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Officials: Small suppliers could alter focus of district
Inclusion of rural water users, small water suppliers and the composition of a board of directors were the central topics among Douglas County and large water suppliers for the proposed Douglas-Arapahoe Water Conservation District during a meeting last week.
By By:Kiersten J. Mayer
Inclusion of rural water users, small water suppliers and the composition of a board of directors were the central topics among Douglas County and large water suppliers for the proposed Douglas-Arapahoe Water Conservation District during a meeting last week.
Representatives from large water suppliers in Douglas and Arapahoe counties voiced concerns that including small water suppliers, such as Silver Heights, Perry Park Water and Sanitation and others, would dilute the focus of the conservation district.
Douglas County Commissioner Steve Boand, representing the Douglas County commissioners' position on rural water users and suppliers, admitted their inclusion in the proposed legislation was complicated.
"We in no way anticipated there were so many of them," he said. "But they want a voice of some sort."
John Hendrick, general manager for Centennial Water and Sanitation District, asked how much effort would be sidetracked dealing with small water users and providers, and expressed concern over accommodating "remote areas."
"We're glad to have them at the table," he said. "But how do we accommodate them and not get too disrupted? They were not part of the focus when the bill was originally drafted."
The problem is fundamentally different needs of urban and rural areas, said Ray Bullock of the Meridian Metropolitan District.
"For umpteen years a group of 11 (water suppliers) have focused on projects and planning," he said. "It's going to be fundamentally different than rural water uses. There are two organizations we're trying to push into one and they're not meshing."
Boand said those in rural areas care about renewable water projects and decreasing their own dependence on groundwater. He has proposed forming a rural water association to represent users and suppliers. There are approximately 26 small water suppliers in Douglas County.
"Their No. 1 concern is that they be allowed to be involved in projects," he said. "A rural water association should address projects and their representative on the board (of directors) is one out of nine in the conservation district."
Plans for the conservation district's board of directors have morphed from seven - five large water suppliers, two county commissioners and a representative for small suppliers and rural users - to a board of nine. The small water suppliers and rural water users would each have their own representative, and Arapahoe and Douglas County commissioners would appoint an at-large representative.
Voting by directors on the board on projects is also being negotiated. The four large water suppliers, Centennial Water & Sanitation in Highlands Ranch, the Town of Castle Rock, East Cherry Creek Valley Water and Sanitation and Park Water and Sanitation, were wary about allowing representatives of small providers and rural users an equal vote.
Weighing votes for the representatives of the four large water suppliers was seen as an acceptable compromise. .
Some water districts serve thousands of customers, others serve hundreds, so each water provider casts a number of votes equal to the number of equivalent households. For example, an apartment complex with 100 units uses about the same water as 60 homes. So, 100 apartments is 60 votes. The method of equivalent households is typically used by water suppliers to measure water service demands.
"It seems Douglas County commissioners are willing to revise voting to allow water providers to have a majority," said Pat Mulhern of Mulhern Management Research and Engineering, who helps manage the SMWSA and is a district manager for Cottonwood Water and Sanitation District.
Douglas County commissioners said they would discuss the possibility of reverting back to the originally proposed structure for the board of directors.
Contact Kiersten J. Mayer at
kmayer@ccnewspapers.net.
Representatives from large water suppliers in Douglas and Arapahoe counties voiced concerns that including small water suppliers, such as Silver Heights, Perry Park Water and Sanitation and others, would dilute the focus of the conservation district.
Douglas County Commissioner Steve Boand, representing the Douglas County commissioners' position on rural water users and suppliers, admitted their inclusion in the proposed legislation was complicated.
"We in no way anticipated there were so many of them," he said. "But they want a voice of some sort."
John Hendrick, general manager for Centennial Water and Sanitation District, asked how much effort would be sidetracked dealing with small water users and providers, and expressed concern over accommodating "remote areas."
"We're glad to have them at the table," he said. "But how do we accommodate them and not get too disrupted? They were not part of the focus when the bill was originally drafted."
The problem is fundamentally different needs of urban and rural areas, said Ray Bullock of the Meridian Metropolitan District.
"For umpteen years a group of 11 (water suppliers) have focused on projects and planning," he said. "It's going to be fundamentally different than rural water uses. There are two organizations we're trying to push into one and they're not meshing."
Boand said those in rural areas care about renewable water projects and decreasing their own dependence on groundwater. He has proposed forming a rural water association to represent users and suppliers. There are approximately 26 small water suppliers in Douglas County.
"Their No. 1 concern is that they be allowed to be involved in projects," he said. "A rural water association should address projects and their representative on the board (of directors) is one out of nine in the conservation district."
Plans for the conservation district's board of directors have morphed from seven - five large water suppliers, two county commissioners and a representative for small suppliers and rural users - to a board of nine. The small water suppliers and rural water users would each have their own representative, and Arapahoe and Douglas County commissioners would appoint an at-large representative.
Voting by directors on the board on projects is also being negotiated. The four large water suppliers, Centennial Water & Sanitation in Highlands Ranch, the Town of Castle Rock, East Cherry Creek Valley Water and Sanitation and Park Water and Sanitation, were wary about allowing representatives of small providers and rural users an equal vote.
Weighing votes for the representatives of the four large water suppliers was seen as an acceptable compromise. .
Some water districts serve thousands of customers, others serve hundreds, so each water provider casts a number of votes equal to the number of equivalent households. For example, an apartment complex with 100 units uses about the same water as 60 homes. So, 100 apartments is 60 votes. The method of equivalent households is typically used by water suppliers to measure water service demands.
"It seems Douglas County commissioners are willing to revise voting to allow water providers to have a majority," said Pat Mulhern of Mulhern Management Research and Engineering, who helps manage the SMWSA and is a district manager for Cottonwood Water and Sanitation District.
Douglas County commissioners said they would discuss the possibility of reverting back to the originally proposed structure for the board of directors.
Contact Kiersten J. Mayer at
kmayer@ccnewspapers.net.
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