From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
“I was struck by the widespread support for the project. I’ve never been in a situation where there wasn’t opposition to a project. . . . At a couple of the meetings, we actually got applause,” said Signe Snortland, environmental specialist for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. “People have waited a long time for this — since 1962.”
Reclamation officials and consultants spent last week hearing public comments as it develops the scope of an environmental impact study for the conduit and a 28,200 acre-foot excess-capacity storage contract for the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District…
During all previous discussions of the conduit, it was assumed it would connect to the South Outlet Works, where Pueblo, Pueblo West and the Fountain Valley Conduit already draw water. However, one option could be taking water downstream from Pueblo Dam, Snortland said. Nothing has been decided, and there is still capacity at the dam for 30 cubic feet per second — enough to meet the peak capacity of about 20 million gallons per day. With moderate growth, the conduit is expected to pump an average of 14 million gallons per day by 2050. There also are choices to make on where a filter plant will be built and where the 40 communities involved in the project will connect. While the pipeline is largely gravity-fed, pumping stations would be needed at key points.
After last week’s meetings, Reclamation plans to consolidate and analyze the comments that were made, and develop a scope of what will be studied. Comments are being accepted through mid-September. Through its website and a newsletter, the agency will keep participants and interested parties informed about the progress of the EIS, which is expected to take more than two years to complete.