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Water supply verified
United Water and Sanitation District President Bob Lembke verified Feb. 16 that the district is able to provide the 400 acre-feet of water per year claimed in The Headwaters water supply plan.
By By: Sean Hadden
United Water and Sanitation District President Bob Lembke verified Feb. 16 that the district is able to provide the 400 acre-feet of water per year claimed in The Headwaters water supply plan.
He said the district has access to "substantial tributary and nontributary water" from a "number of sources."
The Headwaters is a luxury development planned for the Jackson Creek area of Douglas County.
There have been questions about whether the water to which the proposed development has access would be enough to maintain two proposed 18-hole golf courses.
Lembke said the district could deliver the water to The Headwaters through a pipeline, an upstream water exchange, or by taking the water from Jackson Creek's alluvial aquifer then putting it back.
For either exchange option, the development would have to build storage for the water because exchanges can be made only at certain times of the year, Lembke said.
He said he could not say which delivery option will be chosen because the developers have not indicated which they want.
As soon as they decide, the district will be able to verify the method of the water's delivery, its source and its reliability to Douglas County's water consultant, Bruce Lytle of John C. Halepaska and Associates Inc., a Littleton water resources consulting firm.
Lytle said verification of the details of the arrangement between the district and The Headwaters is the major hurdle to his approving the development's water supply plan.
This is one of a list of 14 conditions Lytle sent to Douglas County Community Development Dec. 5, 2003.
These conditions must be agreed to before Lytle would advise the county to approve the project, he said.
Another condition is that the development install a "state-of-the-art" irrigation system to water its proposed golf courses to maximize water-use efficiency.
Failing to meet even one of the 14 conditions could result in Lytle's recommendation that Douglas County not approve the development, he said.
Douglas County Chief Planner Mark Knight said that as of Feb. 13, the community development department had not received any specific information about how the development would get water under its arrangement with the district.
Knight is the county planner working on the The Headwaters project.
News-Press inquiries to the developers regarding which water delivery option they would choose went unanswered.
George Hanlon, one of the project's developers, said in a voice mail message left after regular News-Press hours that he cannot respond to reporters on deadline, but he would be willing to discuss the issue.
Hanlon circulated a letter Jan. 20 to "friends and supporters" challenging a Jan. 15 News-Press article's claim that he, the project's other developers, and their attorney would not talk to the media.
While the newspaper did not attempt to contact Hanlon for that story, numerous attempts to contact him for comments were ignored regarding other stories during the last 11 months.
Tom Ragonetti, The Headwaters attorney, told the News-Press last year that he would not comment on any aspect of the project.
Hanlon, in his Jan. 20 letter, also said developers received approval for the water supply plan Dec. 5, 2003.
But in Lytle's letter to the county, he writes, "We would propose the following conditions for approval."
He then lists the 14 conditions.
Lembke said the district has access to considerable South Platte River water piped to and stored in Barr Lake north of Denver and from an alluvial aquifer on a 15,000-acre ranch near Kersey, east of Greeley.
The river flows through the ranch, Lembke said.
The district was set up as a government agency in 2002 to provide water throughout the state to developers or anyone needing it, Lembke said.
The district's official boundaries are in northwest Elbert County, he said.
Lembke petitioned the Elbert Board of County Commissioners and the 18th Judicial District courts to approve the district. Both approved its creation.
He said the district has access to "substantial tributary and nontributary water" from a "number of sources."
The Headwaters is a luxury development planned for the Jackson Creek area of Douglas County.
There have been questions about whether the water to which the proposed development has access would be enough to maintain two proposed 18-hole golf courses.
Lembke said the district could deliver the water to The Headwaters through a pipeline, an upstream water exchange, or by taking the water from Jackson Creek's alluvial aquifer then putting it back.
For either exchange option, the development would have to build storage for the water because exchanges can be made only at certain times of the year, Lembke said.
He said he could not say which delivery option will be chosen because the developers have not indicated which they want.
As soon as they decide, the district will be able to verify the method of the water's delivery, its source and its reliability to Douglas County's water consultant, Bruce Lytle of John C. Halepaska and Associates Inc., a Littleton water resources consulting firm.
Lytle said verification of the details of the arrangement between the district and The Headwaters is the major hurdle to his approving the development's water supply plan.
This is one of a list of 14 conditions Lytle sent to Douglas County Community Development Dec. 5, 2003.
These conditions must be agreed to before Lytle would advise the county to approve the project, he said.
Another condition is that the development install a "state-of-the-art" irrigation system to water its proposed golf courses to maximize water-use efficiency.
Failing to meet even one of the 14 conditions could result in Lytle's recommendation that Douglas County not approve the development, he said.
Douglas County Chief Planner Mark Knight said that as of Feb. 13, the community development department had not received any specific information about how the development would get water under its arrangement with the district.
Knight is the county planner working on the The Headwaters project.
News-Press inquiries to the developers regarding which water delivery option they would choose went unanswered.
George Hanlon, one of the project's developers, said in a voice mail message left after regular News-Press hours that he cannot respond to reporters on deadline, but he would be willing to discuss the issue.
Hanlon circulated a letter Jan. 20 to "friends and supporters" challenging a Jan. 15 News-Press article's claim that he, the project's other developers, and their attorney would not talk to the media.
While the newspaper did not attempt to contact Hanlon for that story, numerous attempts to contact him for comments were ignored regarding other stories during the last 11 months.
Tom Ragonetti, The Headwaters attorney, told the News-Press last year that he would not comment on any aspect of the project.
Hanlon, in his Jan. 20 letter, also said developers received approval for the water supply plan Dec. 5, 2003.
But in Lytle's letter to the county, he writes, "We would propose the following conditions for approval."
He then lists the 14 conditions.
Lembke said the district has access to considerable South Platte River water piped to and stored in Barr Lake north of Denver and from an alluvial aquifer on a 15,000-acre ranch near Kersey, east of Greeley.
The river flows through the ranch, Lembke said.
The district was set up as a government agency in 2002 to provide water throughout the state to developers or anyone needing it, Lembke said.
The district's official boundaries are in northwest Elbert County, he said.
Lembke petitioned the Elbert Board of County Commissioners and the 18th Judicial District courts to approve the district. Both approved its creation.
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