Pueblo County is standing firm on requiring Pueblo West to participate in the Pueblo flow program if the city joins the proposed Southern Delivery System, according to a report from Chris Woodka writing for the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:
The county and Pueblo West have been at odds over the flow program since March. Pueblo West wants to connect to the pipeline. One of the conditions Pueblo County is insisting on requires all SDS participants to participate in the Pueblo flow program. It was set up in 2004 intergovernmental agreements signed by Pueblo, the Pueblo Board of Water Works, Colorado Springs, Aurora, Fountain and the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District. Colorado Springs City Council is expected to vote today on the conditions, which have the full support of other partners. Colorado Springs and Fountain already participate in the flow program. Security and Pueblo West, as SDS partners, would have to sign on as well if SDS comes through Pueblo County.
There would be little impact on Security, but Pueblo West operates on exchange on Wild Horse Dry Creek, which enters the Arkansas River in the reach controlled by the Pueblo flow management program. The flow program requires participants to stop water exchanges during certain flow conditions. That has led to a difference in interpretation. Pueblo West argues that it could jeopardize all of its potential exchanges, which could amount to the loss of more than 3,000 acre-feet per year.
That’s unrealistic, [Ray Petros, who has counseled the county on the land-use regulations used to grant permits for SDS] said. The actual number is probably only a few hundred acre-feet in a worst-case scenario, Petros said. “They are grossly exaggerating the potential loss,” Petros said.