Greenland Ranch Groundwater Extraction JULY 25, 2017 TOWN OF LARKSPUR, COLORADO PUBLIC MEETING

Transcription

1 Greenland Ranch Groundwater Extraction JULY 25, 2017 TOWN OF LARKSPUR, COLORADO PUBLIC MEETING

2 Agenda Introductions Town of Larkspur Tricia Bernhardt- Resident Kevin Rein- State Engineer, Colorado Division of Water Resources, Office of the State Engineer Groundwater Basics History of Greenland Ranch GroundWater Unanswered Questions Role of the Office of the State Engineer Contact Information Open Discussion with group

3 Groundwater Basics Groundwater is water which is located beneath the surface of the land and generally must be pumped to the surface to be used. Groundwater in this area is generally considered to be nonrenewable. There is very little natural recharge into the groundwater. Surface water is water which is often called Renewable water, and is water which comes from streams, or alluvial water associated with a stream. Surface water generally originates from snow pack in the mountains, west of the front range.

4 Groundwater Basics Almost everyone in Southern Douglas County (south of Castle Rock) is using groundwater for their water source. The Town of Larkspur has a new well which serves approximately 200 residents. Perry Park Metropolitan District services Perry Park, Sage Port and other locations and uses a series of wells which pump groundwater. The area that is being discussed tonight is the Greenland Ranch Open Space. The surface area of the open space is under the jurisdiction of Douglas County. The groundwater beneath the open space is owned by Sun Resources.

5 Groundwater Basics An Acre Foot is a common measurement of water. It is literally one acre by 1 foot deep, or 325,000 gallons. For planning purposes, most households use ½ of an acre foot per year. For scale, Reuter Hess Reservoir north of Castle Rock is now holding approximately 28,000 acre feet of water, and is 108 feet deep Most individual wells in southern Douglas County are permitted to use water only in the upper aquifers and most are restricted to 15 gallons per minute of use, about the stream from a garden hose.

6 The Denver Basin Structure

7 History of Greenland Water Groundwater rights obtained by Sun Resources through District Court, Water Division No. 1., Case No 94CW038 (38,789 AF) and 94CW Retained Easements were signed with Douglas County and Sun Resources providing legal access for well development on Douglas County public open space Water right offerings were made publicly available by Deepwater Holdings, LLC for the Greenland Ranch Water Surface Use Agreement signed between Douglas County and Sun Resources for placement of test wells on Douglas County open space Test wells and monitoring wells were installed Into all four aquifer layers of the Denver Basin at the northwest corner of the I-25 and Greenland Interchange. Office of the State Engineer issued the well permits to Sun Resources; physical well development was completed by Schlumberger Water Services Water Pipeline Planned- Neighbors in Larkspur, Castle Rock and Louviers have been contacted by representatives of Front Range Water, LLC asking for easements on their property adjacent to the UP railroad. Land agents verbally stated that a 24 inch water pipeline would be installed in the railroad right of way, and that the water was running from Greenland Ranch up to northern Douglas County. Recent correspondence with Sterling Ranch and Highlands Ranch Metro district indicates that neither are purchasing Greenland Ranch groundwater.

8 Test Wells in

9 Shaded AreaGroundwater Extraction Shaded area on map matches the area in the Retained Easements with Douglas County signed in This is the area where the operational wells can be placed. The 2009 water rights offering states that up to 35 wells are planned.

10 Looking Back Water Court Decrees Case No. 94CW038 gives legal water rights to Sun Resources in the Lower Dawson, Denver, Arapahoe and Laramie Fox Hill in the amount of 38,789 Acre Feet per year. Case No. 94CW037 gives legal water rights to the Upper Dawson (1,400 AF) and undifferentiated Dawson (8,971 AF) *Even if we assume that the Upper Dawson water would not be used (conservation reasons), this volume of water in Case No 94CW038 is an amount that would supply approx. 80,000 households with water.

11 Jumping Forward May 2017 Residents from Larkspur, through Castle Rock, and into Louviers are known to have received requests from Front Range Water, LLC to sign easements on their private property along the Rio Grande/UP Railroad for placement of a water pipeline. It is logical to conclude that pipeline construction is being planned, and that water will fill the pipeline, and is being sold.

12 Concerns Groundwater levels in the Denver Basin are already declining. US Geological Survey (USGS) has recently completed a document showing that groundwater levels in Douglas County are declining USGS publication Groundwater Levels in the Denver Basin Bedrock Aquifers of Douglas County

13 The extraction of 38,000 AF per year of groundwater would likely be harmful A massive amount of groundwater withdrawal can cause an effect called a cone of depression, pulling water away from small wells. Can the water which has not been used since 1995 be banked and used at once?

14 History of Douglas County s Involvement Douglas County made agreements with Harmony Land and Cattle Company, Sun Resources and others in the past. Generally speaking, Douglas County acquired the land surface rights and Sun Resources acquired the groundwater rights. It was Douglas County s understanding that the water rights would be developed in the future.

15 Unanswered Questions Who is doing this groundwater extraction? SunResources? Who do they represent? How much water is intended to be extracted and when? Where does the pipeline start and finish? Who is the end buyer of the groundwater? And for what purpose? What will the impacts be to groundwater depletion for residents? Who will monitor the groundwater conditions? What will the impacts be to public open space with drill rigs, access roads, noise etc.? Why isn t there any type of environmental review on a project this large and significant? Will the County help with water supply planning in southern Douglas County if small wells go dry as a result of this action?

16 Specific Requests We would like for the Office of the State Engineer and/or the Water Court to re-evaluate the amount of groundwater allocated to the water owner based on current conditions and groundwater supply in the Denver Basin aquifers. We would like for Douglas County to engage in full disclosure of this action, and to evaluate the environmental impacts of the groundwater extraction, the pipeline and the impacts to the public open space through a House Bill 1041 process. This environmental review is an available tool that the County can use at their discretion for matters of State importance.

17 Colorado Division of Water Resources Office of the State Engineer Office of the State Engineer authorizes and issues well permits throughout Colorado Kevin Rein, State Engineer, will explain the role of the Office of the State Engineer

18 Contact Information Douglas County- Planning Resources Supervisor and Water Planner Katherine E. Rider, AICP Douglas County Department of Community Development Community and Resource Services Address 100 Third St., Castle Rock, CO Direct Douglas County Board of Commissioners- Roger Partridge- District II Douglas County Manager- Douglas DeBord Colorado Division Of Water Resources, Office of the State Engineer Kevin Rein State Engineer Office of the State Engineer Colorado Division of Water Resources 1313 Sherman St. Ste 818 Denver, CO Front Range Water Company LLC Tyler Y. Harvey 1601 Wewatta Street, Suite 900 Denver, CO 80202