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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Board - Minutes - 06/19/198740 MINUTES Water Board June 19, 1987 Members Present Norm Evans, President, Henry Caulfield, Vice President, Neil Grigg, John Scott, Ray Herrmann, Mary Lou Smith, Tom Moore, Dave Stewart, Jo Boyd (alt.) Jim Kuiken (alt.) Staff Present Rich Shannon, Mike Smith, Ben Alexander, Linda Burger, Andy Pineda, Paul Eckman, Assistant City Attorney Members Absent Tom Sanders President Norm Evans opened the meeting. The following items were discussed: Minutes The minutes of May 15, 1987 were approved as distributed. President Evans announced that Stan Ponce notified him by letter that he has resigned from the Water Board 'effective immediately. Rich Shannon announced that the Water Board would be meeting with the City Council at their work session on Tuesday, June 23. He encouraged as many Board members who can to attend. He expects our part of the session to begin about 5:30. He also announced that staff hopes to have a videotape finalized by Tuesday, in response to Henry Caulfield's comment that the staff presenta- tion to the Water Board lacked some background. The videotape will answer questions like: How did the water supply system evolve? What do the policies need to be for the future? After the Council adopts whatever policies they adopt, the videotape will be amended to reflect those policies. In this way the tape will be useful in a variety of presentations throughout the community. After the videotape, there will be a short slide show that basically covers the points the staff presented to the Water Board. Since the Water Board is large, Mr. Shannon suggested representatives of the Water Board join the Council at the table. Dr. Evans said that it seems logical that the President and Vice President represent the Board at the table. Henry Caulfield suggested that Marylou Smith also sit at the table since she has represented the minority viewpoint. Water Board Minutes June 19, 1987 Page 2 Mr. Shannon also pointed out the handout which listed questions on the issue from the Council. Update on Anheuser-Busch Mike Smith reported that staff prepared a memo regarding the progress on matters pertaining to the Brewery for last month's meeting. This was in response to questions about recent newspaper articles relating to the Reuse Plan with PRPA. A copy of a "Memorandum of Understanding" among the City, Platte River Power Authority and Anheuser-Busch was included with Water Board packets. According to Dennis Bode's memo, the agreement was reached after A-B's proposed augmentation plan for its land treatment site ran into "con- siderable opposition and difficulties." The agreement basically provides that PRPA will deliver to the City, 4200 ac-ft of Windy Gap water as per the Reuse Plan and this water will be designated for use by A-B. Because it is reusable, no augmentation plan is required. A-B will pay PRPA for bringing the water to the east slope. The original 4260 ac-ft required from A-B will be available for other uses in the City. Henry Caulfield asked if the gross amount of water that A-B will use is essentially 4200 ac-ft of water. Mr. Smith said that they still plan to use about 4200 ac-ft at the Brewery. Mr. Caulfield inquired whether the beer, plus loss to the plant for consumptive use, plus loss from agricultural con- sumptive use of the wastewater, all will add up to 4200 ac-ft minus the nor- mal return flow to the City? Mr. Smith added, "plus what they put on the land application system, and that will vary." "Physically speaking," Mr. Caulfield reiterated, "we are only talking about 4200 ac-ft of water." Mr. Smith replied, "Yes, basically." Dr. Evans commented that the NCWCD had this item on their agenda recently and they mentioned that the return flow was uncertain. "Can you explain that?" Mr. Smith explained that depending on what amount goes to land application will determine what actually returns to the wastewater treatment plant and the River. "It's really not a problem since it is all reusable water," he concluded. Update on Rockwell Reservoir Dennis Bode related that there were some questions about anticipated problems with the reservoir site because of Wild & Scenic areas designated nearby. Mr. Bode pointed out on a map that was distributed to the Board, where the Wild & Scenic begins and ends. About 5 or 6 years ago, two wilderness areas were designated --one was the Commanche Peak and the other was the Cache La Poudre. The Rockwell site is represented in black on the map. Directly above is the boundary of the Wild & Scenic area. On one area of the reservoir the boundary for the wilderness area is indicated. The wilderness boundary is the limiting factor on the size of Rockwell at this point, he said. Below the reservoir you travel about a mile to the boundary of the wilderness area. Below that is the designated W&S area. Mr. Bode also pointed out that last year two studies were done on the Rock- well Reservoir site. One was managed primarily by Greeley. A consultant looked at some of the geology and did a brief feasibility study for a roller compacted concrete dam. A summary of that report was included in the Water Water Board Minulo June 19, 1987 Page 3 Board packets. In a nutshell, they concluded there in terms of construction. However, the reservoir of that size. The cost is based on capacity, not for yield. that a reservoir was feasible cost is fairly substantial for dollars per ac-ft of storage Dr. Evans asked if staff had a figure which would be a mean figure for these days and times. Mr. Bode responded that based on the size and a safe yield concept, the cost per ac-ft of yield would be double or possibly triple. Basically, the yield would be from 50% to 30% of the storage capacity. Mr. Smith added that the $1364 per ac-ft figure in the report is closer to where it should be --the other is a little high. Mr. Bode also spoke about the preliminary environmental reconnaissance study. Preliminary work has been completed to try to determine if there were any endangered species etc. that could cause environmental problems. Mike Smith explained that when Larry Simpson updated the Board a few months ago on NCWCD activities, he made a comment that led the Water Board to think that Gerry Horak "had given away a dam site." With the study that was done, that is really not true, Mr. Smith stressed. There are two good dam sites that exist within the boundaries of the Wild and Scenic, and Mr. Simpson might have been thinking about something that was "bigger and better," but there are good dam sites that are available, he assured the Board. Neil Grigg asked if Fort Collins split the costs of the studies with Greeley. Mr. Smith replied that Greeley did the roller compacted concrete study and Fort Collins did the environmental study. Both studies were about equal in cost. Mary Lou Smith asked how often the City has to show diligence on Rockwell. "Every four years," was the answer. Henry Caulfield asked about the diligence on the Narrows project. Paul Eck- man replied that it is still being contested in court. Dr. Evans added that they do have a diligence application and there have been several objections including from the Northern District. The City has not filed an objection. Mr. Smith remarked that it may go to trial if some issues aren't resolved. Mr. Caulfield explained that the Narrows filing is the same water, essen- tially, that the NCWCD would have in Glade. Paul Eckman said in the past we have tried to get the Narrows to subordinate to Joe Wright. Mr. Smith stated that another issue, if we decided to build Rockwell, is with the Wild River designation below the reservoir site. Mr. Eckman added, "that's the one impediment that was placed upon the City when that river was designated." Dr. Evans related further that the problem there would have to do with the releases that would have to be made. Mr. Eckman explained that the City tried to get that language in when the River was designated so we wouldn't have to deal with the releases, but that language was not included. Henry Caulfield asked, "what is Greeley's stand on this issue?" Mr. Eckman replied that Fort Collins is currently in Court jointly with Greeley with our diligence application. Greeley's show of support was also seen in their Water Board Minutes June 19, 1987 Page 4 willingness to spend a significant sum of money to clear up a question of title to the property. It turned out that Mr. Eckman was able to clear that up "with a couple of quick claim deeds." At this point Rich Shannon recalled that he had neglected to mention an important activity when he spoke about preparations for the Council work ses- sion. About three weeks ago staff sent out a letter to about 60 people in the home building and development community giving them the executive summary and the water metering section from the notebook. They were asked to contact staff if they had thoughts, questions or reactions. "To date, we haven't received a call and we are anxiously awaiting the interpretation of that," he added. Mr. Shannon did talk to two prominent developers and they had no problems with the proposal. Staff Reports Treated Water Production Summary Dennis Bode reported that as of the end of May, our actual use was slightly over our projected use; approximately 9% above what was projected. So far, in June, the use is close to what was projected. Some timely rains helped to hold down the demand. However, there have been some high use days. Our highest so far has been 46 MGD. The month of may was close to average in precipitation and that is reflected in the water use, he said. Henry Caul- field asked how the leasing of water is going. Mr. Bode responded that there hasn't been a significant demand. "We have rented most of the Water Supply & Storage Company shares that we had; North Poudre requests have been very lim- ited; we have rented close to 1000 units of CBT water," he explained. Norm Evans noticed that the run-off forecasts are about 70% in the Poudre at the moment. Mr. Bode said that actually the run-off is lower than 70%--it is probably closer to 50%. The snow pack was very low this year and the peak run-off actually occurred the 'middle of May; about a month ahead of normal, he continued. It peaked at about 1700 cfs, which is about half of the average peak. Tom Moore said that he had seen more information about the minimum stream flow in the newspaper. How is that progressing? Mike Smith reported that the NCWCD has signed a memorandum of understanding with the City in which they have committed to work with us to do some exchanges in the future which would allow us to have more water in the River through town. "It is concep- tual in that it couldn't be done today because the City has no place to put the water," he stressed. It involves having some storage downstream in a plains reservoir, he continued. One concept was that the District would actually commit to releasing their own CBT water down the River out of Horse - tooth. We would capture it and put it in a plains reservoir downstream of Fort Collins. They would release it from the reservoir to users downstream. The other concept was that the City would take, for example, Joe Wright waters or water above Fort Collins that we own, release some through Fort Collins when we desired it, store it in the reservoir downstream of Fort Col- lins, and exchange it for CBT water in Horsetooth Reservoir. Again, the Dis- trict would release those waters out of the plains reservoir to downstream users, he added. Mr. Smith emphasized that the agreement doesn't obligate Water Board Minut* • June 19, 1987 Page 5 the City to do anything unless we want to implement the exchanges that were described, but the District has agreed to go along with the concepts. Tom Moore commented about North Poudre Reservoirs 5 and 6. Mr. Smith rela- ted that the City continues to pursue several opportunities with North Poudre. "We hope to hear from their Board in the near future as a result of a recent meeting with their representatives," he added. Jim Kuiken said that he understood that their decree had come through last week. Mr. Smith explained that North Poudre is waiting until they get some decrees finalized with Halligan before they can begin negotiating. Dr. Evans asked if Fort Collins' in -stream filing has been withdrawn. Mr. Smith said it hasn't. "We will be looking at options of 1) working through the Conservation Board to see if they will pick it up for us, 2) decide if we want to continue to pursue it ourselves, or 3) decide if we want to drop it." Mr. Smith explained that the City agreed not to oppose SB212 which is legis- lation that reaffirms that the Conservation Board is the only entity allowed to handle in -stream flows. In exchange for not opposing that legislation, the District committed to the exchange agreements that were mentioned ear- lier. Mr. Smith reiterated that "we didn't agree to drop our filing." Henry Caulfield asked Linda Burger to bring the Board up to date regarding the reasons for the filing. Ms. Burger related that several months ago, the proposal to create more flows to save on wastewater treatment costs and at the same time be able to use those flows for a fishery, was brought before the Water Board for review and comments. Mike Smith and Linda Burger have been working with the Poudre River Trust, the local chapter of Trout Unlim- ited, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Forest Service and the Colorado Division of Wildlife to develop a plan to evaluate and if possible, implement this concept. The Board was given copies of the plan that was developed. Ms. Burger went on to say that they have begun phase I which is to evaluate how much water is needed to support a fishery. The data is almost complete. A memorandum of understanding was entered into with the various organiza- tions. The data analysis should be completed sometime this fall. A meeting with the groups involved to start the next phase of the study toward looking at funding opportunities, will follow. In the meantime, we have been evalu- ating some alternatives for providing the flows, she concluded. Jo Boyd asked Mr. Smith for a clarification. "Do I understand you correctly that no matter where flows come from and they are all adequate, that the plains reservoirs are still phantoms --that is they have not been designated or perhaps not been built? Even if all problems with flows were settled, that would still be a major bottleneck?" Mr. Smith responded. "They are there; they haven't been acquired or leased. To make some of these concepts work, he stressed, we need capacity in plains reservoirs somewhere." John Scott asked if we could use some of the Southside Ditch water. Can that get to Fossil Creek instead of shares of CBT? Mike Smith answered that it could be used. You could let that water remain in the River and take it out somewhere else. "There are all kinds of possibilities," he emphasized. What we are trying to avoid is letting it go down the River and loosing it. The Utility is the one that will be involved in looking at alternatives to keep Water Board Minutes June 19, 1987 Page 6 the water in the River and work out the exchanges. The other groups don't want to get involved with that, he concluded. Jim Kuiken asked the status of the filing. "Are we waiting for SB212?" Mr. Smith said no. It has already passed and the governor will no doubt sign it. What we need to do is evaluate the alternatives. Do we want the Conservation Board to pick up the filing; do we want them to have it, and under what con- ditions would we want them to have it.? He said that those involved would be meeting next week to explore the options. Other Business Marylou Smith asked for an update on the "Picnic Rock" issue. Mr. Smith related that it took six months to get the problems worked out. The agree- ment was signed just recently. There is a fee certain times of the year. The property is leased with the understanding that the City has the provision that "if we want to do a land trade at a future date," that would be pos- sible. We have access to our raw water line. The restrooms were built on the Division of Wildlife property. The only thing that sits on our proper- ty is the parking lot, he added. Rich Shannon informed the Board that there are a number of parties interested in Treatment Plant No. 1 in the Canyon once it is abandoned as a treatment facility. The City is trying to take a strong stand at this time that the property is not available. The staff is discussing, at this point, what the options are. When we decide we are going to dispose of the property, the public will be informed. Some of the ideas are: The state parks system would like to use it as a raft launching site. The NCWCD would like to inun- date it with a dam. CSU would like to use it for research purposes. Mike Smith said that the City wants to examine future treatment plant capacity needs. There is a possibility that for minimal cost, we could still operate Plant 1 in the summer when there aren't icing problems, etc. As a result, some piping was installed that could allow us to take water from the diver- sion into the plant, if we decided Plant 1 could be an option for treatment capacity. Ben Alexander has been watching that option closely. Mr. Smith added that the City will do a study in 1988 of various alternatives for future treatment plant expansions. The same thing will be done on the wastewater side. Henry Caulfield asked about the Resource Recovery Farm. Mr. Smith replied that the farm is doing better. The nitrate levels are decreasing. Sludge has not been applied for quite a while. The sludge is being trucked to remote sites and injected on sites that are approved by the State. Mr. Smith also announced that the composting facility is under construction and should be completed in October. "Will your composting facility be large enough to handle all the sludge that you cannot land apply?" Dr. Boyd asked. "What percentage of your sludge do you anticipate your composting facility to use? Mr. Smith replied that it is mostly for Anheuser-Busch sludge. Of the remaining capacity, it is probably 30 or 40%. Dr. Boyd also asked what sub- stance would have to be added at the composting facility. "Wood chips," Mr. Smith replied. We are looking a various sources now. There is a good source in Walden which is quite a distance. We are also saving all the wood chips from the City's operation --Parks and Recreation and Light and Power. Water Board Minu • June 19, 1987 Page 7 Norm Evans mentioned some activities related to the NCWCD. The first concerns the 935 units of CBT water which Fort Collins has under a temporary use permit. He asked for an explanation of that. Mike Smith said, "that's part of the water the City purchased in December. We bought 1350 units through Craig Harrison from J. Moody. That was the final transfer of water to the City." Generally CBT water, he explained, is put in a temporary use permit until they put it in the final contract. Dr. Evans continued. "I noticed that the NCWCD minutes reflected that the District continues to plan for the project on the Poudre and that they plan to do an environmental study at a cost of $650,000 to be provided by the Water & Power Development Authority. They assured landowners in the Grey Mountain site that if they bought the land, they would pay a fair price. Does that mean they are planning two sites --Grey Mountain and Glade? Mr. Smith responded that he has the impression that they are pursuing both of those sites and the issue at hand was that there were some Poudre residents who wanted to be reassured if the project took place that they would receive fair market value for their property. Jo Boyd asked if they are still contemplating selling electricity for peaking periods. Mr. Smith believes "that has gone by the wayside." Dr. Boyd com- mented: "Considering the status of superconductors, etc., a lot of peaking power generation, even in my lifetime, may be unnecessary." Mr. Shannon said, "that's the opinion of PRPA staff as well. Surprisingly, however, the Colorado Water & Power Authority remains interested in pursuing that." They are preparing a study to look at peaking needs first in Colorado and if they choose to they will study a multi -state region for a next phase. Platte River will be a participant, not because they think there is a need, but they wish to be close to the numbers that are going into the study. John Scott, an employee of Western Area Power Administration, agreed with that observa- tion. That is essentially everybody's feelings, he said --Public Service Com- pany, the federal agencies, etc. "We want to keep close to the numbers. I don't think anyone believes that we need peaking power in Colorado," he asserted. Mr. Shannon contends that a Colorado agency putting up money to study something that other agencies think is unnecessary, lacks something in public policy. Dr. Evans had another question regarding NCWCD activities. He read that the City of Lafayette is petitioning into the sub -district in order to get Windy Gap water delivered. The question was raised in the Northern District Board: "Should they change their policy about additions to the Sub -district bound- aries, and require that those boundaries fall within the main district boundaries?" At the moment the Sub -district boundaries can extend outside of the main district boundaries. It seems to Dr. Evans that this is moving into an area where the City of Fort Collins has had a concern; namely the southern district boundary and expansion there. Mr. Smith explained that he understands there has been some discussion about adjusting the boundaries on the south side --even the District boundary --to correspond with the Larimer, Weld, Boulder County lines, and Lafayette is fairly close. Water Board Minutes June 19, 1987 Page 8 Jim Kuiken insists that, in his opinion, "we are hearing what the District wants us to hear." The District will- say they are going to make minor adjustments in the boundaries. Meanwhile they have directed their staff to work on a feasibility investigation for a pipeline from Carter Lake heading south; not a small pipe either. Westminster has annexed within 2 miles of the Weld County line hoping to get closer to the CBT District because "they want to put their straw into that system." In reading the Windy Gap minutes, Mr. Kuiken finds comments like "they want to help Denver with their tap gap problems and to keep lines of communication open with Denver on their much needed water supply." He thinks the Water Board needs to "keep their eyes open and start doing something about this!" Marylou Smith was confused about Estes Park selling their Windy Gap water to a Denver developer. Mike Smith explained that Windy Gap water must be used within the Sub -district boundary. Henry Caulfield clarified: "It's a Denver developer, but the water will be used inside the Sub -district bound- ary." Ms. Smith requested a map that would show those boundaries. Mr. Kuiken suggested this subject be included as an agenda item along with a map. Mr. Shannon then responded to the "what is it we should be doing question." Going back 12 to 18 months to the Thornton situation and the reaction to it, his assessment of the City's and Board's reaction was that it was well intended but it wasn't focused enough. "Fort Colins jumped out ahead trying to be the planner for Northern Colorado and found it couldn't do that very well. We have a mixed image in the area and we also don't have the tools to do that --the NCWCD does." According to Mr. Shannon, the role the Board and the City staff ought to be playing is to have Larry Simpson here frequently with updates of District activities and an opportunity for Board members to question him. The District is the entity that should be doing the research etc., and they are the ones who can best orchestrate something that may bene- fit the metro area, and not devastate Northern Colorado. "We aren't in a position of power to do that," he stressed. Our frustration with the Dis- trict is that we hear bits and pieces but we don't know about some activities at times until the task has been accomplished. There was considerable discussion on District cooperation, regional cooper- ation, the City's role, the Board's role as well as the District's role in these areas. The discussion also focused on the major purpose of the Dis- trict and what their responsibility is to us as constituents. Jim Kuiken asserts that "we must have some strategy to protect our interests or we are going to get taken apart." Dave Stewart assured Mr. Kuiken that this is the function of the Water Board sub -committee which helped to prepare the "Water Supply Policy." The committee's next step is to put a strategies plan together. It may take a year at least to do that, he said. Neil Grigg remarked that the Water Supply Notebook is a plank in our strategy. As Mr. Shannon stated, the City doesn't have the capability to do everything for the region. He emphasized that we must look out for our- selves. Water Board Minus • June 19, 1987 Page 9 Mr. Stewart warned that Thornton is already here; Westminster is on the brink and Denver will be here soon. There is nothing we can do as a community to prevent that. All we can do is protect ourselves by trying to get as much water as we need for our projected growth. Northern Colorado is where the water is --it's not down south, he added. Norm Evans suggested that we might ask Nancy Gray and John Moore from the District Board to attend our meetings on a regular basis to give us a better point of contact and more continuous dialogue and communication. MaryLou Smith had a question regarding Dr. Grigg's statement that the Water Supply Policy notebook was a plank in the strategy. "Is your committee wait- ing for some results from that before going on with the strategy or are you continuing to meet?" Dr. Grigg explained that the committee is an evolving one. Initially, the committee was formed as a result of the Thornton issue. As questions about our current situation unfolded, the process which led to the Water Supply Policy emerged. The committee's function at this time is one of a planning sub -committee for the Board. What we did as a committee evolved into what we are going to the Council with now. "We haven't said where we go from here --that's an open question." Ms. Smith asked if the committee could be the vehicle to keep the Board in line on this issue by making certain that items in this regard are placed on the agenda. Dr. Grigg answered that he would prefer that the staff has lead- ership in that regard. It is difficult for a committee to take day by day leadership on something as complex as this. At this time the Board has not given the committee a specific enough charge for the committee to meet. Dr. Evans suggested that after the meeting with the Council on Tuesday, this question will become clearer. There may then be obvious strategies and direc- tion we want to take. At the moment we can consider that the committee is inactive and that the staff will take the leadership in these matters. MaryLou Smith proposed an agenda item for next month pertaining to where we are going strategically. Rich Shannon suggested that perhaps the strategy to preserve Northern Colo- rado may be worded another way. "Our strategy is to continue to find out what the NCWCD is doing such that we can act in favor of or in opposition to their strategy." We have a good strategy to preserve the City's water inter- ests. We don't have a strategy to preserve Northern Colorado's interest, but the District should. If we were to put something in writing, he would sug- gest that we prepare 4 or 5 rather pointed questions in a polite letter to the District which said: "These are the questions we would like answered every month from your representative." for example, what is your strategy for dealing with metro -Denver? What projects do you have under consideration to review at this time that would impact metro -Denver? MaryLou Smith agreed that this would be worthwhile in getting answers to pointed questions as well as focusing in on other areas. Water Board Minutes June 19, 1987 _ Page 10 John Scott suggested that since Nancy Gray and John Moore represent Fort Col- lins' interest on the Board, they would be the logical ones to report to with regard to what the Water Board's desires are. Mike Smith responded that would be okay but "you will get more information from a staff person." John Scott maintains that the staff person would merely return to the Board with what is in the best interest of their Board, not what Fort Collins' desires are. Rich Shannon proposed that we would encourage Nancy Gray to begin coming to some of our Board meetings. Perhaps it would always be the first item of every agenda, so she wouldn't feel the need to stay for the whole meeting. He would hope that Ms. Gray would be posing the same questions that we would pose to the staff person, and she would in turn relate these concerns to her Board each month. Tom Moore favors, on the other hand, that we send a list of questions to the District Board and get their responses in writing. Someone meeting with us would not feel comfortable that he/she is speaking for the Board, he con- tends. Neil Grigg believes that the District should have some kind of structure to allow for representatives from their Board to serve as a liaisons for the various Boards around to increase communication. President Evans proposed that we move ahead and ask a representative of the District to come. Neil Grigg suggested that the president could simply write a letter to Nancy Gray requesting that she attend regularly. Dr. Evans agreed that we would simply leave it at that, and we could modify it later on as we see the need. Henry Caulfield gave the Board a brief history of how and why the District was formed. The District was created as the agency to contract with the U.S. for the repayment of the costs of Horsetooth Reservoir and the rest of the CBT projects, agreed upon in a contract in 1938. Their function has been largely that of collecting the money to repay including the 1 mill tax we pay. They really are changing in the sense of getting into the business of dam building and whatever else. They also are now taking over the operation and maintenance responsibilities for all the facilities except the power facilities. Molly Nortier announced that Henry Caulfield, Neil Grigg and Tom Moore were re -appointed to the Board. Jo Boyd has been re -appointed as first alternate. Marylou Smith asked about the status of the Water Board/staff workshop. Molly Nortier replied that due to problems with scheduling during the summer months, we are hoping for a date in the early fall. She will contact the consultant when he returns in the second week of July. In the meantime, Ms. Nortier asked that Board members who have suggestions for this workshop to contact her as soon as possible. The consultant welcomes ideas. Ms. Smith .................. ... _ _ . Water Board Minute • June 19, 1987 Page 11 emphasized with all the issues confronting the Board and staff, it is impor- tant to provide a means like the workshop to know clearly where we are, where we are going and what our responsibilities are as a Board and staff. Since there was no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:55 p.m. Water Bova Secretary a