Black Hawk steps up to help storage in lake

By Jerd Smith, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 19, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Georgetown and Black Hawk, in a quest for new water, will take down a small hydroelectric power plant to free up space and assure flows in Georgetown Lake.

The agreement comes as much larger water projects along the Front Range hit delays because of environmental and political concerns.

But high in the mountains, where small towns have little cash and even less water, sometimes deals can be struck.

Chuck Stearns, town administrator at Georgetown, said the scenic mountain town of 1,200 has spent much of the past decade trying to secure new water rights and make sure it can store water in the lake.

Before the drought of 2002, most years the town could rely on water flowing from Clear Creek to meet its needs. But the stream no longer can deliver flows as reliably as it once did because of drought and growth in the area, forcing Georgetown and Black Hawk to rethink their water supplies.

This year Black Hawk stepped forward and agreed to spend $232,000 to purchase and decommission a small hydropower plant that relied on Georgetown Lake for water, allowing the lake to work better as a storage vessel.

Still, because storage space and water are in high demand, Georgetown still must win final approval of its water plan from downstream cities, such as Westminster and Northglenn, which also rely on Clear Creek.

"It's very tricky to get these things done," Stearns said. "But this is one less trick to deal with."

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