Too many 'straws' in the wells could drain Jeffco water supply

Smaller lots not 'a good way to grow'

Deborah Frazier, Rocky Mountain News

Published April 25, 2007 at midnight

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Some mountain homeowners along the Front Range could be left high and dry if counties don't protect existing wells from rapid growth, experts say.

"It comes down to how many straws you have in the ground," said Reagan Waskom, director of the Colorado Water Resources Research Institute at Colorado State University.

"The smaller the lot size, the more the concern," he said. "It isn't a good way to grow."

In most Colorado communities, residents get their water from reservoirs through miles of pipelines.

But most mountain residents along the Front Range's western edge depend on water from wells.

Those household wells tap into unpredictable pockets of water trapped in random rock fractures at depths of 30 to 1,200 feet.

So, drilling a well doesn't guarantee finding enough water to supply a household.

Drought, the lot's size, the proximity of other wells, runoff and other factors determine whether the water drawn from the well is replaced by snow and rain.

Since 2003, Jefferson County has considered rules to protect residents' wells from new development.

In many public meetings on possible rules, developers and builders opposed some proposals as too costly for results that have no guarantees.

At the same meetings, homeowners railed about failing wells.

As new homes are built, the search for a solution gains momentum.

"It's much better to be proactive and protect the resource," said Ralf Topper, of the Colorado Geological Survey.

Undeveloped lots in mountain counties come in all sizes - from many acres to less than an acre. Experts wonder about the consequences of development.

"The issue is whether you're using groundwater faster than you're renewing it," Topper said.

Western Jefferson County above 6,400 feet is the fastest- growing area in the county - with a growth-rate of about 2.7 percent per year between 1990 and 2000.

That area has about 12,600 homes on wells - about 32,000 residents.

At a conservative growth rate of 1.5 percent per year, there would be 16,700 homes, or 42,000 residents, by 2025, said county planner Dennis Dempsey.

Wells in some Jefferson County mountain subdivisions already have gone dry, Topper said. There's no way to know whether the water levels dipped because of decades of use, new homes or drought.

"Jefferson County is more advanced than others in studying the groundwater and looking at letting growth be determined by that," said Hal Simpson, the state engineer who issues well permits.

Simpson, who has no say in land-use planning, said the consequences of additional wells aren't known, but it's better to have as much information as possible.

In 1997, Jefferson County helped sponsor a U.S. Geological Survey study along Turkey Creek near U.S. 285 that concluded residents' wells weren't diminishing that supply.

But the study couldn't predict whether additional development would affect those water wells.

Rules proposed, rejected

A recent set of proposed rules would have required a developer - or a family building a dream home - to drill a well and monitor the flows to prove that there is an adequate water supply before getting a building permit.

A new water well costs from $12 to $30 per foot to drill.

That rule is reasonable, said Robert Longenbaugh, a retired assistant state engineer who has reviewed several sets of Jefferson County's proposed rules.

The recent proposal also required a hydrogeologic study in the area of new home sites that would consider precipitation, runoff, steepness, vegetation and other factors that put the test results in context.

That's also reasonable, said Longenbaugh.

However, the county planning commission - made up of volunteers appointed by the county commissioners - rejected that requirement.

The controversy continued at last month's county commissioners' hearing on the revised rules. More than 10 mountain residents testified against the planning commission's edited version.

"Science went out the window when this went to the planning commission," said Margaret Cross, of Evergreen. "The planning commission gave into developers' interests."

The county commissioners sent the issue back to the planning department for more work.

"We agree that it's an important issue, but we just can't agree on the approach," said Tim Carl, the county's development and transportation director. "We have to start somewhere."

Longenbaugh and others say that dry wells are one of the risks of mountain living and the county should stay out of it. However, he said real estate agents and developers who sell mountain homes should be required to distribute a simple explanation of the risks to prospective buyers.

The Colorado Legislature tried in 2005 to protect the wells of mountain homeowners.

Opponents succeeded in replacing the proposed law with a resolution asking local governments to consider the impact of new wells when approving development.

Ron Lewis, who has built several subdivisions in western Jefferson County, said that as well depths drop lower, communities should develop other water sources - including reservoirs and pipeline systems.

"It's so obvious that as the population increases, we must find alternative sources of water," he said. "If we don't do that, we will have havoc in the economy and not have orderly development."

frazierd@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5308

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