Day: August 7, 2010

Wellington: Stormy seas for project designed to convey stormwater in Indian Creek

A picture named stormwateroutlet

From the North Forty News (JoAn Bjarko):

A property owner along the creek, Elizabeth Kaufman, has hired a Windsor law firm to challenge conclusions of the project’s engineers. Kaufman contends the idea that Indian Creek can adequately carry floodwater to a proposed new Edson Reservoir southeast of Wellington is not substantiated by adequate engineering studies. “Basically they’re flushing the toilet west to east,” Kaufman said of the stormwater project…

The Boxelder stormwater project has been in the works for several years, with Larimer County, Wellington and Fort Collins cooperating to find a way to remove federal floodplain designation from numerous properties in Wellington and along the I-25 corridor. The three governments formed a stormwater authority to oversee the project and received a federal grant of nearly $3 million to build Phase I…

“We see peak discharges at Indian Creek going down, not up,” said Martina Wilkinson, a civil engineer with the county.

The project still has to undergo further study by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “It’s our intent to demonstrate the project doesn’t adversely affect downstream property,” Peterson said.

More stormwater coverage here and here.

Cache la Poudre River: New whitewater park for LaPorte?

A picture named kayaker

From the North Forty News (Cherry Sokoloski):

[Mandy Kotzman of LaPorte] is actively working on the creation of a whitewater park at Lions Park in LaPorte. The park could be a playground for folks with kayaks, rafts, canoes and even surfboards. It could also be home to a healthy population of trout, Kotzman said. “There’s no reason we can’t create something that will work for both,” she said. If more pools are created in the river, Kotzman noted, more fish might survive over the winter.

Kotzman has received 106 letters of support for the project, as well as offers of funding and labor. “I’ve been blown away” by enthusiasm for the water park, she said. The principal of Cache La Poudre Middle School wrote a letter of support, and she has received positive feedback from the three private property owners who would be directly impacted.

More whitewater coverage here and here.

Hotchkiss: New water treatment plant details

A picture named watertreatment

From the Delta County Independent (Kathy Browning):

The Pall filtration system uses a series of membranes to cleanse the water. Inside the tall vertical pipes are membranes that resemble angle hair spaghetti. The water is pushed through the fibers. The membranes are backwashed 10 times a year with hot water. The process is called a CIP (Clean In Place) backwash. A solar system installed by John Myrtle keeps the 200,000 gallon hot water tank heated for the backwash. As water goes through the system, sensors measure the PH value, turbidity and particle counts. On Thursday, July 29, the new water plant had a PH reading of 7.15. Seven is neutral. The turbidity of the influent water was 2.77 NTU. The water distributed in the system had been filtered to .029 NTU. The particle count is not currently mandated by the state, but because it may be in the future the Hotchkiss water plant has the monitoring equipment already installed…

Chlorine is used as a disinfectant and fluoride is added for bones and teeth health. Then the water is put into the distribution system.

More water treatment coverage here and here.