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Town enters new water agreement
By Chris Michlewicz
Castle Rock officials approved a new mechanism to increase the town’s buying power for future water resources.
Town council entered into an intergovernmental agreement Aug. 25 with Denver, Aurora and the South Metro Water Supply Authority, of which Castle Rock is a member. The WISE partnership – which stands for Water Infrastructure and Supply Efficiency – is a joint collaboration to explore opportunities to acquire water and share infrastructure to support the development of water in the South Platte Project Region, an area that stretches from Chatfield Reservoir to the small town of Balzac, Colo., on the eastern plains.
The agreement promotes regional cooperation among water providers and enables the participants to share costs on large projects instead of duplicating efforts. It also brings bigger partners into the mix, said Heather Beasley, water resource engineer with Castle Rock’s utilities division.
The partnership does not obligate the town to participate in projects. Members will bring opportunities to the group for discussion, but each entity can decide individually if it wants to join in, Beasley said.
The Statewide Water Supply Initiative Study conducted in 2006 identified a gap in water resources in the South Platte Basin. South metro water entities are up against a projected 90,000-acre-foot difference between the water supply and water demand by 2030.
Castle Rock has already spent millions to buy storage space in Rueter-Hess Reservoir, a 72,000-acre-foot body of water under construction northeast of Interstate 25 and Castle Pines Parkway.
An acre-foot of water is equal to 325,850 gallons, which is roughly enough to supply four families with water for an entire year
Town council entered into an intergovernmental agreement Aug. 25 with Denver, Aurora and the South Metro Water Supply Authority, of which Castle Rock is a member. The WISE partnership – which stands for Water Infrastructure and Supply Efficiency – is a joint collaboration to explore opportunities to acquire water and share infrastructure to support the development of water in the South Platte Project Region, an area that stretches from Chatfield Reservoir to the small town of Balzac, Colo., on the eastern plains.
The agreement promotes regional cooperation among water providers and enables the participants to share costs on large projects instead of duplicating efforts. It also brings bigger partners into the mix, said Heather Beasley, water resource engineer with Castle Rock’s utilities division.
The partnership does not obligate the town to participate in projects. Members will bring opportunities to the group for discussion, but each entity can decide individually if it wants to join in, Beasley said.
The Statewide Water Supply Initiative Study conducted in 2006 identified a gap in water resources in the South Platte Basin. South metro water entities are up against a projected 90,000-acre-foot difference between the water supply and water demand by 2030.
Castle Rock has already spent millions to buy storage space in Rueter-Hess Reservoir, a 72,000-acre-foot body of water under construction northeast of Interstate 25 and Castle Pines Parkway.
An acre-foot of water is equal to 325,850 gallons, which is roughly enough to supply four families with water for an entire year
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