Proposed well rules stir warring camps

Jeffco officials reach no decision, set June meeting

Deborah Frazier, Rocky Mountain News

Friday, May 18, 2007

GOLDEN - The devil is in the details of regulating new water wells for residential development in the mountains of western Jefferson County.

"Here we are again," said Jim Cole, president of the planning commission that started looking at rules in 2003 and continued the debate Wednesday.

About 32,000 Jefferson County residents rely on wells for water. The county commissioners want to protect those wells as more wells are drilled for new homes.

Wells in some Jefferson County mountain subdivisions have gone dry, but no one knows whether drought, decades of use or new homes caused the problem.

"At some point, the problems of a few may become the problems of the many," said Tim Crawford, a hydrogeologist and president of the Colorado Groundwater Association. "I commend the county for attempting to draw a line in the sand."

The ongoing debate focuses on rules proposed by the county's professional planners and opposition from the volunteer planning commission, builders and developers.

In April, the Jefferson County Commission rejected a set of rules approved by the planning commission but which lacked requirements recommended by the planning staff.

At Wednesday's hearing, which will continue June 6 because no decision was made, staff planner Pat O'Connell explained the newest recommendations.

To get a single building permit, a well yield report would be required, said O'Connell. Today, only a well permit is required.

New subdivisions and rezoning requests would require a hydrogeological report that would include information on precipitation, recharge, proposed consumption and other factors that impact wells.

The rules would not apply to the sales of existing homes, O'Connell said. The hydrogeological study would cost about $3,000 to $5,000 per subdivision, he said.

The planning commission listened to a dozen comments on the proposed rules.

Duane Hastings, a Morrison real estate agent, said he favored the new rules but wanted the hydrogeological report to include flows in thousands of square miles.

"We don't know how much comes in from the high country or goes out onto the plains," he said. "The biggest straw may be out on the plains."

Planning commissioner Larry Anna, a federal geologist, said that was outside the county's scope, but the county should start building a database on groundwater levels.

Bud Moore, a builder and developer, said none of the 150 wells with which he has been involved has gone dry.

Moore suggested that wells be metered to monitor the water supply.

Others said the water studies would give buyers a false sense of security, but homeowners backed the new rules.

"We are trying to plan for a finite resource," mountain resident Margaret Cross said. "People who paid a lot of money to live there want to be able to continue to live there."