in our water system in the winter time and inject that into the aquifer for future use. Actually, 2002 was the first year we used some of that stored water," he said.
As part of the district's long-range plan, hydrologists look at what is available on the river then make decisions about where to get water for the year.
"We've got the surface water, which we know is probably going to be smaller again this year than we'd like it to be, so our guys go through a month-by-month budgeting process to look at our sources and what we can count on if it doesn't snow, which is our worst fear," Hendrick said. "Then we can decide on more restrictive restrictions, which is an option for sure, and at the same time, we know we need to bolster water that we can get our hands on - our aquifer system."
At the end of last year, Hendrick and his staff looked at their long-range agenda for developing the community's ground water system, which had wells scheduled for drilling as the population in Highlands Ranch grew.
Hendrick said most water wells are in the Open Space Conservation Area south of Highlands Ranch, away from the community's population centers.
However, some, such as the one at Quebec and Glenstone streets, are near houses because it is the best place to access the aquifer. Grundemann estimated that there are about a dozen wells in the urban areas of Highlands Ranch and 21 in OSCA.
He doesn't anticipate drilling any more in the populated areas of the community, but it could happen if some of the existing wells fail and need to be drilled in another location.
These drilling locations are not haphazardly chosen whenever Centennial wants to replenish the water supply. The sites were determined more than 20 years ago by the original developer, Mission Viejo, and Centennial Water District before building in Highlands Ranch began. Each site is chosen based on ease of access to the aquifer, Hendrick said.
"Mission knew that this was the cornerstone of half of the water supply and was more than willing to accommodate us," Hendrick said. "There are about 60 well sites that Mission allowed us to reserve so that we would be able to build out the well field compatibly with the development of Highlands Ranch. Now you might say that the site on Quebec isn't very compatible, but really it is."
Once drilling begins, it must continue 24 hours a day, seven days a week until the required depth has been reached. If the drilling stops, Grundemann said, the hole will collapse, but as long as drilling continues, precautions are taken to prevent that from happening.
The idea is to get in, drill the hole and set up the well with pumping equipment as quickly as possible.
When everything is done, the well site looks similar to a group of utility boxes next to a manhole cover. The well is sealed, and the pumping equipment is housed inside the tan boxes, waiting to be turned on if needed.
Each well takes between six and eight weeks to drill and costs between $300,000 and $500,000, depending how deep the well must go.
Grundemann said the one at Quebec and Glenstone has about three more weeks until the drilling is completed. Then the tower will come down, the lights will be turned off and peace and quiet will return to the open space.
In search of the commodity, the Centennial Water and Sanitation District, water provider for Highlands Ranch, is drilling a new well at this location almost 2,000 feet into the ground to tap into the Laramie-Fox Hills Formation aquifer.
Centennial's facilities plan called for drilling six wells in 2002-03 and 10 more in 2004. Instead of waiting, all the wells have been or will be drilled this year.
Centennial General Manager John Hendrick said the drilling does not mean that Highlands Ranch is in a dire water situation. The water district simply wants to be prepared for future droughts if and when they occur.
Aquifers provide an extensive source of ground water for Highlands Ranch if the community should need it, Hendrick said.
Highlands Ranch has junior and senior water rights on the South Platte, which allows the community to divert a certain amount of water from the river, even when it's low.
However, when the river is as low as it was last year, and as it's predicted to be this year, Centennial most likely will have to dip into Highlands Ranch's aquifer water supply this summer a little more than last year.
Normally, Centennial does not touch its ground water supplies or takes out a minimal amount, typically about 1,000 or 2,000 acre-feet.
Last year, the drought forced Centennial to use about 7,000 acre feet of ground water, which was more than the agency had taken in the past.
"We have always emphasized surface water as our primary use and supplemented it with ground water," said Paul Grundemann, Centennial's director of water and wastewater management.
"Also, in the past years we have done the aquifer storage and recovery where, when we have a normal to wet year, we're able to use the excess capacity in our water system in the winter time and inject that into the aquifer for future use. Actually, 2002 was the first year we used some of that stored water," he said.
As part of the district's long-range plan, hydrologists look at what is available on the river then make decisions about where to get water for the year.
"We've got the surface water, which we know is probably going to be smaller again this year than we'd like it to be, so our guys go through a month-by-month budgeting process to look at our sources and what we can count on if it doesn't snow, which is our worst fear," Hendrick said. "Then we can decide on more restrictive restrictions, which is an option for sure, and at the same time, we know we need to bolster water that we can get our hands on - our aquifer system."
At the end of last year, Hendrick and his staff looked at their long-range agenda for developing the community's ground water system, which had wells scheduled for drilling as the population in Highlands Ranch grew.
Hendrick said most water wells are in the Open Space Conservation Area south of Highlands Ranch, away from the community's population centers.
However, some, such as the one at Quebec and Glenstone streets, are near houses because it is the best place to access the aquifer. Grundemann estimated that there are about a dozen wells in the urban areas of Highlands Ranch and 21 in OSCA.
He doesn't anticipate drilling any more in the populated areas of the community, but it could happen if some of the existing wells fail and need to be drilled in another location.
These drilling locations are not haphazardly chosen whenever Centennial wants to replenish the water supply. The sites were determined more than 20 years ago by the original developer, Mission Viejo, and Centennial Water District before building in Highlands Ranch began. Each site is chosen based on ease of access to the aquifer, Hendrick said.
"Mission knew that this was the cornerstone of half of the water supply and was more than willing to accommodate us," Hendrick said. "There are about 60 well sites that Mission allowed us to reserve so that we would be able to build out the well field compatibly with the development of Highlands Ranch. Now you might say that the site on Quebec isn't very compatible, but really it is."
Once drilling begins, it must continue 24 hours a day, seven days a week until the required depth has been reached. If the drilling stops, Grundemann said, the hole will collapse, but as long as drilling continues, precautions are taken to prevent that from happening.
The idea is to get in, drill the hole and set up the well with pumping equipment as quickly as possible.
When everything is done, the well site looks similar to a group of utility boxes next to a manhole cover. The well is sealed, and the pumping equipment is housed inside the tan boxes, waiting to be turned on if needed.
Each well takes between six and eight weeks to drill and costs between $300,000 and $500,000, depending how deep the well must go.
Grundemann said the one at Quebec and Glenstone has about three more weeks until the drilling is completed. Then the tower will come down, the lights will be turned off and peace and quiet will return to the open space.
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