DENVER—Elected officials and water planners gathered at the Pueblo Reservoir on Friday to celebrate the start of major construction on one of the largest water projects in Colorado in years.
The Southern Delivery System project is building a new pipeline, three pump stations and a water treatment plant to deliver water from Pueblo Reservoir to Colorado Springs and also Pueblo West, Security and Fountain for an estimated $880 million. That work is scheduled to be complete in 2016.
The next phase, which includes expanding the system and adding two reservoirs, wouldn’t begin for several years.
It will take generations to pay off the project through bonds, utility rate increases and higher fees that builders and developers have to pay for new water taps. Colorado Springs Utilities is raising rates 12 percent per year through 2016, but it said only two-thirds of the increase is attributable to paying for the Southern Delivery System. The rest of the increase is being used to support work on the existing infrastructure.
Some work on the new infrastructure has already begun, but the celebration Friday formally marked the start of major building after roughly 20 years of planning, negotiations with regional partners and seeking various permits to start the work. Colorado Springs Utilities spokeswoman Janet Rummel told The Gazette costs of the celebration were estimated at about $8,000.
“This project is a lifeline for our community,” said Southern Delivery System program director John Fredell of Colorado Springs Utilities. “We’re not on a major river. This project is going to bring additional water to town for the next 50 years for Colorado Springs. It really sets this area up for economic prosperity.”
Colorado Springs is already served by three water pipelines, but two are more than 40 years old. Plans to expand other parts of its water system, which relies heavily on the Colorado, Arkansas and Fryingpan rivers, ran into opposition from environmentalists, the recreation industry and homeowners. Water planners see the Southern Delivery System as a needed backup amid forecasts of population growth in the region and the potential for drought. For Fountain, which gets some water from wells, the project strengthens diversity in its water portfolio.
Fredell said the downturn in the economy is helping contain costs. Bids to date have come in under budget by about 20 percent, he said.
Building the Southern Delivery System is projected to create an annual average of 786 regional jobs, according to Colorado Springs Utilities.
